A True Person Called Me His Brother

A full two thousand years had passed since the Bright Radiance Immortal Sect's destruction. True Person Lu had repeatedly made divinations with the Divine Talisman Turtle Shell.

At last, his divination revealed that the hope of reviving the immortal sect lay in Gazing Immortal Port.

He had kept watch over the place for the past ten years, visiting from time to time. Today, he had finally found him.

Zhou Ning was Ji Wumian's reincarnation.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, where did you obtain the Yang Metal Qi?" True Person Lu asked, his voice carrying a hint of warmth.

Zhou Ning was taken aback. "How did you know?"

True Person Lu laughed despite himself. His memory loss really was thorough.

He explained, "We Qi Refining cultivators have no secrets before a Purple Mansion cultivator."

Realm, Cultivation Method, fate and the like-all could be determined with a divination.

Hearing that, Zhou Ning felt his whole body go numb. Weren't these higher cultivators a little too terrifying?

He thought for a moment and answered, "I had a portion of True Yang Metal Qi when I was born. I suppose it was destined by heaven."

"Yes, destined by heaven." True Person Lu did not contradict him.

Zhou Ning felt shrouded in mysteries, as though he were caught on a chessboard stretching between heaven and earth. And this man spoke in riddles, leaving him unable to make heads or tails of it.

He asked directly, "Senior, did you seek me out for something?"

"There's no need to call me senior. Let us address each other as equals. I'll call you fellow Daoist, and you can call me True Person."

True Person Lu was quite amiable.

"Come with me, fellow Daoist." As soon as he spoke, Zhou Ning felt his whole body grow light. The scenery before him changed rapidly: a dim yellow sky, a bustling great city, a black lake, a boundless grassland...

He seemed to be flying, yet also passing through space. Whether it took an instant or a long time, he did not know how many tens of thousands of miles they had crossed.

Zhou Ning came to a stop, solid ground finally beneath his feet. He stood atop a peak that pierced the sky, and when he looked down, he saw the upper half of a sheer, knife-cut cliff rising from a sea of clouds.

True Person Lu clasped his hands behind his back and gazed into the distance. "The Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven has opened. Fellow Daoist Zhou, why don't you cooperate with me to retrieve the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart?"

Zhou Ning activated the Spirit Eye Technique and looked in the same direction, but saw nothing.

True Person Lu glanced at him and frowned slightly. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, isn't your Law Technique a little too shoddy?"

Zhou Ning felt embarrassed. There was nothing he could do about it. Eye techniques were rare to begin with, and he had no way to obtain anything that good.

Besides, the Cultivation Methods and such at Cuiwei Lake were weaker than those in this realm.

He felt no inferiority, however, and said mildly, "It's just a little Law Technique I created on a whim."

"No wonder." True Person Lu understood. Though the technique was crude, it had been cultivated to a considerable depth.

Ji Wumian had been a genius to begin with.

A thought stirred in Zhou Ning's eyes. "Might you have a good method, True Person? Once I've cultivated a Secret Method, I'll be better able to cooperate with you."

True Person Lu was puzzled. "Why don't you cultivate the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils that came with the Xinsi Golden Scripture? It's a top-notch method."

Zhou Ning sighed. "To tell you the truth, I lost all the experience that came with the Cultivation Method. I still have to be cautious with Secret Methods."

"Very well." True Person Lu flicked out a streak of light.

Zhou Ning felt a chill between his brows. Lines of ink-black text poured into his sea of consciousness, scrambling to arrange themselves in neat order.

"...slowly sever the eye meridians, preventing blood from flowing..."

It was the cultivation experience corresponding to the Secret Method, Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.

Overjoyed, Zhou Ning forcibly pulled his consciousness away from the experience and said:

"True Person, you are benevolent and generous. Many thanks."

This senior was a good man. Though he wanted Zhou Ning to do something for him, he really did give him benefits.

He was much better than that lousy Su Household, which knew only how to squeeze him dry. It was just a Foundation Establishment Aristocratic Clan, yet it loved putting on airs. Sooner or later, he would make the Su Household repay his kindness!

"Have you considered cooperating, fellow Daoist? This Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven could be of tremendous benefit to you."

Though Ji Wumian had reincarnated, risen, and perished again and again upon the chessboard laid out by the Grand Yin Splendid Mansion,

even within that small space, there was room to make arrangements.

If he could obtain a few Foundation Establishment Realm Jade-Casting True Gold Talismans, they would be of tremendous benefit to someone like him who cultivated Wu Earth, allowing him to burn away the Divine Ability and refine its metal nature.

But Ji Wumian's cultivation was still too weak, and he needed more time to grow.

"True Person, what sort of place is the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven?" Zhou Ning asked.

He had yet to sell the eel blood or buy medicinal ingredients. If he died inside, the trip would have been for nothing.

"The Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven..."

As Zhou Ning listened to True Person Lu, he learned that it had been the seat of the Withering and Flourishing Dao Sect, founded by Withered Wood True Lord, who had attained the fruition of Precelestial Xun Wood.

It had collapsed now, but a great deal remained of the sect: spiritual materials, Law Artifacts, secret techniques...

True Person Lu was a Purple Mansion cultivator, strong enough to take a seat at the table and claim a share.

Zhou Ning understood. Hesitation showed on his face. "I can certainly go, but I'm only at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement. My strength is lacking, and I'm afraid..."

True Person Lu knew his concern. He pondered briefly, then formed a spiritual seal with his fingertips. "I'll give you a Divine Ability."

The dark turtle shell in his hand flew up in response and spun around. The markings on its surface lit up, and talisman characters flew out, transforming into the enormous amber-colored phantom of a turtle shell, suspended above Zhou Ning's head.

"Immovable Mountain!"

True Person Lu pressed his palm downward. The phantom descended over Zhou Ning and enclosed him. Its spiritual light flickered twice, then gradually faded from sight.

Zhou Ning's expression turned strange. "I've become a turtle?"

He paused, then asked, "True Person Lu, this Divine Ability of yours..."

True Person Lu kept a straight face and interrupted, "My Divine Ability is very useful. If you encounter danger, you only need to form a seal..."

With that, he casually swept his hand aside. As though heaven and earth were working with him, the clouds parted, and the view opened wide.

On the vast land below sat two figures, with a withered tree standing between them, enduring since time immemorial.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, this technique can keep you safe for half a month. Go to that withered tree and bring me the Earth Marrow Withered Wood Heart, and you may exchange it with me for an item. As for any other opportunities, those will depend on your luck..."

True Person Lu's figure gradually became indistinct and vanished.

True Person Lu used his Law Power to guide the flow of Qi. His spiritual light was contained and his robes did not stir, yet mountains and rivers swept past beneath his feet for ten thousand miles.

The spiritual light on the turtle shell in his hand flickered madly.

"Judging by the direction, it's in Gazing Immortal Port. How strange..."

"Could that Zhou Ning be an impostor?"

He could tell there was something strange about Zhou Ning, and he had even felt an impulse to slap the man to death.

In the end, he did not dare act. Even his use of Immortal Caresses the Crown to search his soul had met with a backlash. One could imagine what manner of technique that was; it had to involve the arrangements of a True Lord or Dao Master.

If he got entangled in any of it, it would likely be very troublesome.

"Never mind. This man has indeed cultivated the Xinsi Golden Scripture."

Who he was did not matter. What mattered was that he cultivated the Xinsi Golden Scripture.

He wanted only the Foundation Establishment Realm Jade-Casting True Gold Fire Talismans to help him refine the immensely heavy metal nature within the Wu Earth.

Still, he had to make a trip to Gazing Immortal Port to see what had happened.

Halfway there, the sky suddenly darkened, and waves of heat surged between heaven and earth.

Fiery red phantoms appeared in the great void: qilin, fire phoenixes, heavenly horses, and all manner of exotic beasts.

A purple-robed figure slowly appeared. Fire patterns flowed across his robes, streaming like a horse's mane.

His voice was not loud, but it carried authority. "Turtle True Person, withdraw!"

True Person Lu's clear-cut face twisted slightly. Spiritual objects of gold and stone, agate, jade, and the like rose behind his head.

"True Person Huajing, do you mean to bar my way?" His voice carried a hint of anger.

True Person Huajing was unconcerned and invoked a name. "It is Li Fire True Lord's decree. Do you dare defy it?"

"Keep out of what doesn't concern you, and go back to moving your mountains like a good boy!"

With that, True Person Huajing sat down where he was. The fire-shaped beasts behind him surrounded True Person Lu and kept close watch over him.

True Person Lu knew how formidable the man's Divine Ability was, so he covered his head with the dark turtle shell and lay facedown atop a great mountain, without moving.

Gazing Immortal Port, the mortal residential district.

In a separate courtyard with blue-tiled roofs, a richly dressed man in his early thirties paced anxiously outside a room.

The midwife's raspy voice urged someone on without pause. "Push, madam! The head is already out!"

"It's out!"

Ji Wumian awoke from oblivion. The world before his eyes was blurry, as though he were in the great void.

His eyes were dazed. Who am I? Where did I come from?

A moment later, his memories fell into place.

Yes, I remember now... I am Ji Wumian, the foremost True Person in the Seven Qin, with five methods perfected and unrivaled combat strength. My Daoist name is True Person Mingjin!

I came from the Bright Radiance Immortal Sect. My master created the Xinsi Golden Scripture and attained the intercalary position as a True Lord. Later, he devoured Geng Metal and Wu Earth, replaced Li Fire True Lord, and sought to subdue the other fire positions and claim the position of Dao Master, but the Grand Yin Splendid Mansion intervened... The immortal sect was destroyed...

A wisp of undying metal nature was placed within me to protect me through reincarnation...

Now that I have returned, I will revive the Bright Radiance Immortal Sect, climb to the very summit step by step, and then wipe out the Grand Yin Splendid Mansion!

The sight before Ji Wumian gradually grew clear.

He saw the wrinkled face of a woman, her skin yellowish and darkened.

Has she come to receive me after my reincarnation? There isn't a trace of Law Power on her. Could she be a Golden Core True Lord?

Delight appeared on the woman's face. "Ji..."

Ji Wumian's soul trembled slightly. As expected, she knows this True Person's name!

"He has a jiji, madam! It's a boy, master! It's a boy!" Holding the swaddled infant, the woman shouted joyfully again and again.

The woman reached out a rough finger and even gave it a gentle flick.

Ji Wumian froze all over. He hurriedly opened his mouth and shouted, "I am Ji Wumian! Quickly, help me restore my cultivation and revive the immortal sect!"

Yet to everyone else, all that could be heard was an infant's wailing.

The midwife said cheerfully, "Listen to how loud this child cries. He's bound to make something of himself!"

"Help me restore my cultivation, help me..." Ji Wumian's consciousness gradually scattered and returned to chaos.

His final thought was, The reincarnation failed. I'm afraid I'll have to wait until next time... I can't accept this...