"Kid, is it you who activated this Precious Pearl?"
At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed in the empty space, ringing in Hu Yuan's ears with a soul-shaking majesty and endless vicissitudes.
Hu Yuan tried his best to steady his breathing, allowing his chaotic heartbeat to gradually calm down.
He asked respectfully yet curiously, "Senior, are you talking to me? My name is Hu Yuan. I'm a bit confused, completely unaware of what's happening or where this is. Am I dreaming?" His voice was filled with doubt and anticipation, hoping to get an answer from the senior.
The voice sounded again, asking a question: "A dream? Not at all."
As this question fell, Hu Yuan felt a wave of dizziness, and the sight before him only made him feel more bewildered and uneasy.
At this point, an elder seemed to drift down leisurely from the clouds, or perhaps as an apparition condensed in this mysterious space, suddenly appearing before Hu Yuan's eyes, giving a feeling that was both real and illusory.
The elder looked to be in his sixties, his face revealing a kind yet majestic demeanor. His mixed gray hair was tied into a Hunyuan bun, and his long beard gently floated and hung down his chest. He wore a deep blue robe with a white under-shirt. The archaic fabric faintly exuded an extraordinary charm. Black cloud-patterned boots tightly wrapped his feet, complementing his otherworldly temperament.
The elder spoke slowly, inspiring awe: "Kid, your opportunity and courage are truly astonishing to me. To actually be able to activate this pearl is both your fortune and your mission." His voice revealed affirmation and expectation toward Hu Yuan.
Listening to the elder's words, Hu Yuan felt an inexplicable curiosity well up in his heart. How similar this scene was to the fantasy novels he usually read!
A trace of surprise flashed across the elder's eyes, which instantly turned into deep interest. He gazed deeply at Hu Yuan before him, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a smile carrying a hint of joy. "Ah! Truly unexpected." His gaze swept over Hu Yuan inch by inch, as if trying to see right through him.
He paused slightly, nodding slightly, his tone carrying appreciation: "Not bad! Your bloodline is exceptionally gifted, and its potential is breathtaking. Our meeting is not by chance, but the result of destined fate." As his words fell, he waved his hand gently, and a golden rune flew out from his cuff. It traced a golden trajectory in the void, gently wrapping around Hu Yuan, making him feel an unprecedented comfort and peace.
At this time, the elder spoke slowly again, asking: "Kid, can you tell this old man what era this is currently? And where are you located?" This sudden question made Hu Yuan inevitably feel suspicious, and he thought to himself: Could it be that the elder before him knows nothing about the present era?
Hu Yuan paused slightly, thought about it for a moment, and replied, "Today is the Western calendar year 2022, and this junior is in the Imperial Capital of the Great Xia Country." Having said that, he noticed a hint of surprise on the elder's face. The elder stared at him intently, his voice low and carrying a unique charm, as if having weathered the vicissitudes of time: "Western calendar? Kid, do you know what time it is if measured by the Dao calendar?"
Listening to the elder's words, a flash of light suddenly crossed Hu Yuan's mind, and he cautiously probed in response: "Could what senior speaks of be the era calculated starting from the Yellow Emperor's era?" Having finished speaking, he nervously watched the elder, expecting an affirmative reply. At this moment, the elder's deep and bright eyes stared at him even more piercingly, and only two short words spilled from his mouth: "Go on."
Hu Yuan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and said, "Nowadays, the vast majority of people have long been accustomed to using the Western calendar to calculate years, and call the current year 2022." Saying this, Hu Yuan paused slightly. Then, he continued slowly: "However, in Taoism and Chinese traditional culture, people still persist in following the Yellow Emperor's calendar system. Take this year for example, if calculated according to the Yellow Emperor's era, it is already the 4,719th year!" At this time, the elder kept his eyes closed the entire time, motionless like a meditating sculpture. However, from his slightly trembling eyelids, it could be seen that he was actually listening intently to Hu Yuan's narration, and seemed to immerse himself in those distant years along with every word Hu Yuan spoke.
After a while, the elder slowly opened his eyes.
Hu Yuan suddenly felt the surrounding air freeze, as if some invisible and intangible mysterious power was quietly pervading. This unusual atmosphere made his heart beat faster, and he involuntarily held his breath, his eyes fixed on the aged yet mysterious-looking elder before him.
"Se... Senior, may I ask what place this actually is? And you... could you possibly be the legendary Golden Immortal?" Hu Yuan plucked up his courage and tentatively asked. His voice trembled slightly, obviously filled with awe and curiosity.
The elder's expression suddenly turned changeable and uncertain, as if shrouded in a layer of mist, making it hard to fathom his true thoughts. A moment later, he began to mutter to himself: "The Ming Dynasty... hmm, that dynasty seems to have left me far behind, and many things in my mind have become blurry..."
Just as Hu Yuan was pondering the meaning of the elder's words, the elder suddenly raised his head, his deep pool-like eyes looking straight at him. In an instant, Hu Yuan only felt an irresistible, overwhelming pressure wash over him, leaving him almost breathless and causing his whole body to tremble slightly and uncontrollably.
However, right at this moment, seeing Hu Yuan looking so nervous, the elder suddenly grinned. That smile carried a bit of playfulness and unruliness, just like an unaging child with an untamed heart, making him feel quite approachable.
"Haha, kid, I didn't expect you to even know about Golden Immortals! You do have some knowledge. However, you don't need to be so afraid; this old man's memories just fell into chaos temporarily because I've been sleeping for too long." As the elder spoke, he gently waved his hand, and the powerful pressure that had originally enveloped Hu Yuan instantly vanished without a trace.
The elder locked his gaze tightly onto Hu Yuan again, seemingly wanting to see right through to his inner depths past his appearance. After quietly gazing at him for quite a while, he finally asked, "Kid, watching the flow of energy around your body, you must have already successfully achieved Qi Induction. I wonder what kind of cultivation method you are practicing now?"
Asked so directly by the elder, Hu Yuan's face turned slightly red, appearing somewhat embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment before stammering his reply: "Senior, you may not know, but this junior has actually only practiced a bit of qigong and sitting meditation. Since there was no one to teach or guide me, these skills were all slowly figured out and learned by myself through flipping through books and searching for information."
Hearing Hu Yuan's words, a flash of imperceptible light suddenly crossed the elder's previously calm-as-water eyes, containing both pity for the young man before him and a few notes of praise for his ability to embark on the path of cultivation through his own efforts. Seeing him first nod slightly to acknowledge that Hu Yuan was speaking the truth, the elder then slowly said: "Being able to become self-taught through one's own efforts alone is truly a rare and commendable thing! Having no master to pass down techniques, yet still able to rely on your own exploration and study to step through the gates of cultivation, such an experience can already be called extremely arduous and perilous."
Receiving the elder's affirmation and praise, Hu Yuan's previously turbulent heart finally calmed down a bit. Yet at the same time, an inexplicable sense of tension still lingered stubbornly in his mind, making it hard for him to fully relax. Therefore, Hu Yuan could only keep his head down, hardly daring to raise it to meet the elder's torch-like gaze, while adding in a stammer even quieter than before: "However... even so, this junior always feels that my progress on the path of cultivation is very slow, as if no matter how hard I try, I cannot achieve further breakthroughs and remain permanently stagnant."
The corners of the elder's mouth turned up slightly, sketching a shallow curve, and then he said slowly: "Could it be that you, young man, have your sights set on the realm of the Golden Immortal?" Hu Yuan shook his head gently, a look of helplessness appearing on his face, and slowly spoke: "Senior, as you well know, who wouldn't want to achieve the Great Dao of the Golden Immortal? However, finding oneself in this era of withered spiritual power, wanting to ascend with a mortal fleshly body is simply wishful thinking!" The elder nodded slightly upon hearing this, showing agreement, and then still smilingly said: "Indeed so, but if one were to obtain this old man's ultimate inheritance, perhaps one could reach that realm."
Hearing this, a bright flash instantly crossed Hu Yuan's eyes, as if he had caught a glimpse of hope. But this light was fleeting and quickly dimmed again. He asked the senior full of curiosity: "Senior, if this junior boldly wishes to take you as a master and study this peerless inheritance you impart, I wonder what price this junior would need to pay?" Hu Yuan knew very well in his heart that there was never any groundless gain in this world, and any reward must inevitably be accompanied by a corresponding price.
Faced with Hu Yuan's inquiry, the senior smiled slightly and replied in a peaceful tone: "Kid, taking a master is not just a simple transaction. If you truly wish to become this old man's disciple and learn this inheritance, first you must possess unyielding perseverance and indomitable grit, and be willing to invest a massive amount of time and energy into painstaking study. As for the so-called price, it is actually just all your unremitting efforts and sweat falling like rain from now on."
The elder squinted his eyes slightly, his thoughts drifting far away, and began to recount those long-sealed past events. His voice was low and magnetic, as if coming from an ancient era, making one involuntarily intoxicated by it. As the elder narrated, his gaze grew increasingly deep, as if every single moment could pierce through the heavy curtains of time and return to that once magnificent and turbulent era.
Hu Yuan quietly sat to one side, listening intently to the elder's story. His heart was filled with a sense of awe, as if he could feel the storms and the vicissitudes of time that the elder had experienced on his long journey through life. The elder's mysterious background and ups and downs in past experiences were like a thick fog, wrapping him tightly and making him all the more curious, eager to find out and uncover the truth hidden behind it all.
According to the elder, in the distant past, he had been revered by all people in the world as the "Tianshan Ancestor". However, his exact age was already untraceable. Starting from the end of the Qin Dynasty, through countless dynastic changes, there had always been a group of followers fiercely loyal to him. These people were either drawn to his profound martial arts attainments or subdued by his otherworldly wisdom and demeanor.
Eventually, after arduous cultivation and tempering, the Tianshan Ancestor successfully embarked on the journey to the immortal realm. Just before his ascension, out of some deep meaning, he deliberately left behind six mysterious pearls across the vast land of Great Xia. These six pearls were like dazzling stars in the night sky, scattered across various unknown corners of the mortal world. Moreover, within each pearl resided a wisp of the Tianshan Ancestor's soul, silently guarding and waiting for the destined person to appear. When the time was right, the soul within the pearl would awaken, passing down the peerless cultivation techniques and precious experience accumulated by the Tianshan Ancestor over a millennium to this destined person, allowing them to inherit this weighty mantle.
To obtain the ultimate inheritance, the six people who obtained the pearls must gather together and fuse their inheritances with one another to unlock the final secret. This complete inheritance would bring them incomparable cultivation results in this era of withered spiritual power. However, to Hu Yuan's regret, the elder remained tight-lipped about the exact contents covered by these inheritances, merely dropping a meaningful sentence: "When the Six Pearls gather, all shall be known." It must be specially pointed out that to successfully activate—
Speaking of these six magical pearls, they were originally obtained by the Tianshan Ancestor by chance in ancient times. Afterwards, through his own refinement, he caused these six precious pearls to form a treasure capable of both offense and defense, naming them the "Tianshan Pearls".
The six pearls within the "Tianshan Pearls" each contained unique and astonishing elemental powers. These six pearls respectively corresponded to the six elements of sun, moon, stars, water, fire, and wind, with each element endowing its corresponding pearl with distinct colors and characteristics.
Among them, the pearl representing the sun element emitted a dazzling white light, resembling a scorching sun; the pearl symbolizing the moon element shone with a soft yellow radiance, just like a bright moon hanging high in the night sky; and the pearl carrying the starlight element bloomed with a deep blue ghostly glow, like dots of twinkling stars in the vast universe. As for the water element pearl, its entire body was emerald green, crystal clear like a limpid lake; the fire element pearl burned with a blazing red flame, radiating scorching energy fluctuations; finally, the wind element pearl shone with a silver-white light, nimble and ethereal like rapidly flowing breeze.
When a destined person was fortunate enough to acquire any single one of the "Tianshan Pearls", they only needed to activate it with their own special blood to merge this magical pearl into their own body. Once successfully fused, the immense power hidden within the pearl would be instantly unleashed. Furthermore, as the individual's cultivation grew, the various functions possessed by the "Tianshan Pearls" would also gradually improve, and could even unlock entirely new unknown abilities.
Initially, the two most prominent functions of the "Tianshan Pearls" were drastically improving cultivation efficiency and providing storage space to house all kinds of precious items. Not only that, sealed within each pearl was a wisp of soul belonging to the Tianshan Ancestor. These souls contained the Tianshan Ancestor's lifelong wisdom and experience, and being able to communicate with them and comprehend their mysteries would undoubtedly be a transformative growth opportunity for the holder.