Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 25: Awakening

Li Yan had finally become clear-headed about the events that had transpired on his body, which was the ultimate result of the old man’s unwavering efforts.

Li Yan recalled the old man’s words when he regained consciousness, forbidding him from opening his eyes. Now, he understood the intention behind those words.

At that time, if he had opened his eyes after regaining consciousness, he would have immediately sat cross-legged and continued to cultivate the medicinal power. The suppressed fire toxin in his body would have erupted again.

How could he be lucky enough to meet someone like the gray-shirted old man with immortal magic? What awaited him today was a second confused death.

Thinking about this, Li Yan’s heart was still filled with lingering fear.

The old man’s figure had begun to fade away, his voice becoming increasingly indistinct.

“Well, now that I’ve told you all this, you should know why I saved you, right?” the old man asked.

Li Yan looked up at the old man’s fading figure and nodded lightly.

“I understand, I’m the one you’ve been searching for, the ‘Water Immortal Sect’ with the Spirit Root.”

Li Yan had already guessed this from the old man’s story about the Five Immortal Sects searching for people with special physiques and Spirit Roots. It wasn’t difficult for him to figure it out.

“Yes, you’re the one I’ve been searching for in the vast expanse of time,” the old man said. “My divine sense is about to dissipate, and I’ve already placed our sect’s cultivation method ‘Water True Scripture’ in your mind. You can sense its existence now.” 

“It’s a complete set of divine techniques, from the Qi Condensation period to the Great Ascension period. However, you can only see the techniques corresponding to your current cultivation level. As you continue to cultivate and your level increases, you’ll be able to unlock the corresponding techniques. If you were to fall, the techniques would disappear immediately.”

The old man let out a sigh at this point.

“Ah, if I had found you under normal circumstances, even with my current divine sense, I could have accompanied you for over a thousand years without any issues. I could have guided your cultivation and helped you avoid taking detours. But now, you’ve already stepped into the gates of hell, and after I’ve helped you tidy up your meridians and suppress the fire toxin, the rest of the journey is yours to take. As for how far you’ll go, that depends on your own luck.”

Li Yan looked at the old man and couldn’t help but say, “Immortal… Immortal Master, I… I don’t want to cultivate immortality, I want to go home and reunite with my parents.”

The old man was taken aback by Li Yan’s words. In his consciousness, cultivating immortality was something everyone aspired to, and he had already spent so much precious time explaining it to Li Yan.

However, he couldn’t help but laugh scornfully.

“Hmph! Do you think you have a choice? If you don’t cultivate immortality, the fire toxin in your body will likely grow stronger in a few years, and when it breaks through the suppression, your death will be even more miserable.”

“Moreover, now that you’ve undergone preliminary cultivation and I’ve helped you tidy up your meridians and guide the medicinal power, you’ve already reached the Qi Condensation period. Do you think your teacher will let you leave? He’ll eventually absorb your spiritual energy, and your fate won’t be much better than dying from the toxin. If you cultivate the divine techniques I’ve given you, you might still have a chance to survive.”

Li Yan was stunned, realizing that he had truly forgotten about his current situation and was thinking about returning to his parents. As the old man said, he was already in a precarious situation, and not cultivating would mean certain death. Continuing to cultivate might give him a slim chance of survival.

The old man looked at Li Yan’s silence and smiled coldly.

“Put aside your childish thoughts and focus on how to survive! With the toxin in your body, if you cultivate the ‘Water True Scripture’ to the peak of the Qi Condensation period, you should be able to force it out. You’ll understand this later when you see the techniques.”

“In the future, you can cultivate by the water’s edge, which will enhance the effects of our water-based Spirit Root. Military advisor Ji didn’t randomly choose this mountain valley as his residence; it’s the only place with spiritual energy in the area.”

“The spiritual energy comes from a small spiritual eye at the bottom of the water, which spreads and lingers in the mountain valley. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to cultivate here.”

“However, the spiritual energy is too little, and the spiritual eye is too small. If it were larger, the Green Mountain Pass city would have been occupied by some immortal sect long ago.”

“One more thing, your spiritual energy, which was cultivated through poison, has been repaired by me, but my divine sense is too weak, and I couldn’t change the fundamental nature of your spiritual energy. In the future, as your spiritual energy circulates throughout your body, the toxins hidden within will continue to grow and seep into your muscles and bones.”

“However, when you cultivate the ‘Water True Scripture’ to the peak of the Qi Condensation period, the toxins in your spiritual energy can be refined away. So, your current priority should be to cultivate the ‘Water True Scripture’ well and find a way to escape. Other matters can wait until you’ve escaped.”

As the old man spoke, his voice, which was already faint and ethereal, revealed a hint of concern. He was worried that the disciple he had finally found would die in the hands of a small Qi Condensation period cultivator, which would be a great shame.

In the past, he could have easily eliminated someone like Military Advisor Ji with just a thought, but now he was powerless to do so, which made him feel extremely frustrated.

Li Yan also furrowed his brows, realizing that the old man was right. For now, the most important thing was to survive and escape from Military advisor Ji’s hands.

The old man’s voice drifted into Li Yan’s ears once more.

“You have about a year left. By then, whether you’ve reached the peak of the Qi Condensation period or not, Military advisor Ji will make his move. The toxin in his body can only be suppressed for about a year.”

“However, if you can cultivate the ‘Water True Scripture’ diligently and reach the peak of the Qi Condensation period within a year, there might be a chance for a turnaround. Who knows, there might be unexpected opportunities.”

The old man’s faint voice revealed a hint of sinister laughter, but he didn’t say anything more, and his voice trailed off.

“If you want to escape, you might be able to get help from General Hong in the city. He’s been eyeing Military advisor Ji’s ‘martial arts’ for a long time.”

“Moreover, I sense that there’s another powerful martial artist in the General’s residence, although the two of them combined might not be a match for Military advisor Ji. However, they can still stall him for a while.”

“Don’t worry about your parents’ safety for now. Instead, you should focus on escaping, as they can only be a burden to you. Military advisor Ji won’t hesitate to use them as bait.”

“Also, be careful of Military advisor Ji’s divine techniques, such as the Wood Thorn Technique, Fireball Technique, and Wind Blade Technique. You’ll need to be cautious when dealing with them.”

“These might be basic divine techniques, but they’re still divine techniques, and not something a mortal or a beginner like you can resist.”

The old man’s voice was extremely faint, and he emphasized the word “martial arts” when speaking about General Hong’s intentions.

Li Yan was puzzled by the old man’s words, especially when he laughed sinisterly. However, when he mentioned General Hong, Li Yan’s eyes lit up.

He remembered the incident at the military camp, where General Hong had used his internal energy to scan Li Yan’s body. It seemed that General Hong was interested in Military advisor Ji’s martial arts.

This might be an opportunity to utilize, but Li Yan was unsure of how to deal with Military advisor Ji’s divine techniques. Those were divine techniques, after all.

“Alright, child, I won’t be able to say more. I hope to meet you again in the future! However, you should at least call me ‘sect leader.’ Remember, my title is ‘Venerable Overturned Water’ – Dong Fuyi!”

As the old man finished speaking, his voice became increasingly faint, and his figure began to dissipate into misty water droplets.

Li Yan gazed at the mist that had condensed in the air. 

“Old Master, Old Master, you still haven’t told me how to get out!” 

But there was no sound coming from the mist, and Li Yan couldn’t help but think to himself. 

“What kind of sect master is this? The conversation wasn’t even clear, and I’ve somehow ended up joining an immortal sect, an immortal sect with no roots, and now I’m the only disciple.“

“So, where’s the immortal method? And how can I get out of this spiritual sea?” 

As he was pondering, the mist in front of him suddenly dispersed, and with the dispersal of the mist, Li Yan felt a sudden dizziness, followed by a period of darkness. 

Li Yan felt a chill run through his body, and he suddenly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the bright sunlight, forcing him to close his eyes again. At that moment, a familiar voice called out to him. 

“Disciple, you’ve finally woken up. How are you feeling?” 

Upon hearing the voice, Li Yan’s body stiffened, and after a brief pause, he slowly opened his eyes again. 

The first thing he saw was a black-robed figure, slightly bent over to block the sunlight, with a kind and gentle face looking at him with concern – it was his master, Military Advisor Ji. 

Li Yan forced a smile, and his gaze wandered around, only to realize that he was lying on the ground, soaked to the bone. He used his hands to prop himself up and sat up. 

At this moment, he was still by the pool, and the sunlight above was still slightly tilted towards the east, as if it was still morning, and it seemed like not much time had passed. However, he felt like he had experienced a long time in his “dream”. 

After a brief hesitation, Li Yan asked, “Teacher… Teacher, where am I?” 

Military Advisor Ji let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Li Yan wake up. He stood up straight and spoke warmly to Li Yan. 

“You were cultivating and accidentally deviated and fell into the pool. I rescued you just now, and it’s been about half an hour. You’ve been unconscious, so I could only continue to channel my energy to heal you. “

“Now that you’re awake, you’re no longer in danger. As for me… hmm?” 

He started speaking while thinking, but as he continued, he habitually scanned Li Yan’s body with his spiritual sense, and was shocked to discover that Li Yan’s aura was rapidly changing and strengthening. 

Moreover, his originally twisted and swollen face was slowly recovering. Military Advisor Ji scanned him again, and was astonished to find that Li Yan had already reached the initial stage of the Qi Condensation period. 

For a moment, he was stunned, and lightly shook his head. 

Earlier, after Li Yan was pulled out of the water, he had reacted slightly to the initial burst of spiritual energy, but afterwards, he didn’t respond to the several subsequent infusions of spiritual energy.

However, when Military Advisor Ji scanned Li Yan’s body with his spiritual sense, he found that Li Yan’s breathing was normal, and his cultivation was still at the stage of guiding Qi into the body, and had not yet broken through to the Qi Condensation stage.

This was a great disappointment, but as long as Li Yan was still alive, there was still hope for him to break through again. So, Military Advisor Ji continued to channel his spiritual energy into Li Yan’s body, hoping to alleviate the fire poison inside him.

Li Yan remained motionless, showing no signs of waking up, so Military Advisor Ji could only stand by and observe. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Yan suddenly woke up on his own.

Earlier, when Military Advisor Ji scanned Li Yan with his spiritual sense, he couldn’t understand how Li Yan had suddenly reached the Qi Condensation stage. Had he been mistaken?

He couldn’t believe that anyone else could know about spiritual sense, so he scanned Li Yan again with his spiritual sense. A moment later, he couldn’t help but reveal a joyful expression on his face – Li Yan had indeed reached the Qi Condensation stage, and his eyes were even clearer and more defined than before.

However, Military Advisor Ji soon felt a sense of doubt. He had scanned Li Yan multiple times earlier, so how could he explain this? 

But after a moment, he put his doubts aside. Li Yan had been cultivating under his supervision for 49 days, so what could possibly go wrong?

Perhaps it was the spiritual energy he had infused into Li Yan’s body that had taken effect, or maybe Li Yan’s physique was special. He was just being overly suspicious.

As for why he hadn’t noticed Li Yan’s breakthrough earlier, it was probably because Li Yan’s aura was unstable when he was in a coma, and his Qi was too weak. Now that Li Yan was awake, his aura was slowly revealing itself.

Li Yan looked at his teacher, saying something, but suddenly felt a strange, invisible force covering his body.

It was as if a pair of invisible eyes were scanning his entire body, making Li Yan feel like he had no secrets left.

‘Spiritual sense!’

The term flashed in his mind, and he was certain of it. He could clearly feel the invisible eyes scanning him from top to bottom, inside and out.

Although the feeling was unreal, he could truly sense it, making Li Yan feel very uncomfortable.

At the same time, he discovered that his five senses had become extremely sensitive. He didn’t need to turn his head to hear the sound of fish swimming in the pool and the chirping of autumn insects in the valley.

When he glanced sideways, he was shocked to see that the dewdrops on the grass tens of feet away were as clear as if they were right in front of him, shining brightly in the sunlight.

He could even see the ants crawling on the grass, busily carrying things, and could make out the tiny movements of their antennae.

When he turned to look at the pool, he saw threads of Qi swirling and twisting, spreading out. He guessed that this must be the spiritual energy emanating from the pool that Eastern Peak had mentioned.

‘It wasn’t a dream, I really was in my spiritual sea!’

Li Yan felt that everything that had happened was unbelievable.

Moreover, according to his teacher, he had only been unconscious for about half an hour.

But he had talked with that Old Master for a long time in that space, which should have taken at least an hour. How could this be explained?