Chapter 1: The Seven-Colored Dragon Boat, Azure Pearl...

  On the shores of the East Sea, Yu Tianyi stood atop a massive boulder.

  The dark night had no moon, but a crescent-shaped jade plate hung in the air above Yu Tianyi's head, quietly emitting soft and gentle light that illuminated dozens of miles of sea around.

  The sea breeze gently sways, rolling up clusters of white waves.

  This was sixty years ago when Tianyi originally practiced the "Empty Birth and Destruction of the Sea Luminous Refining Technique" and left Luo Fu for the first time to see the ocean.

  Sixty years are like a white horse passing through a crevice, and in the twinkling of an eye they are gone.

  The world spread rumors, but not all of them were true. At that time, the most outstanding and beautiful disciple of Ci Hang Jing Zhai for decades, Cang Yue Xian Zi, was standing beside him. Cang Yue Xian Zi stretched out her hand to him, but he put this bead into her palm instead.

  At that time, Yuantianyi wholeheartedly pursued the Tao, cutting off his emotional ties with Cangyueshenzi. However, upon entering the Tianren Secret Realm, Yuantianyi unexpectedly found himself entangled in a thousand knots. Over sixty years of cultivation, he gradually untied those knots one by one, but this particular knot remained insoluble until now. This very same knot is now before him, and it can finally be untied. With this bond removed, perhaps he can truly take the final step to transcend the mundane world. Yet, as things stand, upon reencountering this bead, it has fallen into the hands of a young beggar boy. The soft jade's fragrance still lingers between his lips and nose, but that person is already gone. Yuantianyi's eyes hold an unknown mix of joy and sorrow.

  He stood quietly for a moment, then slowly turned to face the young man beside him, "Just now in Shu, you heard that person say it, I can grant you one request, what do you want, as long as I can do it, I will definitely help you complete it."

  The sea wind was cold and damp, the young man's clothes were tattered, his face had already turned pale from the cold, but he was brought by Yuantianyi's magic from Shu to this thousand miles away East Sea. In the time Yuantianyi stood still and silent, the young man didn't make a sound, until Yuantianyi looked at him with a serious gaze and asked him, did he then reply: "Can you take me as your disciple?"

  "Take you as a disciple?" Yu Tianyi looked at the young man, "Wealth and fame, even if you want to be rich and powerful, I can help you achieve it. You really don't want anything else? Want to be my disciple?"

  "Yes." The young man nodded.

  Yu Tianyi didn't utter a word, but the young man suddenly saw a flash of silver in his eyes. In an instant, he felt a fiery energy exploding on top of his head, and before he knew it, he was no longer standing on the giant rock by the sea. Instead, he found himself suspended in mid-air, plummeting into a volcanic crater filled with scorching hot lava. As soon as he fell into the molten rock, the young man's flesh burned to a crisp, his skin bursting open from the pain that seemed to make his scalp explode. He tried to let out a blood-curdling scream but couldn't, as his mouth and nose were also filled with scorching hot lava, burning his internal organs. Yet, he didn't die. As soon as his skin was burned to a crisp, new tender skin grew back, only to be burned again in an endless cycle of agony.

  "You think you can surpass me, envy my divine powers, and that's why you want to be my disciple? But do you know, cultivating the Tao is like reaching into a fire to pick out chestnuts. Cultivating the Luo Fu secret method, both body and spirit must endure endless suffering and torture." The voice of Yu Tianyi suddenly fell from the sky. By the time the sound disappeared, the young man only realized that he was still standing on top of the giant rock by the sea, but the pain of his charred and festering flesh seemed to still linger in his body, and for a moment, large drops of sweat instantly soaked his entire body.

  "What you're experiencing today is only a small fraction of the suffering and terror that one must endure in true cultivation. My Luofo transmission is unlike others, it's a path of nine deaths and one life. Are you certain you want to follow me and not seek another way?" Tianyi saw the youth's unusual pain and his labored breathing, and with a slight frown, he flung out his sleeve.

  Yu Tianyi thought that with just one sentence, the young beggar would definitely change his mind. However, contrary to his expectations, the boy who was hunched over in pain due to the wind looked even more frail and weak, but on his face there was an unprecedented determination, he nodded vigorously after biting his lip, and the boy replied in a hoarse voice that sounded like it had been scorched: "I'm not afraid."

  Yu Tianyi's eyes were cold and indifferent as he looked at the young man, "I can agree to accept you as a disciple, but according to the Luo Fu Men rules, anyone who wants to enter my Luo Fu must go through an entrance examination. This is something I also cannot bend the rules for. If you don't pass, then you won't be able to make any other requests either. Have you thought it through?"

  The hunched boy nodded vigorously again.

  Yu Tianyi's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and at first glance, he seemed like an ordinary mountain boy. But the more he looked, the more he felt that this thin and frail boy was different from the others. A pair of clean eyes shone with a fierce light, unlike the fear and numbness of ordinary beggars.

  Is this really the unresolved karma of the world?

  Yu Tianyi looked at the Yuexi Pearl in her hand, which was shining with a faint blue light. When she raised her head again, the brilliance of the crescent-shaped jade plate that had been suspended above her and Yu Tianyi's heads silently disappeared.

  A white light with a faint blue hue rose from the eastern sea coast and headed south, its speed at least ten times faster than those few sword lights on Mount Shu.

  "Divine protection!" In the distance, on the surface of the sea, several fishermen who had risen early to fish in the dark looked at the white and pale blue light, all kneeling down in reverence and awe.

  Yuanyu led the young man to a valley between two high mountains.

  Is this where the entrance test is held? Yu Tianyi didn't say, and the young man didn't dare to ask. In front of him was a strange and beautiful scene - a deep blue mirror-like high mountain lake, with surrounding mountains and forests reflected in it, and unknown shrubs and flowers growing along the shore, many of which were still bearing colorful berries. However, at this time in April, when spring was warm and flowers were blooming, there were actually pieces of white floating ice on the surface of the lake. When the young man looked more closely, he saw that beneath the deep blue water, there were transparent thin sheets of floating ice emerging non-stop.

  The barefooted Yuanyi walked to the lake shore, and the pearl dropped from his hand into the water.

  This bead that would make the vast majority of cultivators lose their minds and go crazy, was thrown into this deep blue lake with thin ice sheets floating on its surface by Yuantianyi.

  A pearl fell into the water, but it didn't sink. It floated on the surface, and suddenly cracked open like a cocoon. The young man was shocked to see a sapling growing rapidly out of it, floating on the water's surface with transparent branches and leaves that shone like ice chips. "What is this?" he couldn't help asking, unable to suppress his curiosity.

  As soon as the words came out, the young man was already nervous in his heart. Like He Tu and Lie Yang Zhenren, they were like ants in front of Yuan Tianyi, and Yuan Tianyi was a real god in his eyes. Without getting consent and actively asking questions, he naturally understood it as an offense.

  However, Yu Tianyi lightly said, "This is Jingtao, it blooms once a century and bears fruit once a thousand years. After bearing fruit, it will wither and die. This pearl is the seed that it produces."

  "Isn't it always just this one? Isn't it very lonely?" the young man said.

  "Lonely?" Yu Tianyi was taken aback. He then saw that the small, yet vibrant crystal floating on the lake's surface seemed to say faintly in his heart, "Ignorant young man, what do you understand? In this world, isn't everything just loneliness?"

  This is a mountain range with a mild climate, abundant water and dense forests, quietly dormant in the vast desolate wilderness.

  At the speed of Yu Tianyi's flight, when he set out from Donghai, it was still deep in the night, but by the time he arrived at this valley, the sun had already risen. After leaving the valley, the young man saw thick fog rising between the warm and humid mountains everywhere, and suddenly saw several colorful poisonous snakes coiled around the branches of trees. Although they were several meters away from Yu Tianyi, those poisonous snakes and insects had already quietly avoided him. However, the scene of these poisonous snakes and insects all over the place, in a desolate and uninhabited land, also made the young man ask: "What is this place?"

  Yu Tianyi stood at the foot of a straight mountain peak, looking at the desolate mountains shrouded in mist with his hands behind his back, and said slowly, "This is where Luo Fu is."

  The young man didn't know if the cave of Luo Fu Sect was surrounded by a fairy aura like in legends, with jade liquid and crystal dew everywhere. At least what he saw before him - the rugged mountains and evil waters - were far from those legendary fairy caves. The morning sunlight cast a layer of golden light on his face and Yuan Tianyi's. Behind them, the straight mountain peak was heart-stoppingly steep, covered in trees and vines, with thick white mist shrouding the upper half of the mountain, making it impossible to see its true height. There were no paths or stairs leading up the mountain peak, only an old black iron chain hanging down from above.

  "Three miles south from here, there is a small cottage where the local Miao people live. The Miao people are simple and honest, and inside the cottage, they have prepared food and clean water. If travelers stay overnight, when they leave, they only need to replenish the food and refill the water. You haven't slept all night, and your body is weak, you can go there to rest first." Yu Tianyi had always been as calm and cold as the floating ice in the lake, but suddenly spoke so many words that the young man was stunned for a moment. However, he then heard Yu Tianyi nod towards the straight mountain peak behind him, "This peak has no name, but my Luo Fu Sect is located at the top of this mountain peak. If you can reach the summit, I will consider you as a disciple of Luo Fu Sect. If not, then leave the mountain by yourself."

  Yu Tianyi's words were cold and absolute, leaving no room for turning back. The young man looked at the steep and precipitous slope with iron chains hanging down from the clouds and mist, but he didn't say anything more either. After bowing to Yu Tianyi, he picked a branch, parted the bushes, and walked towards the direction of the small wooden house where Miao Yi had fallen, soon disappearing into the dense rainforest.

  "The master", the young man's figure had just disappeared into the forest, an old and frail figure appeared behind Yuan Tianyi, with gray and white hair scattered and disheveled, wrinkles on his face like mountains and hills, but what was most striking were two extremely deep scars on his left cheek. The old man wore local Miao clothes, with a wax-dyed blue cloth having a smoky color, such an old man would normally be quietly sitting in the Miao village's stilt house, dully smoking water pipes, but now this respectful and dignified old man standing beside Yuan Tianyi

  His eyes, however, were the same color as the rising sun under his eyes, shining with a brightness that was inconsistent with his age. Looking in the direction where the young man disappeared, the old man said softly: "Master, this young man is strong and tolerant, has good qualifications, and looks like he's a talented person."

  "Is that so? Old Zhao Nan, you've been out of the world for a long time and don't know that the world is now in chaos again, with corpses scattered all over. This young man's eyes are filled with resentment and anger towards his fate, and he has somehow mustered up the courage to support himself." Yu Tianyi looked at the old man coldly, "As for temperament and talent, you should also know the truth of 'time reveals a person's heart', shouldn't you?"

  Several wooden houses are situated on the top of the mountain. These wooden houses were all built with original wood from the mountain, looking very simple and crude. The mountain is extremely high, reaching a height of thousands of feet, piercing through thick clouds and fog. From the mountaintop, one can only see a sea of clouds with peaks of other mountains stretching out in the distance.

  Lao Zhao Nan turned his back to the whistling mountain wind and lit the reeds in a black iron pot, then filled the ashes into a yellow bamboo tube. As he did this, his face, etched with the scythe of time, was full of focused expression, as if polishing a delicate porcelain.

  "Yin and yang are born, to see the changes in the weather, why bother with such trouble?" Looking at Lao Zhao Nan's serious gaze at the flying ash in the yellow bell tube, a scroll of "Jin Ding Qi Yuan Nei Jing Jing", a golden brocade silk that would make many cultivators envious and excited, was casually thrown on the wooden table beside him.

  Lao Zhao Nan lifted his head and looked at San Fu, who seemed to be wearing the original heavenly clothes of the immortals, not a mortal from the dusty world. He smiled and said, "This can pass some time. Master, there should be a big storm in three days, right?"

  Yu Tianyi didn't respond, gazing at an axe and some split firewood scattered elsewhere, thoughtfully asking: "Old Zhao Nan, how long has it been since we last made smoke?"

  Lao Zhao Nan scratched his hair, "Three years? Or five years? The time is too long, it's a bit unclear."

  "Yes, it's been too long, you've had to resort to doing these things to pass the time." Yu Tianyi looked at Lao Zhao Nan and said: "I have devoted myself to the Tao, in order to comprehend the mysteries of all living things. In sixty years, do you know what I have seen?"

  "Master had already attained great success with the Empty Destruction of the Sea of Glass sixty years ago. I, an old and dull slave, how could I see what Master sees?" Old Zhao Nan shook his head.

  "The weak are preyed upon by the strong, this is the law of nature, and the way of heaven. You have no intention of harming others, but others have intentions to harm you. You do not kill others, but others want to kill you."

  "What the master says is true. I'm already old enough." Lao Zhaonan's eyes were filled with a carefree and resigned expression, "When the master is here, I am here; when the master is gone, what difference does life and death make?"

  "Do you think he can really climb up?" Yuantianyi turned her head, no longer speaking, and with a flick of her slender fingers, a mysterious technique was instantly activated. A wisp of white cloud dispersed, transforming into an eight-foot-long spectral mirror that clearly reflected the scenery from the foot to the waist of the mountain. This powerful spell, which could deflect most magical attacks and was said to be usable only by a celestial-level cultivator, was being used by him as if it were just a tool for peeking. Most cultivators would think he was like a nouveau riche who didn't know the value of things, but this technique that required an enormous amount of magic power seemed to have no effect on him at all.

  Lao Zhao Nan rubbed his rough hands, he saw the frail boy struggling to climb up along the iron chain, the chain and the surrounding branches scratched out a row of wounds on his palms and body, but he still struggled to climb up. However, for a twelve or thirteen-year-old child, this mountain peak was too steep and too high. When he climbed less than a quarter of the way, he finally exhausted himself and slowly slid down.

  "It seems like he can't climb up." Lao Zhao Nan had never doubted Yu Tianyi's words, but after saying this sentence with respect, the old man with a full mouth of Miao and Yi dialect smiled: "However, master, as soon as I saw him, I felt that he was somewhat different."

  No matter how different Lao Zhao Nan felt the young man was from others, there is no record in any of Luo Fu Zong's classics of anyone achieving enlightenment overnight due to someone's appreciation. The next day, Lao Zhao Nan did the same thing as before, sitting still like a dead person for half a day, then began to move out an old stone mill that had not been used for a long time, and slowly grinding millet like an old man in his twilight years, quietly watching the mountain wind blow away the golden husks from the stone mill.

  Three days later, at noon, the first thing Lao Zhao Nan did after waking up from his meditation was to crack a smile. Standing in front of him on the platform was Yuan Tian Yi, who seemed to be one with heaven and earth. The prismatic mirror that required immense magical power to operate was quietly floating in mid-air in front of Yuan Tian Yi.

  "This kid isn't stupid after all." A glint of light flashed in Old Zhao Nan's golden-yellow eyes. Just like three days ago, the youth was still struggling to climb up, with even more scars on his body; however, he had strips of cloth wrapped around his hands and waist, which would be tied to the iron chains when he was exhausted, allowing him to hang from them and rest for a bit, just like Old Zhao Nan used to dry meat. In the past, the youth had never exceeded one-quarter of the height, but today he had already reached almost halfway up the mountain.

  "It took you so many days to come up with this idea, and it's not even stupid?" Yu Tianyi said disapprovingly, "Moreover, can you even climb up like this?"

  Lao Zhao Nan didn't say a word, he just narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look at the four-cornered bronze wind chimes hanging on the wooden house. Now these wind chimes rang out with a pleasant sound, a sudden rainstorm that often occurs in the Luofu Mountains officially opened its curtain.