Chapter 1: A New Life

At midnight, a bright moon hung high in the sky, its gentle light pouring down like mercury over Emily Clark, who was sitting cross-legged on the balcony.

Midnight is when yin reaches its peak and yang is just born—it is the best time of day to gather qi. Well-versed in this, Emily Clark was now maintaining inner clarity and tranquility, drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body, unblocking his meridians, and finally guiding the qi to be stored in his dantian.

The bright moon gradually slanted, and midnight soon passed.

“Sigh!” Emily Clark slowly opened his eyes, those eyes as deep as tonight’s sky.

The sigh echoed softly in the stillness of the night, making one think it came from an old man lamenting the passage of years. But Emily Clark was only twenty-five years old, having just started working a year ago.

Emily Clark looked up at the bright moon in the sky, recalling that just two months ago, he was still a prominent figure in the immortal realm, but now he had become a mortal, starting the arduous path of cultivation all over again.

Two months ago, Emily Clark was not called Emily Clark, but Sage Hill.

There are six realms and thirty-six heavens in the immortal world. Two months ago, Sage Hill had already cultivated to the final heaven of the fourth realm, the Heaven of Equilibrium and Nurturing in the Four Brahma Heavens, just one step away from becoming a Celestial God of the Three Pure Heavens in the fifth realm. But just then, as he was in seclusion at a critical moment, a group of unknown immortals suddenly attacked, and in an instant, he was blasted until only a wisp of his primordial spirit remained, which fled into the Tongtian Mysterious Pagoda and forcibly traversed the passage between the immortal and mortal worlds.

When Sage Hill regained consciousness, he found himself to be Emily Clark, the original owner of this body, and also possessed his thoughts. Later, Sage Hill learned that on that very day, Emily Clark had been in a car accident. His body was unharmed, but his brain suffered severe trauma, leaving him in a coma. The doctors diagnosed that he was unlikely to ever wake up, essentially becoming a vegetable. But unexpectedly, not long after the diagnosis, Emily Clark woke up.

Of course, the one who woke up was not Emily Clark, but Sage Hill. Sage Hill himself was unclear about what exactly happened during that time. He only knew that when he awoke, he found himself occupying Emily Clark’s body and also possessing Emily Clark’s consciousness. Because of this, in a sense, Sage Hill’s life was able to continue thanks to Emily Clark’s body, while Emily Clark’s mind and thoughts were able to persist and not be forever trapped and lost, thanks to Sage Hill.

To put it simply, although the one living now is Sage Hill, his body bears the marks of Emily Clark’s life everywhere—his personality, his way of dealing with people, even his emotions are inevitably strongly influenced by Emily Clark, because Emily Clark’s thoughts have merged into Sage Hill’s life and become a part of him.

Climbing onto the single bed, he habitually closed his eyes in the darkness—this was Emily Clark’s habit.

Very soon, Sage Hill fell asleep. In his dreams, he could not distinguish whether he was Emily Clark or Brian Hill; the memories of mortal and immortal intertwined deep within his soul, and in the end, they completely fused together. He became Emily Clark, and at the same time, Emily Clark became him.

Ring ring ring!

The alarm clock rang at five in the morning, which is the time of mao, waking Sage Hill, that is, Emily Clark (from now on, he will be referred to as Emily Clark!) right on time.

The mao hour is when yin and yang blend and nourish each other—it is another excellent time of day for cultivation.

Emily Clark reflexively got up from bed, then, just like at midnight, sat cross-legged on the balcony and began his mao hour cultivation.

The summer sun rises especially early, soon breaking through the purple-red dawn and casting golden sunlight over Emily Clark.

Exhaling turbid air and inhaling fresh qi, Emily Clark’s face was calm in the sunlight. The morning breeze stirred his hair and clothes, giving him an ethereal, immortal-like aura.

As soon as the mao hour passed, Emily Clark finished his practice right on time. In the sunlight, a joyful smile appeared on his face. Just now, he already felt his inner qi was abundant and his spirit full; he estimated that it wouldn’t be long before he could guide true qi to open the Ren and Du meridians, circulate the minor heavenly cycle, and reach the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

The immortal world is divided into six realms and thirty-six heavens; the mortal world is similarly divided into eight realms and twenty-four stages: Foundation Establishment, Qi Transformation, Fasting, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Void Fusion, Emptiness, Tribulation Crossing, and Great Achievement—eight realms, each further divided into early, middle, and late stages.

Foundation Establishment, also called “drawing qi into the body,” is the process of absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, unblocking the meridians, cleansing the marrow, removing acquired impurities, and forging an innate body, thus creating a suitable vessel for future cultivation. In the mundane world, internal martial arts masters, if classified by cultivation realms, would be at the Foundation Establishment stage. However, because they do not know the way of immortality or lack immortal roots, they remain at Foundation Establishment for life, unable to glimpse the more profound Qi Transformation stage—the so-called “innate realm” that martial artists dream of.

In just two months, to cultivate from an ordinary mortal to the verge of breaking through to mid-stage Foundation Establishment—this speed, while perhaps not unprecedented, is certainly unparalleled in the history of the cultivation world.