A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

"what……"

Screams rang out, and the ordeal lasted for several quarters of an hour. When the excruciating pain in his dantian subsided, the pain throughout his body gradually faded, and his panting ceased, Zhang Tie, lying in the warm water pool, was already as good as dead.

Clearly, even though it was divided into hundreds of portions, the medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill was still too strong for low-level Qi Refining cultivators.

"How is it, Junior Nephew Zhang? Is your cultivation progressing rapidly?"

"Uncle-Master..."

"Zhang Tie, no need to thank me, this is what I should do."

"Uncle-Master..."

"I already said there's no need to thank me, and there's no need to look at me so eagerly. Here are 120 servings; take one serving every few days from now on. Kid, cultivate well, and when you achieve great things in the future, just remember me, Wu."

Zhang Tie's fate in the original timeline was extremely unfortunate. At least compared to Han Li, his fate was far worse. Despite possessing superior spiritual root aptitude, he was forced into becoming a corpse due to the lack of a wood spiritual root. If Tie had possessed a wood spiritual root, and perhaps the cultivation technique Mo Juren offered was of the metal element, then Han Tianzun would undoubtedly have been forced to cultivate the Elephant Armor Technique and ultimately refined into a corpse.

"Yes, Uncle-Master, definitely."

A month later, Zhang Tie reached the sixth level of Qi Refining and also mastered five simple spells, including Breath Concealment, Fireball, and Hardening.

A month later, after consolidating his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, Wang Li left behind a note with instructions and some pills, and departed without saying goodbye.

That's right, he left without saying goodbye.

Parting is just too bittersweet.

"Zhang Tie, cultivating immortality is a path of no return, a long and arduous journey fraught with danger; at best, it harms oneself, at worst, it brings ruin to one's family. In the future, you must think thrice before acting, never act impulsively, and certainly never try to be a hero. The elixirs in the cave are enough for you for five years; you must cultivate diligently and not waste your great talent. If, after two years, you cannot reach the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, our relationship as uncle and nephew will be severed."

These elixirs are priceless treasures for cultivators; my nephew, you must know not to flaunt your wealth.

There are three jade slips inside the cave. Once you've reached the Foundation Establishment stage, you can study them; all are top-tier cultivation techniques. The Nine-Layer Azure Origin Sword Technique is a wood-attribute technique, unsuitable for you; the True Yang Technique is a top-tier fire-attribute technique, which you can cultivate as appropriate. The Righteous Qi Technique can dispel malevolent energy; you must practice it daily without interruption.

Furthermore, one should not always harbor malicious intentions, but one should never be entirely without caution. I suspect your teacher, Mo, harbors ill intentions towards you; you should take precautions. Your words, Uncle, are extremely kind and righteous.

Don't worry about it.

Signed: Wu Youde. (Old Wu's surname)

"Uncle-Master..."

Looking at the empty cave, recalling the past year they had spent together, and remembering all the times he had been disliked and looked down upon, Zhang Tie sniffed and rubbed his eyes hard. After wetting his index finger, he simply closed his eyes, determined not to let himself shed tears.

How can an immortal shed tears?

My uncle will laugh at me.

……

"Lingshan is full of beautiful scenery, where the air and water are shrouded in mist."

Traveling south by boat, enjoying the scenery and calming a restless mind.

Perhaps it was during this month or so of relaxation, this alternation between tension and relaxation, that his progress in the Great Evolution Technique was so rapid that he actually overcame the bottleneck and mastered the first level.

"Mortals, mortals... Ha!"

Mortals are both enviable, for their ignorance allows them to live a simple life without much thought. Yet they are also pitiful, for their ignorance leaves their lives and deaths determined by others; and when caught in the crossfire of battles among cultivators, they die without ever knowing why they have met their demise.

For example, right now.

“Miss Chen, thank you for your ride. However, for the next stretch of waterway, please try your best to get these cargo ships to shore as soon as possible! There is a big problem approaching ahead. If we don’t disperse and get out of the way now, it will be too late to take action later.”

Since we've hitched a ride on someone else's coattails, it's necessary to offer a word of advice.

After saying that, Wang Li was about to use his light-footed skill to float on water.

Get out of this troublesome place as soon as possible.

Just now, in his divine sense, he sensed three cultivators chasing and fighting each other, rapidly approaching this direction from seven or eight miles away.

They'll probably reach this place in just a few dozen breaths.

In this short time, he could only retreat calmly without leaving any trace of magical power.

It's impossible for me to participate in the magical duel.

"Hey Wu, stop pretending to be a ghost. Humph, don't think you're so great just because you have some skills."

During this time, the female escorts who were traveling on the same boat in the caravan found Wang Li, this third wheel, quite repulsive.

They showed hostility more than once along the way.

There's no way around it; whether it's looks or kung fu, this person is absolutely superior.

This undoubtedly ruined the person's plans.

That's all I have to say. Farewell.

With a flick of his finger, he unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, instantly blowing the man's head off.

It wasn't that Wang Li was bloodthirsty, but rather that such a deterrent might make the Chen family's caravan realize the seriousness of the problem.

The fleet dispersed, which would allow them to survive somewhat in the battles between Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

It won't result in losing everything.

It's like sacrificing one person for the happiness of a whole bunch of others.

After instantly killing the man, Wang Li's figure flashed a few times, and with just a few light taps on the river surface, he leaped more than twenty feet vertically to the shore.

Then, without looking back, he darted into the woods and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"This……"

The entire Chen family caravan, as well as the beautiful Miss Chen, were dumbfounded.

"Miss, could this person be the legendary immortal?"

"And what did he mean just now?"

The old steward, who was considered a top expert among mortals, stepped forward in surprise.

Two other top-notch bodyguards looked solemn.

"Uncle Qin, are you also unable to achieve that level of lightness and agility?"

The beautiful woman turned to ask the old man.

"Miss, you flatter me too much."

The old man gave a bitter smile.

"Then let's dock the fleet for now and rest for a while. It won't hurt."

The woman, who was in charge, took a deep breath and made her decision.

Unfortunately, it's not easy for a boat going downstream to stop; moreover, the men under their command didn't take this little incident seriously and their execution was weak, which caused a delay of at least twenty or thirty breaths.

Consequently, they missed the best time to land and escape.

A dozen or so breaths later, one after another cargo ships were suddenly struck by a strange gust of wind from downstream, and the hulls of the ships in the front row were immediately shaken and rocked from side to side.

There is even a trend of being pushed upstream in the opposite direction.

"what happened?"

"Oh no! There are immortals fighting downstream!"

"They're here...!"

Upon seeing this, everyone gasped in surprise.

They all looked up at the water ahead and were immediately horrified.

Downstream, a water dragon was seen chasing a streak of dark green light, rapidly closing in on their fleet. The entire river surface churned up waves tens of meters wide and several meters high, and it seemed the two sides were about to collide.

Such momentum is not something that an ordinary Foundation Establishment stage cultivator can possess.

"You devil, you can't escape."

"If you want to keep me here, we'll see if you two brothers have the ability."

It turned out to be a fight between good and evil.

"Oh no, senior brother, that demon is approaching the mortal fleet."

"How dare you..."

The latter's tone was filled with exasperation. Subsequently, those who were driven by justice and took it upon themselves to eliminate evil and protect the righteous path had no choice but to temporarily halt the water dragon's pursuit, otherwise the lives of these hundreds of mortals would surely have been lost under his magic.

A promising offensive was lost in an instant.

What the young man behind did not expect was that his subconscious retreat only reassured the fleeing old evil cultivator in front, making him even bolder.

The beast continued its relentless attack on the mortal fleet without slowing down or changing direction. In just a few breaths, it flew above the heads of the fleet members. Then, with a few flashes of sword light, it easily destroyed most of the ships below that had not yet managed to disperse!

Ships of goods and ordinary people alike plunged into the great river with a series of splashes.

At the same time, with a wave of his magical power, he easily lifted up several people whose status seemed to be quite high!

"Immortal...Senior...Ah, no...!"

Ms. Chen screamed in terror.

The old butler and others were also waving their arms and kicking their legs in mid-air, filled with fear and helplessness.

"You insignificant ants, buy me some time to escape."

The evil cultivator grinned, revealing a sinister sneer.

Then he began throwing human-shaped cannonballs at the two fellow disciples chasing after him.

"Damn it. Junior brother, save them."

"Senior brother, we can't save him..."

Unfortunately, the latter's reminder came too late.

"Bang bang bang..."

Puffs of blood mist exploded, and the unsuspecting senior brother from the Great Sword Sect, whose skin was stained with the poisonous blood mist at close range, immediately screamed and fell into the river.

The final result is:

The junior brother was no match for the evil cultivator and could only hastily flee with his seriously injured senior brother, while the evil cultivator remained at large. The affected fleet suffered heavy casualties and could only silently lick its wounds like a helpless puppy.

Meanwhile, Wang Li had already retreated to a distance of five or six miles!