Exploring Immortality Cultivation

Time had passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already December, with the weather gradually turning bitterly cold. The winter winds from Northern Kunlun had been wreaking havoc for over a month. Divine Capital had high latitude, short daylight hours, and was situated on a plain with nothing to block the northwest winds; moreover, it was near the sea, which made the air humid and frigid. All these factors combined were enough to freeze people to death.

Du Fu had a day off today and was huddling in his little house, wrapped up in a thin quilt. He was originally a servant for a young master, responsible only for accompanying the young master in his play. The light snow that had started to fall was ill-suited for outdoor activities. Furthermore, with the year-end family competition approaching, the young master needed to diligently cultivate, which was why Du Fu had gotten the day off.

But Du Fu did not necessarily wish for this day off. At least, by the young master's side, there was never a lack of charcoal fire. If the young master had fun, he might even notice the scantiness of his servant's clothes and reward him with some extra cotton garments.

It was too cold, and he knew it—his body was cold. He could only circulate his scant mana to ward off the chill. He had learned some basic mnemonics for cultivation, but with his poor talent, he could only dream of soaring into the skies and burrowing into the earth.

Mana flowed faintly through him, seemingly turning into strands of warmth—essentially heightening the chemical energy—and his body felt a little warmer as blood coursed along with the warmth.

Suddenly, a powerful wave of warmth invaded his body, driving his shallow and insignificant mana to circulate rapidly through multiple circulations, making his entire body feel as though it were steeped in hot water, the comfort penetrating to his bones. When he opened his eyes and saw, he exclaimed in surprise, "Brother! How did you..."

It was then that Du Gui withdrew his hand and dissipated the Holy Light from his palms. Recently, as he had been flipping through the scriptures left to him by that "predecessor," he had suddenly gained much insight, and his Holy Light cultivation had increased tremendously.

Not only that, he gained some clear understanding and comprehended the true essence of being kind to others. Now, whenever he met anyone, he greeted them with a smile, and it was a sincere one. With the year-end approaching, he even took leave from the eldest son of the family to visit his brother, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Du Fu suddenly felt choked up. He and Du Gui had grown up together, but his brother had always been proud and arrogant, casually disrespecting even their masters, and in recent years, he had gone out to strive on his own. Du Fu, on the other hand, felt that it was good enough to live an honest life. Going outside to struggle seemed tiring and bitter, and it was dangerous too. Du Gui used to scold Du Fu for being unambitious. In the past two years, they had even cut off contact.

Du Gui set down the oil-paper-wrapped package he was holding and opened a large cloth bag tucked under his arm. It was full of top-quality refined charcoal. Du Gui found a brazier, ignited the charcoal with a spell, and teased his brother, "The way you live, with more mana than ordinary mortals but worse than wealthy mortals, what's the reason for that?"

The mana in Du Fu came from his master and had not undergone the refining of the Spirit Body or the enlightenment of Heavenly Communication; it was just sufficient for mere utilization.

Du Fu shrank his neck and said hesitantly, "I certainly can't compare to my elder brother..."

Over the past two years, he had also developed a bit of aspiration, but it was always overwhelmed by his own laziness; he felt as though real cultivators were out of reach.

Real cultivators—all possessed the stature of Heavenly Persons, cultivation and such—how could he covet such?

"You're in this state because you keep spewing such defeatist talk, that's why you've fallen into this plight where you can't even light your own coal," Du Gui grumbled as he unwrapped two oil-paper packages. The sweet smell characteristic of protein and fat wafted through the room. Du Fu's spirits lifted, "Da Chen's braised meat and roasted goose!"

Big brother actually remembered what his little brother liked to eat...

Du Gui had deliberately protected the meat with mana on the way, and now it was still hot. He shoved the food into his brother's hands and commanded, "Eat! When you're done, I'll take you to practice."

Du Fu was moved, then suddenly dejected, "Brother, do you think I can do it?"

"If we share the same mother and I can do it, how can you not?" Du Gui carelessly pressed his hand on his brother's head, invoking the Holy Light Magic. The intense Entropy Force once again coursed through Du Fu's entire body.

"Feel it properly; this time, I've gained a great opportunity. To become a cultivator, not to mention forming a Golden Core is all within reach, there might even be the possibility to strive for higher realms and turn into a master."

Du Fu was shocked, "Brother, are you... Does the main family know about this?"

"That question..." Du Gui was slightly annoyed, "With our relationship, you still ask such things—could I harm you?"

Du Fu stared at his brother, as if he didn't recognize him at all.

This kind of person, sharing opportunities with others?

Du Gui didn't know what Du Fu was thinking, but he himself was enjoying the awe in his brother's eyes, "Being a good person feels great... I truly didn't know there was such a profound truth before. Hey, 'I for everyone, everyone for me' and 'everyone for me, I for everyone,' though the rationale and semantics are worlds apart, when put into practice, they seem indistinguishable. The books given by the predecessor seemed absurd at first, but after careful thought, they truly contained pearls of wisdom—all maxims!"

Ever since his "enlightenment," his dealings with people had changed a lot, and he had also begun to realize the many hidden benefits within.

Du Gui had not noticed that, from a mousehole in the room's beam, a tiny pointed nose poked out.

Not far away, Wang Qi was taking notes: "...on the third day of implanting the thought of Dao Morality and self-interest in me and Chen Feng, there were significant changes in both his true nature and his behavior patterns..."

"Holy Light cultivation has shown notable progress..."

"Still no contact with the Holy Light God... Since he has had no contact with those of the Silver Dawn and is not a part of their system; moreover, his understanding of Holy Light significantly differs from the seven people of Silver Dawn... It's inferred that heretics cannot become part of the Divine Tao System. Perhaps, this is why for tens of thousands of years, no divine spirit has allowed believers and witches to expound on the doctrines—heretics are even more detestable than cultists..."

"He's starting to gather his own team, spreading his own thoughts. This is a good sign. Perhaps when he gathers more than eight believers, he can be allowed to contact the Holy Light God."

As Wang Qi was recording, Du Bin ran over from a distance. He seemed to be looking for Wang Qi. He knew Wang Qi was nearby, but Wang Qi's invisibility cloaked him from both sight and Spiritual Sense without any flaw. Unless one had excellent Perception of the Electromagnetic Field to discover the distorted light waves of Wang Qi, he would remain undetected. And Du Bin, unfortunately, could not just call out to Wang Qi. In his heart, Wang Qi was like a trump card, he could not afford to let others know of his dealings with Wang Qi. Besides, Wang Qi hadn't shown any intention of joining the Banished Immortal team yet, and being too closely associated with him was not a good reputation to have.

Du Bin walked around the vicinity a few times, almost to the point of bursting into flames with anxiety. When he was about to leave in frustration, Wang Qi finally revealed himself and asked, "Brother Du, what brings you here?"

Du Bin breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted: "Brother Wang, I knew you were still here." He didn't say what he came for, but instead glanced at the house in the backyard: "Du Gui, that cold-hearted person, came to see his own brother—Brother Wang, this is your handiwork, isn't it?"

"Just studying the Great Dao of Innate Morality," Wang Qi bluffed effortlessly.

The Dao of Innate Morality was something one had to preach to the world to attain. Du Bin did not doubt Wang Qi's words and instead said, "Brother Wang, regarding what you asked me last time, I've found out. There's the one whose engagement was broken, the one who was crippled and lies in a coma."

Wang Qi did not react immediately, but he was soon shocked: "There's really someone in your family who had their engagement broken?"

I was just teasing a few days ago... and you actually found the unlucky one who was jilted?

Du Bin led Wang Qi away, speaking in a low voice recounting the details, putting on a show of a caring brother worried about his sibling. If he genuinely cared about family, he wouldn't have pushed his own brother towards Wang Qi for experimentation.

When they reached the entrance of a large house, Wang Qi roughly understood what was going on. It turns out that Du Bin's younger brother was a byblow, sharing the same father but different mothers. He had some talent as a youngster but gradually lost interest. The girl who was arranged to marry him was somewhat displeased. Later, when he went out to study, that miss actually fell for the Modern Sect and joined the Liuyun Sect. In Divine Capital, joining a Modern Sect was equivalent to leaving the family, and given the miss's disdain for her betrothed, the marital arrangement could only end in dissolution.

Unfortunately, Du Bin's unfortunate younger brother couldn't let go and had been sulking inside for many days.

Once at the entrance of the house, Du Bin carelessly warned Wang Qi: "Brother Wang, be careful this time. He's my brother, not comparable to those servants. Whatever you do, ensure his safety; at least make it like Du Gui, with no flaws showing."

Du Bin himself, with his diagnostic skills, could not see any trickery Wang Qi had played on Du Gui; therefore, he dared to let Wang Qi do this. In his view, it made no difference to him whether the younger brother named Du Chun became a cultist or remained a decent person after Wang Qi's manipulation.

Wang Qi guessed Du Bin's thoughts, chuckled heh heh, and placed his hand on the wall, unleashing the intense force of Heavenly Song along with his own powerful Soul Power into the room. He felt someone's Consciousness inside being suppressed, and so, with hands behind his back, he pushed the door open and entered.

Inside the room sat a youth in a meditative pose. He was naturally attractive. But for some reason, his delicate and youthful face took on a ferocious aspect that was somewhat terrifying.

Wang Qi infused Mana into the young Du Chun's body, slightly surprised: "This is... you've completed Qi Cultivation using the Ancient Method, then you will turn to Modern once you've acquired your first strand of Mana?"

Du Bin coughed awkwardly: "This... Brother Wang, aren't you the same?"

Wang Qi said nothing more. He felt around the young lord's neck, then pulled out a string of prayer beads and a Jade Pendant: "Brother Du, which of these ornaments means more to your brother?"

Du Bin pointed at the Jade Pendant: "That's the Jade Talisman gifted by the old man when he was born; it holds special meaning for him."

Wang Qi nodded, then rummaged in his Storage Bag for a while and found a piece of jade rough similar to that pendant. With Mana, he carved the raw jade into the pendant's likeness, then fine-tuned with Heavenly Song and Elephant Phase Wave Skill to ensure every detail and pattern of the jade matched exactly with Du Chun's original pendant.

Then, Wang Qi crushed Du Chun's own pendant and hung his tampered pendant back in place.

"Alright, let's go." Wang Qi nonchalantly patted Du Bin's hand: "Take me to see those chickens used as a warning to monkeys in your family."

At the same time, he stroked his ring: "Old man, teaching this kid how to behave is going to trouble you." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)