The Sea of Stars…

The surging waves hit the shore of an island, shocking the seabirds fishing on the reef to flutter their wings.

This was an island shaped like a pair of gourds leaning against each other. There were two freshwater lakes on the island, one big and one small, which was why it was also known as Shuanghu Island.

In addition to the two freshwater lakes, Shuanghu Island also contained vast plains and jungles, and a lofty and lengthy mountain range—the Red Copper mountain range.

...

"The third level of the Qi refinement realm! I've finally broken through!"

In a cave abode within the Red Copper mountain range, a young cultivator dressed in a long green robe, sporting a Daoist hair bun on his head, opened his eyes and said excitedly. He had a jade-like face, and the depths of his eyes sparkled like stars.

In front of the young cultivator, a three-inch-long spiritual eye was emitting spiritual essence.

Seeing this, Chen Daoxuan restrained his excitement. He hurriedly used a stone plate that was engraved with array patterns to carefully seal the spiritual eye that was emitting spiritual essence.

Seeing that the spiritual eye was no longer emitting spiritual essence, Chen Daoxuan heaved a sigh of relief.

This spiritual eye was the last spiritual eye the Chen clan owned. It supported the cultivation of the only two cultivators in the Chen clan.

Once the spiritual eye was exhausted, Chen Daoxuan and his thirteenth uncle, Chen Xianhe, could only refine the spiritual essence in the air.

At that point, their cultivation progress would definitely be hindered, and it would be difficult for them to advance an inch.

After tidying up, Chen Daoxuan stood up and walked out of the cave abode.

He had just left the cave abode when a maid with a graceful figure ran over, dripping with sweat. She called out softly, "Young Master, the Clan Leader is inviting you over."

After she finished speaking, the maid looked at Chen Daoxuan with an expression of reverence on her pretty face.

"Got it. You can go down first."

"Yes."

After the servant girl left, Chen Daoxuan used the wind control spell and flew toward another mountain within the Red Copper mountain range.

Chen Daoxuan was sixteen years old this year. He had been in this unfamiliar world for a full sixteen years.

In his previous life, Chen Daoxuan was a mechanical engineer from China on Earth. Because of a factory accident, he died and was reborn into this world.

Since he retained the memories of his previous life, when Chen Daoxuan learned that this world was a cultivation world from the novels and movies of his previous life, he had been really excited.

However, his passion was quickly extinguished by the harsh reality of this world.

In Chen Daoxuan's view, the cruelty of the cultivation world far exceeded that of the civilization of his previous life.

This cruelty was not only reflected in fighting and killing, but also in the absolute monopoly of cultivation resources by the major forces.

In this world, the cultivation sects and clans controlled almost all of the cultivation resources.

Small clans and itinerant cultivators could only get their hands on some scraps and leftovers that the cultivation sects and clans looked down upon.

For example, the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island, of which Chen Daoxuan was a part of, was a typical small cultivation clan.

At its peak, the Chen clan once had thirteen Qi refinement realm cultivators.

Although they did not possess any spiritual veins, they had a total of seven spiritual eyes for cultivators to cultivate with.

In addition, the Chen clan also occupied a miniature level-one spirit mine—the red copper mine.

...

While his thoughts were in turmoil, Green Pine Mountain Peak soon appeared in front of Chen Daoxuan.

This was the cave abode of Chen Xianhe, another cultivator of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island.

As one of the only two remaining cultivators of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island, Chen Xianhe's cultivation was much higher than Chen Daoxuan's; he was already a sixth level Qi refinement realm cultivator.

"Thirteenth uncle!"

Outside the cave abode, Chen Daoxuan called out respectfully.

"Come in."

An aged voice could be heard from inside the cave abode.

Chen Daoxuan responded affirmatively and walked into the cave abode. He saw an old man dressed in a gray-white robe with his hair tied up in a Daoist bun. He sat on the jade bed and looked at Chen Daoxuan.

This old man was Chen Daoxuan's uncle, the current patriarch of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island, Chen Xianhe.

"Thirteenth uncle, were you looking for me?"

When the old man saw Chen Daoxuan, his eyes flashed with joy. Then, he quickly stood up from the jade bed and walked over to Chen Daoxuan. He said excitedly, "Daoxuan, your cultivation..."

"Just broke through to the third level of the Qi refinement realm."

Chen Daoxuan nodded.

When he spoke about his cultivation, Chen Daoxuan's face was full of joy.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Chen Xianhe said good thrice, and continued, "I didn't expect you to break through the Houtian realm, Xiantian realm, and now third level of the Qi refinement realm, in just ten years after you started cultivating at the age of six. God has really blessed our Chen clan!"

Chen Xianhe's face darkened when he said that. "It's a pity that our Chen clan is in decline. If our clan brothers were still around, we would have bought you a meridian opening pill no matter what. That way, you wouldn't have to waste five years in the mortal realm."

In this world, regardless of whether it was mortals without spiritual roots or cultivators with spiritual roots, they all had to go through the cultivation of the mortal realm.

This was what Chen Xianhe referred to as the Houtian realm and Xiantian realm.

For mortals, the ninth layer of the Xiantian realm was the end of their road. Without spiritual roots, mortals would never be able to refine spiritual essence and step onto the immortal path.

For cultivators, the greatest significance of the mortal realm was to nourish the body and connect all the meridians in the body in order to lay a good foundation for refining spiritual essence in the Qi refinement realm.

Chen Daoxuan started cultivating at the age of six and only broke through to the first level of the Qi refinement realm at the age of eleven.

After that, he cultivated for five years before he advanced to the third level of the Qi refinement realm. On average, he advanced past each level of the Qi refinement realm every two and a half years.

To be honest, this kind of cultivation speed was nothing in comparison to the sects and great immortal clans. However, in a small clan like the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island, it was a rare and precious occurrence.

After all, compared to the great immortal clans, the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island's cultivation resources were extremely scarce; even when compared to itinerant cultivators, they were not much better off.

Inside the cave abode, Chen Daoxuan saw his uncle Chen Xianhe's guilty expression and quickly comforted him, "Why are you acting like this, thirteenth uncle? Ten years ago, during the demonic beast riot in Changping County, if it wasn't for your help, Daoxuan would have died a long time ago. Daoxuan wouldn't be here today."

Hearing Chen Daoxuan's words, Chen Xianhe seemed to recall the time he started teaching Chen Daoxuan after he saved him. He could not help but smile.

Chen Daoxuan saw that his uncle's expression had eased, so he quickly changed the topic and said with a smile, "Thirteenth uncle, you asked me to come here because of the red copper mine, right?"

"Yes."

Seeing that Chen Daoxuan was talking about serious matters, Chen Xianhe's expression also turned serious. "Although the red copper mine is a small mineral vein, this spirit mine is the reason why our Chen clan was able to establish a foothold on Shuanghu Island."

"Unfortunately, after three hundred years of mining, the production of red copper has been declining year after year. From its peak, where it produced more than a hundred catties of red copper ore per year, to its current state, where it only produces less than five catties of red copper ore per year…"

"I reckon that this spirit mine is about to be exhausted."

Hearing this, Chen Daoxuan could not help but feel heavy-hearted.

The Chen clan of Shuanghu Island did not have a spiritual vein. The only cultivation resource they possessed was this spirit mine.

Unfortunately, no matter how carefully they mined it, the red copper mine was only a small spirit mine. The fact that it could be mined for 300 years was already the result of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island's careful management time and time again.

Seeing that Chen Daoxuan did not speak, Chen Xianhe continued, "Since the red copper mine is about to be exhausted, it's better to mine it with all our might rather than mine it carefully and conservatively!"

"Thirteenth uncle, this..."

Chen Daoxuan was shocked when he heard this.

After all, the red copper mine was the lifeline of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island. Reckless mining meant that the Chen clan would have to give up this lifeline. To an immortal cultivation clan, this was undoubtedly an act of squandering.

However, the intelligent Chen Daoxuan knew in his heart that the biggest reason thirteenth uncle did this was to provide him with the resources to learn how to refine artifacts.

Looking at thirteenth uncle, Chen Xianhe's, determined gaze, the corners of Chen Daoxuan's mouth twitched. The words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue turned into, "I will abide by thirteenth uncle's instructions."

The two of them discussed the details regarding the mining of the red copper ore for a while more before Chen Daoxuan bowed and took his leave.

When they reached the entrance of the cave, Chen Xianhe's voice echoed from behind Chen Daoxuan, "Daoxuan, now that you have advanced to the third level of the Qi refinement realm, I'm afraid that the spiritual eye of the clan is not enough to support both our cultivations. In the future... it will be used by you alone!"

This sentence was like a bolt out of the blue that exploded in Chen Daoxuan's heart, causing him to stop in his tracks.

Chen Daoxuan turned around and looked at the white-haired old man sitting on the jade bed with bloodshot eyes. He knelt down respectfully and kowtowed to the old man.

"Go, Go!"

Chen Xianhe waved his sleeves and a gratified smile appeared on his face.