Chapter 6 - 第六章 二十岁前不入仙门，终生无望
Chapter 6: Failing to Pa.s.s the Gate to Immortality Before Twenty, Despair Forever
"Come." The three inch flying sword floating before him quickly grew in size until it became three feet long and looked like a regular sword.
He reached out with his hand to grasp the G.o.dly sword.
The sword was not completely finished, but it was still extremely sharp. It could still cut through iron and stone as if it were cutting tofu. However, Qin Yun still couldn’t bear to bring it out for use, because if something were to happen, it would be too late for regrets.
"Back then, I was only thirteen when I received the Sword Immortal Legacy. I was so happy, but who would ever expect that trying to knock open the gate of immortality would be so difficult." Qin Yun sighed sadly. "If one can’t step past the gate of immortality before they turn twenty, it is hopeless for them to ever succeed. I was nearly nineteen when I was able to knock open my gate of immortality."
In the cultivation world, there were different realms cla.s.sified as Artificial, Innate, and Essence Soul.
Artificial branched further into twelve Qi Refinement levels, each level harder to breakthrough than the one before.
Innate was separated into three stages: the False Pill Stage, the True Pill Stage, and the Gold Pill Stage.
Essence Soul? That realm has been merely a myth for a long time!
As for the so-called ‘knocking open the Gate of Immortality’, it was referring to breaking through from the ninth level to the tenth level of Qi Refinement. Only after the breakthrough could Essence Qi convert into Essence Yuan! It was also considered the beginning of cultivation.
However, this would also bring misfortune and envy from the heavens.
If one were to write down the method to break through to the tenth level, the writing would directly vanis.h.!.+ If one were to orally provide the method to others, they would suddenly become speechless and tongue-tied.
There was a saying that if one doesn’t pa.s.s the Gate of Immortality before they turn twenty, it’ll become impossible. This is because before twenty years of age, the body is still growing and is full of limitless vitality. One has the highest chance of knocking open the Gate of Immortality and condensing Essence Qi at this time. But once the threshold of twenty arrives, the body has already surpa.s.sed its pinnacle and will only spiral downward, and any hopes of knocking open the Gate of Immortality becomes nearly non-existent.
"When I was thirteen, I became one with the sword, and in that same year, I was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement! Joining a second or third rate sect wouldn’t have been difficult, and knocking open the Gate of Immortality would have also been relaxing. But I had received the Sword Immortal Legacy from the Innate Gold Pill Stage Elder "Daoist Chen" who lived eight hundred years ago." Qin Yun sighed once more. "The Sword Immortal Legacy is one of the top cultivation legacies in the cultivation world, but it is also at least ten times to even a hundred times harder to cultivate than other cultivation methods.
"There’s a saying in the cultivation world that "A single sword can destroy ten thousand laws.’ This sword mentioned is the flying sword of a sword immortal." Qin Yun shook his head. "Even though I inherited it, there is no master or senior to guide me, and the Sword Immortal Legacy is already at least ten or a hundred times harder than regular cultivation methods."
"I received the legacy at thirteen, left home at fifteen, and experienced so many battles on the border between life and death. I’ve even gone to the northern borders."
"I was nearly nineteen when I was able to knock open the Gate of Immortality."
Qin Yun sighed to himself again.
Knocking open the Gate of Immortality with no master or senior meant that he could only depend on himself and forcibly break through.
"Hm? It’s already morning?" Qin Yun noticed that outside his window, it was getting brighter.
"Retrieve." Qin Yun gave a thought and the three-foot-long sword instantly started shrinking. It shrunk until it was as thin as a hair. Then it quickly drilled into Qin Yun’s middle finger and followed his veins until it got back to his Dantian. Then, within his Dantian, it started spinning and became a pebble-sized silver, metal ball.
The Sword Pill was back inside his body, being nurtured again by his soul and Essence Yuan.
He got up and put his feet on the ground. Qin Yun eyed the bits that had broken off from the Star Pattern Steel. He sent his Essence Yuan out, and in just a moment, the crumbs that were scattered across the floor were picked up and formed a small ball which then descended into a bamboo crate on the side. He grabbed the bag of Star Pattern Steel and put it into his clothes trunk. The two bags were hidden beneath his clothes and he left behind a Essence Yuan marking just in case. He then closed the trunk and locked it.
He opened the door and left his room.
It was early morning and very cold. The servants of Qin Manor had already started cleaning and cooking.
After was.h.i.+ng up, Qin Yun changed into an embroidered robe that made him look like a rich young master. When he was travelling in the countryside, he naturally wore plainer and inconspicuous clothing, but now that he had returned home, as the second young master of Qin Manor, he couldn’t disgrace his family.
"Second Young Master, good morning."
"Second Young Master, good morning."
Qin Yun walked around the manor and all the servants he pa.s.sed all gave greetings.
Seeing every blade of gra.s.s and every tree, all of the narrow paths and complex corridors, gave him a sense of warmth, and soon, he arrived at the training grounds.
On one side of the training grounds there were racks of weapons, and on the far side, there were targets for archery.
"Training grounds." Qin Yun revealed a smile. Before, his father had trained here, and so did his brother. He did as well when they were younger. They had bitterly trained here, sweating as they practiced the sword with their mother occasionally sitting at a stone table by the side, happily observing them.
The Union of Man and Sword Stage was only one level lower than the Flawless Stage.
The Flawless Stage was practically the epitome for people still in the Artificial stage. Their bodies were flawless. They had precise control of their bodies to the point that they could control every single strand of hair. Even if they had not practiced their sword techniques for a long period of time, they would not become rusty.
He had reached the Flawless Stage, and according to logic, he didn’t need to bitterly train every day. While Qin Yun had decreased the time he trained with the sword, he still did it every day as it was already a part of his routine life.
"Hu."
He pulled his sword out of his scabbard.
Qin Yun stood still and occasionally moved his feet. He held a long sword in his hand as he slashed. The hazy l.u.s.tre of his sword flashed like the misty rain of March. It all seemed like a phantom. It made anyone who observed feel drunk from the beauty of it. This was not like a sword that killed but rather a poem or a painting.
A single person appeared on the training grounds. It was his older brother, Qin An, who only watched curiously without making a sound.
Qin Yun didn’t stop at all and only after a while did he feel satisfied enough to stop and sheath his sword.
"Second Brother, why is your sword so slow?" Qin An asked curiously. "Even though I think your swordsmans.h.i.+p is beautiful, to the extent that it’s even more beautiful than the sword dances by those in the brothel, isn’t it just too slow? Such a slow sword, how can it possibly kill?"
"Haha…" Qin Yun laughed. "This is my self-made sword technique, the Misty Rain Sword. What you saw was only one side of the Misty Rain Sword."
"One side?" Qin An thought of something. "Alright. When you were ten, you could already defeat me, and when you were fifteen, you were Guanglin City’s best amongst the younger generation. Back then, I could still see that your swordsmans.h.i.+p was amazing, but now, I can’t even comprehend your sword anymore."
Qin Yun smiled as he changed the topic. "Brother, you’ve come so early. It’s not even time for breakfast, but you’ve already traveled from the south side of the city to the west?"
"We brothers haven"t seen each other in six years. Naturally I want to catch up with you," Qin An said emotionally. "When you were out travelling, I would always worry about you, afraid you wouldn’t be able to come back. Enough, let’s not talk about these! Speaking of which, this past half year, I’ve been waking up every morning feeling exhausted. I went to a doctor, but they said that I had no illness. However, today, my spirit feels not bad."
Qin Yun’s heart stirred.
Today is not bad? Probably because last night, the cat monster didn’t devour your yang qi.
"Is it because of you, Second Brother? You came back, so my heart felt at ease, and now I’m getting better?" Eldest Brother Qin An murmured.
"Because of me? If it was because of me, would you have been fine for five years and only felt uncomfortable in the past half year?" Qin Yun smirked. "Your body was corrupted by a monster aura."
"Corrupted by a monster aura?" Eldest Brother Qin An’s facial expression showed a rapid change.
Qin Yun didn’t hide anything from his brother. After all, they had experienced so much together over the years. Something like corruption by a monster aura would be easily accepted by his brother.
"Yesterday, I could already tell," Qin Yun stated.
"Then why didn’t you say anything yesterday?" Eldest Brother Qin An asked.
"I didn’t want to alert the perpetrator. What if they ran? Obviously, I had to pretend I didn’t know anything, then I went to secretly investigate. Yesterday night, I found out about everything, then I got rid of the problem at its roots, so I’m only telling you now," Qin Yun said. "Also, don’t tell anyone what I’ve just told you."
"This I already know." Eldest Brother Qin An nodeed. "Will my body be alright?"
"Relax, you can still be saved." Qin Yun let out a small smile.
As he said this, he took out an already prepared paper talisman from his bosom and said, "This is a ‘Disease Dispelling Talisman’ that I stole from my good friend. Even I don’t know how to make this!" As he said this, the Essence Yuan inside the paper talisman began to activate and the paper talisman disintegrated. An invisible power was dissolving into Eldest Brother Qin An’s body, but he only felt a rush of coolness. The original heavy pressure he had felt was fading and his whole body felt much better now.
"Most of the monster aura has already been extinguished," Qin Yun said. "However, some of it has already entered your inner organs and is rooted too deeply inside you, so the talisman cannot rid you completely of the monster aura."
"So how can I get better?" Eldest Brother Qin An asked.
"Haha, now that the monster that was targeting you is dead, the monster aura inside your body is like water. You’re still young and fit, so even without the talisman, you would have recovered in three to five years. But since you’ve used the talisman, most of it is gone, and the remainder won’t affect you much. After a few months’ time, you’ll be clean again," Qin Yun said emotionally. "The body is full of wonders."
Eldest Brother Qin An let out a breath of relief then he suddenly felt suspicious about something and asked, "Second Brother, why would a monster suddenly want to kill me? I’m only a small businessman, so why would they target me? Is it because of Father?"
"Yes." Qin Yun nodded. "Let’s wait for Father to come back and I’ll tell you both in more detail."
Eldest brother Qin An adapted quickly and switched the topic while smiling. "Second Brother, when you cultivated to the ninth level at only thirteen, I already knew you would pa.s.s the Gate of Immortality and become an immortal. From what I see today, you can notice the aura of monsters and even exterminate them. You must have already become an immortal."
Qin Yun laughed.
Back when he had received the Sword Immortal Legacy, he had only told his father! His father had strictly not allowed the news to spread, not even telling his own wife and eldest son. He was afraid that if word were to spread, it would only attract misfortune.
"Knocking on the Gate of Immortality is really not easy," Qin Yun candidly said.
The two brothers were accompanying their mother for breakfast and had chatted for a while when suddenly several servants came inside the manor to report, "Second Young Master, someone outside the manor wishes to see you. They said they"re a good friend of yours."
"Good friend? You only came back yesterday and already someone wants to see you?" Big brother Qin An felt suspicious.
"Let"s go see then who it is." Qin Yun stood up.