Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms: Sunflower Lord

Inside the main house of the small courtyard with blue bricks in the center of Heishanqian Village.

Ji Ruchang sat cross-legged on the bed, closing her eyes for a long time.

Outside, there were the villagers' laughter and chatter, the soft sounds of Xiu'e tidying up the courtyard, and the occasional crowing of roosters and barking of dogs—this everyday life, combined with his peaceful state of mind, created a strange harmony.

He was exiled.

They were marginalized.

He made great contributions, but was kicked out of the county town and thrown into this small village at the foot of the mountain to be a "village garrison commander".

Any other young and impetuous cultivator would probably be filled with resentment and tossing and turning at this moment.

But Ji Ruchang did not.

He was even calmer than he had been in the county town.

At the center of the storm?

The focus of everyone's attention?

Those seemingly respectful but actually scrutinizing gazes, those probing glances aimed at probing for details, those words and actions that could be magnified infinitely if one was not careful—

That's the real danger.

And now?

A small village at the foot of a mountain, a "guardian" isolated from the outside world, and an old person forgotten in a corner.

No one is watching him.

Nobody cares what he does every day.

No one would question why his cultivation level improved so quickly, where his magical artifacts came from, or why he always had a faint aura of sunlight about him.

This is simply—

The ideal place to lie low.

As for his merits?

A very faint smile appeared on Ji Ruchang's lips.

In the world of cultivators, merit is never something "deserved," but rather something "earned."

Or rather, it was "earned through strength".

He is currently at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and his achievements are merely a lighthearted commendation, which may even be intercepted or erased by some people.

Once he reaches the sixth, seventh, or even higher level of Qi Refining—

Those credits that were suppressed will naturally be made up for by someone many times over.

What if we can't wait until that day?

That means he's dead.

What use are merits to the dead?

Having understood this, the last ripple in Ji Ruchang's heart completely subsided.

He opened his eyes and looked at the tightly closed door.

Outside the door, Xiu'e's footsteps could be heard gradually fading away; she was probably busy in the kitchen.

well.

From now on, he can—

Now I can focus on my cultivation.

With a single thought, the fog in one's mind surges.

The next instant, Ji Ruchang's figure was already at the bottom of the dry well.

A pale golden light wafted over me, warmer, richer, and more... refreshing than I remembered.

That was the bright area supported by four sunflowers.

The second-tier Golden Sunflower stands tall and straight like a spear, with a robust and powerful six-foot-tall stem. Its flower head is like a golden plate, radiating a warm yet majestic glow.

The second-tier Sunflower stands quietly, its two-foot-tall stem slender and pale, its flower head hazy like the moon, yet exuding a deeper and purer purifying aura.

Two first-tier Golden Sunflowers stand on either side, one with a growth rate of 37 points and the other still a new plant, yet both are striving to open their flower heads, contributing their own faint but steadfast light and heat.

Four sunflowers, four rays of light.

They intertwined and overlapped, reflecting the space at the bottom of the dry well, which was several feet in diameter, as if it were the crystal-clear Pure Land of the Western Paradise in legend.

What surprised Ji Ruchang the most was the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within this light.

All four sunflowers possess the ability to transform the ethereal mist into the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

When there is only one plant, this ability is negligible, almost negligible.

When there were two plants, one could already vaguely sense the flow of spiritual energy.

When Ji Ruchang was at the third stage of cultivation, she could already feel a significant boost during her practice.

There are now four plants.

Two of them are second-order plants.

That gain was no longer "obvious," but rather—astonishing!

Ji Ruchang took a deep breath.

The breath filled my lungs, warm and clean, with a faint scent of sunshine. It felt as if with every breath, wisps of spiritual energy were being drawn directly into my meridians.

He looked inward at himself.

Within his dantian, the five strands of starlight slowly circulated, appearing more active and "joyful" under the light than in the real world.

They absorb the surrounding spiritual energy and grow stronger on their own, slowly but surely.

The nascent star map formed by the thirty-six star apertures was also trembling slightly. The nascent spiritual threads scattered throughout the body seemed to solidify a little more under the nourishment of the light.

"One day of cultivation here is equivalent to several days of cultivation in a mountain village outside," Ji Ruchang estimated in his mind.

Even more than that.

Because the spiritual energy in the real world is thin and mixed with yin and turbid energy, it requires a lot of effort to refine and purify.

The spiritual energy here is transformed by the sunflowers, so pure that it can be absorbed almost directly.

This will be the foundation for him for a long time to come.

Ji Ruchang withdrew her inner vision, her gaze sweeping over the four sunflowers before finally settling on the opening of the dry well leading to the ground.

It's time to go.

With his left hand gently supporting the lamp, he channeled the starlight and true essence into the bronze lamp.

"Buzz—"

The antique lamp trembled slightly, and in the center of the shallow dish above, a fist-sized flame, solid as liquid gold, reignited.

The flame hovered a foot above Ji Ruchang's head, like a moving beacon, illuminating the passage as bright as day.

He drew his flaming blade from its sheath in his right hand, with golden and silver flames flowing across its surface.

Ji Ruchang took a deep breath and stepped into the familiar, ten-foot-wide alleyway.

This time, it's completely different from before.

Wherever the light reached, the gray mist surged and dissipated rapidly as if encountering the blazing sun, with a constant hissing sound. The bluestone slabs underfoot were clearly visible, the blue brick textures on the walls were distinct, and even the remnants of long-dead moss in the cracks between the bricks were clearly visible.

Ji walked briskly forward as usual.

The ten-zhang-long east-west passage was now about halfway through—the four or five zhang closest to the dry well in the northwest corner—completely enveloped in the light from the four sunflowers.

Although the circle of light was centered at the bottom of the dry well and had a radius of six zhang, the well itself was two zhang deep. Therefore, the actual area illuminated on the ground was a circular area with a radius of about four zhang, covering the first half of the passage.

This means that after Ji Ruchang walked out of the dry well, there was a full four zhang (approximately 10 meters) of space where she was in a completely safe place, enveloped in light.

Only after stepping outside the edge of the light circle would one need to rely on the copper lamp and fireball to clear the way.

But this "step-by-step" approach greatly increased his sense of security.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ji Ruchang had already crossed the ten-zhang passage and was standing once again beside the broken dry well in the northeast corner.

The well platform remains dilapidated, with rubble scattered all over the ground. The steep slope on the south side of the well opening still stands, leading down into the deep darkness below.

Ji Ruchang stood by the well, looking down.

The light from the copper lamp's fireball shone down the slope into the bottom of the well, where one could vaguely see the piled-up rubble, the dried-up soil, and—utter emptiness.

The armored corpse had long since disappeared, leaving only traces of the battle.

Ji Ruchang withdrew her gaze and turned to the other side.

There, too, was a passage, also ten feet wide, leading to an unknown area to the south.

"Heading south from here..."

He muttered to himself, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

The dry well in the northwest corner leads to the passage in the northeast corner.

The dry well in the northeast corner leads to this passage to the south.

The structure of the courtyard was gradually becoming clearer in his mind.

So, what lies at the southernmost point?

Another dry well? A house? Or an even more eerie space?

Ji Ruchang gripped the Flaming Blade tightly, with the copper lamp and fireball clearing the way ahead, and stepped into this never-before-explored southern passage.

The south-facing passage is almost identical to the east-west one—both are ten feet wide, with the same towering blue brick walls, and the same deep, misty distance.

The only difference is the length.

Ji Ruchang silently counted her steps.

One zhang, two zhang, three zhang...

After walking about five zhang, he suddenly stopped.

Ahead, at the edge of the glow of the bronze lamp's fireball, a faint outline seemed to appear, different from the gray mist...

It's not a wall.

It's not a corner.

Rather, it is something... three-dimensional, raised, resembling a building.

Ji Ruchang narrowed his eyes, activated the bronze lamp, and moved the ball of flame forward by half a zhang.

The light pierced through the mist, illuminating the entire outline.

That was a door.

A stone gate.

The gray stone door frame has a stone beast about half a person's height on each side—neither lion nor tiger, crouching there with its mouth wide open, revealing its ferocious fangs.

There were faint characters on the lintel, but they were obscured by a thick layer of gray fog and some strange restriction, making them difficult to see.

The door itself consists of two opposing stone doors, which are now tightly closed.

A chilling aura seeped out from the crack in the door, more concentrated and more...active than the yin energy in the surrounding mist.

Ji Ruchang stood quietly in place, looking at the stone gate.

He did not approach rashly.

Instead, they first activated the star map perception to probe behind the stone gate.

The feedback was vague and unclear, as if it were being deliberately blocked by some force.

One could only vaguely sense that the space behind the door seemed quite large, and—

There is "something" inside.

more than one.

The intensity of their auras... varied, some were weak and some were strong.

The weak ones are probably at the beginner level of zombies.

The stronger one made Ji Ruchang frown slightly—it wasn't the oppressive feeling of the armored corpse with its thick skin and flesh, but a more elusive, colder, and eerie threat that seemed to appear from behind at any moment.

It's somewhat like a ghost from the Yin River, but even more profound.

"interesting……"

Ji Ruchang muttered to herself, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

Afraid?

A little.

But more than anything, there is anticipation.

He hoped that the monster behind the door would bring him enough "resources".

He hoped that the two first-tier Golden Sunflower plants could be fully nourished as soon as possible.

He hoped that the second-tier Holy Sunflower would grow up soon.

He hoped that this mist-shrouded courtyard would gradually reveal all its secrets.

He has plenty of time.

From today onwards, he will have plenty of uninterrupted time.

Ji Ruchang took a deep look at the stone gate, then turned around and walked back slowly along the way he had come.

Not urgent.

Take it easy.

First, thoroughly explore this passageway, clear out all the monsters in every corner, and turn every area within the reach of the light into a safe zone.

Then, push open that door again.

Behind them, the stone gate stood silently, and a chilling aura still seeped out from the cracks in the door.

The writing on the door was faintly visible in the gray mist; two characters could be discerned:

【forecourt】