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In the dark of night, beneath an overpass in Lanling City, Xiao Chen, whose consciousness was shrouded in a haze, suddenly awoke.
"Where is this..."
Xiao Chen, the only one in the Ziwei Immortal Domain to have reached the realm of the Immortal Emperor, possessed unparalleled cultivation, revered by gods and men alike.
On that day, Xiao Chen attempted to break through the heavens to seek a higher realm, but encountered an unexpected change, attacked by an unknown force, resulting in his death and the dissipation of his cultivation path.
"Why am I not dead, and what place is this?"
Xiao Chen stood up, planning to inspect his surroundings, but inadvertently, he nearly stumbled and fell.
"My limbs are stiff, as though they won't obey me!"
Xiao Chen murmured to himself, then, looking at the lights from the homes not far away, he was filled with a sense of familiarity.
Suddenly, he recalled the past and couldn't help frowning.
"Earth? Could it be that I've returned again?"
In the countless years of cultivation, Xiao Chen had made many enemies and undergone unimaginable hardships, falling to the lows of life several times.
Five hundred years ago, he was ambushed and nearly killed by his enemies. Desperate to break free, he used a Realm-Breaking Talisman found in ancient ruins to forcefully tear open the portal between planes, and by accident, arrived on Earth.
With its depleted spiritual sources, Earth had few cultivators and was dominated by technology, making it a mundane planet. Although Xiao Chen was injured, no one on Earth could threaten him, so he stayed to heal his wounds in peace.
After three years, Xiao Chen found the way of the stars and finally left Earth. After decades of journeying, he returned to the Ziwei Immortal Domain.
Since then, he secluded himself for a century to cultivate, eventually reaching the pinnacle of the Dao of Immortality, vanquishing all enemies, with none left to rival him in the world.
Yet unexpectedly, he had once again returned to this place.
"It seems I really am fated with Earth!"
Xiao Chen revealed a bitter smile. This time, his situation seemed even worse than before, and it might take quite some time to recover his peak strength.
"Perhaps this also means that my path was not perfect. Starting over, I shall walk a more flawless path."
Xiao Chen's eyes showed determination, the same as when his Dao heart was first formed, unchanged.
"The Dao I seek does not revere gods or Buddhas, does not serve Heaven or Earth, is not subject to fate, does not enter the cycle of reincarnation, and does not concern itself with cause and effect!"
Even though he had reached the realm of the Immortal Emperor in the Ziwei Immortal Domain, the very zenith, his fall under that unknown force proved he hadn't yet reached the realm he desired.
He was not yet perfect.
Why lament the loss of something imperfect?
Starting over, with his previous foundation and lessons learned, he would surely advance even further.
What he needed was only time!
...
Xiao Chen calmed his mind and sat cross-legged on the ground, casting aside all thoughts, and focused solely on his cultivation level.
Having been ravaged by that force, Xiao Chen's soul had suffered severe damage, not even one thousandth of his prime, yet still far stronger than an ordinary person.
Moreover, Xiao Chen was once an Immortal Emperor, standing at the summit of the Dao of Immortality. Even though his cultivation level was gone, his memories remained, his experiences remained, his Dao heart remained.
He closed his eyes to cultivate his spirit, holding to his original essence.
Gradually, countless scrolls of cultivation techniques appeared in his mind, like an automatic slideshow, flashing by quickly.
Any one of these techniques, if taken outside, would cause frenzied competition and be viewed as a treasured rarity, yet he merely glanced at them briefly before discarding them like worn-out sandals.
In the end, the images settled, and a not-so-high-rank cultivation technique emerged in his mind.
"Divine Soul Nurturing Technique!"
...
Late into the night, a torrential rain blanketed Lanling City, but this was unrelated to Xiao Chen, who was beneath the overpass.
As the name Divine Soul Nurturing Technique suggests, it uses the soul to nourish and generate qi, thereby enhancing cultivation level.
This method was considered heretical, commonly known as "an unconventional path," requiring an extremely strong soul, which just so happened to suit Xiao Chen's current condition.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
After two days of heavy rain, it finally ceased, and today the weather was warm and sunny, with many pedestrians on the road.
At that moment, a man in a suit was slowly assisting a white-haired elderly man walking up the pedestrian overpass.
"Dad, we've been walking for most of the day, why don't we head back?" the man suggested.
"No rush, it seems like something has happened up ahead. Let's go have a look!"
As they approached, they saw seven or eight people leaning on the railing of the overpass, pointing and discussing something below.
Out of curiosity, the elderly man looked down.
```
Underneath the sky bridge lay a wide lake, which due to the heavy rain in the past two days, had risen, making the water appear turbulent.
And in the only space under the bridge, a teenager around seventeen or eighteen sat cross-legged on the ground, motionless, seemingly unaware of his surroundings.
The old man knew that the crowd was discussing the young man and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with that lad?"
A middle-aged woman glanced at the old man and answered, "Who knows what's with that kid; he has been sitting down there for three days and nights without eating or drinking, not even moving an inch."
"Is that so?" The old man showed a surprised expression.
A normal person could survive seven days without food but only three without water. This young man had neither eaten nor drunk for three days, yet he seemed completely unfazed, unlike ordinary people.
"He's quite pitiful!" someone said compassionately.
"He doesn't look like a beggar in those clothes. Maybe something happened at home. How about we all help him out?" someone suggested.
At this moment, a middle-aged man with a square face came over and said, "Don't let that kid fool you. I saw him exercising his fists down there last night, full of energy, nothing like someone who's starved for several days."
Hearing this, the old man turned towards the middle-aged man with the square face and asked, "You saw him exercising his fists last night?"
"There were streetlights at that time. Although the lighting was poor, I could still make out a bit." The square-faced middle-aged man said, "The kid's fist performance was pretty good to watch."
On hearing this, some people became angry, feeling that their earlier sympathy was wasted and said, "So, he's not starving but overfed!"
"Let's leave. This kid is probably playing us for fools. Lots of Internet celebrities do that these days to catch people's attention."
"Right, I even saw an Internet celebrity live streaming themselves eating shit the other day. It's so indecent; the world is going downhill!"
Upon learning the truth, people felt contempt and dispersed one after another.
"Dad, shall we go too?" The man in a suit said out of boredom.
The old man pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Qingsong, let's go down and have a look."
"Huh?" Huo Qingsong was surprised, "Dad, you mean to go under the sky bridge?"
"Yes, let's go check on the lad!" the old man said earnestly.
"No way, the water underneath is rushing fast. If you're not careful..."
"Such a big man, how could there be so many accidents? If you don't want to go, just stay here. I'll go down myself."
The old man was annoyed and left Huo Qingsong behind as he walked down the sky bridge alone.
With no other choice, Huo Qingsong hurriedly followed.
Soon, the two reached the bottom of the sky bridge.
And it was at this moment that Xiao Chen, who had been meditating, slowly opened his eyes.
"Phew... that's about enough for today."
Seeing that Xiao Chen had just woken up, the old man asked, "Young man, are you alright?"
Xiao Chen looked up at the two and said in confusion, "What could possibly be wrong with me?"
"Uh..."
The old man was momentarily at a loss for words.
Thinking they had come down anyway, Huo Qingsong, regardless of whether Xiao Chen was a scam artist or not, decided to ask, "Young brother, are you in some kind of trouble? Tell your uncle, and I'll help you!"
Xiao Chen felt somewhat baffled and shook his head, "I don't need any help, you guys can go. Don't bother with other people's business!"
Huo Qingsong was somewhat angered by the response, thinking the young man was too impolite.
Taking a step forward, the old man asked, "If there is nothing wrong, then why have you been sitting here alone for three days?"
"Of course, there's a reason for it!"
Xiao Chen didn't really want to engage with them and gave a vague answer.
He stood up and stretched his muscles. The Divine Soul Nurturing Technique had already begun to show initial effects. The flow of energy in his body surged, making him feel refreshed in both body and mind, as if he were reborn.
But soon, a wave of hunger struck him.
"Meditation suppresses the hunger, but now it's quite unbearable. After all, I still have a mortal's body and can't fast indefinitely!"
Xiao Chen let out a helpless sigh.
Then, an idea struck him, and he looked at Huo Qingsong and the old man.
"You want to help me? How about... treating me to a meal?"
After a brief moment of surprise, the old man gave a friendly smile and said, "Of course, no problem. It's almost lunchtime anyway."
Huo Qingsong, however, muttered his discontent, "I knew it was just a ruse to get a free meal!"