Xiao Yu

Cen Province lay in the southwestern part of the Yue Kingdom. Its terrain consisted mostly of mountains and hills, with a sparse population, and its western border adjoined the Fengdu Kingdom, home to the Righteous Dao Alliance.

The Cangliang Mountains lay in central Cen Province, stretching for thousands of li. Fierce beasts and birds of prey abounded in these primeval forests, where human footprints were rarely seen. Occasionally, woodcutters glimpsed sword immortals roaming among the mountains, giving rise to all manner of legends in the mortal world.

What ordinary people did not know was that these legends were indeed true. In the heart of this mountain range stood an immortal cultivation sect known as the Giant Sword Sect.

The Giant Sword Sect had established itself here several thousand years ago, with its grounds situated in the middle of the Cangliang Mountains. Here stood an enormous sword-shaped peak that pierced the sky, thousands of zhang tall. Like a giant sword planted in the earth with its tip thrust toward the heavens, it was aptly named Giant Sword Peak.

Within a hundred li of Giant Sword Peak, dozens of somewhat shorter peaks, including Emerging Clouds, Autumn Moon, Morning Glow, and Morning Mist, stood scattered about, surrounding Giant Sword Peak like stars clustered around the moon.

Rising Sun Peak stood at the outermost edge of these peaks. Halfway up its slope was a protruding ridge called Ox Ridge.

Ox Ridge was covered in a lush profusion of evergreen trees. A dense cluster of single-story houses stood on the ridge, all built from ordinary mountain stones. Each was exceedingly crude, looking more like temporary lodgings. This was where newly admitted disciples lived.

At that moment, inside one of the stone houses, an ordinary-looking young man in black, around twenty years old, sat cross-legged with his eyes gently closed. His index and middle fingers formed hand seals, and his hands rested palm-up on his knees as his mouth, nose, and dantian followed a prescribed rhythm of breathing.

Suddenly, the young man's body trembled, and the aura he gave off surged. He slowly opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile, and murmured, "I've finally broken through to the tenth level. This feels great!"

The young man's name was Xiao Yu. He had originally been one of the countless ordinary people on Blue Star, with a wife and family, healthy parents, and a well-behaved child. His life could certainly have been called happy and fulfilling.

But storms could gather in a clear sky without warning. Xiao Yu's company had recently taken on a large, urgent project, and he had been an important member of the team. To meet the deadline, everyone involved had been required to work all seven days of the week, day and night, without a break. After two consecutive all-nighters, Xiao Yu had suddenly dropped dead and unexpectedly arrived in this world.

When he was born, his parents in this world had also named him Xiao Yu. It truly was quite a coincidence.

Xiao Yu's father in this life was a late Qi Refining Stage disciple of the Yue Kingdom's Giant Sword Sect. Even past fifty, he had yet to establish his foundation. In the end, he abandoned all hope of pursuing immortal cultivation and returned to his hometown to marry, have children, and spread the branches of his family tree.

However, he was merely a low-level cultivator with no prospects, and hardly any female cultivators were willing to marry him. He therefore married numerous mortal women, hoping that sowing more seeds would produce descendants with spiritual roots. Xiao Yu's mother was one of the mortal women among his father's many wives and concubines.

At first, Xiao Yu thought he had merely transmigrated into an ordinary ancient world. But as he gradually grew up and learned more about it, he made the astonishing discovery that this was actually a world where people could cultivate to become immortals. That revelation left him stunned for quite some time.

When Xiao Yu was seven or eight, his father began explaining some basic facts about this world to him.

From his father, he learned that their family lived in the Yue Kingdom, surrounded by dozens of countries, large and small, including the Yuanwu Kingdom to the north, the Fengdu Kingdom to the west, and the Jiang Kingdom and Cheqi Kingdom to the east.

The Yue Kingdom had seven great immortal cultivation sects: the Covering Moon Sect, Spirit Beast Mountain, the Giant Sword Sect, the Qingxu Sect, Heavenly Gate Fort, the Blade Transforming Dock, and Yellow Maple Valley.

With this information, Xiao Yu realized that he had transmigrated into the world of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality!

Upon learning this truth, Xiao Yu sank into deep thought.

On the one hand, he was overjoyed. This was a world of immortal cultivation, where individuals could gather immense power within themselves and possess lifespans so long that he would never have dared imagine them before.

They could also wield mighty abilities capable of moving mountains and overturning seas. All of this filled him with boundless longing and desire. Especially when he was tested at age seven and found to possess spiritual roots-three spiritual roots of wood, fire, and earth-that yearning grew even stronger.

On the other hand, he felt deeply worried, because this world was exceptionally dangerous. Before the powerful, there were practically no laws to speak of. Strength was everything, and the bigger fist defined the truth. Examples of people murdering others for their treasures or exterminating entire families were everywhere. Without strength, he could lose his life at any moment!

The third question was what path he should take in the future. How could he travel farther along the road of immortal cultivation?

In this world, cultivation advanced through the gradual accumulation of refined spiritual energy. Yet spiritual energy was thin in the human realm, and relying solely on meditation to refine it would never take anyone far. Only by employing various methods to advance one's cultivation could one continue rising through the realms.

Taking pills, for instance, was the simplest, most practical, and most effective method. There was also spiritual energy infusion. The Twin Saints of Tianxing in the Chaotic Star Sea, for example, had used a secret art to forcibly raise their daughter from the early Nascent Soul stage to the middle stage through infusion. One could also advance through demonic qi infusion, which many cultivators had undergone in ancient times.

For Xiao Yu, who had only three spiritual roots and no backing whatsoever, rapidly advancing his cultivation would require obtaining all manner of fortuitous opportunities.

And the greatest opportunity in the world of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality was none other than the Heaven-Controlling Bottle. Naturally, plotting to obtain it became his first choice, and he had even put that plan into action.

After Xiao Yu was found to possess spiritual roots at age seven, his father began teaching him to cultivate, personally guiding him onto the path of immortal cultivation.

With an adult's soul and a thirst for greater cultivation, Xiao Yu could endure the loneliness and tedium of cultivating. He devoted nearly all his time to cultivation and learning about immortal cultivation.

Thus, by the time Xiao Yu was sixteen, he had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining. This was already quite impressive for someone with three spiritual roots. After all, his father was only a low-level Qi Refining Stage cultivator and had few spirit stones to spend on pills that could advance his son's cultivation.

After reaching the eighth level, Xiao Yu found an opportunity to slip away to Rosy Clouds Mountain in Jing Province, where the Seven Mysteries Sect had its headquarters. His home was not far from Rosy Clouds Mountain to begin with. On a swift horse, or using the Wind Riding Technique, the journey would take only twenty-odd days.

When Xiao Yu reached the Seven Mysteries Sect, he made inquiries and learned that Mo Juren had already been there for several years and was living in seclusion in a valley on Rosy Clouds Mountain-Divine Hand Valley. At that time, however, there was no Han Li in Divine Hand Valley.

Having carefully read the original novel several times in his previous life, Xiao Yu knew the approximate location of the Heaven-Controlling Bottle. It lay somewhere along either side of a certain path between Divine Hand Valley and Redwater Peak.

Xiao Yu had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining and mastered several spells. With that strength, he naturally had no reason to fear Mo Juren. After arriving at the Seven Mysteries Sect, he located Divine Hand Valley and Redwater Peak, then conducted an exhaustive search of the area between them.

He searched for over a month, but unfortunately came up empty-handed, failing to find anything even shaped like a bottle.

Xiao Yu could only leave in disappointment. He planned to return for another search after Han Li entered the Seven Mysteries Sect. Perhaps he would find something then.

Afterward, he also visited Five Li Ravine in Green Ox Town, not far from the Seven Mysteries Sect. There, he saw the dark-skinned, ordinary-looking Han Li. At this point, Han Li was only eight or nine years old, still just a simple little boy who tended cattle and gathered firewood for his family.

Since the time for those events had not yet come, Xiao Yu could only head home.

After returning from the Seven Mysteries Sect, Xiao Yu used the connections his father had made in his younger days and was smoothly accepted as a disciple of the Giant Sword Sect.

After joining the Giant Sword Sect, Xiao Yu, eager to increase his strength as quickly as possible, immersed himself in arduous cultivation once more. Hard work rewarded the determined. After four years of painstaking cultivation, he had finally broken through to the tenth level of Qi Refining today.

"Hehe, I've finally broken through!" Xiao Yu released his hand seals and slowly brought his cultivation session to a close.

He stretched out his legs and was just about to stand and move them around to ease their numbness when a sudden, excruciating pain struck his head. The magical power within him, fresh from his breakthrough, also became unstable, surging wildly in every direction.

"Aah..." Xiao Yu clutched his head with both hands and let out an agonized cry. He collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness, his entire body still twitching from time to time.

After Xiao Yu fell unconscious, a faint white light gradually appeared around his head, flickering with an air of profound mystery.

After a long while, Xiao Yu's body stopped twitching and gradually relaxed on the floor. A little later, he finally regained consciousness.

He slowly opened his eyes and took a brief look around. He was still in his stone house. Sitting up carefully, he surveyed his surroundings. The room was silent, and everything remained just as it had been.

"What happened to me? Why would my head suddenly hurt so badly that I passed out? Could I have caught some illness? But cultivators aren't supposed to get sick." Xiao Yu puzzled over it but could find no answer.

"This is bad. Could something have gone wrong?" Recalling the chaotic surges of magical power inside him before he lost consciousness, Xiao Yu could not help worrying that something might have changed within his body.

He hurriedly settled into a cross-legged position, gently closed his eyes, and began examining himself internally.