The Long Journey to Immortality

Manman Seeking Immortality, Lu Yixue Jiang

【brief introduction】

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul...

The path to immortality is long and arduous; how many cultivators can overcome all dangers, forge ahead through thorns and brambles, and reach the end of the Great Dao?

Feng Bailu was just an ordinary, older cultivator from the Zhengyi Sect. Originally, he had no hope of attaining enlightenment, but due to a fortuitous turn of events, he was reborn as a woman and embarked on the path of cultivation again.

[Yixuejiang's new book, guaranteed updates and completion]

Keywords for this article: [Transformation], [Cultivation], [Romance storyline but single]

Chapter One: Traveling Together

Outside the main gate of the Zhengyi Sect of the Jin Kingdom, four cultivators dressed in blue robes gathered together.

The three men looked young, only in their early twenties.

The third person looked much older and was clearly the oldest of the four.

The three young monks knew each other and chatted happily together.

The middle-aged cultivator, on the other hand, looked anxious, pacing back and forth and glancing towards the mountain gate every now and then, clearly waiting for a fellow disciple who was late.

"Senior Brother Feng, why don't we chat? It's so boring just waiting around."

The middle-aged cultivator, addressed as Senior Brother Feng, stopped and complained to his fellow disciple, "Junior Brother Yuan, when is your cousin coming? We've been waiting for almost half an hour."

"We need to borrow the spirit boat magic treasure from the inner treasury, which will definitely take some time," the cultivator called Junior Brother Yuan explained. "As you know, those people in the inner treasury would rather let the magic treasures gather dust in the treasury than lend them out to us and cause us unnecessary trouble."

Listening to the cultivator surnamed Yuan complaining about the management of the inner treasury, the other two young cultivators couldn't help but chime in, clearly also harboring resentment towards the management of the inner treasury.

"This month, when I went to the inner treasury to collect the monthly allocation of spirit stones and pills from the sect, Steward Lin deducted two spirit stones from my account for no reason."

"Yes, even the spirit stones and pills allocated to us Foundation Establishment disciples by the sect each month are withheld. It's normal for borrowing the spirit boat and magic treasure to take a little longer."

"It's only because Junior Brother Yuan's cousin is one of the top geniuses among the Qi Refining disciples. Otherwise, even if the four of us stood at the entrance of the inner treasury until dark, we probably wouldn't be able to leave the mountain gate and reach Liangzhou Moyu City."

Although he himself had been harassed by the Inner Court, Feng Bailu had heard about his junior brother's situation.

"For no reason? I heard that you damaged the throne borrowed from the Inner Palace, which is why Steward Lin fined you spirit stones as compensation."

"Is that so, Junior Brother Bai?" Yuan Xin warned, "If that's the case, you'd better be careful."

"Manager Lin is known for holding grudges. If he finds out about this, you might really be in trouble next month."

The cultivator surnamed Bai was well aware of Manager Lin's vengeful nature; he had only been complaining casually when no one else was around. After being told off by Feng Bailu and Yuan Xin, he quickly shut up, fearing that if he spoke too soon, he would be harassed again next month, losing a sum of spirit stones and pills, adding another obstacle to his already difficult path of cultivation.

Although Zhengyi Sect is the largest cultivation sect in the Jin Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, it only provides Foundation Establishment cultivators with average talent with ten low-grade spirit stones and a small amount of pills as a subsidy each month.

Losing one-fifth of your spirit stone income for a single sentence? That's not a worthwhile deal.

Suddenly, an awkward silence fell. Another young cultivator quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Senior Brother Feng's words were a bit excessive. Steward Lin was indeed a bit too harsh in handling Senior Brother Bai's matter. Senior Brother Bai and I borrowed and returned the Dharma seat together. Senior Brother Bai's Dharma seat was just a little dirty. Compensating him with two spirit stones is a bit too much."

"Hmm," Bai Chi's expression brightened considerably upon seeing someone speak up for him. "That's how it is. If I weren't afraid of completely ruining my relationship with Manager Lin, I wouldn't..."

As they were talking, a paper flying sword flew from a distance and landed in Yuan Xin's hand.

Unfolding the paper and looking at the words on it, Yuan Xin smiled and said to Feng Bailu, "Yuan Fei has already borrowed the spirit boat from the inner treasury. He will be here in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

Upon hearing this, Feng Bailu repeatedly said, "That's good, that's good."

Sure enough, a short while later, a young cultivator in white robes, around seventeen or eighteen years old, quickly ran up to the four of them using a lightness-body incantation.

"Brother." Yuan Fei handed the storage bag with the Imperial Household Department pattern to Yuan Xin.

Taking the storage bag and summoning the spirit boat magic treasure hidden inside, Yuan Xin praised, "Well done, thanks to you this time."

A small spirit boat with two rooms appeared before the five people.

The spirit boat's design is not much different from ordinary ships, but the magic array engraved on its surface makes it stand out from the crowd.

"It's nothing, but..." Yuan Fei took out a list, pointed to it, and said, "This time, renting the magic weapon cost five low-grade spirit stones, and I can't bear the cost all by myself."

Although he is one of the top geniuses in the sect, Yuan Fei, who is still in the Qi Refining stage, can only receive five low-grade spirit stones a month from the sect as a subsidy. His possessions in his storage bag are far less than those of the four older Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Feng Bailu.

As the initiator of this training trip, Yuan Xin had naturally considered this point long ago. "This matter was already discussed. You provide the face, and we'll provide the money."

Yuan Fei's reputation within the sect far surpasses that of his cousin and the other three older cultivators. His Golden Core stage master even regards Yuan Fei as a future Golden Core cultivator and is giving him special attention and training.

Thanks to a "note" obtained from his master, Yuan Fei was able to successfully borrow the spirit boat magic weapon, which he couldn't control, and travel with the others as a Qi Refining stage cultivator.

"Stop talking nonsense and let's get going."

After watching for a while, Feng Bailu impatiently said something and was the first to jump onto the spirit boat.

Apart from Yuan Fei, the three of them were already familiar with Feng Bailu's personality and were no longer surprised by it.

Yuan Xin, who had originally intended to introduce his Foundation Establishment stage fellow disciples to Yuan Fei, could only smile helplessly. "Senior Brother Feng is right. It will take at least a day and a night to get from here to Moyu City in Liangzhou. We'll have plenty of time to chat on the way."

After saying that, the four of them entered the spirit boat one after another.

After some discussion, the four of them quickly arranged a sequence, with Feng Bailu taking the lead in piloting the spirit boat.

After entering the control room at the bow of the ship, Feng Bailu made two hand seals and slowly poured spiritual energy into the crystal in front of him.

The spirit boat, which had been resting steadily on the ground, slowly rose and flew north at a speed far exceeding that of a galloping horse.

Without the unpleasant Feng Bailu, the four people in the Spirit Boat's cabin chatted happily again.

Yuan Xin first introduced his cousin Yuan Fei to his two companions. After exchanging pleasantries, they started talking about business.

"Brother," Yuan Fei lowered his voice and asked softly, "that Senior Brother Feng is so strange."

Yuan Fei was only nineteen years old. He had been cultivating in seclusion in the sect for nearly four years, but he still had the mind of a young man. As soon as Feng Bailu left, people started talking about him behind his back.

Yuan Xin didn't mean to speak ill of Feng Bailu. As one of the few fellow disciples in the sect who could be considered Feng Bailu's friend, Yuan Xin said a few good words for Feng Bailu, "Senior Brother Feng's personality is indeed a bit eccentric, but he is a good person. You'll get used to it after spending time with him."

Bai Chi still remembered being retorted by Feng Bailu, so he started talking non-stop, as if he were Yuan Fei's cousin.

He interjected, "There's nothing strange about it; it's just that their ambitions are too high, but their abilities are insufficient."

"How so?" Yuan Fei asked, intrigued.

Long Qian continued, "You might not understand this if I explain it to you."

"Tell me first," Yuan Fei said, increasingly curious, "what makes your ambitions so high, yet your capabilities fall short?"

Long Qian, another older cultivator who was not familiar with Feng Bailu, also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear some gossip about this eccentric senior brother.

Speaking of this, Bai Chi chuckled lightly, "Tell me, isn't it a case of a cultivator with three mid-grade spiritual roots dreaming of attaining the Dao, advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, and finally ascending to immortality, having ambitions that are too high for their abilities?"

Before Yuan Fei could speak, Yuan Xin interrupted, "It's normal for cultivators to have a heart that yearns to become immortals; there's nothing strange about it."

"Although Senior Brother Feng's spiritual root is somewhat lacking and his cultivation level improves slowly, he has considerable expertise in weapon control and spells."

"Do you remember? When we first joined the sect, the sect's cultivation manual had just been given to us. It took you and me a whole day to understand how to start cultivating and open up our acupoints."

"As for Senior Brother Feng, he only spent the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before he put away the cultivation manual and began to meditate and cultivate."

"In the last small competition, he won beautifully against Senior Sister Jiang, who had already advanced to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The two Golden Core elders watching on the stage applauded and cheered for Senior Brother Feng."

"Really? Then Senior Brother Feng is quite the genius." Yuan Fei, who had always been called a genius cultivator in the sect, became even more curious about Feng Bailu after hearing his cousin's words.

When the topic of events from decades ago came up, Bai Chi did not deny it. "There was such a thing, but it is also true that Senior Brother Feng had been stuck in the early stage of Foundation Establishment for ten years. For older cultivators like us, without any earth-shattering and awe-inspiring adventures, the path of cultivation would definitely end here."

"So, isn't this what we're going to do to seek out a fortuitous encounter?" The topic was unknowingly steered onto the right track as Yuan Xin began talking about going out for training. "If one of us is lucky enough to receive the Daoist inheritance from that senior, and we can't cultivate on our own, we can hand it over to the sect in exchange for spirit stones and pills. With these external aids, it won't be difficult to advance to the next level."

Upon hearing this, Long Qian, who had originally just been a listener, spoke up.

"Senior Brother Yuan, you make it sound so easy, but how easy is it to inherit the lineage of a Nascent Soul stage expert?"

"I've heard that the Daoist cave has been around for nearly a hundred years. There have been at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, cultivators who have entered the cave to try to inherit the lineage of that senior, but who has succeeded?"

Long Qian's words dimmed the golden light that had been shining in Bai Chi's eyes.

Bai Chi sighed and said, "Yes, where would we, as older cultivators, have the aptitude and opportunity to receive the Dao lineage left behind by Nascent Soul stage seniors?"

"It's better to just accept your fate and enjoy your two hundred years of lifespan, playing around in the mortal world."

Yuan Fei had nothing to say. In fact, he also had the idea of ​​leaving the sect and returning to his family as an "elder" after the competition ended in six months.

Compared to continuing on the bleak path of cultivation, older cultivators prefer worldly enjoyment and experiencing the life of the elite.

“It’s all up to human effort. Maybe that Nascent Soul stage senior has some quirks,” Yuan Fei, who seemed to have a bright future, offered to comfort the three of them. “It’s not unheard of for cultivators of average talent to enter the Daoist cave and successfully inherit the Daoist lineage.”

Yuan Fei gave a recent example: "Like my master, Jin Zhenren, after having no hope of advancing to the Golden Core stage, he went out to train and encountered an opportunity. After returning to the sect, he not only successfully advanced to the Golden Core stage, but also won the heart of a beauty."

"If Master can do it, why can't my fellow disciples?"

"We should always give it a try. I don't believe my cousin and two senior brothers don't have the idea of ​​taking it a step further."

Yuan Xin was somewhat surprised to hear such words from his cousin. "Of course there are, otherwise we wouldn't have made this trip."

After hearing Yuan Fei's words, Long Qian recalled the lofty goals she had when she first joined the Zhengyi Sect. Full of ambition, the dejected look on her face vanished.

Bai Chi, however, didn't take Yuan Fei's words seriously and instead asked about Yuan Fei himself.

"Junior Brother Yuan, why did you make this trip?" Bai Chi asked. "You are a genius with two top-grade spiritual roots. Achieving the Golden Core stage is almost a certainty for you. There's no need for you to go to the Daoist cave to look for any opportunities."

Yuan Fei said slowly, "There's no particular reason. I just feel like I've hit a bottleneck recently, and going out for a walk will help with my cultivation."

"By the way, help my cousin out. Without my help in borrowing the spirit boat, it would probably take you more than ten days to go to Liangzhou Moyu City and back."

Foundation Establishment stage cultivators have limited magical power, and without relying on magical artifacts or treasures like spirit boats, they cannot travel long distances by simply using flying devices.

"Also," Yuan Xin added, "the grand competition is in six months, and Yuan Fei is thinking of using his spirit stones to buy talismans and magical artifacts at the market. If he comes with us, he can avoid being scammed."

Yuan Fei looked at Long Qian and smiled, "I heard that Senior Brother Long is skilled in business, and most of the spirit stones he uses for cultivation are earned by him? With Senior Brother Long around, I can buy things that are both good quality and inexpensive."

“It’s not that exaggerated, but I’m an old hand at this,” Long Qian said with a smile after being flattered by the “genius” Yuan Fei. “Leave this to me.”

"Yes, we'll have to trouble Senior Brother Long when we arrive in Moyu City, Liangzhou."

The "genius" Yuan Fei chatted happily with the three older cultivators, and even after Feng Bailu returned to the cabin after changing shifts, the laughter and chatter inside the cabin did not stop.

After hearing his cousin's introduction of Feng Bailu, Yuan Fei became quite curious about Feng Bailu and pestered him with a few questions about magic and weapon control.

Feng Bailu was not one to teach others, but since the spirit boat was borrowed from Yuan Fei, he didn't hold back and shared his insights on these two aspects.

Although he was apprenticed to Jin Zhenren, a Golden Core cultivator, Yuan Fei might not see Jin Zhenren even once a month. Nevertheless, Yuan Fei still found Feng Bailu's experiences and insights to be of great benefit.

Looking at Feng Bailu sitting cross-legged on a futon not far away, Yuan Fei recalled the golden words he had just heard and thought to himself, "Senior Brother Feng is indeed a genius."