Chapter One: The Name’s Tong Jin

In the dense forest, the branches of towering ancient cypresses tore the sunlight into countless fragments. A thick, primeval atmosphere lingered among the trees. Insects murmured softly, while now and then an unknown bird called once before vanishing into hiding.

“Awoo…”

A clear, piercing howl shattered the silence of the primeval forest. The childish voice shot through the woods like an arrow endowed with a spirit.

No sooner had the sound reached them than two streaks—one yellow and one gray—came hurtling from the distance.

They moved so swiftly that they left only wavering afterimages, nimbly dodging the towering ancient trees. Yet their speed was not diminished in the slightest.

“Hahaha…”

The yellow figure suddenly halted upon the trunk of an ancient tree twisted like a coiled dragon and burst into laughter. Slender, fair fingers dug into the bark, with a third of each knuckle embedded in the wood.

Only then could he be seen clearly. The yellow-clad figure was a handsome boy who appeared to be fourteen or fifteen. His bright, starry eyes shifted mischievously, above a sharp, refined nose. His loose black hair fell over his fair neck.

When the boy in yellow stopped, the gray figure, which had been in hot pursuit, halted like a nail driven into the trunk beside him.

“You little brat. Out of breath at last, are you?”

The hoarse voice formed a stark contrast with the boy’s clear laughter and was deeply unpleasant to hear.

“Old fellow, all I did was eat a few of your fruits, and you’ve chased me for an entire day and night. If we keep running like this, by the time I’m as old as you are, I doubt you’ll still be able to catch me. Why don’t you return to your little Medicine Valley and plant a few more fruit trees?”

The gray-clad man flew into a rage. His already ugly features twisted almost beyond recognition.

“You little wretch! Do you know that the Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruit blooms only once every fifty years, and bears fruit only once every additional fifty? Even when the harvest is favorable, there are no more than four or five fruits each time! I guarded that little valley for years, waiting for them to ripen, only for you to steal and eat every last one. I won’t be satisfied until I catch you and imprison you for twenty years!”

“Haha… Old ghost, if you really imprison me for twenty years, won’t I become an old ghost just like you? No, no—there’s no way I can let you catch me.”

The gray-clad man snorted furiously. “That is no longer up to you.”

At the same time, his figure shot toward the boy on the opposite tree trunk.

“Awoo, awoo! The old ghost’s gone mad!”

The boy’s teasing voice still lingered among the trees, but his figure had already appeared several yards away on another trunk.

The gray-clad man lunged at empty air and came to a halt on the trunk from which the boy had just fled. Frustration churned in his heart. Who knew where this boy had come from? He looked young, yet had already reached the Aura Transformation Realm. Otherwise, even a master at the peak of Body Tempering would have collapsed from exhaustion after such a long pursuit.

“Wait, wait!”

Just as the gray-clad man was about to lunge again, the boy hurriedly called out.

The gray-clad man frowned. “Little brat, you’d better come back to Medicine Valley with me obediently. Otherwise, once I catch you, you’ll suffer needlessly. My reputation as the Ghost Physician is no empty boast. I’ll make you beg to live and pray for death. You ate five Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits. If you obediently let me cripple your cultivation and use your blood as a medicinal catalyst, perhaps after ten years or so, if I happen to be in a good mood, I may release you.”

“Bah! Bah! Bah! You old ghost actually want to use my blood as medicine? You’re darker-hearted than a real ghost. No wonder they call you the Ghost Physician.”

The boy spat several times in the Ghost Physician’s direction, then smacked his lips as though savoring the sweetness of the Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits.

His dark, lively eyes turned, and he said, “How about this, old ghost? I did eat several of your fruits, so I suppose I’m in the wrong. I’ll compensate you with something, and we’ll call it even. What do you say?”

The Ghost Physician showed no sign of compromise. “Brat, do you think Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits grow everywhere? You can’t simply say you’ll compensate me and expect that to settle things.”

The boy seemed utterly confident. He reached into his clothes and withdrew a cloth pouch no larger than his palm. Shaking it, he lifted his chin at the Ghost Physician.

“Have you ever heard of Immortal Wood Root?”

The Ghost Physician froze. Then, as though suddenly recalling something, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Immortal Wood Root! You mean the spiritual root that absorbs the essence of the earth and can be produced only by a three-thousand-year-old tree?”

He immediately shook his head and muttered to himself, “Impossible. Such a root can be born only after an ancient tree has survived countless strikes of heavenly lightning over three thousand years, producing a section capable of absorbing the spiritual essence of heaven and earth. It is even rarer than the Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruit. How could you possibly possess such a divine treasure?”

The boy offered no further explanation. Seeing the old ghost’s expression, he knew the compensation would satisfy him immensely, so he simply waved his hand and tossed the pouch over.

The Ghost Physician caught it while drifting lightly to the ground. With trembling hands, he opened the pouch impatiently. Inside lay a perfectly preserved section of dark, lustrous root.

He examined it carefully, then held it beneath his nose and inhaled.

“It truly is Immortal Wood Root! Hahaha! Good, good—it really is Immortal Wood Root. You certainly are lucky, boy, to have acquired such a rare treasure.”

The Ghost Physician threw back his head and laughed. His ugly features seemed to writhe and come alive across his face. When he finally stopped, they had become the clean, lean features of another man. His apparent age had also decreased by twenty years, and not the slightest trace of his former ugliness and decrepitude remained.

The boy stared at the transformation in amazement. He had already leaped down from the tree and now clapped his hands with a laugh.

“Hahaha, old ghost, so you’re not actually that old after all. Yet you insist on making yourself look old and ugly. What a strange hobby.”

This time, the Ghost Physician did not argue with him. His eyes remained fixed on the Immortal Wood Root in his hands, as though afraid it might vanish into thin air.

He then looked up at the boy.

“Boy, I’ll let this matter go. What is your name?”

The boy sat down carelessly on a flat stone beneath the tree and crossed one leg over the other.

“I never change my name, and I never alter my surname. Remember it well, old ghost. My name is Tong Jin.”

“Tong Jin. Good. Having obtained this Immortal Root today, I, Bai Yunbian, owe you a favor. If you ever need anything, go to the town twenty miles southwest of Medicine Valley and ask for the Ghost Physician, Bai Yunbian. Someone will lead you to me. This old man is off.”

As the Ghost Physician Bai Yunbian spoke, he had already drifted dozens of yards away. His lingering voice wound through the forest, and silence once again returned to the woods.

The boy called Tong Jin scratched his head and muttered to himself, “It’s only a piece of Immortal Root. Look how excited that old ghost became. Still, I really lucked out. A root I happened to pick up was enough to send him on his way.”

His refined brows soon drew together slightly as he looked around.

“I ran with that old ghost for a day and a night, and the medicinal power of the Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits has already been absorbed into my body in its raw form. I’d better find somewhere to enter seclusion and refine it, or I’ll truly waste those fruits.”

His brows relaxed, and a smile touched his lips. Then he launched himself in the direction opposite to that taken by the Ghost Physician.

The Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruit was said to be a wondrous plant that grew only after the remains of a great cultivator who had attained the Grand Dao had lain buried for a thousand years, steeped in the essence of his bones.

It took a thousand years to take root and break through the soil, another fifty years to bloom, and another fifty to bear fruit. In the end, once the fruit fell, the root withered and vanished into nothingness.

After Tong Jin took the fruits, the Earth-Spirit Immortal Tree would rapidly wither and decay.

For ordinary people, consuming the fruit could prolong life. For cultivators, however, it was comparable to taking a shortcut through cultivation.

The fruit was also an exceptional medicinal ingredient—a rare treasure that could be encountered but never sought. Otherwise, the Ghost Physician Bai Yunbian would not have guarded it for years, waiting for it to ripen.

The sounds of insects rose throughout the forest as the sky gradually darkened.

…

The following day, the vast primeval forest was lush and verdant. At dawn, the first ray of sunlight rose from the sea of trees atop the distant mountains, and life swiftly spread through the wilderness.

Halfway up a cliff, on a protruding platform, a lean figure sat cross-legged. His yellow clothes were torn in several places, while the tips of his glossy black hair stirred now and then in the morning breeze.

The instant the first ray of sunlight touched him, the figure suddenly opened his eyes. Two sharp gleams shot forth, then faded back into dark, profound depths.

His eyes rolled about, brimming with spirit. He rose and stretched luxuriously. This was Tong Jin, the boy who had swallowed the Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits and come here to refine their power.

“Awooo…”

Sensing that the internal energy within him had become denser and more abundant under the fruits’ influence, Tong Jin opened his throat and shouted toward the boundless sea of trees. His voice spread into the distance in rippling waves.

“These Earth-Spirit Immortal Fruits really are treasures. I didn’t manage to break through the final bottleneck, but I’m almost there. Heh, thanks to those few fruits, my internal energy has risen again.”

Tong Jin muttered to himself. Then, as though remembering something, his expression darkened.

“Hmph. Just wait. Soul Guard Pavilion, the day will come when I, Tong Jin, return…”

He shook his loose, drooping hair and glanced down at his somewhat tattered clothes. With an exasperated smile, he lightly stepped off the cliff. After a few flashes, he had leaped into the undergrowth and disappeared without a trace.