Bewildered
2291 Words
Before the Jade Purity Hall,
The Mirror of Heaven and Earth hovered mid-air.
Immortal Yueci watched Chu Ran’s reflection in the mirror, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He looked utterly torn between laughter and exasperation. “This kid! He seems quiet, but he sure holds a grudge.”
“What do you think of him?” Yueci turned to Immortal Changhe beside him.
Immortal Changhe’s gaze was clear and sharp, fixed on Chu Ran in the mirror. His thin lips pressed together, he remained silent.
Seeing this, Immortal Yueci continued slowly, “This boy is very intelligent. The spiritual energy around him is pure and in harmony with heaven and earth. He’s a rare talent for cultivation, seen once in a century. The clear, sharp aura between his brows shows he practices an orthodox Daoist heart method. He must come from a great family, with an extraordinary background.”
He paused, then went on, “The only flaw is that he looks physically weak, lacking vitality, pale-faced with bloodless lips—like someone chronically ill.”
At this point, he chuckled softly, staring at Chu Ran’s cold, standing figure in the mirror. “That’s what I originally thought. But soon, I realized we’ve all been fooled by this kid.”
“He’s only at Qi Refining third layer, yet he could punch and send flying a body refinement practitioner at Qi Refining seventh layer. How could he be as sickly and weak as he looks?” Yueci said. “He’s likely hiding his true depth. So even this supposed flaw isn’t a problem. Why are you still hesitating?”
Hearing this, Immortal Changhe merely frowned, his eyes still on Chu Ran in the mirror, saying nothing.
Knowing his temperament well, Immortal Yueci didn’t press him, quietly waiting for his response.
A long time passed.
Finally, Immortal Changhe’s cool, clear voice spoke, “Let’s observe a while longer.”
Immortal Yueci frowned at his words.
After a moment, he said, “Alright, we’ll do as you say. Let’s watch a bit more.”
At the foot of Shangqing Sect’s mountain,
Chu Ran was mentally exhausted. He had worked so hard to reach the Golden Core stage, only for a teleportation array to send him back to the cultivation world of ten thousand years ago.
Not only did his body regress to a fourteen-year-old’s, but his cultivation also fell back to Qi Refining third layer.
In the era ten thousand years later, where Nascent Soul cultivators could be considered major powers, Qi Refining cultivators were at the very bottom. Not to mention in this era ten thousand years ago, where immortals and mortals coexisted in the same realm.
Golden Immortals were as common as dogs, Quasi-Sages walked everywhere.
A tiny Qi Refining cultivator like him was as weak as an ant; anyone could crush him with a finger.
Chu Ran didn’t want to die, much less be humiliated.
He had no cultivation level and no backing.
In this era ten thousand years ago, his very existence was a bug in the Heavenly Dao—an undocumented entity.
The person named Chu Ran fundamentally did not exist in this world.
Therefore, for Chu Ran to survive in this cultivation world, which was even more brutal and savage than the one ten thousand years later, and not be discovered and erased by the Heavenly Dao as a bug,
He had only one method: create an identity for himself and find a powerful backer.
Once the name Chu Ran resounded throughout this cultivation world, once he became widely known in this world,
Even the Heavenly Dao couldn’t arbitrarily erase his existence.
Without hesitation, Chu Ran chose the Shangqing Sect—his sect ten thousand years later.
Ten thousand years ago, the Shangqing Sect belonged under the Dao Palace.
The Dao Palace was founded by the Dao Ancestor.
The Dao Ancestor was the first to attain the Dao between heaven and earth. He preached the Dao across the Nine Provinces, and countless cultivators heard his teachings. All living beings owed him a debt for imparting knowledge and resolving doubts, hence they revered him as Dao Ancestor.
The Dao Ancestor had seventy-two recorded disciples, among whom seven were his direct disciples.
These seven, after achieving their cultivation, left their master and each founded their own sects and schools.
Shangqing Sect, Xuantian Sect, Taiji Palace.
These three sects were founded by three of the Dao Ancestor’s direct disciples, sent down the mountain by their master to propagate and expand the Xuan Sect. They all belonged to the Dao Palace, revered the Dao Ancestor as their patriarch, and enshrined his image within their sects.
The other four disciples each had their own destinies, each becoming the master of a major sect.
Thinking of this, Chu Ran couldn’t help but sigh softly.
Ten thousand years ago, the Daoist sects had not yet split. Shangqing Sect, Xuantian Sect, and Taiji Palace all belonged to the Dao Palace, and disciples of each sect addressed each other as fellow disciples. It was like different colleges within the same university.
Later, during the war of deification, the three Daoist sects tore off all pretenses, turning against each other.
The Dao Ancestor even directly created another realm. Cultivators who reached Immortal realm cultivation all entered this realm—this was the later Celestial Realm.
From then on, immortals and mortals were separated. Cultivators pursued the Dao with the goal of attaining the Dao, becoming immortals, and ascending.
Chu Ran sighed even more deeply inwardly. In later generations, countless people admired and yearned for this primordial land of ten thousand years ago, where immortals and mortals coexisted in the same realm, and immortals were no longer ancient legends.
If it were them who traveled to this cultivation world ten thousand years ago, they’d probably weep with joy!
However, Chu Ran did not want to time-travel.
Mainly because… this world was too difficult to survive in. Coach, I want to go home!
As someone whose body was perpetually afflicted with negative statuses like halved health and spiritual power, who spat blood at the drop of a hat, who worried about insufficient stamina during fights and fainting—a true sickly weakling—was he really suited for this legendary Primordial Era, where first the Dragon and Phoenix clans battled for dominance, then the Witch and Demon clans tore into each other, and finally the Daoist sects turned on each other, triggering the war of deification?
It really felt like he could die any minute.
Sigh!
Chu Ran sighed helplessly inwardly.
“Stop, A-Zhen!” Suddenly, a rough, urgent voice called out.
Hearing it, Chu Ran turned to look.
Ahead—
Wang Mang, half his face swollen like a pig’s head, swatted away the hand of the tall, thin man standing before him. He said gruffly, “It’s just some superficial injuries. Don’t waste your effort.”
The tall, thin man before him frowned, staring at his highly swollen face. Indeed, Wang Mang’s injuries looked frightening but were only skin-deep.
They’d heal in a day or two at most. That youth…
The tall, thin man’s eyes darkened slightly. That youth had shown mercy.
A moment later, he looked up at Wang Mang before him and reached toward his swollen cheek.
Wang Mang was about to speak again, but the tall, thin man coldly cut him off. “Don’t move! If you dare move, I’ll break your leg.”
“…” Wang Mang.
Damn!
Can a guy even live like this anymore!?
The tall, thin man’s hand approached Wang Mang’s heavily swollen cheek. He silently chanted an incantation, and instantly, a green light glowed on his hand.
Chu Ran, watching from the side, observed the tall, thin man’s actions closely.
This was his first time seeing a witch practitioner cast a spell; he couldn’t help being curious.
The blue-green patterns on the back of the tall, thin man’s hand deepened in color, shifting from pale blue-green to a dense, deep ink-green.
It was the same color as the ball of green light in his hand.
That ink-green light seeped into Wang Mang’s cheek.
A miraculous scene unfolded!
Wang Mang’s heavily swollen cheek rapidly deflated.
In less than a minute, Wang Mang’s cheek became smooth, clear, without a trace of injury—perfectly restored.
Seeing this, Chu Ran’s expression remained neutral. He thought, Witch doctors really are miraculous.
But… Chu Ran stared at the tall, thin man ahead, a flicker of doubt in his mind. Judging by the man’s earlier reaction, he hadn’t wanted to expose his identity as a witch practitioner. Chu Ran could roughly guess his reason for hiding it. Why was he revealing it now?
The surrounding crowd also watched curiously.
They wondered inwardly what healing spell the tall, thin man had used. It looked like a wood-element technique?
So he was a cultivator specializing in healing arts! Everyone stared at the tall, thin man, immediately reconsidering their stance.
Whether ten thousand years later or now, healing cultivators were highly valued and welcomed in the cultivation world. After all, in this high-risk world of constant fighting, bloodshed, injuries, and death, everyone needed a healer.
And healing cultivators were especially rare—similar to how healers were always scarce in games. Everyone wanted to be the DPS who could instantly kill and enjoy the thrill of battle, not the supportive healer who helped others recover.
Thus, the crowd’s previous rejection and disdain toward the tall, thin man instantly vanished.
They all felt inclined to befriend him—who knew when they might need his help someday.
Seeing the crowd’s reaction, Chu Ran understood.
So that’s the plan!
Chu Ran thought, Quite clever.
Ten thousand years ago, in the cultivation world, different races stood opposed, each occupying their own territory, mutually wary and non-interfering.
Interaction was minimal. People knew of witch practitioners but didn’t know what they actually looked like.
Chu Ran, who traveled from ten thousand years later and had read countless texts (essentially spoiled by future knowledge), didn’t count.
So, the tall, thin man had nothing to fear about his identity being exposed.
Not only that, he even used his witch practitioner abilities to masquerade as a similarly popular healing cultivator in the cultivation world, turning his unfavorable situation around.
Transforming a disadvantage into an advantage.
This guy has some tricks up his sleeve, Chu Ran thought indifferently.
He lowered his eyes. Well, as long as he doesn’t mess with me, it’s fine.
Just as he was thinking this, he heard a voice, “Fellow Daoist Chu.”
He looked up. It was the tall, thin man.
The tall, thin man approached him. His gaze was calm, his thin, pale face softened, showing no hostility.
“Thank you,” the tall, thin man said.
Hearing this, Chu Ran frowned, about to speak.
The tall, thin man interrupted him, “I know you showed mercy earlier. Wang Mang is indeed impulsive, acts recklessly, and offends many.”
Here, the tall, thin man felt a headache coming on.
Throughout their journey, Wang Mang had done many things like today, offending people. They’d made quite a few enemies; several times, they’d been seriously injured.
Each time afterward, Wang Mang would regret it, saying he was wrong, shouldn’t have been so impulsive, shouldn’t have caused trouble.
But the next time, he’d cause trouble again…
Truly fitting the saying: Old habits die hard!
He knew this was due to Wang Mang’s racial traits. The Barbarian Tribe was like this: violent tempers, easily angered, impulsive. But time after time, they’d nearly been done in.
The tall, thin man couldn’t help feeling resentment, regretting ever bringing this big oaf along.
Thinking of this, the tall, thin man looked at Chu Ran and said seriously, “Thank you, fellow Daoist, for sparing his life.”
Hearing this, Wang Mang, standing to the side, snorted inwardly.
Him?
A Qi Refining third-layer pretty boy can kill me?
He thought disdainfully but didn’t dare speak out and curse like before.
After all, he’d suffered a loss and now felt wary, not daring to.
Since things had come to this, Chu Ran couldn’t very well refuse to save face. With a cold expression, he said mildly, “He and I have no deep enmity. Naturally, I wouldn’t truly go all out against him.”
“So, thanks are unnecessary,” Chu Ran said, looking at the tall, thin man. “If I may advise, human society is complex, and so are human hearts. Thus, it’s best for everyone to be cautious in words and deeds. Making enemies is not a wise move.”
Chu Ran thought, Luckily, you met me. I wouldn’t hold a grudge.
At most, if annoyed, I’d just beat you up.
As someone who’ll eventually return ten thousand years later, why should I bother with people from a different world?
However, the tall, thin man misunderstood his meaning, thinking he was kindly reminding him.
He thought, This person shares some traits with my Wu Barbarian Tribe—magnanimous, not holding grudges. Wu Barbarian men fight and brawl on the field, then eat meat and drink together afterward.
Completely misunderstanding Chu Ran as a good person, the tall, thin man looked at him gratefully and said, “Thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist.”
Then, with a faint smile, he said to Chu Ran, “Fellow Daoist, my surname is Wu, given name Zhen.”
“You can call me A-Zhen,” Wu Zhen said to Chu Ran.
“…” Chu Ran.
Wait…
What’s with this exchanging-names-to-become-friends act?
If I remember correctly, I just finished beating up your companion…
Completely baffled by the Wu Barbarian Tribe’s thought process, Chu Ran was utterly bewildered.
- Writer
