"Senior Brother Chen."
"......"
"Senior Brother Chen, what's wrong with you?"
Cheng Ziying reached out with a worried expression, gently patting Chen Yan's shoulder a few times.
Chen Yan opened his eyes, his first reaction being to reach toward his own chest.
No hole had been opened, and he couldn't see his heart.
"Senior Brother Chen?"
Cheng Ziying looked at Chen Yan with a hint of fear in her eyes. She had never seen Senior Brother Chen with such a panicked and ferocious expression before.
After another half-incense stick's worth of time had passed, Chen Yan finally regained his composure, and his complexion improved slightly.
Cheng Ziying asked somewhat cautiously.
"Just a nightmare."
Chen Yan shook his head.
"That's good... Ah, Instructor Lu's scripture lecture!"
The slightly relieved Junior Sister Cheng suddenly slapped her forehead as if remembering something, then began running toward the Scripture Hall:
"Senior Brother Chen, hurry up too! There are way too many people listening to the Dao!"
Better not.
Recalling the scene of Lu Li sitting on a meditation cushion, coldly pointing his finger toward him.
Kongshan Finger.
This was a basic technique that all Qi Circulation Realm disciples of Kongshan Sect must learn, and also the most versatile spell.
Although somewhat lacking in power, because Kongshan Finger perfectly complemented the Kongshan Art mental cultivation method, the vast majority of cultivators practicing Kongshan Art could use this technique with great proficiency.
Normally speaking, the Kongshan Finger executed by a Qi Circulation Realm cultivator could hardly be fatal even when targeting Body Forging Realm cultivators who hadn't yet developed true qi protection.
But Lu Li had used Kongshan Finger to easily open a hole in his chest.
This was the death that left the deepest impression on Chen Yan.
It also made him truly feel the terror of Martial Spring Realm cultivators.
Just a single Kongshan Finger.
And it was a finger executed from dozens of meters away that easily insta-killed him, who was at the late stage of Qi Circulation Realm.
The gap between Martial Spring Realm and Qi Circulation Realm was even greater than the gap between Qi Circulation Realm and ordinary mortals.
"Repeating the same mistake..."
Chen Yan muttered quietly the evaluation of his previous reincarnation that he had seen in the darkness after death.
This perhaps indicated that both of his deaths were for the same reason.
Sitting before the tree, Chen Yan organized his thoughts, sinking into deep contemplation.
"......"
The memories of his first two reincarnations began echoing in Chen Yan's mind.
"Tsk, half a month ago, you were still at the early stage of Body Forging Realm, right?"
This was what one of the shadowy figures standing before his bed had said during the final moments of his life that night.
"But if someone could truly accomplish such a thing, they would undoubtedly be a heaven's chosen talent capable of shaking the entire Chenping Continent."
Lu Li's face surfaced again in Chen Yan's mind.
He widened his eyes.
Cause of Calamity!
No one would pay attention to an obscure marginal disciple.
Therefore, although Chen Yan's first life was quite plain and boring, he did indeed spend a peaceful lifetime in the sect's outer court.
But for geniuses, it was different.
Yet Chen Yan was no genius.
He was just an ordinary outer court disciple who had remained obscure until now.
Geniuses would receive focused cultivation from the sect - he would not.
Because his nearly impossible cultivation speed would be identified as "Cause of Calamity" by certain people.
No one had ever taught Chen Yan these principles, and before this, Chen Yan had known nothing about the survival rules within the sect.
Even though he had lived for a hundred years, that hundred years had merely been spent drifting through day after day.
The length of one's lifespan doesn't increase a person's experience.
Experiences do.
Now, Chen Yan knew how he should survive.
......
The world of immortal cultivators was always dull.
Especially for those outer court disciples who received little attention from the sect.
Cultivation, chores, listening to the Dao.
This was what every day consisted of for a Body Forging Realm outer court disciple.
Only after advancing to Qi Circulation Realm would outer court disciples qualify to receive sect missions from the outer court's Merit Hall, gaining the opportunity to briefly leave the sect and travel down the mountain.
"So boring!"
Cheng Ziying lay listlessly on the stone table before her, lightly tapping the tabletop with her fingertips.
Then, she lifted her eyes to look in Chen Yan's direction:
"Senior Brother Chen, when do you think I'll be able to break through to Qi Circulation Realm?"
"Probably not too long."
Chen Yan replied.
"I really want to travel down the mountain too. Being in the outer court every day is just so monotonous."
"The path of immortality is like this..."
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening, turtle reciting scriptures!"
Cheng Ziying covered her ears, playfully sticking out her tongue in Chen Yan's direction.
He shook his head with a bitter smile, then looked up at the sky.
It wasn't that Chen Yan hadn't considered leaving Kongshan Sect.
But where could he go?
Even if he truly left Kongshan Sect, he absolutely couldn't achieve greater accomplishments.
Because over ninety percent of the cultivation resources on Chenping Continent were controlled by the five great sects.
And Kongshan Sect was one of those five great sects.
Several white cranes flew through the sky, appearing to be flying from Yibai Peak toward Kongyuan Mountain.
Chen Yan had joined Kongshan Sect at age seven and only achieved Qi Circulation Realm at age forty-one.
Taking a total of thirty-four years, he knew all too well just how monotonous this process was.
Now, three more years had passed since his last reincarnation.
During these three years, he had done everything possible to make his presence within the sect less noticeable.
Neither practicing martial arts nor listening to the Dao.
Compared to an outer court disciple of Kongshan Sect, Chen Yan gave the impression more of a rogue cultivator living within the sect.
Chen Yan publicly claimed his current cultivation level to be late stage Body Forging Realm.
The same cultivation level as Cheng Ziying.
Within Kongshan Sect's outer court, Cheng Ziying's talent and comprehension were at an upper-middle level.
Disciples with this level of talent wouldn't attract much attention within the sect, and breaking through to Martial Spring Realm wouldn't be considered too surprising.
As if everything proceeded naturally.
However, in reality, Chen Yan's actual cultivation at this moment had already begun approaching the peak of Qi Circulation Realm.
Chen Yan had a clear understanding of his own talent.
Perhaps relying on his talent, he might barely reach Martial Spring Realm, but breaking through to Qi Sea Realm through cultivation alone was impossible for him.
Not to mention cultivating for a hundred years, even a thousand years, or even ten thousand years - the chance would still remain slim.
During these three years, everything that happened within the sect was exactly the same as what Chen Yan had previously known.
Including Lu Li being noticed by Qingchan Peak's True Dharma Elder and being transferred to Qingchan Peak to serve as an instructor.
And at the Chenping Continent Dao Discussion Conference, the final winner of the Heavenly Summit Mountain's Dao Inquiry was Qin Qingyu, the chief disciple of Moon Void Sect, one of the five great sects.
As for what happened around him, it was Cheng Ziying smoothly advancing to late stage Body Forging Realm.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would break through to Qi Circulation Realm two years later when she turned nineteen.
And shortly after breaking through to Qi Circulation Realm, Cheng Ziying would die in that calamity.
To this day, he still regretted not making up with her before Cheng Ziying died.
Could he try to save her?
By that time, Cheng Ziying would have become a Qi Circulation Realm cultivator who could receive sect missions from the Merit Hall.
If he could make her leave the sect under the pretext of a sect mission before the calamity occurred.
If only he could make her leave the sect...
"Sect mission?"
Two years later, the nineteen-year-old Cheng Ziying stood before Chen Yan.
"Yes."
Chen Yan nodded.
"......"
Cheng Ziying remained silent, placing both hands behind her back, staring intently into Chen Yan's eyes.
She was completely different from the childish little girl of five years ago - now graceful and elegant, pure and charming.
"Why?"
She asked.
"Why what?"
"Why does Senior Brother want me to go with you?"
"With my social connections, I can't get anyone else to accompany me, right?"
"But it's just a mission to deliver letters to the sect's external consuls in nearby towns. Couldn't one person handle it alone?"
"It's too lonely going alone."
Chen Yan replied.
"Is that so?"
Cheng Ziying tilted her head slightly, then took two steps forward, leaning close to Chen Yan's ear, her breath fragrant like orchids:
"Is it that going alone is too lonely, or would Senior Brother feel lonely without me by his side?"