Outside Vast Sea Peak.

Chu Xiaolian had already followed Ye Chengying for over a hundred li.

If the Proud Sword Immortal Sect gathered the spiritual energy of a thousand li around it, like a human-world paradise, then at this moment, Chu Xiaolian had arrived in the human world.

Or rather, something even worse.

Chu Xiaolian could feel that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around them was extremely thin.

That was normal.

Because the Proud Sword Immortal Sect had set up vast numbers of Spirit-Gathering Formations.

Spirit-Gathering Formations could draw in spiritual energy from a thousand li around, greatly increasing disciples’ cultivation speed.

But spiritual energy was conserved.

With the sect’s spiritual energy rising dramatically, other places would naturally become thin and barren.

It didn’t affect mortals much, but cultivators would feel very uncomfortable.

It was like living in a garden villa for a long time, then being forced to go to a stinking slaughterhouse or septic pit.

Any normal person would feel awful!

Chu Xiaolian frowned slightly.

“Senior Sister, where are you taking me?”

“To see Senior Brother.”

Ye Chengying remained indifferent, and her attitude didn’t change in the slightest even though Chu Xiaolian’s cultivation had surged.

Chu Xiaolian was puzzled.

“Senior Brother… is meeting me here?”

Ye Chengying said calmly.

“You should feel honored. The number of people qualified to meet Senior Brother here can be counted on one hand.”

Chu Xiaolian was full of questions.

“What’s special about this place?”

“You’ll find out in a moment.”

Ye Chengying didn’t say anything else, and her speed abruptly increased.

Chu Xiaolian circulated all his spiritual power, barely managing to keep up with her without being left behind.

The two figures leapt through the wilderness, moving faster than cheetahs.

Occasionally, mortals farming in the fields would glimpse them, but they only thought it was a bird sweeping past and didn’t make a fuss.

Crossing one muddy, winding goat-trail after another, soon, the two arrived in front of a mu of rice paddy.

There was nothing special about it, it was the most ordinary farmland.

If you had to name something special, it was that the person in the paddy, swinging a sickle to harvest rice stalks, wasn’t a mountain farmer.

It was Li Hanguang.

At this moment, Li Hanguang had already taken off his spotless white robe and changed into rough grey hemp clothing.

His trouser legs were smeared with black mud everywhere.

Those fair fingers of his were now also covered in silt and filthy water.

But he didn’t look bedraggled.

On the contrary, Li Hanguang harvested the rice in an orderly, unhurried manner.

He swung the sickle cleanly and crisply, containing the true intent of the sword Dao, as though he were performing a high-grade sword art.

Transcendent, refined, even giving people a drifting, elegant feeling.

…Ye Chengying stood at the edge of the field, staring at Li Hanguang without blinking.

In her eyes, only that figure remained.

‘As expected of Senior Brother, even his movements when cutting rice are this captivating, you can watch them a hundred times and never get tired of it.’

“Senior Brother is actually cutting rice himself?”

Unlike Ye Chengying’s calmness, Chu Xiaolian’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t understand it.

Someone like Li Hanguang should be hanging high above the nine heavens like the sun.

His looks, his aura, his bearing!

Even Chu Xiaolian, another man, couldn’t help but be utterly convinced.

Why would someone like that step into muddy paddy ridges?

Why would he demean himself like this?

Even if he really had to cut rice, couldn’t he just use divine sense to control a flying sword, make it go ‘whoosh’ once around the field and be done?

And that wasn’t even hard.

As long as your cultivation reached the Foundation Establishment realm, you could use divine sense to control a flying sword.

Why do it personally and get filth all over yourself?

Senior Brother’s hobby was way too special!

Right then, an astonished voice sounded in Chu Xiaolian’s mind.

“I didn’t expect this kid to be even more extraordinary than I imagined!”

Chu Xiaolian’s mouth twitched slightly as he silently thought, <Old Yan, what did you notice this time?> [TL: For internal speech using <>.]

Old Yan sighed.

“This kid is living as a mortal!”

Old Yan explained.

“This is a state of mind you can only come into contact with after shattering a golden core and forming a Nascent Soul.”

Chu Xiaolian’s eyes widened!

Everyone in Taicang Prefecture knew that the Proud Sword Immortal Sect’s senior brother was sixteen this year.

He started cultivating at three, reached Foundation Establishment at five, formed a golden core at twelve.

From Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, Li Hanguang had taken a full seven years.

Only four years had passed since then and he had already advanced to the Nascent Soul realm?

‘A sixteen-year-old Nascent Soul expert? Are you kidding me?’

Old Yan seemed to guess Chu Xiaolian’s doubts.

“Don’t blindly believe outside rumors. He’s even more talented than you imagine. Cultivating at three, reaching Foundation Establishment at five, forming a core at twelve—those were only what he showed. Perhaps he had already formed a core before he was ten.”

Old Yan’s “comfort” only made Chu Xiaolian feel even more miserable.

He had originally planned to show off after jumping four levels, to shock Senior Brother.

Now it looked like he was the joke.

Chu Xiaolian sighed helplessly.

Old Yan fell silent for a moment, then said, “You should know that Qi Refining is still mortal. True cultivators only have the five great realms: Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation and Tribulation Transcendence. Each great realm is further divided into nine minor realms, hence the saying ‘Nine-Five Ascends to Immortality.’

Among them, the two great realms of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core mainly cultivate tangible things. Only after shattering the core and forming a Nascent Soul does one come into contact with the profoundly mysterious ‘state of mind’ and begin to focus on comprehension.

After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, seclusion and bitter cultivation are no longer very useful. Only a transformation of one’s state of mind can raise cultivation faster, and state-of-mind transformations have many different Daos.

Some Nascent Soul experts follow the ‘Dao of Slaughter.’ The more powerful enemies they kill, the faster their strength grows. Some Nascent Soul experts follow the ‘Dao of Merit.’ They slay demons, eliminate evil and deliver all beings, the more merit they accumulate, the faster their strength grows. And some Nascent Soul experts follow the ‘Dao of the Mortal World.’

They indulge the seven emotions and six desires, and temper the Dao heart through eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.”

Chu Xiaolian thought for a moment.

“Yes, but also no.”

Old Yan sighed.

“The Dao of Slaughter, the Dao of Merit and the Dao of the Mortal World are all paths with very low thresholds. But living as a mortal is different. The so-called ‘Dao of living as a mortal’ emphasizes returning to simplicity and truth, comprehending the most ordinary and natural life. Man models earth, earth models heaven, heaven models the Dao, the Dao models nature! One who lives as a mortal acts through non-action, comprehending the great Dao of heaven and earth.

It is the supreme method of tempering one’s state of mind within Daoism. Since ancient times, those who have succeeded in living as a mortal have all become peerless supreme beings! Of course, this road is very hard to walk. Whoever steps into the Nascent Soul realm hasn’t cultivated bitterly for decades or even hundreds of years? The methods of immortals have long fused into blood and soul.

For example, a Golden Core True Person, upon leaving home, will instinctively fly on a sword, rather than walk. To live as a mortal, first you must put things down, you must forget your own power. This step alone has already shut countless geniuses out, because the hardest person to deceive is yourself.”

Chu Xiaolian said gravely.

…Old Yan was silent for a long time.

Finally, he nodded.

“Not only has he taken that step, he has taken it extremely perfectly. If it weren’t for his looks and aura, which carry the bearing of a banished immortal, I would almost think he’s just a mortal!”