Chapter 1: Mysterious Dao Seed

"Lai-ge! Stop looking for that meteorite!"

"This year's spiritual root test has been moved up. You don't even need to go to the county seat; you can just get tested right here in town!"

A boy from the village saw Lin Donglai limping down the mountain path and couldn't help but remind him.

Lin Donglai rubbed the back of his injured head, looking thoughtful. "Really?"

"Of course it's true. Would the Village Chief lie?"

Hearing the gongs and drums echoing from the nearby village, Lin Donglai followed the flow, squeezing into the growing crowd.

He heard the Village Chief, standing on the threshing floor in front of the ancestral hall with his belly protruding, say, "This meteorite falling from the sky is truly a stroke of fortune for our Lin Family Town!"

"The immortal elders of the Green Wood Immortal Sect plan to stay for two more days, and they'll be testing our spiritual roots while they're at it!"

"Three years ago, Hong Family Town tested someone with roots! They held a banquet for three days and three nights—they were so boastful!"

"If we can test one out here in Lin Family Town, I’ll pay out of my own pocket to host a banquet too!"

"Cultivating immortality—when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. In just three years, Hong Family Town has built bridges, paved roads, and even had several people pass the imperial examinations!"

"If the boys in your families test for spiritual roots, the government will exempt them from corvée labor and miscellaneous taxes. There’s endless glory and wealth waiting for them!"

Upon hearing the news from the Village Chief, Lin Donglai was overjoyed. What young man hadn't fantasized about becoming an immortal capable of flying through the heavens and burrowing into the earth?

Besides, since the spiritual root test was being served up on a silver platter, it would be a waste not to go!

Opportunities don't wait for anyone!

He immediately ran home to tell his parents the good news.

Lin Donglai’s father, Lin Meng, was one of the few hunters in Lin Family Town who could take down wild boars. His mother, Meng Qing, was the daughter of the town butcher.

Lin Father had learned his trade from a hunter when he was young, and every time he returned from a hunt, he would sell the meat to Butcher Meng, which was how he met Lin Mother.

At this moment, Lin Meng was in the courtyard processing animal hides. Seeing Lin Donglai looking disheveled with a piece of withered grass root in his hair, he couldn't help but frown. "You're hurt?"

"I tripped by accident." Lin Donglai didn't think it was a big deal.

Lin Mother was cooking, and upon hearing that her son was hurt, she rushed out, concerned. "Yangyang, you're hurt? Let Mother see if you've bumped or bruised anything."

Yangyang was Lin Donglai’s childhood nickname. "Donglai" meant "the sun coming," a name given by Mr. Liu from the village school, who said it was a vibrant and spirited name.

Lin Donglai insisted he was fine, but he was still given a full-body inspection.

"Dad, Mom, the Village Chief said the immortals from the Green Wood Sect are testing for spiritual roots in town tomorrow. I want to go!"

"Go if you want!"

"Once you're tested and find out you don't have spiritual roots, give up on this pipe dream and honestly go look at some girls with me. You're not young anymore. When your older brother was your age, he had already found a girl himself and asked me to find a matchmaker to propose!"

Lin Donglai was only fourteen or fifteen, and being talked to about marriage made him feel a bit embarrassed and annoyed. "I definitely have spiritual roots! I can cultivate immortality, and when the time comes, I'll marry an immortal maiden as my wife!"

After dinner, perhaps because of the bump on the back of his head or the exhaustion from searching the mountain for so long, Lin Donglai fell asleep early.

In his sleep, Lin Donglai had a dream. In the dream, he was first a beast of burden in a place filled with skyscrapers and iron carriages, but in an instant, he transformed into an immortal who could fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth, obtaining a very precious opportunity.

A seed.

A seed known as the Dao Seed.

Relying on this Dao Seed, his cultivation progressed rapidly, and he lived a life of carefree freedom.

But it was also because of this seed that he was lured into an ambush and fell on the spot!

"I am not reconciled!"

He woke up from the nightmare! Lin Donglai was drenched in cold sweat.

As he woke, the old wound on the back of his head burned suddenly, as if a tender sprout were piercing through his skull. He trembled as he reached for the painful spot, but felt nothing.

The wound had already healed.

Ordinary dreams fade as one wakes, but this dream not only failed to become illusory, it became increasingly vivid and detailed.

For a long time, Lin Donglai struggled to regain his composure. The dream was so magnificent, mysterious, and incredibly real—as if he had experienced it himself—that he felt as if he were still under a nightmare's spell, lingering in the aftertaste even after waking.

Especially the scene of being killed at the end of the dream; it left him shrouded in a sense of despair.

"So it was just a dream!"

Lin Donglai felt a sense of loss. He seemed relieved that it was just a dream, yet also disappointed that it was *only* a dream.

But when he closed his eyes again, the sight before him made Lin Donglai gasp!

A seed about the size of a lotus seed, with a verdant green shell, was floating in the darkness!

This was exactly the Dao Seed from his dream, the one with infinite mysterious properties!

"My dear mother!"

Lin Donglai opened his eyes, and the seed vanished.

He closed his eyes, and the seed floated before him again.

"Could this thing... be inside my head?"

Lin Donglai found it inconceivable.

"Since the seed is real, then the dream I just had must have been something that actually happened!"

"But how did this thing get into my head?"

Lin Donglai sat there blankly.

He recalled the fantastical events of the past two days.

Two days ago, the sky above the town suddenly erupted with thunder, the clouds shifted, and immortals fought for a treasure.

Then, the treasure shattered, turning into meteorites that fell in all directions.

That very day, many cultivators went to the landing sites to search.

One of the meteorites had landed on the back mountain of Lin Family Village.

That night, the government drove the villagers up the mountain to hunt for treasure, and Lin Donglai was among them.

Because he was familiar with the back mountain, he quickly found the landing site, but two immortals had arrived before him.

The two immortals fought over the treasure, and Lin Donglai had only watched from afar for a few moments before the shockwaves knocked him unconscious, his head striking a rock.

When he woke up, the immortals were gone, and the landing site was a mess.

Lin Donglai thought for a long time, but could only recall the two immortals fighting, being hit by the shockwave, and hitting his head on a rock before passing out. There was something suspicious here.

Could it be that at that moment, this thing burrowed into his brain?

Lin Donglai closed his eyes again.

The verdant green seed appeared before his eyes once more.

He could see it and feel it, but he couldn't touch it.

Even when he tried to move it with his mind, the thing didn't shift its position at all.

He remembered a particularly profound part of his dream: the protagonist, after obtaining the Dao Seed, had to nourish it with forty-nine drops of essence blood to refine it before he could use it as he pleased and soar to the heavens.

Lin Donglai guessed, "I suppose it needs to be refined before it can be used."

"Is this the treasure the immortals were fighting over?" Lin Donglai suddenly thought of this, and his heart tightened, cold sweat breaking out.

"I can't tell anyone about this! As long as I don't say anything, no one will know."

Recalling the dream, he knew that this mysterious seed was of an exceptionally high status; it could conceal the secrets of heaven. Unless he spoke of it himself, even a true immortal descending to the mortal realm wouldn't be able to track it.

"The person in the dream was too reckless after getting the treasure; he actually told his Dao companion, which led to his death."

Once he understood this, Lin Donglai’s tense mind finally relaxed.

But the image of the carefree immortal from the dream remained branded in his mind.

This seed, named "Cultivation," took root and sprouted in just a few breaths, occupying Lin Donglai’s entire heart and mind.

Having witnessed the immortals' battle, he now longed for that mysterious power that could fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth!

The sky began to brighten, and a rooster crowed three times.

Lin Mother got up to light the fire and cook, but seeing Lin Donglai sitting there in a daze, she couldn't help but wonder, "This boy doesn't usually get up this early. Don't tell me he's so excited he couldn't sleep all night? Has he gone mad?"

She walked over and patted Lin Donglai on the shoulder, only to see the boy turn his head, his large eyes bright and piercing, his entire being radiating a spirit he had never possessed before.

(End of chapter)