There is a xianxia novel whose name was taken from a program that gathered chefs and held a competition in the past.
*Black and White Immortal Cultivation*.
Originally, it is a story about a talentless protagonist with a five-element spiritual root who obtains a fateful opportunity called the Dual Origin Jade, which an immortal from the upper realm accidentally dropped, transforms his spiritual root anew, then grows stronger using two powers—virtue power gained by accumulating good deeds, and karma power gained by accumulating evil deeds.
Basically, in xianxia novels, cultivation itself is the goal, so unless they head out to obtain a fateful opportunity that helps their training, descriptions of spending decades or centuries in cultivation appear frequently. But *Black and White Immortal Cultivation* is different.
Because of the special spiritual root created by the Dual Origin Jade, the protagonist can only cultivate by committing good deeds and evil deeds. Unlike other xianxia protagonists, who rarely get entangled in incidents unless they develop grudges with other cultivators or seek out opportunities, he is the type to actively stir up trouble himself.
Helping the pitiful to accumulate virtue power was basic, and he committed all sorts of evil deeds to accumulate karma power. In the early stages, it stopped at tormenting plants and animals, but later, he needed an unbearable amount of karma power just to cultivate.
Since the protagonist of a xianxia novel basically has a garbage personality from the start, Mun Yu, the protagonist of *Black and White Immortal Cultivation*, was no exception.
However, villain protagonists struggle to gain popularity in the Korean web novel industry, and if the protagonist is not popular, the novel’s sales drop too, so the author used a trick.
He had Mun Yu make all sorts of enemies, then tormented those enemies to commit evil deeds and accumulate karma power. In other words, the narrative requirement that the protagonist had to commit evil deeds was used as a device to satisfy the readers’ desire for cathartic payback.
Readers who loved cathartic payback were satisfied because he tormented villains and enemies without mercy, and even readers who disliked cathartic payback easily accepted it because tormenting villains was the protagonist’s “cultivation method” for growing stronger. Thus, *Black and White Immortal Cultivation* smoothly absorbed a reader base and became an average novel among the xianxia novels I read.
The reason I’m rambling on about *Black and White Immortal Cultivation* is… because I have possessed the world of that very novel.
The character I have possessed is named Yong Yu.
As you can tell from his name, which is similar to the protagonist Mun Yu, this type of character usually becomes an archenemy who opposes the protagonist for a long time and drives the story, or else is a character used very briefly and thrown away (mostly killed off) so the names do not get confused.
And Yong Yu was the latter.
In the prologue-length portion of the novel, he torments the protagonist to make readers emotionally invested, shows off the cheat-like nature of the opportunity the protagonist obtained, then gets satisfyingly revenged upon to put the readers in a good mood. After that, he is neatly disposed of in a brief narrative sentence or two and never appears in the novel again.
For reference, it is said that Yong Yu got his arm cut off by the protagonist, fell to inner demons, caused trouble afterwards, was stripped of his inner disciple position, became an outer disciple, and lived as a slave doing menial tasks for the sect until he died.
Well… other people might think that, having possessed a xianxia novel, they would become a cultivator, grow powerful, and live large.
If you can wield divine powers and live forever for thousands or tens of thousands of years… anyone would try to seize that opportunity at least once.
I would have done the same if only I had not met death so suddenly.
I do not know how I died. Literally, in the truest sense, I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was dead and possessing Yong Yu.
My previous life—that is, Gang Yeongjun’s last memory—was getting on a plane bound for Singapore and falling asleep… so did the plane crash?
Anyway.
Having met death so suddenly, I began to wonder what meaning there would be in living for thousands or tens of thousands of years.
Would not a happy and successful life be about a hundred years of living well and having fun before passing on?
Since it turned out this way, there are two things I must accomplish in this reincarnated life.
One is to get through safely without getting my arm cut off when I lose to the protagonist.
The other is to not fall to inner demons just because I lost to the protagonist, or to overcome them even if I do.
If I succeed in just these two things… yes. Even if I only reach the Foundation Establishment realm, I will be treated well in the nations of the mortal world and live happily and boisterously.
Since even Foundation Establishment cultivators are extremely rare in the mortal world, I simply need to learn some offensive spells, defensive spells, and spells impressive enough to show the people of the mortal world and be praised.
With those thoughts in mind, I traced Yong Yu’s memories.
Yong Yu, who was born in the Yong clan of the mortal world and happened to have his spiritual root aptitude discovered, was led by the hand of a true disciple belonging to Hyeonak Peak of the Gocheon Sect here and entered the world of cultivators.
Having become a cultivator at age sixteen, Yong Yu advanced one layer every ten years, reaching the third layer of the Qi Refining realm at the age of thirty-six.
Considering his three-element spiritual root aptitude, it was neither fast nor slow.
However, among the cultivators of Yong Yu’s generation in the Gocheon Sect, there were many with outstanding aptitudes like single-element or dual-element spiritual roots. Most of them skipped several layers in just one year while Yong Yu took ten years to climb one layer, reaching the Foundation Establishment realm in less than ten years.
Despairing at the difference in talent, Yong Yu’s spirit broke and he gave up earnestly advancing on the path of cultivation, transforming into a thug who tormented junior brothers and fellow disciples with lesser aptitudes to relieve his own inferiority complex.
*Is the reason there are so many cultivators with outstanding aptitudes in Yong Yu’s generation… to secure allies to help the protagonist and frustrating sources of conflict to oppose him?*
For reference, the protagonist is of the same generation as Yong Yu, but the protagonist with a five-element spiritual root barely reached the second layer of Qi Refining after twenty years.
Yong Yu tormented that protagonist frequently, and the day before I possessed him, he was caught tormenting Mun Yu by a bad-tempered senior brother.
That senior brother was an arrogant cultivator proud of having reached Golden Core perfection despite possessing a five-element spiritual root. Mocking them as bugs who waste time playing around instead of working hard like him, he urged them to just fight it out, which led to a combat discourse being arranged.
A combat discourse is, simply put, a martial arts duel from a martial arts novel.
Combat that utilizes spells and divine powers is called combat method, and it is called combat discourse because they discuss combat method as if discussing the Dao.
The combat discourse between Yong Yu and Mun Yu is set for ten months later.
I do not really understand why they would give ten months for a fight they had agreed to… but cultivators consider ten or twenty years to be brief, so having a combat discourse ten months later would probably feel like setting a date and fighting in a few days.
*The Qi Refining lifespan is one hundred and fifty years, so it is not exactly brief… but it was that senior character who set the date.*
In-story, that is the reason; out-of-story, it is probably to give the protagonist time to obtain his fated opportunity and grow strong enough.
A few days prior, Mun Yu had obtained an unidentified cultivation manual called the Dual Origin Jade, and though he had had no intention of learning it, being forced into a combat discourse with me causes him to resolve to master the Dual Origin Jade in order to win.
And to grow strong enough to reach above the third layer of Qi Refining in a short time, he begins accumulating karma power.
Since karma power is easier to accumulate than virtue power, it is the obvious choice. From now on, for ten months, Mun Yu will roam the sect’s mountains killing insects.
Because at the Qi Refining stage, even the small amount of karma power gained from killing one bug is enough to cultivate.
*If karma power has a weakness… it was definitely weak against Buddhist power.*
Buddhist power possesses an auspicious force that repels evil things, and can literally melt away the karma power gained by accumulating sinful karma.
*Since I am only trying to prevent my arm from being cut off anyway, I just need to learn any Buddhist cultivation method and accumulate spiritual energy, right?*
Having organized all my thoughts, I headed to the library of Hyeonak Peak to which Yong Yu belonged.
As an inner disciple, Yong Yu’s access to cultivation manuals and spell books was limited, but it did not matter since I was not hoping for some great fated opportunity anyway.
Just some crude Buddhist cultivation manual that looked like it circulated on the streets would be enough.
“Senior, do you happen to have any Buddhist cultivation manuals?”
“Hm? A cultivation manual? And a Buddhist one at that? If you are in Qi Refining, you should focus on mastering the sect’s basic cultivation method… Hmm. There should be one on that shelf over there.”
“Thank you, Senior.”
When I found the manual, I looked puzzled upon seeing that the back half was torn to shreds, and the senior, reading my expression, spoke as if it were nothing.
“It is a manual Elder Gung Gyeongseung seized from an enemy. I heard that the enemy tore out and destroyed the latter half in a final act of desperation.”
Gung Gyeongseung was the elder in charge of Hyeonak Peak, which Yong Yu belonged to.
“…Understood. I will memorize it and return it.”
“Forget it. No one is looking for it anyway, so just take it.”
I took the manual and went straight to Yong Yu’s dwelling.
Yong Yu’s dwelling, built on a sheer cliff, was in a poor location with thin spiritual energy, as if proving Yong Yu’s standing.
Dispelling the basic concealment formation installed in every disciple’s dwelling and entering, I was greeted by the fragrant scent of alcohol.
“Ah… right. Did not this guy learn the technique to brew spirit wine?”
He had apparently learned some spirit farming too, and had made a small field in one corner of his dwelling where he was growing spirit crops and spirit herbs. Did he brew alcohol with these…?
Nice. Alcohol is good.
I quickly picked up a gourd bottle placed nearby and took a drink.
“Mhm. Mm. This is good.”
Delicious.
Is this the scent of medicinal herbs? Once the clear, clean liquor smoothly passed down my throat, a cool fragrance surged up from within, and I felt a liberating sensation as if my entire body from head to toe opened up.
*I will not die of alcohol poisoning either. Later on, I should live while drinking to my heart’s content.*
With that thought, I downed the bottle in one go and read the cultivation manual I had brought.
“Five… Aggregates Enlightenment Art. Hmm. To think I am reading such difficult characters.”
Perhaps because it was a Buddhist cultivation manual, the contents were complex and dizzying.
Humans consist of five aggregates: form, sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness. Through seeing, feeling, thinking, acting, and cognizing, they come to know their own existence.
But the ‘self’ felt through these five aggregates is ultimately a false self without substance, created by accepting surrounding phenomena.
The five aggregates are empty and connected to everything, changing eternally. One must not cling to the false self created by these aggregates, but accept the aggregates as they are.
Realizing this allows one to escape from the false self that suffers by clinging to the five aggregates, and become a true self liberated from suffering—an independent existence.
However, to do so, one must awaken to the five aggregates. Therefore, I leave behind the Five Aggregates Enlightenment Art for the juniors who will continue my enlightenment and teachings.
“…”
Having quietly read the manual from beginning to end, I closed my eyes and reflected on its contents.
Are cultivators blessed with excellent mental faculties too? Despite having read this complex and fairly thick book only once, its contents vividly surfaced in my mind.
I repeatedly recalled the contents strongly imprinted in my head and read the manual over and over. When I felt I had sufficiently understood it, I settled into position to cultivate according to the manual.
And as I felt the spiritual energy flowing between heaven and earth and sensed the spiritual root within me…
“Huh?”
It was strange.
“I have two spiritual roots?”
I had two spiritual roots.