Mortal severance

As another morning fell, Xu An quietly sat in his bed. The dream from the previous night was still fresh in his mind.

It had been the first time that such a thing had occurred.

In all of his previous dreams, that figure had always spoken the same words before vanishing. However, this time the dream had ended in a completely different way.

What's more…

"That pressure at the end..."

"Hmm…" His gaze suddenly fell on the book and after pondering for a few instances his eyes suddenly widened.

"It was the same sensation from back when I first tried to cultivate."

"Then, does that mean that the heavens protected me from that person? But why…?" He couldn't help but frown.

Perhaps things were not as simple as he thought.

Before stealing the book from the old man, Xu An had tried to research as many things as possible about immortal cultivation.

After looking through all the hidden records in the village chief's mansion, he had gained a vague understanding of these things.

Those who seek immortality are more commonly known as cultivators. And they all, without a doubt are walking a path that is said to be against the will of the heavens.

As for what that truly meant, Xu An still couldn't fully tell…

However, he was almost sure that the presence that he felt in his dream was the exact same as the one from when he first tried to follow the instructions written in the book.

After pondering for a while, Xu An sighed.

"It's all useless anyway…"

No matter how hard he tried to think it through, what good would it do?

The current him was still just a mere mortal. So, be it that unknown cultivator or the heavens themselves, none of it really mattered to the current him.

Just like an ant couldn't stop a galloping horse, he too couldn't hope to move an immovable mountain.

At least not the current him.

"In the end it's all about power, is it not?" He bitterly smiled before picking up the book.

However, he soon frowned.

The initial line of the first page - To first gaze up the mysteries of life, one must suffer the wrathful gaze of the world, was no longer there.

Those words had now been replaced with - 'Nine Revolutions of Mortal Severance'.

His frown immediately deepened. "The first severance - 'To set a foot upon the unending road, one must first shed their impurities."

"One must alure a sliver of spiritual energy and use it to cleanse the mortal body"

Spiritual energy… He thought back to when he first tried to cultivate.

Could it be that cold sensation that seemed to want to burrow into his flesh?

Although that experience had been agonizing, it would seem that it hadn't been all for nothing.

"Spiritual energy. That must've been it." Xu An's eyes gradually brightened and he quickly looked around.

The room was almost bare but there was still an old wooden table by the side.

He turned the table over and placed it against the door before sitting back down and closing his eyes.

After clearing out his thoughts, Xu An began to follow the instructions written in the book once more.

The moment he started, that terrifying gaze from above seemed to immediately lock onto him once again, and this time the pressure that fell on top of his body felt even greater than before.

Xu An could even faintly hear thousands of whispers urging him to immediately stop what he was doing.

Then, visions of terrifying catastrophes flashed through his mind.

Rivers of blood…

Mountains of corpses…

Barren wastelands…

With each breath the pressure seemed to rise and soon the whispers turned into screams. They continuously roared out his name.

However, underneath all of that, he could also sense a strange and cool feeling spreading around his body.

He knew that it was the surrounding spiritual energy converging toward him. And, he also knew that he had to grasp this feeling and engrave it deep within his 'heart'.

However, how could it be so easy?

He trained in the technique for an entire day, pausing many times along the way, battering both his body and mind.

By the end of it, he could feel himself reaching closer to that sensation.

On the second day, he took another small step closer to grasping it. But, as the hunger grew tight, he was left with no choice but to stop.

He took a quick bath and went to meet with the old innkeeper.

After exchanging a few words back and forth, the old man arrogantly smiled and agreed to a small bet. 

The two played a game of chess, and… Xu An easily won.

Of course, the old man quickly asked for a rematch.. Yet, not only did he lose the second, but he went even further and lost a third time. Losing a great deal of face.

After winning himself six bowls of rice and another week of stay in that wretched place, Xu An quietly returned to his room and continued his seclusion.

On the third day, he nearly grasped the feeling of spiritual energy. And, on the fourth day, that feeling was finally engraved deep into his being.

Thus, on the fifth day, he finally managed to withstand and accomplish his first revolution of the cultivation technique.

By then, his mind was already on the brink of collapse.

His body was drenched in sweat, his eyes were bloodshot and lines of blood could be seen flowing down from his nose.

However, Xu An still smiled.

He smiled and immediately fell asleep.

This time, he slept for an entire day and no figure appeared in his dreams.

In fact, it could be said that for the first time in almost 10 years, this was his only peaceful sleep.

He slept for an entire day, and when his eyes finally opened back up, a deep sense of satisfaction shimmered within.

He also instinctively felt that if he kept on going, without taking any moment to rest, then some sort of terrible backlash might strike him unannounced.

"In order to accomplish the first mortal severance, one must first withstand the process of doing nine revolutions of the cultivation technique."

"Once the nine revolutions are complete, one will break through their first mortal shackle and officially become an immortal cultivator."

"However, as it stands, I can barely withstand a single revolution…" At this thought, his smile couldn't help but turn a bit bitter.

Although he had felt the spiritual energy converging toward him and being absorbed into his body, the amount had just been pitifully small…

"However, with this, I have still taken another step forward."

With that thought in mind, he suddenly turned toward the window. It was already night outside, and he could hear a few shouts and cheers coming from down below.

When he first arrived, the Inn seemed more like a decaying graveyard than an actual business establishment, yet today there seemed to be a bit of life permeating through the walls.

The moment he tried to get up, he couldn't help but pause and raise an eyebrow.

"I feel… lighter. " He smiled but then frowned and sniffed the air a few times. "And smellier…"

Sighing, he pulled the table away from the door and stepped into the hallway.

For each night at the Inn, a guest was allotted a bucket of cold water.

After taking a bath, he felt much more refreshed. Despite the many scars on his body, he could feel himself brimming with more energy than ever before.

When he descended to the lobby, the place was indeed much livelier than before.

Not only was there a youthful face behind the counter alongside the old man, but there were also a few younger guests out in the front.

The old Innkeeper was rubbing his hands together and a smile brighter than the sun illuminated his face.

When he saw Xu An, he quickly beckoned him over.

"You little brat, you've really hidden yourself quite well, uh. But how could it be so easy to evade this old man's gaze?" The old man started with a light chuckle.

He looked Xu An up and down again before taking a deep breath. 

After the events of the last few days, and after taking a good glance at these newcomers that had suddenly flooded the city, the old man could tell that they were not normal people.

"Are you also here to deal with the runaway demon?" He asked in a hushed whisper.

Although at first he hadn't felt anything strange about this scarfaced youth, now it was a completely different story.

Just by standing next to Xu An, he could instinctively feel a lack of breath.

Xu An had barely raised an eyebrow when the old man continued. "Others may not know, but this old man is different!" He spoke again with eyes as wide as a full moon.

He then coughed and his face displayed a trace of sadness. "More than 60 winters ago, something similar happened. At that time, I was still a youthful fool and due to my ignorance, I allowed my only child to get involved with a demonic cultivator." Reaching here, the old man only shook his head.

"That evil fiend is long dead, but to this day my heart still bleeds with an unending sense of hatred." He looked at all the youthful faces in the Inn. He knew that despite being immortal practitioners, these people were most likely still very young.

He silently wondered how many would fall by the hands of that old demon.

Xu An looked at him with a calm smile. "This so-called demon, what sort of heinous crime did they commit?"

"You… you don't know?" The old man immediately looked at him strangely.

Had he been wrong? He couldn't help but doubt his own judgment for a second.

However, he still replied with a serious look. "It is said that a fortnight or so ago, a demon appeared deep in the surrounding mountains."

"His name isn't yet known but his deeds…eheh." He took another strange glance at Xu An. Was this kid probing him for information?

However, he only knew what had been released by the city officials barely two days ago.

"That person is said to have slaughtered and burned an entire village near the wildlands of the north. Not even a chicken or a dog was left untouched."

"A mountainous village near the wildlands of the north?" Xu An raised another eyebrow. That reminded him of 'home'.

"Yes, yes." The old man quickly nodded.

"Now… If that was it, then although that person would've incurred the wrath of all the powers in this region, that would've still been it."

"Immortals killing mortals, those are simple matters to the big folk."

"However that old devil ran into the bad luck of wiping out the family of a core disciple from the Five Elements Sect."

"The Five Elements Sect is one of our Northern region's rand immortal factions."

"I'm sure you can deduce the rest from this…"

After hesitating for a while he whispered once again. "60 years ago, more than a hundred immortal masters fell before they managed to slay the demon who took my family. He slaughtered mortals and immortals alike."

"Young friend, if you're not ready to get burned don't jump near the pot." After that, he turned around and walked back to the counter.

Xu An quietly mulled over this piece of news and after listening in around the tables for a while, he quietly stepped out of the Inn.

The sky was dark and most of the stars were hidden by a pitch-black layer of clouds.

Xu An felt like this was the perfect time to explore more of this city.

As he walked through the streets, he felt his surroundings to be eerily silent.

There was barely anyone braving through the cobblestone roads, and most of the shops and restaurants had been left in silent darkness.

As he turned toward the main road, he saw a few posters glued to the walls.

However, the moment his gaze fell upon the figure depicted in the posters, his feet immediately came to a sudden halt.