Using entries to cultivate immortality in chaotic times

And just as Chen Qiu was about to get up—

The scene before him suddenly began to change, and he found himself at the place where he had first met Fat Long, outside the gates of Fufeng City, surrounded by onlookers who were crammed around to watch the spectacle.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

A familiar voice rang in his ears. Turning around, he saw Fat Long running toward him with his head bowed, as if he was afraid of letting anyone see his face.

"Hmm?"

Chen Qiu glanced around with a slightly furrowed brow. Was this an illusion too, or a memory?

Next to Fat Long, a panel enveloped in mist reappeared.

"This is your beloved kin, siblings..."

"Crack!"

Before the panel could fully manifest, Chen Qiu's long sword had already pierced through it, thrusting directly into the embrace of the unresistant Fat Long.

He looked at Fat Long's incredulous eyes and whispered softly, "I got carried away with my feelings just now and almost forgot— you haven't turned into a resentful spirit, how could you possibly be dead?"

"It seems this illusion can only extract part of a person's memories?"

"Can't see what a person's entry is?"

"It really is..."

"Almost made me cry there."

"And your illusion is too shoddy, as if it's afraid people won't notice it's an illusion."

As his words fell, the portly Fat Long suddenly started laughing, his face no longer showing disbelief and pain, as he looked meaningfully at Chen Qiu, "Turns out to be a promising sword cultivator."

Simultaneously—

A panel wrapped in mist slowly emerged in front of Chen Qiu.

"First round, Cutting Worldly Ties, completed."

"Congratulations on successfully becoming a janitorial Disciple of Chao Tian Sect. This round tests the ability of disciples to maintain their true self in an illusion, with two ways to pass."

"1: Verbally exposing the illusion."

"2: Killing the target 99 times."

"For passing this round, you are rewarded with a Mid-grade Foundation Establishment 'Revitalizing Pill', which can effectively and quickly heal superficial injuries. Do not look back or communicate any information about this round with anyone else. Continue forward thirty paces, and the Alchemy Hall you see will be the second round."

As the Fat Long before him quickly transformed into mist and dispersed, everything around him also vanished swiftly like smoke, and when his vision cleared, he found himself back inside the Copper Bell Barrier.

A force controlled his body, preventing him from turning back or speaking.

He had originally wanted to randomly kill a person to see if a resentful spirit would appear, thus confirming whether he was still in an illusion, but he eventually dismissed the idea and walked past the copper bell toward the Alchemy Hall thirty paces away.

He would wait there for Fat Long.

...

"Brother Qiu, Brother Qiu?!"

Fat Long looked on in confusion as Chen Qiu grew further away, leaving only his silhouette behind. Just as Brother Qiu had stepped into the Copper Bell Barrier, he had frozen in place for a moment, then like everyone else, walked forward without looking back.

It looked bizarre, could it be some kind of trap?

Being naturally cautious, Fat Long glanced around and decided to temporarily avoid the copper bell. He planned to find Brother Qiu first. However, after taking a few steps, he realized that exploring the ruins near the copper bell was entirely possible.

But if he wanted to get past the copper bell to explore the ruins behind it, a wall of air blocked his way.

"Damn it..."

Seeing his plan fail and unable to find an alternate route, Fat Long, noticing that Brother Qiu's figure was about to vanish from sight, gritted his teeth and strode toward the Copper Bell Barrier. He wanted to see what was really going on!

His heart also jolted as he found himself in a white space enveloped by clouds and mist.

Not far off, Ma Yinxue, wearing a pink long dress with tear stains on her face, was sitting on the ground with her legs together, looking up with a trembling voice and said, "You're so cruel, why did you have the heart to kill me just now?"

"Luckily, the Chao Tian Sect saved me and preserved a Residual Soul. As soon as you break through to the Golden Core, you can reshape my body for me."

Beside Ma Yinxue, a panel slowly emerged, enveloped in clouds and mist.

"This is the love of your life, your ultimate pursuit."

"You have spent many beautiful moments together, you've put a lot of effort into her, trying to bring stability even in times of chaos."

"To become a Sword Cultivator, you must first slay this person."

"Can you bring yourself to do it?"

"..."

Shocked and somewhat in disbelief, Fat Long looked at Ma Yinxue sitting on the ground, recognizing her familiar face and figure. He glanced around, swallowed, and muttered, "Is this what they call 'Severing Worldly Attachments'?"

He subconsciously reached for his crotch and fumbled around.

"It's usable."

He then couldn't help but gradually beam with excitement, eyeing Ma Yinxue's long, straight jade legs, his eyes filled with greed as he stepped closer, "There were too many people outside just now, didn't feel it was appropriate. I thought I'd never have the chance again, but who knew such a good thing would happen."

A tea time later.

Looking at Ma Yinxue lying on the ground, her face full of humiliation and relief, Fat Long took a deep breath with satisfaction, "That was satisfying, a pity it can't be used continuously; this is way more real than just imagining it in my head, and there's physical sensation too, really nice."

"But I need to go find Brother Qiu now, don't want him to worry."

"Sizzle!"

Just as he was fastening his belt, Fat Long casually drew the long knife from his waist and plunged it into Ma Yinxue's chest, just then the surrounding mist swirled and the scene shifted again.

...

As Fat Long was fastening his belt, he looked around; he was in the same derelict thatched house just outside the town where he and Ma Yinxue had been staying. Hearing some noise outside, Ma Yinxue, wearing only a tube top, opened the door and looked at him with resentment, complaining.

"You earn just a few dozen wen a day; when can we afford to live in the city?"

"I met a sister in the city today; her man makes hundreds of wen a day, do you realize how embarrassed you make me feel outside?"

"..."

Fat Long blankly glanced around, then realized that this was his fourth day after having crossed over. He remembered he used to hand over all the money he earned each day to Ma Yinxue for safekeeping, to later purchase potions for Qi Refinement breakthroughs. But today, Ma Yinxue had spent all the money in the city, not leaving a single penny.

She bought quite a lot of pork head meat and liquor dishes, thinking since it's spent, might as well improve the meal. But she had eaten it all before he got back, and while that was okay, when he found out that there had been a few coins left in her pocket after buying these things and she had given it all away to beggars at the city gate, he had exploded in anger.

If he remembered correctly, they had had a fierce argument today.

"Of course."

That was before, but as for now.

Fat Long sighed helplessly, his hands that had been tying his belt suddenly stopped, "You should have told me earlier. If I had known this was coming, why would I bother tying my belt?"

He looked up and smiled again at Ma Yinxue, who was chattering at the door.

"Here it comes."

...

Another moment passed, and the scene changed again.

"Hey."

...

The scene changed again.

"I like this scene.

Explore more stories with empire

...

Change.

"Might as well throw the belt away, no chance to tie it anyway."

...

It was the ninety-ninth time when Fat Long and Ma Yinxue, under the watchful eyes of a slow-moving crowd on the stage, shared a room. The always grieving Ma Yinxue suddenly became expressionless and silent, then she looked up at Fat Long on her and said word by word.

"Don't you know this is an illusion?"

"I know."

"Then why didn't you say it?"

"Say what?"

"Say that this is an illusion."

"That's for later. I wasn't done enjoying myself."

"Huh?" Suddenly realizing that Ma Yinxue was talking to him, Fat Long, somewhat incredulously looking at her beneath him, then slapped his butt more excitedly.

"Call me daddy!"

"Get lost!"

Ma Yinxue, with a cold wave of her sleeve, unleashed her Spiritual Energy which sent Fat Long flying off the stage; she then stood up, adjusted her clothes expressionlessly, and said, "Absolutely ridiculous. Why would someone like you come to Chao Tian Sect? If you had gone to Joyful Union Sect, at least you'd be a True Disciple."

"You passed the first round irregularly, but I must tell you, I look down on your kind..."

Before she could finish.

"Hey."

Fat Long, thrown off the stage, shook his head and sneered as he stood up, "Starting to fight, are we?"

"Let's go!"

At that moment, Fat Long slightly rubbed his fingers together and in the blink of an eye, dozens of talismans equivalent to a full-strength hit at the Foundation Establishment level appeared at his fingertips. He tossed them all at Ma Yinxue on the stage before he excitedly pulled out the "Dragon Slayer" long knife and charged up onto the stage.

A few moments later.

Ma Yinxue lay on the ground, her face filled with grief and despair, pain etched into her features as tears slowly slid from the corners of her closed eyes.

...

After another moment.

"Phew."

Only then did Fat Long stand up satisfied, withdrawing his knife to kill Ma Yinxue lying on the ground. Just as he was preparing for the next scene, he suddenly realized he had returned to the copper bell.

And a panel enshrouded in mist slowly emerged in front of him.

"First round, Severing Worldly Ties, cleared."

"Congratulations on successfully becoming a chore disciple of Chao Tian Sect. This round assessed the disciple's ability to maintain their own heart in an illusion. There were two ways to clear the round."

"1: Verbalize and expose the illusion."

"2: Kill the target 99 times."

"So, just kill 99 times to clear."

Fat Long calculated, "That just makes it, I could have cleared it with my abilities alone, yet they had to make me clear it irregularly ahead of time. It's so embarrassing, it makes me look like I took a shortcut."

He shook his head and didn't bother with it anymore, walking straight past the copper bell. He needed to catch up with Brother Qiu quickly to keep him from worrying, thankful that regardless of how long he stayed inside, only a moment passed outside; otherwise, he wouldn't waste his time in there. He'd figured this out after entering and regaining consciousness after everyone took a breather, and not a single talisman from his Storage Ring was missing, proving talismans could not be used for real in the illusion.

What Fat Long didn't notice was.

After he left, the copper bell that had been emitting a faint milky white light suddenly dimmed completely, and those who cleared the stage after him were also confusedly looking at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Why did I just step into the range of the copper bell, nothing happened, and I was instantly notified I had cleared?"

"Me too, wasn't it supposed to be Severing Worldly Ties? I was all mentally prepared, and nothing happened."

"Wasn't it said that you get a fixed reward for clearing each round? Why didn't I get any rewards, did you guys get any?"

"People stepping into the bell's range earlier would be absentminded for a moment, but why did nothing happen with us?"

...

"Has it come?"

Standing outside the Alchemy Hall for the second round, Chen Qiu, looking toward Fat Long running his way, asked softly, "You okay? The first round didn't leave you with any psychological trauma, did it?"

Like him, Fat Long had no parents. Most likely, his target in the Worldly Ties was Chen Qiu.

Having to kill him by his own hands probably left some psychological scarring on Fat Long, especially after the first time he killed him and realized it was indeed him he had killed, there might have been some pain.

"Uh..."

A bit awkwardly, Fat Long shifted his gaze and whispered hesitantly, "All good... quite thrilling actually."

"..."

Chen Qiu's expression darkened gradually, and after a long silence, he finally said softly, "Once we're out, we should have a chance to spar a bit."

"Help you gain some combat experience."