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

"Uluru..."

The wolves let out deep growls, their front paws scratching the ground incessantly, as if they were about to launch an attack at any moment.

Although traveling by water still carries the risk of being caught by wolves, it's still much better than crawling on the ground.

Yu Yan raised his hand and, under the wary gazes of the wolves, slammed it onto the ground once more.

boom--

Dust billowed up, and he used the time to quickly climb towards the stream.

Without planks or anything like that to use as a boat, he would have to rely on himself to float on the water.

Whoosh!

As soon as he entered the water, a sharp chill pierced his bones like a needle, causing Yu Yan to gasp. But the wolf pack behind him had already sensed something was wrong and was rapidly tightening their encirclement. At this moment, he couldn't care less about anything else and immediately adjusted his breathing, trying his best to float.

"Awoo!"

The wolf king spotted Yu Yan, and without hesitation, the hungry wolves immediately jumped into the water to give chase.

No, is it really necessary?

What is it that makes you so persistent about me?

In the dead of night, they were willing to chase after him even if it meant wading through a stream.

Others chased each other along the stream bank.

He had no time to think. Seeing a hungry wolf approaching, he struggled to raise his arm and smash it down.

Without exception, he died on the spot.

The other person's body fell into the stream, attracting many fish whose names I don't know.

Yu Yan witnessed a large fish with a mouthful of sharp teeth leap up, tear off a wolf's thigh, and fly away.

"It seems the water isn't so safe after all, but at least the number of wolves I have to deal with has decreased."

While he was pondering, several more wolves lost their lives at his hands.

The next moment, Yu Yan discovered that several hungry wolves had run to the shore ahead and, under the command of the wolf king, were actually going into the water to surround him.

Moreover, the stream here seemed to converge into a larger river, and he could clearly feel that the current was much faster.

Even worse, a waterfall could be vaguely seen plunging straight down.

Yu Yan had already heard the enormous roar.

He tried to slide in the opposite direction but to no avail, and a pack of wolves blocked his way.

Just then, a loud shout came from below.

"Hey kid up there, stop paddling! Get down from the roe deer's side! I've secured a rope up there, grab it!"

Yu Yan looked back and saw the roe deer from earlier that day standing there dumbly on a huge rock at the top of the waterfall.

The rushing water surged past it, yet it remained utterly calm, raising its head to reveal the rope beneath.

What's this guy doing here?

"Forget it, now's not the time to worry about that."

Yu Yan then pinned a wolf that pounced at him to the water, and with all his might, he lunged forward and narrowly managed to grab the end of the rope.

Then, without stopping, she wrapped the cord around her waist and hugged her tightly.

Looking up, the wolves that had been chasing them were all swept away by the rapids down the waterfall. The silly roe deer took a few steps forward and looked down at Yu Yan.

"Hold on tight, I'll go up and pull you up right now!"

The ancient voice below drowned out the roar of the waterfall and clearly reached Yu Yan's ears.

He tried to peek out and look down at the waterfall, and saw a small boat moored on the river, its dark outline and a single light visible in the darkness.

As the sound faded, the lamplight suddenly traced a small arc and landed on the river.

Only then did Yu Yan realize that the lamp was actually being held by the person who had just shouted.

This man, carrying a lantern in one hand, actually walked on water. In a few moments, he arrived at the foot of the waterfall. Without stopping, he swung upwards and quickly reached it.

In another flash, they landed on the boulder.

"Hold on tight!"

A hoarse voice rang out, and Yu Yan felt the rope tighten instantly. A tremendous force carried him directly into the air. Before he could react, the rope around his body automatically rotated, firmly securing him to the back of the person who had come.

The man casually picked up the roe deer beside him, leaped into the air, and, stepping on the waves, quickly landed on the flat boat below.

As the ropes binding him loosened, Yu Yan heard the other person let out a soft "Eh."

"I thought the two of them had found a boy who had accidentally fallen into the water and rushed to inform me, but I didn't expect it to be a fellow Daoist."

The lamp slowly approached Yu Yan, its bright light forcing him to close his eyes.

"Thank you for saving my life. My name is Yu Yan. May I ask your esteemed name, senior?"

Besides Luo Cheng and his group, there were actually other cultivators on Baijing Mountain.

Yu Yan was surprised, but when he came to his senses, he found that the other person had been silent ever since he heard his name.

After his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he finally saw the true face of the person in front of him.

His hair was white and his face was full of wrinkles. What was most striking was his eyes, which were now cloudy and dull compared to three years ago, and far less bright than they had been then.

"Senior, it's you?"

He recognized this person; it was this person who discovered him and Tian Erwa back then and brought them to the Immortal Sect selection.

Strictly speaking, this senior was just a rogue cultivator who gave himself the Daoist name "Xiaoyao Sanren" (逍遥散人). He had only accepted the task of searching for immortal seedlings for the Luoxia Sect. If an immortal seedling was selected, he would receive a lot of rewards.

But no matter what, he was the guide for Yu Yan and Tian Erwa to the path of immortality.

"Young friend Yu Yan?"

The carefree hermit was clearly somewhat hesitant to recognize the young man, whose face from his memory gradually overlapped with the boy before him.

"Is it really you?"

The moment he first saw Yu Yan, he felt a unease, a sense that the man looked familiar, but he dared not say so, simply because—

The carefree hermit withdrew his hand from probing Yu Yan's spiritual power and discovered that the other party's spiritual power was surging and was actually on par with his own, which was the reason for his continued shock.

"Young friend Yu Yan, aren't you one of the five spiritual roots like me? I remember, it's only been three years..."

As he spoke, the carefree hermit sighed heavily.

Is the difference between independent cultivators and sect cultivators really that great?

The two seemed to sense their master's sorrow and stepped forward to lick the carefree wanderer's hand.

He seemed to wake from a dream, looked at Yu Yan, and a smile appeared on his face.

"I never expected that you would actually be able to join the Luoxia Sect. I was even thinking that if you failed, I would take you as my disciple..."

"However, even if you're at the third level of Qi Refining, you've only been in the sect for three years. Why have you returned to Baijing Mountain? Are you here to visit your old village?"

Yu Yan slumped onto the small boat, the ordeal had almost exhausted his last bit of strength, but he still mustered his energy to answer Xiaoyao Sanren.

"Senior, actually I... hiss—"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a swelling in his dantian, as if it was about to explode at any moment. The slight pain caused his entire body to spasm.

"Hmm? Why is your spiritual energy so chaotic?"

The carefree hermit was startled and immediately stopped talking. He made a hand seal and blew air into the small boat, which immediately started to move.

"Young friend Yu Yan, please hold on a little longer. I have a way to calm the disordered spiritual energy, but I can only use it after I return to my residence."

In the darkness, the slightly hurried sounds quickly faded away, leaving only a single light moving along the river, flickering as if it would vanish at any moment...