Chapter 1

Part 1

To the north of Heaven Dou Empire, a small and inconspicuous village lies above the clouds on a large mountain.

The only path up the mountain for ordinary people is through the thin roads on the mountainside, although extremely dangerous, anyone who manages to reach the flat mountain top is devoid of regrets as they can see a scene that could only be described as a prototype of a paradise.

Many farms could be seen as far as the eyes could see. It was only towards the center where many houses could be seen near each other forming the core of the Cloud Peak Village.

"... Given this information, tell me, how should we raise the Nahm?" Inside a humble school, an old lady wearing clothes full of patches and stitches spoke as she pointed the ruler to the blackboard.

The children between 3 and 6 years old sitting each at their table, stared at the writings while trying to think of an answer.

The Nahm was a type of cow that their ancestors discovered when they settled on Cloud Peak, it was docile and peaceful, making it ideal to be groomed for food. What made the red-skinned cow with large horns special, was that the food they ate was worms and parasites residing beneath the ground, therefore, the best way to raise the Nahm was by letting them eat those pests on the farms.

Cao De raised his hand and told the answer, garnering admiring and envious gazes from his classmates.

"Very good, Cao De. Your answers are always spot on!" Hearing the teacher's praise, some of the more envious classmates snorted.

'Hmph! I too could have answered that, what is there to be so proud about? I was just too lazy to answer it...'

Seeing their gazes full of animosity, Cao De smiled helplessly, how couldn't he understand their thoughts? Although he still looked like a teenager when he died in his previous life, he was still a supreme Crossing Calamity expert who lived for a hundred years. Although most of his time was spent in seclusion or refining his Dao, as a member of a Devil sect following the ancient orthodox Daoist path of immortality, the light of the seven emotions and six desires was still a necessary step to cultivate the spirituality of his Nascent Soul.

Having long comprehended worldly affairs, it was easy for him to read their feelings and emotions even without the help of a Nascent Soul.

"Tsk, how the hell can you answer those questions so quick?"

The boy sitting on his left asked enviously while the teacher proceeded with her lecture.

"Dong Quiao, you just need to spend more time studying. If all you do is play and lazy around, how do you expect to answer it?" Cao De answered honestly as he looked at him.

"Agh? Study? Ptui!" Dong Quiao spat on the ground with a look of disgust on his face. "Why should I study when I aim to become a peerless Spirit Master?"

Hearing Dong Quiao's words, Cao De couldn't help but sigh. Spirit Masters were the equivalent of Immortals and Martial Artists in his previous life, it was the main force when it comes to human battle prowess and was almost like a mystical type of warrior.

It was a system of life-form evolution that heavily relied on external assistance. In Cao De's opinion, it couldn't even be compared to the heinous witchcraft practiced by the Magi he had encountered in some realms. It was truly a path of no return full of flaws.

"Spirit Masters are strong, but having muscles and no brain would make you no different than the beasts that you have to defeat to grow stronger. Do you think you will be able to defeat them without using your brain?"

"Who says I need a brain to defeat them? If my fist is bigger, they will have to die all the same! I bet you are only saying that because of your pitiful Martial Soul." Dong Quiao snickered as he looked at him gleefully.

Cao De smiled at his words and didn't bother to answer. Truth to be told, his Martial Soul was indeed low-end. The extremely ordinary and common Forging Hammer was a tool-type spirit that he awakened at the age of six.

It only weighed about 4 Kilograms and it wasn't in any way suited as a weapon. Compared to Dong Quiao who awakened the rare Crystal Gauntlet spirit... actually, there was no comparison at all.

"Be careful not to let the rarity of your Martial Soul go up your head. There are many individuals that can defeat you regardless of what weapon you wield." Cao De sincerely advised, but could only shake his head when Dong Quiao dismissed him with a snort.

Part 2

In a humble house made with a wooden frame as the foundation and clay bricks, Cao De silently sat on a stool in the dining room. He breathed in and out in a timed manner, accumulating the essence of heaven and earth in his body.

At the age of five, when the prenatal Qi finally disappears, one is qualified to start his or her journey towards immortality.

The path to immortality is one full of mysteries and profound nomological laws. The first step in starting your journey is to ignite the existence of a dantian, an extra and illusory organ located either between the eyebrows or the area below the chest.

By mixing one's both spiritual and physical energy with Yuan Qi of Heavens and Earth, like an alchemical reaction, a new substance is produced and it's called Essence.

Once Essence is produced in the dantian, it's inserted into one's bloodstream, or energy vessel, and allowed to circulate around the body. Then, one only needs to refine body and soul to increase both the quality and quantity of Essence.

As he followed the methods in his memories, an esoteric light momentarily shone on the surface of his body. If one looked carefully, they would be able to catch glimpses of runes in it. They were shadows of the Great Dao, something that only an accomplished Daoist with a true Dao Heart would be able to comprehend and understand.

"Unexpectedly, the presence of my Dao Heart caused a mutation with the ignition of my dantian. To be able to trigger a heavenly phenomenon upon awakening... I'm afraid that the path I originally took back then is no longer suitable for me."

Without reaching the Houtian Realm, he still lacked a Divine Sense and was unable to properly study the situation of his body. It took him an entire year for him to properly perceive this matter.

Thinking back on how he was considered a one-in-a-million years genius, the reincarnation of an immortal venerable, a fated one, and so on, he couldn't help but let out a dejected sigh. Even with his experience, he could never have predicted that there was a variant awakening whose condition was to have a complete Dao Heart.

"For now, I'm too weak to investigate the changes brought by this new type of awakening... fortunately the path to setting a foundation is the same."

Regardless of whether or not it was a special awakening, he knew through his experience that nothing would change at least until he reached the limits of the Houtian Realm.

Directing his senses inwardly, he watched happily as the fusion of leftover spiritual energy and blood essence (aka physical energy) coalesced together to produce Essence, from this point forward, even if he didn't train, he would at least reach the ninth level of the Body Refinement realm, which would increase his lifespan to 200 years.

"Fortunately, my talent seems to remain as the highest, the Sage grade. With a compatible Technique, I should be able to reach the Core Formation realm at least by the age of 30, or it might be even sooner if the mutation brings about an increase in cultivation speed."

Opening his eyes, he let out a satisfied sigh and proceeded to stand up.

Sensing the tasty smell of barbeque coming from the kitchen, he headed towards it and stared at his mother, a beautiful 20 years old woman wearing an apron as she cooked peacefully with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Ah, little De, you're here." Noticing him arriving, she closed the lid of the grill and walked over to pick him up. "Eh? Have I been feeding you too much? How come you feel quite heavier than before?"

Hearing her words, Cao De's cheeks flushed slightly. Having never told his mother about the immortal path, how could he explain the changes brought about by cultivation? He wasn't just heavier, his skin albeit normal on the surface was a lot sturdier and harder than before, his muscles now at least twice as strong as before, and eventually, even his bones and internal organs would experience vast improvements.

This situation in fact only happened due to him finishing laying out the foundation to truly start his training.

"Uh... I have been eating some candies before coming back home every day..."

"So that's the reason!" Cao De's mother nodded in understanding before pouting in anger. "Little De, you're not allowed to eat those things. They are tasty but not healthy, if I discover that you are still eating them later, you will be grounded for two weeks, okay?"

"Okay mom, don't worry about it! I will listen to your words."

Hearing his answer, she chuckled happily and petted his head before putting him down. "Go on, take a sit by the table. Lunch is almost ready."

Seeing as his mother cooked, Cao De felt warm in his heart. Born inside the sect in his previous life, the closest thing he had to family was his master, the cold-hearted beauty, and also sect master, Yang Xiaofan.

Sect master Yang was the only person to ever show him any resemblance of care and love. Back then, even though he seemed weak and frail, she never showed any disgust like the elders and was already intending to make him her disciple even before the talent assessment. When he was revealed to have a Sage grade talent, everyone's behavior towards him took a 180 degrees turn.

It was in this way that Cao De first learned of human's calculative and manipulative behavior toward benefits. Master Yang was different though, the way she acted towards him remained somewhat distant and somewhat affectionate, although she gave him preferential treatment in terms of training, the way she treated him remained the same. She was gentle and honest and the only person he ever trusted in the sect.

Now that he had a mother he felt somewhat conflicted, at the same time that he was happy, he was also guilty.

'Here I am, enjoying the warmth of my new mother while my master must have already undergone the cycle of reincarnation after my failure at protecting her. Would she be disappointed if she knew that I'm behaving like this after failing her?' It was a question that popped up in his head every once in a while. He couldn't help it, the guilty of failing in his duty was something that he couldn't forget.

The scene of the sect being invaded and the intruders finding his master's cultivation chamber replayed in his nightmares from time to time. He was entrusted to protect her during her closed doors seclusion to achieve a breakthrough in her cultivation, but in the end, the enemy's numbers and strength were too much for a junior like him.

'I hope master succeded in her breakthrough at the last moment, even if I died, she might have succeeded in preserving the sect. I wonder if she would miss me in case she was still alive...'

After a little while, Cao Tung-Mei placed the wooden plates with food on the table and they proceeded to eat.

As usual, she asked him about his day at school, and if he was being bullied by anyone. Don't look at Cao Tung-Mei's warm exterior. Inside that warm woman full of motherly love hides a dark beast ready to tear apart even the fiercest demons.

Cao De still remembered vividly how his mother killed a gargantuan creature two years ago. Although he had yet to properly comprehend this world's Spirit Masters, he knew that his mother was very powerful even by Immortals' standards.

Although it was a mystery why she would live such a humble life, it wasn't something he thought was weird. Many Daoists had similar habits, as living among mortals also allowed them to further comprehend their own Dao.

Still, he knew as a matter of fact that his mother's cultivation was extremely flawed. Even at such a young age, the aura of death surrounding her had already grown quite a lot. It would be a miracle if she was able to live beyond 200 or 300 years. With such a strength comparable to maybe early-stage Nascent Soul or peak Core Formation realm immortals, she should have had at least five to ten thousand years of life span, but she doesn't even have a tenth of this amount...

As he was lost in thoughts, his mother's next words caught his attention.

"Oh, that's right, have you decided what you're going to do?"