Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

The next morning, Zhao Lin was shocked to discover that the Qi-gazing ability he had just acquired had vanished!

No matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes or tried to circulate his breakthrough Cultivation Technique, he could no longer see the halos of light above people’s heads. The cyan light around his own body had also disappeared.

’How strange. How could it just come and go without a trace? Was yesterday an illusion?’

’No, that’s not right. An illusion couldn’t last for a whole day, and besides, it felt so real!’

Zhao Lin thought long and hard, finally settling on an explanation he found reasonable: Qi-gazing had already transcended the bounds of martial arts, bordering on the legendary Magic.

He had just broken through to the Innate Realm yesterday, and his six senses had been exceptionally sharp. He had temporarily gained this extraordinary ability, and now things had simply returned to normal.

’So be it. Gained by luck, lost by fate. Breaking through to the next realm is what’s most important. Perhaps I’ll get it back then.’

Zhao Lin talked himself out of it and stopped dwelling on the matter, turning his focus instead to breaking through to the Third Layer of the Innate Realm.

...

Half a month passed in a flash, and Zhao Lin completed his initial exploration of his new realm.

The first thing he investigated was, naturally, the four "bamboo joints" in his spine.

These four crystal-clear bamboo joints were quite miraculous. Their most obvious benefit was an exceptionally keen perception of Primordial Qi.

Previously, Zhao Lin had only known that Primordial Qi existed in the world, and he would circulate his Cultivation Technique during his training to absorb it.

But now, with these four bamboo joints, he could sense the distribution of Primordial Qi at any time.

He could perceive with extreme clarity where the Primordial Qi was dense and at what times of day it was purest.

Primordial Qi existed as fine threads, and absorbing it also meant drawing the impurities from the air into the body.

But as it passed through these four bamboo joints, the impurities were "filtered" out, allowing only pure Primordial Qi to enter his meridians.

Not only that, but the four bamboo joints could also store a portion of his Primordial Qi. When he used an offensive Cultivation Technique, they even accelerated its release.

In short, the bamboo joints had four benefits: perceiving, absorbing, storing, and releasing Primordial Qi.

’It seems these four bamboo joints are the key to my future cultivation. The more of them I have, the greater the benefits!’

’I just don’t know if having four of these bamboo joints is a lot or a little. I wonder if there’s a way to get more?’

Having figured out the purpose of the bamboo joints, Zhao Lin began trying to formulate a Cultivation Technique to break through to the Innate Third Layer.

His body was already saturated with Primordial Qi. To advance his cultivation further, there were essentially two paths.

Either he could expand his meridians to accommodate more Primordial Qi...

...or he could compress his existing Primordial Qi, increasing its density to achieve the same result.

Of course, being able to do both at once would be the best-case scenario.

But after many attempts, Zhao Lin discovered that neither path was easy.

First, expanding his meridians was practically impossible.

After the transformation of muscles and bones that came with the Innate Realm, the resilience and durability of his meridians had reached a terrifying level.

After several hours of painstaking effort, Zhao Lin managed to expand his meridians by the slightest fraction.

But by the next day, thanks to his body’s powerful regenerative abilities, they would revert to their previous state, and all his hard work would have been for nothing.

With that path blocked, he had no choice but to try the second method: compressing his Primordial Qi.

Compressing the Primordial Qi wasn’t difficult, but the result was still a failure.

The reason was simple. When he absorbed Primordial Qi, he first had to expel the filtered impurities. During this process, his acupoints opened to the outside world. Because the compressed Primordial Qi inside his body was denser than the air outside, it would immediately dissipate.

It was like the story of the bear picking corn: he’d tuck one cob under his arm only to drop it when he picked the next, ending up with only the very last one he picked.

Faced with this situation, Zhao Lin felt completely helpless.

It was like seeing a tree laden with sweet, delicious fruit on the opposite bank of a river. If only he could cross, he could eat to his heart’s content.

But the current was swift and treacherous, and with no raft or boat in sight, all he could do was watch in frustration.

’Build a boat himself?’

’The difficulty was tantamount to remaking the heavens and the earth—a feat beyond human ability.’

’No wonder the rumors say there’s an Innate Third Layer, yet no one can reach it. It seems they weren’t just baseless stories after all.’

Unwilling to stop there, Zhao Lin dove into the clan archives, poring over countless books and notes.

But after days of research, he failed to find even a single clue.

He finally realized that by cultivating to his current realm, he was already standing at the pinnacle of the martial path. There was no one left in the world who could help him.

The only person he could rely on was himself.

’No need to rush. There’s always a way forward. I have plenty of time; sooner or later, I’ll figure out the path ahead.’

...

"What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path; the regulation of this path is called Instruction. The path may not be left for an instant; if it could be left, it would not be the path..."

Zhao Lin strolled through the city. As he passed Yongye Square, where he used to live, the sound of children reciting their lessons drifted from a schoolhouse.

He had been studying his Cultivation Technique for days without making any headway. His head was just spinning, so he had decided to return to the city to clear his mind and rest.

In the past, he had trained diligently, afraid to waste a single day. Now, his cultivation had hit a dead end; it made no difference whether he trained or not.

As he listened to the students drone on with their classical recitations, Zhao Lin was suddenly reminded of an anecdote.

One day, a teacher told his students, "We scholars must always speak ambiguously. Making ourselves difficult to understand is how we show our profound learning."

Just then, the wind began to howl outside, and the teacher sent a student to check its direction.

When the student returned, the teacher asked, "What kind of wind is it?"

The student replied, "A face-hitting wind."

The teacher asked again, "And which way is it blowing?"

The student answered, "It’s blowing at my face."

The teacher frowned. "And which way were you facing?"

"I was facing the wind," the student said.

The teacher flew into a rage. "What bastard taught you to speak such nonsense!"

The student replied, "You did."

After letting his mind wander for a while, Zhao Lin found himself at the gates of the Zhao Mansion.

With nothing better to do, he went to the rear courtyard to watch his three nephews and niece at play.

His elder brother, Zhao Shan, had a son, and then another son and a daughter.

The eldest son was twelve, the second son was nine, and the youngest, a daughter not yet three years old, was sitting on a rocking horse watching her two older brothers "leaf fighting."

The two boys were picking up fallen leaves in the courtyard. Each would choose a leaf he thought was tough, hook its stem with the other’s, and they would both pull in their own direction.

Whoever’s leaf stem didn’t break was the winner.

Zhao Lin lay back in a chair, basking in the sun. Listening to the children’s playful shouts, he felt a sense of peace settle in his heart. A pleasant languor spread through his body, and he slowly began to drift off to sleep.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard footsteps approaching.

Zhao Lin knew it was Tian Dabang without even looking. "What is it?" he asked casually.

Tian Dabang stopped and said in a low voice, "Lord Duke, there are two Daoists outside asking for an audience."

’Daoists?’

’So they’ve finally come!’

Zhao Lin’s eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright. But after a moment’s thought, he lay back down again.

"What do these two Daoists look like? Where are they from?"

Tian Dabang replied, "One is a Daoist in gray robes who looks to be in his thirties, and the other is a younger one in white robes."

"They say they’ve come from Xuanyue Mountain."

’Xuanyue Mountain again,’ he thought. ’They haven’t even changed the name after all these years.’

Zhao Lin scoffed inwardly and asked, "What business do they have here?"

Tian Dabang hesitated for a moment before saying, "They claim to have come to resolve the doubts in your heart, Lord Duke."