The sky was azure blue, with clouds drifting lazily. The weather was infernally clear, with the sun's fiery rays beating down on the earth, filling the air with dryness and causing people to sweat profusely. Passersby on the bustling street were forced to seek out shady spots to escape the sweltering heat.
At this moment, a handsome youth, about fifteen or sixteen years old, approached from the east side of the street. His striking face still held traces of childishness. He wore a cyan brocade robe with ink-colored hems and a white jade belt around his waist. At his side hung an exquisitely decorated sword forged from fine steel.
The youth had clear, transparent eyes and jet-black hair neatly arranged. His gaze held a steadiness and sharpness beyond his years.
With his fair, jade-like hands clasped behind his back, he walked slowly down the street with steady, powerful steps and an imposing air. His gaze swept around, taking in his surroundings.
Behind him, several men dressed as servants followed closely, their expressions serious and attentive. Among them, a middle-aged man in a black ink robe stood to the youth's left, speaking to him with a fawning expression.
"Young Master Heng, look, those are all the properties of our He family in Shuangjiang City. We have everything from taverns to pharmacies. Especially that Chunhua House - it's one of the top three brothels in Shuangjiang City. The top courtesan Qingying is..."
At this point, the middle-aged man gave a knowing look that all men would understand, causing the youth's expression to freeze... How embarrassing! He quickly cut off the man's endless chatter. "Stop! I know all this already. Manager Sun, you should go back and report to Steward Zhou. This young master wants to look around by himself."
"But how can that be? It's rare for you to have free time from the academy to inspect the family properties. Old Zhou told us to accompany you and be responsible for your safety. How could we leave?" Manager Sun said anxiously.
"Enough, I'm not a child. I don't need you to protect my safety. You can all go back!" The youth's tone brooked no argument, his eyes flashing with authority. Seeing this, Manager Sun had no choice but to reluctantly leave with the others.
"Finally, some peace and quiet in this world." The youth sighed calmly, raising his head to gaze at the vast heavens, filled with passion and surging emotions.
"It's been over ten years since I came to this world..."
His name was He Heng, a member of the He family from Liangzhou in the Great Xia Dynasty of the Nine Provinces in the Great Celestial World. At sixteen years old, he had achieved some success in the Hundred Veins Realm of martial arts and was a disciple of the Flying Immortal Academy - an ordinary genius, so to speak.
Of course, hidden beneath these identities was another one. In fact, he possessed memories of another life, as a researcher from a country called Tianchao on a blue planet. As for what his original name was, that no longer mattered.
In those memories, he was born in an era of war and turmoil, one of the earliest intellectuals of that country. He spent his life studying various literature and history and was also proficient in mathematics and science. After weathering many storms, he died of old age in a hospital bed - a natural end to his life.
After death, for unknown reasons, he arrived in this strange world, becoming a member of the He family.
However, he decided to make the best of the situation. For someone like He Heng who had already died once, what was there to be dissatisfied about in living another life? Especially in this world, where true immortality was a real possibility!
This realm was called the Great Celestial World, said to have a long history spanning countless billions of years, with vast eras of antiquity, prehistory, ancient times, medieval times, and so on. Its territories were boundlessly vast - the central Nine Provinces alone were thousands of times larger than the entire planet of his previous life. A large city like Shuangjiang was equivalent in size to a province in his former world of Tianchao. And this was just the central region - beyond the Nine Provinces lay even more vast seas, wilderness, endless deserts, and more. The breadth of this world was simply unimaginable.
In the current era, the human way flourished greatly, driving out the beast clans, dragon clans, and barbarian tribes from the Nine Provinces. Humans occupied the most spiritually abundant central Nine Provinces region. The Great Xia Dynasty ruled the world, said to have been established for 100,000 years, with the universe submitting to it!
Yet even the Great Xia was not considered ancient. There were many things in this world far older than the Great Xia. Not to mention those few ancient sects claiming to have been passed down from Celestial Venerable and Buddha since time immemorial, with origins too distant to trace. Even He Heng's own He family had a history of several tens of thousands of years.
What He Heng couldn't understand was how Earth's human civilization had developed modern technology in just a few thousand or tens of thousands of years of recorded history. Yet this world, with at least several million years of recorded history, was still stuck in feudal or even slave-owning eras.
The reason for this was something that initially seemed incredible to He Heng - cultivation!
What had been merely mythical tales in He Heng's previous life on Earth was completely real in this world, permeating the lives of every living being.
By absorbing the infinite spiritual energy permeating heaven and earth to refine one's body, then comprehending the Dao of Heaven and becoming one with the universe, a tiny human body could possess unimaginable power!
At the peak of cultivation, one could pluck the sun and moon from the nine heavens above, or enter the sea to subdue dragons below! Some could even open up blessed lands outside the mortal realm, transcend the dust of the world, escape the cycle of karma and reincarnation, establish eternal legacies, and look down upon the ebb and flow of heaven and earth and the life and death of all living beings.
It was precisely because of the existence of these supernatural cultivators who could possess unlimited power that those who succeeded in cultivation completely surpassed the secular world in personal strength. Ordinary people simply could not shake their positions, causing social civilization to stagnate. Those ancient feudal systems continued to be passed down.
Compared to those legendary Pure Yang True Immortals who could startle the heavens with a finger, pluck stars with their hands, swallow the universe with their qi, and shake continents and mountains with every move, what difference was there between ordinary people and ants? How could they shake the rule of such beings?
When He Heng first arrived in this world, he was skeptical about these things and simply couldn't believe them. It completely contradicted the concepts he had held for decades in his previous life and was really hard to accept!
However, after witnessing the terrifying abilities of those high-level cultivators in his own family - summoning wind and rain, projecting their divine souls, carrying mountains on their shoulders - He Heng felt his entire worldview collapse. This world was just too... too exaggerated!
"This isn't scientific!" He Heng said woodenly, then threw away all the concepts and common sense from his previous life. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to learning the cultivation of this world, striving to achieve something, to possess that awe-inspiring power to look down upon heaven and earth, to attain longevity and transcend the mortal world!
In his previous life, he had grown old and frail, unable to struggle. In this life, he was unwilling to repeat that fate. Dare he ask the heavens, is there eternity?
Since he was fortunate enough to come to such a mythical world, how could he not strive for that highest peak and attain the ultimate Dao!
With such goals in mind, He Heng began his life in this world. However, he soon discovered that he was not one of those legendary geniuses. Although he wasn't a waste, compared to those freakishly talented heavenly pride, his aptitude for cultivation was terribly poor. No matter how hard he worked, he wouldn't achieve much in this life.
However, He Heng was a rather persistent person (in his own opinion). He refused to fade into obscurity like everyone else. Moreover, this world did not lack examples of those with poor aptitude who still reached the pinnacle. There were quite a few who showed no talent in youth but achieved great things later in life. He believed that even if his aptitude wasn't good, he might still have a chance to reach the top.
Just like that top-ranked Pure Yang cultivator known as the Heavenly Sword, Jun Rushi. He was initially just an ordinary disciple of the Tongtian Sword Sect, one of the Six Schools of the Mystic Path. He was very ordinary and unremarkable, nothing compared to the heavenly pride of his generation. But he spent a thousand years honing a single sword, neither rushing nor slowing down, forging an unparalleled sword and condensing an overwhelming momentum. When his sword energy finally soared, it illuminated the Nine Provinces, overshadowing several generations. He was unrivaled in the world for three thousand years, sweeping across the era with a single sword, unmatched. He looked down upon the vast mortal world, lonely as snow!
This figure was a legend in the hearts of cultivators across the Nine Provinces. His life experiences were enough to compose an epic, inspiring countless cultivators to strive upwards, pursuing the Great Dao of Pure Yang. This also inspired He Heng.
So, he came to this Flying Immortal Academy, preparing for initial studies, hoping to be accepted into the great sects behind the academy. He sought more opportunities, as well as resources and techniques to aid his cultivation, hoping that one day he could attain Pure Yang and achieve immortality!
The Flying Immortal Academy was jointly established by the Six Schools of the Mystic Path and the Twelve Ways. There were actually nearly a hundred such academies across the Nine Provinces, not just in Shuangjiang City. Their main purpose was to select new blood and cultivate outstanding disciples. Those who performed exceptionally could directly enter the great Mystic Path sects for cultivation, which was also He Heng's goal. The process was similar to the nine-year compulsory education and subsequent selection exams for further education in He Heng's previous life.
In the current era, the Mystic Path flourished greatly, suppressing the Great Celestial World and reigning supreme. The Three Teachings, Six Schools, and Twelve Ways were each the oldest and most powerful legacies in the Nine Provinces. Each generation of their disciples were peak figures who could influence the fate of the world. For He Heng, being accepted into any of them would be an immense stroke of fortune.
Of course, that was assuming they were willing to accept him. This world certainly didn't lack geniuses. Although He Heng's aptitude was passable, in this Flying Immortal Academy that gathered elites from various noble families and outstanding commoners, he was only of average talent. He wasn't the worst, but he was far from excellent.
Although his He family was one of the 72 noble families of the Nine Provinces, he was just an ordinary junior member. Among the young generation of the family, he might rank thirtieth or fortieth. He could act imperiously towards the stewards of Shuangjiang City, but that was only due to his status as a direct descendant of the family. This world still had quite strong class distinctions - servants were servants, masters were masters. However, in terms of actual power, he didn't have much.
Whether in terms of personal strength or background support, he was unremarkable in this Flying Immortal Academy. Naturally, he was just one among many, and his goal of entering a great Mystic Path sect remained just a goal. The future looked dim indeed.