Starting Cultivation During a Trip

”Nokia...”

As soon as the words were spoken, a ”beep beep beep” sound came from the phone.

”It hung up?”

Zhang Fan looked at the phone and hurriedly dialed again, but it couldn’t be connected anymore.

”Ailao Mountain...”

Zhang Fan frowned, raised his hand, and was already standing at the door of his house.

He opened the door and headed straight to Zhang Lingzong’s room.

”Where’s the wardrobe in our house?”

Zhang Lingzong’s room was a mess, the wardrobe that was placed in the corner had long turned into a pile of wood shavings, mixed with clothes scattered everywhere.

That wardrobe was made when his parents got married, and when they moved to Hongfu Garden, it was the only piece of furniture from the old house they brought along.

”The window was smashed too...”

Zhang Fan looked at the broken glass as the cold wind blew in fiercely.

”Last night...”

Zhang Fan was deep in thought, recalling the moment when the Red Light Jade Talisman shattered the Black Wind Plant the previous night.

”Could it have flown out from the wardrobe?”

Zhang Fan murmured to himself, but his guess was probably close to the truth.

After tidying up a bit, Zhang Fan found some tape to temporarily patch up the broken window, planning to have someone replace the glass tomorrow.

Only then did he draw the curtains, crouching down to crawl under the bed.

Before long, he found a box.

”A cookie tin!?”

Zhang Fan looked at the tin in his hands, which had pictures of cookies on it, and inside was indeed an old Nokia phone, with a charger and a spare battery beside it.

Back then, phones had spare batteries.

”It’s out of power?”

Zhang Fan tried to turn on the phone, but it showed the battery level was 0.

”Please don’t be broken.”

This was a backup plan left by Zhang Lingzong for him. If it was broken, it would really be a disaster.

Fortunately, once he plugged in the charger, the phone began to show a charging status.

But the battery was likely heavily depleted as well. After five minutes of waiting, the battery level was still 0, and the phone couldn’t be turned on.

He decided to let it charge slowly for now.

Zhang Fan picked up his backpack, returned to his room, and took out the Centennial Ginseng King and the Fire Character Sticker.

These two treasures had cost him 340,000, which was quite a fortune.

In Yujing City, 340,000 could even be a down payment for a house.

”The Centennial Ginseng King will be used up quickly, but the Fire Character Sticker can be comprehended for a long time,”

The Centennial Ginseng King was a consumable item, aiding in medicine-refining circulation, strengthening True Yang, and tempering True Flame, but would be used up quickly.

Comprehending the Fire Character Sticker could improve Zhang Fan’s technique in using True Flames. The former boosts power, while the latter boosts skill.

By complementing each other, they could further advance the Fire Dragon Pill Sword from a Minor Achievement Skill to a Great Success Technique.

”If I can’t grasp the mystical fire, how could I cultivate the Golden Core Dao...”

Zhang Fan muttered softly, sitting cross-legged, entering meditation, and focusing his Primordial Spirit while comprehending the mystical fire character sticker.

With a single breath, tranquility enveloped him, his Heart Monkey returned to the East Sea, and his Yima was hidden in the West Mountain; the curling ”fire” character seemed to come alive in Zhang Fan’s eyes.

Every stroke, every line tip, flickered like flames.

The subtle mystique lay within, the dark merged to form ground fire, the azure sky burned as heaven fire, the body’s nine transformations became True Flame, blending the three talents into myriad phenomena, revealing the fire technique and seeing the Profound Sect.

Rumble...

At this moment, the fire character transformed into a cluster of flames, reflected in Zhang Fan’s eyes, merging into his Primordial Spirit.

Zhang Fan’s breathing surged, exhaling a breath that turned into a wisp of Pill Fire, akin to a flickering flame, shimmering with a bright luster, hovering before him, holding a terrifying power within.

Buzz...

Simultaneously, Zhang Fan activated the North and South Sect Origin technique, absorbing the Centennial Ginseng King.

The Primordial Spirit observed as streams of Spiritual Qi flowed like trickles from the Centennial Ginseng King into Zhang Fan, strengthening his True Yang.

This was the process of medicine-refining and absorbing.

All things possess spirits; once their Spiritual Qi is absorbed, the original object becomes lifeless.

The Centennial Ginseng King showed no change on the surface, but its medicinal properties were completely lost and would quickly rot.

Just like the offerings for ancestors during the Qingming Festival, ghosts and gods consume the aroma and essence, and the essence is the Spiritual Qi.

Thus, offerings by the grave, when eaten by the living, have no flavor and decay especially fast.

At this time, Zhang Fan used the North and South Sect Origin to absorb the Centennial Ginseng King, medicine-refining in circulation, his True Yang within swelled like a bellows, rapidly increasing...

Immediately, the wisp of flame before Zhang Fan suddenly shook, beginning to grow like a sapling.

At this moment, Zhang Fan’s long-cultivated Pill Fire finally began to transform.

Da-da-da... da-da-da... da...

At that moment, the sound of a phone turning on came from Zhang Lingzong’s room.

By the power outlet, the old phone with a keypad slowly booted up, its screen lighting up, and automatically switched to the phonebook...

Inside was only one number stored, and the contact name was simply one character:

Li!!!

...

Snow had begun to fall in the northern lands.

A small county town.

In the outskirts nearby, an old Daoist temple was hidden in the boundless darkness, bathed in the falling snow.

The area around the temple had long been cordoned off, seemingly awaiting tourist development as a scenic spot.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a blaze flared deep within the temple, sending the swirling snowflakes into disarray, spiraling chaotically in the air.

Under the pale moonlight, a figure was seen sitting cross-legged in the empty courtyard, his heartbeat growing stronger like a drum, echoing in the desolate temple.

”Zhang Fan...”

The person muttered the name, slowly opening his eyes, which were as deep as the dark night, showing no trace of emotion.

”The Pill is the treasure of the form, crafted into myriad changes, reaching the true essence of nature, unlocking the wondrous workings of non-birth...”

At that moment, a gentle sound echoed like a chant, coming from the eerily dark night.

The sitting figure looked up to see a shadow stretched long by the moonlight, approaching from afar.

”To not wait for another life, but to gain the Divine Techniques of the Immortal Gods now...”

The serene voice grew closer, and in the night sky with the bright moon, a figure walked into the courtyard, appearing before the sitting person.

”The ancient Alchemy Dao is profound, Li Changgeng, you have indeed grasped the Samadhi within it...”

The visitor spoke softly, standing ten steps away, his deep gaze falling on Li Changgeng like a ray of moonlight.

”Impressive skill to find your way here.” Li Changgeng didn’t move, spoke quietly, his deep eyes showing a different light.

”Heaven and Earth Stealing Fortune is an extraordinary Alchemy Technique. I followed you for two days and was left behind. If you hadn’t secluded here and leaked a trace of your aura, it would have been hard to find.” The visitor spoke softly.

”Who are you? Why are you looking for me?” Li Changgeng said calmly.

”I came to find you because I want to play a game with you.”

”Play a game? What game?” Li Changgeng’s eyes narrowed, asking calmly.

”Hunting!”

”With winter approaching, in such a world, what kind of hunt is there?” Li Changgeng asked indifferently.

”Having cultivated the Alchemy Dao into the Profound Sect, you’re already extraordinary, no longer an ordinary person. Since you’re not a mortal, the prey you’re after can’t be ordinary predators like tigers or wolves...”

The visitor spoke softly, his voice like a spring breeze. As his gaze swept around, not a single snowflake fell within a hundred steps of him.

”Then what is it?” Li Changgeng asked.

”An evil seed birthing a strange fetus, his name is Zhao Jie Xuan!”

His words echoed in the tranquil temple, and the special name made Li Changgeng’s eyes shine with a different light.

He looked at the shadow before him, asking solemnly, ”Who are you really?”

”My surname is Zhang, and I come from the north.” The visitor spoke softly, stepping out from the shadows.