Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

Three months passed like this. Yanhuo had read more than a thousand books. As his knowledge grew, so did his understanding of the world. However, he started to find the Daoist books a bit monotonous. These books mainly spread teachings about Daoist practices, scriptures, and methods, and after reading them over and over, Yanhuo grew tired of them. He was no longer just seeking to recognize characters; he wanted to learn more.

Later, Zhang Feng came up with an idea. Whenever he brought tea to his masters and elders, he secretly took out their personal notebooks. These notebooks, although only available to him every few days, contained a variety of topics, covering what the elders had seen and experienced during their travels. Yanhuo was instantly fascinated by the content of these notebooks. At first, whenever he encountered an unfamiliar character, Zhang Feng could still help him, but as Yanhuo's knowledge expanded, he encountered fewer and fewer new words. Eventually, Yanhuo became absorbed in reading, while Zhang Feng could only sit and watch.

"Zhang Feng Ge, if you're getting bored, you don't need to come up the mountain every day. I'm safe enough in the forest reading on my own," Yanhuo said.

"Hehe! It's no trouble. Watching you read is a kind of enjoyment for me. Besides, if I don't come up every day, how will you get new books to read? You're really something, reading so fast. At this rate, I don't think it'll take a year before you finish all the books in our Daoist temple," Zhang Feng joked.

"Hehe! It's not exactly like you say. Some of the more profound books, I still read very slowly. Like this one, it says there's a mysterious method of cultivation other than Daoist practices and martial arts—immortal cultivation."

"It also says this: martial arts experts and immortals both use the dantian for cultivation, but the difference is that martial arts experts circulate their dantian qi within their bodies, using their will to control the qi to complete the greater and lesser circulations within their bodies, clearing the seven meridians and eight vessels, gradually increasing the dantian's capacity and internal power over many years."

"But immortality cultivation is different. Immortal cultivation uses the dantian to directly absorb the spiritual energy of all things in the world through the body. After absorbing the spiritual energy into the dantian, it gradually alters the structure of the dantian. Once a cultivator reaches the Golden Core stage, they can fly with a sword, traveling across the sky. Cultivating immortality is the path to enlightenment and becoming an immortal."

"Bullshit!!" Zhang Feng cursed after hearing this. "In our Daoist temple, we focus on Daoist teachings. We emphasize self-cultivation, understanding the Dao, and helping all beings. Our aim is to achieve a golden body and transcend to immortality. There's no such thing as flying on a sword or traveling across the sky. My master's master, my grandmaster, practiced Daoism for fifty years and could only leap dozens of yards at most. But that's called lightness skill, not what's described in this book."

"That's strange. This book seems to describe it as if it really exists. It doesn't seem like a lie," Yanhuo said, his curiosity piqued.

"Let me see. Which book are you reading?" Zhang Feng asked. Today, he had brought five books up the mountain. Four of them were from the library, but only one came from his grandmaster's room. This particular book was only a few dozen pages long, the pages yellowed with age, and it had no title—just a nameless book.

The book, though taken from the ancestral master's room, had been dropped under a bookshelf, and Zhang Feng had only discovered it while cleaning.

"Oh! This book... It doesn't matter if you can't understand it. It must be written by some trickster trying to fool people. Otherwise, why would my grandmaster throw it under the bookshelf?" Zhang Feng said, talking about the late Qing Mountain Daoist. Qing Mountain Daoist and Zhang Feng's grandmaster had once been brothers in the Dao. During his travels in the mortal world, Qing Mountain Daoist came across a book on immortal cultivation. Unfortunately, by that time, Qing Mountain was already older, and his mind had been clouded by worldly Daoist teachings, so he spent twenty years trying to understand it. He only managed to reach the early stages of Immortal Cultivation.

Although he had only reached the early stages of Immortal Cultivation, Qing Mountain Daoist was already so powerful that he could overwhelm everyone in the Dao Qing Temple with his mixed Daoist skills and true energy. After his passing, this book was secretly taken by Zhang Feng's grandmaster. However, Zhang Feng's grandmaster could not understand the content of the book either, and eventually tossed it aside.

When Zhang Feng mentioned this, Yanhuo could see the disapproval in his tone, so he didn't continue reading aloud. However, the book did mention that some great monks, even though they didn't know any martial arts, could become immortals after comprehending the world's mysteries. These monks would unintentionally discover a method of Immortal Cultivation and begin slowly absorbing the spiritual energy of all things in the world.

Becoming an immortal through this method, however, was a concept understood by later generations and mortals. In truth, those who underwent the so-called "transformation" had likely only cultivated to the Golden Core or Yuan Ying stage, where their physical bodies had already aged. Many of these cultivators may not even have realized what had happened to them. They might have wondered if their souls left their bodies or whether they truly attained immortality. In the end, most of these individuals were captured by evil cultivators in the Immortal Cultivation world, who took their Golden Core or Yuan Ying. Very few were reborn as mortals, and even fewer retained memories of their past lives. These individuals were often referred to as "the reincarnation of the Buddha" by ordinary people.

"Well, if you can't understand it, let's not worry about it. I'll bring a few more good books for you to look at in a few days," Zhang Feng said.

"Hmm! I think this book is very interesting. Can I keep it and read it slowly?" Yanhuo asked. Unlike previous books that Zhang Feng had taken back after he finished, this book seemed different. Yanhuo was eager to study it properly.

"If you really want to, you can keep it. It's just an old, discarded book. As long as you don't let your Xiu Ning Jie find out, it's fine," Zhang Feng chuckled.

"Thank you for the reminder, Zhang Feng Ge. I will be careful." Yanhuo carefully tucked the book into his clothes and then headed back to the mountain villa.

"Young master, you're back." Xiu Ning had been waiting outside the villa for Yanhuo.

"Yes, I'm back."

"Did you encounter anything fun in the forest today?" Xiu Ning asked.

"No, it was just the same as usual," Yanhuo replied casually.

"I see," Xiu Ning said, sensing that there was nothing more to ask. "Young master, dinner is ready. Shall we…?"

"Let's eat first." The two ate in silence.

After dinner, Xiu Ning prepared a bath for Yanhuo. When it was time to get into the oak tub, Yanhuo didn't ask Xiu Ning to help and instead sent her out. "I'm already grown up; I don't need anyone to attend to me when I bathe."

In truth, Yanhuo was afraid that Xiu Ning would discover the book hidden in his clothes.

"Bathing is the most relaxing time," Yanhuo thought as he soaked in the water, flipping through the book. It was only a few dozen pages, and he had already memorized it. "But looking at it again and again, I still don't understand the principles in this book. It doesn't explain how to cultivate at all…"