Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

"call……"

Fang Qing exhaled a long breath, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, looking somewhat dazed.

Although the moon is still the same bright moon, it seems that he... has transmigrated!

It's really hard to know where to begin. He remembered that he hadn't had any great luck in his previous life either. It seemed to be just an ordinary sleep. He closed his eyes and opened them again, and then he found himself in the body of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

"No...it's not possession, but more like...reincarnation? Just breaking free from the mystery of the womb?"

"What's this? No big delivery service, I'll just sleep through the nine heavens?"

The boy looked bewildered, rubbed his temples, and memories from the past ten years or so, along with his instinctive mother tongue, surfaced in his mind.

The ancient Shu land, Ba County, Ba language...

Natural disasters and man-made calamities, displacement, Uncle...

Thinking of my uncle, his face, etched with deep lines, his eyes perpetually lifeless, only occasionally revealing the cunning characteristic of an old farmer, immediately comes to mind—he truly seems so close!

"Kid, are you alright?"

The old man who had been leading the way turned around, a hint of worry in his eyes.

When their hometown suffered a calamity, nine out of ten members of their clan died, leaving only this one sole heir.

"Uncle...I'm alright."

This book was first published on 2020s.com, providing you with a reading experience free of errors and disordered chapters.

Fang Qing fell silent, and a memory surfaced.

The mountain valley "Sanshui'ao" where my family has lived for many years was suddenly hit by a plague this year, and I became an orphan. I am now fleeing with my uncle.

"If this were a typical ancient alternate world, even though the start of a refugee life is miserable, it seems there's still the option of rebellion?"

"But based on my limited knowledge, most ancient peasant uprisings were merely cannon fodder serving as the vanguard for the king; they only gained momentum after small and medium-sized landowners and scholars joined in..."

Fang Qing silently complained to himself, but fortunately, he had his memories, so he just gave a few perfunctory replies and his uncle didn't notice anything amiss.

The two fell silent again, and by the moonlight, they came to a stream.

The moonlight was hazy, and the stream babbled, resembling a jade ribbon.

"Uncle, what do you want?"

Fang Qing arrived at the water's edge. The stream, though in early summer, was still icy cold, faintly reflecting a boy dressed in hemp clothing with a somewhat grayish-black face. Only his eyes shone brightly, full of spirit, like the finishing touch on a painting.

He was gradually coming to understand his situation, but he didn't know why his uncle had led him away from the main group so mysteriously tonight.

"Hmm, it's strange that people fleeing the plague are gathering, and what's more, no one in the group has fallen ill..."

Fang Qing, who possessed modern hygiene knowledge, was filled with doubt.

"What do you know?"

The old man smiled smugly, but his expression turned somewhat somber: "We fled from a plague-ridden land. Even if we get to Tianfu City, I'm afraid they won't accept us... We need to get some travel expenses. Having money in hand makes us feel less anxious."

Fang Qing was speechless for a moment; reality was ten or a hundred times darker than he had imagined.

He once thought that escaping the plague-stricken land was a stroke of luck, and that even if he had to sell himself into servitude to a wealthy family, at least he would have something to eat.

But he forgot... This is an era where even those who want to be slaves cannot obtain it; even if they wanted to sell themselves, there might not be anyone willing to take them.

Moreover, given a choice, who would want to kneel and be a slave?

"so……"

Fang Qing looked at his uncle, his eyes lighting up.

His memory was clouded, and he had been seriously ill, so he was in a daze and didn't pay much attention.

It seems that most of the family's heritage was probably in my uncle's hands. He's truly mature beyond his years... cough cough, well...

Under the moonlight, the old man carefully took out a package from his bosom. After opening the package, there was another layer of floral cloth, tied with countless knots.

When the old man opened it with a reverent expression, Fang Qing saw that it was a... book?

"This is... the calendar enshrined in the ancestral hall?"

Fang Qing recognized it. Although the book was mostly incomplete, it had always been enshrined at the highest point of the Fang family ancestral hall and could be seen every year during ancestral worship ceremonies.

In fact, I remember that whenever there was an important event, the clansmen would come to the ancestral hall, and the old clan chief would carefully take out this tattered book and read it through...

Thinking of those faces from her memory, Fang Qing felt a pang of pain in her heart, and a sense of sadness washed over her...

"What calendar? Bah... This is the Celestial Calendar! Do you understand the Celestial Calendar?!"

The old man spat, as if possessed by the old patriarch, and carefully opened the 'divine object' in his hand.

Fang Qing came closer, feeling fortunate that he could read. This was incredible, as literacy was generally low in ancient times. If he could read, he could find a job in the city as an accountant or clerk, at least he wouldn't starve.

He glanced at it and saw that although the pages were old, they were very smooth, clearly indicating that each previous owner had cherished them.

Above the title page, there is a line of neatly written text:

"The abundance or scarcity of a year, the movement of spiritual energy, the transformation of yin and yang—these are all but minor achievements of the year..."

"【Duty Officer】?"

Fang Qing's heart stirred. He had been caught up in the situation before and hadn't thought much of it, but now, looking at it again, he felt that every word and phrase seemed to carry great terror and reveal some secret of the world.

The night was quiet, with only the rustling sound of the old man turning the pages.

"Found it!"

Suddenly, his expression brightened, and he pointed to a page: "Young man, look... the clan chief is my second father. I personally saw him mark this page back then, afraid he would forget!"

The old man said with a hint of pride, "Our Fang family's ability to occupy 'Sanshui'ao' is no accident; we have a solid foundation!"

Fang Qing seemed to understand but not quite. It seemed that the clan was indeed relatively well-off, able to afford to send school-aged children, such as himself, to learn to read. This investment was considerable. The old farmers who toiled in the fields with their backs to the sky could not possibly afford to support them with just a few acres of meager land, so they must have other sources of income.

"It's probably a traditional craft passed down only to men... and it's actually recorded in a book? Is Uncle trying to make money off it?"

"Hmm, indeed a clan with profound heritage..."

Fang Qing glanced at it and read aloud: "Eight thousand four hundred and twelve years ago, the year of Kang Metal, May fourteenth, auspicious for dragons and snakes, suitable for travel, breakthroughs, gathering Qi... This?"

He was surprised. This page was written in calendar format, and he recognized all the words, but he couldn't understand them when they were put together.

"Could it be... cultivation? Are there really immortals in this world?"

Fang Qing felt a surge of passion within her.

"Don't look at those characters; they're from a hundred years ago. Look at what later generations added!"

The old man offered a suggestion.

Fang Qing nodded, and sure enough, between the lines of text on this page, he saw a few more lines of ink: "...Take ancient swords and blades, and on a full moon night, immerse them in a stream, reciting the 'Seven-Character Secret Incantation,' and you will obtain a wisp of 'Moonlight Stream'...A hundred wisps become a thread, a hundred threads become the Dao..."

"Not bad, not bad. This is the secret Qi-gathering technique passed down in our Fang family. This technique is only passed down to the clan leader. If his whole family hadn't been wiped out by the plague, it wouldn't have been our turn."

The old man beamed with joy: "Our Fang family ancestors also had a connection with the immortals. A hundred years ago, they received the Qi-gathering method from an immortal. Every year, they would offer several swords containing 'Moonlight Radiance' as tribute, and the rewards they received would be incredibly generous. It's a pity that I didn't know about the seven-word secret before... and it's only useful on this day."

He sighed, took the ring-pommel sword that he had been carrying with him for some time from his waist, and was about to dip it into the stream.

"So... this is a calendar from a hundred years ago? It's a hundred years out of date, brother!"

A sense of absurdity arose in Fang Qing's heart: "Is it still of any use?"

"What big brother? I'm your uncle!!" The uncle glared at him: "Besides, what's a hundred years? The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the twelve [yearly] officials govern the months. These things have been the same since ancient times, and they won't change even in a thousand or ten thousand years... The old patriarch always dries his rice on this day every year, without a doubt!"

He recited mantras and incantations as he devoutly dipped the knife into the stream.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Fang Qing seemed to see streaks of light gathering on the blade, resembling the veins of a person.

……

"Haha...it's done."

Time passed, and just as Fang Qing's legs were starting to ache, he saw his uncle raise the rusty ancient knife in his hand, his face beaming with joy: "If we take this to the Luo family, we can at least sell it for ten or eight taels of silver..."

"You've already collected a wisp of moonlight? Why not collect more? Or even gather a hundred wisps, refine them into a single strand, or even ten thousand strands to achieve enlightenment?"

Fang Qing was somewhat surprised.

"No, this method of gathering energy consumes the earth's energy and spiritual essence... It takes at least a year or two to recover from it."

The old man shook his head: "We used to occupy Sanshui'ao, with three streams, and we only got three pieces a year... let alone collecting a single thread or a single sliver?"

He glanced at Fang Qing, chuckled again, and thrust the knife forward: "Everyone knows that immortals cultivate by absorbing qi, but you have no magical power... Even if I put it in front of you, can you 'harmonize' your qi? Even if you eventually synthesize a 'true qi,' can you absorb it?"

"No magic power? So you can't combine your qi? Uncle, tell me more about immortals, are there really immortals?" Fang Qing had more doubts in his heart, and at the same time, he secretly sighed that his uncle was indeed as rumored to have been out in the world and was very knowledgeable.

"Of course! I even know that the first realm of immortals is 'Qi Absorption'!" The old man smiled proudly, but then looked somewhat sad: "Young man, listen to my advice, immortal opportunities are hard to come by... Although our family has an ancestral method of gathering Qi, without the help of an immortal, we can never synthesize a true 'Qi' to enter the Qi Absorption realm... We can only sell the equipment we get each year."

"So... to cultivate oneself, one must absorb qi, but only a cultivator can ultimately refine the true 'qi' into a finished product?"

Fang Qing secretly guessed: "To cross the threshold of cultivation, putting aside the issue of aptitude or cultivation techniques, the most important thing, 'a strand of true qi,' is enough to stop many people..."

He was somewhat speechless: "Without magical power, one cannot synthesize true 'Qi,' and without Qi, one cannot embark on cultivation and cultivate magical power... Isn't this a vicious cycle of self-cultivation?"

Based on my experience with novels from my previous life, shouldn't cultivating immortality be a matter of widely disseminating a cultivation technique, allowing anyone with spiritual roots to cultivate? Why is it so complicated? Has it become a Möbius strip problem of which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Fang Qing shook his head, deciding to ignore that for now: "Did our Fang family ancestor become an immortal?"

"Of course not... there isn't."

The old man shook his head: "That ancestor is said to have lived for two cycles of sixty years, dying peacefully without illness, and he wasn't a cultivator either..."

"From this perspective, what my family has gained can hardly be considered a stroke of good fortune; at most, it's like being a laborer or oxen under an immortal..."

Fang Qing was speechless. Wasn't this just like modern-day cattle and horses? They ate grass and produced milk.

"You can't say that..."

The old man also seemed a bit conflicted: "Sigh... at least our family gets some income, and there's a considerable amount of revenue every year..."

Fang Qing touched the hard object on his chest, a burning desire rising within him: "I must embark on the path of cultivation, to see the higher horizons, and perhaps... even uncover the secrets of the [Yearly Duty]!"

Having finally arrived in the extraordinary world, how could one not pursue immortality?

Without a doubt, if the Qi Convincing Realm is merely the beginning, then the Twelve-Year-Old must have already become an "Immortal," which is why they have remained prosperous for so long!

Fang Qing immediately felt that he had a new and ambitious goal.

"【Kang Jin】Yao? Is that a title for a senior official?"

He was still just an ordinary mortal, yet he knew the name of a powerful immortal, even if it was only by a nickname.

But upon reflection, it somehow makes sense.

After all, he might not be able to name many former governors of the United States, but he certainly knew who the president of the United States was, and the same applies when you convert the names.

Just then, something unexpected happened!

"Here it is!"

With a shout, a multitude of scattered footsteps rapidly approached.

"Oh no, it's that mangy dog, Ma Laosan!"

The old man's expression changed: "That damned old geezer, he's been watching your father the whole time!"

He drew his knife, turned around, and strode forward: "Outnumbered, let's split up and run!"