Chapter 1: Cultivating Qi for Five Thousand Years

The mountainous area in the northwest of Huaxia is like a primitive region, with no roads, no cars, and few human figures.

In the midst of the mountains, there is a solitary grass house. The open space outside the grass house is filled with various medicinal herbs, emitting a fragrant aroma.

The interior of the grass house is not spacious, with only a bed and a desk. The desk is cluttered with books and various pieces of paper.

At this moment, an old man with white hair lies on the bed, his eyes closed peacefully.

A young teenager who appears to be only seventeen or eighteen years old sits by the bedside.

"Little Xia, I envy you. You lived for only eighty-one years and could peacefully pass away," Fang Yu looks at the recently deceased old man on the bed and murmurs with a smile.

"Ah, I'm miserable. I don't know how many more years I have to live," Fang Yu sighs, his eyes filled with pain and helplessness.

Since he embarked on the path of cultivation, it has been almost five thousand years.

In these long years, Fang Yu couldn't die, and his cultivation level couldn't advance.

After nearly five thousand years of cultivation, he is still stuck in the Qi Refining stage!

Yes, the Qi Refining stage! The most fundamental stage of cultivation!

Strictly speaking, the Qi Refining stage cannot even be considered a stage, but rather a period of refining the body.

Only after the Foundation Building stage can one truly step onto the path of immortality.

But Fang Yu has been stuck in the Qi Refining stage and unable to advance for all these years.

Over the past thousands of years, he has swallowed over tens of thousands of Foundation Building Pills, but they had no effect at all.

A thousand years ago, Fang Yu's master comforted him, saying that it was because his spiritual roots were stronger than anyone else's, so he needed to stay in the Qi Refining stage for a little longer.

But after a thousand years, Fang Yu still couldn't break through to the Foundation Building stage.

At this point, his master wondered if he had made a mistake and if Fang Yu was just an ordinary person without any spiritual roots?

But how could an ordinary person live for thousands of years without even showing signs of aging?

Later, Fang Yu's master successfully transcended the tribulation and ascended to become an immortal, leaving the Earth behind.

Since then, no one has cared about Fang Yu's cultivation level.

As time passed, the spiritual energy resources on Earth became increasingly scarce.

Even if Fang Yu could break through the stages, he was destined to be unable to transcend the tribulation and become an immortal.

But Fang Yu never thought about transcending the tribulation and becoming an immortal. He just wanted to break through this damn Qi Refining stage!

This was his obsession.

Today, he has already cultivated to the 9,832nd level of the Qi Refining stage. In comparison, ordinary cultivators only need to reach the twelfth level to break through to the Foundation Building stage.

Thinking about cultivation always makes Fang Yu feel a bit depressed.

He takes a deep breath, stands up, and looks at the pieces of paper on the desk filled with various medicinal prescriptions.

"If I had known you would become such a medicine fanatic, I shouldn't have taught you medicine back then!" Fang Yu shakes his head lightly, helpless.

In accordance with Xia's last wish, he wants to organize these medicinal prescriptions and take them with him.

He had just started organizing them when he heard some noisy footsteps. Immediately, he looked up and glanced in the direction outside the window of the grass house.

Xia had built the grass house in such a remote location, yet someone managed to find it?

Fang Yu furrowed his brows slightly.

After ten minutes, a group of people arrived in front of the grass house.

There were seven people in total, including two young men and women, an old man in a wheelchair, and four well-built men in suits who appeared to be bodyguards.

Seeing the lifeless old man sitting in the wheelchair, Fang Yu knew that this group of people must have come to seek medical treatment.

"Divine Physician Xia, greetings. My name is Tang Feng, and we are from the Tang family in Jiangnan. We would like to request your help..." The handsome young man stepped forward and spoke loudly.

Fang Yu pushed open the door, interrupting his words.

"You're too late. Xia Xiu Zhi passed away not long ago."

What!?

Everyone present's faces changed.

The Medicine God, Xia Xiu Zhi, whom they had desperately sought...had actually passed away!?

"How...how is this possible..." Tang Feng's face turned pale as he stared blankly at Fang Yu.

In order to cure the serious illness of Old Master Tang, they had exhausted the resources of their entire family and spent a great deal of manpower and resources just to find the whereabouts of Xia Xiu Zhi, who had secluded himself for nearly twenty years.

After countless hardships, they finally found the grass house where Xia Xiu Zhi lived. However, they never expected to receive this news!

"How could this be so coincidental? We just found... No, Medicine God must still be in the grass house, just avoiding us!" The exquisitely beautiful young girl's eyes turned red as she spoke excitedly.

"Yes! The Medicine God must still be inside the grass house!" With a hopeful gleam in his eyes, Tang Feng stepped into the grass house.

Then, he saw Xia Xiu Zhi lying on the bed, his eyes tightly closed.

Tang Feng carefully observed and discovered that the old man on the bed had indeed stopped breathing.

"How...how could this happen..." Tang Feng felt his hopes shattered, as if all the strength had left his body.

"I've already said it, Xia Xiu Zhi has passed away. You can go back now." Fang Yu furrowed his brows slightly, showing some disapproval toward Tang Feng's intrusion into the grass house.

Suddenly, Tang Feng thought of something and turned to look at Fang Yu, asking, "You are the Medicine God's disciple, right? You must have inherited his medical skills. Please treat our grandfather. As long as you can cure him, we are willing to pay any amount!"

Fang Yu shook his head and said, "I am not his disciple... I am just an old friend of his."

Strictly speaking, Fang Yu could be considered Xia Xiu Zhi's master.

Xia Xiu Zhi, who was only fifteen years old at the time, embarked on the path of medicine under Fang Yu's guidance. Of course, there was no need to mention these words, as even if they were said, no one would believe them.

However, even the term "old friend" sounds strange.

Fang Yu looks like he's not even twenty years old, while Xia Xiu Zhi is in his eighties. They are completely different in age, so how can they be called old friends?

However, at this moment, no one is thinking about the details. The group of people is immersed in the despair of shattered hope.

Sitting in the wheelchair, Old Master Tang lost all his liveliness upon hearing the news of Xia Xiu Zhi's passing. His eyes turned lifeless.

It's fate! His time has come! There's no need to struggle anymore!

The young girl is heartbroken to see her grandfather like this, tears streaming down her face.

Fang Yu furrows his brows, looking at Old Master Tang, and suddenly speaks, "You have already lived for seventy-three years. Shouldn't that be enough? Why do you still want to keep living?"

Upon hearing these words, everyone is stunned, curious about how Fang Yu knows Old Master Tang's age.

But upon hearing Fang Yu's following words, their expressions change.

Enough? Where in this world can anyone live enough?

What does this statement mean!?

Provocation? Mockery?

"You bastard, what do you mean!?" Tang Feng's face turns pale, and he throws a punch towards Fang Yu's chest.

Fang Yu's eyes flicker, but he doesn't move his body.

"Bang!"

Tang Feng's fist hasn't even touched Fang Yu, but he himself is hit by a tremendous force, flying backward and falling to the ground.

The others present have faces filled with astonishment and shock.

Clearly, it was Tang Feng who threw the punch, but this young man didn't even move, yet Tang Feng ended up on the ground?

"Brother!" the beautiful girl screams.

The four bodyguards react quickly and take a few steps forward, standing in front of Fang Yu.

"No violence!" Old Master Tang, sitting in the wheelchair, commands in a hoarse voice.

The four bodyguards immediately stop in their tracks.

Tang Feng, clutching his chest, gets up from the ground, looking at Fang Yu with a horrified expression.

"Young man, we apologize. May I ask for your name?" Old Master Tang asks.

"Fang Yu," Fang Yu answers.

Old Master Tang nods slightly and says, "Earlier, young man, you asked me why I still want to keep living. I can give you an answer."

"Because I still want to accompany my family, I want to see my grandchildren grow up, watch them start families and careers, watch them have offspring... Isn't that how it goes for everyone? Generation after generation, keeping watch." Old Master Tang says with a smile.

"Grandfather..." Upon hearing Old Master Tang's words, the girl beside him cries even more sorrowfully.

Family...

Fang Yu's gaze flickers.

For him, family is something distant, but for ordinary people, family has always been there, generation after generation.

And for the vast majority of ordinary people, who wouldn't want to live a little longer?

"You have late-stage lung cancer, right? You have less than three months left to live. Enjoy the remaining time of your life." Fang Yu says, then turns around, goes back into the grasshouse, and closes the door.

Meanwhile, the Tang family group remains stunned.

How did Fang Yu immediately figure out that Old Master Tang had lung cancer? And he even mentioned that Old Master Tang only has less than three months left to live, just like what the doctors said?

He truly is the disciple of the Medicine God!

After realizing this, Tang Feng knocks on the door of the grasshouse again and shouts, "Mr. Fang, you must be the disciple of the Medicine God, right? Please, I beg you, treat my grandfather. We..."

"Life and death are predetermined. Leave immediately, or don't blame me for being impolite." Fang Yu's calm voice comes from inside the grasshouse.

"A doctor with compassion, how could you let someone die without saving them..." Tang Feng said with anger.

"Feng'er, come back," Old Master Tang spoke.

"Grandfather!" Tang Feng's eyes turned red as he turned to look at Old Master Tang.

"The young man is right, life and death are predetermined. If heaven wants me to die, how can I not die? Let's go," Old Master Tang said.

"Young man, I have immense respect for the late Mr. Xia. I didn't expect him to have already passed away... Our visit today has disturbed Mr. Xia, and we apologize sincerely. We hope his spirit in heaven will not hold any resentment." Old Master Tang spoke sincerely.

After that, he signaled for the group to turn around and leave.

Although Tang Feng was unwilling, since it was Old Master Tang's command, he had no choice but to follow and leave.

On the way back, nobody said a word, and the atmosphere was gloomy.

Tang Feng noticed that his sister seemed lost in thought and frowned as he asked, "Xiao Rou, what are you thinking about?"

Tang Xiao Rou furrowed her eyebrows slightly and murmured, "I have this strange feeling... that I've seen this Fang Yu somewhere before."

"How is that possible? This is our first time in the northwest region. How could you have seen this Fang Yu before?" Tang Feng said.

"That's true... but I really feel like I've seen him somewhere." Tang Xiao Rou rubbed her temples and said.

Tang Feng was in a bad mood and no longer paid attention to Tang Xiao Rou, assuming she had mistaken the person.

However, after walking a few more steps, Tang Xiao Rou suddenly stopped.

"I, I remember now. I've seen him at school!"