Chapter 115: Chapter 113: Leaving Mortal Attachments, Young Friend, Great Demon

"Here we call it Yunwu Mountain, where decades ago, an everlasting fog suddenly took form overnight. People say there’s a Longevity Immortal within, and the Living Dead, with the power to revive White Bone. It caused quite a stir back then."

"Many prominent figures have come and gone. Oh, when I was young, I heard from the elders in my family about a mad young master, who was agitated by a marriage and fled here to cultivate the Dao."

"I’ve never seen this person, nor do I know what happened to him later."

The old man took the silver handed over by Ji Siyuan and told everything he knew.

"Immortal?"

Ji Siyuan fell into deep thought. He used to be a Prime Minister and knew that there were ’Cultivators’ in the world.

It’s just that the Spiritual Qi here is thin. If a Cultivator stays here too long, their Cultivation would at best come to a halt or lead to starvation at worst.

"Could it be Brother Yan Zhi? Did he really gain an Immortal Technique?"

Ji Siyuan’s expression turned dazed. As he came back to his senses, he clasped his hands in salute to the old man and then prepared to ascend the mountain with the Child.

"Esteemed sir, wait, no one can enter Yunwu Mountain, and no one has seen an Immortal."

The old man called out to Ji Siyuan, moving closer to kindly remind him: "The fog on the mountain is mysterious and dangerous. People often disappear in the mist; we never venture deep while cutting wood."

"Thank you, elder, for the warning."

Ji Siyuan clasped his hands in gratitude but chose to climb Yunwu Mountain anyway.

The old man said no more.

"Brother Yan Zhi, an old friend has come to visit, might I have a glimpse!"

Ji Siyuan climbed Yunwu Mountain, shouting several times in the mist, his voice echoing through the world, persisting for a long time.

Boom!

With the roar, the mist seemed to be parted by an invisible hand, and a clear path suddenly appeared.

Ji Siyuan and the Child walked on; the mountain wasn’t high, and soon they arrived.

Ji Siyuan stopped, looking up.

Li Yanzhi, still sitting upright on that large green stone, looked the same as when they first met, with no visible change. By his side now stood a luxuriously leafed jujube tree, quietly accompanying him.

Ji Siyuan looked down at himself, stunned in place.

"Brother Ji, it’s been a while. I heard from Mother that you later became a Prime Minister. Did you fulfill our childhood ambitions?"

Li Yanzhi opened his eyes, smiling at the white-haired elder in the distance, feeling a hint of nostalgia.

Over the years, he had been secluded in the mountains, diligently cultivating, oblivious to the passage of time. Suddenly, his once-close friend had reached old age.

Ji Siyuan chuckled bitterly, shaking his head, and simply said, "Career-less old man, fame and wealth turn to nothing, let’s not mention it."

"I brought your favorite drink."

Seeing this, Li Yanzhi said no more and motioned with his hand, "Sit down and chat."

But there was no table or chair. They exchanged a smile and sat down on the spot.

The Child obediently filled their cups, and the fragrance of the wine spread as they slowly sipped, recalling their youthful days.

Suddenly, Ji Siyuan asked, "Counting carefully, nearly seventy years have passed. Has your wife not returned home?"

At these words, the memory of Murong Qin’s departure flooded Li Yanzhi’s heart, his brow slightly furrowed, "Qin’Er hasn’t returned."

After a pause, a thought crossed Li Yanzhi’s mind, and he asked, "Brother Ji, you’ve been a Prime Minister, do you know about the Cultivators outside? Where is the Shuiyun Sect?"

"You don’t know?" Ji Siyuan looked strangely at Li Yanzhi and said, "You look so young, should you not have already ’established your Foundation’?"

"Foundation Establishment?" Li Yanzhi shook his head, "I’ve been cultivating here alone, unaware of the world outside."

Cultivation was too fulfilling, he indulged in it, plus, the first fifty years were spent solely cultivating the Dao with no protective abilities. Now, having achieved some Minor Success in Magic, he had gained some self-preservation power.

For years, his Dao Practice had stagnated. With the tranquility came movement; it was time to go out and explore.

Your master is truly irresponsible... Ji Siyuan murmured to himself and explained,

"This is Chu Country, within the thirty-thousand-mile Stone Spring Mountain Range. Three great sects dominate here: the Illusion Spirit Sect, Red Maple Valley, and Celestial Spirit Sect. I haven’t heard of Shuiyun Sect; it may be beyond the Stone Spring Mountain Range, which is such a distance a Mortal could never hope to cross in a lifetime."

Ji Siyuan admiringly said, "Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul - each step is like climbing a heavenly ladder. Foundation Establishment grants a life of two hundred years, Golden Core a thousand. Truly, one sees all the vicissitudes of the Mortal World. Pity I’m born without a Spirit Root, destined never to be part of Cultivation."

Li Yanzhi listened quietly. Through these words, it was as if he glimpsed a vast world outside. While Ji Siyuan longed for Cultivation, his knowledge was just at the surface - among the three great sects, the most powerful was just at the Nascent Soul Realm, with Elders at Golden Core Cultivation.

And the Cultivator who founded Chu Country was only at Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

Li Yanzhi pondered to himself, ’This Dao of Cultivation clearly differs greatly from the "Qi Cultivation" I currently know. What level am I truly at? It’s still a mystery.’

Ji Siyuan stayed on Yunwu Mountain and slept for several days in a row. It was clear he was very tired, the machinations of a court most exhausting to the Heart Spirit. Li Yanzhi crafted a pill for him to nourish his body.

[Ten years passed in a blink. Li Yanzhi personally buried Ji Siyuan, taking that boy as a disciple, teaching him the Cultivation Method, managing Yunwu Mountain.]

[Li Yanzhi waited another ten years on Yunwu Mountain until his mother passed away of old age, severing the last earthly bond. He took a branch from the jujube tree, transforming it into a Guarding Dao Wooden Sword and then left Yunwu Mountain.]

[By now, Li Yanzhi was a hundred years old, yet youthful as a young man. For the first time since crossing over, he saw this world. Li Yanzhi wandered the Mortal World for over ten years, observing the changes quietly, occasionally saving people as he wished.]

[What a pity, no merit descended from the heavens.]

[At the age of one hundred and thirty, Li Yanzhi set foot in the Stone Spring Mountain Range, finally witnessing in person the flair of Cultivators. Looking up, he saw clearly a hundred miles away, a white giant snake over a hundred meters long amidst a Magic Combat with three Cultivators.]

[The White Snake had twin horns on its head, awe-inspiring, it spat out a massive wave as blue as the sea, instantly dimming the light of the two Cultivators’ Magical Treasures, shattering them to pieces, falling from the sky.]

The White Snake taunted, "Red Maple Valley is no big deal! Call out your ancestor!"

[The only remaining Cultivator’s face turned ash-gray, shouting angrily, "You monstrous being, it is only because the ancestor is absent that you dare to be so arrogant as to charge into my Red Maple Valley."]

[The White Snake’s face turned fierce and it rampaged through Red Maple Valley, where the Cultivators fled in terror, caught in pandemonium.]

[The White Snake pursued relentlessly, its target being right where Li Yanzhi stood.]

[Li Yanzhi reached out to stop a Cultivator fleeing blindly, rushing to this place.]

[That middle-aged Cultivator stumbled, almost falling to the ground, and looked back to see the White Snake closing in, exclaiming in terror, "Young friend, run! That’s a Great Demon..."]

...