They resumed their journey, now moving with greater caution. By midday, they had left the forest behind and begun the steep ascent up Malling Mountain proper. Despite channeling Qi through his meridians to reinforce his strength, Lin Tian found the heavy pack growing more burdensome as the air thinned. Sweat poured down his face as he forced his legs to continue up the punishing incline.

  "We're almost there," Elder Jin called back, his own breathing perfectly controlled despite the climb. "The cave entrance should be visible after the next ridge."

  Lin Tian gritted his teeth and pushed forward, drawing on reserves of will that had once helped him navigate the deadly intrigue of an imperial court. This is nothing, he told himself. This is merely physical. I've endured worse.

  When they finally crested the ridge, Lin Tian nearly forgot his exhaustion. The cave mouth opened onto a plateau that offered a breathtaking view of the mountains beyond. Mist curled around distant peaks that seemed to pierce the heavens themselves, while ethereal lights danced across the valley below. But what truly caught his attention was the cave itself—its entrance adorned with intricate carvings that seemed to shift and change when viewed from different angles, glowing with a soft inner light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" Elder Jin said softly. "And dangerous. The energy here is... potent. Over the next six months, it will either transform you or break you."

  Lin Tian felt a strange resonance within his dantian, as if his core was responding to the cave's pulsing energy. He set down his burden with a grateful sigh and straightened, studying the glowing cave entrance with new appreciation and apprehension.

  "The Qi density within is approximately ten times that of the outside world," Elder Jin explained. "One day inside equals ten outside. But that's not all. The cave's unique properties make it especially suited for breakthroughs in certain types of cultivation—particularly those related to the understanding and development of one's inner world."

  "Inner world?" Lin Tian had heard the term in ancient texts but had never found a clear explanation.

  "An inner world is a personal domain that cultivators begin to develop at Peak realm," Elder Jin explained. "It reflects their essence, their understanding of the Dao, and their journey."

  "So that's the goal of this training? For me to reach Peak realm?" Lin Tian asked incredulously.

  "Within six months," Elder Jin confirmed.

  Lin Tian stared at him in disbelief. "Six months? Even with the cave's enhancement, that's—"

  "Challenging but not impossible," Elder Jin cut him off. "Especially with your apparent affinity for Qi manipulation. The purple resonance from the stone is proof enough of your potential, even if the Patriarch remains skeptical."

  As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the plateau, Elder Jin motioned Lin Tian toward the cave entrance. "Come. It's time to begin your real training."

  Lin Tian stepped forward, feeling the cave's energy wash over him like a physical sensation—a tingling that ran through his meridians and settled in his core.

  "Elder Jin," he said, pausing at the threshold. "You still haven't explained what you meant by 'enlightenment' and thinking 'outside.'"

  Elder Jin studied him for a long moment before answering. "To think 'outside' means to reject 'reality' as most perceive it. Those who reach enlightenment will become immortal cultivators because they've learned to reject the very reality outside of them and cultivate the inner world to create a new reality. That's precisely why your contribution is so significant."

  Lin Tian frowned. "So my knowledge and application of cultivation principles...?"

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  "Shows that you're naturally inclined to see beyond established patterns," Elder Jin nodded. "Once a person learns to 'reject' reality, or rather find new ways to shape it, they'll become enlightened. Enlightenment is a four-step process, and the clan—even the Patriarch, though he doesn't show it—sees that you may be going down that path."

  I see. That bastard Elder Zhou really put me in a bad position, Lin Tian thought to himself, barely managing to keep his expression neutral. Now every guy thinks I've been enlightened or I'm some special person. I'm gonna be the Lin Clan poster boy at this rate, God damn it! All I did was apply some basic magic theory from my previous life, and these cultivation-obsessed lunatics think I've achieved cosmic awareness.

  "Four steps?" Lin Tian asked aloud, keeping his voice appropriately intrigued while internally rolling his eyes.

  "The first step toward becoming an immortal cultivator is 'Rejection,'" Elder Jin explained. "It is to reject the fundamental reality around you. This rejection is the key to creating your 'inner world.' The second step is 'Thesis'—thinking and fundamentalizing your inner world, or rather what your 'thesis' of a perfect world or the world you perceive and want is."

  Lin Tian listened intently, absorbing this revolutionary understanding of cultivation while internally thinking, Great, so I've accidentally stumbled into step one. Wonder what they'd say if they knew I'm just Edward from Latvaria wearing Lin Tian's body like a suit. Talk about rejecting reality—I literally got yanked into another world!

  "The third step is 'Creation'—creating and finally forming your inner world," Elder Jin continued. "And the last step is 'Application'—bringing your inner world outside, imposing it upon reality itself."

  "So I'm not related to any ancient legacy or higher power?" Lin Tian asked.

  "No," Elder Jin said firmly. "Your breakthrough is revolutionary because it came from you—from thinking differently about cultivation itself. The clan wants to understand how you developed it and if it can be replicated. That's why you're here."

  Of course that's why I'm here, Lin Tian thought. Just another lab rat for the clan elders to poke and prod at.

  Lin Tian nodded, relieved yet somehow also disappointed. He had escaped imperial politics in his previous life only to find himself at the center of clan politics in this one.

  "One cannot become an immortal cultivator without enlightenment," Elder Jin added, "which could happen at any stage. Now you realize why your case is such a big deal. Once could be a true cultivation prodigy reaching nascent soul stage within a hundred years—truly a monster cultivator—but he can't be an immortal cultivator that breaks through from mortal limitations if you cannot 'see' the world for what it is or think 'outside.'"

  "What is the 'outside'?" Lin Tian asked, looking up at the darkening sky.

  Elder Jin's gaze followed his. "There is a common theory that this whole space we exist in is itself a cultivator's 'inner world'—perhaps applied externally, or perhaps we truly are within a greater being's inner world. It is said that gods or immortal cultivators are those who truly understand the reality beyond this one, and that's why they try so hard to reach the highest realm of reality where 'THEY' reside."

  "Who are 'THEY'?" Lin Tian asked.

  "That, I do not know," Elder Jin admitted. "But the goal of every cultivator and god in this world is to enter the top of this world and ask THEM what this reality truly is."

  Lin Tian frowned. "Not even a bit of this was taught in the Celestial Dragon Sect. There have been mentions of people with divinity, but no names and nothing like what you're describing."

  "Of course not," Elder Jin smiled. "Names are power, and those who benefit from names are gods—it's their strongest form of worship. The mortal realm gives them strength through belief and recognition."

  Lin Tian absorbed this in silence for a moment, his mind racing with implications.

  "But that is a conversation for tomorrow," Elder Jin continued. "For now, we establish our base camp and begin acclimating you to the cave's energy."

  As they entered the Sacred Spirit Cave together, Lin Tian couldn't shake the feeling that he was crossing more than just a physical threshold. His previous life as an imperial official had taught him to recognize when he was being maneuvered into position like a piece on a game board.

  Whatever game is being played, he thought with the cold calculation that had served him well in his previous life, I need to be very careful about my next moves. First thing tomorrow, I'm figuring out how to downplay this "enlightenment" nonsense before they expect me to start walking on water or breathing fire.

  Behind them, the cave's entrance pulsed once, brilliantly, as if in agreement—or warning.