Chapter 130: Thousand-Year Immortal |
Because of the incident during the night, the moment the heavy snow eased slightly, He Runpu ordered the caravan to break camp and depart, leaving the area as quickly as possible.
He deliberately lagged behind the caravan for a while. Only after seeing the large and small figures safely following behind did he finally relax somewhat.
After traveling this way for over two months, the caravan crossed deserts, grasslands, and rocky wastelands.
They arrived at Yue Kingdom earlier than expected.
Though they occasionally encountered danger along the way, every crisis passed without disaster.
Ahead stood Yue Kingdom’s first checkpoint, Eagle Pass.
Before entering the pass, He Runpu waited for Chu Xun and Wei Youyou to catch up before saying, “We’re only going as far as Eagle Pass. We won’t continue farther. What about you two?”
Wei Youyou’s home was still over a hundred li farther north.
He Runpu said, “In that case, we’ll have to part ways here. Fortunately, the journey was safe overall. I truly didn’t expect your luck to be this good.”
Yet the two of them had remained completely unharmed the entire time.
Zhang Shikai walked over with a grin.
“Probably because our caravan was such a big target that all the danger got drawn to us. Otherwise they might not have been so lucky.”
Chu Xun smiled.
“That’s actually true.”
The caravan truly had been an excellent target.
Following behind them, Chu Xun had eliminated three different evil sacrifice wild gods along the journey.
Besides the initial Snow Hollow Ghost, there had been another lurking within a lake, a formless swamp yin spirit known as Wangxiang that lured living people through illusions.
Mobei had always possessed legends about evil hidden within frozen lakes.
But the caravan’s journey was too long. Whenever they encountered lakes, they had to replenish water.
Otherwise, their own waterskins could never support several months of travel.
There had also been a creature called the Bone Heap God.
At first glance, it looked like scattered human and horse bones casually abandoned by the roadside.
When the wind blew, the bones assembled themselves into vague human forms surrounded by black qi and foul stench.
The thing feared heat and loved cold, specifically targeting those freezing, starving, and wounded.
Once attached, the victim would feel freezing cold and burn with persistent fever.
Eventually they would waste away into little more than a skeleton, and after death their bones would join its “bone heap.”
Killing those three evil sacrifice wild gods had cost Chu Xun several hundred incense points.
Purely a losing business.
Yet Chu Xun did not regret it in the slightest.
Filthy things like those deserved to be wiped out entirely.
If Mobei were not so vast and strange.
And if his current Golden Core cultivation truly made him invincible beneath heaven.
Chu Xun genuinely would have wanted to traverse all of Mobei and slaughter every single one of those worthless evil sacrifice wild gods.
Wei Youyou removed the padded coat, intending to return it to He Runpu.
But He Runpu smiled and said, “If you don’t dislike it, keep it. Maybe it’ll still be useful in the future.”
Wei Youyou did not refuse. Instead, she looked pitifully toward Chu Xun.
Chu Xun understood what she meant and asked He Runpu, “May I borrow the weapon at your waist?”
Without hesitation, He Runpu handed over the short blade hanging at his waist.
Chu Xun took it and briefly examined it.
His decades as a blacksmith allowed him to determine at a glance that the blade’s quality was fairly decent.
He then drew over four strands of metal-essence qi and infused them into the short blade before returning it.
“If you encounter unclean things, you may use this blade against them. Even if you cannot win, it should buy enough time to escape.”
The evil sacrifice wild gods of Mobei varied in strength.
But metal-essence qi inherently restrained evil creatures.
Even if one could not defeat them, it would still provide sufficient deterrence.
He Runpu did not notice what Chu Xun had done. He simply smiled as he accepted the blade.
“Hopefully I’ll never need it.”
Chu Xun said nothing more. After cupping his hands in farewell, he left together with Wei Youyou.
Watching their departing backs, Zhang Shikai curiously looked at the short blade in He Runpu’s hand.
“What did he mean? What’s special about your blade?”
He knew the short blade had been purchased from a Horse Tribe warrior. Its quality was good, but it was still just an ordinary mortal weapon.
How could it possibly help against demons and ghosts?
He Runpu also did not think his blade possessed anything special.
Yet the moment he held it, he felt it had become somewhat heavier than before.
He drew the blade from its sheath.
A clear ringing instantly echoed out like dragon roars and tiger howls.
A white flash of sword light vanished in an instant, incomparably sharp.
Not only He Runpu and Zhang Shikai were stunned.
Even the chief escort nearby, a man around sixty years old, hurried over in surprise.
“What kind of weapon is this? Such astonishing presence!”
Though it had not been used against an enemy, its sharpness already felt unparalleled.
He Runpu stared in shock and quickly turned toward the direction Chu Xun had departed.
But there was no trace of him anymore.
Zhang Shikai also cried out in shock.
“He only touched the blade once! How did it become like this!?”
The other escorts also rushed over curiously.
Upon hearing that the young man who had followed the caravan all this time had merely touched the weapon once and caused this.
The entire group instantly beat their chests in regret.
Had they known such a fortunate encounter awaited them, they would long ago have brought their own weapons over to seek guidance.
He Runpu gazed toward the direction Chu Xun had left and recalled the night Zhang Shikai supposedly encountered the Snow Hollow Ghost yet somehow returned safely.
“Could it be… he secretly helped?”
Then he remembered how Chu Xun had once claimed in the tavern at Jixia Pass that he had farmed in Pinecone Village, where immortals supposedly appeared.
But because his skin was too fair and his appearance too refined, no one had believed him.
He Runpu had never believed Chu Xun was an ordinary farmer.
Before, he had doubted it.
Now he doubted it even less.
The more he thought about it, the faster his heart beat.
“No way…”
At this moment, Chu Xun and Wei Youyou had already left Eagle Pass.
The customs and scenery of Yue Kingdom were not very different from Jing Kingdom.
The language merely differed slightly in accent rather than being incomprehensible.
Most people passing by preferred wearing hemp clothing, likely because hemp was abundant here.
Just as Chu Xun was about to ask Wei Youyou which direction to go, he suddenly heard nearby conversation.
“Have you heard about Elder Huangshi’s hundred-year birthday banquet this year?”
“Of course I’ve heard. Shame I’m not qualified to attend. If I could glimpse his true appearance even once, my life would not have been wasted.”
Chu Xun froze.
The first time he had heard the name Huangshi Gong had been from Princess Yunshu, Xiao Shuying.
When seizing the authority of the various City Gods, Chu Xun had once visited him.
But Huangshi Gong had not been there then. Only servants had informed him that their master had gone traveling and they did not know when he would return.
Unexpectedly, after crossing thousands of li to Yue Kingdom, he heard the name again.
Chu Xun walked over and cupped his hands politely toward the two men speaking.
“May I ask where this Huangshi Gong you mentioned resides?”
The two men, around thirty years old, immediately recognized Chu Xun’s outsider accent.
They returned the greeting before saying, “Little brother, are you also hoping to witness Elder Huangshi’s hundred-year elegance? Better not bother. The only people who can enter his gates are the wealthy and noble of Yue Kingdom. Ordinary people won’t do.”
Chu Xun replied, “Even passing by the entrance would be enough.”
Only then did the man reveal Huangshi Gong’s residence.
After thanking them, Chu Xun departed with Wei Youyou.
The two men paid no further attention and continued discussing among themselves.
“I heard that to enter those gates, you need at least ten taels of gold as a gift, or treasures and medicinal materials of equal value.”
“You think those officials and nobles are fools? Everyone wants a longevity formula from Huangshi Gong. What’s ten taels of gold if it means living several extra years?”
Though Chu Xun had already walked far away, he still heard their discussion clearly.
He could not help feeling surprised.
From Xiao Shuying’s description, Huangshi Gong should have been a reclusive expert.
Yet the one in Yue Kingdom sounded like an extremely greedy wealthy man.
Whether the two were even the same person remained uncertain.
Chu Xun did not think too deeply and instead pulled Wei Youyou forward.
Each step covered two li.
The karmic flames continuously burned away impurities in his body, gradually increasing the distance his Shrinking the Earth Into Inches technique could cover.
Fortunately, Huangshi Gong’s residence was located within Three Pass City, only one hundred thirty li from Eagle Pass.
This had once been Yue Kingdom’s third border checkpoint.
Later, however, the desert swallowed the foremost checkpoint, and repeated Horse Tribe invasions forced Yue Kingdom to abandon that territory and rename Eagle Pass as the first checkpoint.
Yet the name Three Pass City remained unchanged.
Along the road, the villages indeed matched Wei Ting’s descriptions.
The people of Yue Kingdom preferred living in thatched houses.
Every household pasted images of Door Gods upon their doors.
Each county even had dedicated Door God Temples.
As a newcomer, Chu Xun did not rush to “pay a visit.”
Upon entering Three Pass City, he found it already overflowing with people.
Sedan chairs, horse-drawn carriages, mounted riders.
All dressed splendidly, either wealthy or noble.
Throughout the streets and alleys, everyone discussed Huangshi Gong’s hundred-year birthday banquet.
Clearly, this was a famous figure.
Unlike Jing Kingdom, where very few people even knew Huangshi Gong’s name.
There was no need to ask directions.
He did not even need to follow the sedan chairs and carriages of the wealthy.
Because long stretches of brocade fabric had been laid from inside the city all the way outside.
Following the brocade, worth nearly as much as silk made it easy to locate Huangshi Gong’s residence.
It was an extremely grand mansion.
The outer walls had been coated in red wax, while the roof eaves gleamed golden from what was supposedly gold paint.
According to locals, Huangshi Gong not only lived long but was also Yue Kingdom’s richest man.
Gold and silver treasures filled his home everywhere.
Rare treasures from across the world were nothing remarkable to him.
He had once competed in extravagance with one of Yue Kingdom’s great generals.
The general washed his pots with sugar water, so Huangshi Gong burned candles as cooking fuel.
The general displayed a two-chi red coral, an incredibly valuable sea treasure.
Huangshi Gong responded by having servants bring over more than ten red corals from his treasury.
The tallest were three to four chi high, while even the smallest exceeded two chi.
He let the general choose whichever he wanted, utterly convincing the man of defeat.
The more Chu Xun listened, the more he felt he had heard such stories somewhere before, making the matter even stranger.
Someone sharing the exact same name as a reclusive immortal expert yet living in such luxury in Yue Kingdom felt deeply bizarre.
In front of the thirteen-chi-high vermilion gates stretched a long line of people delivering congratulatory gifts.
The steward stood atop the steps receiving gifts, recording names, and loudly announcing who had arrived and what they brought.
If the gifts were insufficiently impressive, the giver would feel greatly embarrassed.
Thus all kinds of rare treasures, antiques, and paintings appeared endlessly.
After watching at the entrance for a while, Chu Xun brought Wei Youyou around to the rear and passed directly through the wall.
Then he used the divine ability Concealing Form and Hidden Shadow, rendering both himself and Wei Youyou invisible.
They openly walked past the servants inside the estate without anyone noticing.
Before long, Chu Xun located the main hall.
An elderly man with completely white hair and beard sat at the seat of honor.
He wore exquisite silk robes stitched with gold thread and decorated with thin sheets of gold.
Several thumb-sized pearls were embedded in his boots.
The tea table appeared made from some unknown material wrapped in gold plating with silver-thread floral patterns.
The rest of the room’s furnishings were similarly extravagant.
Even the tea cups were made entirely of gold.
A servant was currently escorting out a third-rank Vice Minister of Yue Kingdom.
The old man lifted his golden tea cup and took a small sip.
Chu Xun stood beside him, observing carefully for some time.
He indeed sensed the aura of a cultivator.
Yet the aura was extremely strange, wavering and unstable.
It resembled neither a living person nor a ghost.
Using Qi-Gazing and Fate Perception, Chu Xun found he could only see faint drifting spiritual qi.
There was not even any life flame.
Even the old man himself vanished entirely from Chu Xun’s vision.
It was the first time Chu Xun had encountered such a situation.
After thinking briefly, he closed the room’s doors.
The old man looked startled.
Then Chu Xun revealed himself and cupped his hands politely.
“I come from Jing Kingdom. Hearing of Elder Huangshi’s hundred-year birthday banquet, I came specifically to pay a visit.”
The old man was none other than Yue Kingdom’s legendary richest man, Huangshi Gong.
Seeing Chu Xun suddenly appear, surprise flashed through his eyes, yet he showed no panic.
Instead, joy rapidly spread across his face.
Outside, servants called out, “Master, the Minister of Justice is still waiting!”
“Make him wait!” Huangshi Gong replied without hesitation. “This old man wishes to rest for a while. All of you leave and do not disturb me!”
The servants suspected nothing and withdrew from the courtyard.
Huangshi Gong immediately cupped his hands toward Chu Xun in return.
“May I ask if Immortal Master is a cultivator?”
His attitude slightly surprised Chu Xun.
“Yes.”
Joy filled Huangshi Gong’s face even more.
“I have waited nearly a hundred years for Immortal Master’s arrival.”
Chu Xun was puzzled.
“You knew I would come?”
“I did not.” Huangshi Gong shook his head.
He had not been waiting for Chu Xun specifically.
He had merely been waiting for a cultivator. Whoever arrived made no difference.
Chu Xun asked, “Why is your aura so strange?”
Huangshi Gong froze before suddenly seeming to realize something.
He quickly apologized.
“Immortal Master, forgive me. This is not my true body but a straw puppet technique. My real body cultivates elsewhere. If Immortal Master wishes, I can summon it immediately.”
Chu Xun suddenly understood.
No wonder there were Huangshi Gongs in both Jing Kingdom and Yue Kingdom.
One was real.
One was fake.
“Why do this?” Chu Xun asked curiously.
“Naturally to more conveniently accumulate wealth and fame,” Huangshi Gong replied.
After his explanation, Chu Xun finally understood the reasons behind everything.
Huangshi Gong truly was a cultivator.
But he had neither sect nor master to guide him.
Everything began when he accidentally encountered a wandering cultivator who casually taught him several breathing formulas.
From then onward, Huangshi Gong became obsessed with cultivation and immortality.
At that time, he had merely been the son of an ordinary merchant.
In pursuit of immortality, he desperately earned money.
Then he spent those earnings searching for cultivation manuals, magical treasures, and information.
Though the overwhelming majority proved fake, his endless searching year after year truly uncovered some genuine items.
Unfortunately, cultivation was incomparably difficult.
Without guidance, relying only on personal study was like reading heavenly scripture.
Moreover, the things he obtained were not especially good.
Among them, the most useful was an ancient book specifically recording various talismans.
The Straw Puppet Technique had been learned from it.
Merely mastering that technique had taken Huangshi Gong forty full years.
Afterward, his true body traveled to Jing Kingdom while the straw puppet remained in Yue Kingdom.
As for why he lived in such extravagance, the reason was simple.
The more luxurious he appeared, the more easily his reputation spread.
The greater his fame, the more people would seek to associate with him.
The broader his connections, the easier it became to find what he sought.
Wealth no longer held meaning for him.
Now he only desired immortality.
Unfortunately, despite spending his entire life collecting countless so-called cultivation manuals, his achievements remained limited.
His ability to survive beyond a hundred years came partly from the breathing formulas casually taught by that immortal and partly from the nourishment of heavenly treasures.
Besides that, Huangshi Gong had also found a Qi Refinement outline.
Unfortunately, it was incomplete.
Even after cultivating without regard for cost, he had only reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
Afterward, Huangshi Gong brought over the Qi Refinement outline and the ancient talisman book.
Chu Xun flipped through them.
Although his own cultivation came from missions, his Golden Core realm allowed him to understand the Qi Refinement outline easily.
To his delight, the cultivation method focused on gathering eastern wood qi.
Chu Xun needed to collect the five elemental qi to establish the world pillars of his small world.
At present, he only possessed methods for western metal-essence qi.
The remaining four elemental qi could be used directly, but he lacked methods to gather and store them.
This Qi Refinement outline was like receiving a pillow just as sleepiness struck.
Even the ancient talisman book was highly useful.
Besides the Straw Puppet Technique, it contained many other talismans.
Blessings, warding disasters, slaying evil, and more.
Huangshi Gong watched eagerly from the side.
Once Chu Xun lowered the books, he immediately asked, “Can Immortal Master teach me the art of immortality?”
Chu Xun shook his head.
“I cannot. I do not know how to grant immortality.”
That was the truth.
Even he himself was still walking the path toward immortality.
How could he teach others?
Huangshi Gong looked disappointed and glanced toward the Qi Refinement outline.
“Then can Immortal Master complete this incomplete manual?”
Chu Xun again shook his head.
“There is no way.”
“Then…”
Chu Xun looked at him.
“What you seek, I cannot provide. But if you merely wish to remain in this world, I do have one method. Whether it suits your wishes is another matter.”
Huangshi Gong’s eyes lit up.
“What method?”
“Join under my command. After your death, I will confer upon you the title of Six Jia Divine General, allowing you to persist through incense worship,” Chu Xun said.
Though he had only just met Huangshi Gong, both the Qi Refinement outline and talisman book were extremely useful to him.
If Huangshi Gong was willing, reserving a Divine General position for him would not be excessive.
Hearing this, Huangshi Gong fell silent.
He naturally knew what incense gods were.
After cultivating for so many years, even if he was not particularly powerful, he still knew far more than ordinary people.
Incense gods indeed could persist eternally.
But they lacked freedom.
They could not roam the heavens and earth freely like true cultivators.
Most importantly, Huangshi Gong lacked neither fame nor money.
At the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, he could still live another twenty or thirty years at minimum.
As long as he remained healthy, Chu Xun truly had no other benefits to offer him.
Seeing Huangshi Gong hesitate, Chu Xun said, “You may consider this slowly. There is still plenty of time. No need to decide immediately.”
Huangshi Gong understood his meaning and asked, “Does Immortal Master plan to remain in Yue Kingdom?”
“Not necessarily. But I likely won’t leave anytime soon,” Chu Xun replied.
After all, he still had not visited Wei Youyou’s hometown.
Hearing this, Huangshi Gong relaxed somewhat.
As long as Chu Xun remained nearby, everything could still be discussed.
Though becoming an incense god was not the best option, it was at least a final path after death.
If he truly failed to find a better cultivation method during his lifetime, such a backup path was not bad.
Though lacking freedom, it still surpassed total death.
Afterward, Huangshi Gong personally poured tea for Chu Xun and invited him to sit.
Over the years, his straw puppet technique had allowed him to travel many places—far farther than Wei Ting ever had.
He had even visited distant great nations.
The things he knew were innumerable.
Whether Jing Kingdom or Yue Kingdom, both belonged among the weakest minor nations of the world.
The nations resembled roots of an ancient tree.
The outermost small nations were merely the thinnest roots.
The closer one traveled toward the center, the thicker the roots and the stronger the nations became.
Naturally, the incense gods they appointed also became stronger.
From Jing Kingdom to the greatest central nations was a full hundred and eight thousand li.
An unimaginably vast distance.
“I once heard that at the western edge of heaven lies Penglai Immortal Island. Yet even after years sailing the seas, I never found it.
I also heard that at the southern edge of heaven stands Kunlun Divine Mountain, where the Queen Mother and immortals dwell. Yet after searching mountains throughout the world, I never found a single mountain named Kunlun.
Immortal Master, do such immortal lands simply not exist, or am I merely lacking the fortune to encounter them?”
Chu Xun could not answer.
Perhaps immortal realms existed.
But not everyone was destined to see them.
Still, many legends of this world bore certain similarities to stories he himself had once heard, making truth and falsehood difficult to determine.
Chu Xun looked at Huangshi Gong.
“Do you know someone named Zhang Liang?”
Huangshi Gong shook his head.
“I have never known such a person.”
Chu Xun felt slightly disappointed.
Perhaps the name Huangshi Gong was merely coincidence.
At that moment, Huangshi Gong suddenly knelt and kowtowed.
“I have spent my entire life seeking immortality and the Dao, desiring only eternal life. I beg Immortal Master to grant me some destined opportunity. Even if I only walk once through an immortal realm, my wish will be fulfilled.”
After pondering for a moment, Chu Xun said, “I possess a divine ability called One Dream of Yellow Millet. Within dreams, your wishes may be fulfilled. Yet dreams are still dreams. They may soothe temporary regrets but are not reality.”
Huangshi Gong replied sincerely, “Even if it is only a dream, I am willing.”
He had sought immortals and the Dao his entire life.
Now he understood how difficult immortality truly was.
All he wanted was to know what those so-called immortal realms looked like.
That alone would ease some of his regrets.
Even if false, it was still better than nothing.
Chu Xun stopped wasting words.
“Then sleep for a while.”
Huangshi Gong kowtowed in thanks before rising and sitting in the chair.
Soon, drowsiness overtook him and he fell deeply asleep.
Chu Xun watched curiously, wondering what Huangshi Gong would dream of.
Since the divine ability originated from him, Chu Xun could also witness everything within the dream.
With a thought, illusory scenes surfaced within his mind.
Huangshi Gong still appeared old and white-haired as he wandered among mountains seeking immortality.
One day, beside a river, he saw an old man fishing.
Strangely, the old man’s hook was perfectly straight.
Dust covered his body, and moss even grew upon him. Clearly, he had sat there for an extremely long time.
Huangshi Gong approached and asked, “Your hook is straight. How can you possibly catch fish?”
The old man smiled faintly.
“Straight hook or curved hook, it matters not. Those willing will bite.”
Huangshi Gong found it fascinating and sat with him for a long time, chatting endlessly.
Though the old man appeared ordinary, he possessed tremendous insight.
A few casual words alone could enlighten people completely.
More than ten years later, a middle-aged man with graying hair arrived nearby, his face filled with sorrow.
Seeing the old man fishing with a straight hook, he also found it curious and asked the same question Huangshi Gong once had.
The old man answered the same way.
“Those willing will bite.”
The graying man seemed enlightened.
He bowed deeply and begged the old man to emerge and assist him in accomplishing great things.
Thus the old man gathered his fishing rod and departed with him.
Huangshi Gong had no choice but to continue wandering elsewhere.
Many years later, he heard that a feudal lord surnamed Ji, assisted by Jiang Shang, had overthrown the previous dynasty and founded a new dynasty called Great Zhou.
Huangshi Gong even traveled there to take official examinations and served several years as a minor official.
But Zhou was too small, and he found it uninteresting, so he resigned and left.
Years later, Zhou collapsed.
The feudal lords rose against one another in endless war.
By then, Huangshi Gong had already wandered the world for several hundred years.
He no longer felt tired.
Nor hungry.
Several years later, at Mount Juqu, he met a man called Nanhua Zhenren.
The two discussed cultivation extensively.
Huangshi Gong gained many insights, while Nanhua Zhenren created the Nanhua Scripture because of those discussions.
Later, the feudal lords were destroyed and the world unified beneath a new dynasty called Qin.
At that time, a young man heard rumors of immortals on Mount Juqu and came seeking them.
The youth possessed astonishing talent.
Anything taught once, he instantly understood.
Seeing his sincerity, Nanhua Zhenren taught him the Nanhua Scripture and various Dao techniques.
After cultivating many years in the mountains, Huangshi Gong also gained accomplishments but eventually grew bored and descended once more.
He served as an official in Qin for several years before discovering the dynasty’s fate seemed strangely weak.
Thus he resigned again and withdrew into seclusion.
At the northern foothills of Huang Mountain in Pizhou’s northwest, he carved out a cave dwelling.
Imitating Nanhua Zhenren, he named it Huanghua Cave and called himself Huanghua Zhenren.
Several years later, Huangshi Gong heard from mountain villagers that Qin had collapsed.
He sighed in amazement that a dynasty had changed after only several decades.
Recalling how Nanhua Zhenren had accepted disciples, Huangshi Gong also wished to pass down his learning.
Thus he descended the mountain once more to search for a destined disciple.
One day—
Upon a stone bridge in Pi Town, he encountered a young man.
Feeling a sense of fate, Huangshi Gong threw his shoe beneath the bridge and ordered the young man to retrieve it.
The young man obeyed.
Huangshi Gong then instructed him to return to the bridge several mornings later, promising a destined opportunity.
Several days later, the young man arrived early at the bridge but saw no sign of Huangshi Gong.
Only at night did Huangshi Gong finally arrive leisurely.
He again instructed the young man to return several days later at dawn.
Several days later, the young man came once more and still failed to find Huangshi Gong.
Again Huangshi Gong arrived only at night and told him to return yet again.
After repeating this three times, Huangshi Gong recognized that the young man possessed steadfast will, humility, great wisdom, and tremendous fate.
Thus he compiled into a book the military teachings he had learned from Grand Duke Jiang and gifted them to the youth.
He told him:
“Study this, and you shall become a king’s teacher. In ten years you shall rise. In thirteen years, come find me in Jibei, the yellow stone beneath Gucheng Mountain shall be me.”
Several years later, the young man named Zhang Liang gained the favor of a warlord through the military text.
He helped the warlord defeat powerful enemies and establish a new dynasty named Han.
Zhang Liang understood deeply the principle that once birds are gone, good bows are hidden away; once cunning rabbits die, hunting dogs are cooked.
Thus he voluntarily resigned and withdrew.
Yet Liu Bang feared his brilliance and refused to release him easily.
One night, Zhang Liang traveled lightly.
In the mountains, Liu Bang’s trusted followers caught up to him.
Zhang Liang severed the rope bridge with a slash of his blade, parting forever.
Later, he unearthed a massive yellow stone in Jibei and befriended a man named Chisongzi.
From then onward, he traveled the world carrying the yellow stone alongside Chisongzi.
At this point, Huangshi Gong had already lived over a thousand years.
Life had become unbearably dull.
He no longer knew where he should go.
Many years later, he heard that Nanhua Zhenren’s disciple Zuo Ci had also descended the mountains, and thus knew the Han Dynasty’s fate was nearing its end.
Leaving behind the Three Strategies of Huangshi, he withdrew into the mountains and ceased concerning himself with worldly affairs.
Sitting in meditation within his cave dwelling, he suddenly felt overwhelming drowsiness.
Half-conscious, he sank deeply into sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, Chu Xun sat before him wearing an astonished expression.
Though Huangshi Gong had failed to find immortal realms in his thousand-year dream, he had encountered many cultivators.
Awakening now, he suddenly burst into laughter.
“After cultivating for a thousand years, I finally understand that I am myself, and I myself am immortal. Whether I reach immortal realms or not no longer matters.”
Yet the Chu Xun sitting opposite him wore a face filled with shock.
Because everything within Huangshi Gong’s dream was too utterly overturning.
From Great Zhou to Qin to Han—
The dynasties, histories, and figures were all deeply familiar to Chu Xun.
Clearly this was not the same world, yet Huangshi Gong’s dream had recreated them completely.
The moment Chu Xun first saw Grand Duke Jiang saying “those willing will bite,” he suspected One Dream of Yellow Millet might be guided by his own subconscious thoughts.
Otherwise, why would Huangshi Gong, who had never even known Zhang Liang, dream of Grand Duke Jiang?
Yet afterward, Huangshi Gong befriending Nanhua Zhenren and Nanhua accepting a disciple named Zuo Ci.
Those were things Chu Xun himself had never previously known.
He began wondering whether this was truly merely Huangshi Gong’s dream.
Or events that had genuinely happened somewhere.
Then came Huangshi Gong teaching military strategy to Zhang Liang, assisting Liu Bang in establishing Han, and later Zuo Ci descending the mountain as the Three Kingdoms era began.
Huangshi Gong awoke from the dream, his wishes fulfilled.
Chu Xun, however, felt only shock.
The dream was far too bizarre.
Coincidence?
Or something else entirely?
Seeing Chu Xun’s strange expression, Huangshi Gong could not help asking, “Why does Immortal Master look at me this way?”
Chu Xun looked at him and asked, “Do you still remember everything you saw and learned in the dream?”
Huangshi Gong thought briefly.
“Of course I remember.”
“Then do you think you could cultivate immortality through what you learned in that dream?” Chu Xun asked.
Huangshi Gong froze.
He had only considered it a dream and had not taken it too seriously.
But now that Chu Xun asked, he could not help recalling the thousand years within the dream.
What cultivation meant.
What military strategy meant.
What the passing of ages meant.
Every memory remained vivid.
Excitement immediately filled him.
“Immortal Master, could it be that the Dao techniques you taught me within the dream can also be cultivated in reality?”
How could Chu Xun know whether it would work?
But more than anyone, he wanted to know the answer.
If Huangshi Gong truly could cultivate immortality through what he learned in the dream.
Then Chu Xun had vastly underestimated the divine ability One Dream of Yellow Millet.
It could even be said that the divine ability might represent a truth so shocking it was almost unbelievable.
Recalling countless immortal legends from the past, many immortals had possessed neither masters nor historical records.
Like monkeys leaping from stones, they had simply appeared from nowhere.
Chu Xun stared at Huangshi Gong, vaguely sensing his divine ability was far more extraordinary than he had imagined.
“You should carefully recall everything and cultivate diligently. If your cultivation succeeds, I will come see you again.”
Huangshi Gong nodded.
He immediately fetched brush and paper, writing down cultivation insights, Grand Duke military strategies, and more.
Chu Xun requested copies for himself before departing with countless unresolved questions.
[End of Chapter]
