The night sky was brilliant.

In the courtyard, cups were raised and toasts were made amidst laughter and cheer.

Late in the night, the tightly shut courtyard gate slowly creaked open.

Escorted by the newlywed couple, Chu Mu led Wangcai out of the small courtyard. He walked under the moonlight, gradually disappearing into the night.

In this Cultivation Immortal Realm, many Cultivators were like this. Once they embarked on the Immortal Path, the world became their home.

Every Marketplace, every Black Market, might serve as a temporary home for some Cultivator.

As time passed, some would find Dao Companions for various reasons, ending their wandering lives. They would truly settle down in one place to build a family and multiply, becoming households—or even... Clans—of varying sizes.

In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, this was practically the norm.

It was a common sight in every Marketplace.

The vast majority of Cultivation Immortal Clans in the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World had evolved in this manner.

Now, his young friend had found a companion, and it seemed his wandering years would come to an end.

But as for him...

Under the night sky, Chu Mu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the stars for a long time.

The memories of his dozen or so years since arriving in this world unfolded before his eyes like a painted scroll.

Nanshan Town, Nanshan Iron Ore, Qing River, Jingmen, Jade Emperor Valley, Fengming Mountain, Water Heaven Workshop, the Secret Realm, East Lake...

In just over a decade, he had experienced so, so much.

Decades of peace in his past life couldn’t compare to the exhilaration of soaring through the sky on a sword just once in this one.

These past ten-odd years had been exciting, and very much to his liking.

Even if he was just idling away day after day, even if he often lived a precarious existence with his life hanging by a thread...

He slowly melted into the darkness, just like every other time he had left a Marketplace, without a hint of hesitation.

No matter how beautiful the scenery along the way, it couldn’t compare to the allure of long life and immortality, to the temptation of wielding the supreme power to grasp the stars and moon.

The Immortal Path was long, and it was far too soon for him to stop.

He traveled through the starry night. By dawn the next day, while the morning mist still lingered, an island standing in the middle of a lake appeared in Chu Mu’s vision.

An island, a simple Illusion Array—this was what separated the world of Immortals from the world of mortals.

Mundane fishing boats could even be seen passing near the island, but under the effect of the Illusion Array, the island was as good as non-existent to ordinary mortals.

It existed neither to the naked eye nor to their senses.

Only the occasional streaks of light flashing across the sky and the figures walking on water would sometimes draw gasps of astonishment, perhaps giving rise to legends of so-called Immortals.

Huzhou Island.

This was another Marketplace controlled by the Xie Family, located about seven or eight hundred li away from Water Heaven Workshop.

According to his knowledge, this island seemed to possess only a single Tier Two Spiritual Vein.

A low-grade Spirit Vein meant limited Spiritual Qi. With limited Spiritual Qi, this Marketplace was naturally quite ordinary in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Chu Mu sent out a voice transmission. Before long, a graceful figure appeared before him.

"You didn’t find the Ancient Cultivator Cave Mansion?"

Zhao Shuang was surprised.

"That’s right."

Chu Mu was very forthright. "The place I entered through the location you mentioned was not the Ancient Cultivator Cave Mansion you spoke of, Miss Zhao."

Zhao Shuang asked, "Then where was it?"

Chu Mu shook his head. "That is outside the scope of our agreement."

Zhao Shuang was a little dejected, and also a little suspicious.

Chu Mu maintained his faint smile. He wasn’t lying, nor had he broken their mutual agreement.

If anyone was to blame, it was that peculiar circumstance that had swept him into a different Inheritance Land. Since it fell outside their deal, he naturally wouldn’t give up his own fortuitous encounter to complete their transaction.

After he came out of the Inheritance Land, he had tried again, but the result was the same—he still couldn’t get in.

"In that case, please keep this a secret, Fellow Daoist Chu. This matter still cannot be revealed to anyone."

"Rest assured, Miss Zhao. I promise to keep my lips sealed."

Chu Mu said with a light chuckle.

Without lingering, Zhao Shuang immediately departed.

Watching Zhao Shuang leave, Chu Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly. A moment later, he patted Wangcai, turned, and walked away across the water...

For the next three months, Chu Mu traveled between the various nearby Black Markets and Marketplaces. Only when all his preparations were complete did he stop his travels and head straight for the mortal world.

Xiangyin City.

Located in the Southwest region of Luofu County, it was adjacent to Luofu and was one of the thirty-eight counties of Luofu County—a very ordinary mortal city.

In the North District of the county seat, a long-vacant mortal residence welcomed its new owner.

With a single Cleaning Skill, the entire residence, inside and out, became spotless in a matter of breaths.

Chu Mu surveyed the room. As he pondered, he formed a hand seal, and the tip of a sword hovered in the air.

"Go!"

With a low shout, the sword tip shot out, broke through the bedroom floor, and plunged more than ten meters into the earth.

Under the control of his Divine Sense, the sword tip wreaked havoc underground. In just a dozen breaths, the soil in a ten-meter radius was completely loosened.

He took a step forward and formed another hand seal. Waves of Magical Power surged forth, and under their influence, the loosened soil underground visibly compacted and solidified.

In about a few dozen breaths, a spacious cavern was formed beneath the bedroom.

Then, a flicker of Spiritual Fire appeared. He threw in pieces of Spiritual Materials, and as they melted, Array Prohibition Inscriptions emerged upon them, carved by his Divine Sense.

Finally, these Spiritual Materials formed into a number of small, palm-sized flags.

He entered the cavern, formed a one-handed seal, and the small flags shot out, landing in various spots around the cavern.

Once the flags were set, a number of Spirit Stones flew out as well.

A moment later, wisps of Spiritual Qi slowly appeared in the cavern. As time passed, more and more Spiritual Qi materialized out of thin air.

The Spiritual Qi within the cavern grew increasingly dense. However, this spontaneously appearing Spiritual Qi was firmly confined within the cavern by an invisible force, making it completely unnoticeable from the outside.

It was a crude and simple Array Prohibition derived from his Artifact Refining Skill, the same kind he had used for Wangcai’s transformation. The so-called Spirit Gathering was simply releasing the Energy from Spirit Stones rather than drawing in and concentrating external Spiritual Qi.

As for the isolation Restriction, he directly used the miniature isolation Restriction he had purchased before.

Chu Mu pondered for a moment, then returned to the courtyard. He closed both the courtyard gate and the room door before re-entering the cavern.

As he sat cross-legged, the text of the Great Sun Scripture appeared in his mind.

Flame Decision, Wild Bull Technique.

One for Qi Cultivation, one for Body Refining—both needed to be transitioned into this ancient inheritance... the Great Sun Scripture.

After a moment of contemplation, his thoughts gradually quieted.

He once again went through the inheritance of the Great Sun Scripture, analyzing and understanding it word by word, sentence by sentence.

He had quite a few Cultivation Techniques for the Qi Cultivation Realm, for both Qi Cultivation and Body Refining.

Some he had purchased himself, but most were obtained from killing others and taking their treasures.

With both his Cultivation and Body now at the Perfection stage, his understanding of Cultivation in the Qi Cultivation Realm was undoubtedly profound.

Qi Cultivation was the practice of cultivating Magical Power and refining the Divine Soul. Every increase in one’s Cultivation level in the Qi Cultivation Realm was a process of transformation, a leap for both Magical Power and Divine Soul.

Body Refining, on the other hand, focused primarily on the physical body!

One force to break all magic!

And when one’s Qi Blood was abundant, the Divine Soul would naturally be nourished, growing and transforming along with it.

Both were cultivation and transformation processes within the Essence, Qi, Spirit System, founded upon Spiritual Qi.

But this Great Sun Scripture...

After about an hour, Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes.

’Supreme Yang and Firmness, impervious to all magic, repelling all evil...’

Chu Mu murmured, lost in thought.

He had finished studying the Qi Cultivation Chapter of the Great Sun Scripture word by word. Judging from the Cultivation Technique itself, the exaggerated description didn’t seem to be false.

Cultivating the Great Sun Scripture condensed a Magical Power of Supreme Yang and Firmness. Each Cultivation session with such tyrannical Magical Power was obviously also a great tempering for the physical body.

And the source of this Supreme Yang and Firmness...

...came from... the Great Sun True Flame!

To practice this Cultivation Technique, the first step was to condense a seed of the Great Sun True Flame.

Through the thirteen layers of Qi Cultivation—thirteen transformations—one could condense the Great Sun True Flame upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Of course, this so-called Great Sun True Flame was obviously not the legendary one capable of incinerating worlds.

It was merely said to possess a few wisps of the Great Sun True Flame’s essence, with the potential to transform into the real thing.

Clearly, the core of this Great Sun Scripture, this Ancient Cultivator’s Cultivation Technique, was... the Great Sun True Flame.

’Condensing the Fire Seed...’

Chu Mu recalled the technique’s description. According to it, he needed a place with dense Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy, such as a location where Earth Vein Fire Qi erupted, or an artificially created area with concentrated Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy.

The former, he obviously didn’t have access to.

As for the latter...

He reached into his robes and grasped a Storage Talisman. With a thought, several hundred fiery-red Spirit Stones piled up in front of him.

With another thought, one of the red Spirit Stones floated before him. In his Divine Sense Perception, the Spirit Stone did not contain the usual faint white specks of Spiritual Qi, but a dense, fiery-red heat.

This fiery-red Spirit Stone was clearly a Fire Attribute Lower Grade Spirit Stone.

From what he knew, the conditions for forming Attributed Spirit Stones were extremely demanding.

A Spirit Stone Ore needed to be located in an area rich in a specific attribute. For example, if a Spirit Stone Ore was in a place with dense Earth Vein Fire Qi, it would eventually evolve into a Fire Attribute Spirit Stone Ore after being corroded by the Fire Qi over countless years.

Under such strict conditions, Attributed Spirit Stones were obviously extremely rare.

He had spent nearly three thousand Attributeless Lower Grade Spirit Stones just to gather these three hundred or so Fire Attribute Lower Grade Spirit Stones before him.

The exchange rate was almost ten to one!

Even at such a rate, they were hard to come by. He had traveled between various Black Markets and Marketplaces for nearly three months to barely scrape together these three hundred-plus stones.

’This should be enough...’

Chu Mu let out a soft breath. With a thought, he replaced the original Attributeless Spirit Stones in the Gathering Spirit Array Prohibition with the Fire Attribute ones.

Inside the cavern, the original Attributeless Spiritual Qi was slowly eroded by the Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy. Within his Divine Sense Perception, the entire cavern was gradually being dyed a shade of fiery red.

He closed his eyes, and as his Divine Sense circulated, the faint fiery-red glow slowly began to gather around his body.

The condensation of the Great Sun Fire Seed and the transition to the new Cultivation Technique officially began.

...