Hearing Li Niansheng's words, Chen Changsheng set down his book. He had been in the crowd during the affinity test, merely returning to the shop before her.
Looking at the girl who stood before him with her head bowed, he clicked his tongue. "Do you truly wish to go?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
At this question, Li Niansheng's hands clenched slightly. "For longevity," she whispered.
The four words were spoken softly, yet they carried the weight of a mountain. Because only by attaining longevity could she forever stay by "Changsheng" (Long Life).
Seeing her stubborn expression, Chen Changsheng smiled, walked over, and stood before her. "Many in this world have transitioned from mortal to Immortal, but no Immortal has ever become mortal again. This tells us the path of longevity is a one-way road. If one day you grow weary of the journey..." he said, his voice warm, "just look back. Brother Changsheng will always be right behind you."
He then gave her a big, hearty hug. Yet, during the embrace, he spoke rapidly in an extremely low voice only she could hear: "The world of cultivation eats people without spitting out the bones. Trust no one easily."
Having delivered his warning, he released her, his face breaking into a broad smile again. "Ah! An Immortal graces my humble abode! This lowly place is truly illuminated by your presence!"
He fawned and bowed obsequiously to the woman at the door, his behavior no different from the other awestruck townsfolk.
The woman's expression revealed a trace of disdain. She never expected the background of such a genius to be an unlucky coffin shop. Disliking Chen Changsheng was one thing, but to secure a supremely talented disciple, she offered a perfunctory reply. "This girl has Immortal affinity. Her future prospects are boundless."
Upon hearing this, Chen Changsheng's smile widened further. "That is entirely thanks to your discerning eye, Honored Immortal! Niansheng has been a mischievous girl since childhood. We'll have to trouble you to guide her patiently." He paused, then asked ingratiatingly, "Might I ask, where is your esteemed immortal mountain? If I find the time, I would be honored to pay a visit."
The impatience in the woman's eyes intensified. "South. Ten thousand miles away. There lies a sect named Linglong Sect. An ordinary person might not complete the journey in thirty years. If you wish to come, then come."
She then turned to Li Niansheng. "I have tasks to attend to on this journey. We must depart quickly."
Hearing this, Li Niansheng gently set down the bundle the Immortal had given her. "Brother Changsheng, I will remember your words. I will come back to find you."
With that, she followed the woman and left.
After their departure, Chen Changsheng cheerfully began cleaning the shop, humming happily to himself. But exactly one hour later, his expression abruptly turned stern.
"Lurking for so long," he said coldly to the empty room. "Show yourself."
His voice echoed in the coffin shop. Only the cold, silent coffins kept him company. No one else was there.
"Still not coming out? Do I need to invite you out?" he demanded, his face icy.
He waited. After a long moment with no response, he finally let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like that old hag really is gone." A smirk touched his lips. "So what if you can fly? Just you wait, I'll sleep for a thousand years and fly circles around you! You'd better not have any ill intentions towards Niansheng, or I'll dig up every single one of your ancestors' graves!"
Having vented his threats, he promptly stored all the coffins in the shop, along with the bundle Li Niansheng had left behind, into his system space.
He had stayed in this town for eight years. In all that time, his appearance hadn't aged a day. Rumors were already spreading. If he stayed any longer, excuses about "good health" wouldn't suffice anymore.
With this thought, Chen Changsheng strode purposefully out of the coffin shop that had been his home for eight years.
"Thirty years to get there? Who says I can't walk for fifty? The one thing I have plenty of... is time."
After one last grumble directed at the Immortal woman, he disappeared down the street.
Chen Changsheng had vanished. The town speculated about his whereabouts for a long time. Some said he had benefited from his connection—that the Immortal, valuing Li Niansheng, had taken him along too. Others claimed he had offended the Immortal and been killed.
Many theories circulated, but as time flowed on, people gradually forgot about Chen Changsheng.
...
"Qi Refinement, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul..."
Chen Changsheng lay on a grassy slope, flipping through a tattered, worn-out book. Twenty years had passed since he left that small town.
He had, of course, examined the contents of the bundle Niansheng left. It didn't contain much: a cultivation manual, a single pill, and some gold and silver.
The manual's content was simple, even crude. It briefly introduced the realms of cultivation and included a basic Qi Refinement technique. When he first obtained it, Chen Changsheng had treated it like a priceless treasure. After all, it was a cultivation manual! Mastering it meant he could soar through the skies and move through the earth without relying on long centuries of slumber.
But as Chen Changsheng's horizons broadened and he witnessed the vastness of the world, he realized just how worthless the thing in his hands was.
In the cultivation world, one only truly stepped onto the path of longevity upon reaching the Foundation Building realm. Furthermore, cultivators in this world were not as rare as he had initially imagined. The reason he hadn't encountered them before was simply that he had lived in too remote a corner of the world.
As for this Qi Refinement manual... it was practically a common commodity, widely circulated. Not exactly available on every street corner, but one could buy a copy or two for a thousand or so taels of silver.
With this thought, Chen Changsheng sat up and tossed the manual into the campfire. Over the past twenty years, he had studied it daily, memorizing every single character until he could recite it backwards.
"System," he mused, watching the pages curl and blacken. "This book says those who reach the first level of Qi Refinement within three days are geniuses. Those who do it in one day are top-tier geniuses. And those who manage it within a single hour are rare talents seen once in a century." He paused. "So, what does that make someone like me, who took twenty years to reach the first level of Qi Refinement?"
"Host, cultivation realm is one standard for measuring strength, but it is not the only standard. Cultivation techniques are one method of becoming stronger, but they are not the only method. The cultivation system of this era may not suit the Host, but that does not mean the cultivation system of the next era will also be unsuitable."
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng's eyes lit up. "System, what do you mean by 'the next era'?"
"There has never been an imperial dynasty that lasts forever. The world of cultivation is no different. The reason most beings believe certain things are eternal is simply that their own existence is too fleeting to witness the change."