Why does cultivating immortality feel so difficult

"Cross your legs and sit down."

The red-haired little girl's tone was indifferent.

"Though I had no love for your ancestor, I wouldn't stoop to holding a grudge against a junior like you."

"Right now, the spiritual energy in your dantian is boiling over, the barrier of your golden core is on the verge of collapse, and your soul is weakened because of that boy."

"If this continues, within half an hour, you’ll be forced to break through your current realm right here."

Hearing this, Su Jiu felt a momentary relief, but then her heart tightened again.

Seeing that Su Jiu still hadn’t moved, the red-haired little girl curled her lips impatiently.

"What’s the holdup? Afraid I’ll harm you?"

"If I so much as farted, you and your little lover would both turn to ashes."

Su Jiu took a deep breath and bowed gracefully to the red-haired girl.

"Thank you, Senior."

Then, biting her lower lip, her voice carried a barely detectable trace of pleading.

"Senior… you suddenly brought me here, and I didn’t even have time to tell my senior brother."

"If he sees me disappear like this, he’ll definitely worry."

"What if he thinks something happened to me and runs off to look for me…"

Her voice grew softer as she spoke, until it was almost inaudible.

The red-haired girl listened quietly, the impatience on her face gradually fading.

In its place was an extremely peculiar expression—one mixed with nostalgia, envy, and a hint of melancholy.

She stared at Su Jiu for a long, long time.

So long that Su Jiu began to fear she had said something wrong, her heart trembling with dread, before the girl finally sighed faintly.

"Ten thousand years…"

"The Great Xia Imperial Clan and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Foxes—still the same as ever."

"Truly… not an ounce of progress."

Su Jiu lifted her head in confusion, not understanding the meaning behind her words.

The red-haired girl didn’t explain.

She merely raised her hand lazily and waved it casually through the empty air before her.

"If you’re so worried, go tell him yourself."

As her words fell, the air in front of Su Jiu rippled like water once more.

A clear image slowly formed.

Within it was the underground lava cavern.

Su Ji’s face bore none of the earlier composure from his "victory over inner demons."

"Junior Sister!"

"I was wrong! I’ll never act like that again!"

Su Jiu: "!!!"

She watched helplessly as Su Ji in the image paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, muttering things that made her want to vanish on the spot.

Her already burning cheeks flushed even deeper, as if they might drip blood at any moment.

That idiot!

"Pfft."

A soft laugh came from beside her.

Su Jiu whipped her head around to see the red-haired girl covering her mouth, even the chain binding her rattling with amusement.

"This kid is even more entertaining than that guy back then."

Su Jiu wished she could burrow into the ground right then and there.

But she still decided to reassure Su Ji.

She had originally planned to explain, but after hearing his earlier words, she couldn’t be bothered.

……

In the underground lava cavern.

Su Ji’s footsteps suddenly halted.

A cold yet slightly flustered voice abruptly echoed in his mind.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"Stay right where you are! Don’t you dare move!"

"Wait for me to come back!"

Hearing Su Jiu’s voice, Su Ji exhaled in relief and plopped down onto the ground.

And then—

"OW—!!"

A blood-curdling scream reverberated through the cavern.

Su Ji clutched his backside and shot up like a cat with its tail stepped on.

Ah, the perks of Foundation Establishment—he could jump three meters high.

The ground beneath him was several times hotter than the spot where he had broken through earlier.

Even through his pants, it felt like his flesh was being seared.

Landing, Su Ji sucked in sharp breaths through his teeth.

"Hot hot hot hot hot!"

Fortunately, the pain faded as quickly as it came.

Shaking his head, Su Ji pushed aside the chaotic thoughts.

With nothing else to do, he might as well take stock of his gains.

He had risked both heavenly punishment and inner demons to achieve Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

And he still had two Destiny draws left.

[Special event completed. Destiny draw count +1]

[First breakthrough to Foundation Establishment grants one Destiny blessing]

[Current available Destiny draws: 2]

Just as expected!

Su Ji’s spirits soared.

Without hesitation, he initiated the first Destiny draw.

Three options, each glowing with a different hue, slowly materialized in his consciousness.

[Destiny ①: Late Bloomer, Old but Vigorous]

[Destiny Rank: White]

[Effect: When remaining lifespan is less than five years, gain the ‘Late Bloomer’ buff, reverting to the state of a twenty-year-old, with all attributes increased by 30%!]

……

[Destiny ②: Blade Against Injustice]

[Destiny Rank: Purple]

[Passive Effect: Wielding a blade-type artifact and killing an ‘unjust person’ with it grants one stack of ‘Blade Momentum.’ Each stack provides a minuscule boost to blade artifact power, capping at a 50% increase.]

[Active Effect: Consume all ‘Blade Momentum’ stacks to unleash a single strike that ignores the damage cap. If the target is an ‘unjust person’ and is killed, recover 90% of expended energy.]

……

[Causal Destiny ③: Wind of Death]

[Destiny Rank: Orange]

[Passive Effect: Your pretentiousness gains an extra flair.]

[Special Effect: When suffering a fatal blow, this Destiny is removed and replaced with ‘The Wind Stops, But Regret Lingers!’]

[Derived Destiny: The Wind Stops, But Regret Lingers!]

[Destiny Rank: Red]

[Special Effect: Negate death and manifest the Dharma Idol ‘Netherwind.’ The Dharma Idol rapidly deteriorates over time while absorbing all incoming damage. If the source of the fatal blow is slain before the Dharma Idol shatters, escape death and enter a state of extreme weakness, blood loss, exhaustion, and spiritual energy depletion. This Destiny is then removed.]

[This Destiny is a degraded form of the Rainbow Destiny ‘Wind of Freedom.’ Selecting it requires bearing partial karma.]

[Description: The Judge’s brush falls, the Yellow Springs stretch far… The wind stops, but regret lingers…]

……

Su Ji raised an eyebrow.

Good news—he’d pulled an orange.

Back then, Su Jiu had said that during Qi Refining, conventional means would only yield purple Destiny at most.

Following that logic, Foundation Establishment’s conventional cap should be orange Destiny?

But…

This thing didn’t seem ‘conventional’ at all.

Any ordinary cultivator would’ve snatched it without a second thought.

After all, it was an orange Destiny.

Yet Su Ji hesitated…

As a life-saving trump card, an orange Destiny was decent enough.

But bearing karma…?

That gave him pause.

Karma was intangible, yet it was the one thing cultivators should never take lightly.

Maybe he should wait for Su Jiu to return?

Ask her what this ‘Causal Destiny’ nonsense was about.

Why did his path to immortality have to be so complicated?