Qin Yun’s soul was carried away by a mysterious force as he made his way through space-time into a distant world before entering the body of a man.
“Ah!”
In his stupor, Qin Yun felt his head ache terribly. He seemed both awake and unconscious at the same time, with chaotic memories flooding his brain.
For a moment, he remembered himself as Qin Yun, a warrior dreaming for a hundred years after obtaining the Amita wooden figurine.
Another moment, he would identify himself as Meng Yiqiu, a man who was poisoned with few days left to live.
“Huh!”
Qin Yun suddenly sat up and looked around him.
He was in an elegant bamboo hut, with sunlight seeping in through the gaps in the bamboo. It was bright and beautiful.
After waking up, Qin Yun’s memories were no longer in chaos. He knew that he had entered the second world for his dream of a hundred years.
“Amita’s wooden figurine allows me to dream a hundred years. I spent fifty years in the previous world. Will I spend another fifty years in here?” Qin Yun nodded. “After spending fifty years here, the hundred years dream will come to an end.”
“Cailan, Yuqing.” Qin Yun recalled the two women from his past fifty years.
“I can not let affairs of the heart spur me while I’m in this world for fifty years,” thought Qin Yun.
“Oh?”
Qin Yun suddenly frowned. “My soul has weakened. It’s at the level it was back when I started this dream? It’s as though Fire Phoenix City and everything I experienced in that world was an illusion.”
“But those memories are still fresh in my mind. The enhancement of my Sword Dao exists too.”
Qin Yun stood up.
He walked out of the bamboo hut and saw a gurgling stream outside. Green grass and wild flowers carpeted the ground. The scenery was gorgeous. It uplifted Qin Yun’s mood.
“According to the memories, this body’s name is Meng Yiqiu,” thought Qin Yun. “He’s thirty-eight this year and is an Elder of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. However, this Meng Yiqiu has led quite a tragic life.”
“Meng Yiqiu and his younger sister have depended on each other for survival ever since they were young. Later on, he encountered the previous sect master of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect and was brought there! He climbed the ranks, going from an outer-sect disciple to an inner-sect disciple. Eventually, he became one of the three personal disciples of the sect master. Due to his extreme talent, he became the prime successor to the sect master. His sister, Meng Yuxiang, was made the wife of the second young master of the Duan family, household of the Chu Kingdom’s Quelling Duke.”
“His future looked promising, but who knew that Meng Yiqiu would end up smitten with a particular Fairy Gong? The two of them spent their days together in a carefree manner. He fought for Fairy Gong and eventually got poisoned with Spring Wind Warmth. No medicine worked and Fairy Gong abandoned him. He had no choice but to return to the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. Without a cure for his poison, he could only live on for a year and a half despite already reaching the Connate False Core realm.
“With Fairy Gong abandoning him and him being poisoned, Meng Yiqiu wallowed in despair. Therefore, he built a small hut in the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect’s rear and decided to await his death.”
“Yet, before Meng Yiqiu died, his master, the incumbent Zhou Mountain Sword Sect sect master, ended up being murdered two months ago. His eldest senior brother took over the position of sect master. As for Meng Yiqiu, who was the most talented, he naturally became an Elder. However, his days were numbered.”
Qin Yun shook his head.
Meng Yiqiu was pitiful.
“Based on these memories, that Fairy Gong totally used Meng Yiqiu. She would speak sweet nothings to him and express her love for him but once he was inflicted with an incurable poison, she abandoned him immediately for his lack of worth. Meng Yiqiu was truly blind to fall in love with such a vicious woman.”
“He had a promising future ahead of him but it was destroyed in such a manner.”
“However, now that I’ve come here, it seems the poison has been cured?” Qin Yun used his senses to check on his body. There was no longer any poison in his system. Both times he descended, the bodies he entered were on the verge of death. However, the moment he took over the bodies, they rapidly recovered.
Qin Yun did not care for Meng Yiqiu’s sad predicament.
He only cared about this world.
“This world is very special.” Qin Yun stood on the grass as he sensed the surrounding Heaven and Earth powers with his powerful soul. “This world has very thin Heaven and Earth spiritual energies. It can’t even compare to my homeworld’s, much less the ancient time I just came from.”
“In this world, there are no such things as Dharma spells, Dharma treasures, or even fiendish demons!”
Qin Yun shook his head silently.
“Due to the thin Heaven and Earth spiritual energies, cultivation is extremely difficult. The requirement of one’s realm is extremely high.” Qin Yun shook his head. “It’s completely opposite from ancient times.”
In ancient times, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies were extremely rich. The requirement of one’s realm was instead rather low.
His homeworld was in between the two extremities.
This world’s requirement to advance realms was extremely high.
“The cultivation system in this world is demarcated into the Postnatal and the Connate realm.”
“The Connate realm is also split into False Core, True Core, and Golden Core,” thought Qin Yun. “However, with the overly thin Heaven and Earth spiritual energies, it makes cultivation a lot harder.”
“Only by reaching the Heavenly Dao’s intent realm would one have a chance of reaching the Connate False Core realm!
“The Connate True Core realm requires the Paramount realm.”
“The Connate Golden Core realm requires one to step into the Dao.”
“The Connate Golden Core is the limit to one’s cultivation. However, if the Dao one grasps is sufficiently strong, legends say that one would be able to shatter the void and ascend.” Qin Yun thought to himself, “Shatter the void and ascend? I wonder where one would ascend to.”
This world was indeed special.
At the level of immortals, one had to suffer the tribulations of the heavens. But in this world, the highest realm was the Connate Golden Core, which resulted in no such thing as tribulations.
It greatly influenced the way cultivation sects treated mortals! They were intricately linked with mortals in every aspect!
“For example, Meng Yiqiu’s Zhou Mountain Sword Sect has six thousand outer-sect disciples! There are also eight hundred inner-sect disciples. Then there are the many Elders. Elders can also take in inherited-teachings disciples,” thought Qin Yun. “Sending out more than a hundred disciples would make them more powerful than mortal armies. Therefore, after Meng Yiqiu entered the Connate realm, even Second Young Master Duan of the Chu Kingdom’s Quelling Duke line took the initiative to marry his sister.”
Qin Yun nodded slightly.
The cultivation sects in the world also influenced the imperial family and family clans of mortals.
…
When Qin Yun recalled the manuals Meng Yiqiu cultivated in, his eyes could not help but light up. “Impressive. As this world doesn’t have immortals or fiends, there are no Dharma spells or divine powers. Over time, generations of geniuses came to focus on sword and saber skills. As a result, they have created many fascinating sword and saber techniques. In terms of foundation, they are much better than my homeworld.”
The geniuses in his homeworld would focus more on talisman amulet techniques or Dharma spells after they knocked open the gate of immortality. For instance, Qin Yun focused solely on his flying sword arts during his later years.
But in this world, all cultivators would focus on close combat skills, improving them incrementally every generation. In this aspect, they far exceeded Qin Yun’s homeworld.
“This Meng Yiqiu is considered a genius. He managed to grasp sword intent at a young age, allowing him to reach the Connate False Core realm,” thought Qin Yun. “He was even earmarked to become the next sect master. Unfortunately, he was reduced to such a state.”
“However, the Frost Sword Chart he studies is one of the three best skills of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. It allows a direct path to entering the Dao.”
Qin Yun extended his hand.
A tree branch flew over and landed in his hand. With a swipe of his hand, the leaves fell off, leaving only the wooden branch.
With a tree branch in hand, Qin Yun began cultivating the Frost Sword Chart.
******
The world was split into three. The Chu Kingdom, the Yan Kingdom, and the Wei Kingdom. In terms of strength, the Chu Kingdom was the strongest.
The Zhou Mountain stretched out for fifty kilometers. On it was the famous sword sect, Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. It was also one of the eight largest sects of the Chu Kingdom! However, this world lacked immortals, making the Connate Golden Core the limit. This resulted in short-lived sects. A dynasty would only thrive for a few centuries, and it would be considered pretty impressive if a sect could thrive for several centuries.
“Zhou Mountain Sword Sect.”
About a hundred and fifty kilometers away from Zhou Mountain, there was a boat on a river.
An elder on the boat was looking towards the distant north as he sneered. “We have waited so long for this day to finally come! The previous sect master of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect is dead. Although Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu isn’t dead, the remaining bit of strength he has is negligible. The Zhou Mountain Sword Sect has lost a great deal of its overall strength, reaching an unprecedented level of weakness.”
“Island Lord Qu, Zhou Mountain Sword Sect has thrived for three centuries. It is not to be underestimated. Even if it’s at its weakest, we should proceed according to plan,” said a beautiful black-dressed woman beside him with a smile.
The elder shot a glance at the woman and chuckled. “Babe, don’t worry. I treasure my life the most. Naturally, I’ll meet up with your Palatial Lord before taking any action.”