“Ninefold Ultimate Law, immortals and demons fill the sky, annihilation of nature and thoughtlessness, overturning seas and toppling mountains. Even if the Great Dao is infinite, I have a single thought that follows my heart. On this endless journey, the ancients are nowhere to be seen, and I can only await those who are yet to come…”

“Mediocre men torment themselves, mortals refine their essence, Daoists regulate their bodies, sages unite with truth, true men guard their spirits, supreme men gather their spirits, saints tread the void, immortals are unimpeded…”

“Heaven and earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs; when straw dogs defy the heavens and seize fate through rebellious cultivation, they become immortals!”

“The Great Dao has three thousand layers. The world says these are the gates to immortality, but I alone break through the gate and carve a new path. My fate is not within the five elements, my soul is not within the six realms!”

“……”

A chaotic clamor, almost all of which he had never heard before.

What was most infuriating was that there wasn’t just one voice—at least two voices were arguing, and yet there was a distinct sense that a third presence existed. Only, that third person never spoke, for reasons unknown.

From time to time, images flashed by: in the void, a hundred-eyed giant shot countless beams of light from its eyes, and under its sweeping gaze, stars fell one after another!

Then there was a hundred-armed giant, its head and feet lost in endless nothingness, each palm holding up a river of stars!

The third figure was both real and illusory, mysterious and ethereal, stabilizing the universe itself…

It was a mess, impossible to find peace!

He sat up, shook his head, cleared his mind for a moment, and looked out the window—it was already mid-morning.

Brian Carter suddenly shivered: Didn’t he go into the mountains? He had seen those three stone statues, then fainted—so how did he wake up in his own bed?

He jumped up, and something flashed at the corner of his eye. He turned his head and was stunned: on the old, battered table by his bed sat three small stone figurines.

Each figurine was only the size of a fist, a bit rough in appearance, but they were unmistakably the three stone statues from the mountain behind the village!

On the left, a hundred arms; on the right, a hundred eyes; the one in the middle looked plain and unremarkable.

Only, they were countless times smaller.

Just then, a commotion came from outside: “The stone statues, the stone statues are gone! The stone statues are gone…”

The noise grew louder as people discussed how those fierce, imposing stone statues could have vanished without a trace overnight. Baseless speculation and rumors spread everywhere.

Brian Carter stared at the three little stone figures, hardly able to believe it: Was it really them?!

Whether it was or not, Brian Carter dared not let anyone know about the existence of these three little stone figures, nor did he dare mention what happened last night. Besides, even he found it baffling how he had returned home.

He quickly hid the three little stone figures close to his body, opened the door, and walked out.

“Dad, Mom.”

It was the slack farming season, so his parents hadn’t gone out. Seeing him come out, both smiled. His mother, listening to the commotion outside with curiosity, glanced at Brian Carter’s father. Old Carter showed no reaction, so she quickly put away her work: “The stone statues are gone? What’s going on? Husband, I’m going out to find out…”

Brian Carter’s father, well aware of his wife’s temperament, just smiled and said nothing. Brian Carter’s mother had already hurried out.

Brian Carter hesitated for a moment but decided not to tell his parents or younger brother about the little stone figures—the tragic fate of the last person in the village who was “possessed” still haunted him. He made up his mind: if he really was possessed, he’d bear it alone and never drag his family into it.

……

In the second year of the Great Sui Dynasty’s Tianshun era, Brian Carter was already fifteen, yet still unmarried.

By rights, Brian Carter’s family was considered well-off in Lotus Terrace Village, and he was upright in appearance with no bad habits, but every marriage proposal fell through, with the other side always giving various reasons, leaving his parents at a loss for words.

His parents were growing anxious, but Brian Carter didn’t mind. He actually agreed with the matchmaker’s perfunctory remark: fate had not yet arrived.

Brian Carter felt as if something was waiting for him. Because those three presences in his mind would occasionally pop up and argue.

It was still the same two voices speaking, but Brian Carter could always sense the presence of the third, who was as steady as a primordial divine mountain, unshakable.

The two who spoke had voices as loud as thunder.

At first, it only happened when he slept, but after half a year, it could happen at any time, anywhere. Sometimes, just as he was drinking water, a sudden shout would make him choke and spray water out his nose…

But with this constant indoctrination, he gradually understood that what they were arguing about was actually a mysterious and elusive method of “cultivation.”

According to them, there was a group of people in this world called “cultivators,” who divided the people of this world into different levels.

Ordinary people didn’t even count as “mortals”—they muddled through life, coming into this world in ignorance and leaving it the same way, never understanding any truths. Such people could only be called “mediocre men.”

Above mediocre men were “mortals.”

Those who practiced martial arts and had strong constitutions, even if they reached the peak and were hailed as “the best under heaven,” could only barely be called “mortals.”

And those cultivators could reach the level of “mortals” with the simplest cultivation.

Above mortals were six higher realms: Daoist, Sage, True Man, Supreme Man, Saint, and Immortal. All cultivators strove toward the goal of becoming immortals.