Cultivation of Longevity (Rewrite)

Somewhere on Earth, a Hospital

The young-looking doctor read the chart and looked with sadness at his first patient, "There's nothing much we can do. Your condition has worsened to the point of no return. I'm sorry." The patient's hand moved a little, "Are you sure there's no one to contact?"

"Yes, no one," the patient answered with difficulty. 

Difficulty flashed in the doctor's eyes as he put the chart back on the bed, "All we can do now is try to prolong your life by chemotherapy, but at most you might survive for one year."

The patient's head moved to look at the doctor, "No, I don't … want treatment."

Looking at the now-dead gaze, the doctor knew that the patient had already given up. But his humanity wouldn't give up, "I understand your decision, but you can't give up. Although your condition is serious,…" 

The door opening interrupted his words, and a doctor in her 40s walked in, "Dr. Niel, what seems to be the problem?"

Seeing the watery eyes of her colleague she could guess the reason. In her line of work, the most difficult thing is telling someone that their condition has no cure or treatment.

After reading the chart, she understood the situation, a patient who doesn't want treatment. Doctors can't do anything about it, even if it's curable, which in this situation isn't, but to respect their decision. When she recalled the first time this happened, she was shaken, yet managed to stay composed.

"We will respect your decision, even if I wouldn't recommend it." 

The patient's words left the young doctor even more shaken, "Thank you…"

Niel looked downward, holding back tears, "But Dr. Anne…"

Anne took his hand and took him out of the room. When they were out, she let out a sad sigh.

"I know how you feel. Trust me, almost all of us went through this. It's terrible, and it won't get better, but you will learn to live with it. This is his decision, and we, as doctors under the Hippocratic Oath, should respect it." She put her hand on his shoulder, "If you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Next morning

The morning sun was glowing. In one room of a certain hospital, a doctor and nurse were checking the patient lying on the bed. Sunrays pierced through the window and fell onto the patient, revealing his pale skin and purplish lips.

A single tear fell from the doctor's cheek as he checked his condition again, but it was futile, "Chris Jackson, age 28, time of death 10:21, 15th July 2021. Cause of death: brain tumor." 

Chris was an average man, looked average, intellect average… He was working as an herbalist in his clinic. Made enough money to live comfortably and had a pet dog. Although he was single, he wasn't a virgin.

The doctor and nurse left for a short while to get workers to move the body to the coroner's office.

As soon as he left, the man woke up and got up, looking around, he became emotional, "I can't believe it after 12 years of being colorblind, I get to see them again."

However, when the man looked down, he saw himself lying there, lifeless. With a sigh, he remarked, "So I died. I guess I'll head to hell, or wherever souls go."

He couldn't help but think, 'I was never that religious, I guess I'll find out one of the most mysterious things.' After about ten seconds of waiting, a black hole appeared and sucked the man in.

Chris found himself in some kind of void, or nothingness, and after an instant, or eternity, an ethereal voice sounded inside every fiber of his being, it sounded tired, annoyed even, "Another one…" After a slight pause, it continued, "I can't deal with this one."

As soon as it finished, Chris found himself in a white blank space, floating, 'What the -' He saw a blue dot that quickly approached, the dot got bigger and bigger until it was three times Chris's height. 

'A hologram?' The blue hologram floated in front of Chris, and on it were words.

{Human soul, rejoice for I, The Great, shall reincarnate you.}

The only thought in Chris's mind was, 'Why?' And as soon as he thought of it, the hologram's words changed.

{Mortal, you are 3 049 732 954th soul that will be reincarnated by me, The Great, so don't ask too many questions. All I will say, you got lucky. To go to the space-time continuum and survive. And be left with so much soul power, you are 993rd place in all souls which I have seen in that regard.}

Chris was left staring at the hologram, while his mind raced, 'How am I calm in this situation? And what is the space-time continuum?' He tried to remember, but something told him he shouldn't, and the words on the hologram changed.

{Mortal, do not even try to. It is useless.} Suddenly, laughter was heard, the blue hologram disappeared, and instead a green one appeared.

{Character customization}

[Looks: Customizable]

[Race: Human, Demi-human, Dog, Cat…]

[Inheritance: Mortal, Immortal, Divine]

[Root: One Element, Two Elements…]

[Physique: Random]

[Background: Random]

[Confirm]

{If the choice isn't made in 10 minutes, your soul will be erased.}

Looking at the choices, he was in a daze, as he only read about this stuff, it was surreal it was happening to him. Regaining his composure, he got to work, 'As far as I know from novels, Immortal inheritance doesn't sound so bad, it should be powerful enough, but Devine, what could that be?'

He decided to first customize his appearance, as that always takes the most time, 'If I'm going where I think I'm going, then I have to look the part.' He chose long black hair, sharp eyebrows, pale skin, an athletic body, and azure-colored eyes.

The timer has been ticking, leaving only two minutes, 'Six-Element Root, should mean I can cultivate any element, and Divine is probably above Immortal. So let's go with that.'

{Confirming choices…}

{Generating Background…}

{Randomizing Physique…}

{Choosing Inheritance…}

{Confirmed}

A lot of holograms popped and disappeared at a fast speed until one stayed.

{Long ago Xi Clan was prosperous, having three Golden Core cultivators, but it all changed when a horrible Demon Cultivator, Ming Shu, killed two of them and heavily injured the third one. Now everything that was left of the Xi Clan was your father, Xi Li, who was at the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment, and you. As a Young Master of the Xi Clan, you, Xi Shen, are observed by all kinds of people, be it the Sect's disciples or other Clans, but seeing you as nothing special means you are labeled as ordinary. However, your father used the last power the Xi clan had left and obtained a lot of miracle medicines with them, you climbed to the Qi Gathering 5th stage, but are still labeled as ordinary. Prove them wrong as you climb higher and higher or fall into endless damnation.}

As soon as he read the last sentence, the hologram disappeared, and the last thing he saw was a hologram.

{As a parting gift, you will be given a System(Basic), and instructions on how to use it will be in your mind. No one will be able to see it, even if they enter your consciousness.}

With that, in the blink of an eye, his consciousness disappeared. 

Southern Continent, Zheng Dynasty, Xi Clan's Residence

In one of the wooden houses in the center, a young boy sat in a lotus position. The boy had long silky black hair, which was held by a hairpin, and a serene expression. Suddenly, a frown appeared on the boy's face.

Opening his eyes, they revealed confusion, "So this is transmigration -" He immediately stopped, realizing he's spoken in another language, "I can't remember English?"

The boy's features were a bit chubby, as his looks hadn't developed yet. Azure-colored eyes looked around curiously, full of wonder, but there was maturity in them beyond his age.

Looking at his small hands, he thought, 'Is this transmigration or reincarnation? Maybe I'd reincarnated but only now awakened my memories.' Deciding not to think about it, he searched his mind, and memories of Xi Shen merged perfectly with his own, making a new person.

He thought for a bit, remembering a parting gift, and he summoned his status, 'Status' Immediately, a blue screen appeared in his vision.

{Status}

[Name: Xi Shen 喜神]

[Age: 12/70]

[Inheritance: Master of Devine Palace(Devine King)] #Collect

[Cultivation: 5th level of Qi Gathering]

[Cultivation Method: Sun/Moon Qi Gathering]

[Physique: Blocked] #Unlock

[Root: Six Element Root - Heavenly Grade]

[Spells: None]

[Arts: Basic Swordsmanship - 4%]

[Looks: Above Average]

Looking at the status Chris, now Xi Shen, reminiced about the past, 'It's like in the novels I've read, this should be my 'Golden Finger', as they call it. Too bad it's only a basic version, only showing my status.'

A slight laugh escaped his mouth, "Greed of humans knows no bounds. I got a second chance, I should appreciate it." Looking at the majestic title of my inheritance, he quickly tapped collect.

But instead of the inheritance information, another screen appeared.

[Seeing that you are about to collect your Inheritance, the system will warn you that this Inheritance contains a lot of memories. The estimated time is 130 years, and you don't have that much lifespan. So, to protect the host, the System will split memories according to the levels of cultivation.]

{Inheriting mortal part of the Inheritance…}

A flood of information entered his mind, and it wasn't uncomfortable, just a tingling feeling. But the information was great, as he needed half a day to comprehend all the information.

When he opened his eyes, he looked outside, it was already about 4 PM. He exhaled, "Wow I'm weak." Was the first thing he said, "Qi Gathering, Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nescent Soul, Soul Formation… and so much more, and each of them is later divided into 9 levels."

'Knowing too much is a bit discouraging, but also stimulating. And this is just the Mortal World, this makes me anticipate immortality.' Feeling new knowledge, he not only discovered the cultivation method but also various arts, Formations, Alchemy, and Talisman Drawing.

He got up, feeling motivated to embark on the cultivation journey, something he only read about, something from a fantasy. He was 147cm tall, with a slender figure.

Snapping out of the daze, he looked at his physique, which was blocked, he tapped to unblock it. But nothing happened until a moment later when a surge of spiritual energy circled Xi Shen, before entering his dantian.

He unconsciously sat in a lotus position and cultivated a new technique he got from the inheritance, the 'Dao of Longevity', reciting the mantra, 'One becomes Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang become Three Purities, Three Purities become Six Elements, Six Elements transform into Eight Trigrams, Eight Trigrams fuse into One.'

A small vortex disappeared as soon as it appeared, being sucked in by Xi Shen. This alarmed people as spiritual energy in a 15-meter radius disappeared, and three people moved at a fast speed in that direction.

The first one to arrive was Xi Li, Xi Shen's father and the Patriarch of the Xi Clan, 'What commotion can cause so much spiritual energy to surge? It's not a breakthrough, nor is it a formation, that leaves physique awakening. But to cause this much commotion, it must be Earth Grade or above.'

After quickly analyzing the situation he entered the house, but not before reinforcing the Clan's barrier. However, something unexpected happened, green light shone and pierced the roof, shooting toward the sky, as if announcing someone's arrival.

Taking out a talisman that gave out an ancient aura, Xi Li swiftly threw it into the sky. The golden symbol hit the beam, and it disappeared as if it didn't exist.

'These old monsters can ignore surging spiritual energy, but not the birth of Heavenly Physique, which represents at least a Nascent Soul cultivator.' He entered the house and saw his son, who emitted green symbols, and took out more talismans, 'Just in case.' And threw them around Xi Shen, completely concealing his aura.

After a moment, Xi Shen opened his eyes, revealing their emerald-green color. When he looked at Xi Li, he was stunned a bit, 'Wow, I've never seen a more handsome man.'

Xi Li curiously looked at Xi Shen, he stood at 184cm, with long black hair held by a crown, piercing blue eyes, and a handsome face, 'No wonder my mother fell for him.'