Chapter 1 – Transmigration
Translator: Oxy | Editor: TribeOfOne
Since the birth of the universe, the human race had been afflicted with the Five Heavenly Declines, forcing them to wander around in sickness and in death throughout their lives. The people of the Ancient Era were unwilling to be constrained by the confines of mortality. They travelled through the various mountains, rivers, oceans, and swamps, comprehending the nature of Heaven and Earth. Thus, the so-called Immortals began to emerge among mankind. In fact, an Immortal was just a mortal who had some success in cultivation.
Upon discovering the mysteries of the Dao, the entire world embarked upon the path of cultivation. However, when the Ancients attained enough power to be capable of destroying the world, wicked desires began to burst out from their hearts. As a result, the Ancients were divided into two opposing sides, the Divine and the Demonic. Finally, tens of thousands of years ago, both sides fought in the Great Ancient War. As a result of the war, both the Divine and Demonic cultivators were completely annihilated, leaving behind only remnants of their fragmented cultivation techniques in the world.
Over the years, the remnants were slowly discovered and pieced back together by fortunate individuals and clans. After dozens of generations of derivations and deductions, these cultivation techniques were eventually restored to their original states. In order to prevent the same fate that befell the world 10,000 years ago, new disciples of each sect were recruited only if they had an affinity in pursuing the Dao and, more importantly, had an indifferent and neutral view on life. However, no one is truly devoid of ideals and the desire to inflict their morality upon the world, especially when they have the power to. This has been an unbreakable law since time immemorial.
The Divine Dao consisted of four different factions: the Mystical Heaven Sect, the Heavenly Jade Sect, the Supreme Void Sect, and the Divine Alchemy Pagoda. The Demonic Dao, on the other hand, consisted of three different factions: the Firmament Devil Sect, the Soul Devourer Palace, and the Demonic Star Sect. The Divine Dao faction resided in the central plains of Dangxing, while the Demonic Dao faction resided in the barbaric wilderness of Nanjiang.
The city of Jingyu lay at the foot of a mountain that was said to house a Daoist sect. Within the city sat a child that looked to be about 6-7 years of age, wearing green clothes. He had a dazed expression on his face as he sat on the ground and watched the people bustling around the street. His name was Bai Cangqiong.
Bai Cangqiong continued staring at the busy street while wailing in grief in his mind, ‘God, aliens, that auntie I used to play with, anyone! I don’t want to stay in this damnable place anymore! Please send me back to Earth! Wu~~~’ (TL: Crying noise.)
As you might have guessed, Bai Cangqiong was not a person from this world. One sultry day during his summer vacation, Bai Cangqiong was at home playing a cultivation fantasy RPG on his computer.
While he was appreciating the scenery displayed on the computer screen, he said quietly to himself, “How great would it be if I was actually sent to a cultivation world?”
It was then that he found himself transported into another world, where he even became a 6-year-old orphan.
‘Ah forget it. No matter what world I live in, I’d just be wandering aimlessly anyway. Might as well make the best of the situation. Anyways, a world of cultivation is not really a bad place, it’s just a little dangerous.’
Bai Cangqiong brought out all his inner-’Ah Q’ in order to comfort himself. (TL: Ah Q means to comfort yourself, no matter how bad the situation is. Google Ah Q mentality if you want to know more.)
Bai Cangqiong stood up and walked into a dilapidated hut, which he had made his home. When Bai Cangqiong had first arrived in this world, he was astonished to discover that the language here was actually the Chinese language, which saved Bai Cangqiong the trouble of learning a new language.
Immediately after arriving, in order to understand the general situation of this world, Bai Cangqiong took full advantage of his age and borrowed a few books from a private school to read. He then understood that this world was indeed a world of cultivation. However, in order to be a cultivator, you needed to have the aptitude for it. Otherwise, you could only spend the rest of your life as an ordinary mortal.
Thinking up to this point, Bai Cangqiong began to shout at the heavens, “Hey God! Why are you bullying me like this? Whether or not I have the affinity to cultivate can only be decided by another cultivator? Even if I have the affinity, who knows what kind of aptitude this body possesses? Furthermore, aren’t the people who’re sent into another world supposed to be given some kind of cheat? Why wasn’t I given one? Ah, I feel so cheated!”
But who was Bai Cangqiong? He was an otaku. In a world where all kinds of web novels could easily be found, who had not read a few cultivation web novels? Furthermore, Bai Cangqiong was not just your average otaku, he was an ultra-otaku.
Over the following few months, Bai Cangqiong endured all kinds of hardships just to survive in this new world, until he finally managed to come across a rumour that a cultivator would come down to the city to buy some daily necessities. This was what Bai Cangqiong was waiting for.
Bai Cangqiong lay down within his shabby grass-roofed hut, the excitement bubbling up within him. While tossing and turning on the ground, he thought to himself, ‘Whether or not I can accomplish my goal, is all up to tomorrow.’ After a good while, Bai Cangqiong finally fell asleep.
The next day, Bai Cangqiong woke up early in the morning. He hastily ate his breakfast (a few kind folks who pitied him, seeing as he was a penniless orphan child, occasionally donated leftovers and clothes to him), and went to the market to wait for the so-called cultivator’s arrival.
At the peak of the mountain next to Jingyu city stood the Mystical Heaven Sect. Within the sect was one disgruntled Li Cang, who was one of the Seven Great Masters of the sect.
Li Cang sighed and thought to himself, ‘Didn’t I only just drink a tad too much and forget to attend the discussion at the main hall? Did you have to go so far as to punish me by making me go down to the city to buy supplies?’
However, even though Li Cang had such thoughts, he did not speak them out. Instead, he elegantly stood on his flying sword as he descended down from the mountain.
To not startle the common folks down in the city, Li Cang stopped flying outside of the city and placed his flying sword back into the scabbard on his back. He then calmly entered the city and walked towards the market.
Meanwhile, Bai Cangqiong, who was sitting on the sidewalk of the market, had a burst of excitement as he caught sight of Li Cang.
‘The cultivator is here! What should I do? Do I directly walk up to him and request him to accept me as a disciple? Or do I follow behind him until he asks me what I want?’
After some deep thinking, Bai Cangqiong finally decided on the latter and began following the cultivator.
With his mind made up, Bai Cangqiong waited until Li Cang had finished with shopping in the market. He then followed behind Li Cang, making sure to leave a distance of about ten metres between the two, until they reached the mountain road outside the city.
“Hey little guy, why have you been following me for so long?” Li Cang turned around and, being slightly suspicious, asked Bai Cangqiong. “You have been following me all the way here since I left the market, what do you want?”
Bai Cangqiong solemnly looked at Li Cang and sincerely said, “I want to be a cultivator and pursue the Dao.”
Li Cang was surprised when he heard what Bai Cangqiong had to say.
“Cultivating? Pursuing the Dao? What do you think the Dao is?”
Bai Cangqiong looked deeply into Li Cang eyes and said, “In my heart, I believe that everyone has their own unique Dao based on their heart’s desires. Since I desire to roam around the world carefreely, my Dao is to be free and unfettered.”
Li Cang’s eyes widened with astonishment. After taking a moment to recover from his shock, he said to Bai Cangqiong, “Yes, that’s right! You indeed have the affinity to pursue the Dao. Come, follow me back to the sect!”
Having heard what Li Cang said, Bai Cangqiong replied somewhat puzzled, “Um, Uncle, do you not need to check my aptitude or something?”
‘Uncle!!’ The corner of Li Cang’s mouth twitched angrily upon hearing what Bai Cangqiong called him.
Soon after, Li Cang firmly replied, “Since you have some affinity in pursuing the Dao, how far you can progress on this path is all up to your own abilities. I am only responsible for guiding you onto the path of cultivation!”
Bai Cangqiong thought secretly in his heart, “Is it really just like the trope in those web novels? I only need to have some affinity with the Dao to become a cultivator?”
“Little fellow, what are you dawdling there for? We’re leaving soon.”
Li Cang then drew out his flying sword and dropped it on the ground. The sword hovered a little above the ground, then rapidly grew in size, increasing its length from one metre to three metres.
Seeing this, Bai Cangqiong got really excited in his heart, ‘To think that I get to see the fabled flying sword. It looks way better than the ones I saw in the video games I played before.’
Li Cang saw Bai Cangqiong staring at his flying sword and impatiently said, “Isn’t it just a flying sword? After you become a disciple and diligently study for about three to five years, you can also fly on one. What’s there to be envious about? Hurry up and get on the sword. It’s getting late.”
Bai Cangqiong immediately sprinted with his tiny legs towards the flying sword after hearing what Li Cang said.
“Hold on to my leg or else you will fall. If that happens, I won’t be taking any responsibilities.” Li Cang indifferently said to Bai Cangqiong as he got on the flying sword.
After warning him, Li Cang made a pinching gesture with both hands and the flying sword began to glow with an azure light. The flying sword then rapidly ascended towards the sky, while the azure aura enveloped Bai Cangqiong into an eggshell-like barrier, protecting him from the fierce winds.
Bai Cangqiong reached out his hands and touched the protective barrier as he curiously asked Li Cang, “Wow! Uncle, what is this thing?”
Li Cang replied with a scowl, “This azure barrier is meant to block the wind from knocking you off. Also, stop calling me uncle or I’ll throw you down from here myself!”
‘Tch! Fine, I will stop calling you uncle! So fierce! I hope you aren’t already impotent!’ Bai Cangqiong secretly cursed at Li Cang in his heart.
Standing in front of Bai Cangqiong, Li Cang suddenly felt chills being sent down his spine. Li Cang thought to himself, “Weird, for someone at my cultivation level, I can still get cold?”
Bai Cangqiong stood on the flying sword with both of his hands holding onto Li Cang’s waist. Looking at the stunning scenery below, he excitedly thought to himself, “I will be able to do this whenever I want in the future as well.”
Bai Cangqiong continued to look at the beautiful scenery below throughout the entirety of their flight, lasting about an hour or so. Li Cang calmly said to Bai Cangqiong, “Little fellow, we’re about to reach our destination. Hold on tight.”
Right after that, the flying sword accelerated suddenly towards the distance. The sudden acceleration nearly made Bai Cangqiong fall off the sword. He tightened his grasp on Li Cang’s waist out of fear. Bai Cangqiong could not help but mutter uneasily in his heart, ‘Suddenly accelerating… Do you want me to die an early death?’
Bai Cangqiong then slowly stretched out his head from Li Cang’s waist and looked at where they were headed. He saw a towering mountain with the peak shrouded in a white fog. The white fog looked like a magical barrier, preventing people from entering.
Bai Cangqiong asked Li Cang, “Daoist Master, is that where our sect is supposed to be? Why can’t I see any kind of sect monastery?”
Li Cang smiled faintly and said, “That’s right. The mountain in front of us is called Mount Heaven’s Path. Legend has it that during the Ancient Era, this mountain was a path that led to the Heavens. As for why you can’t see the sect monastery, that is because of a formation array around the sect monastery producing the white fog, concealing it.”
After answering Bai Cangqiong’s question, Li Cang did not speak anymore.
After flying for a little while longer, the pair were finally reaching sect monastery. Li Cang looked at Bai Cangqiong and said, “Later when we enter the sect monastery, follow me quietly and don’t say anything. Got it?”
Bai Cangqiong slightly nodded towards Li Cang to signify that he understood.
Li Cang saw that and told him with a smile, “Also, you have to call me Master from now on. You are now my disciple.”
Bai Cangqiong excitedly asked Li Cang, “Then Master, how many disciples are there in the sect? Oh, and how strong are you?”
“Well, I could be considered as one of the top five of the sect. As for the number of disciples… there is only one so far.” Li Cang said, slightly embarrassed.
Bai Cangqiong mind went blank for a second. Then he looked at the embarrassed Li Cang and asked, “Don’t tell me… that one disciple is me?!”
Li Cang looked at Bai Cangqiong’s childish face and nodded slowly.
“Master! How is that possible? The sect monastery is so big, yet excluding me, there are no other disciples?”
Li Cang curled his lips and said to Bai Cangqiong, “Do you think that cultivation is the same as harvesting cabbages? There are only slightly over ten thousand cultivators in the world. But how many people are there in the world? Billions? Or tens of billions? Even our Mystical Heaven Sect only has about a thousand people in total.”
Bai Cangqiong was shocked after he heard what Li Cang said. So it turned out that there were very few cultivators in the world! He really thought that this world would be like those web novels he read, with tens of thousands of cultivators fighting each other being no big deal.
“Then Master, why are there so few cultivators?” Bai Cangqiong curiously asked Li Cang.
“Actually, tens of thousands of years ago, back in the Ancient Era, there were quite a lot of cultivators. It was just that after the Great Ancient War, both the Divine and Demonic factions set a rule, prohibiting those who are either virtuous or evil from cultivating,” Li Cang patiently explained to Bai Cangqiong.
“So, are the Demonic cultivators not considered evil anymore?” Bai Cangqiong asked puzzledly.
Li Cang looked at Bai Cangqiong for a while and said, “Ah well, since I’ll have to explain this to you sooner or later, there’s no harm in explaining it to you now. The Demonic faction back in the Ancient Era was indeed wicked and evil. However, the wicked Demonic faction completely perished after the war.
“The Demonic faction as it exists now was actually founded by a peerless genius a few thousand years ago. They mainly focus on cultivating their physical body, like the Demonic cultivators of the Ancient Era, while we, the Divine faction, mainly focus on harmonising with the energy of Heaven and Earth.
“That is the reason why we view them as Demonic cultivators. However, the current Demonic faction is not wicked like their predecessor. In fact, they even help the mortals occasionally by exterminating monsters that gather around human settlements.
“The tournaments between the Divine and the Demonic faction that occur once each century are simply fuelled by plain arrogance. Both factions compete with each other to learn from one another, as well as to find out which side is stronger.
“The tournament has already been held dozens of times, and we have both won and lost dozens of times. Nevertheless, we have still not been able to determine the so-called ‘correct’ path of cultivation.
“Alright, let’s end it here for now. There are still a few more matters we need to deal with. I will explain it to you in further detail when we arrive at the sect monastery.”
Li Cang then started to gesture with both hands, and an azure light was shot towards the white fog. The white fog then started to rapidly disperse, revealing what was within the fog.
Bai Cangqiong saw the sect monastery standing on the mountaintop. It was at least several hundred metres tall, and about as big as a small town, making it look strangely majestic. Li Cang waved his left hand and the flying sword began to fly toward the sect monastery gate. The flying sword then descended slowly to the ground, as if it was an elevator.
Li Cang said to Bai Cangqiong, “Follow me.”
Bai Cangqiong followed Li Cang without uttering a single word. As he entered the main hall of the monastery, Bai Cangqiong felt that the main hall gave out an otherworldly charm and beauty. Bai Cangqiong was left stupefied when he saw that there was actually a vast forest within the main hall.
Looking at Bai Canqiong’s expression, Li Cang faintly smiled and said, “This is just a magic illusion produced by the hall itself. The main hall is actually a magic treasure from the Ancient Era. Our sect’s Founding Patriarch acquired it by a stroke of luck. Although the magic treasure has lost many of its original power and functions, the white fog you saw earlier, as well as this forest you are seeing, are exactly the products of this magic treasure.”
Bai Cangqiong nodded intently while he was listening to Li Cang’s explanation.
“What is your name by the way? I just realised that I still don’t know.” Li Cang asked.
“Master, your disciple family’s name is Bai, given name is Cangqiong.” Bai Cangqiong respectfully answered Li Cang’s question.
Li Cang nodded and asked Bai Cangqiong another question, “Qiong’er, are you able to read and write? “ (TL: The ‘er at the end of names are commonly used as a suffix to signify closeness or affection. It is similar to -kun or -chan in Japanese culture.)
Li Cang saw Bai Cangqiong nod his head, then said to him while walking directly into the forest, “Since this is the case, follow me.”
Bai Cangqiong closely followed behind Li Cang into the forest, walking for about half an hour while looking at the countless trees all around him. Every single tree was so tall and wide that it would take about 10 burly men linking hands with each other in order to completely surround a single tree. Furthermore, there was a giant tree hollow at the bottom of every tree.
Bai Cangqiong noticed those holes and asked Li Cang, “Master, what are the hollows in the trees for?”
“The hollows are the places where members of our sect cultivate. Our Mystical Heaven Sect’s cultivation method places importance on harmonising with the spiritual energy of nature all around us. That is why cultivating amongst nature itself will produce the best results.”
Finished explaining, Li Cang pointed at a tree hollow next to him and said, “Enter the hollow by yourself. The sect’s cultivation method, as well as some general information, are all within the hollow. If you find yourself unable to understand something, you can consult the information provided.”
Li Cang then left immediately.
Bai Cangqiong muttered apprehensively in his heart, ‘No wonder there are so few cultivators, the older generation is so irresponsible!’
Bai Cangqiong then sighed while walking into that tree hollow. There was about 40 to 50 square metres of space in the tree hollow. Within it, there was a wooden bed, a wooden table, a few chairs, and a wooden bookshelf with dozens of books neatly arranged in it. Furthermore, there was a pill bottle containing about ten or so pills, as well as a piece of paper, on the table.
Bai Cangqiong approached the table and picked up the slip of paper. Written on the paper was, “Within the pill bottle are Fasting Pills. One pill is enough for you to last an entire month without food or water. Be sure to remember not to eat more than one pill a month!”
After Bai Cangqiong finished reading, he put down the slip of paper and picked up the bottle. He opened the bottle and began to sniff into it. Bai Cangqiong thought to himself with some doubt, ‘Why does it not have that clichéd overwhelming medicinal aroma that those web novels usually mention? Don’t tell me it has already gone past its best before date and expired?’
After he finished sniffing, he took a pill and swallowed it. Bai Cangqiong immediately began to feel a warmth in his stomach, spreading to every single part of his body. It was so comfortable that he unconsciously let out a moan.
“If it weren’t for the instructions written on that slip of paper, specifically mentioning not to eat it more than once a month, I would have eaten the whole freaking bottle. It was too damn pleasurable.” Bai Cangqiong stared at the pill bottle and muttered to himself.
Bai Cangqiong restrained himself from the urge to eat another one and placed the bottle on the bookshelf. He then decided to find out exactly what world this was, as well as what cultivation realm he would have to attain to be considered as an expert.
As for what kind of aptitude his new body possessed, Bai Cangqiong decided to completely ignore it. What he thought was, ‘No matter what, I am still a transmigrator. It is unlikely that I don’t even have a little bit of advantage over others. No need to mention those overpowered cheats like being able to master a skill in an instant. At the very least, I should have a so-called exceptional aptitude in cultivation.’
With such a mindset, he walked to the side of the bookshelf.
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