Xuanjian: I am the tenth son of Zhenchi, and I plot to seize the throne from Zhenlong.

"What is this...?"

Ye Chaosheng trembled all over, staring blankly at the dragon head in front of him, which was as big as a mountain. He almost strained his neck to look up, but he still couldn't see the full view of the pair of dragon horns with smoke floating on the top of the head.

He only glanced at it twice before his eyes were stung painfully, and tears of blood streamed down his face.

"No...don't eat me!" The pain in his eyes finally made him realize something. He shouted and knelt down abruptly, kowtowing to the dragon's head.

Ye Chaosheng had overheard the housekeeper fawning over Aunt Wang a few years ago.

The immortals fly around in the sky, while we lowly people have to bury our heads in the ground and into the mud. If we peek and the immortals see us, they will cast spells and beat us into a pulp to feed the dogs.

Ye Chaosheng couldn't recognize what this beast head, as large as a mountain and covered in scales and horns, was, or if it was the manifestation of a legendary immortal. He thought to himself that after looking at it for so long, he probably wouldn't even be enough to be minced into meat paste.

"Please don't implicate Ershan. If you must implicate someone, implicate that old bastard!" He kept kowtowing, and when he suddenly thought of this, he became even more terrified.

He didn't know how long he had been kowtowing, but faintly, the words that had been frequently appearing in his dreams recently, like the prayers of pilgrims, drifted into his ears.

In his hazy state, he began to mutter to himself.

"...An immortal touched my head, and I was granted immortality."

When he came to his senses, he was kneeling on the mountaintop, surrounded by clouds and mist. The ferocious beast head was gone, and a gentle, large hand covered his head.

The immortal said, "Raise your head."

Ye Chaosheng suppressed his fear and shakily raised his head, his eyes, which he had intended to keep tightly closed, involuntarily opening.

He stared blankly at the faceless person before him, dressed in a white robe with flowing patterns that depicted auspicious clouds, flying birds, and a long snake with claws.

"Such warm hands..." he thought, feeling the warmth coming from above his head.

"Once I have cultivated my Golden Core, I will come to find you."

The white-robed immortal flicked his sleeve, knocking him off the mountain peak. He fell into the icy sea, thrashing about desperately, but the sea seemed to have a life of its own, pulling him down and surging into his mouth and nose.

In his hazy state of consciousness, a warm current imprinted on his chest and seeped into his stomach.

"Ah!" Ye Chaosheng was suddenly awakened from the haystack, panting heavily, and then coughing violently as if he had choked on water.

"What? A dream, a dream?" He was covered in sweat, and a gust of wind made him shudder before he came to his senses.

He quickly lifted his clothes and looked at his stomach by the moonlight. It was flat, with a few whip marks from his early years, just as usual.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, finally feeling relieved, but for some reason, he felt a sense of loss.

He lay back down on the haystack, but he was wide awake. If a celestial being were to bestow a spell upon him, perhaps he too could be chosen by the immortal sect, like the second young master of the main family, and fly to the heavens on a flying ship.

"By then, I can pick up Ershan and her father, eat big white steamed buns all day long, and maybe even have lots of kids with... Ershan."

For some unknown reason, the boy's face flushed, and his breath became warm.

"Wait, where's the teaching? Why is this kid indulging in fantasies? He should get back to cultivating!"

Jiang Shi, standing to the side, sensed Ye Chaosheng's inappropriate thoughts through the dragon vein, looking depressed and completely baffled.

"No, I should have already passed on the teachings to him. Let's observe him a little longer."

Under his gaze, Ye Chaosheng, harboring thoughts unknown to others, drifted off to sleep once more.

Ye Chaosheng stared blankly, then, sensing something, he picked up a scroll of scripture from his stomach and carefully examined the words on it.

The Classic of Nourishing Life by Returning to the Flow

This technique was naturally passed down to him by Jiang Shi after he changed the name.

He then straightened up from the haystack and glanced around at the hazy surroundings. Unlike before, he could now clearly feel that he was dreaming.

He felt a sense of panic, then wiped his hands hard on his clothes and slowly opened the scripture in his hands. He was illiterate, but at this moment he could directly read the lines of small characters on the scripture.

After watching for a long time, he almost burst into tears. It was true! There really was a deity bestowing the magic.

He carefully placed the scriptures down, then tumbled and crawled off the haystack, kowtowing to the scriptures. It was an unknown amount of time before he finally got up.

"To cultivate the Golden Core?"

Ye Chaosheng muttered to himself, not knowing what the Golden Core was or how long it would take. He only knew that he had to seize his destiny at this moment.

"Since the immortal said I could succeed, then I definitely can."

He opened the Taoist scripture, sat down cross-legged as instructed, and tried to clear his mind of distractions, carefully perceiving the scriptures.

"I found a wisp of golden energy in my dantian; it can help me cultivate. Where is the dantian?"

Ye Chaosheng opened his eyes again, carefully examined the diagrams accompanying the scripture, memorized the points marked on the human body diagram, and then continued.

"Cluck cluck cluck~" The rooster in the chicken coop crowed for the second time.

Ye Chaosheng opened his eyes, somewhat discouraged. He hadn't found the golden aura mentioned in the scriptures all night.

"Could it be that I'm too stupid, and that Jin Qi doesn't want to see me?" Ye Chaosheng couldn't help but think. He slowly walked out, scooped up a handful of water and touched his face, stepped out of the livestock feeding yard, and prepared to collect today's mixed grain buns.

He was lost in thought the whole way when suddenly a hand patted his shoulder.

"Brother Chaosheng, what are you thinking about?"

The voice he had been longing for rang out, pulling him back to reality.

"Or... tell Ershan that she's so smart..."

"No, I can't tell anyone. I haven't mastered the cultivation yet. If the master finds out, they'll definitely steal my scriptures, and I'll die!" A glint flashed in Ye Chaosheng's eyes, which he quickly concealed.

Taking Wang Ershan's hand in one swift motion, Ye Chaosheng grinned, his tone somewhat unnatural, and said, "I...I missed you."

"Cough cough~" However, Wang Ershan shook off his hand as if she had been burned and coughed.

"Huh? What's wrong, Ershan? Are you feeling unwell?" Ye Chaosheng asked, puzzled and alarmed.

But he didn't notice that Wang Ershan's father was following behind. Seeing this scene, the middle-aged man with a weathered face quickly walked up and hugged Ye Chaosheng.

"Young Ye, what are you doing?" Old Wang asked with a smile and a friendly tone.

Ye Chaosheng stiffened, his voice hoarse: "Ah, haha, Uncle Wang, you're all better now. Just now... I saw a mosquito."

Old Wang wasn't buying it and bluntly said, "You little rascal, you've gotten together with my Ershan?"

"No...no, Ershan is such a good girl, how could she possibly be interested in me...haha, Uncle Wang, you're overthinking it."

Old Wang squeezed his shoulder, his tone becoming even more amiable: "Yeah, yeah, what's there to be afraid of? Am I going to eat you?"

Seeing Ye Chaosheng trembling like a quail in fear, Old Man Wang shook his head and chuckled, whispering in his ear, "Not bad, Chaosheng, you're a good boy. Tell your uncle the truth, whether you're good or not, and I'll definitely support you."

Ye Chaosheng felt reassured and stammered, "Okay, okay."

However, the next moment, a calloused hand was placed on his neck, and Old Wang's voice rang out through gritted teeth: "You little brat, you've got some nerve!"

Ye Chaosheng was on the verge of tears: "Uncle, didn't you say you would support me?"