1: Chapter 1 Uli

Wanhui Mountain.

Desolate Ridge.

A wisp of green smoke drifted by, carrying an indistinct, heavy resonance, like a sigh squeezed out from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds.

"The Heavens and Earth have their limits; Lifespan has its end."

"I, Wu Li... born in the Age of Dharma Decline, attained the Dao at nine years old. A genius of heaven-defying talent, in thirty years of time, I was both righteous and evil. I viewed the common people as straw dogs, yet viewed the lives of ants as true gold, and finally obtained the method of transcendence at the Kunlun veins..."

"But this Heavenly Dao... why will it not tolerate me?"

"How... unwilling!"

The green smoke left no trace, drifting erratically.

As if drawn by some unseen force, it wandered over Desolate Ridge for a long time, finally descending slowly.

That was an old tree that had been dead for who knows how many years; its trunk was hollow, its bark cracked, as if it had been emptied of all vitality by the passage of time.

Dead branches crisscrossed, and perched upon them was a slightly large old crow.

That old crow was truly old.

Its feathers were gray and withered, lacking any luster, as if struck by frost.

On its left wing was a hideous claw mark, extending from the wing root to the wingtip, dripping with blood, causing its body to tremble incessantly; every breath seemed to exhaust all its strength.

"Caw, caw~"

The old crow let out two unwilling caws, its turbid eyes staring fixedly at a spot not far away.

There.

Two crimson fruits were emitting a faint spiritual halo.

A fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit.

For any Yao Beast, this was a treasure capable of extending life and facilitating a Breakthrough; this was something the old crow had risked its life to snatch.

The old crow lay in its nest, its beak slightly open, emitting a weak and hoarse cry.

Even though it was right before its eyes, the injury on its left wing left it without the strength to even flap its wings, or even move.

It just lay there, looking at the two Vermilion Fruits.

It looked for a very long time.

Long enough that its breathing became weaker and weaker, long enough that its consciousness began to blur, long enough that those turbid eyes gradually lost their last glimmer of light.

A gust of wind blew by.

The old crow's gaze began to lose focus, glazing over... it died.

Desolate Ridge returned to deathly silence.

Then, a gentle breeze blew by.

"Caw, caw~"

"Caw, caw, caw~~"

Under the dim yellow clouds, other crows of Desolate Ridge began to circle... gathering one after another around the old crow's nest, each of them staring indistinctly at the old crow's corpse...

The wind blew through the dead branches.

Finally, that wisp of green smoke circled a few times above the old crow's corpse.

Then, as if having found a home, it slowly descended.

The green smoke merged into the old crow's body.

In the nest, that crow corpse which had already lost its vitality suddenly trembled.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

The old crow suddenly opened its eyes, its deep black pupils faintly gleaming with a cold, fierce red light.

The old crow kept its eyes open, not moving.

In those eyes, the cold, fierce red light gradually faded, replaced by a sense of bewilderment.

"What is this..."

It stared at the gray sky above, at the branches of the dead old tree stretching toward the sky, and stared for a long time at the two Vermilion Fruits on the branch, so red they were blinding.

Its consciousness also felt like it was submerged in deep water, floating upward bit by bit.

Memories of the past life, the struggles of the Age of Dharma Decline, the failure at the Peak of Kunlun, the despair when the Soul dissipated—those images tumbled in its mind like fragments, yet it was as if they were separated by a layer of thick fog, making them unclear.

Then Wu Li felt it; he felt his own body.

Although this was not a human body...

Wu Li tried to move his left wing, and a piercing pain instantly dragged him out of the Chaos.

"Hiss~"

Wu Li let out a low, hoarse screech.

Pain.

It really hurt.

But pain was a good thing; pain meant being alive.

"Have I... experienced a Rebirth?"

"And reborn as a... crow?"

An old crow, an old crow that had died once before.

As time passed, Wu Li's memories began to clear.

The remaining consciousness of this old crow was being digested by him bit by bit.

After a long while, Wu Li finally understood the current situation completely.

This was Wanhui Mountain, a world truly filled with strange powers and supernatural Chaos, a world... that truly possessed a path to longevity!

Upon receiving this information, Wu Li laughed.

"Caw, caw, caw!!!"

Amidst his loud laughter, he emitted a hideous cawing sound; the voice was coarse and unpleasant, which amused Wu Li, making him laugh at himself again.

"Caw, caw~"

Wu Li was amused, and he laughed again... emitting that unpleasant cawing sound once more...

The cawing sound amused Wu Li again, and he laughed again, resulting in another burst of cawing...

After several cycles, Wu Li finally stopped smiling.

"The Heavens will not destroy me, Wu Li!"

"Whether it be Yao or Human, as long as I can attain longevity... I, Wu Li, do not care!"

Wu Li quickly accepted his identity.

In his memories, this Wu Li was a Yao Beast of Desolate Ridge.

With cultivation at the Qi Ling Realm, according to the characteristics of the Yao Race, this stage was just having left the range of wild beasts, opening one's spiritual wisdom, initially mastering Demon Power, instinctively absorbing Qi, with the intelligence of a child.

Yao Race with a Bloodline could become more intelligent at this step, and could even begin to Cultivate through their Bloodline Power.

And this old crow had fairly good luck.

Possessing a thin Mysterious Crow Bloodline, after opening its spiritual wisdom, it relied on instinctive absorption of Qi, and coupled with the spiritual fruits growing in this mountain range as food, it had accumulated its cultivation to the Peak of the Qi Ling Realm over thirty years, just a step away from entering the Tier 1 Demonic Beast stage.

This Realm also corresponded to the Human Race's Qi Refining Realm.

Unfortunately... its fate was extremely similar to Wu Li's.

"Indeed, just a step away..."

Wu Li murmured, finally looking at the two crimson Vermilion Fruits.

This thing was something the old crow had risked its life to snatch from an Old Fox Demon; two fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruits—as long as it ate and refined them, it could break through its shackles and become a Tier 1 Demonic Beast.

It had intended to bring them back to the nest to consume and Breakthrough in peace, but upon returning, the old crow, which was already at the end of its life, combined with the injuries on its body, simply kicked the bucket.

Afterward, Wu Li came and took over this old crow's body.

After clarifying the situation, Wu Li's brain began to run at high speed.

"I still need to quickly escape this predicament."

The reason for this old crow's death was firstly because its injuries were too severe, and secondly because it had reached the end of its life; it did not know how many years it had lived before gaining intelligence, and it had lived another thirty years after that—this was already the limit for a Essence Spirit.

"Since that is the case..."

"I, Wu Li, shall enjoy this Opportunity of yours on your behalf."

A fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit containing Spiritual Qi; in the Age of Dharma Decline, Wu Li couldn't find a single one even after searching the entire Kunlun Mountains.

"Crunch~"

Wu Li swallowed it in one bite, and the juice burst forth.

Afterward, rich Spiritual Qi dispersed; it felt as if Wu Li had swallowed a ball of fire, burning all the way from his throat to his stomach, and then rushing from his stomach to his limbs and bones.

Wu Li's body suddenly stiffened, his feathers flared out, and a faint layer of black halo reappeared on his withered wings.

"Such pure Spiritual Qi..."

Wu Li's pupils contracted slightly; the impact of the Spiritual Qi was much more violent than he had expected.

But this old crow's body was too weak, so weak that it could barely withstand the Spiritual Qi of even one fifty-year-old Vermilion Fruit.

"Hum~"

The Spiritual Qi rampaged, and Wu Li gritted his teeth, holding on with all his might.

The Vermilion Fruit's Spiritual Qi was reshaping this broken body, crushing those aged, dying cells bit by bit, and then reweaving them with spiritual power.