Volume Five: Ancient Legends Chapter 54: Eventually, There Are Signs That Lead to Destiny

Not long after Mo Qianxun and other Demonic Sect members from the Jiuli Tribe departed, the disciples of the Misty Sect received a divine decree ordering them to accelerate their cultivation progress and lay the groundwork for upcoming cultivation matters.

Simultaneously, the alchemists in charge of the Alchemy Pavilion generously distributed pills suitable for their cultivation to every single disciple.

Coincidentally, that very evening, Chen Chen and his companions heard rumors during a gathering that several tribes in the Great Xiu State had been plagued by ferocious beasts infiltrating their settlements and harming the living.

"Have you heard? Some people were actually devoured by snakes, eaten down to the bone with not a scrap of flesh left!" The disciples of the Misty Sect were exchanging news and keeping each other informed.

"I heard about it too, and in some cases, not even their skeletal remains were left behind. Word is that those man-eaters are grand beasts of heaven and earth. In some places, large-scale beast stampedes have even breached city gates. Who knows what is happening? We had all better work hard to elevate our strength. Perhaps one day, we might just be able to survive a few rounds right under the noses of those supreme beasts," another Misty Sect disciple remarked while sharing the latest intelligence.

Daily life for the disciples of the Misty Sect revolved around the basics of food, clothing, housing, and travel, leaving them with little time to waste.

For a time, exchanging information had become their primary channel for acquiring more knowledge and growing stronger.

"Even those sacred cauldrons guarding Huaxia have reportedly been overturned by fierce beasts at times. Since we are all surviving within this sect, we must look out for one another in the future!" Several Misty Sect members spoke among themselves. Seeing Chen Chen approach, they looked displeased and said, "This place is not meant for a long stay. We had better turn in early."

With that, the group scattered like startled birds, quickly abandoning their gathering spot.

Chen Chen felt rather bewildered at this moment. In such a realistic world, danger sometimes lurked right beside you. One had to study diligently and work hard so that in the future, one would not lose so miserably nor be defeated so completely.

Another day arrived with the sun climbing high into the sky, and the cultivation endeavors within the Misty Sect were gradually making progress.

Boosted by miraculous elixirs, everyone in the Misty Sect made noticeable advancements in their realms of cultivation.

Within the world of immortal cultivation, factions had always possessed their own distinct techniques and lineages.

Particularly in the Breeze Continent, a realm fiercely guarded by immortals, there existed a multitude of immortal cultivation arts. To ensure the continuous prosperity of the immortals and to derive new cultivation techniques, it was paramountly important.

At present, the trend of cultivating immortality was flourishing. The Breeze Tribe had introduced the cultivation system of the Breeze Dao Sage, beginning their journey from Daoist disciples and even Daoist slaves.

Legend had it that back in the day, the Breeze Dao Sage underwent tens of thousands of tribulations altogether in the journey from a mere Daoist disciple to a Daoist Sage.

Fortunately, not everyone in the Breeze Tribe, where the Misty Sect resided, was blindly ambitious.

Take that figure surnamed Zhang, the Jade Emperor, who achieved saintly status after undergoing merely three thousand two hundred tribulations.

The tens of thousands of tribulations experienced by the Breeze Dao Sage clearly demonstrated how exceptionally solid one's foundation needed to be.

Looking back at the disciples of the Misty Sect, each faced their own survival crises.

Cultivating immortality within the Misty Sect of the Breeze Tribe meant they had to guard against the pressure brought by beast sieges while simultaneously staying vigilant against Demonic Sect members from tribes like the Jiuli Tribe coming to challenge them on their own turf.

As things stood, their cultivation had to advance steadily while minimizing side effects, leaving them with fewer worries for the future.

Following this, Chen Chen and the others received orders from the Misty Sect to find a small amount of raw silver, grind it into powder, mix it into clear water, and consume it together to mitigate the medicinal toxins accumulated from taking pills.

The search for raw silver gradually became a major undertaking within the Misty Sect.

It was recorded in the *Baopuzi* that consuming silver dissolved in water could also lead one to attain the status of an earthly immortal.

Viewed in this light, grinding raw silver into powder and mixing it with clear water had become a matter of prime importance for neutralizing medicinal toxins, as well as accelerating one's progress toward immortality.

After this event, the disciples of the Misty Sect gradually stepped onto the proper track of cultivating toward immortality.

"Since pills are free for the taking, there's no reason not to use them. Once you start using them, you can only keep going down this path," Chen Chen thought to himself as he pressed forward on the road toward greater power.

Chen Chen pondered whether one day he might break through the shackles and attain a higher realm of cultivation, possessing his own home and family just like the adult who taught them how to strengthen their bodies.

Chen Chen was only in his early teens. During this period, the only way he could possibly achieve his goal of living a decent, somewhat accomplished life among mortals like that adult was by striving relentlessly in his cultivation.

Fortunately, after years of accumulation, the Misty Sect possessed the capability to procure and consume raw silver mixed in water.

Upon stepping down from the Misty Sect, Chen Chen and his peers received a new assignment.

They were to accompany the immortal elders deep into the mountains to hunt ferocious beasts and broaden their horizons.

As time flowed onward, there were only a few years left before the impending beast siege.

Chen Chen and the others hurried into the mountains to cultivate early, aiming to acclimate themselves in advance to the lifestyle of battling ferocious beasts.

In that year, Chen Chen turned fifteen, leaving only a few years before his twenty-0'clock prime.

Chen Chen knew very well that the year he reached twenty would likely coincide with the year of the beast siege.

As Chen Chen roamed the deep mountains, the companions by his side steadily dwindled in number.

Some had ventured far away, withdrawing from the sect's life to adapt to the outside world; others drifted away from the sect, roaming alone and living a life dependent on the charity of others.

Some members of the sect encountered various crises along their journey and ended up as food in the bellies of ferocious beasts.

Others chose to break away from their groups mid-journey, opting to survive in the world entirely on their own.

Walking through such a mortal realm, Chen Chen became a role model in everyone's eyes.

He strove to survive and live well, embodying the lifestyle everyone envied. He did not need to make grandiose statements; he simply followed the crowd, walking further and further down the path of survival.

Chen Chen accumulated more stories, and those stories unfolded right around him: his cultivation progress, his physical condition, and his living circumstances.

At this time, Chen Chen was still merely a Daoist disciple, with the title of Daoist Master still a distant and intangible dream.

The Dao of survival was meant for better survival.

To live and live well—that was the most suitable Dao of survival for him.

Those disciples of the Misty Sect found some nameless excuse, claiming they would gather at the sect again if anything came up in the future, and each returned to their respective homes.

Of course, there were also those who felt nostalgic for the Misty Sect and chose to remain, continuing their lives there.

Chen Chen descended from the sect, returning to his home village, one of seven or eight settlements within the Breeze Tribe. He brought his personal Dao of survival back with him, and life had gradually returned to a state of tranquility.

That once-a-century beast siege might still arrive, perhaps in the near future.

Or perhaps, it could happen at this very moment.

Chen Chen did not have the spare energy to ponder such things deeply; he only knew that everything existed merely for the sake of survival.

Without needing to say much, even in a brief span of time, failing to conduct oneself properly as a human being could expose one to mortal peril.

This was Chen Chen's first time facing the survival game of the mortal world squarely: whether it was the occasional beast siege or the failure to go up the mountains to hunt for even a short period, one would likewise face a crisis of survival.

In the small village where Chen Chen survived, and within the Breeze Tribe where he resided, they faced numerous trials regarding food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

They had their own interests, their own careers, and their own destinies.

In even more distant places, they carried even greater individual destinies.

The role played by predestined fate was sometimes precisely to distinguish whether people still shared a community of destiny.

If interests were not shared, there was no need to strive for mutual gains or plot the division of spoils; that was neither the right path nor a proper undertaking.

Careers were not shared, so there was no need to struggle together for a career; those were simply not people fighting side by side toward the same professional goals.

They were not people who needed to persevere together for the sake of survival, love, and life.

Destinies were not shared, so there was no need to drag unrelated people into the mix.

Destiny referred to those whose paths of life ran closely parallel, forming a true community of destiny.

If these boundaries were transgressed, and transgressed repeatedly, survival would become an excruciating ordeal.

Doing what ought not be done, plotting interests that ought not be sought, and entangling destinies that ought not be bound—how could any of that lead to a good outcome?

It would only consume and waste the energy and time urgently needed for the tasks at hand, throwing everything into utter chaos.

When the distribution of interests is inaccurate, it betrays the community of interest, which will gradually bring losses to the organization, making elimination a mere matter of time.

When career ambitions head in the wrong direction, the efforts expended yield double the work with half the results, failing to achieve the proper efficiency in execution.

When destinies are arbitrarily bound to random individuals, how can one possibly manage things in an orderly fashion or maintain a clear train of thought?

Chen Chen was still just a youth at this stage, too young to understand many things.

Including the profound content written across his fingertips, he comprehended very little of it.

He only knew that life had temporarily reached this juncture, and he must keep walking down the path of survival, maintaining a certain level of spiritual attainment no matter where he went.

There was still much Chen Chen did not know; he was merely an adolescent.

The direction of cultivation remained a vague concept to him.

Transitioning from a Daoist disciple to a Daoist Master—how easy was that to say?

Having read too few Daoist scriptures, one could at best be considered a novice apprentice.

In the remainder of his life, Chen Chen still had countless life journeys and trials ahead of him to comprehend his own Dao.

To walk forward on the path of life for no particular reason—everything seeming both present and yet absent at the same time—that was the true essence of life.

Not every matter is fully prepared in the present; not every object is completely supplied in full array.

One should not expect everything to be absolute truth, for very few things in life are one hundred percent genuine and factual. No matter how authentic something appears, it carries a hint of a flaw.

Sometimes, even names are temporarily mere placeholders.

Life is like a play, and it is precisely just a play. There are things so fake they can be seen through at a glance, or heard to be false the moment the words are uttered.

Yet one cannot assume everything is entirely false either, for falsehood is merely a transient concept.

As time drifts onward, one eventually discovers that the truth is concealed right within, elusive yet undeniably present.

The truth in truth, goodness, and beauty is hidden deep within the details.

Invisible and intangible truths are precisely one such manifestation.

As for genuine affection, sincere intent, true heart, true love, true self, true knowledge, and the ultimate truth—only when one possesses sufficient strength might Chen Chen ever possibly uncover his own authentic circumstances.