The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

"Brother Qingyuan, Brother Xiaoshan, give up! The area outside the cave is full of Black Fiend Cult members!"

"If you dare to resist again, don't blame us for skinning you alive!"

In his dazed state, Yang Qingyuan seemed to hear a strange man calling out to him, which aroused his suspicion. He then slowly opened his eyes.

What came into view was a damp, dark cave, and he was leaning against a rock wall.

Beside him stood a nervous-looking young man in white.

The boy in white gripped a gleaming bronze mirror tightly. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features, fair skin, and the air of a pampered young master from a noble family. His eyes were filled with panic.

The boy was overjoyed to see Yang Qingyuan open his eyes. He rushed forward and said hurriedly, "Brother Qingyuan, you're awake!"

"I thought you'd been beaten to death by Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi!"

Seeing that the white-clad youth in front of him seemed quite familiar with him, Yang Qingyuan couldn't help but ponder and carefully examine the other person.

When his gaze fell on the mirror in the white-robed youth's hand, the bronze mirror perfectly reflected Yang Qingyuan's face.

"What is this?!" Yang Qingyuan exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

The face reflected in the bronze mirror was that of a handsome young man of sixteen or seventeen.

The young man had a handsome appearance, a clear and gentle temperament, and wore a white long robe, looking like a scholar.

"This is me?!" Yang Qingyuan was stunned and speechless when he saw that he had changed his appearance.

The next moment, a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into his mind.

It turns out that he died in a car accident in his previous life and was reincarnated into the world of "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality," becoming a lowly scholar in Lanzhou, Yue Kingdom.

In this life, his name is still Yang Qingyuan. He is seventeen years old this year. His parents died early. Two and a half years ago, he accidentally fell off a cliff on his way to take the imperial examination. He survived the ordeal and received the inheritance of a Qi Refining cultivator at the bottom of the cliff. He learned the cultivation technique "Haoran Yangshen Jue". Without taking any pills, he cultivated to the sixth level of Qi Refining in just two and a half years.

After leaving the bottom of the cliff, Yang Qingyuan had no intention of pursuing an official career again. Instead, he visited various famous mountains in search of immortal opportunities. A month ago, he arrived near Tainan Valley and happened to witness a small gathering of cultivators in the vicinity.

Yang Qingyuan decided to join this celebration of cultivators, partly to learn about the cultivation world and partly to test his own spiritual root attributes.

At this small meeting, he unexpectedly met Wan Xiaoshan, the young man in white.

Wan Xiaoshan unexpectedly obtained a treasure map at a street stall. Being naive and inexperienced, he enthusiastically invited Yang Qingyuan to go treasure hunting.

There were two other people traveling with them, named Qingwen Daoren and Wu Jiuzhi.

Little did they know that the treasure map was a trap designed by Qingwen Daoist and Wu Jiuzhi from the very beginning.

The two were actually evil cultivators with malicious intentions. As soon as they left Tainan Valley, they dropped their disguises and ambushed Wan Xiaoshan and Yang Qingyuan.

Yang Qingyuan was struck on the back by the blue-patterned floating dust magic weapon and fled to this cave, where he temporarily avoided the enemy's advance with Wan Xiaoshan. On the verge of death, he solved the mystery of his birth and merged his memories of two lifetimes.

The other boy inside the cave was Wan Xiaoshan.

After processing the memories in his mind, Yang Qingyuan instantly understood and thought to himself, "Qingwen, Yue Kingdom, Tai Nan Small Meeting..."

"I never expected to transmigrate into a world where mortals cultivate immortality, and even become a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining."

"Judging from the situation, his spiritual root aptitude is not low."

Yang Qingyuan vaguely remembered that Han Li, the protagonist of the novel "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality," still took four or five years to cultivate to the sixth level of Qi Refining even after consuming spiritual medicine.

The original owner of this body only took two and a half years to cultivate to the sixth level of Qi Refining, which shows her high talent.

"Brother Qingyuan, why do you look so distracted! Have you suffered a brain injury?" Seeing Yang Qingyuan remain silent, Wan Xiaoshan immediately shook his shoulder and hurriedly said, "Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi are blocking the cave entrance right now, this is not the time to be distracted!"

Yang Qingyuan then came to his senses and remembered the voices shouting outside the cave, which were Wu Jiuzhi and Qingwen.

Now that he has integrated his memories from his previous life, after a moment's thought, he remembered the backgrounds of Qingwen Daoren and Wu Jiuzhi.

This Qingwen Daoist was an evil cultivator from the Black Fiend Sect. He usually disguised himself as a rogue cultivator and captured Qi Refining stage cultivators for the Black Fiend Sect, extracting their blood for training. Later, based on his outstanding achievements, he was promoted to one of the four Blood Servants of the Black Fiend Sect and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Now, Qingwen also has the cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

As for Wu Jiuzhi, he was originally a rogue cultivator, just like Yang Qingyuan. He was targeted by Qingwen at the Tainan Small Meeting, but instead of having his blood drawn directly, he was invited to join the Black Fiend Sect. Later, he was also promoted to one of the four Blood Servants of the Black Fiend Sect and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Wu Jiuzhi now also has the cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

"What should we do?" Wan Xiaoshan paced back and forth anxiously, like an ant on a hot pan, and said, "Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi are both at the late stage of Qi Refining."

"As for Brother Qingyuan and me, we are only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and we are no match for him at all."

"If they break in, we're doomed."

"If I had known this would happen, I would have listened to Uncle Qingyan and been careful to guard against these rogue cultivators!"

Yang Qingyuan also leaned against the wall, barely managing to stand up, and coughed twice.

"Oh." Wan Xiaoshan slapped his forehead and quickly apologized, "I misspoke just now. I forgot that Brother Qingyuan is also a rogue cultivator."

"I meant no harm, but Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi are too hateful. They actually used a fake treasure map to deceive us into leaving the territory of Tainan Valley."

"We've now gone beyond the range of the communication talisman, and we can't contact our clansmen at all."

"Brother Qingyuan, do you have any trump cards up your sleeve?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan touched a yellow storage bag at his waist and took out a crimson flying sword from it.

The crimson flying sword was about four feet long, and a faint red aura would occasionally flash across its blade.

"What do you mean it's only a mid-grade magic weapon?" Wan Xiaoshan shook his head when he saw the crimson flying sword, gripped the bronze mirror in his hand, and sighed, "It's not even as good as my Yellow Cloud Mirror. It can't be used to deal with cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining at all."

Yang Qingyuan was helpless about this, after all, he was a rogue cultivator in this life, and the cultivation techniques and magical artifacts he possessed all came from that cliff-jumping adventure.

There are only two magical artifacts: one is this mid-grade flying sword, "Rainbow Sword," and the other is a roll of yellowed bamboo slips.

Thinking of the bamboo slips, Yang Qingyuan couldn't help but reveal a strange expression.

He obtained this treasure from the remains of a Qi Refining cultivator on the cliff, but he was unable to open it, which was quite miraculous. So he kept it in his bosom and carried it with him at all times.

Faced with a life-or-death crisis, Yang Qingyuan wondered if the bamboo slips could be of any use. He then reached into his robes and grabbed the rolled-up bamboo slips.

Unexpectedly, when his palm touched the bamboo slip, Yang Qingyuan heard a deafening sound, followed by a dizzying sensation as his consciousness was pulled into his dantian.

Within his dantian, a silvery-white mist of qi drifted, which was the magical power cultivated from the "Great Vigor Nourishing Body Technique".

In the very center of the mist, a yellowed old bamboo slip floated.

The bamboo slips were rolled up in a circle and looked ordinary; they were the very bamboo slips that had been found at the bottom of the cliff years ago.

At this moment, a line of small silver characters appeared on the outermost bamboo strip: "Righteous Qi, 33 feet, qualified."

Immediately afterwards, the bamboo slips slowly unfolded, and at the same time, a large amount of information entered his mind.

"The True Word Manual, the first treasure of the human realm created at the beginning of chaos, can only be wielded by those who possess a righteous spirit..."