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

A faint light made Yu Yan open his eyes, and he found himself back in the Heavenly Book Space.

In his soul form, he was as light and ethereal as a mayfly, seemingly so fragile that even a gentle breeze could scatter him.

All around was boundless void, with only the ancient celestial book floating silently, radiating a soft halo.

He floated to the front of the book, and the picture on the second page had changed.

Above the sky, three spirit ships were shattered and engulfed in flames. Fireballs carrying the wreckage fell to earth, their trajectories tearing through the sky.

Beneath the sky, Yu Yan was locked in a fierce battle with a giant black serpent covered in menacing scales.

Amidst the crisscrossing figures, the light of runes and spells flickered erratically. Corpses littered the surrounding area, blood spreading everywhere, turning the verdant mountains and fields a dark ochre, resembling a hell on earth.

The writing reappeared:

In his second life, he cultivated to eliminate demons, but died young, halting his journey to immortality and leaving him with deep regret.

In addition to the five hundred merits accumulated during one's lifetime, another five hundred merits will be awarded, for a total of one thousand merits.

Despite it being something to be happy about, Yu Yan only sighed softly, and his soul body fluctuated slightly.

"He's really dead."

He muttered to himself, his voice drifting away into the vast emptiness before fading away.

He never expected that, despite stepping onto the path of immortality in this life, he would ultimately live a far shorter life than in his peaceful and tranquil first life.

He died before he even reached the age of twenty.

"In the world of cultivation, those with weak strength truly live on the brink of death."

No one knows when a natural disaster will strike or when a man-made calamity will occur.

He was simply cultivating diligently within the sect, he was simply opening a secret realm, and he was simply holding a grand competition to compete for that secret realm.

Who could have imagined that it would end up like this?

The path to immortality is long and arduous. For cultivators at the bottom, without a powerful backer or sufficient strength, it is more like a narrow bridge riddled with traps.

"Master is dead... I wonder what happened to Erwa and Li Lingying afterward?"

Yu Yan muttered to himself, and naturally no one answered.

But considering the violent explosion of the spirit ship and the chaotic battle among Foundation Establishment level cultivators, they, with their Qi Refining stage cultivation, would likely have been unable to escape unscathed.

The Luoxia Sect, a once peaceful sect, suddenly collapsed and its entire members perished.

"Who on earth leaked our escape route?"

The leaker was among the peak master, the direct disciple, or the sect leader.

It's unlikely that these people fled together; why would anyone be in a hurry to be killed by others?

If someone were to reveal their group's travel route, they would surely benefit from it; otherwise, what would they gain?

The inner disciples were unaware that among the high-ranking members remaining within the sect, only one person knew their route.

"Qingli Daoist?!"

Yu Yan's soul trembled, and he silently clenched his fist.

That damned thing, in the end it was betrayed by our sect leader.

Okay, okay, is this how you play?

Just wait, one day he will kill this thing with his own hands!

Yu Yan touched the Heavenly Book, looking at his comprehension level frozen at fifty, and felt increasingly distressed.

Will there be another chance to improve in the next life?

The path of cultivation for those with five spiritual roots is truly restricted at every turn.

If he had possessed a better spiritual root, he might have already been close to the late stage of Qi Refining, and wouldn't have needed to get entangled with those flying knives so much. He could have escaped the blast radius long ago and wouldn't have died.

Living longer may accumulate more merit, leading to a higher starting point in the next life.

If we can escape, we might actually have a chance to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

He had just refined the Pure Cleansing Pill and broken through the limitations to enter the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but unexpectedly, he was left with only his soul body in the next moment.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. No matter how much an ant struggles, it is still an ant. One accident can cost it its life.

Otherwise, he really wanted to try and see if he could break through to the Foundation Establishment stage with his five spiritual roots.

He could no longer fulfill his promise to Tao'an, and he hadn't done what he promised Xiaoyao Sanren, so he died.

The former is already a foregone conclusion, but for Yu Yan, there is still a chance for the latter.

If you can't do it in this life, you can try harder in the next.

Eight hundred merits shimmered with golden light. Yu Yan carefully sensed them and confirmed that this reincarnation would require five hundred merits.

The starting aptitude remains at five spiritual roots. If you want better spiritual roots, you need to invest all of the remaining five hundred merits.

However, if all five hundred merits are invested in enlightenment, it can be raised to one hundred.

One has 100% comprehension, the other has a better spiritual root. Which one should you choose?

Yu Yan's right hand hovered in mid-air, unable to make a decision for a moment.

He had already experienced the pain of having five spiritual roots once. The path to immortality was fraught with difficulties, and without good spiritual root talent, even breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining was a major hurdle.

However, Yu Yan only achieved this level through his constantly improving comprehension. Without such comprehension, his path to mastery of talismans would not have been smooth sailing, and he would have obtained the Purifying Pill through the Grand Competition, with the potential to reach the late stage of Qi Refining.

"Ha, how foolish of me."

As he was thinking, he suddenly laughed out loud, slapped his forehead, and complained that he couldn't see the situation clearly.

Although the two sides appear to be of equal weight, their circumstances are completely different.

"This improvement in comprehension is currently only visible on the second page of the Heavenly Book. Whether it can continue to improve so directly in the future is unknown. However, spiritual root aptitude can be clearly improved with merit points in each reincarnation."

The former is uncertain whether it can be improved in the future, while the latter is certain that it can be improved in each reincarnation.

Therefore, it seems self-evident which one is more worthwhile to invest in right now.

All five hundred merits were added to enlightenment.

"Let me see how a hundred points of comprehension compares to the original fifty."

Once the mind is made up, there is no more hesitation.

The remaining five hundred merits will be used to pay for the needs of reincarnation.

With a thought, the merit numbers in front of Yu Yan's soul began to jump and decrease until they finally reached zero.

At the same time, he felt as if his soul was being infused with a warm yet powerful force, which quickly made it solid and stronger.

A sense of clarity and understanding spread through me, as if my thoughts had never been so clear. I gained a deeper and instantaneous understanding of the various key points and subtle changes in the runes that I had cultivated in the past.

However, before he could fully appreciate the profound changes brought about by this surge in comprehension, the Heavenly Book before him suddenly shone brightly, emanating an irresistible suction force.

Yu Yan's soul transformed into a stream of light and was captured in the book.

The heavy pages closed silently, turning into a tiny glimmer of light that plunged into the river of time below, where light and shadow intertwined, speeding away along an unseen path.

…………

In Feng Kingdom, a secret realm not far from the Qijing Mountains, the Po Jun Mansion had completely taken over the area. Ruan Qin, who had recovered from her injuries, handed over the reins to the patrolling disciples and prepared to enter the secret realm for exploration again.

However, it did not notice a black mist rising from the entrance pool, swaying left and right, and immediately chose a direction, heading straight for Ruan Qin.

She suddenly froze, her expression changing rapidly.

"Senior sister, what's wrong?"

The patrolling disciples hurriedly came forward to inquire, their faces beaming with ingratiating smiles.

"It's nothing. I suddenly remembered that I have some other things to do. We can talk about entering the secret realm later."

"Okay, shall I see you off?"

"No need, just stay at your post."

As Ruan Qin walked away, she frowned deeply and murmured softly:

"Yu Yan, I hope he's really dead."