Chapter 3: Seven Years

Inside the bedroom, a long silence fell after Yun Tianhong finished listening to such a shocking tale. For a while, he found himself at a loss for words. In all his life, he had never encountered anything like this—and now that it involved immortals, he, a mere mortal, felt utterly helpless. Letting out a sigh, he asked, "Yuanshan, what do you intend to do from now on?"

Qiu Yuanshan remained silent for a moment before slowly lifting his head. "Since things have come to this, there is nothing left but to leave it to fate. I will entrust that thing to Qiuhan. The fewer people who know of this, the better. Next year, I'll send the child to the private school first. After that, his life will be his own to shape."

Yun Tianhong nodded at his words. "Very well. For the time being, only the two of us must know of this. Not even our wives nor Rou’er should be told. As for whether Qiuhan wishes to tell Rou’er in the future, that will be his own decision."

...

In the blink of an eye, winter passed. The following spring, Qiuhan and several of his childhood friends from the village were all sent by their parents to the private school in town to study and learn to read. Yun Rou was among them. Around the school, the crisp sound of recitation could always be heard, marking the gentle passage of time.

Seasons changed—spring gave way to autumn, leaves grew and fell—and four years slipped by, quiet and unremarked. Qiuhan was now twelve years old, increasingly sensible and mature. When he returned from his studies, he would use his spare time to help his parents with household chores. Most of his childhood companions had likewise outgrown the days of idly playing in the village from dawn to dusk. The villagers continued their diligent toil, and apart from a few lively wedding celebrations, life in the village soon returned to its peaceful, harmonious rhythm.

That same year, Yun Rou's elder brother, Yun Yi, was married. His bride, Yalan, was a refined and gentle beauty from an ordinary family in town. On the day of the wedding, Qiuhan's family and the villagers all attended the celebration. The following year, the Yun family welcomed a baby boy, and happiness became a frequent guest upon their faces.

Three more years passed in much the same way. By now, Qiuhan was fifteen, nearly as tall as his father. The childish softness had vanished from his features, leaving sharp, defined lines, and a handsome face often lit by a gentle smile. There was something distinctly memorable about him—a quiet, special charm that made a lasting impression at first glance.

His childhood companions had grown into strapping young men as well. Even Erpang, once chubby, had become tall and muscular, exuding strength and vigor. Over these years, the bond between the Qiu and Yun families had only deepened.

Yun Rou was no longer the little girl she once was. Seven years had transformed her into a graceful maiden. Though only fourteen, her delicate features already hinted at a beauty that would one day dazzle the world. Over those seven years, she and Qiuhan had attended the same private school and spent much of their free time together. Their closeness remained as unbroken as ever.

Even now, Yun Rou often recalled the time when Qiuhan had stolen a kiss when she wasn’t paying attention, and the day he saved her in the snow. Whenever these memories surfaced, a sweet smile would always play at the corners of her lips.

As the two grew older, it seemed both families had begun to look forward to a marriage between Qiuhan and Yun Rou. The matter came up often during their meetings. Perhaps, in a few more years, Qiuhan would marry Yun Rou, and they would spend their lives together in quiet contentment.

Qiuhan’s hometown, Qingyang Town, was a border settlement of the Wu Kingdom—a small and somewhat remote nation on this vast continent, one among over two hundred such states. Oceans stretched endlessly around the landmass, and even within the continent, there were inland seas, though none compared to the great outer sea.

In almost every nation, there were one or more sects devoted to the cultivation of immortality. These sects were myriad and diverse, generally classified as upright, demonic, or otherwise. The world of cultivation was riddled with constant strife, and the rise and fall of sects—some flourishing for a time only to fade into oblivion—was commonplace.

Five distinct stages of cultivation had been clearly established: starting from the Foundation of Qi, then Building the Foundation, Forming the Core, Nascent Soul, and finally Transformation of the Spirit. What lay beyond the Spirit Transformation stage was known only to the highest echelons of cultivators. The Qi Refining stage was divided into fifteen levels, while the subsequent stages were each separated into early, middle, late, and great completion phases.

Most cultivation sects would inevitably face periods of decline, especially when too many high-level cultivators passed away and the junior disciples lagged too far behind. In such cases, the sect was vulnerable to destruction or annexation by rivals. To prevent this, nearly all sects would periodically descend into the mortal world to recruit promising young mortals. The key lay in whether a mortal possessed a spiritual root—and of what quality. Most spiritual roots were aligned to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

There were also variant spiritual roots, mutated from the five elements, such as lightning, ice, or wind. These rarer types often conferred even greater aptitude for cultivation. When a sect discovered a youth with such a root, they would be treated as treasures, often directly accepted as disciples by the sect’s elders. Such status commanded even the utmost respect from the sect leader himself.

The quality of a spiritual root depended largely on its singularity. A single-element root was the most desirable, being untainted and able to absorb spiritual energy quickly and purely. The more attributes present, the poorer the aptitude; those with all five elements were generally unsuitable for cultivation. Even if they managed to cultivate, reaching the peak of the Qi Refining stage would be considered miraculous.

Yet nothing is absolute. It was said that in ancient times, tens of thousands of years ago, there had been a cultivator with all five elements who nevertheless ascended to the Spirit Transformation stage. But such tales had never been substantiated. Nowadays, most sects would accept mortals with three elements as inner disciples; those with more than three would at best become outer disciples—responsible for menial work and afforded little respect.

If a candidate had two or fewer attributes, they would be nurtured among the sect’s most elite, destined to become pillars of the order. Through such a generational cycle, a sect could avoid decline.

Among ordinary mortals, those with spiritual roots were exceedingly rare, and single-element roots rarer still. Most who qualified had multiple attributes, with five-element roots being most common. As for those with mutated or dark spiritual roots, they were said to appear only once in a century. If such an individual were discovered, a sect would stop at nothing to recruit them. These dark or variant roots could only be detected by high-level cultivators or with special jade slips crafted by those of Core Formation or higher, hence their secrecy.

Hengyuan Sect was the leading cultivation order in Wu. The sect boasted nearly ten Nascent Soul elders, over a hundred Core Formation cultivators, nearly a thousand at Foundation Building, and more than thirty thousand at Qi Refining. It was the most powerful sect in Wu, and among the most renowned in the neighboring kingdoms. Rumor had it that the sect’s Patriarch, a Spirit Transformation cultivator, had wandered abroad five centuries ago and had not been heard from since.

Every twenty years, the sect would send nearly a hundred Foundation Building disciples into the mortal world for three years of tempering, during which each was required to find and recruit a mortal youth with the potential for cultivation into the sect.