Chapter 1 Abrupt Change

The sudden question, the sudden change, the beggar who had already frozen to death in the wind and snow suddenly opened his eyes, almost scaring the old Taoist to scream. It was only due to his usual breathing exercises that he had cultivated some composure, which prevented him from fainting on the spot.

Besides, there was also a gentle aura falling on him, calming and soothing his mind.

But even so, the old man was so frightened that he suddenly got up and retreated several steps, his face pale. After hearing the man's question, he almost subconsciously replied, "You are in Lin'an City, and you don't even know the Great Song Dynasty? You truly are insane!"

Great Song…

Wei Yuan muttered to himself.

He knew this was the Song Dynasty.

Lü Dongbin's dispersal occurred during the Northern Song Dynasty. He wondered how many years had passed since then.

He needed to find the Eight Immortals and restore them to their positions, so he could directly cross the Sea of Yin and Yang in one breath and return to the present world. Moreover, Zhang Daoling had been in the long river of time for too long and it was time for him to return. The human world currently lacked top-tier combat power below the very best.

They had lost one Zhang Daoling.

But they would get back the Eight Immortals, the top combination in Chinese mythology.

This could greatly alleviate the strength issue in the human world. Or rather, when Wei Yuan and Wu Zhiqi went out, there would be someone to guard the home, so that the mainland of China would not become isolated and helpless, without enough weighty powerhouses to suppress it.

And… that causal, dark feeling, no less than the feedback from Wu Zhiqi's Dao validation.

The old man was also a half-cultivator. After his initial shock, he realized that the person in front of him was not a ghost. He figured that this was a rare and extraordinary person using fake death to come back to life. He had come to buy some wine and meat, and although his clothes were still tattered, his spirit and temperament were extraordinary.

So, he stroked his beard and smiled:

"This young brother, the weather is cold now. If you don't mind, why not come to my humble abode for a few cups of wine?"

Wei Yuan pondered slightly. He saw a clear aura on this old man, and there were also wisps of karma intertwined with him, as if he had some connection to himself. He immediately agreed. The old man smiled and invited him to come along, and before leaving, he gave the shopkeeper some money, saying it was to thank him for the story he had told earlier.

The old man called it a humble abode, but it was a rather large mansion. In this Song Dynasty, being able to own such a mansion probably meant that there were many officials in the family, from a scholar-official background. After the old man brought Wei Yuan in, the servants in the house were curious, but they did not dare to say much.

They only followed the old man's instructions and took Wei Yuan to wash up and change his clothes.

The old man handed over the wine and meat he had bought and instructed, "Daoist Zhang likes this family's food the most. I bought it myself. You prepare eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, and a plate of seasonal fruits. Don't make any mistakes."

However, just as the old man was about to go in to change his clothes, he was stopped by his wife.

The old lady's hair was as white as frost, but she still wore a golden hairpin. Her eyes contained a dignified presence. Although she was old, one could still see that she was a beautiful woman in her youth. However, the old lady was now angry, "You went to buy wine and meat again?" The old man said awkwardly, "Ahem, yes, Daoist Zhang only comes once every ten years."

"Not much, not much."

The old lady raised her eyebrows and said, "It's only once every ten years, but we give him money every year. Has there ever been a day when we gave him less?!"

The old man coughed twice and said, "But Daoist Zhang also said that he could bless our family to prosper for a hundred years. And the world has changed several times, but hasn't our family still been living steadily? A little money, just treat it as making friends with extraordinary people. What's wrong with that?"

The old lady raised her eyebrows and said, "Okay, then what about that Li Qingzhao?!"

"She's almost sixty years old, her husband is dead, and she's even been in prison. Why did you invite her to live in Lin'an? And why do you keep sending her money? Tell me, after all these years, are you still in love with that Li Qingzhao?!"

The old man was dumbfounded.

He and his wife had been together for so many years, and she was still jealous.

So, he helplessly said, "She's working on Mingcheng's *Jin Shi Lu*, collating and organizing it, and presenting it to the court. We were all together when we were young, and Mingcheng and I were also childhood friends. Confucianism values establishing words and establishing virtue. This *Jin Shi Lu* can be considered Mingcheng's life's work. We can't let it be lost to the world."

"As for being in love, Madam, you must not say such words again."

The old lady grumbled, "I won't say it then."

"Then that beggar…"

The old man said with emotion, "That is an extraordinary person. Madam, do not be rude."

………………

In the bathtub, Wei Yuan let his body soak in the warm water, letting the water wash over his body. He closed his eyes, allowing this wisp of divine soul to gradually take control of this body. Originally, this would have taken some time, but this time it was extremely smooth.

It was as if this body had originally been his own.

Wei Yuan stretched out his hand, clenched his five fingers together, and a strange feeling emerged in his heart——

"Could it be that this is my reincarnation in the Song Dynasty…"

"So, not every reincarnation can live normally."

Wei Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he also felt that this was normal and reasonable—only chaotic times could possibly have opportunities for reincarnation, so naturally not every chaotic time could be survived, or could be lived well. Moreover, judging from the experiences of this body, there were many chaotic memories in the past, making it difficult to even live a normal life.

It was the blessing of Xuanzang before his death.

He hadn't expected that it wasn't just the Ming Dynasty that would be interfered with by overly large memories.

It had already started in the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, the one in the Ming Dynasty was at least in a normal state. When he was reincarnated in the Song Dynasty, he was directly turned into a madman, a beggar, by the terrifying memories of his true spirit. Perhaps even Xuanzang, with his realm of cultivation, hadn't expected how much stuff was in Wei Yuan's true spirit memories.

Wei Yuan saw the water in the bathtub ripple in layers, the ripples colliding with each other.

Suddenly, the aura of yin and yang flowed out, turning into a Yin-Yang fish.

Wei Yuan frowned, raised his hand to disperse it, but saw that everything was normal. There was no flow of yin and yang aura, nor any Yin-Yang fish manifested. "Is it the influence of the Yin-Yang Calamity?"

Wei Yuan rubbed his forehead, and he could faintly hear the turbulent waves of the Yin-Yang Calamity in his ears.

"…Tsk, it's haunting me."

………………

Just after the old man and the old lady chatted, the old man bathed and changed his clothes, putting on a Taoist robe that looked plain but was made of very exquisite materials, and set up a banquet. Sure enough, after a while, the surrounding area suddenly became vast and hazy, as if clouds and mist had descended.

An old man rode a blue donkey backwards, walking out of the cloud of mist, his clothes fluttering and his white hair like snow.

In his hand was a wine pot and a bamboo tube, and there were divination sticks in the tube, truly like an immortal in the human world.

Besides, there was also a middle-aged man in a blue shirt, with a jade-like face and an air of freedom and detachment, which was by no means comparable to those Buddhist and Taoist followers seen in the past. The old Zhang walked down to the ground, and the blue donkey instantly turned into a paper-cut-like thing, which was put into the old Taoist's sleeve.

At this moment, even the old lady did not say any more words of doubt.

The old man stepped forward to greet him, and the guests took their seats. During the conversation, they were very harmonious and happy, raising their glasses to each other.

The old Taoist Zhang took a few drinks, suddenly picked up his wine glass, pointed in the direction of the courtyard, and said with a smile: "There seems to be another young brother over there, with strong bones and vigorous qi and blood. He should be a strong man, not an ordinary person. Why not invite him out for a drink together?"

The old man who had brought Wei Yuan here earlier hesitated for a moment. He had already arranged for his servants to take the beggar to another place to eat, but since this person, who seemed to be one of the legendary Eight Immortals of Taoism, had spoken, he naturally could not refuse. He immediately asked his subordinates to find the person.

Wei Yuan was exercising his wrists and bones.

This body was too weak.

Of course, this weakness was only in his judgment. Even if Xuanzang had opened too many and too messy past lives memories, causing him to be in a state of madness most of the time, the body's instincts still cultivated a great deal of strength and skill by following the things in these memories to breathe and practice.

But that was all.

Then someone knocked on the door. It was a servant from the courtyard, relaying the words of the old man just now.

Wei Yuan raised his eyes:

"Oh? There are guests coming? And they want me to meet them?"

Although it was only a wisp of divine soul, he could already vaguely feel the location of an old friend. He smiled slightly and said, "Then, I'll trouble you to lead the way." The servant breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led the way in front. When they walked out of the courtyard, the old Zhang was chatting and drinking with Han Xiangzi, the scholar next to him.

From afar, he caught a glimpse of Wei Yuan, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, he is a strong man, with well-trained bones, worthy of being called a master."

After changing his clothes, Wei Yuan simply wore a black Taoist robe.

His feet were shod in straw sandals, and a wooden hairpin held up his hair.

Stepping forward, his divine soul moved a wisp of aura, and the Yin and Yang energies flowed and changed. The spiritual energy, which was already scarce in this era, was suddenly swept up, and then swallowed into the body of this black-haired Taoist like a tide. In an instant, he had generated a sense of qi, requiring sixty years of another's practice.

Old Taoist Zhang's eyebrows raised. For some reason, he felt a faint palpitation.

A familiar yet unfamiliar feeling made his fingers, which were holding the wine glass, stiffen. As he took the second step, his aura rose like a vortex, and Han Xiangzi's expression froze.

By the seventh step, the distant and vast Taoist aura, like the sea, had completely formed. The old man and the old lady in the courtyard were shocked. They saw the two beings, who had previously seemed like immortals, with sluggish expressions, looking at the Taoist in front of them in disbelief.

In their perception, the vitality of the entire world surrounded this Taoist, roaring magnificently.

Like the sea.

The owner of the courtyard still didn't know what was going on, but he suppressed the doubts in his heart.

He said with a smile: "Two Immortals, this is the strong man."

Then he looked at the black-haired Taoist and said: "Come…" He originally wanted to call out his name, but suddenly realized that he only knew this Taoist's nickname, Water Ditch, and it would be better to add "Stinky" to the name, and the full name was "Stinky Water Ditch," a ruined household in Lin'an City. How could he say that?

So, his voice paused, and he simply said: "Let me introduce you, these two are enlightened true cultivators, living immortals on earth. It can be said to be a great immortal destiny for you to meet the two of them today. Come, hurry up and go greet the two Immortals? Offer them a glass of wine?"

He was worried that this beggar would not know etiquette and would offend the two immortals, so he quickly urged him.

He also personally poured a glass of wine, but before he could speak, he heard a commotion. Then he saw that the two immortals had suddenly stood up, with sluggish and shocked expressions, looking at the black-robed Taoist, and said: "You… no, Daoist friend… no…"

"Senior is…?!"

The courtyard was silent and deathly still.

Wei Yuan looked at the old Taoist, who was a little older than when they had last met, and said:

"It's been a long time."

"The last time we met was during the Renzong era, wasn't it?"

Renzong?!!!

The old man, who was about to raise his wine glass, trembled.

That, wasn't that hundreds of years ago?

Han Xiangzi's pupils contracted, as if he had remembered something.

Zhang Guolao looked shocked, and subconsciously murmured:

"Yuanshi Tianzun?"

The frightened old man retreated almost step by step.

Wei Yuan saw that Zhang Guolao's realm had reached an extremely pinnacle state, slightly nodded, raised his hand, and karma entangled and Yin and Yang revolved around his fingers, saying: "The realm of cultivation has reached its limit, a cause and effect… it has finally come to the time of awakening."

"Submerged in a dream, past and present, are nothing but bubbles and illusions."

"Why not quickly wake up?"

"Zhang Ruosu."

………………

On Longhu Mountain, the black cat would only yawn and patrol back and forth every day.

After completing its daily routine, it would return to the back mountain of Longhu Mountain, lie in Zhang Daoling's arms, and peacefully watch the increasingly shorter Soul-Guiding Incense. Sometimes, it wondered if Zhang Ruosu would just never wake up again, and would never be able to rub its head like he used to.

But there weren't too many complex things in the cat's world.

The black cat was just waiting.

Without Zhang Ruosu, and with Zhang Ruosu, its life didn't seem to change much.

That is, the place to rest every day has changed.

That is, there is one more thing to do every day.

That's all.

And on this day, as the black cat dozed off, it saw that a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared on the Soul-Guiding Incense. The smoke rose up in a misty manner. Zhang Ruosu, who had been as still as a stubborn stone, suddenly trembled, and then, the long-silent breathing sound began again.

Extremely long————

With one inhalation, the smoke of the Soul-Guiding Incense came towards his mouth and nose, rolling and vast, and then spreading out. The last breath sucked up the smoke and mist from hundreds of miles around Longhu Mountain. After a long time, he exhaled a long breath. One inhale and one exhale, the way of longevity.

Longhu Mountain rang the bell ninety-nine eighty-one times.

Yellow auspicious clouds rose into the sky.

It was a true man attaining the Dao.

Today's first chapter…

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Yan ZK reminds you: Remember to collect after reading