Li Lin wore a solemn expression as he slowly sat up. He crossed his legs, placed his hands naturally on his knees, adjusted his breathing, and began to center his mind and focus his Qi.
He concentrated his efforts inward, striving to banish stray thoughts and let his mind gradually grow calm.
Throughout this process, he felt the beating of his heart and the rhythm of his breath, experiencing the intimate connection between his body and his mind.
He knew full well that only in a state of inner peace could he truly understand and digest the teachings bestowed upon him by his master.
As time drifted by, Li Lin's state of mind grew increasingly tranquil, and his cognitive faculties became sharper and stronger.
Chu Xingyun nodded inwardly. Though the boy's aptitude was somewhat lacking, his temperament was exceptional.
He was a promising seed. Seeing that Li Lin had no further issues, Chu Xingyun could not help casting his gaze toward an object lying to the side.
It was something that had fallen out of their inner pockets as Li Lin had rolled around on the ground earlier.
With a flick of Chu Xingyun's finger, the item flew over to him and hovered right before his eyes.
Chu Xingyun examined it closely and saw that it was a branch with a verdant green stem and nine leaves, bearing a single fiery-red fruit that emitted a rich, intoxicating fragrance.
This plunged him into deep thought. Initially somewhat perplexed and hesitant, he pondered a bit longer before his eyes widened in astonishment.
Could this possibly be the legendary Nine-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit of the Cultivation World?
A treasure on par with the legendary immortal fruits of the ancient Ten Great Spirit Roots!
Legends of all kinds had existed in the Cultivation World since time immemorial. Since they were legends, naturally very few people had ever laid eyes upon them.
Even those reputed immortal fruits of the ancient Ten Great Spirit Roots were merely things people had heard of, with no one actually having seen them.
For instance, immortal apricots, ginseng fruit, ten-thousand-year flat peaches, cinnabar fruit, huangzhong plums, chaotic green lotus, hollow-stemmed willows, and the like—they were all passed down purely by word of mouth, serving as little more than dinner-table conversation.
As for the Nine-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit, it was said to have manifested in the world a little over two thousand years ago, sparking a scramble among various factions that led to bitter battles and rivers of blood.
The whole affair began when a disciple of the Spirit Beast Pavilion from the Fangyi Empire named Wu Yi was traveling through the Taibai Mountain Range.
While chasing a certain spirit beast, he was led into a desperate dead end and became trapped. Not only did he fail to catch the spirit beast, but he also stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble.
While searching for a way out amidst a formidable restriction barrier, he discovered a Seven-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit. Try as he might, he could find no way to get his hands on it.
With no other choice, he could only seek help from his sect. Wu Yi used a projection bead to record the appearance of the Seven-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit, had his spirit beast carry the bead back to his sect, and went to find his master, Realized Master Yuling, hoping his master would come and help retrieve the treasure. After all, his honored master was a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
In truth, the disciple didn't even know what the thing was; he simply figured it had to be something wonderful.
When his master looked at his disciple's projection bead, he wore a blank expression as well, for he didn't recognize it either. After pondering for a moment, he mounted his spirit beast and headed straight for the Alchemist Guild.
After all, professionals excelled in their own fields—surely the people at the Alchemist Guild would recognize it! But the outcome far exceeded his expectations.
When several Elders of the Alchemist Guild took a look, they hadn't seen it before either. One by one, they began scouring records, until finally the Elders put their heads together and pulled out the reference material for the "Nine-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit" to make a comparison.
What? Except for having two fewer leaves, every other feature was an exact match!
This immediately caused a sensation within the Alchemist Guild. According to the records, this was an entity that could rival the legendary immortal fruits of the Ten Great Spirit Roots!
Although it was not yet fully mature and lacked two leaves, it was still an extraordinary treasure. Not daring to act on their own authority, the Elders reported it directly.
In the end, even the Guild Master of the Alchemist Guild was alarmed—a towering figure at the Nascent Soul Late Stage Peak.
He forced himself out of closed-door pill refinement, demanded a full account of the origins of the matter, and immediately led several Elders, seizing Realized Master Yuling as they flew at top speed toward the Taibai Mountain Range.
Realized Master Yuling possessed only the strength of the Golden Core Mid Stage, so how could he dare utter half a word of dissent? He could only guide the group, picking out the direction as they rushed toward his disciple.
Yet this news spread like wildfire, causing the entire Cultivation World to boil over with excitement and flock toward the Taibai Mountain Range.
Where there are people, there are struggles. Everyone wanted to find the treasure first, and factions from every sect clashed violently the moment they met.
Each wanted to acquire the supreme treasure of the Seven-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit, and none were willing to let others seize the advantage.
That battle turned heaven and earth upside down, eclipsing the sun and moon and running rivers of blood.
At the very spot in the Taibai Mountain Range where the Seven-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit had manifested, the earth's veins were blasted apart, leaving massive craters and collapses everywhere. Corpses and fragments of Dharma Treasures were scattered across the ground in countless numbers.
Over time, the aftermath of the great battle formed a lake, which later generations called the "Meteor God Lake," drawing countless cultivators to search for treasures. Of course, that is a story for later, and we shall set it aside for now.
Everyone fought until they were burning with fury, as though possessed by demons. They attacked anyone they saw, hacking at whoever crossed their path, their eyes entirely reddened by slaughter.
At the very beginning, only a few Nascent Soul Stage cultivators led the charge, while Golden Core Elders primarily brought their sects' Qi Condensation disciples into the fray.
Gradually, however, it escalated into a war between Nascent Soul cultivators, forcing those in the Golden Core and Qi Condensation stages to retreat entirely to the outer perimeter, where they no longer dared to step foot and contend for the prize.
In the end, even Deity Transformation ancestors arrived, disregarding the suppression and backlash of the Heavenly Dao, and ignoring the passing of their lifespans. They unleashed grand magic, suppressing all rivals through sheer might.
Ultimately, the supreme treasure was seized in one fell swoop by the demonic path Deity Transformation ancestor, Old Ancestor Xuesha, who then drifted away gracefully. This battle had raged for seven days and seven nights before finally subsiding.
Immediately afterward, a rumor began to circulate: it was said that the Nine-Curtain Jade Immortal Fruit possessed the power to bring the dead back to life, turning bones to flesh.
Anyone who had stopped breathing for less than the time it took to burn an incense stick could be hauled back from the gates of the Underworld.
As for those with poor aptitude, consuming it would allow their cultivation to advance a thousand miles a day with no bottlenecks to speak of, enabling them to break through the Nascent Soul stage, achieve the Deity Transformation realm, and ascend to the heavens in broad daylight. The rumors grew increasingly absurd.
In the year 1607 of the Tianyuan Calendar, the major sects and factions gathered in Zhongzhou City, holding a summit at the Alchemist Guild to launch the Demon-Subduing Alliance.
After several days of deliberation, deployment, and division of spoils, the various factions converged once more upon Daxing Demon Ridge, the stronghold of the demonic sects.
They declared that they would force Old Ancestor Xuesha to surrender the supreme treasure; otherwise, they would smash straight into his lair and completely eradicate their demonic heritage.
Yet Old Ancestor Xuesha did not show his face. The high-ranking figures of the Demon-Subduing Alliance dispensed with further idle talk and directly declared war.
Three Deity Transformation stage masters, thirteen Nascent Soul Great Circle experts, over a hundred Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, several thousand Golden Core Stage cultivators, and countless Qi Condensation disciples—
It was a formidable display of absolute determination.
On the third day of the siege against the demonic faction, toward evening as the setting sun cast a golden glow over everything,
suddenly, a clap of thunder echoed:
"Boom—rumble!"
Immediately following, dark clouds gathered, lightning flashing and thunder roaring.
It grew pitch black, so dark one could not see one's own fingers. Only when bolts of lightning swept across the sky could one catch a fleeting glimpse of a figure suspended up above.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha!"
Unstoppable laughter echoed from the heavens, grating harshly on the ears. "I, Xuesha, am finally going to break through these shackles of the mortal realm!" Old Ancestor Xuesha declared with a crazed expression. "You ants, you scraps, yet you dare provoke this ancestor's majesty? Go to hell, all of you!"
The crowd was struck with terror. How could they possibly withstand the heavenly tribulation of a Deity Transformation stage master? They immediately scattered and fled in all directions. The three Deity Transformation ancestors exchanged glances, but rather than retreating, they charged straight toward Old Ancestor Xuesha.
The great battle commenced.
………………
From that day onward, those few Deity Transformation ancestors never appeared again, leaving behind countless legends and various versions of speculation in the Cultivation World.
Some said they had been blasted to ashes by the heavenly lightning; some said they had ascended to the Spirit Void Realm; some claimed they had gone into hiding to nurse their wounds; while others maintained they had chosen reincarnation and recultivation.
As for the members of the Demon-Subduing Alliance who had participated in the siege against the demonic faction, the vast majority perished beneath the Deity Transformation heavenly tribulation. The major sects suffered a devastating blow, their vitality severely injured.
Some sects directly sealed off their mountain gates, declaring, "We close our mountain gates to recuperate and nurse our strength, and will not emerge until a thousand years have passed."
Cultivation clans dwindled to less than one percent of their former numbers, and certain factions even vanished entirely into thin air, their lineages broken from that day forth.
With the Demon-Subduing Alliance thus dissolved, the Cultivation World entered a rare period of tranquility.
The factions that managed to survive by sheer luck all huddled within their respective territories, refusing to stick their heads out as they secretly licked their wounds.