Chapter 2: What is Immortal?

  The path of cultivating immortality is complex and diverse, with countless schools of thought. However, in essence, it can be divided into two paths: nourishing the vital energy and refining the body.

  Cultivating Qi is the practice of refining one's energy, absorbing the spiritual essence of Heaven and Earth to transform the body, reversing the natural order through cultivation. The stages of cultivation can be divided into Post-Heavenly, Pre-Heavenly, Entering Emptiness, and other such realms.

  Cultivators of Qi who reach a certain level can use their magical powers to drive talismans, tame beasts, control puppets, and manipulate magical artifacts and flying swords.

  Even the soul can escape, roaming in the nine heavens, and finally passing through multiple heavenly tribulations, it is possible to ascend to the immortal realm, truly transcending the three realms, not being bound by the five elements, becoming a true immortal.

  And the practice of refining the body and cultivating immortality is the legacy of ancient gods and demons. The ancient gods and demons were born from the womb of heaven and earth, and they were incredibly strong from birth. For example, Pangu, the great god who opened up the sky and earth, was an extreme example of physical strength... Therefore, the senior powerful beings in the immortal realm explored and developed the method of refining the body for ordinary people to cultivate immortality. By refining the body and cultivating immortality, one can achieve indestructibility, boundless strength, three heads and six arms, rebirth from a drop of blood, and ultimately become undying and imperishable...

  Cultivating Qi and Refining the Body both belong to the Xianmen (Immortal Gate) school, with no clear distinction between their merits or demerits. However, as they go against the natural order of things, the path of cultivation is extremely arduous.

  Ordinary people cultivate immortality, which is just the heavens giving ordinary people a thread of life and a good birth.

  Ordinary cultivators, becoming a pre-heavenly born spirit is already a one-in-ten-thousand chance. As for the later stages of entering emptiness, ten thousand years of life, transforming into a god, crossing the calamity, and becoming an earthly immortal, it's even more difficult by a million times. Some are even legendary existences.

  Zhu Yu spent three days studying Xian knowledge and had a thorough review. He had to say that he had broadened his horizons and gained new insights.

  He realized that he was facing a brand new world, one that was completely different from Earth. On Earth, although his body was incomplete, his intelligence was unparalleled, making him an undisputed strongman.

  But in this world of immortals, where the strong prey on the weak, can he still stand out and become a powerful figure with his robust body and sharp mind?

  He is a strong-minded person who has always pursued perfection, excellence and the best in everything he does.

  It is precisely because of such a heart that he has become a super academic tyrant.

  ……

  At dawn, the sun rises in the east, Zhu Yu holds a small wooden sword in his hand, facing the sunlight, narrowing his eyes to examine it carefully.

  This small sword is called "Peach Wood Symbol Sword". This thing, along with the black long gown he's wearing and a small jet-black bag, are all that remain of Zhu Yu's few immortal family heirlooms.

  "Taomu Fuxing" is a must-have artifact for every cultivator, commonly known as a necessary tool for fighting, robbery, and burglary.

  That black robe is called "Fa Pao", water and fire can't invade, swords and knives are hard to hurt, its function is to protect the body and keep life.

  There is also a black bag called "storage bag", a small bag the size of a square inch, with a space of three cubic meters inside. All the things that a cultivator usually needs can be packed in that small bag and carried around.

  In addition to these three items carried with him.

  Zhu Yu found a book called "Chang Sheng Jing" in his bedside cabinet, which was the secret to cultivating Qi. Practicing Chang Sheng Jing could improve one's cultivation and solidify the foundation of true cultivation step by step.

  Zhu Yu has been cultivating the "Longevity Scripture" for three years, and his current cultivation is at the Post-Heaven Second Realm. His cultivation is naturally very low, and he can only faintly feel a ball of hot air in his lower abdomen.

  He couldn't even tell whether that mass of heat was the spiritual energy he got from cultivating or just an excessive byproduct of hormonal secretion.

  There are roughly three levels of disciples in the South China Sea Immortal Academy.

  The lowest level is the current level of Zhu Yu, with a cultivation below the fourth stage of the Post-Heavenly Realm. All disciples at this level live in the 103rd dormitory building. Zhu Yu estimated that there were nearly ten thousand low-level disciples.

  The second level of cultivation is below the seventh heaven, and all disciples at this level live in the Red Dust Apartment, belonging to the backbone of the South Sea Immortal Academy, with a large number of people, over a thousand.

  The third-level disciples are top-notch existences, also known as elite disciples. They all live in the Hu Shan apartment complex on the back mountain. Those with high cultivation are said to have already reached the half-step Pre-Heavenly realm. There are 108 elite disciples in total, and each one of them is a cornerstone of the Nan Hai Xian Xue Yuan (South Sea Cultivation Academy).

  In the eyes of Zhu Yu, Building 103 was a **silk concentration camp. As a low-ranking disciple, he had to bear almost all the labor work of the college, with scarce resources for cultivation, and the attention given by the college was negligible.

  Most of the lower-level disciples' fate has nothing to do with the path of immortality, and their basic way out is to stay in the academy for a certain number of years, learn a skill, then go out to find a job related to cultivation, get married, have children, and spend the rest of their lives.

  From this perspective, there is not much difference between this world and the earthly world either.

  Dreams always exist and are beautiful, but forever belong to a minority. Most people are busy running around for a living, life is not easy...

  The Lingfeng Hall where Zhu Yu is located, mainly cultivates talismans. In the Xianxia world, talismans are the foundation of the immortal family, and market demand is very large, so there are many disciples in the Lingfeng Hall. To borrow a phrase from the mortal world on Earth, this profession is very popular.

  Zhu Yu also saw some new and interesting things in the past few days, such as seeing a disciple set out on a journey, taking out a paper crane from his storage bag with flashing symbols on it.

  Its thoughts are full of words, paper cranes welcome the wind and can be large enough to carry people flying.

  In the academy's main road, one can occasionally see disciples holding a jade stone base with a rotating turntable on top, flashing symbols and emitting sounds, this object is called an Audio Jade.

  There is also a magical jade symbol screen for monks to communicate with each other. Inside, there are real human phantoms, which are called Shenguai.

  These many talismans of the immortal families are all connected to the Ling Symbol, and even the Yu Gui and Xin Gui can be made in the Ling Symbol Hall of the Nanhai Immortal Academy.

  The "Spirit Symbol Compendium" studied by the disciples of Lingfeng Hall begins with the statement: "The Way of Spirit Symbols is profound and vast, once you grasp a little, you can travel all over the world!"

  ……

  Slowly closing his eyes, Zhu Yu's breathing suddenly became extremely strange. The "Dragon Breath" breathing technique recorded in the "Long Life Scripture" had already become a conditioned reflex.

  Close your eyes and breathe steadily.

  The cultivation method of "Changsheng Jing" began to slowly turn around.

  But Zhu Yu's attention was focused on the strange painting in the sea of recognition.

  This picture is the "Pangu Diagram" that Zhuyu was still carefully pondering in his last moments of his previous life.

  The Pangu Diagram is the treasure of the South Sea Museum, said to be left by the ancient great god Pangu. The structure of the diagram is very simple, consisting of two types of symbols: small circles and small triangular blocks.

  However, the simple symbols that make up the pattern are extremely complex and intricate. Zhu Yu first noticed this picture because every time he looked at it, he could temporarily forget his physical pain, as if he could enter a very mysterious world, and his body and consciousness had a strange sense of detachment.

  In his previous life, he suffered from illness and pain. Every time he was in the most painful and helpless situation, he would go to the museum to gaze at this painting.

  He never expected that after he came to this world, the picture of Pangu he had been thinking about all the time was already deeply imprinted in his mind.

  After years of contemplating the "Pangu Diagram", Zhu Yu has grasped some subtle principles.

  His consciousness would advance along a certain trajectory of the diagram, and then this diagram seemed to be able to slowly rotate, and the whole person would enter a very wonderful realm.

  Everything is easy and familiar.

  The body of the Vermilion Fish merged with the souls of two people, breathing in the method of "Dragon's Breath", and the gate of the "Eternal Life Scripture" inside his body has begun to revolve.

  His attention, however, was on the "Pangu Diagram", a circular painting that slowly rotated, and Zhu Yu could clearly feel the spiritual energy around his body gathering into a vortex and beginning to flow into his meridians.

  This feeling is mysterious and wonderful.

  The bream felt its body becoming lighter and lighter, its consciousness more free than ever before.

  He sat in the practice room, but his consciousness could easily leave his body. Not only could he clearly "see" the tables and chairs in the room, but also the flow of people passing by on the school's main road outside. If he wanted to, he could see them all clearly.

  His body seemed to have ceased to exist, and only his consciousness was wandering in the void. This feeling had never been recorded in any of the immortal classics that Zhu Yu had recently read.

  It's like something out of a legend, where one's soul leaves their body.

  But that kind of comfort and freedom didn't have the weakness, pain, and fragility of being on the verge of collapse, it just felt like every part of me was very relaxed and at ease...

  One practice session is one hour according to the timing of the Great World of Huaxia.

  But Carp was unconscious for a full two hours before he finally came to.

  Consciousness quickly returned, his body re-existed, his hands and feet were more agile and free, he opened his eyes and stood up.

  He felt as if his feet were floating, and his whole body was much lighter than before. He was overjoyed, walked to the window, pushed it open, gazed into the distance, and found that his vision had become clearer, his ears more sensitive, and his entire body had a feeling of being reborn.

  Is this cultivating immortality?

  The kind of comfort and ease that permeated her entire body made the carp feel a sense of fullness it had never experienced before.

  After spending over a decade in a wheelchair, he was already over the moon to have a healthy body now, and this cultivation wonder had brought him joys and happiness he had never experienced before.

  He was excitedly practicing alone in the training room for a long time before he suddenly realized that his whole body had been drenched in sweat.

  His whole body emitted a foul and putrid smell.

  At this point, Zhu Yu was clear that after tomorrow's cultivation, the marrow would be washed and the bones would be cut, and all kinds of impurities in the human body needed to be expelled from the body.

  The Red Fish's Light Flicking Method, a simple "Cloud and Rain Technique" washed away all the dirt on his body. His Taoist robe was impervious to water and fire, and nothing could stick to it. Originally, there was no dust or dirt, his body was clean, and his whole body felt refreshed. The Red Fish's spirit also revived.

  He looked inward and examined his own cultivation, suddenly discovering that the spiritual energy in his dantian had surged a great deal, vaguely seeming to touch the barrier of the second layer of acquired realm, only needing one more step forward to smoothly enter the third layer of acquired realm.