Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

“No, I mean my name is Shame Less, as in I want to feel shame less often.” Everlasting Celestial, now thoroughly humbled, answered every question, displaying good manners.

(TL note: The original is a Chinese pun. I’ll put the original joke here.

“No, I mean my name is Bu Yao Lian, ‘bu’ as in fabric, ‘yao lian’ as in wanting face,”

Bu, 布, is his surname but it’s also a homophone for 不 which means don’t. When combined with his name, 要脸, which means want face, it sounds like “don’t want face” when it’s actually “bu wants face”)

Everlasting Fairy frowned, “Why such a strange name?” Lu Yang thought to himself, what right do you have to judge others’ names as strange?

The Everlasting Celestial sighed, “I didn’t choose this name for myself, explaining this is a long story.”

“Take your time,” Everlasting Fairy pulled up a little stool, sat down on it, resting her chin in her hands, ready to hear the Everlasting Celestial explain.

Yun Zhi and Lu Yang also listened quietly on the side.

The Everlasting Celestial spoke truthfully, “I don’t know where my consciousness came from, nor do I know how I came into being. A long time ago, I first became aware, but it was very faint, only vaguely aware of my own existence, like looking at flowers through fog—not very clear.”

“I felt an unknown force continuously gathering around me, making me gradually stronger, but my consciousness was still hazy and unclear, unable to discern the outside world.”

“I also felt many memories being filled into my consciousness, but at that time I lacked the ability to think, merely accepting these memories without being able to organize or process them.”

“My consciousness gradually became stronger, and I could faintly hear voices next to my consciousness shouting ‘Everlasting Celestial.’ My memories contained the term ‘Everlasting Celestial,’ but I still couldn’t process these memories, not understanding what ‘Everlasting Celestial’ was.”

“I don’t know how much time passed, maybe hundreds of years, maybe thousands, but eventually, my consciousness suddenly became clear, like a drowning person being pulled from water, regaining awareness of the outside world.”

“The first sentence I heard after my consciousness cleared was—’Great Everlasting Celestial Shame Less, please save your devoted followers, save this world.’”

“‘Shame Less’ became my name. I originally had no name; it was the sect leader who called me ‘Shame Less,’ and that’s how I got my name.”

“With a name, I could finally process those vast memories, understanding the meanings they represented.”

“In the memories, I saw someone accidentally discover a secret realm, enter it, and learn about an ancient immortal called Everlasting Celestial who protected humanity, possessing the immortal ariya-phala capable of resurrection. After leaving the secret realm, that person founded the Undying Sect, attempting to revive Everlasting Celestial.”

“The Undying Sect grew strong, and more and more followers joined, appeasing Everlasting Celestial with killings, invoking the true name of the immortal to revive him.”

“Then I understood, I am the Everlasting Celestial that the Undying Sect revived. As long as someone truly believes in me, prays to me, and worships me, I would gain their memories.”

“The sect leader prayed to me, and through the statue, I appeared in this world, meeting the sect leader’s expectations.”

“I possess the sect leader’s memories, and whatever he knows, I know. I saw he was gravely injured, needing a century to recuperate. Considering he was my most devout and powerful follower, I helped heal him.”

“As I gained a name, I could feel that I possessed a golden light, which combined with the memories, I guessed was the immortal ariya-phala.”

“I used part of the immortal ariya-phala’s power to heal the sect leader.”

“But I don’t know if I am truly Everlasting Celestial. My earliest memory comes from the first follower, from over ten thousand years ago, and I don’t have any memories from ancient times.”

“For instance, when the sect leader asked who had refined the myriad stars, I couldn’t answer this question, but I couldn’t just say I didn’t know, so I told him that it was a matter of high level, not for him to know.”

“I’m not sure how the believers would react if they knew my condition, so for now I must pretend to have awakened from the ancient times.”

“Being in a spirit state for so long was unsustainable, so I told the sect leader that I needed a new body to return to my peak and save the world.”

“The sect leader believed me and gathered all the Qi training and Foundation building disciples to hold a competition, from which I would select a suitable host.”

“Then you chose me?” Lu Yang asked.

Everlasting Celestial nodded helplessly, indeed, who else but you, who suffered a severe beating because of my poor choice in hosts. If it had been anyone else, the possession would have been successful.

Everlasting Celestial’s account clarified some questions, like why he couldn’t perform ancient techniques, why he needed to possess someone, and why his face was so undistinguished.

However, there were still some questions that even he could not clarify.

For instance, who exactly is he? Where did he come from? How did the undying ariya-phala come to exist?

Lu Yang looked expectantly at the Eldest Senior Sister and the Everlasting Fairy, hoping for insights from these well-informed seniors.

Everlasting Fairy furrowed her brows, deep in thought and seemingly unreliable.

Eldest Senior Sister listened quietly to Everlasting Celestial’s experiences, trying to discern whether they were true or fabricated.

Eldest Senior Sister believed that the experiences were mostly true.

She noticed Lu Yang’s gaze, understanding that the junior brother had many questions and hoped to get answers from her. She spoke up, “The Grand Elder Dao Yan of the Heaven’s Mysteries Sect once proposed a hypothesis: that originally, there was no Everlasting Celestial, no undying ariya-phala; the Undying Sect was creating deities.”

Lu Yang nodded secretly, appreciating the reliability of the senior.

Hearing Yun Zhi’s words, Everlasting Celestial suddenly looked up, “Where did this Dao Yan come from to dare question the existence of my ariya-phala?”

“Do you know how much effort I put into forming the ariya-phala? Ying Tian Immortal and the others all envied it!”

Lu Yang suggested that Everlasting Fairy should first listen to what Eldest Senior Sister had to say, and then settle accounts with Dao Yan later.

Yun Zhi continued, “The origin and destiny of souls are still unsolved mysteries in the world of cultivation. Dao Yan believes that human thoughts are a form of power, and that if there are enough strong thoughts, a soul could emerge.”

“Of course, this is just a hypothesis and it does not explain how the first soul came into being. But your situation fits this hypothesis.”

“From its founding, the Undying Sect has been around for fourteen thousand years. During this time, at least a million devotees have prayed to the non-existent Everlasting Celestial. Over such a long period, the sheer amount of thought energy could indeed create a soul, which is you, Everlasting Celestial.”

“However, another condition might be necessary for your emergence—murder.”

“Have you ever considered where the resentful demonic energy you recently used came from?”

“Humans are the noblest of creatures, the favored children of Heaven and Earth, born with ‘spirituality.’ The practice of demonic cultivation involves killing to strip away a person’s ‘spirituality’ and convert it into one’s own power.”

“The followers killed to please you, resulting in boundless karmic murder. The power gained from these killings became your power, the power at the Tribulation Crossing Stage.”

(End of the chapter)