The Great Xuan Dynasty, vast in territory and with a population numbering in the billions, was a place where everyone yearned for the Immortal Dao, to become an immortal and achieve eternal life.

In the eastern part of the Great Xuan Dynasty, near the Dragon-seeking Mountain Range, the trend of cultivating immortality was even more prevalent.

The sects of the Immortal Dao within the Dragon-seeking Mountain Range imparted some basic Body Forging Techniques and Breathing Techniques to the major families, thus the likelihood of awakening a Spiritual Root among the children of these families was far higher than that of ordinary children.

The Lin Family, a prominent clan in East Face County.

In the family’s martial training ground, dozens of children around ten years old sat cross-legged in neat rows. There were both boys and girls, all with their eyes closed, their five hearts facing the sky, and their breathing even.

These were all children of the Lin Family, usually served by a large number of servants, still at an age where they were playful and mischievous, yet none dared to make a sound here.

The entire world seemed to be filled only with the sound of their even breathing.

A middle-aged man with a tiger-like back and a bear-like waist, standing eight feet tall, stood in front of all the children. His gaze was like lightning, sternly sweeping over each child present.

This was the instructor teaching the Breathing Technique in the Lin Family.

"Maintain your breathing rhythm!

Remember, inhaling Clear Qi and exhaling Turbid Qi is the key to the Breathing Technique!

Clear Qi contains Spiritual Qi. When Spiritual Qi enters your body, it will cleanse your limbs and bones, strengthen your flesh, and nurture your Divine Soul and Dantian, allowing your Spiritual Root to awaken sooner!

If you do not awaken your Spiritual Root before the age of fourteen, taking this most crucial step, it means you will have no fate with the path to immortality in this lifetime!

Immortals and mortals are forever separated, like heaven and earth!"

Although the instructor's voice was not loud, it felt like a great bell, deeply resonating and shaking the heart.

In the distance, a handsome young boy of about thirteen or fourteen, wearing a simple gray ring, knelt on the ground, scrubbing the spotless floor with a cloth, his eyes shining as he watched the scene.

Inhale... Exhale...

His breathing frequency seemed to be completely in sync with those children!

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A servant with a face full of pockmarks gently nudged his arm and whispered, "Alaric Ye, are you out of your mind? Not long ago, a servant who secretly learned martial arts was caught by the instructor and had his eyes gouged out on the spot!

Once a slave, always a slave. Only the young masters and ladies can cultivate. Those who overstep will face endless suffering!"

The boy named Alaric Ye smiled, then nodded and began to scrub the floor quickly, but no matter what he did, his breathing frequency never changed.

Those young masters and ladies of the Lin Family practiced the Breathing Technique for one hour every morning, but Alaric Ye practiced it for eight hours. Ever since he learned it half a year ago, he never stopped except when he was asleep and couldn't control it.

Alaric Ye's ancestors had been servants of the Lin Family.

His grandfather was, his father was, and so was he.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would likely marry a maid of the Lin Family in the future, and his descendants would also be lifelong slaves, serving the masters of the Lin Family for generations.

But Alaric Ye had once witnessed with his own eyes his grandfather, who had lost the ability to work due to old age, being starved to death by the steward.

His parents pleaded for his grandfather, only to be beaten by the guards, leaving them with chronic illnesses. They both died in sorrow within a few years.

Alaric Ye's father's dying words echoed in his mind at all times.

"Better to be a beggar than a slave!"

Alaric Ye wanted to change his fate!

***

That night, under the moonlight as clear as water, the air was filled with the croaking of frogs and the chirping of insects.

Thanks to his mastery of the Breathing Technique, Alaric Ye was full of energy. Even after a busy day, he did not fall asleep like the other servants. He used the excuse of going to the river to bathe, found a quiet, secluded spot, and began his daily body forging.

Alaric Ye took off his shirt, revealing his muscular body, exuding a heroic aura, no longer looking like a humble servant. He bent down, lifted a huge rock, then sank his body and started practicing the horse stance.

When the Lin Family taught the Breathing Technique, servants were allowed to watch, because the Breathing Technique was profound, and even the young masters and ladies might not master it perfectly after many years. But Alaric Ye had never learned the true Body Forging Technique, and he feared being caught and beaten to death by the steward before he could escape the slave registry.

So he could only use the most primitive methods to forge his body: deep squats, horse stance, and running with weights, hoping to make his body stronger and his blood more vigorous.

As time passed, beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on Alaric Ye's forehead, but his breathing frequency remained the same as usual, unchanged.

"I must hold on longer!" Alaric Ye gritted his teeth and thought.

Alaric Ye's father had once risked his life to ask a passing rogue cultivator about some basic knowledge of cultivation and had taught it all to him.

The rogue cultivator had said that a person's body is like soil, and the Spiritual Root is like a seedling in the soil. Everyone has various "seedlings" in their body, but most people's "seedlings" are too weak to be sensed or bear fruit. The more fertile the soil, the faster and taller the "seedlings" will grow.

And the way to make the soil more fertile is through body forging, making the blood vigorous and the energy abundant!

"I heard from Steward Wang that in two months, an Upper Immortal from the Top Xuan Sect will come to the Lin Residence to test for Spiritual Roots. I must seize this opportunity!"

As Alaric Ye was diligently training, the originally calm, mirror-like surface of the river suddenly rippled, and a long, white shadow, about ten feet long, quickly approached.

Splash!

Water splashed everywhere as the white shadow emerged, revealing a giant white snake covered in snow-white scales!

Alaric Ye did not show any panic. He maintained his breathing rhythm, looked at the white snake, and a kind smile appeared on his lips.

"Little White! Long time no see, you've grown bigger again. Have you been shedding your skin recently? My goodness, you grow faster than the fat pigs raised in the Lin Residence!"

This white snake named Little White was saved by Alaric Ye from the mouth of a honey badger a year ago. As for why he saved it, it was because Alaric Ye had a natural fondness for all kinds of small animals, always feeling a special connection with them, and the animals liked him too.

For example, it was currently summer, and there were many mosquitoes, but not a single one came close to bite him. If an ordinary person stayed by the river at night, they would be covered in bites, turning into a toad in seconds.

Little White swam to the surface, affectionately rubbing its head, which was half the size of Alaric Ye's head, against his forehead, then opened its mouth and spat out a pearl emitting a silver glow.

Alaric Ye was immediately astonished.

"I've never seen such a beautiful pearl before! Even the young ladies of the Lin Residence don't have anything like this. It must be worth a lot of money!

Then again, you're a snake, you don't need money.

But I'm not much better off than you. As a servant of the Lin Family, having money is useless. It might even get me accused of theft and bring trouble upon myself."

Everything a servant owned belonged to their master, including money.

（In response to a reader's question about whether a snake counts as an insect, according to modern biological knowledge, it is not an insect, but in ancient times, snakes were always considered a type of venomous insect. Cultivation novels are set in ancient times.）