Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

The desk was piled high with test papers, exercise books, and draft paper, and the dim light of the desk lamp enveloped the entire room.

There was also a small wooden box that hadn't been closed yet. The edges of the box were engraved with fine patterns, and it looked like it was for holding jewelry, or perhaps some kind of ritual object.

Gu Changjin saw his own body reflected in the small mirror on the table.

His face was pale, and there was a deep gash on his forehead through which a bit of grayish-white brain matter could be seen.

No wonder I felt like my mind was blank when I woke up.

It wasn't an illusion; my mind really was blank.

"This way of dying..."

Gu Changjin remained silent for a moment.

"It was a bit hasty."

A flood of memories surged through my mind.

This body, also known as Gu Changjin, was born in the Water Blue Star Federation, Nanjiang Province, and is currently a senior high school student at Zifeng Middle School.

He has good grades, comes from an average family, and his parents work for an alien port company year-round, so he lives alone at home.

Then, here's the important part: he also has a girlfriend?

Shen Qingyan is the undisputed goddess of Zifeng High School.

She is beautiful, has good grades, a gentle personality, and comes from a well-off family.

In their original memory, the two started getting to know each other in the second semester of their junior year of high school.

Shen Qingyan took the initiative to approach him.

She would bring him breakfast, ask him about his studies, and even walk with him after evening self-study.

A teenager who has never been in a relationship, and is in the prime of his adolescence when he is most prone to impulsive behavior, is hardly able to resist such an offensive.

Before long, he was completely hooked.

In the name of love, many things were naturally done. But at their core, was it chanting mantras for love?

Thinking of this, Gu Changjin's lips twitched.

"What a beautiful incantation for love."

The fragments of memory continue to be pieced together.

The real turning point happened in my first year of high school.

The school organized students to do volunteer work at a very famous Taoist temple in Nam Giang Province.

That Taoist temple is called Xuanzhen Temple, and it's very popular. On the federal map, it's even a key protected ancient cultural building.

There was an old Taoist priest who watched Gu Changjin for a long time.

Finally, he was summoned to the back hall alone, and asked if he was willing to learn the Way from him.

Gu Changjin naturally refused.

In this Federation era where technology has advanced to the point of almost exploring interstellar space, is cultivation still possible?

It sounds like a scam.

Moreover, at that time, Gu Changjin's mind was full of things like going to school, taking exams, and which university he would attend in the future. He didn't think that Taoist priests, Taoist temples, or cultivation had anything to do with him.

However, Gu Changjin, standing at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, immediately noticed the problem when he looked at that memory again.

Shen Qingyan was outside the hall when the old Taoist priest asked her questions.

She saw this scene through half a door.

From that day on, she began to pay attention to Gu Changjin.

After that, it's about taking the initiative to approach them.

In Gu Changjin's memory, this was a sweet beginning.

But in Gu Changjin's eyes, there were only two words left.

There's a ghost.

What happened next was even more interesting.

One day, Shen Qingyan casually mentioned that she had been feeling unwell lately and was having nightmares.

She also said that she heard from the elders in her family that there is an ancient blessing mantra that can protect loved ones from disasters.

She asked Gu Changjin if he was willing to help her.

What could Gu Changjin say?

My girlfriend asked me that.

Of course I'd like to.

So from that day on, Gu Changjin would recite a so-called blessing mantra every morning when he woke up and every night before he went to sleep.

I stumbled over my words at first.

The more I read it, the more familiar I became with it.

Over time, it even became a habit.

Gu Changjin recalled the incantation in his mind.

The words and phrases are strange and very difficult to pronounce, like prayers in Taoist rituals or some kind of sacrificial text.

"Using this old ancestor as a sacrifice?"

Gu Changjin smiled.

"interesting."

The time has come to today.

The college entrance examination ended, and it was also Gu Changjin's eighteenth birthday.

From today onwards, he is considered a full adult under federal law.

It was today that Shen Qingyan delivered this small wooden box.

She instructed Gu Changjin to recite the incantation one last time before midnight, and then open the box.

He said there was a birthday gift for him inside.

Gu Changjin did as instructed.

He sat at his desk, recited the incantation, and opened the box.

Then his memory was cut off, and no matter what methods Gu Changjin used, there was no trace of him.

Thinking of this, Gu Changjin touched his forehead and suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no, I forgot to give myself a boost of brainpower."

Strictly speaking, this body is still a dead person.

If it weren't for the arrival of the Dao Fruit, which forcibly propped up its life force, it would probably have died long ago.

He immediately mobilized the remaining hundred or so strands of Dao Yuan deep within the Dao Fruit.

Previously, when I broke through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm in the main world, I deduced my cultivation level and refined treasures, which consumed too much energy.

He didn't bring much surplus food with him.

One brain can be repaired, that's enough.

Strands of the Dao Yuan merged into the physical body.

The wound on his forehead began to twitch, and the broken bones began to piece themselves back together.

Dao Yuan repaired the grayish-white brain matter, and the nerves, blood vessels, and flesh recovered layer by layer.

A moment later, the wound closed.

Gu Changjin's face also regained some color from its deathly pallor.

He let out a soft breath.

Sorry, I've been resurrected.

Gu Changjin stood up and stretched his arms and legs.

He has the typical physique of a young person with weak blood and qi and who has been staying up late for a long time.

He tried to circulate a trace of Xuanming magic power.

There was no response. I tried sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but still nothing.

This place is too clean; there is no spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The Water Blue Star Federation is technologically advanced and has begun developing near-Earth orbit, lunar bases, alien mining areas, and even has the beginnings of interstellar colonization.

On the extraordinary level, however, it is like a stagnant pool.

"It doesn't seem like a place that can produce naturally occurring spiritual objects."

Gu Changjin frowned.

Without the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, there is no innate spiritual object.

What is he doing here?

Although one can also become extraordinary, the value of the physical body is still the same in every world.

As long as you have energy, blood and qi, and the support of Daoist essence, you can practice in any world.

However, if it's just body refinement, it won't be of much help to his breakthrough to the Void Returning Realm.

Gu Changjin sat back down in his chair, his gaze returning to the Xuanzhen Temple from his memory.

Taoist temple, incantation, old Taoist priest, Shen Qingyan.

The technological world lacks spiritual energy, yet it retains Taoist classics, symbols, rituals, and incantations.

In a world where cultivation is impossible, these things are merely cultural heritage.

At most, it's used to scam people out of money for incense offerings.

But what if we put it in a world where cultivation is truly possible?

Are the descriptions of "emptiness," "spirit," "fasting and ritual," "inner vision," "contemplation," "Yellow Court," and "grotto-heavens and blessed lands" in those classic texts really just empty talk?

Gu Changjin's heart suddenly stirred.

The spirit transformed and opened the real grotto.

Returning to Emptiness requires the grotto-heaven to move from reality to emptiness, reflecting the void and projecting onto heaven and earth.

What Taoist classics have in abundance is "emptiness".

An empty room gives rise to light; a fasting mind leads to forgetting oneself; one preserves the inner landscape of the spirit.

With my heart, I reflect the heavens and earth.

Perhaps there is no spiritual energy in this world.

However, the Taoist thought it left behind might just fill the gap he lacked the most.

"I see."

Gu Changjin's eyes brightened slightly.

"My path to returning to the Void may not lie in spiritual objects, nor in cultivation techniques."

"It might be found in these scriptures that cannot be cultivated."

A world devoid of spiritual technology, yet it retains the complete lineage of Taoism.

This is inherently unreasonable.

The irrationality is often the reason why the Dao Fruit sent him here.

Gu Changjin gently pressed his fingers on the small wooden box.

"Xuanzhen Temple, Shen Qingyan, Blessing Mantra."

"It seems that this 'himself' isn't as simple as he seems."

He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the Dao Fruit.

Now that we've come back to life, it's time to see what fate holds.

The radiance of the Dao Fruit slowly unfolded, and naturally, the fate lines belonging to this other self were gone, since both were dead.

However, a portion of the world's fate was captured, and this portion of fate emerged like a long river in the mist.

Gu Changjin raised his eyebrows at the first glance.

"Oh?"

"So there's still such a commotion after my death."