Simulation becomes reality, have I ever looked down upon the eternity?

Chapter 514 Longevity Porcelain, Two Realms Mountain, Outer Path, Golden Gourd Mountain!
Xu Ci's lips twitched, but she immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Young friend Jing, you flatter me. This is simply fate, destiny itself."

You asked curiously, "What does it mean that this concerns ascension?"

The concept of ascension is ethereal and abstract. The last instance of ascension occurred five thousand years ago, before the existence of the Four Continents.

Since ancient times, the cultivation world has not witnessed a person ascending to immortality in broad daylight for five thousand years. Now, with the Four Continents yet to be established, the Nine Sects of the Righteous Path, the Nine Schools of the Heretical Path, and the Seven Sects of the Demonic Path all regard ascension as the ultimate path.

Seeing that no one was around and realizing that she could no longer hide it from you, Xu Ci finally spoke up, "This place is the site of our kiln, renowned far and wide. Several of our most outstanding porcelain pieces are considered treasures even by cultivation sects. However, there is one type that the world is unaware of."

"It is called 'Benming Porcelain,' which has the power to change one's destiny. Simply engrave the birth date and time of a baby less than a day old on it, and fire it into 'Benming Porcelain.' Then, this baby will be blessed with extraordinary talent and intelligence, possessing the qualities of a celestial being."

[You were somewhat surprised to hear this. It should be known that in the path of cultivation, one's innate talent and physical attributes are determined by heaven, bestowed from birth, and have never been altered through later means.]

Such secret techniques are utterly illogical; if they were truly possible, they would likely impact the four continents.

Your gaze darkened slightly as you questioned, "If someone truly possesses the potential to become a Golden Immortal, why hasn't Xuyang County produced a single cultivator at the Dao Embryo stage?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ci chuckled and said, "Although the technique is still passed down, the most crucial ingredient for refining natal porcelain has now become extinct."

"Materials?" You raised an eyebrow.

"The most important factor in firing natal porcelain is the quality of the clay," Xu Ci sighed softly. "Back then, the Xu family's ancestors obtained a piece of innate spiritual soil, which enabled them to refine this item. Now that the spiritual soil is exhausted, even with secret techniques, it's difficult to reproduce its miraculous effects."

"This Xu Ci possesses a natal porcelain, with all five elements present. Her innate talent and potential are actually no less than those of disciples from major sects. However, the Xu family fears that if Xu Ci enters Fangcun Mountain, her true nature will be exposed."

He smiled, "Fencun Mountain isn't much stronger than the Demonic Sect. If they possessed such a secret technique, they would probably turn Xuyang County upside down without hesitation, and the Xu family would likely never have a peaceful day again."

[You slowly nodded. If this technique were to appear in the world, it would be enough to shake the balance of power in the four continents. Not to mention Fangcun Mountain, even those reclusive old monsters would fight tooth and nail for it. If a family like the Xu family were to reveal even a fraction of it, they would truly be guilty of possessing a treasure that invites trouble!]

[Don't be in a hurry, listen to this old monster tell his story.]

Xu Ci continued, "A thousand years ago, the Xu family's immortal ancestor did indeed produce a cultivator who reached the Golden Core stage of the Great Dao."

He suddenly sneered: "It's a pity that person was so arrogant, daring to provoke the Bodhisattva Miaoyin of the Hehuan Nunnery... How dare he become a Daoist partner with such a woman? When the Bodhisattva Miaoyin was extracting his soul and refining his spirit, she revealed this secret—which I happened to find out."

[A slight stirring appears in your heart. The Hehuan Nunnery belongs to the nine schools of heresy, emphasizing "attaining enlightenment in ultimate bliss," and its Bodhisattvas are all great masters of the Golden Elixir.]

This sect enjoys a good reputation among righteous people, simply because the female bodhisattvas in the temple often convert people through "physical offerings," without taking a single penny.

[At this point, you are certain that the person before you is a member of an unorthodox sect, and given that they can associate with a Bodhisattva at the Golden Core stage, their background is definitely not simple.]

Xu Ci sneered, "It's a pity that the Xu family was originally from a kiln. Even though they had a stroke of luck and produced several prominent figures through their signature porcelain, they ultimately couldn't hold onto their immense wealth. In just a few generations, they were reduced to nothing but this ancestral home."

[“Until that kid Xu He somehow found a piece of innate soil the size of a fingernail”]

"Only then, following the ancient methods, was the last piece of my natal porcelain fired—this Xu porcelain you see today."

"But no matter how hard he tries to cover it up, the truth will eventually come out. Although the Xu family is the only dominant family in Xuyang County, too many eyes are watching them."

Xu Ci suddenly looked at the White Snake Lady, "She's one of them, but she's a woman who can't keep to herself. She's only after Xu Ci's body. After all, Xu Ci has an innate Dao body and isn't bad-looking. These old women are most attracted to young men."

[“He tricked Xu Ciyuanyang with his Yin spirit form, but unexpectedly obtained this wisp of innate spiritual energy, which repaired his golden body and helped him break through to the Dao Embryo Realm. Now, with the help of incense offerings, he is directly reaching the Heavenly Gate.”]

[You look at the White Snake Lady; far from showing any remorse, she stands tall and proud, her eyes brimming with smugness.]

Xu Ci laughed, "This Xu Ci grew up in luxury, yet he was kind-hearted by nature. He actually believed it was his fault for defiling the White Snake Goddess worshipped by everyone in Xuyang County, and in the end, he threw himself into the river and committed suicide."

It's rather strange that Xu Ci would say such a thing.

Xu Ci suddenly smiled, her already handsome face becoming even more striking: "It's truly a cruel twist of fate. His death has ironically made him my savior."

"Fate is like a knife, most unpredictable." Xu Ci stood with her hands behind her back. "Our meeting today, isn't it all preordained?"

You paused slightly upon hearing this, then murmured softly, "Fate?"

Xu Ci walked past you and entered the cave dwelling.

[You casually made a hand seal, and a golden barrier protected everyone from Fangcun Mountain within it, then followed them inside.]

[The cave is deep and dark; you and Xu Ci walk side by side.]

The White Snake Lady followed behind with her head bowed and eyes lowered, making her footsteps extremely soft.

[When she looked at Xu Ci's retreating figure, she was filled with awe. After witnessing your methods just now, she regarded you as someone equal to Xu Ci, and her eyes were filled with fear.]

The cave dwellings are deeper and more secluded than you think; even the slightest sound is amplified.

[Where did the three members of the Xu family go just now?]

Xu Ci, however, seemed quite adept at it. "Cause and effect are unpredictable. This White Snake Lady, with her Yin spirit form, is pregnant as if she were in the mortal realm. This pregnancy must be due to the miraculous power of the Primordial Breath Soil."

He said casually, "So, it seems everything makes sense now."

"You search high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly."

[The three of you may appear to be walking slowly, but you're actually moving extremely fast.]

The path is winding and circuitous, containing numerous ingeniously designed magic formations that would likely trap ordinary cultivators without a way to break free.

Fortunately, Xu Ci, being an old monster, didn't require much effort to unravel the mystery.

After walking for another fifteen minutes, he finally stopped behind a wall.

You released your divine sense, but you didn't sense anything different.

[Xu Ci's slender fingers gently tapped on several protrusions on the rock face, creating a subtle rhythm.]

The stone wall then emitted a muffled rumble and slowly parted to both sides.

Xu Ci turned to you and smiled, "Young friend Jing, there's no need to be surprised. This is a nine-palace interlocking lock designed by an ordinary craftsman."

"Using methods from the cultivation world, we can't see through it. The person who designed this is quite clever. If I hadn't known about it beforehand, I probably wouldn't have been able to figure it out either."

[You remained silent, expecting to find some kind of cave dwelling, but instead you were greeted by a gloomy dungeon.]

[Its appearance is dilapidated; the surrounding decorations alone indicate that it is extremely old.]

The iron fence gleamed coldly. Inside, an old man huddled, and a woman with half her face covered in red welts, her head bowed. Both were naked, their bodies covered in bruises, their eyes numb. You frowned slightly. These two were mortals, possessing no cultivation whatsoever.

The white-haired old man in the iron cell slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes, long deprived of sunlight, struggling to focus on the three of you.

His throat bobbed, and the sound he made was like the grinding of a rusty millstone: "It wasn't Xu He who came."

Withered fingers gripped the iron bars. "Is that old ghost finally dead?"

The woman didn't look up; her expression was gloomy and blank, her head bowed in the dark, sunless dungeon.

[You're getting increasingly curious. What does this have to do with what Xu Ci said about ancient traditions?]

Xu Ci didn't answer the old man's question, but instead explained to you, "Young friend Jing, don't think these two are just ordinary people; they've both lived for over a thousand years."

A chill ran through you as you looked at the two again, finally noticing the strange thing: beneath their skin, they had grown a second layer of skin, like a snake shedding its skin.

Furthermore, both of them were born with two hearts.

You were shocked, but your face remained expressionless.

How could a mortal without cultivation possibly live for a thousand years?

The White Snake Lady exclaimed in surprise, "So that legend is true?"

Seeing your confusion, Xu Ci slowly revealed the answer—"The Porcelain of Immortality!"

[Eternal Porcelain?]

Xu Ci explained, "The most precious type of 'natal porcelain' is the 'longevity porcelain'."

"The two people in this dungeon aren't from the Xu family either; they were just captured and imprisoned here. The Xu family's ancestor was just a kiln worker who was trapped inside a collapsed kiln. In his dream, he went to the underworld and met a mysterious person who told him how to escape. Sure enough, he followed the guidance and walked out of the kiln."

"The person in the dream then told him the method of cultivation, and following the instructions, he indeed became a cultivator at the Solidifying Spirit Realm."

"He was also told that west of the Central Plains of Yuzhou, there was a mountain shaped like five fingers, called the Two Realms Mountain. At the foot of the mountain lived a family of three, mortals who had lived for hundreds of years. If he could obtain the treasure they guarded, he could soar to the heavens and become a dragon among men, a person above men, an immortal among immortals."

Xu Ci wasn't in a hurry and slowly explained, "The Xu family ancestor spent twenty years finally finding Liangjie Mountain. There were no other people for thousands of miles, except for this one family of three: a husband, a wife, and their daughter. He thought these three people would be some kind of extraordinary people, but they turned out to be just ordinary villagers."

[You notice that when the old man in the iron cell heard this, his withered fingers suddenly twitched as if in a spasm.]

[You also noticed that there were only two people in the dungeon: a young woman and an old man.]

Xu Ci's voice echoed in the dungeon, "He secretly observed them for ten years, confirming that the three of them indeed did not age, yet possessed no cultivation whatsoever."

["He finally felt relieved and, following the instructions of the person in his dream, pretended to have drifted down the river and been rescued by a family of three. The ancestor of the Xu family also calmed down and stayed there for another five years."]

"However, this family of three kept this secret all along, and no matter how he tried to find out, he couldn't get it out of them. Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer and had to use force to kidnap them. No matter how he interrogated them, he couldn't get any information even using the soul-searching method. He even did some outrageous things for this."

At this point, the old man in the dungeon's eyes turned fierce.

[Xu Ci didn't finish speaking. You glanced at the three people in the dungeon; only two remained, and you vaguely guessed what was going on.]

Xu Ci said leisurely, "In the end, I don't know what method he used, but he still managed to obtain a portion of the firing method for his natal porcelain. Of course, for this family of three, this hurdle has lasted for over a thousand years."

"Of course, no one expected that the innate spiritual soil needed for this natal porcelain would actually be in the Two Realms Mountain, which he had previously searched for. When he returned, he couldn't find it anywhere; it was as if that place had been erased from the world."

"Natural Porcelain," "Mount Two Realms," and "The Xu Family"—these clues are like scattered beads, yet the thread connecting them remains elusive.

Xu Ci walked slowly to the iron bars and looked at the two men, saying, "However, the Xu family isn't entirely composed of good-for-nothings. The patriarch, who reached the Golden Core stage, finally gleaned two prophetic words from these three."

The old man stared intently at Xu Ci.

Xu Ci licked her lips. "The celadon cracks, the purple star appears, the realm lord arrives."

"A white snake gives birth to a child, a rare talent in the world, whose potential is realized upon encountering a prime minister."

[Think about the first part of this sentence. The first few people are easy to explain, but the key is in the last three words, "The Realm Lord has arrived!"]

As for the second half, could it be alluding to three necessary conditions?

The White Snake's pregnancy corresponds to the White Snake Goddess's pregnancy at this time.

[A prodigy of the world, what do you seem to have thought of?]

As for the last word, you look at Xu Ci.

The old man has already guessed that the three of you are clearly not from the Xu family, and that you also know this secret.

He stared intently at Xu Ci, gritting his teeth as he asked, "As long as you kill the Xu family, I'll tell you everything."

His voice sounded especially eerie in the dungeon.

Xu Ci simply smiled. "Is it possible that you don't know this so-called secret either?"

The old man paused slightly, then a cold smile crept across his face.

Xu Ci laughed, "The Xu family has been guarding this immense opportunity without even realizing it. If it weren't for the fortunate refinement of his natal porcelain by Xu He's generation, he would have long forgotten all of you."

[“Although Xu He was foolish, he wasn’t completely stupid. He had already guessed that this inheritance might be about to be born when the White Snake Lady was pregnant, which is why he pretended to cooperate with the White Snake Lady.”]

Xu Ci easily pried open the iron cage with her hands and stepped inside. It was merely the mysterious iron that imprisoned mortals.

[You and the White Snake Lady stood a zhang behind him, and heard Xu Ci speak leisurely.]

"The Golden Gourd Mountain, a sect of heretics, originated from the Two Realms Mountain."

Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly trembled violently, "How do you know about Golden Gourd Mountain...?"

Xu Ci smiled, "That's quite a coincidence. My original name was Xiang Liujun, and coincidentally, I know how amazing this inheritance is, and coincidentally, I also know how to unlock it."

His tone became somewhat manic, "Open when you meet the right person! Open when you meet the right person!"

[After Xu Ci finished speaking, she pulled one of the women out, grabbed her by the neck, and looked into her extremely beautiful eyes.]

"Isn't Liangjie Mountain right here?"

(End of this chapter)