Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 22: Seeking Immortality Lineage and Solving the Mystery

Li Yan’s expression changed as he listened to the old man’s words, realizing that the teacher could know everything he did and said in his room, making the door useless.

The old man didn’t give Li Yan time to process this information.

“When one’s divine sense reaches a certain level, it can be used to kill people directly. A powerful cultivator only needs to send their divine sense to kill someone without being detected.”

“When one’s cultivation reaches a certain level, their divine sense can also condense into a more powerful divine thought. These are things you’ll have to explore and understand on your own later.”

“After I left the sect, I waited for a hundred years, but no one returned. At that time, I was already at the initial stage of the Union of Souls. Although I had gone out to search for inheritors during the Divine Transformation Stage and Void Refining period, I didn’t find anyone.”

“So, I went out again to search for our sect’s inheritors, and it took me five or six hundred years, but I still didn’t find anyone. Finally, I broke through the void and arrived at the mortal realm.”

“In the mortal realm, I searched for over two hundred years, but still, I didn’t find anyone. However, I received a message that there was a hidden place in the mortal realm where people with Spirit Roots were more likely to appear.”

“But that place was extremely remote, and even ancient Immortal Spirit Realm experts couldn’t establish a sect there. There were no records of why, but it was said that the spiritual energy there was the best in the realm, and there were many Spirit Root holders. However, to get there, one had to pass through the treacherous Red Lightning Tribulation and other dangerous areas.”

“The danger level was unprecedented, even for Immortal Spirit Realm experts. It was said that one needed to have at least Tribulation-level cultivation to pass through. After careful consideration, I decided to go and take a look.”

“I couldn’t let our sect’s lineage end with me, so before I left, I left a strand of divine thought in a jade box. This jade box can preserve divine thought for millions of years and can detect Spirit Roots within a radius of thousands of miles.”

The old man looked at Li Yan and continued, “Now, I’m just that strand of divine thought. My main body has already gone to that unknown place.”

Li Yan was numb at this time. He had come into contact with too many magical or weird things today. The old man’s words didn’t surprise him, so he just listened quietly.

“Perhaps my cultivation was already very high, and I overlooked a small but crucial detail. The jade box also required constant consumption of divine thought to operate, and my divine thought wasn’t specially refined, so it couldn’t cultivate on its own.”

“At first, my divine thought drove the jade box to fly across the continent, searching for inheritors, and it took over a thousand years, but I still didn’t find anyone. However, I realized that if I continued to use the jade box like this, my divine thought would be exhausted in another five or six hundred thousand years.”

“But my main body was already far away, so I had to use another method. I transformed the jade box into an ancient jade book, and I’m still inside it.”

“After that, I let the book be found by a cultivator, but of course, the cultivators in this realm were absolutely unable to decipher the secrets within.”

“Since they obtained the jade book but couldn’t uncover its secrets, they would naturally treasure it as a precious item. The best way to do so was to carry it with them at all times.”

“On one hand, they could conveniently study it whenever they wanted, and on the other hand, the treasure would only be safe if they kept it with them.”

“In this way, they would carry me as they moved, and I would follow them, searching different areas without having to waste divine thought to operate the jade box.”

“So, the transformed jade book was passed from one cultivator to another. Some were killed, and the book was obtained by the next cultivator, while others carried it with them for hundreds of years before dying and being discovered by another treasure hunter.”

“They carried the transformed jade book, traversing the mortal realm, region by region. Time passed, and another 100,000 years went by. I found many people with Spirit Roots, but still, I didn’t find the right person.”

“At this time, I discovered that my divine thought had weakened by about 60-70%. I also sensed that my main body hadn’t found a suitable inheritor and hadn’t fallen.”

“I was connected to my main body, and if it fell, I would know. If it found a suitable inheritor, I would also know. It seemed that my main body was trapped somewhere, unable to escape.”

“Therefore, I had to continue searching for an inheritor, but according to my previous method, this divine thought would only last for about 30-40,000 years. I had to think of another way.”

“This was to let my main divine thought enter a dormant state, reducing consumption, and split off a weaker divine sense to replace the divine thought for scouting.”

“However, this weaker divine sense could only scan an area of about 100 miles and had no attack capabilities, but it was the best solution.”

“If this divine sense detected the person I was searching for, it would awaken my main divine thought, which would then assess the person’s character and transmit the inheritance memories.”

“However, this divine sense could only last for about a thousand years before dissipating. Before it dissipated, it would awaken my main divine thought and transmit all it had seen and heard, and then it would disappear into the void.”

“At that time, my main divine thought would split off another divine sense, and then I would continue to sleep. This method would slowly weaken my main divine thought, but it would prolong the search time.”

“About 50 years ago, the jade book was obtained by a Golden Core stage cultivator.”

“Once, while he was traveling, he encountered a powerful enemy and barely escaped with his life, but he was severely injured, and his Golden Core was on the verge of collapse.”

“He barely made it back to his cave, but before he could recover, he died.”

“It wasn’t until 14 or 15 years later that a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator stumbled upon the cave. Originally, with his limited cultivation, he shouldn’t have been able to discover the cave.”

“However, the Golden Core stage cultivator had failed to activate the array’s defense before dying, allowing the young cultivator to enter and obtain many benefits.”

“Of course, there was still the jade book. The young cultivator couldn’t help but feel excited and began to search every corner of the cave.”

“However, he was soon overwhelmed by his own excitement and accidentally triggered the cave’s defense array. The young cultivator was quick-witted and immediately fled, but even so, he was still attacked by the array during his escape.”

“When he finally emerged, he was on the verge of collapse, and his clothes and storage bag were torn apart.”

“This storage bag, you can think of it as a magical storage container that can store items of various sizes using magical techniques. You can investigate this further later.”

“The storage bag was torn apart, and aside from the transformed jade book, a jade slip and a paper book protected by magical seals were left behind.”

“The magical seals on the paper book were also dispelled during the explosion, and soon after, the young cultivator’s soul returned to the underworld.”

“And so, I continued to sleep, waiting for the next person with a connection to obtain this jade book.”

“Years later, a black-robed ordinary person came and obtained the jade book, jade slip, and the paper book without magical protection from the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator’s remains.”

The old man’s face was already somewhat blurry, with a faint, strange smile.

Li Yan thought for a moment before speaking to the old man.

“Is this person my teacher?”

The old man’s blurry figure nodded.

“That’s correct, this person is your current ‘teacher’ – Military Advisor Ji!”

When he said “teacher,” he intentionally emphasized the word and added a hint of playfulness.

Li Yan sensed the old man’s sarcastic tone and realized that there was something fishy about his “teacher.” He could only vaguely sense that it was related to himself, but he didn’t know what the specific issue was.

“Your ‘teacher’ is not from the ‘Wood Shadow Gate’ sect, which is just a random name he came up with. In reality, he is from the ‘Seeking Immortals’ lineage.”

Li Yan couldn’t help but interrupt.

“What is the ‘Seeking Immortals’ lineage? Is it about searching for immortals?”

“It’s almost as you guessed, cultivators are very secretive, but for the sake of inheritance or other reasons, they must interact with mortals, just like you today.”

“So, they yearn to enter an immortal sect and obtain the path to longevity.”

“At first, there were only a few scattered individuals who ventured into the deep mountains to search for a spiritual affinity, hoping to find an immortal and receive their guidance.”

“However, the deep mountains are filled with demonic beasts and ghosts, and often these people would become the prey of demonic beasts or the souls under the ghosts’ control before they could even find their spiritual affinity.”

“This outcome was not what these aspiring cultivators wanted, so they slowly began to gather together to search for a spiritual affinity, which allowed them to support each other when encountering demonic beasts and ghosts.”

“Although the results were better than before, there were still many casualties.”

“Later on, some worldly martial artists joined them, some of whom were hired, while others were seeking greater power and deliberately joined the group.”

“Later, some of them who possessed a Spirit Root actually found an immortal sect and were accepted as disciples, and learned immortal techniques.”

“At the same time, some people found the immortal techniques or secret chambers of deceased cultivators, and if they happened to possess a Spirit Root, they could also embark on the path of cultivation.”

“This further boosted their confidence, and they no longer bothered with worldly affairs, focusing solely on cultivating their martial arts to reach deeper into the unknown.”

“They did not participate in worldly affairs, nor did they travel the martial arts world, and their sole focus was on pursuing a spiritual affinity, so ordinary people rarely knew of their existence. They were called the ‘Seeking Immortality Lineage’ by cultivators, and Military Advisor Ji was a descendant of this lineage.”

Li Yan listened to all this and thought to himself.

‘I wonder why my teacher lied to me, saying he was from the ‘Wood Shadow Gate’?’

This was something he still couldn’t understand.

“After Military Advisor Ji obtained the jade book, jade slips, and that book, he was very fond of them. The paper book and jade slips were a set of immortal techniques called the ‘Dark Night Azure Curtain Arts’.”

“The paper book only recorded the method of sensing the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy and the incantations for the Qi Condensation period’s first three stages, while the jade slips recorded the incantations for the Qi Condensation period’s fourth to tenth stages, which were meant for the use of a certain immortal sect’s Qi Condensation period disciples.”

“The reason for this design was that newly cultivating individuals had weak spiritual awareness and couldn’t leave their bodies, and they needed to cultivate to the third stage to unlock the jade slips.”

“Therefore, the first three stages usually used paper books for recording, and the sect’s immortal techniques were added to protect them, making it impossible for ordinary mortals and low-ranking cultivators to open them even if they obtained them.”