“I grew up eating meals from various families, and the most I ate was from Old Man Li next door.
Old Man Li was a good person. He knew how to brew wine and hunt. He sold most of the game he caught and ate the rest. He and his wife didn't eat meat, so they saved it all for me.
Old Man Li had a daughter, beautiful as a flower, but sadly, she was captured by mountain bandits and defiled.
Back then, I thought that if I ever became powerful, the first thing I would do was to rescue Old Man Li's daughter.
When I was fifteen, I was cutting firewood on the mountain when I was drawn by a fragrance. I found a white fruit. I was young and greedy, so I picked it and ate it. Little did I know, it was a fruit that could cleanse the marrow. After eating it, I endured unbearable pain all over my body.
Fortunately, an immortal flew over and saved me.
At that time, I understood nothing. I only knew that immortals existed in this world, and I thought anyone who could fly was an immortal.
Later, I found out he was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He asked me if I was willing to learn cultivation from him, saying that cultivation could strengthen the body and grant immortality. I refused both. It wasn't until he said that cultivation could grant immense power, allowing me to slay demons and monsters, that I immediately agreed.
Back then, I thought that if I possessed power, I could save Old Man Li's daughter.”
Wan Lei was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Xia Dayu to embark on the path of cultivation in such a manner.
He, on the other hand, was different. He possessed divine power from birth in his previous life, essentially a deity. Later, when he transmigrated to the Lei Feng Realm, he was also in a cultivation family and felt that cultivation was the natural course of action. He never considered how distant the path of cultivation was for mortals.
The scene then shifted again. Xia Dayu brought Wan Lei to a dilapidated sect.
There were not many people in this sect, only a few elderly individuals whose cultivation was not high. They were scattered throughout various locations, cultivating.
“This is the Cold Gate, where my dream began. In the past, this place was very prosperous, and it even had Nascent Soul ancestors.
My master brought me to Fragrant Mountain Peak, one of the Seven Peaks of the Cold Gate. He is the peak master.”
The two arrived at a small courtyard on a mountain peak. Unlike Xia Dayu's old home, this courtyard was meticulously cleaned, presumably by those elderly individuals.
“This is my courtyard. I began my cultivation journey here.
At that time, I had exceptional talent and was valued by the Sect Master, who bestowed upon me the Cold Gate's best cultivation technique, the Cold Gate Mind Nurturing Art.
It was also during the selection of cultivation techniques that I met a little girl with pigtails.”
In Wan Lei's mind, the image of the beautiful loli who sat beside the Golden Immortal Venerable appeared.
Xia Dayu's wife, Xia Yubing's mother, Xia Xiaoyu.
“From then on, Xiaoyu and I had a very good relationship. We cultivated together, played together, stole chickens together, and were chased together.”
A gentle smile formed on Xia Dayu's lips. It was evident that those times were incredibly beautiful.
Xia Dayu was fortunate to have the radiant woman of his youth by his side in the end.
“There was a prodigy back then named Murong Bai. He was resentful that I could cultivate a superior technique, and he was unhappy. So, he provoked me.”
“And then you beat him up, right?”
Wan Lei was all too familiar with the protagonist's template.
“Hahaha, I couldn't be bothered with him back then. I cultivated diligently. At the fourth level of Qi Condensation, I descended the mountain with a saber.
I found that group of mountain bandits. It was my first time killing someone. A fifteen-year-old child killed over two hundred people.
But I didn’t expect there to be an old fellow at the fifth level of Qi Condensation.
We fought a desperate battle, and I barely managed to win, but I also had a leg broken.
A white-bearded old man appeared. He called himself Venerable Zhihao and took me away.
He was a Core Formation expert and was nearing the end of his lifespan. Before he died, he taught me a secret technique called the Yin-Yang Ghost Method and gave me his saber. It was then that I realized his saber and mine were a pair. They were a pair of curved sabers, divine artifacts named Yin-Yang Blood Blades, the very weapons Xia Yubing holds now. Da Feng Novel Network
This was once the natal magic weapon of a Ghost Emperor. I later learned that it was the Tang Emperor who, in a battle against the Ghost Emperor in the Ghost Realm, knocked the Ghost Emperor’s natal divine artifact away, causing it to fall into the Immortal Realm.
Upon returning to the Cold Gate, I defeated Murong Bai. After healing my injuries, Xiaoyu and I left the Cold Gate to roam.
I first returned home and, in Old Man Li's wine cellar, I met a shifty-eyed fellow.
His name was Hu Youzi.”
“The previous life of the Heavenly Calculator?”
“Correct.”
The scene shifted again, and Wan Lei and Xia Dayu arrived in a barren desert.
“Back then, an immortal’s cave dwelling ruins were about to open here. Not only did the Cold Gate send people, but the Cloud Peak Sect, the foremost sect of the Wei Kingdom at that time, also sent their people.
The Cold Gate and the Cloud Peak Sect were mortal enemies and would fight on sight. However, our two sects were nothing compared to the Zi Yang Sect in the north.
The Zi Yang Sect was a sect with an Overlord realm elder and was one of the seven major forces in the Southern Border. Our strongest were only in Core Formation, so you can imagine the gap.”
This was akin to the gap between the Wan family and the Fang and Liu families.
“At that time, we offended people from the Cloud Peak Sect and the Zi Yang Sect and were pursued. After shaking off our pursuers, we were cornered by a woman.
She was the proud daughter of heaven from the Zi Yang Sect, and her name was Zi Yan.”
Wan Lei was somewhat surprised. Was this where the male lead met the female supporting character?
He suddenly felt as though he was retracing history. Da Feng Novel.
“Back then, I was a junior disciple of a small sect, and she was the fiancée of Li Yang, the foremost prodigy of the Zi Yang Sect, one of the seven major forces in the Southern Border. The gap in our statuses was too great. Who could have imagined the future interactions? Fate plays tricks on people.”
So, Immortal Venerable, you poached his girlfriend? How immoral. Wouldn't that Li Yang have a cuckolded expression? I can’t believe Immortal Venerable has such a taste for being a ‘Cao賊’ (a person who steals others' partners).
“Back then, Xiaoyu and I barely escaped from Zi Yan, accidentally fleeing into that immortal’s bedroom. There, I found a bronze mirror, and within the mirror, there was a…
Yellow-furred little squirrel.”
“Later, we broke through our cultivation, left the cave dwelling, and continued to be chased by Zi Yan. The squirrel was very mischievous, always bullying Zi Yan and making her furious.”
The scene shifted again, and Wan Lei and Xia Dayu arrived on a hillside.
“Later, Hu Youzi was trapped here. Xiaoyu and I came to rescue him, and then… we were trapped together.”
Wan Lei chuckled, and then understood.
At first, he thought the Immortal Venerable was returning to the Southern Border, and coincidentally wanted to visit his hometown for remembrance.
But now that Xia Dayu had brought him to so many places, he finally understood. The Immortal Venerable was taking him…
To retrace the path the Immortal Venerable had once walked.