Seeking Immortality

When the sun rose from the east, it dispelled the darkness, and the various negative emotions that originally surrounded Xu Qingfan's heart seemed to be much lighter in the sun.

Feeling the warmth of the sun shining on his face, Xu Qingfan woke up from meditation and slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the familiar furnishings, chairs, bookcases, and various wooden objects in his house, which appeared calm and elegant in the change of dim light, Xu Qingfan couldn't help but flash a trace of confusion in his heart.

"Is everything over?"

Xu Qingfan murmured to himself in a low voice. Although a whole night had passed, he asked himself at this time, and his tone was mostly unbelievable.

Trickery, conspiracy, melee, blood, betrayal, death.

All of this seemed to have happened just a moment ago, and it seemed that he was still in that endless crisis, and had to deal with the fatal threat that would suddenly appear at any time.

Whether on Huandao Island, the back mountain of Jiuhua, or in front of Hualing Palace, Xu Qingfan couldn't believe that he had experienced so many life-and-death struggles in such a short time. Every time he thought about the moment between life and death, Xu Qingfan was still sweating. What was even more unbelievable was that he had survived so many life-and-death struggles.

But Xu Qingfan could no longer guarantee that if he were to experience the events of these days again, he would still be fine.

It was hard for Xu Qingfan to imagine how he had survived the stimulation of the waves these days with his elegant and lazy personality.

And even if he survived these abnormal waves, the price Xu Qingfan paid was not small. Not to mention the serious internal injuries and loss of spiritual energy in his body, it was unknown how long it would take for the injury on his right leg to heal, especially the mysterious ice coldness entangled in his legs. Even if Xu Qingfan had the phoenix spiritual energy, it would take a lot of effort to expel it all.

Suddenly returning from the chaos to the original tranquility and peace, Xu Qingfan felt a little uncomfortable at this time. The nerves that had been tense for more than ten days could not relax again in a short time.

Feeling the leisurely taste in the air and sunshine, a dreamlike feeling came over Xu Qingfan's heart, as if he was in a dream now, and as if the previous experiences were just a vivid dream of last night.

After waking up, Xu Qingfan checked his current body and couldn't help frowning. Even after a whole night of meditation and rest, his spiritual energy in his body was still less than 30% restored, and his internal injuries were only slightly relieved, but fortunately he was able to move without any hindrance, but his right leg was still slightly swollen.

Shaking his head helplessly, Xu Qingfan stood up and pushed open the door. The thin sunlight that had originally only penetrated through the gap in the room suddenly became stronger. In a short moment, it filled every inch of Xu Qingfan's room.

Squinting his eyes, he carefully felt the sunlight coming from outside the door, took a deep breath of the fresh air in the morning, and the dreamlike feeling was relieved a lot. After a long time, Xu Qingfan laughed at himself, shook his head, and threw away the remaining illusion in his heart.

The past is over, and since it is over. Then we should cherish the present more.

At this moment, there was a "creaky" sound, and another door was pushed open. Xu Qingfan turned around and saw that it was in the room next door. Ting'er pushed the door out, as if she had already known that Xu Qingfan was outside, and looked at Xu Qingfan with an inquiring look.

"When are we going to the top of Jiuhua Mountain to practice?"

Although Ting'er didn't speak, her eyes seemed to be spiritual, and just an inquiring look. She clearly expressed her meaning.

Xu Qingfan looked at Ting'er's well-behaved appearance, and found that the indifference and rebelliousness in her eyes seemed to have dissipated a lot. It seemed that after Xu Qingfan's subtle influence over the years, Ting'er's hatred for Xu Qingfan and the influence of the magic beads seemed to have faded a lot, and seemed to be hidden deeper.

A trace of relief flashed in his eyes, and Xu Qingfan smiled and asked: "Ting'er, we are about to move out, and it is estimated that we will not return here for many years. Do you have anything to take away?"

Hearing Xu Qingfan's question, Ting'er's eyes showed a trace of thinking. After a while, she turned back to the house. When she came out of the room again, there was already a puppy-like puppet toy in her arms, and a yellowed book.

And the puppy-like puppet toy was bought on the road when Xu Qingfan took Ting'er back to Jiuhua Mountain. But the reason why Xu Qingfan bought this puppet. It was not because Ting'er liked this puppet so much. In fact, Ting'er was very precocious. She never showed any interest in these toys.

The real reason was that during a stroll in the town, Xiaobi in Ting'er's arms suddenly became very interested in the dog-shaped puppet. She suddenly jumped out of Ting'er's arms, rushed to the stall selling puppet toys, and bit the puppet and refused to let go. Looking at the puppet with teeth marks and saliva, the stall owner's eyes were full of anger, and he wanted to bite Xiaobi again. Xu Qingfan had no choice but to buy the puppet and give it to Xiaobi as a toy.

And the facts proved that after having this puppet, Xiaobi was extremely attached to it. After returning to Jiuhua Mountain, whenever Ting'er practiced Taoism and ignored it, Xiaobi would run around the puppet with great interest, as if she had found a playmate, which saved Xu Qingfan a lot of trouble.

But Xu Qingfan now knew that Xiaobi would soon evolve into Dabi after being fed a lot of spiritual medicine by Liu Huaxiang. Xu Qingfan couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart when he imagined that he would see Xiaobi, who was several feet tall, running around this several-inch doll from time to time in the future.

And that book was the "Three Quests" that Xu Qingfan left for Ting'er before he went to Zhantai to participate in the newcomer competition. Judging from her behavior of taking the book with her before leaving, Ting'er might not have gained anything from the book, but she cared more about what Xu Qingfan gave her.

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan was even happier and said to Ting'er, "Ting'er, wait outside the courtyard for a while, I will take you away immediately."

Seeing Ting'er obediently walk outside the courtyard, Xu Qingfan also walked into his house. Xu Qingfan carried all the magic tools, spiritual stones and elixirs he had collected over the years, so he only had to take some books with him, such as the thirteen volumes of "Shanhai Yitan". There are also ten volumes of "History of Immortal Cultivation". You can read them twice more in your spare time.

After putting the books that interested him into his sleeves, Xu Qingfan walked into the courtyard again, bowed to Yue Qingru's tomb, and then got busy in the courtyard again. Xu Qingfan had obtained two "Three Yuan Array" array plates before. And buried one of them in this courtyard, and arranged it into a protective array to protect the cave. But later it was broken by Nangong Qingshan and was damaged and could not be used.

I don't know how long I will be away this time. Although the "Hundred Herb Garden" on the top of Jiuhua Mountain is not far away, Xu Qingfan will not go back much, so Xu Qingfan buried another "Three Yuan Array" array plate in the courtyard this time, and arranged the "Three Yuan Array" again to protect this cave. This is not because Xu Qingfan has any treasures hidden here, but Xu Qingfan does not want any wild beasts to enter here by mistake to disturb Yue Qingru's rest. Or destroy the courtyard house.

Although the previous "Three Yuan Formation" had been destroyed by Nangong Qingshan, the earth spirit stones buried in many places still existed. In addition, this was the second time to set up this formation, so this time Xu Qingfan was much faster than the previous time. After a while, the white mist once again enveloped the wooden house courtyard, and Xu Qingfan's cave in the back mountain immediately returned to its original familiar appearance.

He took a last look at the place where he had lived for more than 20 years. A trace of nostalgia flashed in Xu Qingfan's eyes, and then without hesitation, he patted Ting'er's head and said softly: "Ting'er, let's go."

As he said, Xu Qingfan controlled the "Wanli Cloud" and took Ting'er to fly quickly towards the front mountain.

On the "Wanli Cloud", Ting'er also took a last look at this courtyard like Xu Qingfan, and then turned her eyes to the top of Jiuhua Mountain, as if expecting something new there.

When the figures of Xu Qingfan and Ting'er finally disappeared. The back mountain has returned to its former appearance, quiet and distant, with continuous shade of trees, full of vitality but no trace of people.

Or, this is what the back mountain of Jiuhua should look like.

Noisy, it is really not suitable here.

After flying to the front mountain, Xu Qingfan hesitated for a moment in the air, and then controlled the "Wanli Cloud" to fly towards the direction of Xiao Huazhe's cave. Originally, Xu Qingfan wanted to find Jin Qinghan, Li Yuhan, Sheng Yushan and others to say goodbye to them, but thought that Jiuhua was about to close the mountain. And they were about to enter the "Jiuji Cave" for training, and training in the "Jiuji Cave" was full of dangers. I guess they were making all kinds of preparations for this at this time, and it was inconvenient for me to disturb them, so I gave up the idea of ​​looking for them. Instead, I went to find his uncle Xiao Huazhe. This is also the only elder Xu Qingfan is familiar with in Jiuhua Mountain except Liu Huaxiang.

Xiao Huazhe's cave is located in a bamboo forest on the hillside of Jiuhua Mountain. It looks very elegant under the morning mist. Compared with Xu Qingfan's cave in the back mountain, although it is less quiet, it is more exquisite.

After Xu Qingfan descended the "Wanli Cloud", he led Ting'er to stand respectfully outside the bamboo forest, and then he raised his voice to the bamboo forest and said: "Uncle Xiao, I, Xu Qingfan, come to pay my respects."

With the help of spiritual energy, Xu Qingfan's voice was clearly heard in every corner of the bamboo forest.

After a while, Xiao Huazhe's solemn voice was clearly heard from the bamboo forest.

"Is it Master Xu? Come in."

Hearing Xiao Huazhe's voice, Xu Qingfan no longer hesitated and led Ting'er to walk towards the exquisite bamboo house in the bamboo forest.

Entering the house, I saw that Xiao Huazhe was not sitting cross-legged on the bamboo bed as usual, but standing quietly in front of the window, looking up at the wind blowing the bamboo outside the window, the clouds rising and falling, as if he was thinking about something, and seemed to be missing something, with a hint of loneliness in his back.

Hearing the footsteps of Xu Qingfan coming from behind, Xiao Huazhe slowly turned around, first glanced at Ting'er beside Xu Qingfan, but did not express any surprise at the dark flame pattern on Ting'er's face, and then stared at Xu Qingfan deeply, as if he wanted to see something from Xu Qingfan.

When Xu Qingfan saw Xiao Huazhe's face, he was surprised.

It turned out that Xiao Huazhe, as the eldest disciple of the "Hua" generation of Jiuhua Mountain, was also the number one master of Jiuhua Mountain. He was serious by nature and always paid great attention to his appearance. Although he didn't dress up much, he always dressed neatly and neatly, without any mess, but now looking at Xiao Huazhe again. However, his hair was disheveled and his clothes were wrinkled, as if he had not cleaned himself at all since the Jiuhua riot yesterday.

Although he was surprised, he thought that Xiao Huazhe might be worried about Jiuhua's situation at this time, so Xu Qingfan didn't think much about it and just led Ting'er to bow deeply to him. But just as he was about to say hello, Xiao Huazhe suddenly said: "Qing Fan. To be honest, neither you nor Qing Ru are anything like my junior brother."

Hearing what Xiao Huazhe said, Xu Qingfan was slightly startled, but he didn't know the meaning of Xiao Huazhe's words, so he didn't dare to answer easily, but looked at Xiao Huazhe doubtfully. Wait for him to continue.

But Xiao Huazhe continued to say: "My junior brother has been very persistent in cultivating immortals since the first day he entered Jiuhua Mountain. Among us old guys, he is the most diligent in terms of diligence. And you and Qingru, Although he is a disciple of my junior brother, he is not so dedicated to cultivating immortals. Instead, he is more interested in reading books and planting flowers.

Hearing what Xiao Huazhe said, Xu Qingfan felt a little ashamed. He said in a low voice: "Master, he is very talented, and he is expected to find the way to immortality, so naturally he can practice diligently. But my senior brother and I have low qualifications, and even our diligence is in vain, so we don't care so much about cultivating immortality."

Xiao Huazhe shook his head and said slowly: "I hope that my junior brother can learn more from you two disciples, so that he doesn't have to fall into reincarnation so early."

Xu Qingfan was stunned for a moment, and his doubts became even worse. Looking at Xiao Huazhe's messy and lonely face, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

But I heard Xiao Huazhe say again: "There are three stages of cultivating immortals. The differences between the foundation building stage, the elixir formation stage, and the Mahayana stage. Have my junior brother told you?"

Xu Qingfan shook his head and said: "Master, he only told this junior about the differences between the Qi Refining Stage, the Bigu Stage, and the Spiritual Silence Stage in the Foundation Establishment Period. I think Master thinks that this junior will not be able to enter the realm of pill formation in this life, so the Foundation Establishment Stage, The difference between the three stages of Dan Dan and Mahayana was never mentioned to the younger generation.”

Xiao Huazhe nodded. He said slowly: "If cultivating immortals in the foundation-building stage uses the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to transform themselves, then monks in the pill-forming stage understand the way of heaven. And monks in the Mahayana stage integrate themselves with the way of heaven. When the body and the way of heaven are completely integrated, When we are together, we will reach the state of coexisting with heaven and earth, which is what we often call the path to immortality.”

Hearing what Xiao Huazhe said, Xu Qingfan hurriedly held his breath and kept these words in his heart, because Xu Qingfan knew that although Xiao Huazhe's words seemed ordinary, they were all his experiences in cultivating immortality for many years, and they were extremely precious.

Sure enough, Xiao Huazhe went on to say: "During the foundation building stage, the battle between the monks depends entirely on who has strong spiritual energy and whose Taoism is pure. But after the pill formation stage, the strength of the monks depends entirely on the monk's understanding of the way of heaven. Comprehension, every time he comprehends a little more of the way of heaven, his magical powers will be much more powerful, and his strength will be greatly increased. "

After Xiao Huazhe paused, he continued: "But since it is the way of heaven, how can it be so easy to understand? If you want to understand the way of heaven, you must maintain a natural and peaceful mentality at all times. Only in this way can you be sensitive to To understand the subtleties of the way of heaven, my junior brother was too dedicated to cultivating immortality and could not maintain a calm heart. As a result, he fell into inferior positions. During his lifetime, I followed him for this reason. He has said it many times, and although he understands these principles, he just can't let go of the attachments in his heart. As a result, after reaching the golden elixir stage, he can no longer make progress, and eventually he will die of old age, which can be described as desolate. "

Although Xiao Huazhe's words contained many criticisms and faults against Xu Qingfan's master Lu Huayan, Xu Qingfan knew that Xiao Huazhe's words had their own reasons, so he could not refute them and could only listen silently.

Xiao Huazhe went on to say: "This is why I say that my junior brother should learn more from you two disciples in terms of mentality. Because if he can have your mentality, his progress will naturally increase greatly. In this way, if If nothing else happens, maybe you can enter the Mahayana realm with me a hundred years later and continue to explore the mystery of immortality."

Hearing Xiao Huazhe's words, Xu Qingfan first felt sorry for his master, then his body trembled and he looked up at Xiao Huazhe in disbelief. He said in shock: "Uncle, do you mean that you will be able to enter the Mahayana period and become a grandmaster in another hundred years?"

Xiao Huazhe nodded, but what was strange was that at this time, instead of showing joy, his face showed a strong look of loneliness and sadness.

Seeing Xu Qingfan, he wanted to congratulate him, but Xiao Huazhe waved his hand and said, "You don't need to congratulate me. Because I don't have a hundred years left to continue practicing."

Hearing Xiao Huazhe's words, Xu Qingfan was confused at first, then his body shook, and he asked urgently: "Master, what do you mean by this? Are you like my master, your longevity is already..."

Xiao Huazhe sighed, shook his head, then nodded, and said softly: "My life span was not exhausted originally. But before, in order to deceive Zhou Huahai's trust, I took a heavenly spirit pill. It’s a waste, and I only have less than thirty years left to live.”

Xu Qingfan looked horrified and asked hurriedly: "Uncle, with your level of cultivation, are you unable to remove the power of this Heavenly Spirit Pill?"

Xiao Huazhe nodded sadly and said: "Zhang Xusheng is indeed a rare genius in the Jiuhua lineage. The heavenly elixir he made cannot be solved even with all the strength of the Jiuhua sect."

As he said this, Xiao Huazhe sighed heavily.

Looking at the deep look of despair in Xiao Huazhe's eyes, I finally understood why Xiao Huazhe, who had always paid attention to his appearance, was so messy now. He thought that when he was about to break through to the Mahayana stage, he suddenly realized that he didn't have much time left. , I must be completely despairing.

Although he wanted to comfort Xiao Huazhe, Xu Qingfan found that he could not find any reason to comfort him at this time. But there is no reason to comfort Xiao Huazhe.

So Xu Qingfan moved his lips, but in the end he didn't say anything. He just sighed after a long silence and said softly: "The way of heaven is unfair."

He seemed to be complaining to Xiao Huazhe, and seemed to be talking to himself.

Seeing Xu Qingfan's worried look, Xiao Huazhe's originally decadent and lonely expression seemed to ease a little. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly changed the subject and asked: "Qingfan, do you remember what I said at your master's funeral?" Have you ever said a word?”

Without waiting for Xu Qingfan to answer. Xiao Huazhe continued: "I said that after I die, I don't know if there will be filial disciples like you and Qingru to die for me, and whether there will be people who will put incense sticks in front of my tomb every year on my death anniversary. It's a pity that I I have never liked excitement, so even though I have been practicing immortality for hundreds of years, I have never accepted a disciple. I don’t think there will be anyone who will die for me.”

There was a strong sense of loneliness and exhaustion in his voice.

I heard Xiao Huazhe say this. Xu Qingfan also felt sad in his heart, and hurriedly said: "Master, you don't have to be sad. Although I am not your direct disciple, you are my senior uncle. If you fall into reincarnation thirty years later, I will personally give you some advice." You carry the coffin.”

Despite Xu Qingfan's assurance, Xiao Huazhe's expression was not much happy, but the decadent and lonely air was slightly reduced. After staring at Xu Qingfan's expression for a long time, and seeing that the sincerity in Xu Qingfan's eyes was definitely not fake, Xiao Huazhe nodded gently. He nodded and said: "After all, you are the only descendant of my and my junior brother's lineage. It is reasonable to ask you to die for me."

Xu Qingfan said hurriedly: "Yes, if something happens to you, uncle, I will just do my duty. But uncle, you don't have to be so depressed. Things are unpredictable and opportunities are unpredictable. Maybe, maybe, uncle, you will be able to do something in these years." There may be some adventure that can remove the harm of the Heavenly Spirit Pill from the body. When the time comes, Master, you will become a great master, and the younger generation will always be by your side to listen to your teachings."

Xiao Huazhe shook his head sadly and said: "If opportunities can really appear from time to time, it won't be called opportunities."

After a pause, Xiao Huazhe suddenly waved his right sleeve, and several spiritual weapons suddenly appeared on the bamboo table beside him. It was a two-foot-long ruler glowing with colorful light, with a ghostly light on one side. A bronze mirror, a black stone piece, and a green slip.

But I heard Xiao Huazhe say: "Since you died for me, you can be considered as half of my disciples. If you don't bring it with you in life, you won't take it with you in death. I'm afraid the things I have refined and collected over the years will be lost after I die." All of them will be collected by that old guy Zhang Hualing, but I can’t leave you with nothing. These are all things that I think you might use. Even if they are given to you by me, the specific usage is on the green slip. Record."

Xu Qingfan knew that Xiao Huazhe was in despair now and was not in the mood to be polite to him, so he didn't make any excuses and just silently put the three things into his sleeves.

Seeing Xu Qingfan's actions, Xiao Huazhe nodded with satisfaction, suddenly sighed again, and then said: "If nothing happens, you can go back. Originally, I wanted you to stay and accompany me through the last period of time. Before I die, But as far as I know, you have to go to the top of Jiuhua Mountain to practice with Junior Brother Liu Huaxiang, right? Junior Brother Liu’s cultivation level is far better than mine, so it’s a great opportunity for you to get his personal guidance. , you must cherish it and don’t lose the face of Junior Brother Liu and me.”

Xu Qingfan was slightly startled when he heard that Xiao Huazhe admired Liu Huaxiang's cultivation so much, but thought that Xiao Huazhe was just being polite, so he didn't pay much attention. Just when he was about to express his intention to stay with him, he saw that Xiao Huazhe had already turned around and continued to watch. It seemed that he couldn't get enough of the bamboo forest outside the window. At the same time, he waved to Xu Qingfan, indicating that Xu Qingfan could leave, but he was unwilling to say a word to Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan sighed slightly, knowing that Xiao Huazhe just wanted to be alone at this time. Although he felt sad and felt like staying to comfort him, he still bowed helplessly and said: "Then the disciple will leave. Master, you should take more care."

At this time, Xu Qingfan no longer called himself "junior" to Xiao Huazhe, but instead called him "disciple".

After saying that, Xu Qingfan took Ting'er and left slowly.

When Xu Qingfan walked out of the bamboo forest with a sad mood, he heard a sad song suddenly coming from the bamboo forest, and the voice was full of helplessness and loneliness.

The lyrics say: "Looking at the west wind with regret and melancholy, when the red polygonum reeds are white and the heart is broken. There is no trace of the empty fence in the old garden in autumn, and there is knowledge in the cold moon and clear frost. I miss you and the geese fly away, and I sit alone and listen to the evening anvil. Who pities me? I am grieving for the sake of heaven, and wish to express my condolences that we will meet again on the Double Ninth Festival."

Hearing this sad song and feeling the helplessness in Xiao Huazhe's heart, Xu Qingfan's body shook, and he sighed sadly again, and then without stopping, he made the "Wanli Cloud" fly towards the "Baicao Garden" on the top of Jiuhua Mountain.

Now that the old has passed away, it means that the new is about to begin.