Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 75

Drawing spiritual energy into the body was the first threshold to entering the cultivation world. After that, a cultivator’s cultivation level was divided from low to high into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation.
Generally speaking, once a cultivator entered Qi Refining, they could live a hundred years. Successful Foundation Establishment added to two hundred. Once Core Formation was achieved, one could reach five hundred. By Nascent Soul, a thousand years could be expected. At the Soul Transformation realm, lifespan was even greater.
After Soul Transformation came ascension to the upper realm. But because the two realms were separated, people of this realm did not know what happened after ascension.
By logic, each realm could be divided into early, middle, and late stages. After cultivating to the late stage of a realm and then to its peak, one had to pass the realm-advancement lightning tribulation before entering the next realm. The Soul Transformation realm was the same.
These things were originally common knowledge in the cultivation world. But one thousand years ago, this common knowledge was broken by a strange change.
One day a thousand years ago, heaven and earth changed. Countless lightning strikes fell at the same time. In the Eastern Sea, Western Wasteland, Nanhe, and Northern Territory, every Soul Transformation cultivator, whether they were late-stage Soul Transformation and close to ascension, or early or middle-stage Soul Transformation still an extremely long distance away from ascension, was forced without any preparation to face the ascension lightning tribulation as long as they had reached the Soul Transformation realm.
The suddenness, vastness, and cruelty of that change was something the cultivation world had never encountered before. Even the Immortal-Demon War could not be mentioned in the same breath as the change in heaven and earth.
What the upper realm was like was unknown to people of this realm. But in this realm, Soul Transformation cultivators were already the strongest existences among cultivators. Even without saying they had touched the edge of the Heavenly Dao, one could see a little from their ability to move mountains and shift seas.
Yet this group of peak cultivators, under that strange change, could only be like puppets, controlled by heaven and earth. With cultivation that was not yet complete, and with no preparation, they had to resist the tribulation of ascension.
In the Eastern Sea, Western Wasteland, Nanhe, and Northern Territory, whether they were supreme elders within sects, wandering cultivators in seclusion deep in mountains or distant seas, or even cultivators inside secret realms, as long as they were Soul Transformation cultivators, not one escaped that calamity.
Ninefold lightning filled the sky like a net, like cloth. The more Soul Transformation cultivators there were in a place, the denser it became. The cultivators, caught completely off guard, had no time to fly to barren lands. Some could only barely avoid places with many living beings.
Lightning tribulations split the sky and earth. Magic treasures all rose to resist them. This was not one cultivator’s ascension. There were so many cultivators, so many magic treasures, and heaven and earth shook. It became impossible to tell whether it was lightning tribulation or human tribulation.
When all the dust settled, there was no longer a single Soul Transformation cultivator in this realm.
Mountains and rivers were damaged. Seawater changed course. How many sects were wounded, and how many secret realms were damaged, could not be counted.
Most importantly, no one could say for certain that those vanished Soul Transformation cultivators had successfully ascended.
For cultivators from late-stage Soul Transformation to peak Soul Transformation, the correct steps for ascension should have been sensing the chance to break through, preparing materials to face the tribulation, choosing a suitable place, and calmly waiting for the lightning tribulation.
If the tribulation failed, the better result was injury, cultivation falling, and waiting for the next attempt. A worse result might be the physical body being destroyed while the Nascent Soul escaped the calamity, then waiting to reshape the body and fight again. The worst result was nothing more than… body and soul scattering into ash, divine sense fully dispersed.
And if the tribulation succeeded, sweet rain would fall from the sky and spiritual energy would rush and cleanse. Whether it was the cultivator harmed by lightning tribulation or the mountains and rivers around them, all would receive repair and nourishment, and after recovery, they would be even better than before. Then golden light would descend from the sky and envelop the person. In the blink of an eye, the person would vanish. This was ascension.
But during that strange change a thousand years ago, lightning tribulations were dense everywhere. They were hard to approach, and there was no way to judge the situation of those undergoing tribulation.
After the lightning tribulations scattered, no one sensed the aura of failure, of bodies turning to ash and divine sense scattering. But there was also no spiritual energy descending from the sky after success to repair life… no golden light from the sky…
Those cultivators simply vanished, leaving only broken walls and chaotic rivers behind to prove to later people that the calamity had not been a dream.
Although there was no basis for it, cultivators were more willing to believe that those Soul Transformation mighty figures back then had all successfully ascended. Otherwise, the power of heaven and earth would be far too despairing.
Only, people had not expected that the strange change had not ended. It was even the beginning of something that would stretch across a thousand years.
In the fifth year after the strange change, Mu Fenghe, island master of Nine Cauldrons Island in the Eastern Sea, smoothly passed a normal realm-advancement lightning tribulation and stepped into early Soul Transformation. He became the only Soul Transformation cultivator in the four lands, the number one cultivator in strength.
Another three hundred seventy-six years later, Mu Fenghe was still the first to cultivate to peak late-stage Soul Transformation. Sensing that his breakthrough was near, he rested and prepared, then went to a barren island to wait for the ascension tribulation.
One year passed, then another. By the five hundredth year after the strange change, there were a full five people stopped at peak late-stage Soul Transformation, all outstanding talents of the four lands. However, Mu Fenghe, the first to reach peak late-stage Soul Transformation, still had not ascended.
To be precise, he waited one hundred nineteen years and still did not wait for his ascension lightning tribulation. The other four were the same.
Without lightning tribulation, one could not ascend. Even at peak late-stage Soul Transformation, one could not escape time. In the end, what waited for them would probably only be death at the natural end of lifespan.
Could hundreds of years of cultivation really only end with watching all their efforts reach a dead end?
Cultivators fought with heaven for lifespan and fought with earth for fortune. Even knowing that strength had limits, they still would not be willing to sit and wait for death.
Until one hundred years ago, several cultivators stuck at late-stage Soul Transformation and unable to ascend joined with dozens of early and middle-stage Soul Transformation cultivators, trying to fight heaven and earth for fate and forcefully open the ascension path between the two realms.
But that experiment, which gathered most of the top cultivation power of the four lands, ended in terrible defeat after bitterly holding on for several months and causing most of the participants to fall.
At the Soul Transformation realm, one could glimpse the edge of the Heavenly Dao. But they were still far too far from controlling it or overturning it.
That terrible defeat was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the entire cultivation world, and not only in terms of power.
If this realm was already the ending, then after fighting with all one’s strength to reach the place where the road ahead was cut off, what should one do next?
After this struggle, what was broken was not only the passage between the two realms. Perhaps it was also the will and dreams in cultivators’ hearts.
Rumor said that more than ten years ago, the sudden barrier between the Eastern Sea, Western Wasteland, Nanhe, and Northern Territory, which made passage impossible, was caused by Soul Transformation cultivators who had still not given up and once again tried and failed to open the ascension path. But compared with the attempt one hundred years ago that shook the cultivation world, this was only a rumor.
The recorded history of the cultivation world was very long. Fortunately, if one simply summarized it in order, it would not take an astonishing amount of time. However, during the lesson, Yuan Zhaoyang added many book titles for detailed after-class reference.
Only when she spoke of the ascension calamity a thousand years ago did Yuan Zhaoyang slow her teaching speed.
A sudden disaster. The difference in power. A desperate struggle with life and death unknown… Tough cultivation. The quiet waiting of years. The all-in strength of a whole realm burning its boats… The dark, defeated ending.
The lightning tribulation a thousand years ago. Those cultivators who lacked preparation yet did not submit, fighting until the final moment. Those cultivators who tried to flee far away to protect their sects and therefore missed the best chance to resist. Those cultivators who, even without enough cultivation, still split off strength to protect living beings…
The forced opening of the ascension path one hundred years ago. The endless material support sent by the great sects of the four lands. The many early and middle-stage Soul Transformation cultivators who had not reached ascension yet but still joined on their own. After the trend of defeat appeared, those cultivators who ultimately fell to protect the four lands…
Yuan Zhaoyang’s voice was not loud, but every word held strength. She drew from many sources. What she spoke of was not only those cruel disasters, but also struggle after struggle of humans refusing to submit to heaven.
Words were also a kind of power.
This section of history was not interesting, and it was also a historical matter many cultivators had already heard several times. But even after Yuan Zhaoyang finished the final section on the separation of the four lands, the classroom was still silent.
“So, after hearing this final section, what thoughts do you have?” Yuan Zhaoyang slowly paced along the front row, beginning the first interaction of this class with the listening cultivators.
Only then did Lin Mianmian discover that the classroom, which had still been half empty when she arrived, had somehow become packed full. Even the edges and corners had some cultivators standing squeezed together.
“Stepping onto the path of cultivation is originally fighting with heaven and fighting with earth. No matter how heaven and earth change, whether it is lightning tribulation or the ascension path, we must work hard to win the fight.” In the front row, a refined-looking male cultivator in his twenties was the first to stand and speak.
“Such a large group of Soul Transformation cultivators gathered the power of the great sects of the four lands, and in the end, many still fell. Who gave you the courage to say you will win?” Somewhere in the back row, someone gave a gloomy complaint.
Who gave you the courage, Liang Jingru?
This sentence pattern felt a little familiar. Lin Mianmian could not help filling in a classic joke from her previous life in her mind.
“Then do not fight. Why are you cultivating? You might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes!” After being refuted, the refined male cultivator turned to search for the source of the voice, his face a little red.
A tall cultivator sitting two rows in front of the demon cultivators stood up. His hair was thick and his beard was messy. He looked twice as strong as the refined male cultivator, but when he spoke, his voice was weak and gloomy.
“Are you foolish? Cultivation lets you live longer. The longer you live, the longer you can eat. Can selling sweet potatoes make you live longer?”
“You!” The refined male cultivator looked very much like a scholar meeting a soldier. He was so angry he could not say a word.
“Does anyone else have other thoughts?” Yuan Zhaoyang did not mediate between the two. She only asked the other cultivators.
“The start and end of life are both things we cannot control. What we can control is making our lives more meaningful. Those seniors, whether they ascended or fell, whether they resisted the lightning tribulation or tried to reopen the ascension path, all deserve our respect. Not only because they reached the Soul Transformation realm that ordinary cultivators cannot reach, but also because when disaster came, they set an example for us.” This time, the one who stood was a little boy around ten years old.
Lin Mianmian remembered that he should also be one of the seventy-some people in her batch. It seemed he was among those who had succeeded in drawing spiritual energy into the body relatively early. Lin Mianmian felt his answer was quite standard for a history class.
Yuan Zhaoyang, however, did not comment on anything. She only signaled for the next person.
Several more people stood in turn and expressed their views.
A small group felt that these were all matters Soul Transformation cultivators had to experience. How many people in the cultivation world could cultivate to Soul Transformation? It would be better to work hard while also enjoying life a little. Since ascension was impossible right now, everyone’s lifespan would eventually run out.
Of course, most people still felt that the cultivation path was originally rough. When facing difficulties, they should be tougher and work harder like the seniors, while also not forgetting compassion. One day, the ascension path would reopen. Misfortune and fortune depended on each other, and things would change eventually. Before that, as cultivators, they had to hold firmly to their cultivation hearts, not waver, and not give up.
As Lin Mianmian listened, she felt these views were quite rational and made sense. Whether it was calamities or the ascension path, neither was something low-level disciples could touch. Only cultivation was the root of everything.
“Senior Sister Yuan, we have said so much. What do you think? Which of us do you think makes more sense?” The refined male cultivator who had spoken first clearly had not calmed down.
“Every cultivator is an independent person, each with their own fate and chances. Your reasons for stepping onto the path of cultivation may be different, and the reasons that let you persist in cultivation may not be the same either. You should not ask Senior Sister Yuan which of you is right. You should ask yourselves what you want. Ask yourselves how you think you should view these thousand years of change, and how you should walk toward what kind of future. That is what matters. The Great Lecture Hall can only tell you what has already happened. It cannot tell you what is the most correct way.”
The deer demon, whom Yuan Zhaoyang had restored to his original form before class, stood in the back row. His preaching-like low male voice slowly flowed out. After finishing, he looked expectantly at Yuan Zhaoyang. “Senior Sister Yuan, am I right? Am I right?”
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
Before Yuan Zhaoyang could speak, a cultivator below laughed. “You are really too much. You copied Senior Sister Yuan’s answer from the last time she taught this class, then asked the original speaker whether it was right. Are you trying to pick a fight?”
“Pick what fight! I am Senior Sister Yuan’s loyal supporter! Also, can’t you see I am a deer? Such a big deer, and you cannot see me. You are probably blind.” The deer demon was not used to giving way to someone speaking from the shadows. He quickly fired back, then continued looking at Yuan Zhaoyang expectantly.
Pfft…
The deer demon’s words were truly a little funny. Lin Mianmian could not hold back and laughed softly.
“Mian… Lin Mianmian, what do you think?” Yuan Zhaoyang had always left part of her attention on Lin Mianmian, so naturally she did not miss the way Lin Mianmian was amused by another demon.
What, she even called on people by name?
Lin Mianmian stood up, a little lost. So was Yuan Zhaoyang asking for her thoughts on the thousand-year calamity, or on what the deer demon had just said?
“After hearing that old history, what thoughts do you have?” Yuan Zhaoyang saw Lin Mianmian’s confusion and quickly added in a normal tone. After all, she had not called on Lin Mianmian to embarrass her.
“After knowing how strong the cultivation world is, one knows how fragile and weak the power of mortal-world people is. That is why many people in the mortal world long for the cultivation world and want to step onto the path of cultivation. And today, the events from hundreds and thousands of years ago let us know how great the power of heaven and earth is, so great that even if we have a chance to become the peak power of this realm, we still cannot avoid being erased by it, or worn down by it.”
“But it is like people in the mortal world. After learning how strong the cultivation world is and how short their own lifespans are, do they stop eating, drinking, and sleeping, and feel that everything has no meaning?” Lin Mianmian paused, then continued, “The thousand-year disaster was indeed cruel. But if because of this cruelty, we begin to feel there is no hope, then tragedy will definitely come even faster.”
“Power is not only something used to fight. It should also be used to protect. I speak only for myself. I hope that when tragedy comes, I can have the strength to protect what I want to protect…”
Cultivators had long lifespans. Most of them gradually cut off family ties on the road of cultivation. In addition, cultivation took up a great deal of time, so most people would not form marriage bonds while still low-level disciples.
Lin Mianmian’s answer did not have much to do with the present way of cultivation. Many cultivators would even feel that behind so-called protection was also a kind of cowardice born from fear of losing.
So aside from a small number of young disciples who had just entered the sect, most cultivators in the classroom were not very moved.
Just when everyone thought Yuan Zhaoyang would, as before, continue asking the next person to share their thoughts, they saw that Yuan Zhaoyang, who had stayed calm and breezy whether speaking about the cultivation world’s peak or its disasters, had a rather unusual light in her eyes.
Among them, Lin Mianmian, who happened to meet Yuan Zhaoyang’s eyes, felt it most deeply.
This kind of… bright look of being somewhat moved… what was going on?
What had she just said?