Chenping Continent, Fallen Sword Mountain Range.
An elderly man with white hair walked alone through the forest of the mountain range, his steps unsteady and weak.
His name was Chen Yan, a transmigrator.
This year marked his first century since crossing into this world.
In this lifetime, Chen Yan was born into an ordinary merchant family in Chenping Continent.
When he was seven years old, he encountered a fortunate opportunity and was taken up the mountain for cultivation by an immortal master who was traveling down the mountain.
From then on, Chen Yan became an outer court disciple of Kongshan Sect.
And he remained an outer court disciple for over ninety years.
There was no other reason - it was simply because Chen Yan's innate talent was insufficient, only allowing him to cultivate up to the second realm of the lower three realms, the Qi Circulation Realm.
No matter what, a hundred years of carefree life as a cultivator was definitely a hundred times better than his previous life as a workhorse, with nothing but overtime and schedule adjustments.
Now, Chen Yan clearly felt that his life was approaching its end.
Three months ago, he left the sect's outer court and traveled alone to the Fallen Sword Mountain Range.
Only because Chen Yan had once heard an elder mention during a scripture lecture that the Fallen Sword Mountain Range was the place where Su Hongzhen, Chenping Continent's number one sword cultivator seven thousand years ago, had fallen.
And Su Hongzhen's legacy and opportunities were likely still scattered within this mountain range, undiscovered to this day.
Therefore, Chen Yan wanted to take a gamble.
"Cough, cough..."
Chen Yan coughed a few times.
His footsteps grew increasingly heavy.
During these three months, Chen Yan had found nothing.
Instead, he had suffered severe injuries from attacks by demonic beasts in the mountain range.
So tired.
Chen Yan knew what this exhaustion meant.
He found a large tree, sat down with his back against it, then looked up at the sky.
A clear sky stretching for thousands of miles.
Was this where it would end?
Being able to depart quietly on such a gentle day was still considered dignified.
Chen Yan slowly closed his eyes.
All his past experiences turned into a kaleidoscope of memories, flashing through his mind one by one.
Then, everything descended into darkness.
[Reincarnation ended.]
[This reincarnation evaluation: D (Mediocre and unaccomplished, lived all those years for nothing)]
[Accumulated cultivation: Middle Stage Qi Circulation Realm]
[Reincarnation reward: None]
[Reincarnation settlement completed, host will return to the previous reincarnation record point, inherit the accumulated cultivation from this reincarnation, and restart life]
...
"Senior Brother Chen."
"..."
"Senior Brother Chen?"
A light, lively voice sounded by his ear. Chen Yan's eyelids fluttered a few times, then slowly opened.
What met his eyes was the face of a young girl with clear, beautiful features and lingering childishness, her brows slightly furrowed, looking somewhat anxious.
"..."
"Senior Brother Chen, Instructor Lu Li's scripture lecture is about to start, hurry up, if we don't go now there won't be any seats left!"
The girl said, then stood up and ran off:
"I'm going to listen to the lecture first, Senior Brother Chen, you're on your own!"
Chen Yan stood frozen in place, completely unable to comprehend what was happening.
He was still sitting on the ground with his back against a tree.
Only this tree wasn't from the Fallen Sword Mountain Range, but from the outer court of Kongshan Sect.
"Lu Li?"
Chen Yan searched his memories for this name and quickly remembered who this person was.
He was the Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak, who had served as an instructor in the outer court over eighty years ago. Because his scripture lectures were quite easy to understand, he was deeply loved by the outer court disciples.
Wait a moment...
Chen Yan's eyes widened, then he looked at the back of his hand in disbelief.
The skin was firm and fair.
The current Lu Li wasn't the Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak yet, but was still serving as an instructor in the outer court.
And that girl from earlier was Junior Sister Cheng, who should have perished in that catastrophe eighty-five years ago.
"Reincarnation, reincarnation record point..."
Chen Yan muttered the words he had seen in the darkness as his consciousness faded.
Although he still had many questions, Chen Yan clearly realized what had happened.
He had been reborn, and this time point should be when he was fifteen years old!
Chen Yan clenched his fist, feeling the surging blood and energy power, as well as the true qi circulating within his body.
Middle Stage Qi Circulation Realm.
This was the cultivation level Chen Yan had reached at one hundred years old in his previous life.
He remembered that when he was fifteen in his previous life, he was still in the early stage of Body Forging Realm, and only broke through to the middle stage of Body Forging Realm when he was nineteen.
Which meant that his current cultivation level was even a full major realm ahead of where he was at nineteen in his previous life.
Not to mention the three mountains and four peaks of Kongshan Sect's inner court, within the outer court, reaching the middle stage of Qi Circulation Realm at the age of fifteen was absolutely a rare existence.
After fully experiencing the joy of rebirth, Chen Yan regained his composure.
Since he had returned to when he was fifteen, he couldn't take as many detours as in his previous life and end up with only a "mediocre and unaccomplished" evaluation.
Chen Yan decided to attend Lu Li's class.
This instructor, who would later become the Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak, had absolutely top-tier teaching skills throughout Kongshan Sect.
Chen Yan remembered that around when he was seventeen, Lu Li gained the appreciation of the True Dharma Elder of Qingchan Peak during an internal sect debate.
He was then transferred to Qingchan Peak's Scripture Hall, progressing from instructor to Scripture Hall steward, then to Transmission Guardian, then to Scripture Hall elder, and finally to Martial Elder.
It could be said he rose swiftly through the ranks.
Often in cultivation, what's needed is some guidance, even if it's just one sentence.
Because cultivating immortality is like blowing up a balloon.
Daily cultivation is like blowing air into the balloon.
When the balloon swells to its limit, it bursts.
This represents breaking through to the next minor realm.
But this balloon doesn't necessarily burst when it swells to a certain point.
It will inflate to a point where no more air can be blown in.
This is the bottleneck.
When encountering a bottleneck, guidance is like a needle.
Often just a light touch is enough to pop the balloon.
The Scripture Hall was packed with people, with at least three to four hundred people crowded inside listening to the lecture.
All because today was Instructor Lu Li's scripture lecture.
Although there were many people, the Scripture Hall was surprisingly quiet, with only the sound of breathing and the gentle, drizzle-like scripture recitation from the lecture platform.
On the lecture platform sat a young man wearing light white daoist robes, with a lean appearance - this was Lu Li.
Chen Yan could only find a corner spot in the Scripture Hall to barely sit down.
Kongshan Sect's outer court was the area where the sect's outer court disciples cultivated and lived.
There were over twenty-five thousand outer court disciples in total, six times the number of all disciples from the inner court's "three mountains and four peaks" combined.
Today, Instructor Lu Li was teaching the "Kongshan Art," the foundational mental cultivation method of Kongshan Sect.
Although quite basic, it was extremely important, forming the foundation for every Kongshan Sect disciple's future cultivation.
Not to mention inner court disciples, even core disciples, and even the sect leader's personal disciples had to practice this mental cultivation method.
"Observe empty form, hear empty sound, feel empty rhythm, comprehend empty dao, like mountains and rivers flowing endlessly."
"Forge the body to gather qi, when qi flows freely it becomes a spring, when the spring surges it converges into a sea."
Body Forging Realm, Qi Circulation Realm, and Martial Spring Realm were the lower three realms of immortal cultivation in this world.
After Martial Spring Realm came the Qi Sea Realm, the first realm of the middle three realms.
As Kongshan Sect's foundational mental cultivation method, the "Kongshan Art" could only support disciples in breaking through from Martial Spring Realm to Qi Sea Realm. To advance further, they needed to practice higher-level mental cultivation methods.
Listening to Instructor Lu Li's scripture lecture, Chen Yan slowly closed his eyes.
"Qi is like blazing fire, Kongshan flows gently, heaven and earth clear and condensed..."
Suddenly, Chen Yan's heart trembled.
The bottleneck he had been stuck at in the middle stage of Qi Circulation Realm had actually loosened.