Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Beginning of Seclusion, The Completion of the Dao

The days spent back in the Immortal Hall were tranquil and fulfilling.

During the daylight hours, I guided Yiyi in cultivating the “Life of All Beings Technique,” watching her frolic among the mountains with Little White, the three-tailed spirit fox, as she infused the silent medicinal fields with threads of vitality. I myself would sit cross-legged at the center of the Guixu Grand Hall, sorting through the vast, mist-like legacy of Penglai that flooded my mind.

Body refinement, swordsmanship, formations, alchemy... The inheritance left by the Elder of Guixu was profound and all-encompassing.

After decades of tempering my heart in the world of mortals, my Dao heart had long become unyielding as stone. Now, with the boundless vitality of the Longevity Saint Pill as my foundation, my state of mind and insight had reached an unprecedented peak.

I could distinctly sense that the divine sea within me had expanded to its utmost limit. That golden ocean formed from true essence surged with monstrous waves, furiously assaulting an invisible barrier.

The bottleneck was at hand; a breakthrough imminent.

After the Golden Core stage comes the Nascent Soul stage. The so-called Nascent Soul is a miniature “energy infant,” identical in appearance to oneself, condensed within the divine sea by using the soul as guide and true essence as body.

Once the Nascent Soul is formed, a cultivator gains a second life. Even if the physical body is destroyed, as long as the Nascent Soul survives, one can seize another body and be reborn—marking the true threshold of longevity.

This step was vital.

One morning, I called Yiyi to my side.

“Father, your aura... it feels like the ocean is about to surge,” she observed, her eyes clear with understanding.

I smiled, gently patting her head. “Yes, Father will be in seclusion for a while, to transform this Golden Core into a real little person.”

“You’re going to form a Nascent Soul?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“How long will it take?”

“At best, a few years; at worst... it’s hard to say,” I replied honestly. “While I’m away, you must cultivate diligently, take care of Little White, and look after yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Father.” Yiyi’s face showed no hint of reluctance at our parting, only calm and support. “Penglai Immortal Island is very safe. I will wait for you here. When you emerge, we’ll go search for the ‘Thousand Mechanisms Box’ of the Tang Sect.”

Seeing her so sensible, I felt both gratified and a touch of sorrow. At an age when she should be carefree, she was sharing these burdens with me.

“Good.” I nodded solemnly.

I chose a secret chamber deep within the Guixu Grand Hall, where the spiritual energy was densest on the entire island. After setting a simple barrier at the door, I cast one last glance at Yiyi, who stood at a distance, waving at me with Little White in her arms, then resolutely entered.

The stone door closed slowly.

It sealed away the light, and with it, the passage of time.

In seclusion, time ceases to exist.

When my mind fully immersed itself in the Golden Core within, time lost all meaning.

The golden ocean roared, endless true essence surged. With my soul as steady as a pillar, I stood unwavering at the heart of the sea.

Following the secret technique of the Penglai inheritance, I guided countless threads of true essence to converge, compress, and refine toward my soul.

It was a process of indescribable length and monotony.

One year, two years... ten, twenty...

My consciousness became that of the strictest craftsman, day after day, year after year, sculpting a unique masterpiece.

Who knows how much time passed. When the final strand of true essence was compressed and fused perfectly with my soul—

Boom!

Within my divine sea, a dazzling burst of golden light erupted!

As the brilliance faded, a three-inch tall golden figure, radiantly shimmering, sat cross-legged above the golden ocean. Its appearance was identical to mine, eyes closed in solemn tranquility, exuding a pure and powerful energy.

The Nascent Soul was formed!

At the moment of its birth, I felt my entire existence undergo a dramatic transformation.

My senses became astonishingly acute; my spiritual perception could easily pierce the stone door and encompass the entire Penglai Immortal Island. I could “see” Yiyi meditating in the bamboo grove, with Little White beside her, now sporting a fourth tail. I could “hear” every pulse of the spirit spring’s stream, “smell” the fragrance of spiritual herbs in the fields.

The world, in my perception, became clearer and more vivid than ever before.

The true essence within me metamorphosed from a liquid “sea” into more condensed, purer “primordial force,” its power ten times greater than before!

I slowly opened my eyes, a flash of golden light streaking through the dark chamber.

Standing up, I waved my hand lightly.

Rumble...

The heavy stone door, sealed for untold years, opened in response.

Blinding sunlight flooded in; I squinted slightly.

Thirty years had passed in a blink. I stepped out of the chamber.

A figure had long been waiting quietly outside.

She was still the same fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl, dressed in a simple, clean long skirt, untouched by the passage of time.

But her gaze had grown deeper and more serene than thirty years prior, as calm as a still ancient well.

“Father, you’re back,” Yiyi said, her voice crisp yet carrying a peacefulness born of experience.

“I’m back.” I walked to her side. Words failed me; all was said in a smile.

Between father and daughter, words were no longer needed. A glance was enough to understand each other.

“Congratulations, Father, on forming your Nascent Soul.” She was genuinely happy for me.

“Your cultivation has improved greatly as well.” I could sense her spiritual power was several times stronger than before my seclusion, only a step away from the Golden Core.

“Little White is very impressive now.” She shifted, and a white spirit fox, nearly twice as large as thirty years ago and trailing four fluffy tails, walked out elegantly from behind her, its bright eyes sizing me up.

“A four-tailed spirit fox, excellent,” I praised.

We sat down on the stone steps before the Guixu Hall, just as we had countless times before.

“Father, during your years in seclusion, I used the ‘Sky Viewing Mirror’ left by Grandpa Guixu to glimpse the outside world,” Yiyi suddenly said.

My heart stirred. “Oh? What is it like now?”

“A lot has changed.” Her voice remained calm. “The ‘cell phones’ people carried when we left have been upgraded many times. Now they’re as thin as glass and can project three-dimensional images directly. The sky is filled with unmanned flying vehicles transporting all sorts of things. People’s clothing has grown… rather peculiar.”

She paused, then continued, “Thirty years is a generation for mortals. Those we knew, like the Xuantian Sect of Kunlun—if he hasn’t had a breakthrough, he should be very old now…”

She did not say more, but we both understood.

We had witnessed countless cycles of birth, aging, sickness, and death among mortals during our decades wandering the world.

A ripple stirred in my heart, but quickly settled.

This is the price of seeking the Dao. We gained long life, but are destined to become mere travelers of time, watching as people and things around us recede like the tide.

“It’s all gone now,” I said softly.

“Mm.” Yiyi leaned against my shoulder. “Now, I only have Father and Little White.”

“We also have the stars and the sea.” I pointed to the star chart illuminated on the dome of the grand hall.

We rested on the immortal island for three days.

During those three days, I did not cultivate, but accompanied Yiyi, strolling around the island, watching her play with Little White, savoring a peaceful life.

Three days later.

“Yiyi, are you ready?” I stood at the center of the Guixu Grand Hall and turned to ask her.

“I’m ready, Father.” Yiyi hugged Little White, who could now be kept in her spirit beast space, and nodded firmly.

“Good.”

With a thought, the power of my Nascent Soul coursed through my body, enveloping us both in invisible force.

“Our first stop—Sichuan, the Tang Sect!”

With those words, our figures vanished from where we stood, transforming into a golden streak that shot skyward, riding the Green Leaf Sword as we sped toward that familiar yet strange land of Shenzhou.

Thirty years later, we had returned to the world.