Let’s start with David Smith. His master and master's wife passed away early, leaving behind only a daughter and him as a disciple. David Smith has a gentle and honest personality—he’s the very definition of a straightforward person. In cultivation, he’s diligent and steady, but lacks talent. However, he has a kind heart. Starting in his teens, he successively adopted six disciples, the eldest of whom, Olivia Smith, is only six years younger than David Smith.

His achievements aren’t remarkable, yet he’s taken in a group of disciples, which often makes him the butt of jokes and the target of exclusion within the sect. Unable to get by on Yushan, David Smith would often take his disciples down the mountain. Outside, carrying the Yushan name, they wouldn’t encounter much danger.

This time, by chance, they ran into some junior disciples from Emei Mountain and the Qingming Sect, two of the Three Mountains and Two Sects. They mentioned that an anomaly had appeared in the mortal world and invited them to investigate together. David Smith was too honest and got tricked by the Qingming Sect people, leading his disciples into danger alone and ending up gravely injured. As he lay dying, David Smith’s final wish was simply for his disciples to live better lives.

Ethan Clark himself is an ability user, so now that he’s come to the cultivation world, he can adapt quickly. As for how he got here—whether it was because of David Smith’s last wish or something else—it no longer matters. As for David Smith, Ethan Clark doesn’t like him at all; the only thing he agrees with is his care for his disciples. But as a grown man, David Smith’s care for his disciples is almost motherly, while Ethan Clark used to protect his own people too, but always in a man’s way.

There was no time for Ethan Clark to think about anything else. Suddenly, his vision brightened—he had opened his eyes.

A delicate beauty was kneeling in front of him, crying her heart out. The soft sobbing he’d heard earlier came from her—this was the youngest disciple, Sophia Sullivan.

“Ah…” Seeing her master, who had been dead, suddenly sit up and stare at her, Sophia Sullivan was so frightened she covered her mouth with her hand, completely stunned.

“Master’s life or death is unknown, Third and Fifth Senior Brothers are still trapped inside, and now Second Senior Sister… Sigh! What are we going to do…” Olivia Smith, who was anxiously pacing around, heard Sophia Sullivan’s cry and turned to look.

“M-m-m…” Olivia Smith stared at David Smith, who was now Ethan Clark, and was so shocked he stuttered, not knowing what to say. In his eyes, his master had suddenly come back to life.

Whoosh!! Having died once, being able to breathe again felt amazing, and the air here was hundreds of times better than on Earth in his time—so comfortable!

But now wasn’t the time to get sentimental. From David Smith’s final memories, Ethan Clark knew clearly that two of his disciples were still trapped in that maze. He’d also heard what happened just now—it was obviously the hot-tempered Emily Harris, that powder keg had exploded again. Even giving her that name hadn’t calmed her personality.

He was Ethan Clark, but now, borrowing David Smith’s body, he had a second chance at life. Don’t worry, I’ll look after these disciples and your junior sister for you. But… heh, that junior sister is really beautiful, and she’s so good to David Smith. This guy hasn’t won her over after more than ten years—what a… failure.

Ethan Clark quickly shook his head, pushing aside those messy thoughts for now. Solving the immediate problem was more important.

“Master, your injuries?” Olivia Smith was steady and reliable, so he managed to regain his composure quickly.

“I’m fine.” After so many years in the military, Ethan Clark was influenced in many ways—no unnecessary words or explanations. With just one sentence, he dismissed both Olivia Smith and Sophia Sullivan, who was about to speak.

“Ah…” Olivia Smith and the others had seen how badly Ethan Clark was injured—there was no way they could have healed him. Now that he was suddenly fine, Olivia Smith was full of questions, but then he remembered Emily Harris and quickly said, “Master, Second Senior Sister went to settle the score with the Qingming Sect people—she’s probably going to cause big trouble.”

“The sky won’t fall. You and Bingzi go support Xuemiao first, I’ll bring John Smith over in a moment.” John Smith was the fourth disciple, currently lying to the side, also badly injured. After all, John Smith was still only at the Innate Realm, not even having reached the first threshold of the cultivation world—the Fasting Stage. This was often a joke among their peers—something that had never happened on Yushan, even for those with poor talent. Usually, after two or three years, a new disciple would reach the Fasting Stage.

But John Smith had been a disciple for seven or eight years and was still stuck at the Innate Realm. Although he was born with great strength and could easily defeat most early Fasting Stage cultivators, he was still ridiculed. Reaching the Innate Realm is a basic requirement for cultivation, and entering the Fasting Stage is the first threshold. At the Fasting Stage, ordinary true qi transforms into true essence, allowing the use of some simple spells.

In the Three Mountains and Two Sects, it’s rare for anyone to not reach the Fasting Stage within five years. Usually, within ten years, they can reach the Flight Stage. At the Flight Stage, one can fly on a sword and have their own flying sword. Although sword attacks at this stage aren’t as powerful as wielding the sword by hand, being able to fly on a sword is a major milestone, and one’s lifespan can easily reach a hundred years.