Walking through a long Profound Corridor, you arrive at the bamboo grove where the disciples of Enlightenment Peak practice their breathing exercises every morning.
Mist swirls gently, the sound of mountain springs echoes in the distance, and bamboo branches sway with the breeze, intertwining like dancing maidens.
[You feel moved by the scenery, your Qi and Blood smooth out, and your life value is gradually recovering]
"This is truly a place where Immortals reside." Fan Wubing shook off the gloom in his heart.
The Yushan Daoist called softly toward the bamboo groove,
"Ming'Er, come out to greet your junior brother."
Fan Wubing was somewhat expectant, wondering what this senior sister, with whom he would spend his days and nights in the future, was like. After all these years, his expectations were already low, as long as she was a normal person—
He hadn't even finished thinking when a gale suddenly swept over, and a huge head resembling a dragon appeared before him, eyes glaring with ferocity, looking at him with drooling anticipation.
[You've been greatly shocked, your Qi and Blood are in turmoil, life value -0.4, current life value 3.6/4 points]
With a total of 4 life value points, suddenly decreasing at a rate of 0.4 per second, within a blink, Fan Wubing's lips lost all color, and his face turned pale.
The Yushan Daoist, seeing this, patted him on the head, and a warm current flowed from his head throughout his body,
[You've been comforted by an Immortal, your Qi and Blood smooth out, and your life value is recovering]
[Life value +0.2]
"Alright, Ming'Er, stop messing around. Your little junior is naturally weak, don't scare him."
Fan Wubing finally came to his senses and was taken aback,
"Could my senior sister be this big black snake!"
The dragon-like figure twitched, transformed, and then a voice was heard,
"Big black snake?"
Amidst the mist, a young woman emerged. She wore a dark robe and skirt, her long hair cascading down her back, her steps swift yet gentle. She approached Fan Wubing, flicked her fingers against his forehead,
"Little one, your senior sister is a dragon, a dragon!"
[You've been attacked, life value -3, current life value 1/4 point]
Blood spurted from Fan Wubing's nose, eyes, ears, and mouth.
Fu Ming, in shock, exclaimed,
"I didn't even use my strength!"
She hastily infused Immortal energy to heal Fan Wubing. By the time the bleeding stopped, she was sweating profusely, lamenting,
"Master, why didn't you mention this earlier."
The Yushan Daoist chuckled,
"I did say your junior is naturally weak."
"Who would have thought he's like a porcelain doll." Afraid these words would hurt Fan Wubing's self-esteem, Fu Ming quickly comforted him, forcing a smile, "Junior brother, don't be afraid. Follow your senior sister diligently in cultivation, and you'll definitely become invincible in the future."
This senior sister was indeed beautiful. Especially her eyes, where coldness and gentleness intertwined, like a cold pond, yet like a warm spring.
Fan Wubing had an impression of her; she was the main antagonist in a side story of "The Endless Immortal Journey". In the story, she was bloodthirsty, wreaking havoc, eventually being vanquished by righteous sects united.
He scrutinized Fu Ming up and down, left and right, front and back, thinking, how did such a nice person become so bloodthirsty, turning into a Great Demon?
"The Endless Immortal Journey" is, after all, limited in its game content.
Fu Ming, feeling a bit uneasy under the scrutiny, awkwardly asked,
"Junior brother, are you dissatisfied with your senior sister in any way?"
Only then did Fan Wubing realize he had become a bit too relaxed and immediately smiled,
"No. Senior sister is wonderful, beautiful, and kind-hearted, gentle, and considerate."
Gentle and considerate…
Hearing this, Fu Ming was momentarily stunned, while the Yushan Daoist couldn't help but chuckle.
The Yushan Daoist waved his sleeve and left,
"Ming'Er, take Wubing on a tour around this Enlightenment Peak. I, as your teacher, have other matters to attend to."
On the way, Fan Wubing asked,
"Senior sister, why are there only you and Master left on Enlightenment Peak?"
"That's a very uninteresting story… You'll understand gradually in the future."
…
Enlightenment Peak is vast and beautiful but very vacant. The various Immortal Towers and palaces are now mostly covered in dust and overgrown with weeds due to lack of occupancy and maintenance. But oddly enough, not even a stray cat or dog, let alone an insect or bird, could be seen along the way.
Since many places were desolate, the things to explore were limited, and soon enough, they had finished touring.
Senior sister Fu Ming, as if not having seen a living person for eight hundred years, was especially enthusiastic with Fan Wubing, even suggesting at one point that he should share a room, on the same bed with her.
Though Fan Wubing wasn't exactly an upright gentleman internally, he was still more concerned about his own life. Who knows, this senior sister might roll over in her sleep and squish him to death.
In the end, he picked a room next to Fu Ming's to settle down.
Fu Ming was eager to show her gentle and considerate side as a senior sister, planning to make Fan Wubing's bed and clean his room.
Then, Fan Wubing understood why Master Yushan Daoist couldn't help but chuckle when he said senior sister was gentle and considerate.
If he were to rate Fu Ming's appearance, Fan Wubing, with a bit of selfishness, would give her full marks. But if it were for her feminine grace, even against his conscience, he had to give her zero.
Fan Wubing watched as Fu Ming struggled to smooth out the wrinkles on the bed sheet, ultimately getting into an argument with it. Had he not stepped in to mediate, it might have escalated into a fight.
After this, he realized that his senior sister wasn't quite normal, lovely when still, but... better keep a distance from her most of the time.
Having embarrassed herself in front of her junior, Fu Ming couldn't stay any longer. After leaving a meeting gift, she hurriedly fled.
The meeting gift was a piece of jade stone, shrouded in unfading mist.
There was no response prompt upon contact, indicating it wasn't an item from "The Immortal Path".
However, upon contact, Fan Wubing felt as if he had fallen into a dream.
In the dream, immortals were battling, each move tearing mountains and rivers apart; mighty ones undergoing tribulations, enduring the thundering skies with their flesh and blood; immortal beasts descending, roaring to the heavens, making all the demons bow; a saint monk chanting sutras, each word a drop of pearl, lotus blooming with each step; a swordsman soaring, a sword opening the Celestial Gate...
Seeing such scenes, others would certainly fantasize endlessly about the grand path to the heavens.
But when Fan Wubing saw these scenes, all he thought was, "Whoa! Holy crap! No way!"
The grand spectacle frightened him into checking his Blood Bar, which calmed his restless heart immediately.
Indeed, as a player, naturally, he had a Blood Bar. But previously, with his health points too low, the Blood Bar was invisible. Now he could barely see it, roughly as thin as a strand of hair.
With a hair-thin Blood Bar, let alone seeing dragon ladies in the mist or opening celestial gates with one sword, even a stray cat by the roadside could kill him single-handedly.
He gritted his teeth and decided not to leave the mountain until his Blood Bar overflowed the attribute panel!
...
At night, all was quiet.
Fan Wubing, alone, sneaked out of the room. He hadn't forgotten his main purpose for joining Enlightenment Peak.
Following the map in his memory, he set off.
Due to desolation, the map's details had discrepancies, but overall it was still recognizable.
Even though he was extremely cautious, he still fell several times due to weakness. He almost died from the fall.
By the time he reached his destination, his 4 health points were down to 1.2.
But upon seeing the scenery before him,
[You gaze upon this scene, filled with awe, health points slowly recover]
[+0.1]
[+0.1]
The sky tonight was free of clouds, a bright moon hung high, stars scattered across the sky, and the Milky Way fell like a waterfall. All the brilliance converged at Enlightenment Peak, returning to this Little Moonfall, making the place dreamlike. In the center of the moonlit waterfall, a stone stele stood quietly. The engraving read just two words,
"Enlightenment."
Fan Wubing cautiously waded through the water.
At night, the water was bone-chilling.
[You suffer from the cold, health points -0.2]
The health restoration effect from waterfall viewing barely offset the health loss from the cold.
Fan Wubing was extremely careful, afraid of falling. One fall might drown him in knee-deep water.
"Whew—"
He kept taking deep breaths, calming his mind, not daring to be careless.
Finally, he reached the small depression where the stele was located.
Then, without much hesitation, he sat down cross-legged and began meditating.
The moonlight draped over his shoulders, gradually, a sense of enlightenment began to envelop him.
Half an hour later,
[Moon above, stele within waterfall]
[Witnessing this wonder, your heart feels blessed, health limit +0.1]
"It really works!"
Fan Wubing was in high spirits, thinking joining Enlightenment Peak was indeed a wise decision!
Sitting here in front of the Enlightenment Stele in Little Moonfall for half an hour, which is one hour, could increase his life limit by 0.1! It was something he discovered by accident while playing "The Immortal Path".
But the 0.1 increase in health limit was too little, even for a player, requiring staying still for a whole hour while idling, and only once a day.
It's not even comparable to a mosquito's leg; even in a year, it's only 36.5 points, just a small Easter egg.
But for the current Fan Wubing, it was a great help.
"A mosquito leg is still better than nothing," he thought.
Of course, he knew about those high-tier healing items, but the key was, did he have the ability to get them now?