Starting Cultivation During a Trip

The lake sways with the wind, waves arise to embrace the azure sky.

Under the shining moonlight, a figure stands, their fluttering clothes rustling in the breeze, as if concealing endless stories of enmity and love.

At this moment, Zhang Fan seems to see a different Chen Dragon, standing apart from the Thirteen Zodiacs, a Chen Dragon with the surname Zhang...

"I don’t know the grudges of the previous generation," Zhang Fan said in a low, somber voice.

No matter what, it was because of this woman before him that ten years ago, beneath Dragon Tiger Mountain, his family was destroyed, forcing him into the Great Night, his Primordial Spirit dormant, not awakened for ten years.

"Don’t know? How can you not know?" Chen Dragon sneered.

"As long as you bear the Zhang surname, you should know; forgetting means betrayal."

As these words were spoken, Qiu Buyi’s eyes trembled, instinctively looking at Zhang Fan. The man before him, also surnamed Zhang, was undoubtedly a remnant of the Southern Zhang.

At this moment, he was convinced beyond a doubt that Chen Dragon also came from the Southern Zhang lineage.

"How can there be unbroken eggs under a toppled nest? When your father and I were young, we encountered great changes, hence falling into the Jianghu, and at your age, we had witnessed countless lives taken, faced many great tribulations."

Chen Dragon’s gaze was icy as she looked at Zhang Fan, seeming to see through his thoughts.

"What do your tribulations count for?"

In the eyes of the previous generation, it seems the next generation is always lacking, often saying, "In our time..."

"Tribulation is both a deadly peril and an Elixir of Immortality, and because of this, you have achieved what you have today," Zhang Fan said, his voice steady.

So was he; if it weren’t for falling into the Great Night ten years ago, if it weren’t for the thorny path all the way, how could he have the cultivation he has today?

The Thirteen Zodiacs, Li Changgeng, Northern Zhang Lineage, Pure Yang Family, and even masters from various Daoist Sect mountain gates... these people all became his whetstones; as long as the blade remains unbroken, there will one day be a sharp edge exposed.

Tribulation and fate are intertwined, which is the technique of longevity.

"You are indeed a seed of our Zhang family, knowing this truth at such a young age." Chen Dragon chuckled lightly, but her smile remained cold.

"But..."

"Such tribulations, such opportunities, given to you..."

"Would you accept them?"

At this, Zhang Fan fell silent.

Regardless of Zhang Lingzong or Chen Dragon, the tribulations they suffered indeed far exceeded his, even unimaginable to ordinary people.

In their youth, sudden upheaval in the clan caused families to be destroyed, seeing friends and family perish in chaos, dying before their eyes, drifting to foreign lands without roots, living through days of blood and storms.

Days where tomorrow was unseen, not knowing whether enemies or the dawn would come first.

Moreover, there were various major cultivation tribulations, whether the Five Elements Mistaken King or the Divine Demon Holy Embryo, all being the greatest tribulations of the current age, deeply terrifying, the physical and mental suffering beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Through all these experiences, there was the Great Spirit Sect King of today.

And there was the Chen Dragon of today.

But replaced by another person, who would be willing to endure such tribulations, who would dare claim they could withstand them?

One only gains after loss, but before gaining, who is willing to lose? Who dares to face loss?

"Immortals are made from ordinary people, only fearing ordinary people lack firm will."

Chen Dragon sneered softly, her beautiful eyes holding a hint of mockery, as if mocking herself, mocking fate, mocking the heaven, mocking the earth.

"This is the sorrow of cultivators, drifting through the red dust, beyond their control, only able to compete amid these tribulations and fates..."

Zhang Fan remained silent, recalling a phrase once said by the Three Corpses Primordial Pill...

Being in the red dust is the greatest tribulation in the world.

From peddlers to Pure Yang Zhenren, everyone is crossing tribulation.

Zhang Fan looked at Chen Dragon, at this great enemy of his clan, not knowing why she would say these things to him.

"Eighty years ago, during the great tribulation of the Daoist Sect, the Dragon Tiger Zhang Family divided into North and South, the Ancestral Master’s three treasures fell into our Southern Zhang lineage..." Chen Dragon’s tone shifted, suddenly saying.

"In other words, our Southern Zhang is the true orthodoxy of Dragon Tiger, the Ancestral Master’s legitimate lineage."

The Dragon Tiger Zhang Family holds an unshakable position in the world of Daoist Sects, an Immortal Family, standing high above, leading nine mountain-breaking temple missions, seven of which were led by the Zhang Family.

After the North and South split, this lineage became mysterious and unfathomable in the eyes of the world’s Daoist Sects, as if they had withdrawn from the world, no longer dealing with outsiders.

Until one day, the Southern Zhang was destroyed, shaking the world.

"The previous generation will eventually fall, they once saw the prosperity of Dragon Tiger Mountain, to their death longing to reopen its gates, continuing the Ancestral Master’s incense..." Chen Dragon murmured softly.

The older generation she spoke of survived the great tribulation of the Daoist Sect, the survivors of the Dragon Tiger Zhang Family, the initial disciples of the Southern Zhang lineage.

"So, at that time, the clan set a plan."

"A plan?" Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow.

"The Daoist Sect and Wuwei Sect have battled for thousands of years, not knowing how many corpses laid, burying countless unparalleled figures..."

"If someone could put an end to these thousands of years of disputes, that would be..."

At this, Chen Dragon paused slightly, a different gleam in her eyes, as she lightly parted her lips, uttering eight words.

"Unite the world, draw all teachings to the heart!"

Upon hearing this, whether Zhang Fan, Ge Shuangxiu, or Qiu Buyi, their eyes brightened.

Unite the world, draw all teachings to the heart; how heavy, how difficult are these eight words!

The Daoist Sects have passed down techniques for endless time; the Dragon Tiger Zhang Family is superior above all, yet has never achieved these eight words.

To resolve the thousand-year-old grudge between the Daoist Sect and the Wuwei Sect is a groundbreaking feat; if achieved, from then on, the Southern Zhang lineage would indeed be the world’s foremost family, with the Daoist Sect’s techniques passing down for millennia, never to be shaken from its position.