Ling Yi didn't know the old man's name. Whenever Ling Yi asked, the old man would evade the question or say something nonsensical.
Sects, traitors—clearly, this old man has a story to tell.
This small courtyard was built by the old man back then. No one knows how he did it; the entire courtyard looks like it's formed by a large, intertwined tree.
Tree roots and branches automatically Entanglement to form the courtyard wall; tree trunks, branches, and leaves automatically form the walls, floor, roof, and even the wooden bed and chairs inside the house.
Logically, these wooden houses should be quite damp, but in reality, the opposite is true.
The temperature here is mild in winter and cool in summer, with a constant temperature throughout the year. Whether it's snowing heavily or scorching hot outside, the temperature inside remains unchanged.
It's just like an air-conditioned room; it's absolutely amazing.
The old man was usually quiet and reserved, spending his days either fishing or just sitting in the courtyard in a daze.
The old man's room was a forbidden area, and Ling Yi was strictly forbidden from stepping into it, which made Ling Yi extremely curious about the old man's room since he was a child.
Before leaving the mountain, Ling Yi had considered going into the old man's room to find out what was going on, but no matter what he did, he couldn't open the sturdy door made of rattan.
Now, more than forty years later, the rattan that made up the door has long since dried up. Ling Yi easily dismantled it and went straight inside.
"So mysterious, and this is all?"
The old man's room was extremely simple; there wasn't even a bed, just a futon and nothing else.
Ling Yi curiously tried to pick up the futon, but to his surprise, the futon was already tattered and crumbled into a pile of sawdust with the slightest touch.
"Cough cough!" Ling Yi waved his hand to disperse the dust, and then he saw two volumes of books among them.
"Could it be a martial arts manual?" Ling Yi curiously picked up one of the scrolls.
The book feels very comfortable to the touch; it's not paper or silk, but more like the skin of some kind of animal.
The words " Illusory Demon Sect" were written crookedly on it.
Ling Yi picked up another book, made of the same material, but much thinner, with the words " Illusory Demon Art " written on it.
"It really is a martial arts manual? But why does it look a bit shady?"
Where can you find legitimate martial arts techniques or sects that call something "demonic"?
Ling Yi opened the book with " Illusory Demon Sect " written on it...
The Illusory Demon Sect is Magic Cultivation sect that existed more than a hundred years ago. The sect is located in Glistening Mist Valley Glistening Mist Valley, which is situated at the border between the southern part of the Great Yan Nation and the northern part of the Central North Country.
The reason why the Illusory Demon Sect is defined as Magic Cultivation sect is precisely because of the Illusory Demon Sect cultivation method, namely the Illusory Demon Art.
Whether it's improving cultivation level or Combat style, this Illusory Demon Art is almost entirely linked to lifespan.
Consuming lifespan to increase cultivation level, consuming lifespan to enhance the power of cultivation techniques, consuming lifespan to temporarily increase comprehension...
Logically speaking, while this method of consuming lifespan to increase strength is unorthodox, surely it shouldn't be considered Demonic Cult just because someone sacrifices their own lifespan for power?
It becomes clear if you look at it from a different perspective.
We're all cultivators, and everyone else is seriously cultivating. You suddenly appear, this oddball who's always risking his life for others. Tell me, aren't you scared?
As the saying goes, the ruthless fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the reckless; the same applies in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.
So, at some point, a rumor spread Immortal Cultivation Realm that the Illusory Demon Sect's Illusion Illusory Demon Art could absorb the lifespan of others for one's own use.
Whether it was true or false, once the news came out, the nearby cultivation sects took it seriously. So a hundred years ago, the nearby Golden Cauldron Sect, Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Black Tortoise Sect, Mystic Fire Sect joined forces to destroy the Illusory Demon Sect.
The old man who saved Ling Yi was Yan Wuji, an elder of the Illusory Demon Sect and a former Nascent Soul Stage Big Shot.
Yan Wuji nearly exhausted his lifespan, fighting two Spirit Severing Stage experts to the death while still in the Nascent Soul Stage stage, before finally escaping to the Great Yan Nation and living in seclusion in this valley.
Yan Wuji was Yan Wuji injured and his lifespan was almost over, leaving him extremely depressed.
" The Illusory Demon Sect " is similar to a diary, written by Yan Wuji Yan Wuji Bored.
It not only records the birth, magic array, and final destruction of the Illusory Demon Sect, but also contains some secrets and miscellaneous stories about the Immortal Cultivation Realm.
For example, the Immortal Cultivation Realm is divided into Nine Provinces and eighty-one sects.
The Nine Provinces are divided into Cloud, Thunder, Fire, Wind, Central, Sand, Fog, Departure, and Sea!
The Great Yan Nation and the Central North Country belong to Cloud Province, one of the Nine Provinces, or more precisely, the southern border of Cloud Province. Further south lies Sea Province.
According to the sect diary of the " Illusory Demon Sect ", each of the Nine Provinces provinces spans tens of thousands of miles, roughly equivalent to half the area of Blue Star in the previous life.
The entirety of Nine Provinces is roughly equivalent to five Blue Star, demonstrating Nine Provinces immense size.
However, the Nine Provinces are not the entirety of the Immortal Cultivation Realm. It is said that there is an even more vast world beyond the Nine Provinces, but it is blocked by natural barriers and dangerous terrain, making it inaccessible to ordinary people.
Closing the " Illusory Demon Sect " diary, Ling Yi felt a surge of emotion.
He always thought that the world he had transmigrated to was a world of ordinary people, but he never expected that there were cultivators in this world, that it was a Immortal Cultivation Realm.
However, Ling Yi had never heard of or seen a cultivator in the entire sixty years he had lived, which shows that there were not many cultivators in this world.
Or rather, most cultivators should have little concern for worldly affairs and rarely appear in the mortal realm.
According to the " Illusory Demon Sect Diary," the Illusory Demon Sect, at its peak, had fewer than a hundred disciples.
Cultivating immortality requires Spiritual Root and aptitude. Without Spiritual Root, one cannot sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and without sensing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, one cannot cultivate immortality.
Among 100,000 people, perhaps only one will have a Spiritual Root, which shows how rare people with Spiritual Root are.
Therefore, the Entry examinations for cultivation sects depicted in novels simply do not exist.
Every Spiritual Root and immortal seedling is a treasure to cultivation sects. Sometimes, major cultivation sects will fight each other to seize a single Spiritual Root and immortal seedling.
Assessment? Not at all. As long as you have Spiritual Root, even the worst Spiritual Root, you're a valuable resource for the sect. They'll take you in as soon as you come.
Moreover, Spiritual Root are never the only factor in determining a cultivator's future.
Cultivating immortality emphasizes wealth, companions, methods, location, fortune, destiny, and luck!
Wealth is resources, companionship is connections, method is practice, land is a blessed land, luck is Karmic Luck, destiny is fate, fortune is good fortune, and power is background.
Some people Karmic Luck extraordinary luck and good fortune. They find money while walking and even gain martial arts skills from a fall!
Some people may have extraordinary Spiritual Root, but if their fate is not strong enough, their Karmic Luck is not good enough, and their blessings are insufficient, their ultimate fate is predictable.
For cultivators, survival is everything; only by living can one possess everything.
Setting the " Illusory Demon Sect " diary aside, Ling Yi picked up the " Illusory Demon Art " again.
To say that the Illusory Demon Art is particularly evil wouldn't be accurate.
Exchanging lifespan for cultivation level and strength is nothing more than overdrawing one's future.
The side effect is that it shortens one's lifespan.
For example, if you're stuck between the Foundation Establishment Stage and Golden Core Stage, would it be worthwhile to sacrifice the next ten years of your lifespan to directly break through to the Golden Core Stage?
Once you break through to the Golden Core, your lifespan will increase from 200 years to Wu Bai.
Would you trade ten years for Wu Bai?
Of course, everyone's aptitude is different, so the lifespan required for breakthroughs will also be different.
From Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, some people need ten years, while those with weaker foundations may need twenty, thirty, or even a hundred years.
If one's lifespan is already insufficient, then they will probably die before they can even achieve a breakthrough.
but...
"Isn't this technique tailor-made for me?"
After reviewing the cultivation manual, Ling Yi couldn't help but laugh.
The only problem now is whether I have the aptitude for Spiritual Root and whether I can cultivate.
Just then, a system notification sounded in Ling Yi's mind.
"Ding! A cultivation technique matching the system has been detected. The technique has been collected. System update in progress!"
"Ding, system update complete!"
Ling Yi opened the system interface with a thought.
[ Longevity Sign-In System ]
[Host: Ling Yi ]
[Lifespan: 62/75]
[Constitution: 1+][Note: Consuming 1 year of lifespan increases constitution by 1 point.]
[ Divine Ability: Personal Space ]
[Today's check-in: 0]
[Check-in location this month: None]
The system appears Changes, but a "+" sign and a note have been added to the [Constitution] section.
Without a second thought, Ling Yi clicked the "+" sign, changing his physique from 1 to 2 and his lifespan from 75 to 74.
The next moment, Ling Yi felt that his body had become significantly stronger.
Ling Yi had a sudden realization: physique is a comprehensive value that represents all parameters such as strength, agility, defense, and stamina.
At the same time, Ling Yi also realized one thing: he had no Spiritual Root and could not cultivate.
The only way to become stronger is through the system.
Ling Yi wasn't too discouraged. Having a cheat code was enough; what more could he ask for?
Anyway, he gets extra lifespan every day he signs in; at the very least, he gets three to five years.
Ling Yi decided that he would only keep twice his current age for the lifespan he gained each day, and add the rest to his physique.
For example, if Ling Yi is currently 62 years old, then he only needs to retain 124 years of lifespan.
In his view, lifespan is just a bunch of numbers; it's more worthwhile to convert it directly into strength.
124 years is but a few days.
For the next five days, Ling Yi checked in on time every day, and the lifespan he gained each day ranged from 3 to 12 years.
Over the course of 5 days, Ling Yi's lifespan accumulated to 117 years.
And today, exactly at the Yueyue, the system, just as Ling Yi had guessed, automatically completed its update.
[ Longevity Sign-In System ]
[Host: Ling Yi ]
[Lifespan: 62/117]
[Constitution: 2+][Note: Consuming 1 year of lifespan increases constitution by 1 point.]
[ Divine Ability: Personal Space ]
[Today's check-in: 0]
[This month's check-in location: Check in at Ten Thousand Peaks Town, southern part of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to receive extra rewards.]
Is there a Ten Thousand Peaks Town south of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range? Ling Yi really didn't know that.
I don't know how far it is.
However, Ling Yi was not in a hurry to set off. He planned to wait a few more days until his lifespan reached 124 years and his physique increased by a few points before going to Ten Thousand Peaks Town to sign in.
Anyway, there's still a month left. All I need to do is get to Ten Thousand Peaks Town and sign in within that month.
But having only two points of physical constitution is still somewhat unreliable.
Let's accumulate more lifespan and exchange for more physique before setting off again.
What if you encounter a cultivator? Better safe than sorry; it's always better to play it safe.
Three days later, Ling Yi's lifespan had accumulated to 132 years.
After thinking for a moment, Ling Yi, following his own plan, exchanged 8 years of lifespan for 8 points of physique.
This caused Ling Yi's physique to jump from 2 points to 10 points, which is 10 times that of an ordinary person.
What does a 10-point physical fitness level mean?
He can pick up Great Qing weighing hundreds of kilograms and skip it on the water like a small pebble.
With a light leap, it can reach heights of tens of meters, impervious to ordinary swords and blades; a hundred meters can be covered in a single breath!
But as for exactly how strong he is, Ling Yi doesn't really have a standard; he's probably roughly invincible in the mortal realm.