It was summer that year.
Heyang Prefecture suffered a mild drought.
Xu Household Market was little affected, however, thanks to its well-maintained irrigation works.
Still, Xu Chengye remained deeply worried, afraid the drought would persist.
He therefore led his clansmen in setting up an altar in the ancestral hall to pray for favorable winds and timely rain.
At night, Xu Xuan slipped silently to the courtyard outside the ancestral hall.
The true essence within him was weak, leaving him unable to cast spells, so he could only issue commands to ghosts and gods to see whether he could marshal the moisture in the air.
Unfortunately, even after burning a handful of talisman papers, he received no response.
Spiritual energy in this world was in decline; perhaps no gods remained in existence.
Yet in the middle of that night, a dark cloud did indeed gather above Xu Household Market.
A light rain pattered down, easing the drought somewhat.
The next day, all the clansmen said their ancestors had manifested their power, and their sincerity had moved heaven.
Xu Xuan accompanied the clansmen in thanking their ancestors once more, but a thought occupied his mind.
Was this coincidence, or had ghosts and gods truly heard my commands?
By the time Xu Xuan was five, he had cultivated the "Grain Garment Art" to the highest level among the Lineage's youths.
The true essence within him was quite substantial.
He began trying to examine his interior with his spiritual sense.
Though its range was limited, he could already clearly perceive the condition of his meridians, acupoints, and spiritual root.
He knew the time was drawing near, and he needed to begin planning his next step.
Thus, Xu Xuan often used "childish questions" to ask his great-grandfather Xu Chengye about the outside world.
He asked whether there were methods more powerful than the "Grain Garment Art."
He asked whether the legendary immortal cultivators existed.
Xu Chengye merely took his great-grandson to be curious and told him what he knew.
As it turned out, immortal cultivators did exist in this world.
They could summon wind and rain, fly on swords, and live long lives.
But they all dwelled in residences on spiritual mountains or sacred grotto-heavens, where ordinary mortals could rarely see them.
Heyang Prefecture was said to have a "Spirit Rock Mountain," where immortals seemed to come and go.
The world beyond Heyang Prefecture was vaster still, with immortal sects and ancient cultivation cities.
However, the Xu Household's ancestral teachings decreed that its descendants must remain in River Sun, content to farm and study; they must not reach beyond their station, much less involve themselves in matters of the mystic path.
Hearing this, Xu Xuan could not help pondering.
Immortal traditions truly did exist in this world; they simply remained hidden from public view.
Xu Household Market was tucked away in a secluded corner, making them difficult to encounter.
After learning this, Xu Xuan formed a plan.
He needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible and find a way to guide the Lineage, preparing it for future contact with the cultivation world.
He began to display more "talent" in his cultivation, seemingly both deliberately and casually.
He also offered some "immature" insights into the "Grain Garment Art."
In truth, they subtly contained principles of qi-refining cultivation.
His words astonished both the clan elder who taught their techniques and Xu Chengye.
They vaguely felt that this child had been born with great talent and might truly lead the Xu Household to reach that elusive immortal path.
Xu Xuan sat quietly by the window, his gaze passing over Xu Household Market's thousand qing of fertile fields toward the distant horizon.
Spring departed and autumn came; five years slipped by in a flash.
Xu Household Market remained peaceful.
Waves of rice rippled through the fields, and cooking smoke curled above the houses.
Within the clan school, children's voices rang out as they recited.
On the training grounds, youths shouted as they practiced, faint gusts stirring with their palm strikes.
Ten-year-old Xu Xuan stood quietly in the courtyard.
He was slightly taller than others his age, with delicate features and a calm gaze.
The aura around him was harmonious, faintly matching the breathing of the courtyard's plants.
He had cultivated the "Grain Garment Art" to its present limit.
The peak of Essence Fusion.
The qi within him was abundant and circulated freely.
When released, it resembled an azure radiance, three feet high and shaped like a flying sword.
He closed his eyes and examined his interior.
Deep within his dantian, a strand of pure internal breath spiraled.
It was pale azure, its substance like thin mist.
He had refined it using the remnants of his memories from his previous life, together with the scant spiritual energy absorbed by his vegetation spiritual root.
Five years had passed.
Only then had Xu Xuan fully fused his internal breath with spiritual energy, refining true essence.
He had also gained a clearer understanding of how difficult cultivation was in this world.
Bound by heaven and earth, the "Grain Garment Art" could probably be cultivated only as far as Essence Fusion.
The others in the Xu Household could probably reach only Essence Tempering.
Not one of them could draw spiritual energy into their bodies.
The internal breath in this body had long since reached perfection in Essence Tempering, and Essence Fusion was already accomplished.
All that remained was the final step: opening the spiritual meridians. Then I could enter the Meridian Opening realm and cross the threshold into true mastery.
With a slight movement of his mind,
that strand of pale azure internal breath darted along a particular route, battering hidden vital points within his body.
An invisible barrier seemed to obstruct it; his internal breath surged, yet could hardly shake it.
Clearing blocked spiritual meridians was not the work of a single day.
He was not discouraged.
After five years of accumulation, his foundation was immensely solid; he only needed to wait for the water to flow and form its channel.
His gaze settled on a half-withered orchid in the corner by the wall.
With a slight movement of his mind, he gently raised his fingertips.
A strand of pale azure breath flowed out, passing through the air toward it.
The orchid sprouted new shoots at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning lush and green in an instant.
His true essence had a considerable nourishing effect and brimmed with vitality.
Xu Xuan vaguely sensed something.
Even if my cultivation came to nothing, with that strand of innate talismanic breath,
I could at least live a hundred and fifty years in this lifetime.
His great-grandfather Xu Chengye seemed troubled lately.
A few inquiries were enough for Xu Xuan to learn the reason.
Last year's harvest had been mediocre, and this spring, a wealthy household in a neighboring village had coveted Xu Household Market's upstream water supply, repeatedly stirring up trouble.
Although the Xu Household's descendants were strong thanks to their cultivation and had no fear of ordinary fights,
their foundation was ultimately that of a farming household, with no connections in the city or among officials.
If the dispute dragged on, the Xu Household itself would suffer in the end.
Xu Xuan weighed matters for a long time. He had already reached a bottleneck, and continuing to preserve the status quo would bring no benefit.
His only option was to expand outward.
The Xu Household also needed more backing before it would be qualified to do so.
That day, after lessons ended at the clan school,
Xu Xuan did not return home immediately, instead circling around to a secluded spot behind the ancestral hall.
An old pagoda tree grew there, said to have been planted by the founding ancestor Xu Changgeng himself.
He sat cross-legged beneath the tree and formed seals with both hands.
It was not a method from the "Grain Garment Art."
Instead, it was an auxiliary method preserved in the remnants of his memories, the "Spirit Drawing Art."
This art was not particular about aptitude.
Having a spiritual root was best, but even without one, it still had some limited use.
It could help a person guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish the body.
Threads of cool breath, mingled with a faint warm current, flowed into him.
The internal breath in Xu Xuan's dantian grew a little stronger, and the barriers in his spiritual meridians seemed to loosen slightly as well.
After a long while, he opened his eyes and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He saw that Xu Chengye had come to stand a short distance away at some unknown point, his face filled with surprise and doubt.
"Daocheng, what you were practicing just now..."
The old man began hesitantly.
His great-grandson's movements had flowed like drifting clouds and running water, his breathing long and deep.
It was utterly different from the "Grain Garment Art" he knew, and seemed even more mysterious.
Xu Xuan rose, his expression calm, and said respectfully:
"Great-grandfather, I happened to grasp this while pondering our inherited cultivation method on my own."
"I merely made a few small changes to the breathing method."
"Nonsense!"
Xu Chengye frowned. "How can you alter an ancestral cultivation method as you please?"
"If something went wrong and you harmed your body, what would we do then?"
Xu Chengye treasured Xu Xuan more than his own life and had never uttered a word of reproach in ten years.
Today, his tone was already exceedingly stern.
He was worried that Xu Xuan was reaching beyond his station and thinking himself clever.
That he might practice incorrectly, disrupting his qi and meridians and harming himself.
"Please look, great-grandfather."
Xu Xuan said no more and raised a hand to press lightly against a piece of bluestone beside him.
A pale azure breath burst from his palm and was immediately withdrawn.
A shallow imprint was clearly left in the stone, its edges smooth and its depth about half an inch.
Xu Chengye's pupils abruptly contracted.
Even the clan's skilled practitioners who had cultivated the "Grain Garment Art" for decades could hardly have achieved such a feat.
Moreover, that breath had been so pure and concentrated that it far exceeded imagination.
"You... how did you do that?" The old man's voice trembled.
"I gained a little insight while practicing recently," Xu Xuan said cheerfully.
"There may be room to improve the breathing method of this 'Grain Garment Art.'"
"So I followed my thoughts and tried making changes. My progress really did become a little faster."
Then Xu Xuan moved past the matter and looked at Xu Chengye.
"You seem to have something on your mind today, great-grandfather. Is it related to the dispute over water with Li Household Village?"
"I've now cultivated true essence. Perhaps I can lend a hand."
Xu Chengye looked into Xu Xuan's calm eyes, so unlike those of a child his age, then recalled what he had just seen and sensed. His astonishment deepened.
An absurd yet thrilling thought arose.
Could this child Daocheng truly have received our ancestors' blessing, possessing extraordinary talent and even improving the Lineage's supreme art?
That display of projecting internal breath was something Xu Chengye had never seen before.
Its power was actually so fearsome.
This was what an immortal's methods should look like.
Suppressing his excitement, Xu Chengye said gravely:
"It is indeed related to Li Household Village."
"But Chengdao, you're still young. The elders in the household will-"
Before Xu Chengye could finish, a clansman came running over, panting.
"Household head!"
"Something's wrong!"
"The people from Li Household Village have come again."
"They've also brought several fierce outsiders. They're blocking Upper Stream Mouth, saying they want to redraw the irrigation channels!"
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