Synopsis
Gu Li is a salted fish, though not in the traditional sense. His greatest dream is to live freely and without restraint.
Everything had been going according to his plans, little by little, until one day, on a dark and windy night, Gu Li was resting in a tree as usual when he accidentally witnessed something that wasn’t part of his plan.
He intended to wait until the fight was over before leaving, so he wouldn’t alert anyone. He didn’t expect the winner to sense his presence just as they were about to leave.
With no other choice, he appeared and explained why he was up in the tree.
Who could have guessed that the victor would suddenly collapse right in front of him?
Unable to live with himself if he did nothing, Gu Li made a perfunctory choice.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and in the end, his jade made the choice for him.
Still, it was all right. Having a younger brother wasn’t so bad. After all, Gu Li wanted to experience having family, too.
An older brother with an unconventional train of thought
An occasionally villainous younger brother
In the original destiny, the older brother was a nobody, while the younger brother was a male lead with the traits of a typical web-novel villain.
Purely familial love, biological brothers
Note: When they meet, the older brother is at the late Foundation Establishment stage, and so is the younger brother.
Cultivation stages:
Qi Refining: Must reach the twelfth layer.
Foundation Establishment includes: Spiritual Illumination, Light Opening, and Fusion, each with early, middle, and late stages. (Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment are part of Refining Essence into Qi.)
Refining Qi into Spirit: Heart Movement, Spiritual Stillness, Golden Core
Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness: Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Deity Transformation
Refining Emptiness and Uniting with the Dao: Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, Great Ascension
All the above stages have early, middle, and late phases.
Spiritual root attributes: Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice
Spiritual roots are graded as lower, upper, or heavenly.
There are also cultivation stages for ghost cultivators, demon cultivators, and devil cultivators, which will be revealed when they appear in the story.
Artifact-refining ranks: Here, the word for “artifact” refers to tools and implements, not weapons. These include talismans, talisman treasures, talisman-making techniques, and other tools.
The scrolls on the left chest of one’s clothes indicate artifact-refining rank. The early, middle, and late cultivation stages indicate proficiency.
Firework Assistant: Qi Refining stage, three scrolls
Beginner Artifact Refiner: Foundation Establishment stage, four scrolls
Intermediate Artifact Refiner: Core Formation stage (Heart Movement to Spiritual Stillness), five scrolls
Advanced Artifact Refiner: Golden Core stage, six scrolls
Artifact Refining Master: Nascent Soul stage, one large scroll
Artifact Refining Grandmaster: Deity Transformation stage (Spirit Division stage), two large scrolls
Artifact Refining Supreme Grandmaster: Body Integration stage, three large scrolls
Artifact Immortal: Great Ascension stage, with further advancement possible. No one on Lingzhou Continent has reached this stage yet.
The regions under the jurisdiction of the sects on Lingzhou Continent (only the regions needed by the two protagonists are listed, since other regions have yet to appear): Liangzhou (high mountains), Jiangzhou (plains and some coastal areas), Jizhou (mountains and plains), Jingzhou (mountains), Jingzhou (plateaus, mountains, and snow).
For readers’ convenience, here is how the regions are laid out: Jizhou is in the center, Liangzhou is to the north, Jingzhou is to the south, Jingzhou is to the west, and Jiangzhou is to the east.
The sect governing Liangzhou specializes in swordsmanship.
The sect governing Jiangzhou specializes in artifact refining.
The sect governing Jizhou specializes in music.
The sect governing Jingzhou specializes in medicine.
The sect governing Jingzhou specializes in beast taming.
Of course, these are only the areas in which each sect has a particular advantage. Their cultivators can still practice other disciplines.
That’s enough for the introduction for now. I’ll explain more when it comes up in the story.
Just a small note: The chapter titles reflect the author’s mood and have nothing to do with the story. (The truth is, the author is too lazy to think of titles.)
Theme: The joy of having family.