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Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, outer sect grounds.
"Lin Xiye, Blood Refining Realm Middle Stage. Fifth attempt to enter the inner sect failed..."
"According to sect regulations, anyone who fails five attempts to enter the inner sect must leave the sect within three days."
"Keep this token safe. If any of your descendants possess a Spirit Root, they may use it to enter the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect directly to cultivate."
In the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect of Huai Mountain Commandery, Jin Kingdom, white-haired Lin Xiye looked at the sect deacon, whose presence was immense and who commanded respect without anger. He accepted a token and respectfully cupped his hands in a bow, then slowly left the assessment hall.
A gentle breeze brushed his cheeks as Lin Xiye gazed at the setting sun on the horizon, a trace of melancholy stirring in his heart.
One hundred and ten years ago, he had unexpectedly transmigrated to this world of immortal cultivation and been born into the Qiao Town Lin Household, becoming its young master.
At the age of three, Lin Xiye had been found to possess a Spirit Root.
He had thought that, as a transmigrator, he would surely awaken a golden finger or possess heaven-defying fortune... Then he would rise step by step until he stood at the pinnacle of the immortal path, looking down upon the eternal cycle of reincarnation!
Alas, cruel reality was like a sharp sword that pierced and shattered all of Lin Xiye's fantasies.
Since formally entering the sect at ten, Lin Xiye had endured a hundred years of arduous cultivation and tasted every hardship it brought, yet he had only barely reached the Blood Refining Realm Middle Stage.
In this world, the cultivation system was as follows: the Four Body Tempering Realms (Skin Refining, Blood Refining, Bone Refining, Organ Refining).
Of the Four Body Tempering Realms, reaching Skin Refining allowed one to live a full hundred years! Those in the Blood Refining Realm could live for around 120 years.
Breaking through to the Bone Refining Realm granted another twenty years, allowing one to live to 140.
Those in the Organ Refining Realm could live to 160.
Above the Four Body Tempering Realms were many other realms, including Spirit Nourishing, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul...
The Falling Rosy Clouds Sect was the foremost sect in Huai Mountain Commandery, with tens of thousands of disciples.
Most of those disciples were just like Lin Xiye. Even if they spent their entire lives cultivating, they could ultimately reach only Body-Tempering Blood Refining, to say nothing of Spirit Nourishing, Foundation Establishment, and the pursuit of higher realms...
Such was the cruelty of the immortal path.
"Forget it..."
All those thoughts finally turned into a long sigh from Lin Xiye.
Bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, Lin Xiye walked along the winding mountain path and left the sect one step at a time.
At the entrance to the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, some youths who had just joined followed closely behind a sect deacon. Their faces were bright and full of hope as they looked around, brimming with anticipation for the cultivation path ahead.
Watching them, Lin Xiye felt as though he were seeing his younger self.
Back then, he too had been full of vigor...
Youth was ever full of grand ambitions, but how often did it end in the ravages of time!
Lin Xiye passed the youths and walked out through the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect's gates. Then he hired a carriage in the town at the foot of the mountain and began a leisurely journey toward Qiao Town.
Lin Xiye had ten years left to live at most.
He was returning to his hometown in this world to walk the final stretch of his life...
A hundred years had passed. He wondered whether his Lineage had changed.
Sitting in the carriage, Lin Xiye watched the scenery along the way, a complicated look in his eyes.
His childhood memories had grown somewhat hazy.
Even so, the Qiao Town Lin Household should not have fallen into decline... Though Lin Xiye was merely a low-ranking disciple in the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, in the eyes of mortals outside, he was still an immortal master high above them.
Besides, he had been a disciple of the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect for a hundred years. At least in Huai Mountain Commandery, few forces would dare make a move against the Lin Household.
Although Lin Xiye's cultivation was almost at the very bottom in the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, his strength at the Blood Refining Realm Middle Stage was by no means weak within several hundred li of the Qiao Town Lin Household.
After all, once a person became an immortal cultivator, even if they only broke through to the Body Tempering Skin Refining Realm, they could unleash a tremendous force of ten thousand jin with a raise of the hand. Their physical defenses could also withstand ordinary blades, spears, swords, and staves.
Upon reaching Blood Refining, a casual sweep of the hand could overturn a hundred-thousand-jin boulder. One would also become immune to a hundred poisons and have no fear of ordinary miasma.
Upon advancing to Body-Tempering Bone Refining, a single punch could easily unleash a tremendous force of a million jin.
And the final realm of body tempering... the Organ Refining Realm! It was even more extraordinary! Upon reaching it, one was comparable to a fierce beast in human form, with ten million jin of strength in a single hand.
As Lin Xiye's thoughts wandered, the sky gradually darkened...
The late-autumn wind carried a chill. The carriage crossed muddy mountain roads and passed through city after city and town after town... After traveling day and night,
a sizable ancient town, home to tens of thousands of people, finally appeared before Lin Xiye.
Low stone walls surrounded the ancient town, and several armored guards stood watch at its main gate!
The Qiao Town Lin Household's banner still fluttered above the stone walls, weathered by the passage of time.
"Halt!!"
"Anyone entering Qiao Town at midnight must show a pass. Please cooperate, sir."
Lin Xiye's carriage had only just approached Qiao Town when two heavily armored guards with robust Qi and Blood stopped it.
These two guards were different from the other ordinary guards. Although they were not cultivators, they had clearly practiced martial arts.
Though the two guards were nothing before cultivators, in the mortal world, they could already be called martial arts experts.
To have trained guards like these... the Lin Household had clearly prospered more over the years than Lin Xiye had imagined.
"I am Lin Xiye. Have the current head of the Lin Household come here..."
Whoosh!!
Lin Xiye did not make things difficult for the two guards. Instead, he slowly gave them his name.
As Lin Xiye spoke, his imposing presence erupted from his body, sweeping across the surroundings like a tide and instantly whipping up gusts of fierce wind...
At the sight, the two guards' expressions changed drastically. Under the weight of Lin Xiye's powerful presence, their bodies felt heavy and their legs turned to jelly. They nearly collapsed to their knees...
The two guards had seen enough to recognize at a glance that Lin Xiye was an immortal cultivator.
After a moment of alarm, however, they composed themselves. Upon hearing the name "Lin Xiye," one of them seemed to remember something.
"Y-you are Ancestor Ye!?"
Looking at Lin Xiye sitting upright in the carriage, the guard wore a respectful expression, and his voice was a little excited...
A hundred years ago, the young master of the Lin Household had been named Lin Xiye.
In this world, the average mortal lifespan was only thirty or forty years (based on ancient times).
Lin Xiye's elders, his peers, and even his nephews' generation... had long since turned to dry bones.
It was only reasonable for the guard to address Lin Xiye as "Ancestor."
"Mm..."
Lin Xiye nodded in response. His face showed neither joy nor sorrow, though fresh emotions stirred in his heart.
As the long years passed, seas turned to dust. The youth of a hundred years ago had returned as the ancestor of a Lineage...
Hearing Lin Xiye's voice, the two guards grew even more apprehensive and repeatedly cupped their hands and bowed to him.
"We juniors offended you just now, Ancestor. Please forgive us..."
Looking at the two guards, Lin Xiye leisurely stepped out of the carriage and continued in an unhurried voice,
"Those who did not know are not at fault."
"By the way, what is the name of the current head of the Lin Household?"
Lin Xiye's gaze fell on one of the guards.
Hearing the question, the guard dared not be negligent. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said carefully, "Reporting to you, Ancestor... The household head's name is Lin Changge. He is the fifth head of our Lin Household in the past hundred years."
"Ancestor, please have some tea and rest here first... This junior will go and see the household head at once."
"Now that you have returned, Ancestor, our household head, the elders, and the many disciples... should all come to welcome you."
As soon as the guard finished speaking, the other guard had already given orders for the ordinary city guards to clear the way ahead of Lin Xiye, so that no one would offend the ancestor.
P.S. Realm divisions.
Mortal Dao Domain:
The Four Body Tempering Realms (Skin Refining, Blood Refining, Bone Refining, Organ Refining).
Spirit Nourishing, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Core Formation, Nascent Soul...
Each major realm is divided into early stage, middle stage, late stage, and perfection.
Subsequent realms: to be added later.