“Confirmed, the internal body still follows the path of a martial artist, but due to the tempering of spiritual energy, it has become younger and more vibrant, even verging on the realm of cultivating immortality…”
After indulging in a frenzy of “hands-on” with the NPC material that came knocking on his door, Bai Yi finally arrived at a conclusion.
He couldn’t help but sigh aloud, “Ah, disappointment!”
However, upon a moment’s reflection, it was easy to guess that this ancient Jianghu setting had no concept of spiritual energy revival; these NPCs knew nothing about the revival of spiritual energy!
Perhaps initially, they only felt the air becoming fresher, with new substances appearing in the world. Their bodies underwent a transformation after absorbing these substances, but what the next step should be, who knew? These people were probably just groping forward in the dark.
If placed in the later generations of this world, this batch of people would undoubtedly be the pioneers of the era of cultivating immortality. Someone had to be the first to discover the existence of spiritual energy, create the method of breathing in spiritual energy, and pioneer the realm of cultivating immortality, leading everyone on this path from scratch to establish the path of cultivating immortality.
—In a sense, they were the chosen ones of this era of spiritual energy revival, bearing the mission of opening a new era. Meanwhile, the original Pei Hefeng and others, lacking the qualifications and talent for cultivating immortality, were nothing but relics of the past, to be surpassed and left behind by the new era and its chosen ones!
“According to the system, it’s been a year since the revival of spiritual energy. There should be quite a few individuals with exceptional talent and aptitude who have figured out the method of cultivating immortality and stepped onto the threshold of cultivation…”
“To verify this idea is simple.” Bai Yi summoned his game interface. “System, save and restart!”
Whoosh—Like ripples suddenly appearing on the water’s surface, everything before his eyes began to distort, shatter, blur, and melt.
The setting sun on the horizon melted like a pool of vibrant red paint, blending the colors of distant mountains and forests together.
The dilapidated thatched hut, the crooked fence, and the body lying on the ground all shattered like fragile bubbles.
As the fragmented pieces reassembled, like scattered puzzle pieces being put back together, everything refreshed and restarted. Bai Yi sat on a heap of thatch, opened his eyes, and began anew.
Gulu gulu gulu…
He cooked as energetically as he did in the first playthrough.
But unlike the first playthrough, this time, Bai Yi only displayed thirty percent of his cooking skills. Moreover, before taking the food to the courtyard, he secretly snacked in the kitchen, eating until he was seventy percent full, before bringing out the rest and then going fishing as before.
—When Bai Yi returned with the skewered fish, what he saw was an old man lying on the ground, barely alive but not dead.
“You… you…” The old man on the ground raised a trembling finger. “Actually…”
“No no no, I didn’t poison it~” This time, Bai Yi interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “You, after all, are the respected sect leader. How can you speak nonsense and falsely accuse others?”
“Pfft!” The old man spat out blood once again. With him in such a state, living evidence right here, how could he falsely accuse others? Who was really speaking nonsense?
Seeing the old man stubbornly trying to argue, Bai Yi couldn’t let him waste any more precious time. Who knew how long this guy could hold on? He took a step forward, and his sharp sword was at the old man’s neck.
The struggling fish tail still stuck on the tip of the sword flailed, splashing drops of blood-mixed water onto the old man’s face.
The struggling fish tail slapped against his back neck, bringing a cold and slippery moistness. The close smell of blood and fish made him feel uneasy.
…The damage was minimal, but the insult was extremely strong.
“Slap, slap slap, slap slap slap.”
The struggling fish tail beat repeatedly, and Bai Yi unconsciously followed the beat with a rhythm.
—Surprisingly, it had quite a sense of rhythm!
—Could it be that he was an ordinary music genius?
Until a gaze mixed with anger and sorrow, almost burning a hole through him, fell upon him, Bai Yi snapped out of it and coughed. “Ah, forgot about the main business.”
He looked down at the old man, whose face flushed red as if he might fart at any moment, and the smile that appeared on his face was particularly harmless.
“Before you speak, don’t rush to spit blood. I ask, you answer, got it?”
With that said, he tapped the man’s face with the sword, and the half-dead fish also took the opportunity to land a slap
Bai Yi’s eyes unconsciously showed a hint of disdain.
…Looks like this fish cannot be eaten anymore
…Good thing I already ate it in the previous playthrough 🙂
With this thought, Bai “Great Wisdom” Yi calmed down. He let out a sigh of lamentation, with a few traces of vicissitudes in his expression. “With the great changes in the world today, do you know how many geniuses and heroes have emerged in the Jianghu? Has anyone outside of martial arts created a new path? And where have they reached?”
……
[Worldview unlocked, current exploration progress 2.]
[You have activated the special life skill “Negotiation” and learned some information about this world from the NPC.]
[With the great changes in the world, the master of Baixue Mountain, after ten days of enlightenment at the peak of the snowy mountain, without eating or sleeping, awakened and claimed to have received a divine revelation: “The world has changed, with the emergence of a strange energy that I do not know its name. It is called spiritual energy. It is the spiritual energy nurtured by heaven and earth, capable of transforming all living beings, rejuvenating them.”]
[A month later, the junior master of the North Sea Sword Sect, gifted with extraordinary talent, unparalleled in intelligence, based on the internal martial arts of the North Sea Sword Sect, modified and created a basic breathing technique that allows more efficient absorption of spiritual energy into the body, refining oneself, successfully breaking through the first step of cultivating immortality.]
[After another half a year, the elder of the Qiongshan Sect, knowledgeable and experienced in martial arts, sensing the will of heaven, deduced the first three steps of cultivating immortality, and then widely spread it throughout the world, benefiting countless martial artists, and opening the door to immortality for all beings.]
[…One genius after another emerged, using their wisdom and fortune to stir up the craze of cultivating immortality.]
Ignoring the system’s narration, Bai Yi looked down at the old man who had finished explaining everything and breathed his last…
“So, my approach wasn’t wrong, what’s wrong is this stupid NPC. Standing at the forefront of the era, even pigs can fly, yet he hasn’t even touched the threshold of cultivating immortality?”
In theory, at such a time of great change in the world, anyone with some talent and luck should have taken off smoothly.
This guy still hadn’t started cultivating immortality to this day, only relying on instinct to absorb spiritual energy to temper his physique. His talent might not be much stronger than the original body’s, right?
However, regardless, having talent was having talent; his physical structure should be different from that of a cultivation waste.
…Since he can absorb spiritual energy, could it be the legendary spiritual root? If a widespread epidemic virus were to ruin everyone’s spiritual roots, would that produce a batch of cultivation wastes in bulk?
Bai Yi once again started “interacting” with the NPC.
Finally, he realized that he wasn’t cut out for researching the human body. He couldn’t find anything special that resembled a spiritual root. He couldn’t help but ponder, “It seems that for cultivating immortality, one has to find a professional!”
—Coincidentally, he knew a very professional person. A veteran cultivator dedicated to cultivating immortality for twenty years!
****
Eastern outskirts of the city, Seventh Hospital of Yuanyang City.
“Hello, I’m here to visit the patient in ward 309 in building E.” When the visitor entered the office, the doctor on duty immediately noticed him and the permit with the hospital director’s stamp that he handed over. “I have a special permit.”
While the doctor checked the permit, he couldn’t help but size up the person in front of him, who was actually just a teenager.
The visitor appeared to be sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a simple black hoodie and casual jeans. His exceptionally long legs made him look tall and thin.
Due to the backlighting, most of the young man’s face was in shadow, but his overly pale complexion and a pair of dark, deep eyes were still visible.
His eyes seemed to contain an abyss.
Being stared at by those eyes gave a fleeting sensation as if one’s soul were about to be drawn into the deep sea, leading to a suffocating illusion.
However, this illusion quickly dissipated. Upon closer inspection, one would notice faint dark circles around the young man’s eyes.
…Looks like another young person who enjoys staying up late!
The doctor chuckled inwardly. The momentary illusion just now quickly vanished. He thought to himself that staying too long in a psychiatric hospital had made him a bit jumpy. He then pulled up the patient’s information. “Ward 309 in building E, Li Daotian, male, 41 years old, severe delusional disorder, self-identifies as a cultivator, has attempted one hundred and three methods of cultivation since admission, non-aggressive, visitation approved, not to exceed three hours…” He glanced at the young man and called for a nurse. “Ah, Nurse Xiao Pang, please guide this…visitor. Also, brief him on the patient’s current condition.”
A young nurse agreed and led the teenager out of the office. “Please follow me.”
She was about to give directions when she realized that the teenager confidently walked down the corridor, appearing much more familiar with the layout of the Seventh Hospital than her, even though she had been working here for six months.
Perplexed, she noticed several doctors and nurses along the way, all pleasantly surprised and greeting the young man.
“Xiao Yi is back!”
“…Are you here to visit the director?”
“The director is not here at the moment, he’ll probably be back in a while.”
“I heard you’re now attending high school in the old city area. How are your studies going? Do you get along well with your teachers and classmates?”
The teenager smiled and responded calmly to each question.
“Yes, I’m back.”
“That’s right, I’m in high school now. The teachers and classmates at school are all easy to get along with. Recently, one of the teachers had a car accident, and everyone is mourning for him.”
“…Hmm, I’ll visit her when the director comes back.”
“I need to see Li Xianke about a minor matter. How’s he been lately?”
He greeted people along the way, chatting with mildly mentally ill patients who were out for some fresh air. Surprisingly, he effortlessly joined in their conversations.
His demeanor was so relaxed, as if he were returning to his own home.
…Wait a minute, did they just say “back” twice? Who refers to themselves as “coming back” to a psychiatric hospital?
The nearby nurse looked bewildered, and her gaze towards the teenager gradually turned strange.
Sensing her gaze, the teenager glanced at her casually, as if he could read her thoughts with just one look.
He raised a finger and shook it gently, smiling as he explained, “Don’t worry, I’m not a patient here.”
The curvature of Bai Yi’s lips slowly increased. “But, this place does feel like home to me. Everyone here is talented, and they speak so nicely. I really like it here!”
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