Chapter 1: The Hundred Lives Book

The Demon Sect, the Initial Saint Sect.

Layer upon layer of cloud seas, waves surging like fury; peaks of myriad scenes stood like islands in the cloud sea, scattered like stars, resembling chess pieces on a board.

At the very outer edge of the board, a peak stood noticeably shorter than the others, as if its summit had been sliced off by some force, leaving only a flat expanse; on this flat summit, flying boats rose and fell, and the newly admitted provisional disciples now stood in a single line.

Lu Yang was one of them.

He had just transmigrated; the moment he opened his eyes, he appeared here, and the lingering memories within his body told him his current situation seemed far from good.

According to the original owner's memories, under the rule of the Initial Saint Sect lay a kingdom named "Chen."

Every three years, the Kingdom of Chen would send a batch of provisional disciples to the Initial Saint Sect, and in return, the Initial Saint Sect guaranteed the kingdom favorable weather and the royal house as stable as Mount Taishan.

At first hearing, this sounded like an immense opportunity to join an immortal sect and thereby achieve eternal life.

Yet in reality, not a single high official or noble of the Kingdom of Chen was willing to come; only commoners like Lu Yang were sent over as "blood offerings."

After all, every three years, tens of thousands of provisional disciples were sent into the Initial Saint Sect, yet the number of formal disciples of the Initial Saint Sect had never shown any obvious growth; only the provisional disciples vanished one after another without a trace, as if they had gone not to some sacred cultivation land, but to an bottomless abyss.

Just thinking about it was enough to make one shiver with dread.

"No wonder I'm so weak; feels like my body has been completely drained."

Lu Yang pinched his arm; it was all soft flesh, not a single hard spot, making him feel even worse; just as he tried to rise, a pain surged through his chest.

"The original owner seems to still be sick; this illness is—damn it!"

Lu Yang cursed a few more times; this was no longer a matter of weakness; he was completely at death's door, with only a few days left to live.

Just as Lu Yang, utterly despairing, felt he would speed-run his life right after transmigrating.

Suddenly, a tiny point of light appeared before his eyes, then swelled violently in the wind, transforming at a speed visible to the naked eye into a screen!

【Name: Lu Yang】

【Lifespan: 18】

【Cultivation: None】

【Talent: None】

【Cultivation Method: None】

【Divine Abilities: None】

【Treasures: None】

At this moment, Lu Yang looked at the system interface before him and suddenly felt like crying; did one not hear that heaven never cuts off all paths? As long as I wish to walk, the path lies beneath my feet!

System, give me points!

Then, Lu Yang was dumbfounded.

Because he searched left and right, scrolled up and down, yet could not find the plus sign he longed for in the skills section; not even a minus sign was there.

"Hey, System, where are my points?"

After searching for a long time, Lu Yang had to despairingly admit a fact: the personal panel before his eyes seemed to have no function for adding points.

In other words, to improve, he would have to rely on his own efforts.

Lu Yang: "..."

Damn it! Before I awakened the system, you wanted me to work hard; now that I've awakened the system, you still want me to work hard; then wasn't my awakening of the system in vain?

System, your mother is dead—

【Current Remaining Pages of the Hundred Lives Book: 100】

【Hundred Lives Book: After death, return to the initial timeline and start a new life.】

【After restarting, you may choose one from the treasures, cultivation, or lifespan of your past life, or abandon all gains from the past life to awaken a talent.】

Dad, it's okay.

Lu Yang suddenly grew excited; hundred-lives reincarnation, what an immense treasure! As long as he used it properly, it could completely help him soar to the heavens!

"Those whose names are called, come before me."

Just then, a black-robed Taoist with a grim expression, holding a register in his hands and with a candlestick floating beside him, appeared before everyone.

"Drop your blood into the Life Lamp beside me, ignite the Life Flame, and from now on you shall be the provisional disciples of my Initial Saint Sect."

Upon hearing these words, no one present showed any joy.

For those who could be sent here had mostly heard of the Initial Saint Sect's notorious reputation and knew that this so-called provisional disciple status was a calamity, not a blessing.

However, the black-robed Taoist paid no heed to everyone's thoughts and simply called out names one by one.

"Chen Liang."

"Here!"

When the black-robed Taoist called out a name, a small Taoist boy with red lips and white teeth beside Lu Yang stood up and hopped over to the Taoist.

This small Taoist boy was extremely handsome; his bright, large eyes seemed to speak; most importantly, between his brows was a spiritual aura that even ordinary people could perceive; moreover, from his expression and posture, he was intelligent and precocious, and in the mortal world, he would surely be a scholarly seedling fought over by all major academies.

As expected, the black-robed Taoist, seeing this, also showed an expression of astonishment:

"What a naturally spiritual child!"

"Taoist brother, you flatter me." The small Taoist boy bowed respectfully; combined with his tender childlike voice, it made people involuntarily feel fondness.

The black-robed Taoist immediately laughed even more heartily.

"Excellent, excellent; my Initial Saint Sect needs talents like you!"

As the words fell, the black-robed Taoist took his brush and lightly struck the register, crossing out the name 【Chen Liang】.

Thud!

The next second, without any warning, the small Taoist boy, who had been full of spiritual aura just moments before, suddenly rolled his eyes upward, collapsed to the ground, and fell completely silent.

After doing all this, the black-robed Taoist casually ordered:

"Send the blood and flesh to the Alchemy Hall, the bones and soul to the Treasure Refining Hall, and the five viscera and six entrails to the Beast Taming Hall; do not let such an excellent talent go to waste."

With just a few words, he left the assembled provisional disciples staring in stunned silence.

The black-robed Taoist let out a cackling laugh upon seeing this: "Do not misunderstand, fellow junior disciples."

"The Holy Sect has always valued 'worth'; therefore, whether a disciple is excellent depends solely on whether he can create sufficient value for the Holy Sect."

"That junior disciple just now was a Heaven-born Spirit Child with strong bones and sinews; only after his death could he create the greatest value for the Holy Sect, which is why he died."

"As for you fellow junior disciples, your aptitude is mediocre; you can create value for the Holy Sect only while alive, so naturally there is no need to worry about such things."

"Next."

The black-robed Taoist continued calling names; the crowd below wore expressions of terror yet had to comply, fearing they would follow the path of the little Daoist boy and have their lives crossed out as well.

"Lu Yang."

"Here."

Lu Yang responded and stepped forward, his expression respectful.

The black-robed Taoist's gaze immediately fell upon Lu Yang's delicate and handsome face; first he showed joy, then he proceeded to examine his bones and sinews.

However, very quickly, he shook his head in disappointment.

Obviously, in his view, apart from being handsome, Lu Yang was good for nothing.

"Go to the Harmony Hall."

Lu Yang dared not ask more and hurriedly said, "Yes."

After the distribution ended, Lu Yang received a jade tablet; the tablet was almost transparent, his name was carved upon it, and inside it seemed to seal a wisp of flame.

Besides that, he was also assigned a cultivation method.

The cultivation method was named the "Yin-Yang Great Joy Art," precisely the method of the Harmony Hall to which Lu Yang was assigned; it was said to allow one to cultivate True Qi and enter the Qi Refining Realm.

The old servant in charge of guiding led the way while casually saying, "What is inside the life tablet is your life flame; remember to carry it with you at all times. The Holy Sect's formations, spiritual plants, and spiritual beasts recognize the tablet, not the person. If you forget to bring it when you go out one day and die within the Holy Sect, do not blame me for not having said so."

In a short while, the group was brought before a palace hall.

Before the palace hall stood a plump beauty in a long skirt, the hem slit up to the roots of her thighs; as she glanced about, she exuded vibrant charm and a thousand delicate graces.

"Gulp."

Lu Yang clearly heard the sound of someone swallowing saliva beside him.

Seeing everyone looking, the beauty was not shy at all; instead, she covered her mouth with a light laugh while her delicate hand lightly lifted the side of her skirt at her waist.

Beneath the skirt hem, a jade tablet hung conspicuously, swaying back and forth amidst a mass of white, soft flesh.

The name on the tablet: Yu Suzhen.

"This place is the Harmony Hall. I, Yu Suzhen, am also your senior sister."

The next second, Lu Yang discovered that the beauty named Yu Suzhen's eyes brightened slightly; her gaze fell upon him, fixed and direct, with no attempt at concealment.

"This junior disciple is so handsome; he must be a disciple of my Harmony Hall."

Yu Suzhen let out a light laugh, then swayed her water-snake waist, her skirt hem crossing over, and walked step by step toward Lu Yang, the white flesh swaying so much it made Lu Yang dizzy.

"I see you look quite good; come with me, and I will introduce the situation of the Harmony Hall to you."

Lu Yang hurriedly clasped his hands: "Thank you, Senior Sister Yu."

"Why be so polite?"

Yu Suzhen cast a coquettish glance at Lu Yang, then turned around, twisting her snake waist, her plump buttocks swaying left and right, making the hearts of those around burn intensely.

Lu Yang dared not look much longer and silently followed.

"Disciples of our Holy Sect are divided into inner and outer; the four outer halls—Treasure Refining, Pill Refining, Beast Taming, and Harmony Hall—are the destinations for you registered disciples."

"Only by passing the trials of the four outer halls can one enter the inner sect, receive true transmission, and become a formal disciple."

"You are lucky to have entered my Harmony Hall; you need not suffer hardships like the other three halls, after all, the trials of my Harmony Hall are much easier."

Speaking to this point, Yu Suzhen suddenly leaned close to Lu Yang's side.

"Do you want to know what it is?"

The next second, Lu Yang felt a mouthful of hot breath spray onto the back of his ear, and his nose was filled with fragrance; he turned his head to look, and a delicate, pretty face was right before his eyes.

"Please instruct me, Senior Sister," Lu Yang said, raising his head.

"That is dual cultivation."

A sweet, delicate voice whispered in his ear, like a lover speaking in low tones; before the words had fully left her lips, a slender jade hand had already rested upon Lu Yang's head.

Just a gentle grasp~

Lu Yang immediately drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

(End of this chapter)