Mao’er Mountain is a peak within the Donglin mountain range. At its base lies a village where the people are simple and honest, living off the land and cut off from the outside world.
One early morning…
In front of the village’s main gate, all the villagers stood bidding farewell to a youth of about fifteen or sixteen. The youth looked frail but had fair, clean skin, appearing very gentle at first glance. He wore a simple blue robe that had faded to white, and his eyes shone with intelligence and clarity.
His name was Bai Xiaochun.
“Elders and fellow villagers, I must go cultivate immortality, but I truly can’t bear to leave you all.” The youth’s face was filled with reluctance; his already gentle demeanor now seemed even more earnest.
The villagers exchanged glances, also feigning reluctance to part with him.
“Xiaochun, your parents passed early. You are… a good child!!! Don’t you want eternal life? Becoming an immortal means eternal life, living for a very long time. Go! A young eagle, once grown, must one day fly away.” An old man with graying hair stepped out from the crowd, his voice faltering slightly when he uttered the words “good child.”
“Out there, no matter what you encounter, you must persevere. Once you leave the village, don’t look back, because your path lies ahead!” The kind old man patted the youth’s shoulder.
“Eternal life…” The youth’s body trembled. He stood up resolutely, his gaze firm.
Encouraged by the old man and all the villagers present, he nodded several times, took a careful look at everyone, then turned and quickly walked out of the village.
Seeing the youth’s figure disappear into the distance, the villagers immediately became agitated. The lingering reluctance in their eyes was replaced by joy. The old man, whose face had been full of kindness moments before, was now trembling, tears streaming down his face.
“Heaven has eyes! That Bai Shulang, he’s finally gone… He’s finally gone! Who told him they saw an immortal nearby? You’ve done a great service for the village!”
“That Bai Shulang finally agreed to leave. Pity my chickens! Just because he was afraid of roosters crowing at dawn, he somehow convinced a bunch of children to catch chickens and ate every single one in the village…”
“Today, the New Year has arrived!” Cheers and excitement echoed throughout the small village. Some even brought out gongs and drums, beating them with great delight.
Outside the village, Bai Xiaochun hadn’t gone very far. He suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums from the village, along with resounding cheers. He stopped, his expression a little strange, then coughed once, and followed the sound of the gongs and drums, ascending Mao’er Mountain along the mountain path.
Although Mao’er Mountain wasn’t tall, it was overgrown with wild grass and bushes. It was early morning, and the area was still dark, with silence all around.
“Ni Gou said that a few days ago, when he was chased by a wild boar to this spot, he saw an immortal flying across the sky…” Bai Xiaochun walked along the mountain path, his heart pounding. Suddenly, from the edge of the forest, came a rustling sound, like a wild boar running. The sudden sound sent a chill down Bai Xiaochun’s already tense and anxious spine.
“Who? Who’s there!” His right hand quickly pulled four hammers and six axes from his travel pack. Still uneasy, he then took out a black incense stick from his chest and clutched it tightly.
“Don’t come here, absolutely do not come here! I have an axe, I have a hatchet, and the incense stick in my hand can summon divine lightning, it can even bring down an immortal! If you dare come out, I’ll beat you to death!” Bai Xiaochun trembled as he shouted, clutching those weapons tightly, and hurried along the mountain path. Along the way, clattering sounds rang out chaotically, as axes and choppers fell to the ground.
He must have been overly anxious, because the rustling sounds quickly vanished, and no wild beasts appeared afterwards. His face was pale. He wiped away cold sweat, a thought forming in his mind to give up and not continue up the mountain. But then he thought of the incense stick in his hand, the one his parents had left him before they passed away.
It was said that his ancestors had once, by chance, rescued an immortal who had fallen down. Before leaving, the immortal had left this incense stick as a token of gratitude, and also said that they would accept a descendant of the Bai family as a disciple. All he had to do was light it, and the immortal would come.
In the past, he had lit this incense stick over ten times, but in the end, the immortal never appeared. This made Bai Xiaochun begin to doubt whether the immortal would truly come. Today, he decided to try one more time because there wasn’t much of the incense stick left, and he had also heard villagers say that an immortal had been seen flying over this area a few days ago.
He climbed the mountain, thinking that perhaps, if he were a little closer, the immortal might notice him.
After a moment of hesitation, Bai Xiaochun gritted his teeth and continued. Fortunately, the mountain wasn’t very high, and before long, he reached the summit, panting heavily. Standing there, he turned to look at the village faintly visible at the foot of the mountain, a hint of emotion in his expression, then lowered his gaze to the black incense stick in his hand, now only the size of a fingernail.
“Three years… Parents, bless me, this time it must succeed!” Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and carefully lit the incense stick. A strong wind rose from all directions, and the sky became covered with thick dark clouds. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky, and thunder roared in Bai Xiaochun’s ears.
The resounding noise made Bai Xiaochun’s body tremble; he felt as if he could be struck dead by lightning at any moment. For a fleeting moment, he wanted to spit on the incense stick to extinguish it, but he held back, unwilling to give up.
“Three years, I’ve lit this incense stick twelve times. This is the thirteenth time, it absolutely must work this time. I, Xiaochun, am not afraid, I probably won’t be struck dead…” Bai Xiaochun recalled his experiences over the past three years; not counting this time, the previous twelve times he had lit the incense stick, thunder and lightning had always erupted like this, but the immortal never appeared. He was naturally afraid of death, and every time thunder and lightning erupted, he would spit on it to extinguish it. It was strange, though; this incense stick looked extraordinary, yet it would extinguish immediately when he spat on it.
While Bai Xiaochun was still terrified, struggling to wait amidst the thunder, not far in the sky, a streak of rainbow light roared as it rapidly approached.
Within this streak of rainbow light was a middle-aged man. The man wore luxurious robes, possessing the bearing of an immortal, yet his expression was weary, as if from a long journey. In fact, if one looked closely, it was clear he was truly exhausted.
“I really want to see what kind of person you are, to have been lighting one incense stick for three whole years!”
Just thinking about what he had endured over the past three years, the man’s anger flared.
Three years ago, he sensed someone had lit the incense stick he had given away when he was still in the Condensation Realm. Remembering the human connection in the mortal world that year, he hastily flew over.
That time, he calculated he would find it quickly, but he didn't expect that just as he sensed the scent, and before he had gone very far, the aura vanished in an instant, severing the connection. If it had only been once, that would be fine, but over the past three years, that aura had appeared more than ten times, causing him to search repeatedly, only to be interrupted every time. This constant back and forth, this struggle, had gone on for three years…
At this moment, he saw Mount Mao'er in the distance and saw Bai Xiaochun standing on the mountaintop. In a flash, he flew to the mountaintop, then waved his hand, extinguishing the incense stick, which didn't have much left.
The thunder instantly fell silent. Bai Xiaochun was startled; he looked up at the middle-aged man standing beside him.
"Immortal?" Bai Xiaochun asked cautiously, his voice uncertain, while secretly reaching for an axe behind his back.
"This Venerable One is Li Qinghou. Are you a descendant of the Bai clan?" The middle-aged cultivator's gaze was like lightning; he paid no attention to the axe behind Bai Xiaochun's back but began to appraise him. He saw that the person before him had fine eyebrows and beautiful eyes, vaguely resembling an old acquaintance from that year. His aptitude was also not bad, and the vexation in his heart lessened a little.
"This junior is indeed a descendant of the Bai clan, named Bai Xiaochun." Bai Xiaochun looked up and replied softly. Although there was a hint of fear in his heart, he still stood straight.
"I ask you, to light one incense stick, why did you light it for three whole years?!" The middle-aged cultivator spoke indifferently, asking the question he had wanted to know for the past three years.
Bai Xiaochun heard the question, his mind quickly raced, then he put on a troubled expression and looked down at the distant village at the foot of the mountain.
"This junior is a person who values loyalty and righteousness; I couldn't bear to abandon those villagers. Every time I lit the incense, they couldn't bear to let me leave. Even today, they are still grieving because of my departure."
The middle-aged cultivator was stunned. He hadn't considered this reason before, and the vexation in his eyes lessened even further. Judging from his words, this person's nature wasn't too bad. But when he directed his gaze towards the village below, sweeping it with his divine sense, and heard the sound of gongs and drums, along with cheers of joy because Bai Shulang had left, his expression immediately turned unsightly. He felt a headache coming on. This person before him appeared docile and simple on the surface, harmless to both people and things, but his heart was full of strange and wicked thoughts.
"Tell the truth!" the middle-aged cultivator glared and roared like thunder, startling Bai Xiaochun, who trembled with fear.
"You can't blame me for that. That darn incense stick of yours, every time I lit it, it brought thunder and lightning, and many times it almost struck me dead. I managed to escape thirteen times, which was already incredibly difficult." Bai Xiaochun said, putting on a pitiful expression.
The middle-aged cultivator looked at Bai Xiaochun and was silent for a moment.
"If you were so afraid, why did you dare to light the incense more than ten times?" The middle-aged cultivator said slowly.
“I’m scared of dying! Doesn’t cultivating immortality grant eternal life? I want eternal life!” Bạch Tiểu Thuần whined, feeling wronged.
The middle-aged cultivator fell silent again. He felt this fellow’s obsession was somewhat commendable. Perhaps he should just toss him into a harsh training sect; who knew, his personality might change somewhat. So, after a moment’s thought, he flicked his sleeve, enveloping Bạch Tiểu Thuần, and transformed into a streak of rainbow light, flying straight towards the horizon.
“Come with me.”
“Where are we going? We’re flying too high…” Bạch Tiểu Thuần saw himself soaring through the sky, with a ten-thousand-zhang abyss below, and his face turned pale. He threw away his axe and tightly clung to the immortal’s leg.
The middle-aged cultivator looked down at his leg and said helplessly.
“Spirit Stream Sect.”