Cultivating Immortality Through a Hundred Lifetimes: I Possess the Heavenly Book of Merit

"You don't need to come anymore until after I leave."

These were Tao'an's last words to Yu Yan.

Despite receiving the new talisman book, he felt somewhat depressed.

The causes of the past life lead to the effects of the next life; who can truly see through the causes of the past?

Tao'an is still Tao'an, but Yu Sheng is long gone. Now, he is just an old Taoist priest who still clings to the past.

Back at the meditation center, Wei Jing brought the date for the start of the assessment, which was five days from now.

Inside the house, Yu Yan sat at the table and solemnly opened the talisman book.

After careful consideration, he decided to learn new basic talismans.

A mid-grade first-level talisman is very difficult. With his current comprehension, he probably won't be able to learn it in just five days, which would just be a waste of time for the assessment.

It would be better to follow Tao'an Daoist's advice and continue to study basic talismans in depth to increase the success rate of passing the test.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Yan threw himself back into learning the new talismans.

However, when he tried to use his spiritual power to construct runes on the talisman paper, the book emitted a white light, and the runes on the paper seemed to come alive, jumping out of the book and appearing in front of Yu Yan.

He reached out to touch it, but felt nothing; it passed right through him.

Runes were scattered throughout the room, on the walls and the floor, arranged in neat rows, striking and eye-catching.

"A book of talismans, yet it has such strange features."

"The number of runes spread out here far exceeds the number recorded in the book."

"There are so many basic talismans?"

Yu Yan was surprised, and then he remembered the inexplicable smile on Tao'an Daoist's face when he left.

He shook his head; now was not the time to think about these things.

Now that we've received so much help, we can't afford to let ourselves down.

For now, it's best to focus on studying talismans and pass the assessment to enter the inner sect as soon as possible.

In the days that followed, Yu Yan no longer went to the Drywood Dojo.

No, because of his tireless planting, the place is now full of peach trees, so it would be more appropriate to call it Peach Blossom Paradise.

In short, he stopped going to the General Affairs Hall to accept missions, and instead bought the Bigu Pill, spending his days in seclusion at home, focusing on cultivating the Way of Talismans.

Regardless of external changes, they only recognize the runes in their hands.

He has experienced countless changes of day and night, and countless cycles of days and nights, burying himself in arduous cultivation.

Until this day, there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard.

Yu Yan awoke from his daze, looked at the room full of talismans bathed in the morning light, and gently exhaled.

The runes contained in this book far exceeded my expectations.

It was only then that he realized that among talismans of the same grade, there were inferior, finished, and superior products.

He immersed himself in it, studying day and night, and even with his current level of understanding, he has only mastered half of it so far.

I don't know if it will be enough.

After activating a few cleaning talismans, the room was instantly clean. After tidying up briefly, Yu Yan opened the door to the courtyard.

"Junior Brother Yu, how is your seclusion going?"

Before he could answer, Wei Jing handed him a jade tablet engraved with his Taoist name.

"No matter what the final result is, just do your best. Even if you don't make it into the inner sect, I'll protect you from now on."

"This is the identification document required to participate in the assessment. The first round of assessment will officially begin at the summit at 1:00 PM this afternoon. Remember not to be late."

"Thank you, senior sister."

Yu Yan bowed respectfully, accepted the jade token, and watched Wei Jing turn and leave.

As if she had thought of something, she took a few steps, then suddenly turned around and said:

"By the way, the group heading to the secret realm at 9:00 AM today will be setting off. They'll be gathering in the open space in front of the General Affairs Hall. If any of your friends are among them, you can go see them off."

Friends——

Luo Cheng was one of Yuan Fufeng's friends, but he had long since left the sect to cultivate spirit fields.

There is also a Tian Erwa on Lianfeng Peak.

However, the two were not on the same immortal peak, and their communication relied entirely on letters. To enter or leave other immortal peaks, they needed the peak master's credentials, making it extremely difficult for them to meet.

"Forget it, I should go back and conserve my energy for this afternoon's assessment."

Yu Yan shook his head, turned around, and went back into the house.

Meanwhile, on the mountainside of Xianfeng, in front of the General Affairs Hall, a great deal of noise was taking place.

The disciples from Yuanfu Peak who were about to depart for the secret realm were gathered in the center.

Some people had smiles on their faces as they talked to their companions about their plans after returning from the secret realm.

Some people had serious expressions as they checked the talismans needed to enter the secret realm in their storage bags.

Standing at the front, Qinglu Daoist took in the various emotions below and said to Tao'an Daoist beside him:

"The other four major sects are eyeing us covetously. This exploration of the secret realm is not as peaceful as we imagined. On the contrary, they are very likely to join forces to deal with our disciples."

"Junior brother, I know that your journey is a matter of life and death, so I will not follow the sect leader's advice and let you lead the team."

Tao'an Daoist remained silent for a moment, then simply nodded.

"Thank you for your understanding, senior brother."

"It's alright. My disciples from the Luoxia Sect are absolutely capable of handling things on their own. Moreover, Shang Ji will do his best to help them. With my disciples here, there won't be any major problems."

Tao'an looked at the crowd below and said in a deep voice:

"The entire sect consists of 500 people, entering in batches. The disciples who enter later will provide supplies for the disciples who are clearing the way ahead, but those who enter first will face the most difficult challenges."

"In that case, let me go first."

"Alright."

As they spoke, a spirit boat rose into the air above, and on the deck, the other disciples of the Immortal Peak all craned their necks to look down.

"Disciples!"

Qinglu Daoist stepped forward, his voice like the whistling of a sword, instantly silencing everyone.

"By standing here, I believe you have already made your plans in mind."

"The journey to the secret realm presents both opportunities and dangers. Not only from within the realm itself, but also from the machinations of other sects..."

"Senior brother, why say so much? Once you enter the secret realm, the dangers and opportunities depend entirely on yourself. If you are not strong enough and encounter misfortune, you can't blame others."

A gruff voice interrupted Qinglu Daoist's speech.

The spirit boat parted the clouds and began to descend slowly.

The Peak Master of Lianfeng Peak, Daoist Qingkui, stood at the very front, arms crossed, exuding an imposing aura, and began to speak:

"Disciples, I will repeat myself: the journey to the secret realm is risky. If you wish to withdraw now, you may leave without further ado. Who wishes to withdraw?"

No one below made a move.

"Alright, in that case, let's board the spirit boat!"

……

boom--!

The sound of something cutting through the air echoed throughout the entire Immortal Peak.

Yu Yan, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened them, went to the window, looked up, and saw the spirit boat taking off, its path streaked with light before quickly disappearing from sight.

The journey to the hidden realm has begun.

He put away the talisman brush, took the talisman paper, and went outside.

The afternoon sun was at its strongest, but as Yu Yan walked along the mountain path at the summit, he felt an unprecedented sense of desolation.

With so many people gone, the sect felt quite empty.

Keep walking, keep going uphill until there are no more dense trees blocking the way.

Yu Yan arrived at the summit.

The place is empty, with bluestone covering the entire ground, except for a towering nine-story pagoda that pierces the clouds.

There are already quite a few people waiting here.

They each sat in meditation, undisturbed by each other, in perfect silence.

After scanning the crowd, Yu Yan quickly spotted Qi Hao.

He remained calm as he flipped through the books in front of him.

Seemingly noticing Yu Yan's gaze, the other person raised his head, smiled slightly, and nodded to him.

Yu Yan was taken aback, not expecting Qi Hao to have changed his personality. He nodded slightly and quickly looked away.