Chapter 2: The Nameless Book

In the end, Xun Qiu still agreed to Yun Qingping’s condition, joining that organization whose name he didn’t even know, because he had no other choice.

As for what this organization was called, how large it was, or what its main business was, he didn’t ask, and Yun Qingping showed no intention of telling him.

Presumably, she would only tell him after he had truly stepped onto the path of cultivation and gained a certain level of strength, enough to bear the title of “external member”—privileges were to be enjoyed in the future, but responsibilities had to be borne on the spot.

Xun Qiu dared not have the slightest complaint.

He guessed that Yun Qingping had some intention of protecting him.

The organization she was in… even if what she said just now had an element of exaggeration, the general gist of it was correct.

Neither the righteous nor the demonic paths of the cultivation world looked kindly upon this unnamed organization, and most likely held grudges against it.

They were practically rats scurrying across the street.

The less he knew, the safer he would be.

At some point, Yun Qingping had taken out a cattail hassock and was now sitting on it like an old god.

“Let’s get back to business.

Let me examine your root bone.

Your comprehension, you little rascal, is probably not bad.

If your root bone is also good, you should be able to find the sense of qi and generate your first wisp of true qi very quickly…

Xun Qiu, what cultivation method do you want to practice?

I can’t give you any peerless divine arts, but I have quite a few secret manuals from ordinary sects that serve as their foundation.

As long as you don’t go around proclaiming it while you wander the martial world, there’s no harm in practicing them.”

Xun Qiu, who had voluntarily signed his life away, put away his mournful face and asked seriously:

“Just take the cultivation method and start practicing?

Is it that simple?”

“Of course it’s not that simple.

If you were six years old now, I would certainly have you nourish your physique, soak in medicinal baths to improve your foundation, and then patiently study Daoist and Buddhist scriptures to train your comprehension, and then make plans after a year of this.”

Yun Qingping sighed.

“But you are already fifteen.

Although you look thin and small, your root bone has already set, and the mouthful of innate pure qi from the womb has also dissipated.

To start building a foundation at this point… to put it bluntly, you might not even finish by the time you die of old age.

It’s better to just start practicing now.”

“Starting cultivation at fifteen, will I definitely not amount to anything?”

Xun Qiu clenched his fists.

“Not necessarily.

It can only be said that, for the same person, starting cultivation at fifteen is certainly not as good as starting at six, but people are different from one another.

In this world, there are wastes who nourish their root bones and meridians from a young age but can hardly make an inch of progress, and there are also peerless geniuses who can achieve world-covering cultivation with just an ordinary heart-sutra.

There are those with high aptitude from great sects who squander their lives, and there are also those whose root bones and comprehension are both of low quality, yet they achieve enlightenment in a single day and step through the immortal gate.”

Yun Qingping explained patiently.

“Xun Qiu, do you understand?

Things like root bone, comprehension, spiritual root, aptitude… are all superficial.

In the final analysis, it still depends on the person.”

This sounded a bit like encouraging chicken soup for the soul, but Xun Qiu sensed the emotion in Yun Qingping’s words…

How should he put it?

It was a mix of lament, regret, and envy—very complex, hard to describe in a few words, but undoubtedly her true feelings.

Xun Qiu was not unaware of the principle of not speaking deeply with a shallow acquaintance.

He simply nodded to show that he understood.

He suddenly remembered the Nameless Book that Bo Qiuyun had given him.

Although that old coot was not the least bit serious and was even suspected of using him as a scapegoat, but… what if?

What if what he said about him being a peerless genius was true, and what if that Nameless Book was truly a peerless miraculous book, a divine art of the ages?

Anyway, it wouldn’t cost anything to try.

Understanding his thoughts, Yun Qingping was naturally indifferent.

She casually opened the rectangular jade box, took out the simple, pure white book from within, and flipped through a couple of pages.

Then her expression changed, and she flipped two more pages.

Yun Qingping sat up straight and began to read carefully from the beginning.

After a full quarter of an hour had passed, Xun Qiu, who was shivering from the wind and rain, finally couldn’t help but speak up.

“Fairy Yun, what do you think of this book?”

“Hmm?

Oh… ah, that…”

Yun Qingping’s spirit, which had been immersed in the text, returned to reality.

She pondered for a moment and said, “Nameless Book.

Your guess was correct.

This is indeed a peerless miraculous book.

Its conception takes an unorthodox path, but its method of practice is remarkably down-to-earth.

The only problem is…”

“The problem is…?”

Yun Qingping shook the white ancient book in her hand.

“To practice the initial ‘Aperture Opening’ chapter, you have to die once first.”

Xun Qiu was stunned.

Die once first…?

Once a person is dead, they are gone.

How could they even talk about cultivation?

He couldn’t help but ask:

“That’s probably not meant to be taken literally, right?”

“Of course, it’s not the kind of death where your soul is completely annihilated, but it’s not far off.

You have to shed your physical body, grind away your three hun and seven po souls, leaving only a spark of true spirit, and then reshape your body and soul.”

As Yun Qingping spoke, she flipped through the ancient book in her hand.

“This method seeks one thing: ‘newness,’ starting everything from scratch.

Moreover, it has requirements for root bone, comprehension, and the firmness of one’s will.

If even a small mistake is made, the result is the complete annihilation of the soul.”

The idea of practicing the Nameless Book was extinguished just as it was born in Xun Qiu’s mind.

His desire to cultivate was real, but seeking death for the sake of cultivation was out of the question.

Yun Qingping clearly understood his thoughts as well.

With a flick of her elegant hand, she tossed the jade box containing the Nameless Book and the pouch left by Bo Qiuyun to him.

“You can have them.

Even if you don’t practice it, you can sell it to a great clan or sect later for something in return, but you’ll have to manage the risks yourself.”

Xun Qiu swiftly put away the two items.

“I don’t know anything.

Of course, I will follow Fairy Yun’s arrangements.”

“Hehe, of course you have to do as I say…

Hand me your hand, let me see your root bone.”

Xun Qiu had no reason not to comply.

He extended his right hand, and in the next moment, Yun Qingping’s right hand was on his wrist.

She hadn’t looked closely before, but now she frowned, not because of Xun Qiu’s root bone, but because of his hand…

It was frighteningly thin.

If he said he was eight or nine years old, some people might believe it.

‘He probably hasn’t had a full meal since childhood.

No matter how good one’s root bone is, it can’t withstand such abuse.

Which of those direct disciples from the great sects didn’t grow up eating heavenly materials and earthly treasures…’

Yun Qingping’s brows knitted together.

The true qi in her body, like a boundless ocean, surged into every meridian in Xun Qiu’s body.

After about a moment, she withdrew it, her expression during the process was hard to describe.

Seeing her expression, Xun Qiu already had an inkling in his heart.

He asked without showing disappointment on his face:

“Fairy Yun, is my root bone very bad?”

Yun Qingping glanced at him and said bluntly:

“Bad?

Of course, it’s very bad!”

Xun Qiu shrank his neck, his voice subconsciously lowering.

“Even if it’s bad, there’s no need to be so angry…”

“I’m not angry because your root bone is trash!”

Yun Qingping glared at him, unable to stop herself from cursing.

“Dmmit, do you have any idea how good your foundation is?

I’ve never in my life seen a root bone and meridians so naturally suited for cultivation!

And I fcking never thought that a foundation like yours, capable of becoming an immortal, would be ruined into such a piece of sh*t by nurture!

It’s one thing that it didn’t develop properly due to insufficient blood qi and malnutrition, but it’s even injured!

If this were a hundred years ago, I would have dragged your irresponsible parents out and chopped them into a thousand and eight hundred pieces—”

She seemed exceptionally angry, her mood swings even more intense than when she had come to kill someone earlier.

At this moment, Xun Qiu had only one thought—‘Hey, so that old geezer wasn’t lying?’

Seeing Yun Qingping getting angrier as she spoke, he quickly interjected:

“Please don’t be anxious.

First of all, although I don’t remember, my parents were both killed by someone.

The ones you should be chopping into a thousand and eight hundred pieces are the culprits, not my parents.

Secondly, think about it again.

Is my root bone really beyond saving?”

“Saving what?

It’s already good enough that I don’t chop you up for making my heart ache with anger for no reason!

Do you know that with your messy root bone, you can’t even enter the gate of cultivation?

Your problem isn’t that you can’t cultivate, but that you cannot be allowed to cultivate!

Your meridians are too chaotic and jumbled.

If there were even a wisp of true qi in your body, it would run wild and kill you by crashing into things!”

Yun Qingping sat back down on the cattail hassock, fuming.

The slender sword hanging at her waist let out a series of soft chimes, as if sensing its master’s mood.

“Let me think, I should have a cultivation method of the most gentle nature on hand.

Although you’ll never pass the Qi Refining stage in your life, it shouldn’t be a problem to let you live a few more years…”

As she spoke, she picked up the jade pendant hanging on the other side of her waist, her divine sense sinking into it, only to hear Xun Qiu’s calm voice.

“Fairy, isn’t there a cultivation method right here that’s very suitable for me?”

“What?”

Yun Qingping looked up, her brows slightly furrowed, and saw the jade box in Xun Qiu’s hand.

“Nameless Book…?”

“That’s right.”

Xun Qiu couldn’t help but reveal a slight smile.

“This cultivation method is so perilous and has requirements for root bone, but one can imagine that someone with a good root bone would never practice such a method of unknown origin that could kill them with one misstep.

The only one who would consider it is someone like me, who has a very good root bone but cannot practice ordinary cultivation methods, right?”

As he spoke, he gently tapped the jade box in his hand.

“Fairy, think about it.

Aren’t it and I a match made in heaven?”

Yun Qingping put down the jade pendant in her hand and suddenly asked again:

“Xun Qiu, why do you want to cultivate?”

“To come and go like the wind, to be free and unfettered, to have enough to eat, to not be looked down upon, to live forever, for the heavens and earth to be vast, with nowhere I cannot go.”

After a long while, Yun Qingping let out a long sigh.

“I understand your determination, but there’s one more thing you need to know before that.”

At this moment, Xun Qiu’s state of mind was incomparably relaxed.

He wasn’t even afraid of death, what else could he be concerned about?

“Go ahead and say it.”

“Reshaping your body and soul also costs money.”

“…”

“You need heavenly materials and earthly treasures that can bring the dead back to life and grow flesh on white bones, you need immortal pills to protect your true spirit from being extinguished, you need medicinal baths to nourish your new body and soul, you need to hire people to protect you during the process, and you need the assistance of formations…”

Yun Qingping counted on her fingers.

“Let me calculate how much it will cost you.

Oh right, the gold and silver of the mortal world can’t be used, it has to be converted into spirit stones.

There are two high-grade ones in Bo Qiuyun’s pouch, so let’s calculate based on that quality.

You’ll need… about one hundred and thirty-nine million of them.

Cash, card, or… wait, all cash, please.”

With a thud, Xun Qiu fell to his knees.

He had never imagined that the beginning of his cultivation path would not be ‘thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,’ nor would it be finding a small bottle, and certainly not joining the miscellaneous labor court of a Shaolin Temple…

but would start with a debt of one hundred and thirty-nine million high-grade spirit stones.

No money, what kind of immortal are you cultivating?

TL Note:

Qi Refining-  A foundational stage of cultivation mentioned by Yun Qingping.

Root Bone-  A person’s innate physical foundation and talent for cultivation, including their bone structure and meridians. Xun Qiu’s is described as naturally perfect but damaged by malnutrition and injury.

Spirit Stones-  The primary currency used among cultivators, necessary for powerful techniques, formations, and purchasing rare materials.