The All-Seeing Eye

Yunjie Mountain, Zixiao Temple.

Gu Fan lay on the table, frowning and gently rubbing his forehead, trying to process the memories flooding his mind.

He was a modern young man who had achieved some success and was in the prime of his life.

On the way home, the sky suddenly collapsed and the earth split open, with endless light and heat rushing towards him. He lost consciousness and was transported to a world called Qionghua Realm. He has been reincarnated for eighteen years now.

Just now, while I was concentrating on studying the Taoist scriptures, I suddenly felt weak and tired all over. Feeling weak and short of breath, I fell asleep at my desk. When I woke up, I broke the mystery of my pregnancy.

In this life, Gu Fan was born into a merchant family in Lin'an City of Wei Kingdom. Although not extremely wealthy, his family was well-off. His loving parents hoped that their son would become successful and bring honor to the family.

Fortunately, Gu Fan was exceptionally intelligent. He passed the imperial examination at the age of fourteen and became a renowned child prodigy in the surrounding area.

But unforeseen events can happen at any time.

When he was sixteen, a plague broke out in Lin'an City. Those who were infected became emaciated within two days, as if all their life force had been drained away, and died within three days. No matter how many famous doctors in the city tried their best, there was no cure.

The plague lasted only a month, disappearing abruptly after a night of thunder, but Lin'an City was almost deserted. Gu Fan's parents also succumbed to the plague and passed away one after the other.

He lost his father on the first day of the lunar month and buried his mother on the fifteenth.

Gu Fan suppressed his grief and buried his parents outside Lin'an City. On his way back to the city, he saw every household dressed in white mourning clothes and heard the mournful cries all around him. The once bustling scene of people thronging together seemed like a dream. The paper money scattered all over the ground was swept up by the bleak autumn wind and fluttered down like a layer of frost.

At this moment, Gu Fan suddenly realized that fame and fortune were all fleeting clouds, and the long-cherished dream of passing the imperial examination no longer held any allure. He could only sigh that life was so short, like a fleeting moment, a spark in a stone, or a dream. Thus, he conceived the idea of ​​seeking immortality and visiting the Dao.

From a young age, Gu Fan had heard that there were immortals in the Cloud Realm Mountains. So he sold his property, keeping only his ancestral house, and after paying respects to his parents, he embarked on the path to seek immortality.

Three months after leaving home, I finally arrived at Yunjie Mountain and, with the help of a woodcutter, found the gate of Zixiao Temple.

Upon entering the Zixiao Temple, Gu Fan received news that brought him both joy and sorrow. He was happy that the pursuit of immortality was not just a myth, but worried that to cultivate immortality, one needed a spiritual root and physique; otherwise, the path between immortals and mortals would be separate.

After the nerve-wracking test, Gu Fan finally felt relieved—he possessed a mid-grade fire spirit root.

Humans exist between heaven and earth, possessing both Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. If one attribute stands out, it becomes a spiritual root, which is divided into five grades according to its superiority or inferiority: Heaven, Earth, Upper, Middle, and Lower.

Zixiao Temple is a branch temple of Lingxiao Sect. Those with superior spiritual roots can directly enter Lingxiao Sect as outer disciples.

Although Gu Fan's mid-grade fire spirit root is stronger than that of the lower grade, he can only become a nominal disciple in the Zixiao Temple and be taught a Taoist book called "Morning Glow Qi Guiding Technique". Only after he comprehends the contents of the book and gathers a wisp of morning glow purple qi into his dantian can he enter the outer sect of the Lingxiao Sect.

This is the first hurdle in cultivating immortality—guiding qi into the body.

If one cannot draw qi into the body within three years, then one is not destined to join the Lingxiao Sect and can only go down the mountain to seek another opportunity.

Gu Fan has been cultivating at Zixiao Temple for more than two and a half years, but he has not yet crossed the threshold of Qi Refining. It is not because he is not working hard, but because the Taoist classics are all written in Taoist script, which is said to have been created by ancient cultivators who observed the Heavenly Dao.

These Taoist inscriptions, though called writing, are more like rubbings of leaf veins. At first glance, they appear similar, but upon closer inspection, they reveal a myriad of forms. Each inscription has multiple interpretations and requires careful consideration in conjunction with the surrounding text.

Even though Gu Fan was exceptionally intelligent, memorizing these Daoist texts was already difficult enough. To save time, he would have to consult the teachers at the temple. Of course, the teachers wouldn't just give guidance for free; they would offer "gifts." Most of the money Gu Fan brought up the mountain was spent on this.

The seclusion on the mountain does not mean being detached from worldly affairs. On the contrary, in order to nourish the body and blood, the food in Zixiao Temple is quite particular. Precious tonics are only served with ordinary meals. Unless one is a promising immortal being favored by the master, one must pay for them.

As a result, Gu Fan's money and food supplies gradually ran out. A few days ago, he had no choice but to go down the mountain and pawn a piece of jewelry left by his mother so that he would no longer have to suffer from hunger.

Gu Fan's efforts were not in vain. After half a year of cultivation, he could already feel the purple aura of dawn. After a year, he could absorb the purple aura into his body. He only needed to guide the purple aura of dawn along the meridians to the dantian and the sea of ​​qi, and then he would be done.

But this final step stumped Gu Fan!

Because the human body's meridians are incredibly complex, each time the morning purple qi travels halfway, it dissipates due to going astray through the meridians. Fortunately, the morning purple qi is the most balanced and peaceful. After dissipating, it not only does not cause harm, but also nourishes the meridians and cleanses the bones, making it even better than ordinary herbs. This is why the Lingxiao Sect chose the "Morning Qi Guiding Technique" as a qi-guiding exercise.

Inside the house, Gu Fan wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead. He had finally completely digested the memories of his past life, and the swelling sensation disappeared.

"My most urgent task is to cultivate my Qi and enter the immortal realm. I am absolutely unwilling to remain a mortal!"

After gathering his thoughts, Gu Fan looked at the Taoist book on the table. The thin book had been read hundreds of times, and the edges of the pages were worn. Just now, he had unconsciously fallen asleep on the table, and his body had pressed against the pages, adding a few more creases.

Just as Gu Fan focused his gaze on the Taoist book, a scene that surprised him unfolded. The bizarre and intricate Taoist characters were glowing with golden light, leaping and fluttering from the pages, connecting end to end to form lines. These lines intertwined and interlocked, forming a diagram. Starlight appeared in the air, converging into a stream of light that slowly moved along the diagram from top to bottom.

"Is this... a meridian energy circulation diagram?"

Based on the structure of the diagram, Gu Fan immediately recognized it as a diagram of qi circulation, comparing it with his previous understanding. The moving stream of light should be the morning purple qi being absorbed into his body!

Gu Fan was overwhelmed with emotion, staring intently at the Qi circulation diagram, recalling the words in the Taoist book.

"Yes, after passing Huachi, crossing the Jade Bridge, and returning to Tanzhong, after a short stop, one should descend Jiuwei, pass through Zhongwan, and enter Shenque. No wonder the morning glow and purple aura always dissipate when we reach this point!"

Gu Fan felt as if a sudden enlightenment had dawned on him, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky. All the things he had thought about unclearly and the misunderstandings he had made in the past surfaced one by one, and he quickly memorized the Qi Circulation Diagram.

Just then, his eyes stung, and Gu Fan couldn't help but close them. When the stinging sensation subsided, he opened his eyes and found that the Qi Circulation Diagram had disappeared.

"I never imagined that awakening past life memories would have such benefits."

As he was about to cross the threshold of Qi Refining, Gu Fan was overjoyed and couldn't help but burst into song.

He turned his attention back to the Taoist book and stared at it intently for a while. The same scene appeared again. Looking at the identical Qi circulation diagram, he finally confirmed that what he had seen before was not a coincidence, but rather that he had gained some kind of ability. Although he was unsure of its source, he could only consider it a perk of his transmigration.

This time, my eyes felt sore in less than half a quarter of an hour, which was more than half the time it took before.

Gu Fan realized that this magical ability could not be used indefinitely. After some thought, he decided to call this ability the "All-Seeing Eye".

After a sleepless night, as dawn broke outside the window, Gu Fan straightened his clothes, pushed open the door, and left.

"The path to immortality begins today!"