Chapter 10 Is This an Immortal?

"Foster father above, this child has longed for the canteen's pork knuckle noodles for so long, it has become a sickness. I hope foster father will pity your child and relieve the agony of two months of yearning!"

Zhu Ganglie shook his head like an affectionate elderly father, looking tenderly at the three ravenous non-biological sons:

"My dear sons of my brother and sister-in-law, don't panic. Stabilize yourselves first. I'll go fetch some food, and I'll also get you each a cup of milk tea!"

"Thank you, foster father!"

Under the watchful eyes of Li Ping'an and the other two, Zhu Ganglie went to three different food stations, fondly interacting with the cafeteria ladies, either caressing their old cheeks or sneakily kissing their hands affected by Parkinson's disease.

Everyone knew Zhu Ganglie was overly flirtatious, but no one expected him to have become even more so after a summer break, now boldly touching and kissing.

Only a few students sporadically eating their meals almost vomited at the sight, while Li Ping'an and his friends were already accustomed to it.

Zhu Ganglie finished swiping his meal card pretentiously and brought the food over to his brothers. Jiang Liuer, Sha Sheng, and Zhu Ganglie bent over their phones, watching short videos while eating. Meanwhile, Li Ping'an was eating while trying to calm his tumultuous emotions.

Since coming out of the dorm, he had made a significant discovery in this world: besides the ghosts floating between heaven and earth, there was no trace of Spiritual Essence!

This strongly indicated one thing:

The real world I'm in has absolutely no Spiritual Essence!

Absence of Spiritual Essence means it's difficult to cultivate Mana, and without Mana, even possessing spells through an attribute template wouldn't allow their execution.

This also meant that re-entering the game world, he could only rely on two Divine Skills and weapons that were merely effective against ghosts for survival!

The world of "Black Myth: The Fated One" is fraught with dangers, and a slightest carelessness could lead to an untimely death. Li Ping'an had barely managed to kill a Human-Headed Dog Demon with Zixia's help; what if he encountered other Demon Kings or devil lords? Wouldn't that be a sure path to death?

Moreover, according to Zixia, the Taoist scriptures used for cultivation in the world of "Black Myth: The Fated One" had been lost, and the Sect Leader of Qingyun Sect was only at the Li Yuan Realm, having never even seen the "Yellow Court Classic." It was evident how much the Taoist sects had declined!

There was also the fact that Zixia had taken him as a disciple for no apparent reason. What was her purpose?

Even if Zixia sincerely intended to teach him, learning the Cultivation Methods of Qingyun Sect to the point of absorbing Spiritual Essence and channeling qi into the sea would take at least three years.

In three years, his own grave's grass might be overgrown!

The valid information he had now was that the world of "Black Myth: The Fated One" had Spiritual Essence but lacked advanced cultivation techniques, and the real world lacked Spiritual Essence, so...

Does the real world possess the highest Taoist cultivation techniques? Like the commonly known "Yellow Court Classic"?

After all, in Li Ping'an's understanding, the game world and the real world were completely unrelated, and the real world had various Taoist classics left by cultivators throughout the ages available online and in bookstores.

This bold speculation was not a random thought, having emerged when he talked about the "Yellow Court Classic" while apprenticing under Zixia.

As for whether the various Taoist classics circulating in the real world were useful, he needed to carefully research them by turning on his computer back in the dorm.

Having had his fill, Li Ping'an urged his brothers to hurry back to the dormitory. Despite his extreme exhaustion, he drank a cup of strong tea and quickly turned on his computer to verify his theory.

As he was turning on his phone, Li Ping'an suddenly received a WeChat message. He opened it and it was from the class group assistant:

Students, today near the main gate of our school, a female broadcaster was playing with her phone without looking at the red light and crossed the road directly. She was hit by a passing truck and thrown ten meters away. Although she was rushed to the hospital, it's unlikely that she will survive.

To prevent the same incident, please follow traffic rules and pay attention to safety when at school or on your way to school!

As Zhu Ganglie lay in bed, he wondered aloud:

"Guys, isn't the person mentioned by the instructor the same broadcaster we met today?"

Jiang Liuer, who was cleaning, asserted confidently:

"Impossible! How could that be such a coincidence?"

Sha Sheng, who was changing into pink pajamas, gently countered:

"How could it be? Do you really think Clown Li can predict the future? Saying that broadcaster would die today? Impossible!"

Li Ping'an just smiled and said nothing. Although the instructor did not mention the name directly, he could confirm that the broadcaster who was hit was Zhou Shufenzi.

Looking at the message on his phone that the broadcaster had died "as scheduled," he shook his head in regret and then ignored it.

He, who knew he could take shortcuts in cultivation by studying Taoist classics, did not rush to study the "Yellow Court Classic." Instead, he wanted to understand what gods and immortals are, how to cultivate, and how to become an immortal.

Having a clear idea, he started looking up relevant information:

Taoism divides the realms of Inner Core Technique into Essence Refining and Qi Transformation, Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation, Spirit Refining and Returning to Void, Void Refining and Dao Merging. After resolving karma and merging into Dao, one achieves the Great Luo Dao Fruit, attains transcendence and sanctification, becomes indestructible, untroubled by karma, all-knowing, omnipotent, with the Dao everlasting and the saints immortal.

However, Li Ping'an's Taoist cultivation in the game did not seem to be Taoism's Inner Core Technique, so he read on:

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the famous Taoist Ge Hong categorized immortals into three levels: Heavenly Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Corpse Reincarnation Immortal.

By the Tang and Song dynasties, as External Alchemy was replaced by Internal Alchemy, Zhongli Quan and Lu Dongbin, two patriarchs of Complete Perfection, wrote "Zhong and Lu's Transmission of the Dao Collection." This book subdivided immortals into five categories: Heavenly Immortal, Divine Immortal, Earth Immortal, Human Immortal, and Ghost Immortal.

A Ghost Immortal is the lowest rank, while a Heavenly Immortal is the highest level, who completely overcomes the three obstructions and ten evils, utterly restrains desires, and reaches a serene and transcendent state.

Taoism believes that Heavenly Immortals and Ghost Immortals are at two extremes, neither of which is the desired pursuit for becoming immortal. Only Divine Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Human Immortals are the goals cultivators aspire to achieve.

Human Immortals still live among people, only through healthcare and cultivation can they be robust and less prone to diseases.

While Earth Immortals are higher than Human Immortals and can live long, they do not have divine powers and can only roam between renowned mountains and rivers while still within the Three Realms.

Divine Immortals possess an ethereal body, travel on clouds, roam outside the world, detach from materiality to ascend as immortals, enter into sanctity, renounce the secular life, and return to the three immortal mountains, thus they are called Divine Immortals.

"So this is what a Divine Immortal is?"

Before entering "Black Myth: The Fated One," Li Ping'an's thoughts were very simple and pure. After graduating from college, he planned to work in a large company, leading an ordinary life of working nine to five, marrying through a matchmaking arrangement and having children—a simple life.