Chapter 2: The World of Scattered Immortals

  Ding Yan was once a cultivator who had transcended the tribulation, but during an ancient relic's activation, he was struck by one of the flying immortal artifacts and his body and dao were destroyed.

  After his death, Ding Yan's soul did not enter the six paths of reincarnation, but instead mysteriously crossed over into this world. Unfortunately, after crossing over, Ding Yan did not reincarnate, but instead remained in a state of soul, barely surviving in this world.

  In a strange world full of danger, Ding Yan almost lost his soul several times. After more than half a year of drifting, Ding Yan's soul suffered severe injuries, and at the moment when he was about to dissipate, he inadvertently discovered this ancient well that naturally condensed the power of yin souls, and thus avoided the fate of losing his soul.

  Heavily injured Ding Yan recuperated by an ancient well, and in doing so, spent ten years there.

  Until today, I can finally borrow a corpse to return to life and defy the heavens to be reborn.

  Ding Yan slowly stood up, twisted his neck, moved his limbs, and began to adapt to this new body. As for the original owner of this flesh, Ding Yan was still very grateful to him. In the lonely ten years, he was the only one who often came here to chat with him and relieve his boredom, and could be considered his only friend in this world.

  As he gradually adapted to his physical body, Ding Yan sat down cross-legged and began to use the technique of seizing and transmigrating from his past life memories.

  At this moment, countless memory fragments floated in Ding Yan's mind.

  It wasn't clear how much time had passed when Ding Yan finally 'read' through all of the memories of the original owner of this body.

  Dispersed Immortal? Shedding Mortal Karma?

  One by one, unfamiliar words appeared in Ding Yan's memory. After a long time, until a faint white fish appeared on the horizon, Ding Yan slowly opened his eyes, looked at the distant horizon, and slowly got up.

  "For over a decade, being a soul body has almost made me forget the feeling of having a physical body." Ding Yan patted the snow off his body and walked slowly towards the outskirts of the village.

  However, within this body, a hint of obsession still lingers. The current me will continue to be influenced by these obsessions and cannot distinguish myself. Only after completing those three things will the lingering obsessions in this flesh disappear, and only then can I truly be reborn.

  At this time, the wind grew stronger, and snowflakes filled the sky!

  Another world, alone, with only wind and snow as companions.

  The cold wind howled, rolling up the snow on the ground, forming a white canopy in the sky, covering the footprints of Ding Yan's departure.

  。。。。。。

  The Scattered Immortal Realm is a world of cultivation based on the scattered immortal body, and no one knows how big this world is. All that is known is that since the birth of humanity, this world has already existed.

  In this world, cultivators are different from those in Ding Yan's original world. In this world, any cultivator who breaks through to the Great Circle of Refining Qi will trigger a Heavenly Tribulation, which is called the Mortal Tribulation by the people of the world. The name suggests that it means to shed one's mortal flesh and become immortal.

  After passing through the mortal tribulation, all masters will transform themselves into Xian bodies and then pursue the Great Way through one Xian tribulation after another.

  Recalling the scattered memories in his mind, Ding Yan returned to the sect of his host's previous life once again.

  It's not that Ding Yan can't cultivate, as a reincarnated cultivator from his past life, he has an innate talent in both experience and realm that ordinary people can't compare to. If it wasn't for the severe damage his soul body suffered during those ten years of drifting, Ding Yan is confident that within a hundred years, he will definitely be able to recover to his original cultivation level.

  Of course, all of this is under the condition that there is no heavenly calamity in this world.

  Ten years of drifting, Ding Yan had more or less gained some understanding of this world. Compared to the world he originally existed in, the biggest difference was the heavenly tribulation!

  Endless heavenly calamity.

  Any cultivator who advances in rank will attract an attack from the Heavenly Tribulation.

  In order to avoid being struck dead by the heavenly tribulation, Ding Yan's top priority was to first understand the cultivation methods of this world, especially in terms of crossing the tribulation. After all, the previous owner of his physical body had a very low level of cultivation, and as for knowledge about crossing the tribulation, it was almost completely blank.

  Through layers of mist, Ding Yan quickly walked into the mountain gate.

  "This array is indeed set up with some ingenious ideas." Ding Yan turned his head to take a glance, and then walked towards the inner door.

  Lotus Valley, it was the sect where the previous master of this flesh lived before. Although it can't be considered a famous sect, it's still a mid-tier sect with its own mountain gate. Compared to those rootless cultivators, it's much stronger.

  "Eldest Brother Five has returned."

  Ding Yan's figure was soon discovered by the people inside the valley, and several boys wearing the uniform of Lotus Valley disciples rushed over.

  "Master Wu, you've returned from your training?" a disciple exclaimed upon seeing Ding Yan.

  As new disciples, they were not qualified to go out of the mountain. Only the top ten strongest of each generation had the opportunity to venture out and gain experience. The previous owner of Ding Yan's physical body was actually the fifth senior brother of Lianhua Valley, which means he was the fifth most powerful among the new generation of disciples in Lianhua Valley.

  To know the ranking of Lianhuagou is not like what Dingyan was in that world, in this world, the status of the gate and the strength are directly linked. Each generation of the big brother is the first strong man among the same level, and also the next door successor. After receiving the memory of the previous owner of the flesh, Dingyan already knew all these information.

  "So it's Seventeenth Younger Brother, how come these are all junior disciples?" Ding Yan casually asked.

  He didn't stop for a single step and walked towards the door.

  "Hmm, these are all the new junior brothers that Master Xue has taken in after Fifth Brother came down from the mountain." The young man who had been replaced by DIng Yan as Seventeenth Brother scolded the youth beside him, "Don't you greet Fifth Brother?"

  "We've seen Fifth Master." The disciples hastily bowed and said.

  Xue's teacher has returned?

  In Ding Yan's memory, there were three scattered immortals in Lianhua Valley! This Xue Shifu was one of them.

  The so-called Scattered Immortal is actually an existence that has passed through the mortal tribulation, transformed its mortal body, and cultivated with a scattered immortal body. In Lotus Valley, except for the valley master, only this Master Xue Shu and another perennially closed-door Taishang Elder remained. It is said that the Taishang Elder was already a Scattered Immortal over 400 years ago, and his cultivation was even more successful in passing through a heavy Scattered Immortal tribulation ten years ago, and can be said to be the pillar of Lotus Valley.

  At a glance, it was discovered that these disciples were indeed not the ones recognized in their memory. It seemed that they were truly the new disciples recruited by the sect after 'he' came down from the mountain.

  "Xue Shifu returned a month ago and has now gone to Nei Gu. Ah, Shixiong, with your return from this trial, I suppose the time for you to break through to the Transcendent Mortal Realm is not far off, right?..." After chasing away those junior disciples, the young man who had been replaced by Ding Yan as the 17th Shidi hastily caught up and asked.

  Transcending the mortal realm is a necessary path for the cultivation of scattered immortals, and it is also the most difficult step.

  It can be said that in the current cultivation world, passing the Tribulation of Mortal Realm means taking a step to heaven! Not only will one's strength increase, but their status will also undergo tremendous changes. In Lotus Flower Valley, any disciple who successfully passes the Tribulation of Mortal Realm will become an elder within the valley.

  It is said that Xue Shifu, fifty years ago, was also like them, just an ordinary disciple of Lianhuagu. It was only because he had passed through the mortal tribulation and achieved the body of a scattered immortal that he would become a figure of the same generation as the valley master.

  At the same time, after the power is upgraded, you can also obtain a jade card from the Taishang elder of the sect. Through that jade card, you can get an opportunity to return to the mortal world once. The nine years left before the master's death refers to the hope that Dingyan will successfully transform into a fairy before the next time the elder goes out, and thus obtain an opportunity to return to the mortal world from the elder.

  Return to the mundane world and take a look at their own relatives, it can be said that many young monks' dream.

  Every cultivator has their own loved ones, some with good qualifications may be able to succeed in transcending the mundane and obtain the qualification to return to the secular world to take care of their loved ones. However, most cultivators are unable to return even after their loved ones have passed away.

  It's not that those disciples have a very firm mind, but in this world, between the mortal world and the cultivator's world, there is a layer of natural prohibition. Cultivators who have not transformed into a scattered immortal body are fundamentally unable to break through that layer of prohibition.

  This seal has been in existence for a long time, and no one knows how it came to be. Some people have tried to break through this seal before, but they all ended up failing. The existence of this isolation seal also makes the world of cultivators even more ruthless and cold-blooded.

  In Ding Yan's memory, there was such a sentence in this world.

  Dispersed Immortals Road, Bitter Sea Cliff!

  Simple and simple six words perfectly interpreted the road of practice.

  "What's wrong?" Ding Yan furrowed his brow.

  The physical body's original master's cultivation is ranked fifth among the new generation of disciples in Lianhuagu, with a cultivation level of Qi Refining Ninth Layer Initial Stage.

  However, at the time of Ding Yan's capture, the spiritual energy in his body had basically dissipated, and he was also severely injured. Ding Yan still relied on his own soul power to forcibly gather some spiritual energy to repair those injuries. However, after recovering, he only recovered to around the third layer of Qi Refining, which is not even comparable to his 17th junior brother.

  "It's almost the same. Alright, I still have things to do, so I'll head back to my place first. If you need anything, you can come find me." After saying that, Ding Yan didn't wait for his seventeenth junior brother to respond, and with a flash of his feet, he leapt into the distance...

  Watching Ding Yan's disappearing back, Seventeenth Brother stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  "Is it similar? I think there's a big difference... Don't think that just because you're hiding your aura, I won't be able to sense it. Your current cultivation is probably not even comparable to the third layer of Qi Refining. Third Brother told me to pay attention to the movements of the other few Brothers. This good news can be reported to Third Brother first."

  The Seventeenth Younger Brother flipped his hand and a small bird made of machinery flew up, disappearing into the distant horizon.

  Ding Yan naturally didn't know about Shi Di's actions, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

  For Ding Yan, who had cultivated to the Tribulation Transcendence stage before, the Qi Refining Third Layer and the Qi Refining Ninth Layer were basically no different. If not for considering the Heavenly Tribulation, Ding Yan would have long found a secluded place, set up an Array of Gathering Spirits, and sat in meditation to impact the Foundation Establishment period.

  The foundation period, also known as the scattered immortals of this world!

  Back at his residence, Ding Yan directly took out his own jade slip and rushed straight to the Lianhua Valley's Scripture Pavilion without stopping.

  As a top ten disciple, Ding Yan had the power to borrow books from the Scripture Pavilion at any time. Of course, these books were basically not allowed to be taken out of the pavilion, and disciples who came to borrow could only use jade slips to copy them.

  After copying dozens of books about Duojie, Ding Yan didn't stop for a moment and left directly, returning to his residence, closing the door. He sat down with his legs crossed, took out a white jade slip from his sleeve, stuck it between his eyebrows, and started to activate this jade slip...

  The sun rises and the moon sets.

  Time is passing day by day.

  Before long, three months had passed.

  In these three months, Ding Yan read countless books about crossing tribulations, especially the dispersing immortal tribulation. Compared to Ding Yan's original world, there were more detailed records here. It was also understandable that this was a world where heavenly tribulations were the foundation of cultivation, and after accumulating for countless years, it naturally had advantages in crossing tribulations that other worlds could not match.

  At the same time as Ding Yan was studying these Tribulation books, news about Fifth Brother being seriously injured and his cultivation plummeting to the third layer of Qi Refining also spread from who-knows-who's mouth within Lotus Flower Valley.

  For a moment, many disciples were waiting to see Ding Yan's joke.

  The top ten disciples, all of whom were outstanding among their peers, were also high and above in their daily lives. Two years ago, the sect even gave each of them a chance to go out and gain experience. As for those who didn't get to go out, they naturally felt very unfair. Now that Ding Yanshi has fallen from his pedestal, many people are gloating over his misfortune, waiting to see him make a fool of himself. Some people even often run to the outside of Ding Yan's residence, boasting that they want to challenge this "name not matching reality" fifth senior brother.

  The world of cultivators is like this. When you're in a high position, those people respect and fear you. Once you fall from power, they absolutely won't mind stepping on you a few more times.

  "Is Fifth Brother in? Yun Feng has heard that Brother has returned and has come to pay his respects." A young man dressed in white stood outside Ding Yan's door, speaking loudly.

  The disciples of Lianhuagu all knew that the white-clothed young man named Yunfeng was the eleventh person among this generation's disciples. His cultivation had already reached the peak of the seventh layer of Qi Refining, and he only needed one more step to break through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

  Ding Yan, who was originally studying the world's kung fu, opened his eyes and frowned slightly at the sound.

  Put down the jade tablet in hand and get up to open the door.

  "Come in."

  Yunfeng saw this and his eyes lit up.

  Some time ago, he had specially sent someone to probe here and found that this Fifth Martial Brother was indeed seriously injured. The aura on his body was at most around the third layer of Qi Refining.

  At this thought, Yunfeng's heart was filled with a burning passion.

  As long as he replaces the person in front of him, he will immediately become one of the top ten disciples. At that time, the treatment given by the sect will be absolutely incomparable to what it is now.

  Yun Feng sat down in the house and soon discovered dozens of jade slips placed on the table by Ding Yan. He couldn't help but sneer, "He was indeed seriously injured, so anxious to flip through these classics, he must be looking for a way to quickly recover his strength."

  Thinking of this, Yunfeng's heart became even more certain about his conjecture.

  "I heard that Brother Shifu was ambushed by some petty villains during his trip and got hurt. I have a few healing pills here, so I brought them to you." After finishing speaking, Yunfeng took out a white jade bottle from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

  Ding Yan saw this and a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

  He wasn't the physical former master, Yunfeng's method, in the eyes of Ding Yan who had over a thousand years of cultivation experience, was really too immature.

  With a wave of her sleeve, she picked up the jade vase on the table.

  "Thanks a lot, Eleventh Brother."

  Yunfeng saw this and his eyes narrowed slightly.

  Originally, in his opinion, if Ding Yan was injured, he would absolutely not accept these medicinal pellets in person. Now that Ding Yan had accepted the pellets without any disguise, it made him somewhat apprehensive instead.

  "What's wrong, does Eleventh Brother still have something to say?" Ding Yan asked slowly.

  Yunfeng heard this, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, but soon relaxed and smiled, saying "I almost forgot the purpose of my visit. Fifth Brother, I came over this time not only to see how your injury is healing, but also to tell you that Ninth Sister just returned yesterday..."