I have changed my destiny and become an unparalleled immortal.

"Although I studied the Way of Freedom and pursued a life of ease, the way these memories came about is very strange. It feels like someone forcibly gave them to me... Don't you think that's strange?"

Gu Yun's heart pounded wildly, almost stopping.

Were you seen through?

Is a person with great abilities able to perceive changes in cause and effect?

Gu Yun suppressed his shock and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"This junior...does not understand what you mean, senior."

Whether you know it or not is irrelevant.

The old man completely disregarded the facts and moved even closer.

Staring at Gu Yun's festering face, his eyes gleamed with an almost morbid excitement.

"The key point is that I glanced at you, and that glance actually turned out to be quite interesting."

"He only began his cultivation journey at the age of eighty, consuming discarded elixirs to cultivate a poisonous body. He was clearly a mortal without spiritual roots and a useless person, yet he possessed a heart devoted to cultivation."

An old man extended his thin fingers and gently touched Gu Yun's chest.

puff!

Gu Yun spat out a mouthful of black blood, and at that moment he felt the tightness in his chest lessen to some extent.

"Your meridians are like a broken net, completely dilapidated. Your Qi Sea is turbid. Conventional Taoist techniques cannot heal you."

The old man stood up and looked down at Gu Yun.

"If this continues, within six months your whole body will be covered in sores and turn into a pool of pus."

"Senior...save me!"

Gu Yun gripped the old man's trouser leg tightly, his eyes burning with a will to survive.

"I am not afraid of death... but I don't want to lose my life in such a muddled way!"

"Hahaha! What a fearless person!"

The old man raised his head and laughed loudly at the sky, so loud that the stones in the cave fell down.

"Since you possess such a crazy spirit, then I will give you a chance."

After saying that, the old man rummaged in his pocket for a long time before pulling out a piece of bone.

The bone fragment looked like jade but wasn't jade; it was entirely black.

The old man casually tossed it onto Gu Yun, who was covered in blood.

"This is a technique I acquired during my travels in my early years. Its name is 'The Thirteen Pearls of the Purple Mansion'."

"This method neither cultivates the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nor examines the aptitude of one's own spiritual roots."

In the dim cave, the old man's voice suddenly became sinister and low, and echoed outwards.

"It cultivates the human heart and refines the seven emotions and six desires."

"Gather all the seven emotions that exist in the world: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, disgust, and desire."

"There are also the six desires of humankind, which include form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought."

"These emotional aspects that ordinary people tend to avoid are weaknesses for most people."

The old man looked at Gu Yun, a wicked smile appearing on his lips.

"At this moment, your heart is filled with fear of death, longing for immortality, contemplation of the fate of life, and the tactile pain that torments you day and night."

"You don't need to collect items; you yourself are like a furnace!"

Gu Yun held the cold bone fragment in his hand, feeling no fear whatsoever. On the contrary, his whole body was trembling, a tremor caused by excitement.

The moment it touched Gu Yun's blood-stained palm, it immediately emanated a warm, jade-like sensation.

The warmth calmed Gu Yun's trembling fingers slightly.

Holding the bone fragment, Gu Yun sensed that it contained a method related to the seven emotions and six desires.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Senior, as long as I can survive, I don't care if I become a vengeful ghost and have to cultivate such evil magic."

"Pooh!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap, resounded in the narrow cave.

The old man suddenly jumped up, and the gourd in his hand almost hit Gu Yun on the head.

He blew his beard and glared as he spoke.

"What is evil magic? Who told you it's evil magic?"

"Mortals, so shallow and easily fooled!"

The old man pointed at Gu Yun's nose and loudly berated him.

"Those who cultivate immortality all claim to sever their ties with the mortal world, regarding the seven emotions and six desires as monstrous floods and beasts, something to be avoided at all costs. That is called the Path of Ruthlessness!"

"However, this 'Thirteen Pearls of the Purple Mansion' cultivates precisely these seven emotions and six desires; this is the realm of great freedom, the state of perfect ease!"

The old man took a deep breath, and a light suddenly shone in his cloudy eyes.

"Troubles are enlightenment, and the mortal world is a paradise!"

"All living beings in the world are born because of desires and survive because of emotions. If there were no emotions and desires, could a person still be called a person? Then he would just be a stone."

"The great beings of ancient times observed the various phenomena in the mortal world and created this method. It does not shy away from worldly situations, but uses the physical body as a cauldron and the seven emotions and six desires as firewood, and then refines thirteen purple beads."

Every word the old man spoke struck Gu Yun's heart like a hammer blow.

Gu Yun was stunned.

Is it not an evil practice?

Is it using emotions as medicine to refine a golden elixir in the mortal world?

The old man snorted and looked at Gu Yun.

"Tell me, why would I be attracted to you? Is it simply because you're ugly?"

"Simply because your eighty years are a precious asset!"

"In the first half of your life, you were a king, enjoying all the riches, arrogance, and greed in the world. Now you are mired in the mire, experiencing endless pain, humiliation, and resentment."

"Ordinary practitioners do not have the emotional ups and downs and the accumulation of spiritual experience that you have."

Others might see all your experiences as a burden, a source of inner turmoil. But in the face of the Thirteen Pearls of the Purple Mansion, you are like a piece of exquisite jade that has yet to be carved.

An old man bent down, looked into Gu Yun's eyes which had regained their luster, and said softly.

"This is a true road that leads straight to heaven. It is far superior to the destructive techniques of the Purple Void Sect. However, this road is not easy to walk. If one makes a mistake, one will be burned by the fires of the seven emotions, losing one's life and heading towards complete destruction."

"Now, tell me. Do you wish to begin cultivating?"

Gu Yun stared intently at the warm, smooth bone fragment in his hand.

It turns out that all the sins and blessings I have experienced in my life were not in vain.

So, if one doesn't need to sever ties with the past or forget many memorable loves and hates, does that mean one can't cultivate immortality?

Despite his severe physical pain, he kowtowed heavily, his forehead touching the ground, and spoke in a loud voice:

"This junior, Gu Yun, wishes to cultivate this path!"

"good!"

The old man chuckled, clearly very satisfied with Gu Yun's attitude.

I'm thinking of you.

For some unknown reason, this person's soul is clearly different from others; perhaps he can truly achieve enlightenment.

"I'm leaving now!"

Before he could finish speaking, the old man's body turned into wisps of smoke and disappeared.

Only one sentence echoed in the empty grotto.

"Don't die. I haven't had my fill of wine in that gourd yet."

……

The room filled with discarded pills fell silent once more.

But this time, Gu Yun no longer felt cold.

He sat up cross-legged, his expression very serious, and placed the bone fragment between his eyebrows.