He’s still too young. Even with me helping in secret, he can barely withstand such a massive influx of information.
Li Fan reflected silently as he watched Ye Feipeng, whose brow remained tightly furrowed even in unconsciousness.
He retrieved an Epiphany Fruit from his storage ring and fed it to him, then guided spiritual qi to help refine its medicinal power.
Before long, the tension in Ye Feipeng’s expression eased.
Li Fan placed a palm atop his head as the Cloudwater Dream Illusion Art activated once more, carefully reshaping Ye Feipeng’s memories of his so-called “past life.”
When Ye Feipeng awoke the following day, his clothes were once again soaked with sweat, but his gaze was noticeably steadier.
He promptly wrote out a prescription and ordered his servants to gather the required ingredients.
Immersed in a steaming bath, he began to chart his course in this life.
Compared to the chaos of yesterday, his thoughts were now far clearer.
With the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra and this medicinal formula, I should be able to expel the Immortal-Mortal Miasma from my body on my own.
But without spiritual qi, cultivation is impossible. Everything would still be meaningless.
I absolutely cannot wait ten years. I must seize this chance and leave this place ahead of time.
In Ye Feipeng’s memories, roughly half a month later, a cultivator would arrive in the Li World by coincidence.
This cultivator was not the same one who had long cooperated with Great Li, and thus was unwilling to risk smuggling mortals across worlds.
Just as the cultivator prepared to depart, ignoring the desperate pleas of the court, the emperor suddenly recalled the jade-white skeletal hand that had recently fallen into the palace.
In a final gamble, the emperor claimed that Great Li possessed an esoteric treasure passed down since ancient times.
If the Immortal Master was willing to take a group of people to the cultivation world, they would present this treasure to him.
Perhaps wary of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, the cultivator did not seize it by force.
After some deliberation, he agreed, but imposed his own conditions.
He would only take children with cultivation aptitude, and the number would be strictly limited.
In the end, the cultivator personally selected ten children from among the noble families of Great Li and brought them back to the cultivation world.
Ye Feipeng remembered them clearly: Xiao Heng of the Xiao family, Su Changyu of the Su family, and several others.
He himself, however, had not been chosen due to insufficient aptitude, and thus had squandered a full ten years trapped in the Li World.
In my previous life, when I reached mid-stage Qi Refinement, I once encountered Xiao Heng by chance. By then, he was already at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, far beyond me.
On the path of cultivation, getting a head start means staying ahead.
If not for those ten wasted years, my fate would have been completely different.
This time, things will not be the same.
As long as I can break free from these shackles, it will be like leaping across the vast sea or soaring through boundless skies.
A sharp glint flashed in Ye Feipeng’s eyes as he stepped out of the wooden tub. Closing his eyes, he circulated the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra.
Perhaps it was a benefit of living a second life, but the efficiency with which he expelled the miasma far surpassed his previous life.
In just over ten days, the Immortal-Mortal Miasma within his body was almost entirely purged, filling him with quiet elation.
Yet in the days that followed, Ye Feipeng deliberately stopped the process.
A mortal completely devoid of miasma would be far too conspicuous. Should it arouse the Immortal Master’s suspicion, things would get troublesome.
His current condition was perfect, like a mortal naturally born with sparse miasma. Enough to pass unnoticed, yet sufficient to ensure selection.
With a second life granted to me, I must be even more cautious. Ye Feipeng reminded himself constantly.
Exactly as he remembered, five days later, that cultivator descended upon the capital.
Half a day after that, Ye Feipeng found himself standing among thousands of bewildered children gathered in the square, awaiting the cultivator’s judgment.
Even as a regressor, his future now rested in another’s hands, stirring an uncontrollable tension within his chest.
When the cultivator’s gaze swept across the crowd, it lingered on Ye Feipeng for just a brief moment. Then, his name was called.
Ye Feipeng quietly exhaled, a flicker of exhilaration igniting deep within his heart.
Soon after, the unselected children were escorted away, leaving only the cultivator and ten anxious youths, including Ye Feipeng, standing alone in the vast, empty square.
The cultivator summoned a flying boat, preparing to take them away. At that moment, Su Changyu suddenly cried out, "Immortal Master, please save my younger sister!"
Ye Feipeng's heart stirred. In his memories, this youngest daughter of the Su family possessed cultivation talent even more terrifying than Xiao Heng's.
Before his death in his previous life, he vaguely heard that she had already reached the Golden Core realm.
Though visibly impatient, the cultivator still visited the Su residence. Upon returning, his expression brightened with delight. Thus, their group gained an additional member—an infant still in swaddling clothes.
Before departure, the cultivator distributed the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra and accompanying medicine, instructing them to begin cultivating on their own.
After traveling through Great Li for over ten days, the flying boat finally breached the Immortal-Severing Grand Array and arrived in the cultivation world.
Sensing the rich spiritual qi surrounding him, Ye Feipeng fell into profound ecstasy. Carefully guiding the spiritual qi into his body, he officially began his transformation into a cultivator.
After an indeterminable span of time, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded beside his ear, jolting him from his cultivation.
"How dare you smuggle mortals to the cultivation world!" The booming voice reverberated endlessly in his ears.
Dizziness washed over Ye Feipeng as his heart leaped, a sudden sense of foreboding surging within him.
"Fellow Daoist, please let me explain—" he heard their escorting cultivator frantically plead.
Yet the other party showed no intention of mercy. "Enough! By the laws of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, those who betray our world shall die!"
Boom!
Following the cold declaration, Ye Feipeng felt something strike their flying boat, causing it to shake violently.
"You’re going too far! You want me dead? Let's see if you have what it takes!"
Thunderous collisions of Dao Techniques reverberated without end, each impact whipping up violent gales. The flying boat was as fragile as duckweed in a raging storm, pitching and swaying as if it might be torn apart at any moment.
Inside the cabin, everyone from the Li World jolted awake from cultivation, except Su Xiaomei, who remained peacefully asleep.
Though they possessed some cultivation aptitude, they were still just ten-year-old children, pampered scions of wealthy families who had never even witnessed mortal combat, much less a life-and-death struggle between cultivators. Terror drained the color from their faces, leaving them pale and frozen in fear.
Only Ye Feipeng fared relatively well. Though shaken, he forced himself to remain calm as he peered outside the flying boat.
The two cultivators appeared evenly matched, their clash fierce and unrelenting.
Brilliant light flooded the heavens, obscuring the finer details of the battle. Yet from the shockwaves alone, it was clear that both combatants were at least at the Foundation Establishment realm.
This flying boat was never some powerful artifact to begin with. It has already taken a direct hit from that newly arrived Foundation Establishment cultivator; there is no way it can hold out much longer. At this rate, the shockwaves alone would tear it apart.
And worse... our smuggling has been exposed. If we stay here, we’re dead for sure.
Ye Feipeng forced himself to calm down, his thoughts racing.
I’ve piloted this flying boat before in my previous life. As long as no restrictions are set, even a Qi Refinement cultivator can operate it.
With no time to hesitate, Ye Feipeng rushed toward the bow, leaving the other Li World children staring at one another in confusion.
Xiao Heng, sharper than the rest, quickly followed after him, sensing that something important was happening.
Su Changyu, the eldest among them, had yet to fully disperse the miasma in his body and was still an ordinary mortal. Knowing he could not help, he stayed behind to watch over Su Xiaomei and tried to steady the others.
“What are you doing, fatso?” Xiao Heng asked as he reached the bow, seeing Ye Feipeng pressing his hands against empty air.
Ye Feipeng ignored him, pouring all his concentration into controlling the flying boat.
Sweat streamed down his forehead as if he were exerting himself to the limit.
“Oh, I get it.” Xiao Heng watched for a moment before blurting out, “You’re trying to steer the flying boat. Then why isn’t it moving?”
Irritation flared in Ye Feipeng’s chest. At that instant, a wave of exhaustion crashed through his mind, and he slumped to the floor.
“Let me try!”
Just as Ye Feipeng was about to curse him out of sheer frustration, the flying boat suddenly shuddered faintly beneath them.
“That was easy.”
“You can control it?!”
Their voices overlapped.
Shock flickered across Ye Feipeng’s face, followed immediately by an irrepressible surge of envy.
But with their lives hanging by a thread, there was no room for such feelings.
He forcibly suppressed them and urged urgently, “Quick, steer us away from here!”
“Which way?” Xiao Heng replied, sounding genuinely puzzled. “Everything looks the same. I can't tell which way is which!"
Ye Feipeng snapped, “Just pick any direction and—”
He cut himself off abruptly.
An image flashed through his mind. Ye Feipeng scrambled to his feet and looked out once more, carefully surveying the surroundings.
Not far away, nine whirlpools of varying sizes churned across the sea’s surface, stark and unmistakable.
I’ve been here before... back in my previous life, when I tried to return to the Li World.
We can’t head toward the island guarded by the Myriad Immortals Alliance. But northwest from here, there should be an uninhabited island.
That’s our only chance.
He immediately pointed in the direction of that island. “That way! Head there, now!”
Without hesitation, Xiao Heng focused and staggered the flying boat into motion. Thus, the group from the Li World began fleeing headlong from the battlefield.
The two Foundation Establishment cultivators remained locked in fierce combat, utterly unaware of the group’s quiet escape.
A surge of exhilaration rose in Ye Feipeng’s chest.
They flew for more than a full day before finally spotting a moderately sized island, its surface blanketed by dense jungle.
“We’re here, this is it!” Ye Feipeng urged urgently. “Fly into the forest!”
Xiao Heng had only recently broken through to the Qi Refinement realm, and maintaining control of the flying boat for so long had clearly taken its toll. At Ye Feipeng’s words, he let out a long breath of relief and carefully guided the flying boat down into the jungle.
After landing, Ye Feipeng had everyone gather branches and broad leaves to cover the flying boat, disguising it as part of the surrounding forest.
Only then did they return to the cabin to discuss their next steps.
“To run into something like this the moment we enter the cultivation world...” Xiao Heng sighed. “What terrible luck.”
“We’re lucky to be alive at all,” another child said weakly. “Didn’t you hear? They’ve already discovered we were smuggled here.”
“For now, we can only hide on this island,” Ye Feipeng said. “Once things calm down, we’ll think of a way to leave.”
The children exchanged anxious glances, their faces drawn and pale.
“It seems that’s our only choice,” Su Changyu said with a heavy sigh. “At least this island has fresh water and fruit trees. We won’t starve for the time being.”
With their future uncertain, a heavy gloom settled over the group.
When night fell, exhaustion soon dragged them into a deep sleep.
***
In the dead of night, Ye Feipeng suddenly sensed something and jolted awake.
He slipped quietly out of the flying boat and looked up just in time to see a streak of light tear across the horizon, arriving in the blink of an eye.
Its destination was unmistakable—the camouflaged flying boat.
Oh no!
Before Ye Feipeng could react, the light had already descended before him.
“Quick... help me inside...”
It was the cultivator who had led them out of the Li World.
His flesh was torn, his aura faint and unstable, clearly gravely injured. Yet even so, he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Ye Feipeng did not dare act rashly. He hurried forward to support him.
At that moment, the man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground. His body twitched a few times, then fell still.
“Senior!” Ye Feipeng cried out in shock.
Suddenly, a strange phenomenon manifested in the sky above.
"Foundation Establishment cultivator Fan Li practiced the Dao for 165 years, establishing his Dao Foundation with the Curio, Gloom Staff. While engaging in battle in the Congyun Sea, he suffered grave injuries.”
“Now, his body perishes and his Dao disperses, returning to heaven!"
Brilliant lights bloomed across the night sky like falling fireworks.
Ye Feipeng stood rooted to the spot, utterly stunned.
He’s... dead?
He had never imagined that this cultivator, who had seemingly escaped calamity, would perish right before his eyes.
Beside the corpse, an unremarkable bamboo staff slowly materialized.
As Ye Feipeng stared at the lifeless body, a bold thought suddenly took shape in his mind.
Holding his breath, he quietly approached.
When he reached the corpse, he stood motionless for a long moment.
Then, under the glow of the fading lights overhead, he slowly crouched down and began rummaging through the cultivator’s robes.
“What are you doing?!”
A startled voice rang out behind him in the stillness of the night.
Ye Feipeng nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around to see Xiao Heng staring at him in disbelief.
“Shhh!” Ye Feipeng hissed, making a silencing gesture.
Xiao Heng quickly understood. He crept closer and whispered, “How did this Immortal Master die?”
“He probably fought that other cultivator to a draw,” Ye Feipeng replied distractedly, continuing his search. “He managed to get this far before his strength ran out, then died right ere.”
After what felt like an eternity, Ye Feipeng frowned and muttered, “How does a Foundation Establishment cultivator not even have a storage ring?”
“A storage ring?” Xiao Heng blinked. “You mean... this one?”
He bent down, picked up a ring from the ground, and held it out.