The Desire to Be Eternal
Chapter 1: I am Bai Xiaochun
Mount Hood is located in the Eastwood Mountain Range, and at its base there is a strange little village. The villagers there lived off the land, and had little to do with the outside world.
It was dawn, and the villagers gathered at the village gate to see a fifteen or sixteen year old young man. He looked thin and weak, but had healthy, bright skin, and an overall charming appearance. He was wearing an ordinary green robe that seemed to have been washed many times until it was almost worn out. Something about the way he dressed, plus the innocent look in his eyes, made him appear extremely intelligent.
His name is Bai Xiaochun.
“Dear Elders and fellow villagers,” said, “I am on my way to learn about Eternal cultivation. I will miss you all! ” The young man wore a slightly agonized expression, as if he could not bear to part with his fellow villagers. This makes it look more charming than ever. 1
The surrounding villagers exchanged glances, shrugged helplessly, and then pretended to look more reluctant to see him off.
A white-haired old man came out of the crowd and said, “Xiaochun, since your father and mother left us, oh it's been a long time, you have, eh-” she stops for a moment “–such a good child!!" Seeing that Bai Xiaochun had yet to leave, he continued, “Don't tell me you're not interested in living forever? All you have to do is become an Immortal, and then you can live forever! It was a very, very long time! Well, it's time for you to leave now. Even baby eagles have to learn to fly in the end.
“Whatever situation you face out there, you have to hang in there and keep moving forward. After you leave the village, you cannot return, because your path will always lie ahead, not behind! " The old man patted Bai Xiaochun on the shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Living forever…." Bai Xiaochun muttered. A tremor flowed within him, and a gaze of determination slowly filled his eyes. Under the joyous gazes of the old man and the other villagers, he nodded his head seriously and looked around at everyone one last time. Finally, he turned around and walked away from the village.
As he disappeared into the distance, the villagers began to look even more excited. Their sad expressions turned into joy, and the good-faced old man started to tremble. Tears even flowed down his face.
"Justice from Heaven! Weasel ... is finally gone! Who told him that they saw an Immortal in the area? Whoever it is, I will give you a great gift on behalf of the village! " 2
The village immediately echoed with cries of joy. Some people even took out gongs and drums and started banging them excitedly.
“The weasel is gone,” said someone, “but oh, my poor chicken. He hated roosters crowing at dawn, so he somehow made all the kids in the village eat every chicken we had …. ”
"Today is the beginning of a new era!"
At this point, Bai Xiaochun was still quite close to the village, and could actually hear the sounds of gongs and drums. He even caught the wind from the cry of joy.
He stopped in his tracks, a strange expression on his face. After a while, he cleared his throat and continued on his way. Accompanied by the faint sound of excitement, he started walking towards Mount Hood.
Mount Hood was not a very high mountain, but was covered by dense vegetation. Therefore, despite the fact that the dawn is breaking, under the trees, it is dark and silent.
"Double-Dog told me that he was hunting some wild pigs a few days ago and saw the Immortal flying around …." Bai Xiaochun continued, heart pounding. Suddenly, a rustling sound could be heard from some nearby bushes. It almost sounded like a wild pig, and immediately caused Bai Xiaochun to become extremely nervous. The hair on the back of his neck stood erect as he asked, “Who is that? Who's there?!"
He quickly pulled four axes and six machetes out of his travel package, but that in itself did not make him feel safer, so he also produced a bit of black incense from within his robe, which he held tightly to his left hand.
Don't come out!" he screamed, trembling. "Not even THINKING about getting out! I have an axE AND a machete, and this incense can summon lightning from Heaven, and even summon Gods! If you dare to show your face, you're DEAD! " At last, he turned around and ran towards the mountain road, simultaneously juggling the various weapons in his hands. A clang sound could finally be heard as the axe and machete started to fall to the ground left and right.
Maybe whatever had been rustling in the bushes really ended up scaring him. The sound stopped, and no ferocious beasts came out from the bushes. Bai Xiaochun rushed towards the mountain, wiping the sweat from his brows. At this point, his face was pale, and he was almost considering letting go of the crazy idea of climbing the mountain, but then he thought about the incense, which his parents had given him before they died. Supposedly, it had been passed down from their ancestors, a gift bestowed by the down-and-out Immortal they had saved. Before departing, the Immortal had given it to them to repay the kindness they had shown. Furthermore, the Immortal even promised to take on the members of the Bai Clan as disciples. He told them that just burning the incense would call him to their side.
Bai Xiaochun had actually lit incense sticks over ten times in the past few years, and yet, no Immortal had ever appeared. It finally reached the point that Bai Xiaochun started to suspect whether the story about the Immortal was true or not. Finally, he decided to climb the mountain. For one thing, the incense was almost depleted, and also, there was the matter of the flying Immortal being seen recently.
And that's how he ended up in the current situation. The theory was that if he could get a little closer to the Immortal, then it would probably be easier for the Immortal to sense the incense.
Standing in front of the mountain, he hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and decided to continue walking. Fortunately, the mountain was not very high, and it did not take long to reach the peak, where he stopped, gasping for breath. He looked at the village below, and an emotional expression appeared on his face. Then he glanced at the little black incense sticks. It had obviously been burned on many occasions, and was almost completely depleted.
“Three years already. Bless me, mother and father. It MUST be working at the moment! " Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and then carefully lit the incense. A light breeze instantly kicked upwards, and in the blink of an eye, dark clouds filled the sky. Lightning crackled, and deafening thunders echoed in his ears.
The grandeur of the entire scene caused Bai Xiaochun to tremble, fearing that he might be killed by lightning. He nearly spat on the incense to extinguish it, but managed to hold it in.
“i've lit this incense twelve times in the last three years, and this is the thirteenth. I should let it burn! Go, Xiaochun! Lightning won't kill you. At least maybe not …. " Twelve times that he had lit incense in the past, there was lightning and thunder, yet no Immortal had ever appeared. Each time, he became so scared that he spat out incense to extinguish it. He actually felt a bit strange that the supposedly immortal stick of incense could be extinguished with ordinary saliva.
Bai Xiaochun sat there trembling in fear as thunder boomed around him. Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the air in the distance.
It was a middle-aged man wearing luxurious clothes. He had a transcendent attitude, yet he looked tired and exhausted. In fact, if you pay close attention, his eyes seem to be flickering with overwhelming fatigue.
Every time the man thought about what he had experienced over the past few years, he became extremely annoyed. Three years ago, he felt the medicinal aura from the incense he had given back when he was at the Qi Condensation stage. It immediately caused him to recall the debt he owed in the mortal world.
The first time he flew in response to the incense being ignited, he thought it was a simple matter to get out and then immediately return. He never imagined that even before being able to find the incense, its aura would suddenly disappear, severing its connection with the incense. If it happened just once, it wouldn't be a big deal. However, over the course of three years, the aura had appeared over ten times.
Many times his quest was interrupted, ensuring that he constantly left the sect and then returned. Back and forth, back and forth. It was torture.
As he approached at Mount Hood, he saw Bai Xiaochun. Feeling annoyed with much frustration, the man landed on the mountain peak and waved his hand, instantly extinguishing the sputtering incense.
The thunder stopped, and Bai Xiaochun looked at the man in shock.
"Are you an Immortal?" Bai Xiaochun asked carefully. Still unsure about what exactly happened, he slipped his hand back and grabbed the axe.
"You can call me Li Qinghou. Are you from the Bai Clan? " The eyes of the middle-aged cultivator shone like lightning as he sized up Bai Xiaochun, ignoring the axe behind his back. To him, Bai Xiaochun looked gentle, almost beautiful, and reminded him of his old friend many years ago. Furthermore, his latent talent seemed to be a match. Li Qinghou's anger gradually began to fade away. 3
Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times. Although he was still a bit scared, he sat up straight and quietly said, "Junior is definitely from the Bai Clan.I am Bai Xiaochun. "
"Alright, tell me this," said Li Qinghou, his voice cold. "Why have you lit that incense so many times over the past three years !?" He was very curious about the answer to this question.
As soon as Bai Xiaochun heard the question, his mind spun as he tried to get a good answer. Finally, a melancholic expression appeared on his face, and he looked towards the village at the bottom of the mountain.
"Junior is a sentimental and righteous person" he said. "I really can't bear to part with my fellow villagers. Every time I lit an incense stick, I was overwhelmed with feelings of sadness. The thought of leaving them was too painful. ”
Li Qinghou stared in shock. He had never considered such a possibility, and as such, the anger in his heart faded even more. He could tell from the words of this young man alone that he was really a good material.
However, the next thing he did was to send his divine senses towards the village, and he heard the sounds of drums, gongs, and excitement. He even heard the villagers talking about how happy they were that 'the badgers' had left. An unsightly expression appeared on his face, and he felt a headache coming. He looked back at the charming and pure Bai Xiaochun, who seemed like he would not hurt a fly, and suddenly realized that this child was a core villain.
"Tell me the truth!" Li Qinghou said, his voice echoing like thunder. Bai Xiaochun was so frightened that he started to tremble.
Hey, you can't blame me!" Bai Xiaochun said, sounding very pitiful. “What kind of incense is this anyway !? Every time I turn it on, lightning will start falling everywhere! I was almost killed on several occasions! In fact, dodging the lightning thirteen times was quite incredible! ”
Li Qinghou looked at Bai Xiaochun inwardly.
"If you're so scared, then why are you turning it on more than ten times ?!" She asked.
"I'm because I'm afraid to die!" Bai Xiaochun replied angrily. "Isn't an Immortal cultivation point to be able to live forever? I want to live forever! "
Li Qinghou was once again stunned. However, he finds the boy's interest in living forever commendable, and realizes that his personality might change a little after some harsh training in the sect.
After thinking for a moment, he waved his sleeve, sweeping Bai Xiaochun into a beam of light that shot into the distance.
"Alright, come with me" he said.
"Where are we going?" bai Xiaochun asked, suddenly realizing that they were flying. "Ah, we're very tall …." The ground was very, very far down, causing blood to flow from his face. He immediately dropped his axe and grabbed the Immortal's leg.
Li Qinghou looked at her while holding onto her leg. Feeling a little confused, he replied, "The Spirit Stream Sect."
Bai Xiaochun's Chinese name is ⁇ ⁇ xiao chun. Bai is a surname that also means "white." Xiao means "small." Chun means "pure" 2. The word for ferret is literally "white rat wolf," the first character being the same character as Bai Xiaochun's last name 3. Li Qinghou's name in Chinese is ⁇ li qi hu. Li is a very common surname, also the same surname as the Li Clan on the ISSTH. Qing means "green, blue, black, blue, etc." Hou means many things including "time" and "wait"
