Countless miles from the Qingchuan Mountains, towering peaks rose one after another, shrouded in mist and clouds. Among them, jade pavilions and golden palaces half-revealed themselves, suffused with an ethereal, immortal air.
A streak of cyan light fled across the sky in panic and plunged into a palace. A young man in blue robes stumbled in and prostrated himself on the ground, his voice trembling:
"Elder Leng! A… a disciple's soul lamp has gone out!"
Within the hall, a figure stood with hands clasped behind their back, gazing out at the sea of clouds. Their voice was indifferent: "In cultivation, life and death are impermanent. Who?"
"It… it was Martial Brother Leng Zuofeng and Martial Brother Zhang!" The prostrating disciple dared not lift his head.
The aura around the figure suddenly condensed!
"Leng Zuofeng… my nephew?" The voice remained calm, yet carried a bone-chilling coldness.
"Y-yes…"
In an instant, the sea of clouds outside the palace rolled backward, thunder crashed, and heaven and earth changed color!
After a long moment, the figure addressed as Elder Leng slowly uttered a few words, each one like ice:
"Investigate! Whoever it is, kill without mercy!"
…
At the foot of the Qingchuan Mountains stood a wooden cabin.
As the sun set, Mu Yun dragged his weary body back. Just as he reached the entrance, he saw a middle-aged man in a martial uniform, radiating an unspoken authority, walking out side by side with an old man in simple linen whose eyes gleamed with wisdom.
The middle-aged man had short, thick black hair and wore a fitted uniform that accentuated his commanding presence.
The old man, dressed in plain linen, appeared unremarkable at first glance. Though nearing sixty, the light and intelligence in his eyes seemed capable of seeing through anyone.
The boy happened to meet them at the door.
"Not even fourteen, with such a physique—quite remarkable even by Qingchuan City's standards." The middle-aged man looked down at the boy from the steps, his gaze sharp and imposing. "Impressive."
"So this is Old Master?" Drawing on his memories, Mu Yun recognized the old man as his grandfather and only family in this world—Mu Zhu.
"Grandfather." Following the customs of this cultivation world, Mu Yun bowed to the old man. It was not mere pretense; a deep-seated love and respect from the depths of his soul compelled him to do so. He then bowed to the middle-aged man as well.
"Old Zhu, your grandson is quite promising. With his Body Refining achievements, why not let him join my Fengyun Martial Hall? What do you think?" the middle-aged man said.
The old man laughed heartily in response: "Yun'er has been lazy since childhood and hasn't seen much of the world. I'm afraid he wouldn't learn the rules."
"Yun'er, this is Lei Gang, the master of Fengyun Martial Hall. Address him as Uncle Lei."
"Greetings, Uncle Lei." After speaking, Mu Yun bowed again with subtle propriety.
The middle-aged man smiled without answering, then turned to the old man: "Well then, Old Zhu, I'll take my leave. This matter is settled as discussed."
Watching the middle-aged man leave, the old man stood still for a long while. Mu Yun, understanding the mood, stood quietly beside him without disturbing. After another moment, the old man spoke: "Yun'er, come inside with me."
"Lei Gang is the master of Fengyun Martial Hall in Qingchuan City, one of the top experts here. They say he completed Body Refining at fifteen and is now a peak Qi Refining expert, only a step away from becoming a true cultivator at Foundation Establishment. His comment about you just now shows he thinks highly of you. I wonder if you'll reach his level by fifteen." The old man feigned a sigh and shook his head.
Mu Yun was secretly startled. Currently, at fourteen, he was only at the initial stage of Body Refining, still tempering his muscles and bones. Compared to Lei Gang, he was indeed far behind. He smiled and did not respond.
"Oh, I see you have some minor injuries. Did you encounter a tiger or bear in the forest? With your early Body Refining cultivation, killing such beasts should be well within your ability." Old Zhu changed the subject, inquiring about Mu Yun.
After a brief pause, Mu Yun replied, "No, I witnessed immortals doing battle!"
"Oh?" The old man's right hand, holding a tea bowl, paused almost imperceptibly.
He placed the emptied bowl upside down on the table and remained silent for a long time.
After a while, Old Zhu finally spoke: "I had a few drinks with Lei Gang this afternoon. I left some food for you. Go eat."
Hearing this, Mu Yun suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten in a long time, and a wave of hunger washed over him. He acknowledged the old man and hurried toward the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, the table was piled high with unwashed dishes and bowls.
The only consolation was a few cold sweet potatoes left in the middle.
Mu Yun smiled helplessly. He washed the dishes and put them away neatly before picking up a sweet potato and eating.
Sweet potatoes—such primitive food—Mu Yun hadn't eaten in a very long time. Their faint sweetness carried his thoughts back to a distant past: before Earth's solar flare crisis, when Mu Yun was still a boy in a poor yet harmonious rural family.
"Then and now, I am a youth…" A flood of emotions stirred in Mu Yun's heart.
Just then, faintly, Old Zhu's voice drifted from a distance:
"The medicinal ingredients are in the usual place. I added extra Dragon's Beard today—strong potency. You'll need to change the water before bathing. Continue your training tomorrow!"
"Ah, old age tires easily. Time to sleep."
Whether intentional or not, Old Zhu said nothing about the immortals' battle. Mu Yun suspected there was a reason behind this.
…
Late at night, silence reigned all around. Mu Yun sat cross-legged inside a wooden bathtub, experiencing the Body Refining methods of this cultivation world. At the same time, he delved deep into thought, attempting to understand the essential reason why cultivation was possible in this world.
"The antimatter combat system was originally designed to detect and utilize antimatter."
"On Earth, or rather, in the original modern universe, antimatter was almost nonexistent. Only in recent years, through microscopic astronomical phenomena such as stellar collapse or explosion, had antimatter been occasionally captured."
"This kind of antimatter is purer than any other form of matter or energy in the modern universe."
"Yet this pure antimatter energy is ubiquitous in this cultivation world, serving as the fundamental energy source that cultivators can utilize."
Mu Yun could clearly feel the medicinal bath's power drawing external energy into his body, strengthening his physique.
He continued to ponder…
"The reason organisms in this cultivation world can use antimatter for cultivation may be that their genes contain some special factor capable of resonating with antimatter, converting it into cultivation power."
"Those who cannot cultivate likely lack this genetic factor and are unable to effectively align with antimatter."
"Perhaps this is what this cultivation world calls spiritual energy and spiritual roots."
"Antimatter is spiritual energy; the special factor in genes is the spiritual root."
"Both conditions must be met simultaneously to cultivate."
Mu Yun's thoughts raced, as if entering a state of deep meditation, as he continued his deduction: "If that's the case, can the process of cultivation be divided into several stages?"
"The Body Refining stage is the first. Perhaps, as I am experiencing now, tempering the body is not only about enhancing physical strength but also about activating the genetic factors that align with spiritual energy. Through constant physical training, spiritual energy can penetrate the body smoothly, and the body's capacity to absorb spiritual energy increases."
A picture of the cultivation process gradually emerged in Mu Yun's mind.
"This should be the core of the Body Refining stage—enhancing the body's strength and adaptability. Only with sufficient refinement during Body Refining can the body bear more spiritual energy, laying the foundation for the subsequent Qi Refining stage."
"Next is the Qi Refining stage, where one absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to activate the latent spiritual root—that is, the genetic factor."
"If the spiritual root is not activated, the cultivator cannot advance and become a true cultivator, a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"Thus, the Foundation Establishment stage is truly the first step for a cultivator."
Mu Yun smiled slightly: "It seems the cultivation process is not overly complicated. In essence, it is a process of constantly stimulating the body's potential, aligning with spiritual energy, and finally mastering it."
"From another perspective, the legends of immortals in ancient Earth may have arisen precisely because certain individuals inadvertently fulfilled these two conditions, allowing them to break through and gain the ability to cultivate."
"However, with the rapid advancement of modern technology—petroleum, electricity, nuclear fusion, quantum physics—antimatter, as the antithesis of these energy sources, gradually depleted, almost vanishing."
"Perhaps this is precisely why a technologically advanced universe cannot support cultivation—because in a highly developed technological society, the opportunity for spiritual energy and spiritual roots no longer exists."
Mu Yun's thoughts gradually returned to the present: "But this is just speculation. To verify it, I'll need to conduct more experiments and gather evidence in this cultivation world."
His mind turned to another thought.
"The man named Leng was killed by a single ion light wave blast, mistaking me for a Golden Core elder."
"Plasma light wave… heh, could it be said that the fictional superhero Iron Man from M country is equivalent to a Golden Core elder?"
"But… to achieve the level of Iron Man through one's own physical power alone—that is something to look forward to."
"Then, what kind of power would a Nascent Soul cultivator, above the Golden Core stage, possess?"
"I wonder how Jane and the others are doing. And Earth… what is happening there now?"
Mu Yun's thoughts soared, diving deeper and deeper, until the fatigue from the medicinal bath caught up with him, and he drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
…
Meanwhile, in another room, Old Zhu was still wide awake.
"This boy, he acted differently today. Could it be that he finally understands my intentions…?"
He smiled as he looked toward Mu Yun's room.
"Having you cut and bring back ten Purple Bamboo stalks every day is not without reason. The difficulty of cutting Purple Bamboo is best for training strength and endurance."
As he thought, the smile gradually faded, replaced by a grave seriousness. He gazed at the starry sky outside the window, as if lost in endless memories. "Immortals doing battle?! It seems… this is heaven's will."
"If Yun'er has not established his foundation by sixteen, then, as you wished, let him return to the mortal world."
"If I give him hope, only to snatch it away with my own hands… would I not be a sinner?"
"But if I do not fight for him one more time, what difference is there between me and a sinner?"
"After all… I have been hiding for two thousand years!"
…
Inside the wooden tub, Mu Yun focused on absorbing the medicinal power from the water. The herbal solution entered through his skin, soothing his sinews and bones, penetrating his marrow, forging his skeletal structure to be far superior to ordinary people.
Past midnight, the color of the medicinal water had already grown pale. Faintly visible at the bottom of the tub was a foot-long, ginseng-like substance, shimmering with a faint golden light.
This object was the Dragon's Beard.
Lei Gang's visit today had been to exchange this Dragon's Beard for Old Zhu's promise: that Mu Yun would participate as a hidden agent for Fengyun Martial Hall in Qingchuan City's martial arts competition, helping the hall secure victory.
But Mu Yun knew nothing of this. At that moment, he lay slumped over the edge of the tub, fast asleep.
Old Zhu glanced at the sleeping Mu Yun, a smile appearing on his face.
"Now Yun'er is absorbing the medicinal power subconsciously. He won't wake until tomorrow. With this potency, combined with his usual efforts, he should reach the middle stage of Body Refining by tomorrow."
"In this day and age, spiritual energy is so thin. In the past, with Yun'er's aptitude, it wouldn't have been this difficult. Ah, well."
…