Chapter 18: The Mortal Realm's Sanctuary

The years at the Guixu Cottage flowed like a mountain spring, silent and ceaseless.

A century to ordinary mortals spans generations; to common cultivators, it is long years of seclusion and arduous training. But to me, Jiang Yiyi, and Jiang Xiaobai, it passed in the blink of an eye.

Throughout these hundred-plus years, the Hundred Herbs Valley and the Beast Taming Lin family have faithfully upheld their promises, continuously providing various resources. Together, they silently forged an invisible shield around Guixu Cottage, isolating it from all prying eyes and disturbances. Yet, the legend of the “Guixu Recluse” lingered like an eternal mist, growing ever more mysterious and awe-inspiring.

Under ample spiritual energy and my guidance, my daughters’ cultivation had long since recovered and stabilized at the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage. Their magical power was pure and vast, their divine abilities wielded with ease—enough to ensure their safety anywhere in the Eastern Domain.

Yet, I sensed an intangible barrier within them.

It was not a limit of cultivation, but a shackle on their hearts.

The Transformation to Spirit stage is a true chasm in the path of cultivation. It demands that the cultivator’s spirit harmonizes with the Dao of Heaven and Earth, that the Nascent Soul evolves into a true Spirit, transcending the mortal realm to roam the boundless void. This leap requires more than mere accumulation of power; it demands profound insight into the Dao of Heaven and Earth, all beings, and oneself.

Xiaobai, since the awakening of her sentience, has stayed by my side. From Earth’s immortal lands of Penglai to this world’s Guixu Cottage, all she has seen and heard are scenes of immortality, all she has touched and felt is pure spiritual energy. Her heart is like a blank sheet of paper, pure and flawless, yet precisely because of that, it lacks the rich hues of mortal life.

She understands “birth” but has never deeply experienced mortal “aging, sickness, and death”; she comprehends “emotion” but has not personally endured worldly “love, hatred, and vengeance.” Her Dao is built on perfect theory within an ivory tower, lacking the grounding of real practice.

This is the fundamental reason why she has long been unable to reach the threshold of Spirit Transformation—a barrier of the spirit.

I did not point it out, for the Dao must be realized, not spoken. My choice to remain here for a hundred years was to create an absolutely safe environment, allowing them to complete in their own way the essential lesson called “tempering the heart in the mortal world.”

Guixu Cottage is their cultivation ground.

Jiang Yiyi’s transformation unfolded quietly.

Her nature was always serene and close to nature. At first, she merely tended the herb garden, keeping company with the spirit beasts. But gradually, she became unsatisfied. She began trying to connect her divine consciousness with a blade of grass, a single flower.

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the spirit field, her eyes half-closed, she seemed to become a jade statue. Her Nascent Soul apparition emerged from the heavenly spirit—a translucent, solemn miniature of herself. The tiny figure’s hands formed seals, and an invisible force, brimming with vigorous life energy, rippled outward like gentle waves.

This power lacked earth-shaking might but nourished all things silently.

It brushed over the herb garden, causing spirit herbs that once took ten years to mature to bloom overnight with their most potent efficacy; it swept through the peach grove, making the blossoms more radiant and the spirit peaches imbued with life energy many times stronger; it merged into the mountains, gently smoothing the underground spirit veins, harmonizing and enriching the flow of spiritual energy throughout Guixu Cottage.

Jiang Yiyi’s breathing gradually synchronized with the rhythm of this land.

At dawn, when she opened her eyes, a dewdrop slid from her lashes into the soil, and a tender sprout broke through the earth at a visible pace, swaying in the breeze. At dusk, with a soft sigh, a blooming flower would quietly wither, its petals transforming into the purest nourishment, returning to the earth.

Life and death, flourishing and withering, completed a tiny cycle at her mere thought.

She no longer merely “observed” life but “mastered” it. She infused her own “Way of Life Energy” into this paradise she had crafted. Every inch of Guixu Cottage became an extension of her Dao; her Nascent Soul apparition grew ever more solid through daily insight, gaining a hint of divine tolerance embracing all things.

“One day, Father,” she said softly, gazing over the thriving garden, “I think I understand now. To live is not to see all the sights of the world, but to protect a single scenery, to watch its blossoms and fruits, year after year.”

I smiled and nodded. Her Dao had found its true direction.

Jiang Xiaobai’s path, however, led elsewhere—seeking through motion.

Her nature was lively and restless; sitting still was a torment. She brimmed with curiosity about the “mortal world” below the mountain. At first, she satisfied her curiosity through contact with the Lin family. But over time, she began to savor a different flavor from these interactions.

As the “Guixu Little Fairy,” she would occasionally advise the Lin family’s young beast tamers. A single remark, “This pangolin’s earth escape technique lacks weight,” became a treasured insight, prompting months of contemplation before the Lin family refined their techniques.

She would also, during the junior Lin family members’ ancestral rites, quietly summon a breeze of spiritual wind to disperse the gloom over the graves, extending blessings to their descendants.

Her favorite pastime was listening to Lin Zixuan tell stories from the mortal world below—the weddings, the births, which cultivator found a lucky treasure in the market, which clan erupted into violent conflict over resources… what once seemed trivial and dull gradually formed a vivid, living tapestry of “human society.”

She began to understand why the Lin family would sacrifice their lives to protect their clan; why the Hundred Herbs Valley bowed willingly to preserve their sect’s legacy. The “bonds” and “responsibilities” she once despised were so weighty, so deeply moving.

One day, a Lin family caravan was ambushed by bandits, suffering heavy losses. An official close to Lin Zixuan was gravely wounded, barely clinging to life. Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiaobai felt “anger” and “worry” for the first time.

She did not descend the mountain, for I had warned her not to meddle lightly in mortal karma. But she sat atop the peak, silently staring toward the Lin family. Her Nascent Soul apparition appeared in her mind, its bright eyes now shining with an unfamiliar resolve.

She summoned her demonic power, drawing the surrounding spiritual energy of Guixu Cottage into a pure life force, transmitting it silently across the distance to the injured Lin official. This force was quiet yet crucial, sustaining his final breath and buying precious time for the Lin family’s alchemists to heal him.

When the official was finally saved, Jiang Xiaobai exhaled deeply, a genuine smile blooming on her face. In that moment, she felt her heart open wide, as if an invisible shackle had been removed.

She ran to me, looking up with earnest eyes: “Father, I used to think the happiest thing was to do whatever I wanted without restraint. Now I realize, protecting those I care about so they can live freely makes me happier.”

I stroked her head, my heart filled with relief. Her “Path of Freedom” had finally found its true essence—not escaping karma but guarding good fate within it, thus attaining true freedom.

Thus, within the small Guixu Cottage, Jiang Yiyi crafted her “one flower, one world,” while Jiang Xiaobai, from this tiny valley, reached out to the vast “three thousand mortal worlds.”

One seeking inward, the other exploring outward.

Like two carefully polished uncut jades, they gradually shed their roughness in this world called “the mortal realm,” blossoming with their own unique Dao’s brilliance. And I remain the most devoted guardian of this sanctuary, quietly awaiting the day they break free from their cocoons and truly soar above the nine heavens with power and heart alike.