Eternal Life Starts as a Hunter-Chapter 180 - 103: The Peculiar Black Market Ghost Realm and Unifying the Three Counties’ Powers

Chapter 180: Chapter 103: The Peculiar Black Market Ghost Realm and Unifying the Three Counties’ Powers

"Then... how should we start the trial?" Liu Changchong asked, though he wasn’t very optimistic about this in his heart.

Li Yuan replied, "You three sects select disciples, and I will teach them. I’ll instruct those suitable for sword skills in sword skills, those suitable for swordsmanship in swordsmanship, and for those suited for exotic weapons and poison, I’ll teach exotic weapons and poison... If they are suitable for my cultivation skill, I’ll teach them that too."

The beginning was acceptable, but the last sentence exploded in everyone’s ears.

Li Yuan added, "Even those at Eighth Grade, I’ll teach."

His cultivation skill was far from perfect, so... he hoped more people would come to help him perfect it and explore the way forward.

The time was long, but he could wait, as this plan was not for decades but for centuries, even millennia.

As the five words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.

The words "Eighth Grade" were filled with unimaginable magic power...

Who wouldn’t want to reach Eighth Grade?

Who wouldn’t want to live a hundred more years?

"Good! Since Brother Li says so, Chenghua Sect has no objections!" Liu Changchong declared directly, then looked towards the Sect Leader beside him, "Sect Leader, what about you?"

The man smiled and said, "This is something I couldn’t dream of wanting, how could I have objections?

If the three of us could unite under Senior Li, it would be a great thing indeed.

No eggs remain unbroken when the nest is overturned; these days, the world’s trend is as if the sky is collapsing.

Our three families, these three solitary trees, should merge into one and support the descending sky together."

Liu Changchong pondered for a moment, then raised his hand to beckon.

From the crowd, a young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes stepped forward.

Liu Changchong said, "Yang Teng, greet your grandfather."

Li Yuan helplessly said, "Call me Uncle."

The young man respectfully performed a bow, then said, "Uncle Li."

Liu Changchong laughed, "Since Brother Li wants to start a trial, our Chenghua Sect will entrust two young Eighth Grade talents to you..."

Beside him, Tang Nian calmly observed a pair of youths.

Eighth Grade?

Talents?

If these two are considered talents, then what does that make her, who reached Eighth Grade at eleven?

Reaching Eighth Grade during childhood is incredibly difficult because a child’s vitality is insufficient to complete the brewing of Shadow Blood.

From this perspective, both Tang Nian and Zhou Jia are truly talented.

...

Li Yuan stayed in Tian Nan County for a few more days, quietly studying the Life Atlas.

During this time, sect leaders from three small sects affiliated with the Chenghua Sect came to pay their respects.

Seeing that these three sect leaders were all Seventh Grade, Li Yuan expanded the trial’s range to include them, giving each sect one spot for a disciple.

The three sect leaders left joyfully.

...

On this day,

in the deep winter, fog rose from the mountains, appearing as a pale haze drifting with the wind, covering Tian Nan.

The young man held the Life Atlas, resting his chin as he examined it carefully.

His mind raced, pondering.

He discovered that not all Life Atlases were just lines.

For instance, the Chenghua Sect’s Atlas, even though it’s two records of the same cultivation skill, was drawn completely differently.

One was the lines Li Yuan was familiar with.

The other was a painting.

In the painting, cold mountains, damp valleys, parade of venomous snakes, some lurking deep in the swamp of the desolate forest, some just emerging, others peering out from tall grass, flicking their tongues, each displaying a variety of forms...

In Li Yuan’s eyes, this painting and those lines overlapped, but the areas of overlap were small, only a small portion.

The latter, having form but no spirit.

The former, having some spirit but losing form.

"So that’s how it is."

Li Yuan had an epiphany, "The Life Atlas is not just recordings but also a map. The Chenghua Sect leans towards poison techniques, so whoever drew this Thousand Snake Painting saw such imagery..."

By noon, when Liu Changchong came over with Insect Tea, trying to get close to Li Yuan with pleasantries, Li Yuan directly asked about the painting.

"Who drew this? I’d like to meet him."

Liu Changchong’s old face relaxed into a smile: "Brother Li, I drew this. Let me tell you, I was able to raise the Seventh Grade Two-headed Demon Python thanks to my insights from the Life Atlas."

After a few days together, this Chenghua Sect Ancestor had grown familiar with Li Yuan’s temperament, mixing respect with some casualness.

Li Yuan said, "Tell me about it."

Liu Changchong thought for a while, then earnestly said, "When I was young, Chenghua Sect hadn’t severed ties with the upper forces, but embarrassingly, I didn’t even know their names.

We were blindfolded when we went there.

Only those who reached Sixth Grade could truly join that upper force and walk there without a blindfold.

Yet, after removing the blindfold, I once saw black petals falling outside a window, not sure what they were.

Forget it, no need to ramble. After all, such a powerful force was not only Chenghua Sect’s upper power but also that of many small forces.

I was fortunate to have seen the Life Atlas twice.

The first time I saw it, I only saw lines, chaotic and disordered, unaware of what it was.

So I decided to change my perspective, and I learned poetry and painting." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Poetry and painting?" Li Yuan asked curiously.

Liu Changchong nodded and said, "I wanted to find meaning in poetry, to find realms in painting. As the Life Atlas contains profound mystery, the mystery is likely the mental realm.

The second time I saw it, I was middle-aged. It was my last chance.

Indeed, this time, when I looked again at those lines, I saw different things.

I desperately noted, thought, and felt.

Upon returning, I poured all my feelings into the brush, creating this painting.

As for the other, it was drawn by my senior. The force didn’t forbid recording that day, because they knew that without capturing the essence, even a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand sheets didn’t count as disclosure.

Unfortunately, my senior has passed away."

In his heart, Li Yuan nodded slightly, finally understanding what he was missing.

Mental realm,

The deeply mysterious mental realm.

Containing the mental realm, yet merging with lines.

When pen meets paper, there is a painting in the heart; yet after writing, only pale lines remain.

Strictly speaking, the Life Atlas should likely consist of two parts: first, the lines; second, the Visualization Image.

Lines directly reveal the operation trajectory, while the Visualization Image helps you see the trajectory.

But why did these great forces offer only the line drawings and not the Visualization Images?

Is it to limit the number of Sixth Grades? Or to test talent?

It’s not just that.

The Visualization Image must be more precious and is the true secret kept by these great forces.

To see it, you must first become an official disciple of a great power like the Holy Fire Palace or Profound Gold Temple.

And this Visualization Image likely involves the Fifth Grade Realm.

Li Yuan speculated like this, then deeply looked at the white-haired elder before him.

This was a truly talented person, but regrettably...

...

Li Yuan contemplated for another two or three days, gaining a new direction for his Life Atlas.

On this day, he bid farewell to Chenghua Sect, boarding a carriage heading towards Hua Mo County.

He was convinced that the Life Atlases of Frost Sword Sect and Fuyue Nunnery could become the final pieces of his puzzle, allowing him to fully clarify the direction of his cultivation skill.

The carriage headed west, while a carrier pigeon flew east.

The two crossed paths because the carriage was heading southwest, while the pigeon was heading southeast.

The pigeon flapped its wings hastily, urgently flying as if fleeing for its life towards Shanbao County, with a paper strip wrapped around its leg, faintly bearing the wax seal of Frost Sword Sect.

"Godfather, I like Chenghua Sect."

In the darkness of the carriage, Tang Nian suddenly spoke up.

Li Yuan smiled, "Why is that?"

The young girl thought for a moment and said, "Their poisons work well with my puppet."

Li Yuan replied, "Then study a poison technique."

After the brief conversation, everything fell silent again.

The evening sun was as red as blood, the winding path snaking around, and beyond the gates was Hua Mo County, Li Yuan’s... final stop.

...

...

Postscript: Originally, it was a major plot intertwining with the dreamscape involving Brother Xiong to construct a more profound expanded worldview. But I found I couldn’t write that much in one go... apologies, apologies...