Born with immortal seed

Chapter 1 The White Family Boy
Mizhou, Heishan County.

The Black Mountain Range is like a magical dragon, running east to west across the entire prefecture.

Deep within the Black Mountain Range, it is said that a third-tier demonic beast comparable to a Golden Core cultivator hides, a place rarely visited by humans, yet it also nurtures countless spiritual herbs;

The eastern side of the mountain range has been fully developed, and the sect of Qingfeng Sect, the largest power in Black Mountain County, is located here;

More than fifty large and small cultivation families are scattered across the mountain peaks in the foothills, and this area is home to almost 80% of the cultivators in Black Mountain County.

The spiritual veins necessary for cultivators are hard to find outside the Black Mountain Range. Moreover, the area is lush with vegetation and teeming with demonic beasts, making it easy to collect various cultivation resources. Over time, it has naturally become a paradise for cultivators.

Despite the presence of numerous cultivation families and behemoths like the Azure Maple Sect gathered in one place, the Black Mountain Range is vast enough that the areas are not crowded together. If the requirements for the quality of the spiritual veins are not high, a small family of a few dozen people can occupy a hundred miles without anyone objecting.

Among the many cultivation families, there is a Bai family that is famous for its spiritual plant cultivation techniques. Their ancestor was originally an inner disciple of the Fish-Dragon Sect, which was thousands of miles away. He came from a poor family and, although he was fortunate enough to embark on the path of immortality because of his spiritual root, he still had no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage after decades of hard work.

Seeking an opportunity, they traveled westward and were fortunate enough to find a cave ruin in the Black Mountain Range with a tattered treasure map. They received a gift left by a previous independent cultivator, and most importantly, the cave contained a Foundation Establishment Pill that was treasured by all Qi Refining cultivators in the world.

With the help of this Foundation Establishment Pill, the Bai family ancestor successfully established his foundation and settled down in Black Mountain County, where he spread his family and established a family of cultivators.

Today, the Bai family has been around for hundreds of years, with more than 10,000 members, and has firmly established itself in the Black Mountain region.

Of the tens of thousands of clansmen, no more than two hundred possess spiritual roots and are listed in the clan genealogy as members of the Bai clan. Among mortals, only about one in a thousand people will be born with a spiritual root. In cultivation families, this proportion is slightly higher, but most are low-grade talents such as five or four spiritual roots.

Only a small family like the Bai family would cherish every member with spiritual roots. In the Qingfeng Sect, however, five spiritual roots are simply considered useless, with no need for them to embark on the path of cultivation.

According to the Five Elements theory, if a person has all five elements in their body, their efficiency in refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth will be extremely low. Even if they cultivate diligently for a lifetime, they will at most reach the late stage of Qi Refining.

If one possesses only a single type of spiritual root, it is called a Heavenly Spiritual Root. The path before the Golden Core stage is smooth, and the Foundation Establishment stage is easily attainable for these favored children of heaven.

However, given the tens of millions of people in Black Mountain County, it is difficult for Qingfeng Sect to find even one outstanding individual with a Heavenly Spiritual Root in its talent recruitment ceremony held every ten years. The last time such a cultivation seed appeared was almost a hundred years ago.

After completing a full cycle of the Changchun Gong, Bai Zichen felt a stream of spiritual energy safely and steadily remain in his dantian. Unlike the previous few months, when no matter how hard he tried to cultivate, it was like a raft riddled with holes that couldn't hold a handful of water; every liter poured in would leak out.

"Exactly one hundred days, I have successfully guided Qi into my body. From today onwards, I can be considered a true cultivator, at the first level of Qi Refining!"

Even though he had lived two lives and already possessed the mindset of an adult, he was only nine years old in this life. The path of immortality was ethereal, and although he had been exposed to it since childhood, Bai Zichen, who had been deeply influenced by materialism in his previous life, only truly believed that this was a world of immortals and heroes when he actually became a cultivator, and that seeking immortality was no longer a myth or legend.

In his previous life, decades ago, society had an overproduction of resources. After graduating from school, Bai Zichen became a recluse, indulging in various virtual games, among which fantasy games were his favorites.

Unexpectedly, after playing through the game all night, I found myself in this world and became a member of a collateral branch of the Bai clan.

Bai Zichen's parents were ordinary members of the Bai clan without spiritual roots. They lived in Mozhu Town at the foot of the mountain. With the care of the Bai clan, although they had no hope of becoming immortals, they lived a relatively peaceful life. Unlike other mortals, they did not have to worry about exorbitant taxes, natural disasters, or man-made calamities.

The greatest wish of every member of the Bai clan is that one of their sons will become a cultivator, bringing glory to the family and even enabling the entire clan to ascend to heaven.

The town mayors of several ordinary towns under the Bai family all had direct relatives who became accomplished cultivators, which is why they were able to take up their positions.

Bai Zichen's lineage had never produced a cultivator in the past three generations. They honestly stayed in Shangbai Town, making a living by doing handicrafts. It wasn't until his father's generation that his eldest brother, Bai Jiu'an, was found to have spiritual roots and was taken to the main family in the mountains.

Thirty years of arduous cultivation have passed in the blink of an eye. With the aptitude of four spiritual roots, he has only reached the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage. However, in the eyes of the residents of Mozhu Town, he is already an extraordinary figure.

Bai Jiu'an became a cultivator and took good care of his nephews and younger generations, returning home every few years. A year ago, when he returned home, he casually tested his nephew's spiritual roots and discovered that he actually had the aptitude for three spiritual roots: wood, fire, and earth, which made the family overjoyed.

Bai Zichen finally felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. In the years since he transmigrated, he had worried countless times that he was just a mortal without spiritual roots, destined to spend his whole life farming in the countryside.

According to the Bai family's rules, people are tested on their spiritual roots at the age of ten. However, direct descendants of cultivators often have their spiritual roots tested at the age of six or seven so as not to affect their divine sense and to prepare for cultivation early.

Since Bai Zichen's aptitude for three spiritual roots was determined, he naturally had to return to the Bai family's territory with his uncle, Bai Jiu'an.

In those sects that have been passed down for thousands of years, a talent with three spiritual roots is merely mediocre, easily overlooked in a crowd, left to fend for itself; but in a small family like the Bai family, with only a hundred or so cultivators in the entire clan, it is already considered above average talent.

Moreover, Bai Zichen's three spiritual roots are in a mutually reinforcing relationship, making them top-grade among the three spiritual roots, which is even rarer.

Bai Jiu'an cared deeply for his nephew. After taking him back to his bamboo house, he spent time every day personally teaching him various cultivation common sense and experiences. At the same time, he spent spirit stones to buy medicinal baths and spiritual food to gradually improve Bai Zichen's physique.

It took more than half a year before they finally took out the Changchun Gong and let him start practicing Qi cultivation.

The Bai family has over a hundred cultivators, all descendants of the same ancestor. However, over the generations, many of them have become more distant from each other, with their blood ties becoming quite estranged.

Having a direct bloodline cultivator as a member of the clan, so that Bai Zichen can support each other on his cultivation journey, is far more trustworthy than having ordinary clan members.

Qi cultivation is the first hurdle every cultivator faces when they begin their practice. The title page of the Changchun Gong (Eternal Spring Technique) records the process of cultivating Qi for one hundred days and embarking on the path to immortality.

Of course, this timeframe is just a general term. Those with exceptional talent might only need a month or two, while those with dull aptitude, like those with useless spiritual roots, might take a year or two.

The difference in spiritual roots is already evident in the first step of the spiritual path.

Bai Zichen took exactly one hundred days, at a moderate pace, to realize that although his aptitude wasn't bad, it was completely incomparable to those geniuses.

Having become a cultivator, Bai Zichen felt completely transformed. He lightly jumped off the bed, stretched, and began to plan his cultivation journey.

"The Changchun Technique is not particularly strong in combat, but it excels in its stable true essence and long breath, making it less likely for cultivators to suffer from qi deviation. Before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, there's no need to worry about the technique itself. The most important question is where to obtain cultivation resources and what special skills I have to make a living."

Bai Zichen's young face revealed a maturity that was completely incompatible with his age.

With his uncle's teachings, Bai Zichen understood that besides innate talent, cultivation resources were the most important. With countless elixirs and miraculous medicines, even a cultivator with a useless spiritual root could be transformed into a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a massive amount of resources.

The Bai family patriarch is a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, and with seven or eight Qi Refining stage cultivators in the family, they are just managing to maintain the current situation of the Bai family. However, they are willing but unable to expand and develop the family.

After deducting the share from the top cultivators, the rest of the clan only receives a few spirit stones a year, and they mainly have to rely on themselves.

If you haven't achieved Foundation Establishment by fifty, your life is over!

This is a famous saying circulating in the Black Mountain Range, which states that if one cannot reach the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage and attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage before the age of fifty, one's path of cultivation is basically cut off.

A cultivator in the Qi Refining stage has a much stronger physical body than an ordinary person, and is free from illness and pain, but a lifespan of 120 years is already the limit.

After the age of fifty, one's Qi and blood decline year by year, making it increasingly difficult to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. In Bai Jiu'an's stories, many people in their seventies or eighties, after their Qi and blood had deteriorated, finally achieved the peak of Qi Refining. Unwilling to turn into a handful of dust in a few decades, they risked everything and fought desperately. But none of them survived the immense spiritual energy impact of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and their remains never existed.

"An immortal stroked my head and bestowed upon me immortality."

Bai Zichen opened the Heishan County Annals on the bookshelf, his gaze resolute.

"If there's no one to guide you, then rely on yourself."

I started writing this about five years ago, and now I'm finally ready to finish it.
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(End of this chapter)