1 Immortality

"We are so isolated from the rest of the world. Ah, achoo…"

Yun Su trembled as he put down the Mystic Sutra in his hand. He sat on the bed and looked at the pure white snow outside the window. All that the Mystic Wood Sect had was three rooms and a hall that were dilapidated and surrounded by debris. One was absolutely lonely in such a freezing winter wonderland.

It was too cold. His whole body was stiff. He could barely turn the pages of his book.

He picked up the short stick from the floor and reached into the quilt that covered the lower half of his body. He searched for an earthenware pot warmer to warm himself. With trembling hands, he brushed two pieces of charcoal out of the ashes before he felt the chill go away.

Some feeling seemed to return to his frostbitten leg. He pulled himself together and went back to reading.

This time, he had gone too far. He had wasted a cultivation world due to his laziness.

The night before the incident was Yun Su's twentieth birthday. He had just drawn a five-star god card in a mythical mobile game. On a whim, he took a shower and changed her clothes before solemnly writing an even grander wish in his notebook.

"Immortality!"

When he woke up, he was sleeping in a world of ice and snow. He did not know how long he had been lying there. A few days had passed, but he still felt cold as he curled up under the blanket. If he had not met the Mystic Wood Sect's Master, Wang Muxuan, he might have been for the wild wolves in the mountains.

Sect Master Wang returned heavily injured and brought him back to the Mystic Wood Sect before his time was up in the snowy night.

Yun Su was half-dead and lying on the bed. Wang Muxuan used a lot of energy to heal him. He leaned against the wall on the side of the window, panting heavily with his face as pale as paper.

"Boy, wild boy. What's your name?"

"Cough, cough cough. Yun, Yun Su."

"Yun Su, I'm about to die and the Mystic Wood Sect is finished. When you fully recover, bring the children down the mountain and think of a way to settle them down…"

Wang Muxuan paused slightly then. Yun Su thought that he was going to entrust the orphans to him at that moment. However, he saw him close his eyes as if he was deep in thought but also as if he was taking a nap to recover his strength. He waited for a moment but did not continue talking.

A cold wind struck for no reason. The candlelight danced wildly, causing goosebumps to appear on their bodies.

Yun Su realized the bad situation he was in. He struggled to get up before reaching out to touch Wang Muxuan's nose and neck.

The man was gone.

Just like that, on a silent night, the Mystic Wood Sect, which had only existed for a short seventeen years, was gone. The founder, Wang Muxuan, left behind five children and passed on.

…

"Du du du du ~"

There was a knock on the door. Yun Su closed his Mystic Sutra and coughed lightly to call the knocker in.

"Brother Yun, are you feeling better?"

The door was pushed open by an eleven or twelve-year-old girl. She was dressed in a small cotton jacket that gave off a faint scent of dried osmanthus. The jacket was clean and her black hair was not short anymore. It was tied back with a thin cloth band and when she looked up slightly, she had a rather delicate, slightly shy face. It was very clean and flushed from the cold. At that moment, concern marked her small face.

She was holding a matchstick in her hand. Inside were a few pieces of scarlet charcoal covered in hot ash. She would come several times a day to replace the charcoal in the fire can for Yun Su.

Yun Su couldn't help but think to herself. On Earth, such a little girl would have just graduated from primary school but now, she was temporarily in charge of the lives of six people.

The little girl was naturally beautiful. He wondered where Sect Master Wang, who died young, had picked her up from.

"Big Brother Yun?"

The twelve-year-old Wang Xuanji looked at Brother Yun, who seemed to be suffering from hysteria. She leaned down and waved her little hand a few times before she could pull Yun Su's attention back.

She was holding a baking hot pancake in her small hand. The fragrance it gave off could be heard through the door as one could hear the little guys leaning against the door trying to hold back their saliva.

Wang Muxuan had risked his life to bring the pancakes back. All twelve pancakes were stained and soaked with his blood.

During the five days where he went between being unconscious and awake, the young woman told him the entire story.

Some days before the snow sealed the mountain, a few senior brothers agreed to go down the mountain for some errands and never returned.

One morning, someone threw a few things in the space in front of the hall. When Wang Xuanji heard the commotion, she leaned against the window and saw her master fighting with someone. In the courtyard, the heads of a few senior brothers were scattered throughout. Their faces were scarred and they died with grievances.

After fainting from fright, she woke up to find that her master and enemies were gone. She could only cry as she simply buried her six senior brothers.

The snow sealed the mountains for three months. Master did not return for three months.

When Wang Xuanji finally waited for her master to return, he brought along Big Brother Yun, who had been picked up from the snow and twelve bloody pancakes.

In the past five days, Yun Su and the five children had survived on said pancakes.

"Xuanji, how many more pancakes are there left?"

"This is the last one."

"I'm not hungry. Cook it into a paste and share it with everyone."

Yun Su broke off a small piece and handed a nearly complete pancake to the little girl.

The little girl took the pancake and broke off another small piece that she handed to him: "Big Brother Yun, this piece of mine is for you to eat."

"I'm not hungry. I still have to lose weight. You eat."

Wang Xuanji nodded. She had only heard of fertilization, so losing weight should mean the opposite. She carefully changed the charcoal for Yun Su before going out to boil the paste.

Yun Su wrapped himself in his Daoist robe. He was cold and hungry for the past few days. Fortunately, he had some earthen-based heaters. With some strength, he looked at the scene outside the window and came up with a stupid idea.

This place was halfway up the mountain and the way down had long been blocked by the heavy snow.

Even if the mountain road was not cut off, the village was five kilometers away so he could not leave rashly.

The snow had sealed off the mountains. Not only were people hungry but the tigers, leopards, and wolves were hungry too.

It was not yet time for him to fulfill Wang Muxuan's request. No matter what, he had to get through this period of time first.

From a side room, he found a large dustpan with a deep bottom for drying cinnabar, a rope, and a few inedible dried fruit under a withered tree. He crushed them and shook out a pile of seeds.

A torn cloth cushioned the snow. A good handful of seeds were sprinkled. A small piece of biscuit was carefully crumbled and spread on the top. A dustpan was set up and the roped was looped around it.

With that, he supported himself against the tree and sighed: "The birds of this mountain, please support me."

Behind the door and windows, the children were watching excitedly. They did not understand what Brother Yun was going to do.

"Brother Yun is going to do a magic trick. Keep your voices down."

Wang Xuanji instructed as she boiled water. The three kids who were watching the commotion hurriedly nodded.

When Yun Su returned to the house, she held the earthenware pot in one hand and the hemp rope in the other. She prayed many times to the various immortals and the mysterious existence in her mind. After waiting for some time, a clumsy mountain bird landed arrogantly on the snow.

The mountain bird was too arrogant. It ignored the defense, ignored the disaster ahead and ignored death as it walked into the easy trap.

Whoosh. Hit.

One bird, then another…

As the snow cleared, hundreds of birds moved out. For the first time since Yun Su came to this world, he revealed a silly smile like an old farmer.

"I'll leave it to you, Xuanji."

Yun Su pointed to a dozen mountain birds tied together with ropes. There were even two very fat wild pheasants.

Tonight, no one would have to go hungry.

Wang Xuanji looked at these mountain birds that could save lives and couldn't stop her tears at all. She pursed his lips tightly and tears flowed down her cheeks. As she hurriedly wiped them away, she nodded vigorously, making Yun Su's heart ache.

Although the Mystic Wood Sect had not been established for long, Wang Muxuan was skilled in martial arts. Even though he was seriously injured and on the verge of death, he could still struggle back to the mountain and save Yun Su at the same time.

At that moment, Yun Su did not know cultivation or martial arts. However, the warm feeling of Wang Muxuan's Qi entering his body that night was still fresh in his mind.

Wang Xuanji said that he was good at sword techniques and his Qinggong was quite impressive. He could fly on roofs and walk on walls as if he was walking on flat ground. Even those senior brothers who had died had eliminated a group of passing bandits with him.

However, the world was dangerous and it was hard to predict what would happen.

First, the core forces of the Mystic Wood Sect were completely wiped out. Then, Wang Muxuan, who was quick to settle scores, almost died together with the enemy. The sect was almost completely destroyed. In the end, only the five children he had adopted over the years were left.

In his opinion, there were many reasons for the tragedy of the Mystic Wood Sect. In the end, it was because they were too weak in this world where the strong preyed on the weak. Not to mention their ability to resist risks, they could not even protect themselves.

Countless people were killed overnight. It was already a miracle that the little children of Mystic Wood Sect survived.

When the enemy attacked, the warehouse was destroyed and the remaining food supplies were exhausted after three months. The little silver left in the door could not buy anything in the face of the snow that sealed off the mountain.

Although there were many coincidences in the tragedy of the Xuan Wood Sect, it was fundamentally due to the danger of this world and the weakness of the Mystic Wood Sect.

Yun Su couldn't help but think that if he was still as lazy and introverted as he was on Earth, he would die very quickly. Even if he had a treasure, he would die countless times.

Smoke was rising from the side room and there was the sound of children playing. Yun Su stood under the big withered tree at the entrance of Mystic Wood Sect, looking at the vast snowfield with his hands behind his back.

In the past few days, apart from the magical thing that had appeared in his mind, his hair had grown longer and reached his waist. Xuanji had tied it up for him with a hemp rope.

It was peaceful in the twilight snow of the mountains.

The world at the foot of the mountain was covered in snow. Occasionally, there was a mountain wind that swept up snow particles and made them whistle. A violent hunger came from his stomach. Yun Su couldn't help but mutter,

"Even though I'm immortal, I still get hungry."

The problem from his stomach was temporarily resolved and his injuries had healed. Yun Su was still a mortal through and through. A few days ago, he went in and out of consciousness repeatedly. He had repeatedly failed to enter that mysterious space. Later, when he was full, he began to study the mysterious Longevity Cloud Platform in his body and won the grand prize of Immortality.

The rest of his life would be very long. He had to live up to it.