Eternal Life Begins with Learning

The autumn wind was just right.

At the source of the Qing River, upon East Lake, a small boat drifted with the wind.

The boat was not large, much, much smaller than the black-canopied vessel he had once taken a thousand miles down the Qing River.

Chu Mu stood alone at the bow. The small boat rocked, and the waves churned.

But Chu Mu stood as if on solid ground, his feet seemingly rooted to the deck. He remained perfectly still, no matter how the waves tossed the boat.

East Lake was vast. According to the *Records of East Lake*, it spanned three commanderies and thirteen counties, making it the largest lake in the northern Chu Kingdom. With a surface area of three thousand miles, it was often called the Three-Thousand-Mile East Lake.

Chu Mu gazed out at the immense lake, his eyes as calm as an old well. Within his field of vision, a Light Curtain Panel flickered in and out of existence.

[Name: Chu Mu.]

[Skill: Basic Blade Technique (Entering the Hall and the Room) 1602/2000]

[Body Refining Technique (999/1000)]

[Alchemy: Dragon and Snake Soup: Refined Skill (117/2000)]

[Spiritual Radiance Value: 380.9%]

In just a few days, a single Spirit Stone the size of a fingernail had pushed his Qi and Blood Cultivation to the stage of Great Success.

He was just one step away from a breakthrough, closer than ever.

This was why he was here, alone on a boat on East Lake.

To find an opportunity and to avoid trouble.

Chu Mu didn’t know if his Divine Appearance would cause any strange phenomena, nor did he know if it would attract the attention of any Cultivators that might be in Jingmen.

Out on the vast East Lake, he had no such worries.

As for finding an opportunity...

The day before yesterday, after the Spirit Stone had pushed his Qi and Blood Cultivation to the brink of a breakthrough, Chu Mu had a premonition. His God... was about to appear!

But as for *when* it would appear, or *how* it would appear, Chu Mu had no idea.

He had been alone on his small boat on the vast East Lake for several days now, but there was still no sign of this opportunity.

’What is this "God"...’

’Is it spirit? A Divine Soul...’

’If so, can my Divine Soul leave my body?’

’A Resentful Soul... is that just another form of a Divine Soul?’

’Based on the characteristics of a Resentful Soul, the existence of a "God" seems to not belong to reality, yet it can interfere with reality...’

’It’s like freely switching between a real and an illusory form, like a shift in dimensions...’

’Divine Appearance, a human’s Divine Appearance, should be the same...’

Chu Mu thought silently, trying his best to deduce more information from his limited understanding.

Even if it was just speculation, he hoped to find some inspiration.

He truly felt no barrier to his Divine Appearance.

It was an instinctual premonition.

All he lacked was an opportunity.

BOOM!

As Chu Mu was lost in thought, an earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted from the lake’s surface in the distance!

Chu Mu’s head snapped up. A massive pillar of water was shooting into the sky.

After the pillar of water appeared, the once-calm surface of the lake began to roil with waves that instantly spread outward.

Under the force of these waves, the small boat teetered on the verge of capsizing!

Chu Mu’s expression changed slightly. His Qi Blood circulated throughout his body, and Power surged through him to his heels. With a low shout, he became like a thousand-pound weight, using his own strength to forcibly stabilize the boat as it swayed in the waves.

Wave after wave crashed against it, yet the lone boat remained steady amidst the turmoil.

The churning waves were no longer Chu Mu’s focus. His gaze was fixed on that sky-high pillar of water.

East Lake was vast, and winds and waves always had a precursor. Moreover, how could such a pillar of water erupt with that deafening roar without some great power at work?

The pillar of water came crashing down, churning the lake and filling the air with mist. Under the bright sun, a rainbow shimmered, and through it, human figures could be faintly seen flickering!

’Cultivators...’

Chu Mu’s eyes narrowed, a shadow falling over his heart.

Immediately after, a streak of golden light shot across the sky, followed by a beam of sword light that rose from the mist.

"You can’t escape!"

"Hand over the item, and I’ll leave you a complete corpse!"

As the sword light whistled through the air, the furious shout boomed like thunder.

Only then did Chu Mu get a clear look. There were human figures visible within both the dazzling golden light and the soaring beam of sword light that followed.

Within the golden light was a faint black figure, while the one in the sword light was dressed as a noble young master, his brocade robes exuding an air of wealth.

The black-clad figure was clearly outmatched, fleeing in a panic without any sign of resistance.

The noble young master’s sword light crisscrossed the air. Dazzling flashes of it lit up the lake’s surface one after another. The black-clad figure dodged pathetically as the beams of sword light pursued him, exploding on the lake, sending up pillars of water and churning waves. The sight was terrifying.

Enveloped in golden light, the black-clad figure dodged miserably, sprinting across the water’s surface.

The chase lasted only for a few breaths before a sudden change occurred. The black-clad figure, who had been fleeing pathetically, suddenly leaped up. Amidst the flicker of a sword’s shadow, the golden light around him flared intensely!

The miserably fleeing figure had suddenly turned the tables on his pursuer!

With a deep, muffled boom, the wantonly arrogant noble young master fell from the sky like a kite with a snapped string, splashing into the lake.

And at that moment, amidst the flashing golden light, the face of the black-clad figure briefly appeared in Chu Mu’s line of sight.

’It’s him?’

Chu Mu’s pupils constricted. He could hardly believe his eyes.

The black-clad figure in the golden light was none other than the boy from Qili Village!

Chu Mu already knew for a fact that this boy from Qili Village had embarked on the Immortal Path.

But... judging by the commotion the noble young master had stirred up, his Cultivation was likely no lower than that of the white-robed man from the Li Family in Nanshan Town.

He might even be a cut above.

Chu Mu wasn’t thinking about anything else. He just wanted to know: what exactly did that old man from Qili Village leave for the boy?

A legacy of knowledge was a certainty. But knowledge, no matter how rudimentary, required a process of digestion, accumulation, practice, and application.

This was even more true for a legacy of Cultivation Immortal.

Even with the aid of a heaven-defying thing like "Spiritual Radiance," he could only shorten that process, not learn everything in an instant!

But this boy... how long had it been since the bandits in Qili Village were exterminated?

The boy could already control Resentful Souls. From Chu Mu’s current perspective, the boy’s "God" had already appeared and was able to interfere with reality.

Then, only a few days later, he was impervious to blades and spears. Although he took advantage of that explosion, the fact remained that the white-robed man was injured and the boy had successfully escaped.

And now, not even half a year later, this boy could actually trade blows with a Cultivator of this level?

This was completely illogical.

The most likely possibility was that the old man from Qili Village had left behind not just a legacy of knowledge, but also material resources.

And these resources were of great help to a Cultivator!

Otherwise, there was no way to explain how this boy, a novice on the Path to Immortality, could stir up trouble right under the nose of a Clan Cultivator and still manage to escape.

Now, not much more than half a year later, he was being hunted by another Clan Cultivator and still had the ability to fight back...

’This boy... it’s no wonder he’s being hunted.’

In Nanshan Town, he had no background, no backing, and no Cultivation, yet he was like a child carrying a gold ingot in public!

Even a mere mortal Martial Artist like Li Jinghong had developed malicious intentions toward him.

Let alone other Cultivators.

If the boy still hadn’t learned to keep a low profile in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, then it was no surprise he was being hunted again.

Chu Mu stared intently at the boy standing in the sky. The golden light was too brilliant; he had only caught a fleeting, indistinct glimpse of the boy’s face and couldn’t make out the details clearly.

Moreover, after his successful strike, the boy didn’t press his advantage. Instead, he turned and ran.

The golden light streaked across the sky. Down on the lake, the water exploded again. The noble young master was surrounded by a transparent membrane of light; he had entered the water without getting a single drop on him.

However, after being knocked into the water, his formerly lofty and noble air was replaced by a face full of grim fury!

"You’re courting death!"

The noble young master roared, his voice suppressed with rage. His sword light reappeared, whistling in pursuit of the flashing golden light.

The chase, one pursuing and one fleeing, disappeared from Chu Mu’s sight in just a few short breaths.

The aftershocks of the battle lingered, and the waves still surged.

If an ordinary person were here, they would surely be baffled as to why such waves had suddenly appeared without any wind.

But this... this was merely the aftermath of a battle between two Cultivators that had lasted only a few breaths.

Chu Mu stood at the bow, staring blankly at the sky where the figures had vanished, and for a long time, he couldn’t snap out of his daze...

...