Inheriting the Dao

Desolate Province lived up to its name: a desolate land devoid of people.

Howling winds swept up sand, stones, and gravel, blotting out the sky and earth and nearly carrying away the last traces of life and greenery.

The windstorm was terrifying, but it struck a towering spirit mountain head-on and abruptly dispersed.

Ancient trees flourished year-round on the mountain, and streams murmured through it. It was a spirit mountain blessed land brimming with life.

At the foot of the mountain stood a weathered stone stele bearing three ancient characters.

Supreme Mystery Mountain.

Beside the stele, a damaged but clean flight of stone steps stretched all the way to the summit.

A cave abode stood at the summit, where the spiritual essence was strongest on all of Supreme Mystery Mountain and indeed in all of Desolate Province.

The spirit stream sprang from this very place.

Deep inside the cave abode, Li Chengxuan sat cross-legged on a jade platform. He had been in secluded cultivation, staking his life on a breakthrough, for a full three months.

Suddenly, winds and clouds surged around the summit.

A vast current of spiritual essence rose from the summit and flowed slowly down the stone steps along the mountainside.

Leaves rustled in the woods.

Fine ripples spread across the stream.

In just a few breaths, everything fell still.

Li Chengxuan slowly opened his eyes.

Qi Refining.

He had succeeded.

Halfway up the mountain stood the Ancestral Hall.

Its doors were half open.

Old Daoist Wu, the sect leader of Supreme Mystery Mountain, sat dozing in front of the doors, a yellow gourd in his hand.

His eldest disciple, Qi Yuntian, was broad and sturdy, with a square face. He was practicing his punches in the open space before the hall.

His fists whipped up a fierce wind, his killing intent was chilling, and a faint golden light shimmered over his body.

His second disciple, Luo Qingqing, wore green robes and had long hair and beautiful features.

But her expression was utterly cold, and she kept her eyes closed without saying a word.

The youngest junior sister, Chu Siyue, was only ten. She was squatting by the entrance, drawing circles with a twig in utter boredom.

Winds and clouds surged over the mountain.

Such a sight was highly unusual on Supreme Mystery Mountain, where an array kept them in check.

The people in front of the Ancestral Hall all looked up into the distance.

A figure in azure was approaching along the steps.

Chu Siyue stood up. When she saw the familiar figure, her eyes lit up, and she ran over to greet him, stumbling as she went. Her voice rang with delight: "Senior Brother!"

Li Chengxuan smiled faintly, picked up his excitedly approaching junior sister, and spun her around several times, making the little girl shriek.

Her bright laughter and loud complaints brought the whole of Supreme Mystery Mountain to life.

After playing around for a while, Chu Siyue circled Li Chengxuan, her dark eyes darting about. Putting on an air of great importance, she said, "Not bad, not bad! You really broke through to the Qi Refining Stage!"

Li Chengxuan ignored her and looked at Old Daoist Wu. "Master, your disciple has not failed you," he said respectfully.

Old Daoist Wu probably had yet to sober up. He looked dazed and bewildered, and only after staring at Li Chengxuan for a long time did he nod. "Good... not bad."

With that, he turned and walked into the Ancestral Hall.

Li Chengxuan, Qi Yuntian, and Luo Qingqing followed him in, one after another.

Only their youngest junior sister remained outside, peering curiously into the hall.

Chu Siyue was Old Daoist Wu's blood descendant, but her name had not been entered into Supreme Mystery Mountain's sect register. Naturally, she could not enter the Ancestral Hall.

The Ancestral Hall was plain and ordinary, less imposing than even a mortal clan's ancestral shrine.

There were no ancestral tablets in the hall, either.

Supreme Mystery Mountain's Dao lineage was exceedingly ancient, but it had suffered calamity after calamity.

By the time its inheritance reached the present, not only were its cultivation methods incomplete, but even the records of its ancestral masters through the generations had been lost.

Old Daoist Wu lit a stick of incense and said softly, "Come, pay your respects to the ancestral masters with me."

Li Chengxuan, Qi Yuntian, and Luo Qingqing said nothing as they bowed before a blank portrait.

According to the old Daoist, it was a supreme treasure passed down by the sect, a portrait of an ancestral master of Supreme Mystery Mountain whose cultivation had reached the heights of creation.

Years ago, Qi Yuntian, Luo Qingqing, and Li Chengxuan had once sneaked in to examine it carefully.

The portrait was plainly blank. There was no authentic likeness of an ancestral master to be found.

The joyous news had come so suddenly to Old Daoist Wu, and with the wine going to his head again, he rambled on and on about many events from long ago.

He stopped only when the stick of incense had nearly burned out. Turning around, he said, "Xuan'er, now that you have broken through to Qi Refining, you have inherited Supreme Mystery Mountain's Dao lineage."

"According to the sect rules and the covenant among the sects, I will pass my position to you today."

"As of today, Li Chengxuan is the three hundred and sixty-fourth sect leader of Supreme Mystery Mountain!"

With that, he took out a spirit seal.

Supreme Mystery Mountain had been in decline for many years.

The spirit seal was no token of the sect, but merely the control hub for the mountain's grand array.

Calm-faced, Li Chengxuan stepped forward, accepted it without hesitation, and placed his Divine Sense Mark on it.

From that moment on, the mountain's grand array, and even the lives of everyone there, were in his hands.

Even if Old Daoist Wu wanted to go back on his decision, it would be impossible.

Of course, there was no chance Old Daoist Wu would regret it. Having handed over the spirit seal, he looked as though a great mountain had been lifted from his back. He let out a long sigh and stepped aside.

Holding the spirit seal, Li Chengxuan stood before the portrait of the ancestral master.

Qi Yuntian and Luo Qingqing bowed with calm expressions. "Qi Yuntian/Luo Qingqing pays respects to the sect leader!"

"Good!"

"Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, in the end, I won our bet back then!"

Li Chengxuan chuckled, then his expression turned solemn. In a deep voice, he said, "Now, in my capacity as sect leader of Supreme Mystery Mountain, I expel Qi Yuntian and Luo Qingqing from the sect! From this day forward, neither of you is a disciple of Supreme Mystery Mountain!"

"I will strike your names from the register and notify the other sects."

"It's getting late. Don't linger. Hurry down the mountain!"

Qi Yuntian and Luo Qingqing both shuddered, their expressions deeply complicated. There was not a trace of resentment or anger, only guilt and sorrow they could barely conceal.

Li Chengxuan paid them no mind. He turned back and asked, "Master, what are your plans now?!"

The question caught Old Daoist Wu off guard. He drew a deep breath, his eyes growing moist and his voice rising with emotion. "Go home!"

"I'm going back to the Chu Lands in the Central Continent!"

"What I hate most in this life is that I was young and reckless, ignorant and fearless. One wrong thought saddled me with a karma as vast as the heavens, trapping me here for eighty-four years, unable to move! It also brought about the destruction of my kin and the deaths of all my descendants."

"Now, at last..."

Old Daoist Wu paused and turned aside, avoiding Li Chengxuan's gaze. "Xuan'er, don't hate me. I... had no other choice!"

Li Chengxuan smiled and shook his head. "There's no need for that, Master."

"If you hadn't saved me eighteen years ago, I would have been burned to ashes as a demon that had taken over someone's body."

"Besides, cultivating immortality has been my lifelong wish."

"Everything today is simply a matter of helping each other fulfill our wishes. We should all be happy."

When Old Daoist Wu heard this, the bitterness on his face deepened.

The covenant among the sects of the Southern Edge Continent stated, "When one person inherits the Dao, the others are freed."

If no one broke through to the Qi Refining Stage and inherited a sect's Dao lineage, everyone in the sect would be trapped in its spirit mountain blessed land until death, never to know freedom in their lifetimes.

In other words, if Li Chengxuan could not nurture the next Qi Refining cultivator, he would have to keep lonely watch on Supreme Mystery Mountain for the rest of his life, and he would also be punished by the Southern Reach sects.

Old Daoist Wu had naturally struggled and resisted as well.

Unfortunately, the outcome had been disastrous.

Of the Wu Clan, which had once ruled several mortal commanderies, only Old Daoist Wu and Chu Siyue remained.

Hatred and guilt were tangled together in Old Daoist Wu's heart. How could he take in Li Chengxuan's reassurances? He merely shook his head, staggered to his feet, took the thoroughly bewildered Chu Siyue by the hand, and walked down the mountain.

Once Old Daoist Wu had left, only the three fellow disciples Li Chengxuan, Qi Yuntian, and Luo Qingqing remained in the Ancestral Hall.

Qi Yuntian took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Words cannot express my gratitude for this great kindness! But I have my reasons. I cannot cultivate the Supreme Mystery cultivation method, much less be trapped on the Southern Edge Continent."

"Once I have settled my old affairs, I will surely come back and help you gain your freedom, Junior Brother!"

"With the ancestral master as my witness, should I break this oath, may heaven and earth strike me down!"

Before Li Chengxuan could speak, Luo Qingqing could not hold back.

"Hmph, what shameless boasting!"

"The Southern Reach sects... how could you possibly shake them?!"

Hearing this, Luo Qingqing sneered coldly, "There is something different about my bloodline. I can't cultivate the ancient Supreme Mystery method."

"But you are a remnant of Cangming and an orthodox inheritor of the Supreme Mystery Dao lineage. Bearing this karma should have been your duty!"

"Yet you would rather temper your body every day than cultivate, staying put at Fetal Breathing Perfection without making a move, watching Li Chengxuan risk his life to break through and shoulder the karma in your place."

"Old Daoist Wu has damaged his brain with drink, too. And the deaths of his entire clan back then scared the courage out of him. He actually turned a blind eye and let you do as you pleased!"

With the secret in his heart exposed, Qi Yuntian was even more embarrassed.

But he truly had no way to refute her. He sighed, lowered his head, and went down the mountain.

Li Chengxuan watched his eldest senior brother disappear into the distance, then smiled. "Fellow Daoist Luo, you're still here. Do you have some advice for me?"

Luo Qingqing glanced at Li Chengxuan. Without correcting the way he addressed her, she said indifferently, "I'm leaving the Southern Edge Continent for the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains in the Southern Borderlands of the Central Continent."

"Once I've established myself, I'll send cultivation resources, disciples, and ancient manuals."

"Remember to make a clean break when it's time. Don't be softhearted. The sooner you get out of this quagmire, the better."

Li Chengxuan shook his head and sighed. "Do not impose on others what you would not want for yourself."

"You've finally gained your freedom. Why send innocent people here to suffer?"

Luo Qingqing looked at Li Chengxuan, a little warmth entering her eerie, inhuman azure eyes, though her words remained cold and merciless. "You're my junior brother. I only care whether you suffer."

"As for whether people who have nothing to do with me live or die, what does that have to do with me?!"

With that, she paid no attention to Li Chengxuan's reaction. She leaped out of the Ancestral Hall and soon vanished at the end of the stone steps.

Everything had been taken care of.

Li Chengxuan glanced at the blank portrait of the ancestral master, ran his hand over the spirit seal, and stirred it with a thought.

Rumble.

Heaven and earth shook.

Supreme Mystery Mountain's grand array was deactivated.

The vast Spiritual Qi that had been confined to the mountain burst outward in all directions.

More importantly, with the array deactivated, it would no longer draw Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from the several commanderies of Desolate Province.

Spiritual Qi would gradually return to Desolate Province, and it would once again teem with life, fit for ordinary mortals to live in.

Such a great commotion naturally could not be concealed.

The Southern Verge Immortal Alliance might soon send someone to his door.

But Li Chengxuan no longer cared.

Breaking through to Qi Refining and inheriting the Dao lineage had not only freed his master, eldest senior brother, second senior sister, and youngest junior sister; it had also truly been Li Chengxuan's long-cherished wish across two lives.

While he was in secluded cultivation, risking his life to break through, the obsession deep in Li Chengxuan's heart had flared up, giving rise to boundless illusions. In a daze, he had found himself back on Earth in his previous life.

Stranger still, Li Chengxuan had a faint feeling that, after his breakthrough, something was different about his sea of consciousness.

"Although, according to the sect's records, Qi Refining is only the beginning of the Purple Mansion Golden Core Dao cultivation method."

"Only at Foundation Establishment can the mysteries of the cultivation method truly be revealed."

"Only upon reaching Purple Mansion can one attain Divine Abilities."

Li Chengxuan glanced at the blank portrait and bowed sincerely. "I beg the ancestral master to bless me and help this disciple find a way to break out of this cage!"

With that, he sat cross-legged in the Ancestral Hall, formed Law Seals with his hands, and carefully sensed his inner realm.

Within his vast, indistinct sea of consciousness, a gray bead floated up and down.

The bead was only the size of a fingertip.

Two holes were faintly visible on its surface.

"This is..."

A thought stirred in Li Chengxuan's mind, and he suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. He fell toward an unknown place.

After an unknown length of time, Li Chengxuan vaguely heard someone calling him.

Then his five senses gradually returned.

Li Chengxuan opened his eyes to see a middle-aged man in sun-protective clothing, a cigarette between his lips and a fishing rod in his hand. The man's face was full of delight. "Little brother, you're finally awake!"