I'm The Only True Immortal In The World.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Secrets

The three were still staring in awe at the empty window.

Fang Yi, however, was lost in thought.

He mused, "Spells sound magical, but after trying them, I've found they're simply using the immense power of one's own bio-energy field to accelerate natural cycles."

Fang Yi could naturally cast spells by guiding water molecules in a region to gather or disperse.

To put it arrogantly, if there were enough water molecules in that region, he could even flood Jinshan Temple.

Of course, the number of water molecules he needed to control was enormous.

His current bio-energy field strength might make such a feat difficult,

unless his soul became stronger, such as by cultivating a primordial spirit.

"It's not as good as the constructed model. I could even create water from nothing before. Could the energy field model I constructed be the supernatural power the ancients spoke of?"

Fang Yi knew that spells had great limitations; they were adaptable to different environments.

If he were thrown into a desert, it might take several times the energy to create a water dragon as large as tonight's.

Even so, he was still very satisfied with having learned water magic.

Controlling the changes of nature with his physical body—spells were indeed incredibly profound.

Fang Yi was still deep in thought.

Standing beside him, Zhu Shounian, Zhu Changqing, and Xiao Li by the kitchen door were all staring intently!

Before they could say anything, Zhu Changqing's wife rushed out of the kitchen in a startled voice, "Oh dear, Lao Zhu, what just happened? I saw a water dragon outside the window!"

Zhu Changqing waved his hand, "It's nothing, go make your dinner."

"Oh." His wife didn't ask any further questions and was about to turn back to the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of a small hole in the television. She froze for a moment, "Hey, how did the television break?"

Fang Yi was about to explain that he had accidentally broken it and would compensate for it.

But Zhu Shounian spoke up, "Shuzhen, don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

Zhu Changqing's wife then stopped talking and turned back to the kitchen.

It was clear that Zhu Shounian held considerable authority in the household.

"Master, your cultivation is terrifying! Creating such a huge water dragon with just a wave of your hand is simply astonishing!" Zhu Changqing exclaimed in amazement.

Fang Yi modestly replied, "It's just a minor skill."

While he was being modest, Zhu Shounian, Zhu Changqing, and Xiao Li believed him, secretly marveling at his abilities. If

such earth-shattering magic was considered a minor

skill, then how magnificent and awe-inspiring must Fang Yi's true path be?

The three couldn't even imagine it, only knowing that Fang Yi possessed extraordinary powers and feeling a deep admiration for his profound understanding of the Dao.

Half an hour later, during their meal.

Zhu Shounian, his family, and Xiao Li all looked at Fang Yi, who was slowly eating, with awe.

Having just witnessed the miracle of "a silver river seemingly falling from the heavens," how could they dare to show any disrespect?

If Zhu Shounian initially had some doubts because his son had described Fang Yi's extraordinary abilities,

after witnessing Fang Yi's power, he completely believed the family legends—the ancient immortals truly existed!

"Come, come, immortal, eat more," Zhu Shounian said enthusiastically. Fang Yi

politely replied, "Thank you."

The group was chatting.

Suddenly, Zhu Changqing's wife asked suspiciously, "Xiaoli, why is your face so red? Are you sick?"

Everyone looked in the direction of her voice.

Xiaoli's face was an unusually flushed red, as if she had a high fever.

"I don't know, I just feel a little hot," Xiaoli said.

Zhu Changqing was very concerned about his apprentice and reached out to touch Xiaoli's forehead. "Oh dear, why is it so hot?"

Xiaoli said helplessly, "Maybe it's because of the cold weather, and I wasn't wearing enough, so I caught a cold. It's okay, I'll take medicine myself later."

Fang Yi didn't think much of it at first, after all, he wasn't skilled in medicine and couldn't solve the problem of illness.

But then he remembered something: before the haunted house exploration, Chen Jin's driver, Xiao Zhang, said he had "seen ghosts" and had a high fever for several days.

Although illusion magic creates illusions, it can still cause harm to people.

Of course, there is a prerequisite.

It must be an attack initiated by oneself.

Although Fang Yi hadn't initiated any attacks, he had deliberately splashed a drop of water on Xiaoli's face when the crane plunged into the water to create a sense of realism.

The illusion was created by him injecting energy into the constructed illusionary model, where everything seen was a manifestation of energy.

Even that drop of water was energy.

So, it was indeed an accidental "attack" on Xiaoli.

Because Zhu Changqing hadn't touched anything in the illusion, he wasn't sick.

So illusions could have such a huge impact on ordinary people?

Fang Yi felt a pang of guilt, but also knew that illusions shouldn't be used carelessly.

Otherwise, a hospital checkup wouldn't reveal anything.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Xiaoli, come here, I'll help you get rid of your cold."

Xiaoli obediently said "Oh," then stood up and walked over.

Zhu Changqing, his wife, and Zhu Shounian blinked, seemingly curious, wanting to know how Fang Yi would help Xiaoli get rid of her cold.

Fang Yi first used his spiritual sense to look.

He discovered that there was indeed a bit of black energy attached to Xiaoli's bio-energy field, blocking the connection between the bio-energy field and her physical body, hindering some of its operation.

He remembered being attacked by illusion magic before; when his soul returned to his body, he felt a chill, but it subsided after a transformation of his internal energy.

"Give me your hand," Fang Yi said, raising his hand.

Xiao Li extended her right hand.

The Zhu family of three were quite puzzled, wondering what Fang Yi was going to do.

Fang Yi didn't take advantage of her; he simply gently grasped her fingertips, then minimized the amount of internal energy he channeled into Xiao Li's body through his palm.

He used his bio-energy lines to guide this internal energy to the area in Xiao Li's bio-energy field where it was contaminated with black energy.

The internal energy was pure Yang; upon contact with the black energy, it dissolved and vaporized into a black vapor.

Fearing that leaving it inside would affect Xiao Li's health, Fang Yi actively used his bio-energy lines, like controlling water molecules, to drive the black vapor away through her respiratory tract.

"Open your mouth," Fang Yi said.

Xiao Li quickly opened her mouth, and a black vapor emerged.

"Alright, it's fine now." Fang Yi released her fingers. "Drink some water later."

Xiao Li exclaimed in surprise, "I feel less hot now, you're amazing!"

Fang Yi smiled and said, "It's nothing."

Zhu Shounian and the others, who were initially confused, exchanged bewildered glances upon seeing Xiaoli exhale a wisp of black smoke.

Zhu Changqing tentatively asked, "Master, is Xiaoli possessed by an evil spirit?"

Fang Yi couldn't very well admit that he was the one who caused Xiaoli's illness, could he?

He could only hum in agreement, "More or less."

Zhu Shounian said thankfully, "Luckily, Master, you're here, otherwise Xiaoli might have become seriously ill."

He sighed, "Before the Ming Dynasty, there were extraordinary people who could easily resolve such matters, but in modern society, there's really no way to deal with it. My aunt was possessed by an evil spirit back then, and the doctors couldn't find the cause. Plus, she was already quite old at the time, and in the end, she didn't make it."

He had heard about this Ming Dynasty story again.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Fang Yi asked, "What exactly happened in the Ming Dynasty?"

Xiao Li, who had just sat down, also asked curiously, "Yes, Grandmaster, I've heard you and Master say this at least eight or ten times. What exactly happened?"

"It's a secret circulating within Taoism. My elders used to have close ties with Taoism, so I vaguely know a little about it," Zhu Shounian said slowly. "It's said that before the Ming Dynasty, there were quite a few true immortals who could cultivate the Golden Elixir, and these people could live for hundreds or even thousands of years. However, they were relatively low-key and rarely appeared in public."

Fang Yi and Xiao Li listened quietly.

Zhu Shounian continued, "But after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, under the pretext of killing meritorious officials, he secretly instructed Liu Bowen to hunt down those enlightened immortals..."

"Hmm?" Xiao Li asked, puzzled, "Grandmaster, Master Fang was so powerful just now, and Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates were all mortals. How could he kill true immortals?"

Fang Yi had the same question.

Yes, currently his physical strength was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.

Since learning water magic, he was well aware of its wondrous power.

He could easily create water dragons himself.

So, were there no ancient immortals more powerful than him who couldn't unleash devastating power?

If so, how could those ancient immortals have been killed by mortals?

"You don't know," Zhu Shounian shook his head, "Liu Bowen was actually an immortal, and he possessed a terrifying ability that prevented those ancient immortals from using their magic. That's why Zhu Yuanzhang, during his thirty-one-year reign, almost wiped out all the immortals."

Fang Yi asked, "Since some people in ancient times could cultivate to become immortals, why couldn't they later?"

"Have you heard about Liu Bowen severing the dragon veins?" Zhu Shounian countered.

"Yes."

"What, is it related to that?"

Fang Yi and Xiao Li asked in succession.

Zhu Changqing picked up the conversation, saying, "Yes, it's said that to cultivate into a True Person, one needs a blessed land, a place with abundant spiritual energy. Liu Bowen destroyed all those blessed lands by severing the dragon veins. Without the spiritual energy of the blessed lands, naturally no one can attain the Dao and become a True Person."

Fang Yi asked doubtfully, "This happened in ancient China. Does that mean no one in other countries has attained the Dao?"

"Similar things have happened abroad too," Zhu Changqing sighed. "For example, in the 14th century, France fought a war with the Papacy, and the Pope was eventually captured. Another example is Innocent III's order for believers to eradicate evil wizards. Some of these events were quite significant and were recorded, while others were less significant and not even recorded in history. Only those who actually came into contact with cultivation passed down their knowledge orally."

Zhu Shounian said, "Actually, that's all we know. Anyway, after the secret order was issued from Longhu Mountain that Liu Bowen had severed the dragon veins, there couldn't possibly be any True Persons left in the world. And indeed, hundreds of years have passed, and True Person Fang is the only True Person I've ever seen or even heard of who is still alive."

After hearing this secret, Fang Yi fell into deep thought.

He knew that condensing the Golden Elixir required an immeasurable amount of energy.

He himself hadn't been able to achieve it. It

was only thanks to the divine statue guiding a massive amount of pure energy from the outside world that he was forced to condense his Golden Elixir.

Therefore, the so-called "spiritual energy" of blessed lands and grotto-heavens was very likely a mountain range containing a large amount of pure energy.

So, could some people in ancient times condense the Golden Elixir and thus attain immortality?

But why did Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bowen relentlessly hunt down true immortals and even destroy blessed lands and grotto-heavens?

Fang Yi suddenly recalled a scene he had seen when observing the universe from the energy field of the divine statue.

Particles jumped off their original trajectories, but were ultimately corrected back to their original positions, then completed their mission and perished.

Were Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bowen manifestations of the universe's will?

Was their purpose to "correct" the "true immortals" who had deviated from their course?

Fang Yi thought it was very likely.

Because cultivating the Golden Elixir requires absorbing energy.

This energy could be generated by the body's processes after consuming food, or it could be released by white jade.

If the universe were a living organism,

then true immortals would be parasites, constantly absorbing nutrients from their host.

For example, the mantis's parasite, the horsehair worm, successfully parasitizes by evading the mantis's immune system, using the mantis's body as its habitat and breeding ground until it drains the mantis dry, at which point the worm emerges.

If this is the explanation, it makes sense.

The cosmic will doesn't want the "parasite" to drain the mantis, so it will definitely try to correct it.

To prevent the re-emergence of "parasites," it might even take a radical approach, destroying all places that could generate massive amounts of pure energy, making it impossible for anyone to condense a golden core and become a "parasite."

Hiss!

If this is the case, will the cosmic will target me?

Fang Yi felt a pang of fear, but then he thought back to how some ancient immortals lived for hundreds or even thousands of years.

This meant the cosmic will wouldn't discover the "loophole" so quickly.

He could live for at least several hundred more years.

And if he could cultivate and grow strong enough during those few hundred years, perhaps he wouldn't need to fear the cosmic will.

This made Fang Yi even more determined to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he also resolved a long-standing question that had been lingering in his mind from Zhu Shounian and Zhu Changqing: was he truly the only extraordinary being in the world?