Chapter 1 Part 1

Lian Yunzhi had just emerged from the Yunshan Small Secret Realm when he received a Message Paper Crane from his friend Fang Tianxin:

【Mu Cheng is in trouble!!!】

Lian Yunzhi’s heart skipped a beat. He did not immediately start celebrating. Instead, he first retrieved the Messaging Jade Token marked with Fang Tianxin’s imprint from his Storage Bracelet.

The jade token flashed steadily. As soon as Lian Yunzhi infused it with spiritual power, Fang Tianxin’s voice transmitted over impatiently:

“Mu Cheng is in trouble! This time, it’s really serious!”

“Are you sure?”

Lian Yunzhi stepped onto his Flying Sword, his tone laced with skepticism.

After all, Fang Tianxin had never been reliable.

The last time, he claimed Mu Cheng was in trouble and had died in a secret realm. Yet a few days later, not only did Mu Cheng emerge from the secret realm, but he had also leaped straight to Golden Core—the first native Golden Core cultivator in Xiaoze State.

The time before that, he said Mu Cheng was in trouble, that his spiritual root was abnormal and he could never cultivate in this lifetime. In the end, Mu Cheng turned out to possess the “Myriad Absorption Spiritual Root” described in ancient texts, capable of absorbing spiritual energy from any faction or element in the world—he could advance realms just by lying down and sleeping.

…In short, thanks to Fang Tianxin’s unreliable false alarms, the fireworks Lian Yunzhi had wasted over the years could have been piled into a grave mound.

Fang Tianxin: “I’m sure! Absolutely certain! This time, Mu Cheng is truly in trouble. I heard his cultivation was crippled, his spiritual root wasted, and he was thrown out of the Mu Family like a dog! If you come back any later, he’ll probably be dead, and you’ll miss all the excitement.”

Lian Yunzhi’s figure paused mid-air, his expression dreamlike.

…The surprise was too overwhelming; he needed a moment to process it.

Fang Tianxin sighed, his tone unable to hide his schadenfreude: “I heard he’s not even the Mu Family’s blood. His real father was a Mu Family servant who lusted after the family’s power and swapped his own son for the position of Second Young Master Mu. The real Mu Family Young Master was strangled and tossed away at birth… Tsk tsk. Apparently, Mu Cheng knew about this all along but kept quiet, brazenly usurping the nest. When it was exposed, he even killed his father and mother—both his birth parents and foster parents! The Mu Family Head mobilized the entire clan’s power to cripple his spiritual root and expel him… I’d say the Mu Family Head was too merciful. He must have considered their past grandfather-grandson bond…”

Lian Yunzhi: “…”

Lian Yunzhi listened in stunned silence. He glanced around and viciously pinched his own arm, suspecting he had not left the secret realm but fallen into some tacky illusion realm woven from a cheap novel.

“…Yunzhi? Lian Yunzhi?!”

Snapping back to reality, Lian Yunzhi extinguished the jade token and focused on his Imperial Sword Flight: “Not now. I’m on my way.”

Eager to return and witness the spectacle, Lian Yunzhi pushed his Imperial Sword Flight to maximum speed.

The gale whistled past his ears. Lian Yunzhi’s heart churned with mixed emotions.

Though the former Second Young Master Mu, Mu Cheng, had once topped Lian Yunzhi’s list of most hated people, in truth, they had only met face-to-face once.

.

Lian Yunzhi’s first encounter with Mu Cheng had been eight years prior, at the Immortal Assembly Banquet hosted by the Mu Mansion.

At that time, it was the tenth year of Xiaoze State’s Spiritual Energy Revival, the first day outsiders’ cultivators appeared publicly in Xiaoze State.

“This is a spirit stone—”

The Qi Refining cultivator, revered as an “Immortal Lord” by Xiaoze State’s mortals, stood beaming on the high platform specially built by the Mu Mansion. He eagerly displayed the transparent yet iridescent stone in his hand to the crowd.

“Spirit stones are the universal currency in the cultivation world. They’re used for daily cultivation, setting up arrays, healing wounds…”

The “Immortal Lord” lectured from the stage, while the mortals below widened their eyes in rapt attention. There were men and women, old and young, all focused intently, their expressions filled with reverence and longing.

Emboldened, the young cultivator straightened his back further, his voice grew more impassioned, and he shared everything he knew about cultivation without reservation.

“These are talismans—

“These are magic artifacts—

“These are pills—

“The cultivation realms are: Drawing Qi into Body, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Refining, Body Integration, Great Vehicle, and Ascension…

“Me? I’m only at Qi Refining Layer 7… Xiaoze State has restrictions allowing only cultivators below Foundation Establishment to enter, but with the Spiritual Energy Revival, those restrictions will loosen…”

The Little Immortal Lord on stage spoke at length.

He explained that Xiaoze State was no ordinary mortal realm. Tens of thousands of years ago, it had been a true cultivation world—even the Upper Immortal Realm among them—with countless cultivators ascending from here. A catastrophe later caused spiritual energy to wither, reducing it to a mortal land. But now, with Spiritual Energy Revival, spirit veins, secret realms, and demon beasts emerging one after another, it would soon become a true cultivation world in just a few years.

He said that to cultivate, one needed a spiritual root in their body. With an excellent spiritual root, one could embark on a smooth path to immortality, with boundless skies and seas, eternal lifespan without worries.

He said that once he reported back to his sect, elders would come to establish sects, select those with superior spiritual roots, teach them immortal arts, and guide them onto the true path of cultivation…

Lian Yunzhi listened in a daze, wishing he could immediately test his spiritual root, learn immortal arts, and be whisked away by the Little Immortal Lord to that magnificent, wondrous new world.

But as the lecture dragged on, the Little Immortal Lord’s voice grew hoarse and faint.

As a mere nine-year-old child, Lian Yunzhi sat at the back. He squeezed forward repeatedly but still could not hear clearly.

To make matters worse, a growing buzzing noise erupted from behind his right side, drowning out everything.

Lian Yunzhi turned displeased toward the source of the disturbance.

Hah! It was a bunch of half-grown youths gathered around fighting crickets!

Noticing Lian Yunzhi’s gaze, the young boy holding the Cricket Cage lazily lifted his head.

He appeared about the same age as Lian Yunzhi: high nose bridge, thin lips, phoenix eyes that seemed to smirk without smiling, sword brows that seemed arched without arching—utterly obnoxious no matter how you looked. His attire was a mess too. Though clad in a luxurious dazzling treasure-blue wide-sleeved brocade robe, his waist was casually tied with a plain sash, devoid of any accessories, exuding laziness and dishevelment unfit for his young age.