UGB Chapter 1 Arriving on a Dragon, the Path to Immortality is Difficult
Chapter 1 Arriving on a Dragon, the Path to Immortality is Difficult
On the shores of Poyang Lake, in Yunfu.
As dusk settled over the fields, the chill of the autumn night deepened.
The floating islands in the sky, with their palaces and buildings illuminated by streaks of light, resembled a scene from another world.
All of this had nothing to do with Li Ya. Exhausted, he returned to the bamboo house by the lake, hastily washed his face with water, shivered, and finally his mind cleared.
"well…"
Li Ya sighed heavily, sat down in the courtyard, and chewed on a dry, hard biscuit while drinking cold water.
Staring blankly at the rising moon, the moon in the sky was still the same moon, but it was not the one I was familiar with.
He muttered to himself, "If I told my buddies from my past life that cultivators have the blessing of working 996 hours a day, they definitely wouldn't believe me."
Li Ya is not from the Green Lotus World, or rather, the soul within his body is not.
In his previous life, his grandfather experienced a miraculous recovery. He found a beautiful older woman with leopard print and went back to his hometown for a wedding banquet. At the end, the village elder said that his fortune was like a pillar behind his head, with a magnificent purple aura and gold inside, indicating that he had the aura of ascending to heaven on a dragon.
"I originally thought it was an auspicious saying, like a donkey entering the river, but who would have thought it meant a dragon with four wheels."
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a bamboo house, inheriting everything from this person with the same name: the identity of a servant, the cultivation level of the first stage of Qi Refining, and a large amount of debt.
The only thing that satisfied Li Ya was his appearance; he could be described as a handsome young man in the surrounding area.
The two memories intertwined, and at first Li Ya couldn't tell which one was the real him, whether the past twenty-odd years were a dream, or whether the present was a dream.
After the two memories merged, the thought of the hundreds of thousands of dollars she had painstakingly saved in her previous life that she hadn't spent made her heart ache.
The thought of this guy owing a huge sum of money makes my heart ache even more.
Fortunately, there were no close relatives, so there was no worry about being exposed.
Having transmigrated to this world of cultivation, there was no slap in the face as I had imagined when testing my spiritual roots. I didn't have a single object on my body that could house my remnant soul. All I had was to work during the day and work at night.
Thanks to the righteous fellow worker Wei Que, he managed to get through the first half month. Wei Que was also the only person Li Ya could call a friend in the Yunfu Sect.
When I think of Wei Que, I immediately picture that dark, aged face that looked like he was over fifty when he was only thirty.
"I only have 250 taels of copper coins left. Manager Liu needs 500 taels, and Wang Wu needs to pay 200 taels in interest at the end of the month. This shortfall is really huge!"
"What are we going to do? How can we possibly raise such a large sum of money by just working part-time!"
Immortality, what a captivating word!
"No matter what, having come to this world of cultivation, how can I face myself without taking a chance? I haven't even had a chance to enjoy tea and admire the blossoms with a fairy yet!"
Li Ya touched the bracelet on his wrist and made a decision in his heart.
"First, keep your job, reach the sixth level of Qi Refining, and become an outer disciple."
Only by reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining before the age of thirty, passing the sect's examination, and becoming an outer disciple, can one hope to continue on this path.
……
Just then, Wei Que's shouts came from outside the courtyard.
"Li Ya, the Heavenly Craft Furnace needs a few charcoal burners tonight. They can pay five taels of red copper coins a night. Do you want to go? It'll be full by the time it gets late."
"I'll be right there!"
Li Ya was overjoyed, quickly got up, drank some water, and swallowed the pancake.
Wei Que is indeed a seasoned veteran; he always manages to find out about part-time jobs in advance.
"The fairy of Weaver Girl Peak is going to start the furnace to refine the Fragrance Pill, and the required golden charcoal needs to be prepared by tomorrow."
"I just found out too."
The deputy steward of Zhurong Peak stamped their documents, and the two happily arrived at the Heavenly Crafting Furnace.
One stamp is used to start work, and another to finish work. At the end of the month, wages are collected based on these stamps.
"Cultivating immortality still requires clocking in and out for work, spending all day in smoky and polluted conditions; you'll get tuberculosis sooner or later!"
Li Ya couldn't help but sigh.
Charcoal burning is the hardest, most tiring, and most physically damaging job among all the odd jobs.
The wood used in the charcoal kiln is not ordinary wood, but ironwood that grows in the back mountains of Yunfu.
This wood absorbs the spiritual energy of the mountains. It is hard and does not produce a bright flame when burned, but only a dim fire. After burning out, it becomes charcoal, which is the color of golden threads, with fine and dense texture. It has a gentle and long-lasting fire and is the best fuel for low-level alchemy furnaces in the alchemy room.
"Every hour, the smoke vent at the bottom of the kiln needs to be vented. You need to smell the smoke and open or close the smoke vent accordingly."
Arrange the ironwood in a suitable position, seal the kiln, and smolder it.
When we arrived, my coworker Wei Que had already given us instructions: if the smoke smelled pungent, we had to close the cigarette butt, leaving only a small gap; otherwise, we had to open it.
No wonder they say, "There are three hardships in the world: blacksmithing, charcoal burning, and tofu grinding."
Smoke billowed from the nozzle, initially just a thin blue mist, but soon became as thick as a solid substance.
The smell of this smoke is extremely strange. Unlike ordinary cigarettes that are pungent, it feels like fine sand rubbing against your lungs when inhaled, causing an itchy and stuffy sensation that makes you cough uncontrollably.
"Those managers took on the urgent job at Weaver Girl Peak, earning themselves over a hundred copper coins, but only giving each of us five taels of copper coins. Doesn't that money feel like a scalper?"
"Too hot to handle?"
"If it were you, would you take it or not?"
"take!"
Li Ya clicked his tongue in amazement. He had worked hard in Beitian for a month, taking care of Lingbei's food, drink, and bodily functions, and he had only earned a hundred taels of red copper coins.
This steward can earn hundreds of dollars in just one night, enough to make up for a month of hard work.
An hour later, his eyes were red and watery from the smoke, his chest felt tight, and his lungs felt like they were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, causing him unbearable soreness and swelling.
"If this were an ordinary person without any cultivation, inhaling the thick smoke would kill them in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."
The second hour, the third hour...
Every time the smoke was turned on, it felt like torture.
Even with his internal energy circulating to protect his lungs, he was still struggling. His breathing became increasingly rapid, his vision blurred intermittently, and he suffered from persistent tinnitus.
"If this continues every day, it will ruin your health sooner or later, and you'll have no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage."
"The Yunfu Sect is quite shrewd. They claim to be opening the door to convenience, but in reality, they've found a large number of cheap cattle and horses, and they're a group of very hardworking cattle and horses."
As the sky gradually turned a pale white, the manager came to open the kiln.
When Li Ya opened the kiln, a wave of heat rushed out.
Inside the kiln, a pile of golden charcoal with silky texture was neatly stacked. Its fine texture made the golden threads shimmer under the firelight.
The manager of the charcoal kiln couldn't help but marvel.
"Li Ya, you always produce such high-quality kilns. Why don't you come work for me? Zhu Rong Peak needs someone like you."
Li Ya dared not agree, but he also didn't want to offend the person in charge.
"All the senior brothers on Zhurong Peak are outstanding talents, and they speak so kindly, how could I dare to be presumptuous!"
"Get out!"
Wei Que quickly led Li Ya away, stamped the work stoppage seal, and headed towards Beitian, where they still needed to feed the spirit shells before sunrise.
"Brother Xiaoya, I've almost prepared enough money for the welcome dinner. I'll work for a few more years, go back and buy some property, marry a few wives and concubines, and have a bunch of big, healthy sons. Then my life will be perfect."
He couldn't bear to shatter Wei Que's beautiful dream. Making money in Yunfu and spending it in Yunfu, one shouldn't even think about bringing a single penny home. Li Ya had figured out this logic.
There's always a way to make you give back all the money you've earned.
Exhausted after a long night, the two walked home together, too tired to talk anymore.
Li Ya just wanted to go back as soon as possible. There was still an hour before he could feed the spirit clam, so it would be good if he could take a nap.
The bamboo house was right by the lake, drafty on all sides, and hardly warm at all.
After parting ways with Wei Que, Li Ya scooped a ladle of water from the water vat in the courtyard, wiped the dust off his face, and that was it.
Back in the bedroom, I wasn't sleepy at all; my mind was filled with my current predicament.
At the urging of relatives and friends, he squandered his family fortune and even borrowed money from loan sharks. He bribed officials at various levels and managed to secure a job taking care of Lingbei under the supervision of Manager Xiao of Beitian in Poyang.
Poyang Lake has a vast expanse of water and tens of thousands of acres of shellfish fields. As long as the shellfish are handed over on time, the losses can be considered as a negligible source of income.
He thought it was a good job, but little did he know that in the first year, all the losses had to be given as tribute to the various managers in Beitian, and only in the second year could he get a share of the profits.
However, a few days ago, a steward named Liu came and told Li Ya bluntly that the rules set by steward Xiao earlier did not count and that he needed to pay a welcome gift for the new official.
If you can't pay this welcome money, you'll have to move to another place and find someone else who can.
With his monthly wages plus borrowed money from other jobs, he was lucky to earn two hundred taels a month. This was the result of risking his health and working every day.
The extra income from the Lingbei business won't be available until next year.
After all that calculation, after deducting food, drink, and other necessities, the little money left each month isn't even enough to cover the interest. Just thinking about it keeps me up at night.
"What's the difference between this and paying money to get into the system, only to find out it's just a labor dispatch job, and then being sent to the assembly line after taking out high-interest loans?"
Coming to his senses, Li Ya looked at the snails kept in a small jar in the bedroom and felt a surge of anger rising in his heart for no reason.
Yunfu Sect was originally a righteous sect, and its Discipline Hall strictly investigated bribery and corruption. However, there are always ways to circumvent policies.
Turning bribery into a business transaction is perfectly reasonable, and no one can criticize it.
The original owner spent his entire fortune to buy this green snail from Manager Xiao, who also gave him a natal spirit contract, and he immediately wanted to establish this spirit contract with the green snail.
Was the original owner of this body out of their mind?
The worries of the past few days, coupled with the fact that the thick smoke last night was really harmful to his health, caused Li Ya to feel a sudden surge of blood and qi. His legs went weak, the world spun around him, and his face slammed heavily to the ground.
Before he could even get up and say those kind words of greeting, a vortex appeared before his eyes, from which countless tiny, bird-and-insect-shaped characters emerged.
【May you be well, fellow Daoist!】
[The Spiritual Pivot! Born from vital energy, it gains its intelligence through a mechanism. Without eyes or ears, it observes all things; without mind, it understands all emotions; cause and effect, cycles, are clear at a glance.]
Its uses are vast and complex, but this is a general overview: it can encompass all books, discern all phenomena, understand all languages, and resolve all matters. It uses the Qi of divination as its divine power, taking over the burdens of human thought and accomplishing the affairs of the world!
It called me a fellow Daoist?
Li Ya was taken aback. The tiny characters, imbued with golden light, transformed into a jade slip and resided high on his spiritual platform.
In an instant, a radiant glow appeared, and a deluge of information, like an inverted Milky Way, washed over my soul. I felt as if a steel brush had scraped across my soul, and then I collapsed to the ground.
"Holding the Spirit Pivot, I survey all things..."
"Using Qi as firewood, it illuminates all realms..."
Li Ya sat on the ground, stunned, unable to recover for a long time.
He tried to summon the Spirit Pivot, but the warm white jade slip hovered in mid-air. He reached out and touched it, but it passed right through him.
After pinching himself hard a few times to make sure he wasn't having a fit of hysteria and that the opportunity had arrived, Li Ya breathed a sigh of relief and slid down to the ground, leaning against the bamboo bed.
Looking at the spider webs on the beams, Li Ya felt as if he had leaped from this small bamboo house into the azure sky.
No money, no secret techniques, no elixirs...
All the difficulties seemed to vanish, and the weight on my heart suddenly felt lighter than a feather.
The flying insect that crashed into the spider web struggled desperately, just as it was about to be devoured by the spider.
Suddenly the golden shackles were broken, and the jade lock was ripped off.
The dust and grime have been shed, and one is now free in the world.
Having sorted out his thoughts and made a decision, Li Ya, with a sincere and upright heart, bowed and asked the question.
"Please, Spiritual Pivot, show me how I can become an immortal?"
At this moment, the jade slip, like a stone thrown into a mirror-like lake, created ripples.
[The Spiritual Pivot will be set in the Azure Lotus World, focusing on the path to immortality for fellow cultivators. It will detail the selection of cultivation techniques, the practice of supernatural powers, and the forging of magical treasures, thus creating a customized strategy for cultivating immortality.]
[Spiritual Energy Consumption: 1 unit of True Qi]
Time required: 125,000 years
[Consumed spiritual resources: one innate spiritual root]
[Fellow Daoist, please confirm whether this deduction is valid?]
"One dollar?"
According to the Ling Shu, true qi can be measured in strands, zhu, dou, ding, hai, and yuan. One zhu is equal to one hundred strands, and one yuan is equal to one hundred trillion strands.
"I only have a hundred strands of true energy in my dantian; I have to absorb them all!"
He couldn't help but smile wryly, realizing he had been too greedy, making such a request right away.
If one's true energy were sufficient to deduce the immense opportunity of becoming an immortal, one would have long been a figure hailed as a patriarch of the Dao.
Moreover, one also needs this innate spiritual root.
"I shouldn't have asked that question. I should have been more specific and clearly stated the detailed conditions."
Li Ya realized the flaw in his words and then changed his question.
"Please help me, Spiritual Pivot, to deduce the opportunity that was consumed by the hundred strands of true energy."
A moment later, the ripples on the Ling Shu jade slip subsided, and the gilded characters reappeared.
[The Spiritual Pivot will limit the time to consuming one hundred strands of true energy, but assisting you in divination will grant you an opportunity.]
[Spiritual Energy Consumption: 81 strands of True Qi]
[Time required: One hour]
[Fellow Daoist, please confirm whether this deduction is valid?]
"yes!"
The gilded characters disappeared, ripples rose again, and most of the true energy in the dantian vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.
An hour that I would never have cared about in the past is now so hard to endure.
Now that his mind is wandering, meditation and energy cultivation are no longer effective. He really wants to find something to do to vent his emotions.
Take myself as an example. I'm not exactly at the very bottom of this ten-thousand-foot immortal staircase, but based on what I've seen these past few days, if I really fall to the bottom, there will be no chance of turning things around.
The terror of watching yourself slowly fall, powerless to stop it, is unimaginable.
Now that we have this rope ladder, we can find another way and climb up the steps. With such an opportunity, who could remain calm?
After thinking for a moment, he washed his face with a basin of water and took several deep breaths.
Reading, practicing calligraphy, doing housework...
Li Ya did everything he could think of before the hour finally passed.
The Ling Shu jade slip hovered in the air, and the small, gold-painted characters slowly emerged.
[In the water vat in the bamboo house courtyard, there is a green snail called the Square Inch Snail, also known as the Daoist Seed, which has the ability to open up grotto-heavens.]
The small snail (or square snail) loves to feed on Sumeru stones; consuming large quantities can open up grottoes. It prefers to reside in pure and clear places.
[The grotto-heaven is fortified at the foot of the mountain, covered with spiritual soil, and irrigated by spiritual springs, thus creating spiritual fields. Furthermore, by borrowing the radiance of the sun and moon and magical artifacts, it can nurture life.]
[Your request has been fulfilled, fellow Daoist. May you be well!]
hiss!
Li Ya couldn't help but gasp. It seemed that Manager Xiao had misjudged the situation. He wondered if the other servants also had this small snail.
Fortunately, I didn't kill the snail, otherwise this opportunity would have slipped through my fingers.
They quickly took the snails out of the jar; the snails looked excellent.
The adult male's fist is slightly larger, the shell is shaped like a bamboo shoot, each layer of the shell is like the eaves of a pagoda, and there seems to be a golden thread on the ridge. The whole shell has a dark blue jade-like luster.
"If we sell this tiny snail, wouldn't we make a fortune? Perhaps even enough to cover the large expenses of our future cultivation."
Li Ya felt a surge of excitement, as if he could possess rare and precious materials, magical treasures, and elixirs in the next step.
But once the initial enthusiasm wore off, Li Ya poured cold water on his own enthusiasm.
"Leaving aside how much it can sell for, with my status and position, how can I find a buyer who knows its value? Even if I do find one, how can I get the money and survive?"
"Besides, breaking this spiritual contract will cost a fortune!"
"If all else fails, I'll sell the ancestral Sumeru Bracelet to raise enough money for the welcoming feast, and then gather all the spiritual items needed to open up the grotto-heaven. I refuse to believe that if I have my own grotto-heaven, how can I not attain immortality?"
Of the spiritual objects shown by the Spiritual Pivot, the Sumeru Stone is the main material for refining the Sumeru magic weapon. What is this mountain root? The spiritual soil, the spiritual spring, and the magic weapon with the radiance of the sun and moon are not cheap items.
"Please help me, Spiritual Pivot, where can I obtain free mountain roots, spiritual soil, and spiritual springs?"
[At the request of fellow Daoists, the Spiritual Pivot will assist you in deducing the location of the mountain root, spiritual soil, and spiritual spring free of charge.]
[Spiritual Energy Consumption: 251 strands of True Qi]
[Time required: Three hours]
[My true energy is insufficient. Fellow Daoist, would you please confirm whether we should perform the deduction in stages?]
"Can!"