1 Prologue

‘To become an arhat, a monk must be clear from love, greed, anger, and delusion.

Yet what about ascetics? How much qi, vital essence, do they need to accumulate to become immortal?

All living things are bound to perish. Alas, where do they go after they die?

Ascetic beings discipline themselves, nonetheless, where do they go after they’ve succeeded?’

The realm of Xin was now going through an earthquake. A storm of dark clouds had enveloped the sky. Rain was raging down, swiftly drenching every inch of the land. Thunder roared as if Heaven was screaming out of anger.

In this realm, ascetic practitioners could be found anywhere. Whether human or animal, they all wished to obtain immortality.

Ordinary mortals would not have a clue; Taoist disciples, on the other hand, knew all too well why this was happening.

It was a process to achieve Taoist nirvana: being released from all human affairs to the path of Xian. Practitioners who had reached this state would cause this kind of phenomenon.

And regarding the utmost-withering-state practice, there were only a few people as the number of fingers on one hand who had made it.

To reach the door of Heaven, practitioners must, firstly, remove their souls in order to remove human qualities—to truly become a Xian.

Whoever that person was, he was such a fortunate one. Although unknown, he brought about such faith and envy to a lot of souls.

Raging Heaven, a situation so dreadful as this one was a part of Soul Removal’s process. To become Xians, practitioners were to endure nine hundred and ninety-nine punishments from Heaven to remove their souls.

The sound of lightning echoed everywhere, countless times.

Celestial power was unfolding, spreading out mightily.

Bang!

As the last lightning had died,

at the peak of a gigantic mountain, a golden ray beamed out of the ground, onto the sky.

Succeeded!

Overflowing emotions filled up the practitioners. They stared at the golden beam and took a deep breath, “He has achieved the Xian state.”

With faithful, envious eyes, people were looking at that glare.

His name was Tian Long, a Taoist practitioner who had made it to the utmost withering state. After receiving the last punishment from Heaven, his body was freed from all the mortal pain and anguish.

Soul Removal was a highly dangerous process. Nine hundred ninety-nine lightning strikes were an excruciating punishment, not every soul could stand.

In ancient times there existed innumerable practitioners. But despite the courage and desire to go to Heaven, when it was the time for the Soul Removal step, many practitioners failed to tolerate those nine hundred and ninety-nine lightning strikes.

If they failed, their souls would disintegrate and evaporate into the air so they could never form up a mortal or Xian again.

Having been practicing persistently for hundreds of years, Tian Long felt elated this time. Never once were the nine hundred and ninety-nine lightning strikes able to do his soul harm. Even though an even more narrow and crooked path lay in front of him on the road of Xian’s practice, eventually, his hundred years of hard work paid off.

After the first light shined on his face, Tian Long regained consciousness. The eyes of the practitioner who had just earned his way to Heaven were slowly opening. What Tian Long was anticipating was his youthful skin, a shining golden halo, and an immortal lifespan.

However, the scene before him turned out to be...

‘Heaven! What on earth is this?!’

“Merlin! Sweetheart, you’re awake!”

The first heavenly light that Tian Long expected turned out to be the first light of dawn shining into the room. Tian Long’s face showed a glimpse of doubt. He was shocked and surprised by the scene in front of him.

The first thing he encountered was a woman who called herself “mother” sitting next to the bed. Her hands were occupied trying to wipe his sweat away. As his eyes met hers, the lady uttered a question while smiling tenderly, hiding all the exhaustion on her face.

“You’re awake?”

She asked the same question again.

Tian Long did not answer; he tried to push himself up to the sitting position.

But because his body was feeble, he collapsed once again.

“Don’t rush it. Do you realize that you’d passed out for one whole night? Merlin, can you tell your mother, what did you do at the river?”

Tian Long was still confused by the lady’s question. Her language was not the one he was used to, however, he could make sense of it.

Who was she?

And why was this environment so... unfamiliar?