In recent days, Dan Peak had developed rapidly, recruiting many new disciples.
They cleared the trees and rocks halfway up the mountain, constructing new buildings and establishing a renewed Dan Peak.
The cleared area was paved with bluestone slabs, transforming it into an assembly square for Dan Peak. The newly enrolled disciples now practiced cultivation, alchemy, martial arts, and leisure activities on this square.
Numerous new structures were erected around the square to house techniques, books, alchemical recipes, medicinal herbs, elixirs, and other essentials. Some served as dormitories, dining halls, or classrooms.
Of course, cave dwellings were also built, as some disciples preferred them, believing such abodes better suited true cultivators.
The summit of Dan Peak remained perpetually shrouded in mist, rarely visited by anyone. It was said to be the residence of Peak Chief Qin, a perilous and forbidden zone of Dan Peak.
The true heart of Dan Peak, however, lay firmly at the mountainside.
Today was a scorching day, the blazing sun hanging overhead like a fiery orb, baking the disciples gathered on the assembly square.
Neatly arranged across the square were over sixty desks, each occupied by a teenager around ten years old. Every one of them sat rigidly upright, meticulously focused on answering the exam papers before them, as if the sweltering heat above didn’t exist.
What were they doing?
Well, they were taking an exam.
Today marked Dan Peak’s annual mid-year assessment. The test before them was the cultural subject of the examination.
Dan Peak’s assessment system differed entirely from other peaks, divided into three parts: cultural subjects, practical subjects, and cultivation subjects.
The cultural subject tested theoretical knowledge, primarily related to alchemy—medicinal herbs, human physiology, Dan Fire and Dan Water principles, and so on.
The format was straightforward: written answers.
Questions were tiered by difficulty. Basic levels required reciting herb names, intermediate levels tested knowledge of herb properties, advanced levels demanded explanations of spiritual herbs’ applications, and the most challenging involved analyzing alchemical recipes.
Different age groups faced different difficulty levels.
The practical subject assessed hands-on alchemy skills—controlling alchemical furnaces, refining medicinal essences, burning away impurities, synthesizing elixirs, and the like.
Naturally, the evaluation method was direct experimentation.
This, too, was tiered. Beginners were tested on cleaning alchemical equipment—porcelain bottles, furnaces, beakers, test tubes, and so on. Intermediate levels involved operating furnaces and identifying spiritual herbs in the field. Advanced levels examined control over Dan Water and Dan Fire, while the most difficult required actual elixir synthesis.
Again, different ages faced different challenges.
As for the cultivation subject… Other peaks emphasized it heavily, but Dan Peak paid little attention. It was merely a perfunctory assessment.
Dan Peak’s exams followed a set order: culture first, practical next, and cultivation last. Today was culture, tomorrow practical, and the day after—a break.
Of course, this biannual assessment was of utmost importance to Dan Peak’s disciples.
For them, knowing herb names was the prerequisite for understanding their properties; understanding herb properties was essential for applying them; and only with that knowledge could they combine herbs into elixirs. The same logic applied to the practical subject—each step built upon the last.
Failing to complete one stage meant never advancing to the next, forever barred from true alchemy.
Given the stakes, the exam environment was strictly enforced.
Though only sixty-plus disciples were taking the test, five proctors oversaw them. One stood at the front, one at the back, and three patrolled the middle, leaving no room for cheating.
Yan Yi, an outer elder of Dan Peak responsible for teaching basic herb knowledge, was one of the proctors.
His face stern, he stood at the front of the examination hall, his hawk-like eyes scanning the room, striking fear into any disciple who met his gaze.
Elder Yan was notorious for his severity. Any disciple caught slacking off faced the punishment of copying medicinal scriptures—repeatedly.
One disciple had once copied the scriptures ten times in a month, their hand cramping beyond use.
This reputation earned him the fearful nickname "Yan the Demon" among the disciples.
With Yan the Demon overseeing the exam, the disciples trembled in their seats, not daring to act out.
Even as the exam ended, they dispersed in silence.
The five proctors collected the papers by grade. Zhou Fu, holding the fifth-year exams, approached Yan Yi and teased, "Elder Yan, quite the imposing figure today!"
Yan Yi glanced around sternly, ensuring all the disciples had left, before letting out a weary sigh. "These children are unruly. Without severity, they’d never take it seriously."
"Youthful, talented—hard to keep in line," Zhou Fu agreed with a chuckle.
Since the fall of Zhican Valley, many gifted disciples had joined Dao Sword Sect to study alchemy.
"Peak Chief Qin always says they are Dan Peak’s future," Yan Yi sighed. "So being strict, making them learn more—it’s for their own good."
Zhou Fu glanced at the test papers in her hand and asked Yan Yi, "These are the fifth-year disciples' exams. Today’s topic was pill formula analysis. Should we grade them ourselves, or send them to Peak Chief Qin?"
"Peak Chief Qin has already instructed that he wants to review them personally," Yan Yi replied, taking the papers. "This group of disciples has reached the stage where they should begin pill refining. The Peak Chief wants to assess their aptitude before arranging for them to obtain Dan Fire and Dan Water. Once they have Dan Fire, they’ll be taught to refine pills."
"Will Peak Chief Qin personally instruct them?" Zhou Fu asked.
"Not necessarily. It depends on their performance," Yan Yi said. "Right now, there are only four people on Dan Peak who can refine pills—you, Junior Brother Zhang, Senior Sister Long, and Peak Chief Qin. So, you might end up teaching them."
"Me?" Zhou Fu shook her head. "I’d rather not. I don’t want to lead them astray!"
"Ah!" Yan Yi sighed with envy. "You have a talent for pill refining and seized the opportunity to become an alchemist. I, on the other hand, have no such gift—no matter how hard I try, I can’t master it. Even now, I only know some basic herbal knowledge."
He admired Zhou Fu, but she, too, looked at him with envy. Nowadays, very few could freely pass through the protective formation at the summit of Dan Peak, but Yan Yi was one of them. He alone enjoyed Peak Chief Qin’s trust—truly something to envy.
"You’re always by the Peak Chief’s side. Why would you even need to refine pills?" Zhou Fu said. "A single casual batch from him is beyond anything I could achieve in a lifetime. You’ll never lack for pills."
Yan Yi shook his head. "Still, I’ll never truly know how to refine them."
"Enough of this," Zhou Fu sighed, not wanting to dwell on it. "Take the papers to Peak Chief Qin. We’ll grade the rest."
"Very well," Yan Yi agreed.
Holding the fifth-year disciples' exams, he walked along the stone path until it joined the main road, then continued upward through a forested trail until he reached the mist-shrouded summit.
As he gazed at the swirling clouds before him, an overwhelming sense of reverence filled his heart. He carefully adjusted his attire, ensuring nothing was out of place, then solemnly retrieved the Identity Token given to him by Peak Chief Qin. With it, he parted the protective formation and the mist, stepping onto the hidden path that led to the true heart of Dan Peak.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
