Do You Want to Die?

Just as Li Yan began to sink into the pool, Military Advisor Ji's wooden expression on the shore suddenly softened a bit. "He held on long enough to absorb two-thirds of the medicinal power, the same as the last disciple. But if that's the case, with his Mixed Spirit Root aptitude, whether he can refine the medicinal power to reach the first level of Qi Condensation will be even more difficult. Regardless, we still need to try. Hopefully, it won't be like last time."

Without further thought, he pushed off the ground with both feet, and his figure soared into the air. His arms stretched out parallel, and his wide sleeves billowed in the wind, like a black roc swooping towards the surface of the pool. As he approached the water's surface, he flicked the sleeve of one hand towards the black gas that was still swirling and undulating on the surface. With a series of "popping" sounds, the ten streams of black gas collapsed into wisps of tiny black smoke and scattered in all directions. Then, his figure dove in the air, and his other hand reached out from his sleeve to grab Li Yan, who had already begun to sink below the surface. With a "splash," Li Yan was grabbed by the chest and dragged out of the water. Then, he tapped the surface of the water with his toes, and his figure folded in the air, carrying Li Yan towards the shore. At this time, the unconscious Li Yan felt weightless in his hands, and his figure floated to the shore like a wisp of smoke. These movements were swift and agile.

What he didn't notice was that when his left hand brushed against the black gas on the surface of the water, a wisp of golden light burst out from the strange book that was usually hidden in his sleeve but always held tightly. It mixed with the scattered black smoke on the surface of the water, passed through the black smoke, and rushed towards Li Yan's body, which he had grabbed. It flashed and disappeared without a trace.

After Military Advisor Ji landed on the shore, he laid Li Yan flat on the ground, then quickly formed several hand seals in front of his chest and pointed at Li Yan's abdomen. Several points of azure light shot into him.

Li Yan's body trembled, then returned to a state of calmness. Seeing this, Military Advisor Ji frowned involuntarily, then formed several more hand seals, creating more azure light that shot into Li Yan's abdomen. But this time, Li Yan's body didn't even have a trace of reaction.

Military Advisor Ji frowned deeply. He quickly walked to Li Yan's side, bent down, and probed Li Yan's nose with his finger. His frown deepened even further. He muttered to himself, "This is strange. He's not dead, but he can't wake up. Last time, just one instance of spiritual energy entering his body woke him up. Why is it like this this time?" He straightened up and stroked his forehead, pondering.

At this moment, the Fire Poison within Li Yan's body was raging and rampaging. Wherever it passed, the meridians were almost completely destroyed. Just as his life was on the verge of extinction, another inexplicable force suddenly arose within his body. This force was extremely vast, like tides, cool and turbulent, passing through every part of his body at an extremely fast speed. The meridians that had been burned and damaged by the Fire Poison were recovering at an alarming rate after being passed through by the tides, and the Fire Poison was being suppressed to a corner of his body by this vast force. When Military Advisor Ji's previous points of azure light had just entered his body, his mind had instantly cleared up a bit. The hard training of the past few dozen days had allowed him to form an instinct. His body was about to sit up and refine the medicinal power of the day when he suddenly heard a stern shout in his mind, "Do you want to die?" His mind buzzed, and he lost consciousness and awareness.

Not knowing how long had passed, perhaps only a moment, or perhaps a very long time, Li Yan slowly woke up. Just as he was about to open his eyes, a voice echoed in his mind, "Don't open your eyes yet, or you might be closer to death than you think." Li Yan was stunned. He wanted to open his mouth to ask, but found that he couldn't make a sound. In his anxiety, he tried to look around, but found that he couldn't open his eyes either. "I told you not to open your eyes, but you didn't listen, and now you're wasting my already meager magical power." The voice came slowly, filled with a hint of exhaustion.

Li Yan was shocked, thinking, Am I already dead? Is hell this dark, unable to see, even speaking a luxury? Just then, his mind suddenly reeled, and then many images flashed rapidly before his eyes. When he finally saw clearly, he found himself above a small black lake, his body suspended awkwardly above it. The sky was also dark and gloomy. This small lake was without wind or waves, very quiet, giving people a sense of oppression. He couldn't fall down, nor could he rise higher into the sky, so he could only stand there.

Just as he was looking around blankly, the air in front of him suddenly began to blur and distort. The distorted scene contained various black lines twisting, intersecting, and overlapping, eventually slowly forming a vague human figure. After the figure formed, it slowly walked toward him, and the blurry figure gradually became clearer. Li Yan gradually made out the appearance of this blurry figure. It was an old man, tall and large, with long snow-white hair draped over his shoulders, a stern face, and a gaunt visage. His eyes were like deep pools, unfathomable, as if capable of seeing through a thousand years, piercing through the long river of time. He wore a gray robe, but his face had a weary look. Yet, as he walked, a kind of imposing aura pressed down on him, making it difficult for Li Yan to stand steady, and his body swayed involuntarily a few times.

Li Yan gave a wry smile, thinking, "Is this the Avici Hell that the Buddhist scriptures often mention? Below should be the Asura Sea of ​​Hell, and this person should be a soul-snatching emissary, but at least he doesn't look scary."

The old man slowly walked up to him, his eyes fixed on him, a chilling aura emanating outwards. The space seemed to freeze, and he slowly said, "If I had woken up even a moment later, you would have been dead."

Li Yan was stunned, and couldn't help but say, "Envoy, haven't I already died? Otherwise, why would I be here in this Avici Hell?"

After saying that, he was even more surprised. When had he been able to speak? Hadn't he been unable to speak just now? It seemed his soul had already left his body, and the one speaking now was undoubtedly his soul.

The old man was taken aback by these words, a wisp of a smile appearing on his gaunt face. "You think you're just a soul? But what you say is true, and yet not."

Li Yan was somewhat hesitant upon hearing this. "Why do you say that, Envoy? I was just in the valley at Green Peak Pass."

"Suddenly arriving here like this, if it wasn't my soul being snatched away, what else could it be?"

Hearing Li Yan say this, the old man's lips curved up, a playful smile rising, "What if I told you that you're currently inside your own consciousness, or, in other words, your mental space? Would you believe me?"

Li Yan's expression faltered. "Sea of consciousness? My mental space?" He hadn't heard of the sea of consciousness before, but he understood the concept of his own mental space. During his cultivation, he used meditation to manipulate Qi with his mental power, which was commonly referred to as willpower in the martial world.

"My body appeared within the thoughts in my mind?" Li Yan's face showed a strange expression.

"You could say that the sea of consciousness is a mental space composed of spiritual power. It's just that ordinary people can't enter their own or others' sea of consciousness. Right now, I've brought your consciousness into your sea of consciousness, forming a projection of your body. So, it's accurate to say that a wisp of your soul is here." The old man said with a smile.

Li Yan wore an expression of disbelief. His own body appearing inside his own head – what kind of logic was that? The old man saw Li Yan's bewildered and clueless look, smiled kindly at him, and continued, "I have limited time now, so I can only explain it to you briefly. Besides, there's something even more important to tell you. This sea of consciousness is a person's spiritual power space, or you can call it a mental space. The stronger the creature, the stronger its spiritual power, and the more vast its spiritual space. However, this space is illusory, and ordinary people cannot touch it. But for cultivators, they can observe their own, and even others', sea of consciousness. The more vast the sea of consciousness, the more powerful mental attack-type immortal techniques can be unleashed. Of course, the sea of consciousness has many other uses, but you can only learn about them slowly in the future."

Li Yan felt like he was falling into a fog, utterly confused. What was all this? Mental attacks? What was that? And how did cultivators suddenly appear? Immortals? Weren't those only supposed to exist in legends?

Just as he was about to press for more information, the gray-robed elder seemed to see his confusion and said directly, "I know you have many questions, but I don't have much time. I can only tell you the important things. If you have the chance to join a cultivation sect in the future, you will gradually learn about these things." The elder said with a weary expression.

Hearing this, Li Yan looked at the old man's expression. After a moment's thought, he stopped pressing and stood quietly, waiting for the old man to continue. The old man nodded slightly at his reaction and began to explain. As the gray-robed old man narrated, a magnificent and unprecedented panorama unfolded before Li Yan's eyes, leaving him dumbfounded and speechless with amazement.

Are there immortals in this world? The answer is yes. Immortals have existed since ancient times. After Pangu separated the heavens and earth and Nuwa mended the sky, the world was divided into several layers: the mortal realm, the immortal spirit realm, and the true immortal realm.

These realms exist sequentially from bottom to top, and within each realm, there are many smaller realms, such as the Netherworld, the Demon Realm, and even realms specifically for plants.

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...where spiritual plants are stored. They, like sentient beings such as humans, can move, think, and control their own spaces.

The Mortal Realm is the lowest-level interface, originally inhabited by ordinary mortals and low-level demonic beasts. Their abilities were mediocre, but their reproductive capabilities were extremely strong.

The Immortal Spirit Realm is located between the Mortal Realm and the True Immortal Realm. Many creatures in this realm are descendants of humans, demons, or other races from the ancient primordial times. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant in this realm, and all living beings, whether human or otherwise, have long lifespans. Their ancestors passed down many ancient immortal techniques, and by cultivating these techniques, they can fly into the sky, dive into the earth, and overturn rivers and seas. However, heaven and earth have their own laws. While they grant you a long lifespan, they also bring other limitations. These descendants of the primordial era have difficulty reproducing. Whether human, demon, or other races, they all have extreme difficulty in procreation, and their populations are relatively small.

The highest level is the True Immortal Realm, which is the legendary true realm of immortals. Figures like the ancient Pangu and Nuwa, supreme immortals, reside in this realm. They live as long as the heavens and earth, shine with the sun and moon, and are eternally immortal. Every True Immortal possesses heaven-penetrating, earth-shattering great divine powers, capable of changing the world with a mere gesture, plucking stars and seizing the moon, and even building their own small interfaces and creating new life races.

The number of True Immortals in the True Immortal Realm isn't fixed either; they also face the risk of death, such as in duels between True Immortals, or when exploring broader, unknown laws.

At the same time, similar to many cultivators of ancient immortal techniques in the Immortal Spirit World, when their cultivation reaches the initial True Immortal stage, which is above the Great Vehicle realm, they can break through the void between the two realms and ascend to the True Immortal World.

To reach the initial stage of True Immortal, one must cultivate immortal techniques and undergo arduous training through nine major realms before ascending to the Realm of True Immortals. However, mastering these nine realms is extremely difficult. Most people exhaust their entire lives and can often only cultivate to the third or fourth realm before being unable to progress any further, ultimately reaching the end of their lifespan and passing away into reincarnation.

These nine major realms are Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Mahayana.

Each major realm is further divided into smaller stages. For example, Qi Condensation is divided into ten minor stages, with stages one to three being the early stage, four to six the mid-stage, seven to nine the late stage, and ten the peak stage. After that, one can attempt to break through to the next realm, the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, from the Foundation Establishment stage onward, each realm is only divided into three minor stages: early, mid, and late. Only by starting at Foundation Establishment can one be considered to have embarked on the path of immortality. The Qi Condensation stage is merely the beginning of condensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into oneself, accumulating the foundation for cultivating immortality through ten minor stages. Only upon entering the Foundation Establishment stage can one be considered to have truly embarked on the path of cultivation. Therefore, aside from making the body stronger and allowing the use of some simple minor spells, the Qi Condensation stage only extends lifespan slightly compared to ordinary creatures of the same kind. But upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, lifespan suddenly increases to over two hundred years; the Golden Core stage can reach over five hundred years, and the Nascent Soul stage even reaches a terrifying two thousand years. Later, as the realm increases, lifespan continues to increase until breaking through the Mahayana stage and reaching True Immortality, at which point one can achieve eternal life.

He didn't know how long had passed, maybe a short while, maybe a long time. Li Yan slowly woke up. Just as he was about to open his eyes, a voice slowly sounded in his mind, "Don't open your eyes yet, or you might not be far from death." Li Yan was stunned and wanted to ask, but found that he couldn't make a sound. In a moment of urgency, he wanted to look around, but found that he couldn't open his eyes either. "I told you not to open your eyes, but you didn't listen, and now you're wasting my already meager Mana." The voice slowly came, filled with a hint of exhaustion.

Li Yan was shocked and thought, Is this death? Is hell this dark? I can't see, and even speaking is a luxury. Just then, his mind suddenly felt dizzy, and many images flashed quickly before his eyes. When he finally saw clearly, he found himself on a small black lake, and his body was suspended above it. The sky was also dark. This small lake was windless and waveless, very quiet, giving people a sense of oppression. He couldn't fall down, nor could he rise to a higher place in the sky. He could only stand there.

Just as he was looking around blankly, the air in front of him suddenly began to blur and distort. The distorted image had various black lines twisting, intertwining, and overlapping, eventually slowly forming a blurry figure. After the figure formed, it slowly walked towards him, and the blurry figure gradually became clearer. Li Yan gradually saw the appearance of the blurry figure. It was an old man, tall, with a head of snow-white hair scattered over his shoulders, a stern face, gaunt cheeks, and eyes like deep pools, unfathomable, as if he could see through thousands of years, penetrating this long space-time. He wore a gray robe, but his face was haggard. However, as he walked, a kind of aura pressed down on him, making him unstable and swaying involuntarily.

Li Yan smiled bitterly and thought, Is this the Avici Hell that the Buddhists often talk about in books? Below should be the Asura Sea of Hell, and this person should be the Soul-Reaping Messenger. But at least he doesn't look scary.

The old man slowly walked to him, staring at him, and a cold air emanated out, as if this space had frozen. Then he slowly said, "If I had woken up a moment later, you would have died."

Li Yan was stunned and couldn't help but say, "Lord Messenger, haven't I already died? Otherwise, why would I have come to this Avici Hell?"

After saying that, he was even more surprised. When could he speak? Wasn't he unable to speak just now? It seemed that his soul had left his body, and now it was undoubtedly his soul speaking.

The old man was stunned when he heard this, and a smile appeared on his gaunt face. "You think you're a soul? What you said is true, but not entirely."

Li Yan hesitated when he heard this. "Lord Messenger, what do you mean by that? I was just in the valley of Green Mountain Pass, and suddenly I came to this place. If it's not my soul being hooked, then what else could it be?"

The old man curled his lips and raised a playful smile when he heard Li Yan's words. "What if I told you that you are now staying in your own Sea of Consciousness, oh, that is, in your mental space? Would you believe it?"

Li Yan's expression was stunned. "Sea of Consciousness? My mental space?" He had never heard of Sea of Consciousness, but he understood some of his mental space. When he cultivated, he used mental power to drive Qi, so mental power was also the intention often called in the martial arts world.

"My body appears in the intention of my mind?" Li Yan had a strange expression on his face.

"You can say that. The Sea of Consciousness is a space of intention composed of mental power. It's just that ordinary people can't enter their own or other people's Sea of Consciousness. But now I've brought your consciousness into your Sea of Consciousness, forming a projection of your body. So it's right to say that a wisp of your soul is here." The old man said with a smile.

Li Yan was incredulous. His body appeared in his head. What kind of logic was that? The old man looked at Li Yan's dazed and confused look, smiled kindly at him, and then said, "I have limited time now, so I can only tell you briefly, and then there is something more important to tell you. The Sea of Consciousness is a person's mental power space, or you can call it a space of intention. The stronger the creature, the stronger the mental power, and the wider the mental power space. But this space is illusory, and ordinary people can't touch it. But for Cultivators, they can observe their own, and even other people's Sea of Consciousness. The wider the Sea of Consciousness, the more powerful the mental attack Immortal Techniques can be. Of course, the Sea of Consciousness has many uses, but you can only learn about it slowly in the future."

Li Yan only felt like he was falling into a fog. What was all this? Mental attacks? What were those? Why did Cultivators appear again? Immortals? Weren't those only in legends?

He was about to ask, but the Gray-Robed Old Man seemed to see his doubts and said directly, "I know you have many questions, but I don't have much time, so I can only tell you the important things. When you have the opportunity to join an Immortal sect in the future, you will slowly learn about these things." The old man said with a tired expression.

Li Yan heard this and looked at the old man's appearance. After a little thought, he stopped asking and stood there quietly, waiting for the old man to continue. The old man looked at his expression, nodded slightly, and began to tell him. As the Gray-Robed Old Man narrated, a magnificent and turbulent picture that Li Yan had never seen or heard of appeared before his eyes, making him dumbfounded and speechless.

Are there Immortals in the world? The answer is yes. Immortals have existed since ancient times. After Pangu created the heavens and the earth and Nüwa mended the sky, the world was divided into several levels: the Mortal Realm, the Immortal Spirit Realm, and the True Immortal Realm.

These realms exist in order from bottom to top. At the same time, there are many small realms within each realm, such as the Netherworld, the Demon Realm, and even the Spirit Plant Realm, which is dedicated to plants. They, like humans, can move, think, and control their own space, etc.

The Mortal Realm is the lowest realm. At first, it was inhabited by ordinary people and low-level demons. They have ordinary abilities, but they reproduce extremely quickly.

The Immortal Spirit Realm is located between the Mortal Realm and the True Immortal Realm. Many creatures in this realm are descendants of humans and demons from the ancient prehistoric period or other races. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this realm is abundant. Whether it is humans or other creatures, they have long lifespans. Their ancestors passed down many ancient Immortal Techniques. By cultivating these Immortal Techniques, they can have the ability to fly into the sky, enter the earth, and overturn rivers and seas. However, heaven and earth have their own laws. If you are given a long lifespan, you will be given other restrictions. These descendants of the prehistoric era have difficulty reproducing. Whether it is humans, demons, or other races, they have extremely difficult births, and the number of races is relatively small.

The highest level is the True Immortal Realm. This is the legendary real Immortal Realm. Like the ancient Pangu and Nüwa, they are supreme Immortals and live in this realm. They live as long as heaven and earth, shine with the sun and moon, and are immortal. Every True Immortal has great supernatural powers. They can change the world, pick stars and seize the moon, and even build their own small realms and create new life races.

The number of True Immortals in the True Immortal Realm is not constant. They also have the risk of falling, such as fighting between True Immortals and exploring wider unknown laws.

At the same time, many cultivators in the Immortal Spirit Realm who practice ancient Immortal Techniques can break the void between the two realms and ascend to the True Immortal Realm when their cultivation reaches the initial stage of True Immortal, which is above the Mahayana Realm.

To reach the initial stage of True Immortal, one must cultivate Immortal Techniques and go through the nine major realms of hard cultivation to ascend to the True Immortal Realm. But it is extremely difficult to cultivate through these nine major realms. Most people can only cultivate to the third or fourth realm in their entire lives, and then they will not make any progress. In the end, they can only exhaust their lifespan and sit down in reincarnation.

The nine major realms are Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Mahayana.

Each major realm has different minor realm divisions. For example, Qi Condensation is divided into ten minor realms, of which the first to third layers are the early stage, the fourth to sixth are the middle stage, the seventh to ninth are the late stage, and the tenth layer is the completion stage. Then, you can sprint to the next realm, the Foundation Establishment stage.

But since the Foundation Establishment stage, each realm is only divided into three minor realms: early, middle, and late. Since the Foundation Establishment stage, you are considered to have embarked on the path of Immortality. The Qi Condensation stage is just the beginning of condensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into yourself, accumulating the foundation for cultivating Immortality through the ten minor realms. Only when you enter the Foundation Establishment stage can you truly embark on the path of Immortality. Therefore, in addition to making the body stronger and being able to use some simple small spells, the lifespan of the Qi Condensation stage is only a little longer than that of ordinary creatures of the same kind. But after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the lifespan suddenly increases to more than two hundred years. The Golden Core stage can reach more than five hundred years, and the Nascent Soul stage can reach a terrifying two thousand years. Later, as the realm increases, the lifespan continues to increase until you break through Mahayana and reach True Immortal, then you can be immortal.