Hundreds of years ago, the Mortal Realm still had a Royal Capital, situated right next to Taiyin Immortal Mountain.

The most important place in the Royal Capital was called the Heaven-Querying Lodge, which enshrined The Twelve Immortals of Lingtai. It was responsible for divining heavenly secrets and maintained close ties with all the major prosperous Immortal Sects.

The Heaven-Querying Lodge was overseen by two great Lodge Emissaries, one of the left and one of the right. Yun Hai's father was one of them.

It was both a majestic and a dangerous post, one that drew both envy and jealousy. In good times, it brought unparalleled glory; in bad times, it led to the ruin of one's family.

The first time Yun Hai saw Hua Xin was in the guest residence of the Heaven-Querying Lodge.

He was still young at the time, pampered and spoiled. He treated the Heaven-Querying Lodge as a second family residence and often played in the courtyards and corridors of the guest residence.

That day, he was chasing a pine marten through a covered corridor and almost bumped headfirst into a visitor.

In his recklessness, a gust of wind materialized out of thin air to block him, and then a hand pressed against his forehead, stopping his forward momentum.

The people in charge of looking after him cried out, "Be careful!" and came running over in a flurry. They hurriedly picked him up, took a few steps back, and bowed their heads before the visitor, appearing restrained and fearful.

Only Yun Hai, ignorant and fearless, looked up curiously.

The Hua Xin of that day had the appearance of a mortal. The white deer from his portrait was not by his side, nor was he carrying his World-Illuminating Lamp. He wore a simple set of white clothes, his long hair casually tied up and secured with an unadorned wooden hairpin.

Although it was the most common attire seen on the streets of the Royal Capital, it was still enough to leave one staring in a daze.

By the time Yun Hai came to his senses, Hua Xin had already walked to the end of the corridor. He stepped into the guest hall, his white robes brushing past the high threshold, and disappeared from sight in a turn.

Yun Hai turned his head and looked up to ask his caretakers, "Who was that?"

They shushed him, carried him away from the guest hall, and only whispered once they were at the back of the courtyard, "That is the master's immortal friend."

At that time, Yun Hai knew very little, let alone the rules between immortals and mortals.

He only vaguely understood: one with vast supernatural powers was an immortal. One with a close private relationship was a friend.

He thought that "immortal friend" was such a person, but he later discovered that this person only appeared once every few years.

***

The second time Yun Hai saw Hua Xin was six years later.

The Royal Capital was in chaos and turmoil, and the Lodge Emissaries of the Heaven-Querying Lodge had long since been replaced. His father had been framed, which led to the deaths of most of the people in their manor. In an instant, the vast family estate was completely scattered.

He was still not old, yet he had become the son of a criminal, unable to use his original name. Following a group of refugees, he traveled south, stumbling his way to the Yuyang area.

At that time, Yuyang, fearing it would be affected by the chaos, had hastily sealed its city gates. The refugees had nowhere to go, so they had to take temporary shelter in the deserted temples of the mountains and wilds.

The midwinter that year was extremely cold, and most of the refugees did not survive a month. As a result, the deserted temples in the mountains and wilds were filled with corpses piled in threes and fives. The resentful energy was heavy, which in turn attracted many Evil Demons and Yin Creatures.

By the time the winter passed, there were few living people left in the mountains and wilds.

Yun Hai was one of them.

That day, he had snatched some food from the hands of a half-crippled Yin Creature. Dragging a leg that the creature had broken and clutching his scratched left eye, he hid in a cave.

He curled up behind a rock, wiped away the blood from beside his eye, and gripped the piece of meat of unknown origin, opening his mouth to tear at it. Suddenly, he caught sight of a lantern's light in the cold night of the mountain forest.

Yun Hai had long since developed a habit. Without waiting to see who or what it was, he scrambled up to hide.

But the lantern's light was too fast.

Before he could even dart a step away, the person carrying the lantern was already standing before him.

Yun Hai remembered that face. Although he had only seen it once, and although he shouldn't have been old enough to remember, he remembered it with perfect clarity. So much so that even after six years, he could still recognize it at a glance.

It was none other than the visitor from the Heaven-Querying Lodge all those years ago, his father's immortal friend.

Yun Hai still looked up at him, his posture no different from when he was a child.

It was just that back then, his eyes were wide with curiosity. Now, one of his eyes was blind, stained with half-dried blood, and his face was full of numbness.

He dragged his broken leg, kneeling behind the cold stone, and stared numbly at the person who had once been a stunning glimpse. He heard the other party speak, "Entrusted by another, I have come to get you."

That voice was very pleasant, passing through the cold night's fog, almost letting one hear a warm breeze.

Mortals were truly strange. He didn't cry when his family estate was scattered, didn't cry when he became a refugee and a beggar, didn't cry when he suffered from cold and hunger, and didn't cry when his leg was broken and his eye blinded…

But just from hearing someone say, "I have come to get you," his eyes turned red.

Yun Hai clutched the dead flesh in his hand, his expression blank, and looked at Hua Xin with red-rimmed eyes.

When the other person reached out a hand, he suddenly lashed out, grabbing the hand that had once pressed against his forehead and biting down.

He bit down extremely hard, instantly tasting blood.

In the taste of blood, he thought with release and resentment: 'Aren't you an immortal friend? If you're a friend, where were you when he was framed? Where were you when he lost his life? Where were you when my family was destroyed?!'

'Who entrusted you, and by what right can you come to get me?!'

He was clearly thinking this in his heart, yet the other person seemed to hear it all.

After a long moment, that pleasant voice sounded above his head, "Lingtai has its own Heavenly Rules. I cannot interfere in the affairs of the Mortal Realm."

The voice was gentle and pleasant, yet it held no deep emotion—no sorrow for a friend's death, no guilt for standing by, not even a hint of pity. It seemed as if he had a heart of stone.

But after a long while, Yun Hai realized: an immortal's powers were vast. He shouldn't have been able to bite his hand, let alone bite it so hard that blood gushed out.

The other person could have blocked it but didn't, simply letting him bite and vent his frustrations.

Understanding this, he finally, slowly, loosened his jaw.

Hua Xin didn't wipe the gash or the blood from his hand. Instead, he bent down to examine his injured eye and broken leg, saying, "Let's go. I'll take you back to get your injuries treated."

Yun Hai turned his head away from his hand and said hoarsely, "I can't walk."

But Hua Xin paid no mind to his resistance, instead saying with some surprise, "Your tongue is still there?"

Yun Hai: "..."

"I thought you wouldn't be able to speak either," Hua Xin said, raising a hand.

A white deer darted out from the forest behind them. He placed Yun Hai on the deer's back and led the deer down the mountain.

Perhaps fearing he would fall off, Yun Hai found he couldn't move once on the deer's back and could only lie there obediently. He heard Hua Xin ask, "How old are you?"

Yun Hai sneered in his heart: 'He doesn't even know this, and he still dares to call himself an "immortal friend".'

Hua Xin remained calm. "Time passes slowly in the Immortal Capital. I don't keep track of these things."

Yun Hai: "Eleven."

Hua Xin then asked, "What is your name?"

Yun Hai sneered in his heart again.

Hua Xin said, "You won't use your common name from now on. This generation takes the character 'Yun'. You shall be called... Yun Hai."

Yun Hai: "..."

Although it had been a long time since he'd mentioned his own name, and he was indeed close to forgetting it, he still felt sad hearing these words. But he couldn't move, so he could only close his eyes.

From then on, he was called Yun Hai.

***

Mortals could not ascend the thirty-three-story high tower of Taiyin Immortal Mountain, so naturally, they could not reach the Immortal Capital.

When Hua Xin said, "I'll take you back to get your injuries treated," he meant settling him in the Hua Family.

Others would call it "settling in," but in Yun Hai's eyes, it was being dumped at the Hua Family's.

At that time, the Hua Family was not yet on Peach Blossom Isle. They didn't have as many disciples as they would later, but they were still very prosperous.

Most Hua Family disciples entered the Dao through the sword, with a small portion cultivating medicine. No matter which path they chose, their daily lessons were packed.

Only Yun Hai had neither a sword of his own nor an alchemy formula to practice.

After his eye and leg healed, he was so restless with boredom that he would wander around the various halls of the Hua Family every day.

He had asked the Hua Family Head, and he had asked the elders of the various halls what he should practice. Or, when he could have his own sword.

But whether it was the Family Head or the elders, they would all praise him as a heaven-sent talent, a once-in-a-century genius with an excellent constitution, while at the same time making excuses that since he was the personal disciple of the Immortal Leader of Lingtai, Hua Xin, they couldn't overstep their bounds to teach him. That would be presumptuous. They had to wait for the Immortal Leader to teach him personally.

"Then he should come and teach me!" Yun Hai said.

The Family Head and the elders had no answer and could only laugh drily.

After this happened several times, Yun Hai stopped seeking out pointless trouble and never asked those questions again. Sometimes, when other disciples practiced their swordsmanship, he would watch from the side for a bit. He would also glance at their alchemy practice.

But more often, he would while away his time in the Book Pavilion.

The Book Pavilion housed a god statue and a portrait of Hua Xin. Sometimes he would grab a scroll and sit before that portrait for an entire day, half in a daze, half in resentment.

A young man's pride is high; he can't stand being ignored.

Besides, he really wanted to quickly learn something of substance…

He was inexplicably ground down like this for two years, to the point where he had almost no temper left. Only then did he see Hua Xin again.

Hua Xin seemed to have forgotten about his only disciple; his visit to the Hua Family that day was not to see him. But Yun Hai certainly wouldn't let the opportunity slip by. He grabbed Hua Xin before he could leave.

He first called out obediently, "Master," before asking, "All the disciples of the sect are cultivating, yet I alone do not fit in. Did Master regret bringing me back? If that's truly the case, Master can just say the word, and I will leave on my own."

He had been pampered as a child, carrying a bit of pride and arrogance. Later, having been a refugee and a beggar, he had become sharp and sensitive. He was still young at that time, and all that pride and sensitivity was written plainly on his face, impossible to hide.

Hua Xin hadn't originally intended to answer him, but after looking at his expression for a long time, he still offered an explanation: "Your constitution is indeed excellent, a rarity in this world. If you were to truly enter the Dao, ascending to immortality would be easier for you than for anyone else. There is no rush for a year or two."

Yun Hai asked, "How long is 'no rush for a year or two'?"

Hua Xin said, "Until you are suited to wield a sword."

Yun Hai pressed relentlessly, "Then why am I not suited for it now?"

Long after, Yun Hai would still remember the look in Hua Xin's eyes at that moment—calm, yet as if it could see through everything. He said, "Because you are still intent on killing all those who framed your father, intent on making them suffer endlessly and pay their blood debt in blood."

Yun Hai fell silent.

After a long while, he finally said, "Master is brilliant and wise, your insight like a torch. I am indeed thinking this way. But shouldn't I be? Does cultivation require me to cultivate until I have no love, no hate, no grudges, no resentments, so that I can calmly watch those people live to a ripe old age, just like you?"

Hua Xin didn't answer.

So Yun Hai continued to stare at him, staring until his own eyes turned red, just like when he was struggling to survive in the cave, clutching that piece of dead flesh.

Hua Xin finally spoke, "No one is asking you to be like me. It's just that cultivation is a long road, and the path you've found is too short."

Yun Hai: "How is it short?"

Hua Xin: "Killing someone is but a single sword strike. After you're done killing, what then? You'll have nothing left to support you."

'Then I'll think about it when I have no support left.'

Yun Hai said in his heart. But he only moved his lips, ultimately performing a salute and saying with downcast eyes, "This disciple understands. I… I will try."

In a way, he was indeed a heaven-sent talent. When he said he would try, he truly no longer showed any hint of his inner thoughts. He was no longer anxious for a sword, nor did he pay any more attention to alchemy formulas. He continued to immerse himself in the Book Pavilion, day after day.

He was ground down like this for another two years.

During those two years, Hua Xin visited the Hua Family three more times. All three times, Yun Hai was in the Book Pavilion and did not chase after his Master to demand an explanation.

By the time Hua Xin saw him again, he was like a completely different person from the boy who had clutched dead flesh in the cave.

In the words of the Hua Family Head and elders, Yun Hai had the most likable temperament among the Hua disciples. He could joke and fool around, got along well with everyone, and possessed an unhurried air that was very much in the style of an immortal.

Even though he was only sixteen.

Upon hearing this, Hua Xin tested him intermittently for another year.

And so, in his seventeenth year, Yun Hai got his own sword.

***

Once, before the world had forgotten, Yun Hai was described thusly—

He was a heaven-sent talent, a once-in-a-century genius. He received his sword at seventeen, and after eight years of diligent cultivation, he attained a fortuitous opportunity that many would never encounter in their entire lives, ascending to become an immortal in a single day. The deep bond between him and his master, Hua Xin, and their shared standing in the Immortal Capital became a much-told tale.

Because he was so exceptionally young, the day Yun Hai ascended to the Immortal Capital became a celebrated story often recounted by the other immortals. But for Yun Hai himself, the clearest memory of that day was not how he reached the summit of the Taiyin Immortal Pagoda, nor how he entered the Immortal Capital…

But rather, the two people he saw.