Chapter 23: Contract

Chapter 23: The Contract

Shang Yunduo pushed back his hair, which had become disheveled from training and blown by the wind, his eyes shining with excitement: "Senior, you're amazing!"

Pei Jie: "..."

Shang Yunduo: "I want to learn this!"

Pei Jie: "Weren't you already learning it?"

Yes, but he didn't know it could be this powerful!

Pei Jie's demonstration didn't use any spiritual power; he relied solely on body techniques, and with a single palm strike that seemed to hit through a mountain, he sent the carriage window, which was inscribed with formations, flying off!

Shang Yunduo: "Senior, you're so skilled in body techniques too! Are you a spirit-body dual cultivator? Can I become this powerful too?"

He stared at Pei Jie's figure, which was even more pronounced as his robes were tousled by the wind. He could vaguely make out the contours of muscles beneath the clothes—lean, powerful, definitely the kind that looks slim in clothes but muscular without.

Pei Jie pressed down on his wildly fluttering robe hem and frowned: "Close the window."

But at this moment, in Shang Yunduo's eyes, he was ethereal and otherworldly, even more handsome than when he had killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator with one sword strike earlier.

"Okay!"

Shang Yunduo, full of admiration, crawled to the window, grabbed the broken window leaf, and tried to pull it back. When it wouldn't close, he simply tore off his hair tie to secure it, then casually twisted his hair up and inserted the hairpin. "Senior, Senior, can you teach me that again? How long will it take for me to reach your level?"

Pei Jie glanced at his messy head and sighed, "The demon clan's technique has no fixed form. What you see is what it is..."

He paused, then asked, "Can you understand that?"

Shang Yunduo: "I understand, I understand! It's like an ancient musical score—there are fingering techniques, string positions, and pitches, but how you play it depends on each person's interpretation. The same score sounds different when played by different people."

Just now, the movements Pei Jie demonstrated were slightly different from what he had "seen" and learned. Roughly speaking, what he "saw" and learned was more solid, while Pei Jie's demonstration was more fluid.

Was it because he wasn't skilled or fast enough yet?

Hearing this, Pei Jie finally seemed somewhat satisfied. "You have more talent in body refinement than I do. Don't slack off; study earnestly."

"Okay!" Shang Yunduo showed great interest and revisited the movements he had previously practiced, eager to discuss with Pei Jie the awkward and twisted ones he had attempted earlier. Now he realized those must have been multiple actions combined.

But he couldn't quite see how to combine them or which footwork transitions were correct.

What Pei Jie said was right—this was more like a personal cultivation diary written according to one's own habits, prioritizing readability for the author and disregarding whether others could understand it.

The more he studied, the more he felt that the demon cultivator who wrote this manual was very casual, leaving too many uncertainties.

As soon as he got close, Pei Jie felt waves of heat rushing toward him. Although he was a bit clumsy, his physique was good enough, and he was willing to delve deeper.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew. That's enough for today."

Shang Yunduo had no objections, but as soon as he stopped, his stomach growled.

There was a moment of silence, and then Shang Yunduo asked, "Senior, in my current state, should I take a Qi Recovery Pill or eat a meat bun?"

Shortly after, Pei Jie pushed a selection of herbs and spiritual fruits he had picked out from various storage pouches in front of Shang Yunduo. "Eat these. They'll help you refine your body."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

"Wait..."

"Just eat them like this?"

Pei Jie nodded.

Shang Yunduo swallowed nervously and picked out a fruit that looked relatively normal. He took a bite...

"Blech..."

"Swallow it. Don't spit it out. If you can't chew it, just swallow it whole."

Easy for you to say! This thing is bigger than an egg—how am I supposed to swallow it!

After finishing one fruit, Shang Yunduo felt like crying. Fortunately, another one tasted relatively normal and even had a bit of sweetness.

After eating all the good-tasting ones, he picked up a lush, well-preserved spiritual herb with some dirt still on its roots and asked, "Senior, do I eat this directly too?"

Pei Jie nodded.

Shang Yunduo fumed: "I'm not a beast!"

Pei Jie glared at him.

Shang Yunduo quickly changed his tone: "At least I need to wash the mud off!"

After another moment, the carriage stopped by a forest riverside. Shang Yunduo dejectedly took his herbs to the river to wash.

Pei Jie: "Raw water damages the medicinal properties. Eat whatever you've washed."

Hearing this, Shang Yunduo looked down at the handful of herbs he had already dipped into the river water, and his world collapsed.

He stuffed two leaves into his mouth, silently imagining lettuce, vanilla, perilla, radish, carrot, cucumber...

No use. No matter what he imagined, his tongue knew this was just bitter grass.

Shang Yunduo sighed: "Senior... could you temporarily unlock my spiritual power so I can find a pot from my storage pouch?"

"A pot?"

"I want... to blanch these."

Pei Jie thought for a moment and actually unlocked his spiritual seal. "Don't use spiritual power recklessly."

Shang Yunduo: "I won't, I won't. I'll just find a pot and start a fire."

Naturally, there was no pot in his storage pouch. He found a small tripod, gathered firewood, lit a fire, and threw in some dried meat he had bought earlier.

Pei Jie watched him put the vegetables into the pot. "This one needs to be eaten raw." "This one too." "Don't put that in; save it for last."

Shang Yunduo asked in confusion: "Why?"

Pei Jie: "It has to be eaten last."

Shang Yunduo didn't understand but obeyed. After blanching, the taste was indeed much better—at least he could fool himself into thinking it was hotpot.

But the broth grew increasingly bitter as he cooked it. After adding some roots, it tasted like brewing Chinese medicine.

It was even worse than Chinese medicine. At least when you brew medicine, you only drink the liquid, not eat the dregs.

Shang Yunduo turned his head, took a deep breath of fresh air, quickly shoved two pieces of root into his mouth, and chewed rapidly. Taking advantage of the temporary numbness in his taste buds from the bitterness, he wolfed down the rest in one go.

Only two poisonous herbs remained.

He took another deep breath, stuffed them in, chewed, chewed, and swallowed.

A moment later, he finally understood why Pei Jie had told him to eat these last.

His entire body felt like it was sprouting thorns, and the pain sent him rolling on the ground. “Senior, I think I’ve been poisoned!”

Pei Jie said, “That’s why I unlocked your spiritual power.”

“Huh?”

“It’s only a mild toxin. Let your meridians circulate on their own, and it’ll be gone in a while.”

That “in a while” stretched from sunset to when the full moon rose. Shang Yunduo went from having the strength to roll by the river to lying half-dead, clutching the grass and groaning in agony.

Once the poison faded, Pei Jie came over and sealed his spiritual power again.

Shang Yunduo’s body still felt like it was on fire, and the pain left him unable to move.

Pei Jie grabbed his arm and re-channeled his settled meridians.

A cool stream of spiritual energy flowed from where their arms touched, circulating through his entire body, finally easing the burning pain a little.

Exhausted, Shang Yunduo lay on the ground and peeked at him, mumbling "Senior" as he passed out.

A while later, seeing Shang Yunduo was dead to the world, Pei Jie unlocked his spiritual power again, so his body could heal on its own while he slept.

Body tempering was never easy.

If you wanted to match a Spiritual Cultivator using only Body Techniques, you had to suffer far more.

If not for the damage to his meridians, with his Heavenly Spirit Root, he wouldn't have had to suffer.

Pei Jie let out a quiet laugh. Serves him right.

When Shang Yunduo woke from his nightmare the second time, the sky was already bright. He was still lying on the grass by the river, his skin baking in the sun, drenched in sweat—he didn't know if it was from the heat or the scare.

He got up and spotted Pei Jie meditating in the cool shade under a tree. His cultivation seemed to have gone up a bit.

“Since you’re awake, get up.”

Shang Yunduo grabbed a handful of grass and tossed it aside, thinking to himself, *We’re supposed to be cultivation partners—couldn't you at least have dragged me into the shade?*

*If you didn't want to lug me over, you could've just woken me. I could have crawled over.*

*Just left me to roast.*

He squatted by the river to wash his face, then obediently sat down next to Pei Jie.

Pei Jie gave him a surprised look.

Shang Yunduo thought, *What's with the look? I'm not that ungrateful. Yeah, making me eat poison was over the top, but I'm grateful he helped me heal after.*

*Besides, waking up from a nightmare and seeing someone I know nearby gives me a strange, inexplicable sense of security.*

*If only this guy weren't the villain, and didn't force me into Dual Cultivation.*

Shang Yunduo eyed Pei Jie's unusually thick eyelashes from the side, and curiosity got the best of him. The words tumbled out before he could stop himself: "Senior, why do you always wear that veil?"

Pei Jie opened his eyes, shot him a look, then pulled off the opaque veil and stared back.

Shang Yunduo's pupils shrank. His mouth dropped open.

He'd already figured Pei Jie was handsome, but he never expected his whole face to be that stunning—the kind of face that would make him double back at a billboard if Pei Jie were famous.

They stared at each other in silence. Then Pei Jie asked, "Do you understand now?"

"Huh?"

"Too much trouble."

With that, Pei Jie covered his face again.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He scratched his head awkwardly. "I've heard of techniques that can change how you look."

Pei Jie: "I know. But why would I change?"

Shang Yunduo: "Huh?"

Pei Jie: "Why should I change how I look just for other people's eyes?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Still groggy from sleep, his brain took a second to catch up. Finally, he conceded, "You're right."

But then he thought about what Pei Jie had said and couldn't help adding, "But Senior, didn't you say it was a hassle?"

Pei Jie: "I'm already wearing a veil, aren't I?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

*Something's off. Or is it?*

Then Pei Jie added, "Anyone whose eyes can't be stopped by a veil deserves to have them gouged out."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He asked carefully, "What if I can't beat them?"

Pei Jie: "Then train until you're strong enough. People who obsess over looks never get far in cultivation. Even if you can't take them now, you can kill them later."

Shang Yunduo thought, *Isn't it normal to appreciate a pretty face? If someone just looks out of curiosity, no harassment or malice, they don't deserve to die for it, right?*

*According to Pei Jie's logic… it seems like I should be the one pretending to comply for now, waiting until I'm strong enough to get revenge and eliminate Pei Jie.*

With that thought, Shang Yunduo felt a sudden twinge of guilt, afraid that Pei Jie would see through his silent complaints and become wary or hostile.

But to his surprise, Pei Jie smiled at him. "If you ever have the ability to kill me, go ahead."

"Huh?" Shang Yunduo quickly said, "No, no, that's not what I meant. Even if I had that ability, I wouldn't."

*At most I'd run away. Far, far away.*

When Pei Jie's gaze swept over him, Shang Yunduo raised his voice. "Besides, I don't! Senior, you could squish me like a bug. For me to kill you would be harder than reaching heaven!"

"Then train."

"What?"

Shang Yunduo was completely dumbfounded by what he heard.

Pei Jie remained unruffled: "Keep practicing."

Perhaps because he had displeased him earlier in the morning, Pei Jie was especially harsh with him today.

From the moment he opened his eyes at dawn, he trained until the moon rose, with the only break being letting him swim a couple of laps in the river at dusk.

His food for the day was still those medicinal herbs, which made Shang Yunduo suffer just eating them. By night, lying in the carriage, he was utterly exhausted but too pained to sleep. To distract himself, feverish, he leaned by the window and tried to fix it until he fell asleep with the tools still in his hands.

When he woke up the next day, Shang Yunduo had to admit—poison aside—those herbs were indeed effective. After waking, his shoulders didn't ache, his legs weren't sore, and he felt refreshed.

By the time he finished learning the first page of the Body Tempering technique, he could clearly feel his physique had grown much stronger.

Pei Jie removed the seal on his spiritual power. "Take a day off. Tomorrow we enter the secret realm."

"What?"

Shang Yunduo was completely confused. "We're going into the secret realm just like that?"

He looked around—still the same desolate forest. They tempered the body during the day and traveled at night, with Pei Jie taking his time. Shang Yunduo had assumed they'd definitely miss it—why were they still entering?

"Are we going in just like this?"

Pei Jie: "Of course not. I'll teach you the aura-concealing technique. Before we meet up, be careful on your own."

Shang Yunduo: "Just one day?"

Pei Jie: "You already know how to conceal your aura. One day isn't enough?"

Shang Yunduo forced himself to learn, spending most of the day. The sun was nearly setting before he finally reached a level that could fool cultivators of the same rank.

"Almost everyone entering the Ancient Plains Secret Realm is at the Qi Refining stage. It's not hard to fool them. You just need to avoid the spirit beasts inside."

Shang Yunduo's face twisted into a scowl again.

With his cultivation level, even by holding his breath and hiding his aura, he could only avoid detection—whether he'd have time to hide in a safe spot was all up to luck.

Pei Jie: "Take out the Chameleon Lizard skin you picked up."

Shang Yunduo paused, then remembered the Mirage Lizard cloth he got from Niu Chengdian and his crew.

The fat man at the cave entrance and the woman with the chain blade both had clothes made from that gauze. The people inside the cave used a large piece of it, and now it was all in his storage pouch.

He had thought about using it before, but the stuff was just too crudely made. It was passable at night, but in daylight... the stitching was even worse than the costumes his school club had sewn themselves!

As long as the opponent was even slightly observant, it would be hard for him to stay hidden.

No wonder Niu Chengdian and his gang had to lure people into the cave.

But Pei Jie seemed quite interested. He examined all three items.

"Chameleon Lizards live in the polar wastelands. I've never heard of them around the Dividing Mountain Range. Being able to gather this much Chameleon Lizard skin—no wonder those people dared to kill and rob. Pity it's so crudely made, damaging the hide."

Shang Yunduo nodded in agreement.

Pei Jie: "Later when we find some Ice Silkworm Silk, we'll take these apart and sew a new set."

Shang Yunduo shook the three pieces of Mirage Lizard Gauze: "So we can't use it for this trip?"

Pei Jie: "It's enough to fool the low-level spirit beasts in the secret realm. If you hide under the Chameleon Lizard skin, don't use spiritual power, and don't run too fast, the spirit beasts will just think you're some wild animal passing by. If they get close, then activate your aura-concealing technique. Beasts below the third rank won't notice you."

"Huh?" Shang Yunduo blinked. That ugly cloth actually started to look cute.

Also, the things he could use were Zhang Yan's Wood Fire Pearl, Tang Huan's Giant Sword, Bai Li's fan, and the formation plate.

There were also some random items, but mostly he couldn't use them or they had no effect because the attributes didn't match.

Times like this, Shang Yunduo really envied cultivators with more complete spiritual roots. Though they cultivated slower, they could use more artifacts. A Heavenly Spirit Root sounds like fast cultivation, but it limits what artifacts you can use.

Shang Yunduo rummaged around and found two defensive artifacts, but before he could even put them on, Pei Jie tossed them back in disgust.

Pei Jie handed him a cultivation contract. Shang Yunduo, barely literate, could just barely make out the gist.

This pact was for the purpose of Core Formation, with a term of five years. It couldn't be canceled before Pei Jie formed his core or the term was up.

During the contract period, he had to do Dual Cultivation to help Pei Jie form his core.

During the pact's performance, they'd share techniques, artifacts, and other resources, but they couldn't pry into each other's spiritual sense without permission, nor look through each other's storage pouches.

During the pact's performance, if disagreements arose, he must obey Pei Jie.

Life and death shared—if one died, the other would suffer backlash.

It was voluntary, sealed with essence blood and sworn on their Dao heart. If you broke it, your Dao heart would shatter and your cultivation would be gone.

Shang Yunduo tried to frame it in his own mind:

Contract marriage. Lasts five years, unless Pei Jie forms his core early—otherwise no breaking it early.

During the marriage, he had to fulfill the dual cultivation duty to help Pei Jie form his core.

During the marriage, property was shared. As contract partners, they could use each other's refined artifacts and learn each other's techniques. Since he had no "property" that Pei Jie cared about, Pei Jie would basically be supporting him. They had to respect each other's privacy and pre-marriage property. In other words, how much he could use or learn was up to Pei Jie—if Pei Jie didn't pull stuff out of his storage pouch, he could only dream.

During the marriage, Pei Jie was the head of the family; in any dispute, Pei Jie's word was final.

The next clause was a raw deal for him. It said life and death were shared, but the one way more likely to die was him. If he died, Pei Jie would just get backlash, not have to die with him.

Also, the first and last clauses had a loophole. If the five-year term ended and Pei Jie hadn't formed his core, after the pact was canceled, Pei Jie could easily kill him.

Although Pei Jie himself had said he only had five years to live, Shang Yunduo didn't buy that at all.

In the novel, when Xiao Chi met Pei Jie, Pei Jie was already at Peak Golden Core, about to form a Nascent Soul. He couldn't remember exactly how many years it was from now, but at least decades.

Clearly Pei Jie was still alive and hunting Xiao Chi back then; how could he only live five years?

Besides, there was no way to form a core in five years.

Shang Yunduo read the contract three times, then spoke hesitantly: "Senior, could I add a clause or two?"

Pei Jie: "What do you want to add?"

Shang Yunduo: "After five years, if you haven't formed your core, you're not allowed to kill me either."

Pei Jie: "If you give it your all during the cultivation, of course I won't kill you."

Shang Yunduo: "What if I don't give it my all?"

Pei Jie just stared at him, saying nothing.

Shang Yunduo said, "I swear I'll give it my all! But what if I'm too dumb—okay, I am dumb, let's be real—this... uh..."

Pei Jie: "Then you'll die with me."

Shang Yunduo: "…………"

Pei Jie: "Anything else?"

Shang Yunduo's brain was fried, and he couldn't think of anything for the moment. After a moment of silence, he asked, "About dual cultivation... if I really don't want to, you won't force me, right?"

Pei Jie: "Nope."

Shang Yunduo: "Can we at least talk about the positions?"

Pei Jie: "What positions?"

Shang Yunduo stared at where his lips would be under the veil, his face beet red, and stammered, "It's just... uh... kiss..."

Pei Jie: "What?"

Shang Yunduo gritted his teeth and blurted out, "Kissing's fine, but I want to top!"

Pei Jie froze, his eyes going blank for a second. Before Shang Yunduo could figure out what he meant, Pei Jie slapped him and barked, "Impudent!"

Shang Yunduo was totally dazed from the slap.

He held his face, too shocked to react for a long moment.

How dare he? He was the one being outrageous?

...We were just talking! There's no need to slap me!

You don't hit a guy in the face. Shang Yunduo got pissed too: "Fine, I'm not being the bottom..."

Slap.

Another slap. "Is this how your sect raised you?"

Shang Yunduo cupped his face, even more confused. "My sect?"

What's that got to do with his sect?

Would the sect even teach that?!

It suddenly hit him that something was way off.

Shang Yunduo asked, "Um... Dual Cultivation—what does it actually entail?"

Pei Jie: "You figure it out."

Shang Yunduo screamed in his head: I did tell you! You slapped me before I could finish!

"I don't know. Strictly speaking, it's just two people cultivating together."

Pei Jie: "Your sect doesn't teach that?"

Shang Yunduo fumed: They don't teach it, and even if they did, they wouldn't teach two guys doing dual cultivation!!

"Beats me. Nobody ever taught me."

Pei Jie kept quiet.

He seemed just as shocked.

Shang Yunduo waited, and the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous and victimized he felt. He puffed his cheeks, crouched by the river, splashed water on his face, and hissed—damn, it was swollen from the slap!

Did he even use spiritual energy when he hit me?!

He slapped the water noisily, pulled out some healing ointment from his storage pouch, and smeared it on his face. Once his anger cooled, he started to feel awkward.

If Pei Jie never intended that, then wasn't he... being a pervert?!

Hitting on a girl is scummy. Hitting on a guy makes you a creep.

Ugh... So awkward!

Should he explain? Say sorry?

Would Pei Jie kill him out of embarrassment and anger?

Who told him to keep bringing up dual cultivation and cultivation partners? In the novels, other people's dual cultivation is obviously...

How is this his fault!

Sigh... He had never been so humiliated in his life.

Shang Yunduo bent down and dunked his head in the water, holding his breath until the burning on his face faded. He came up shaking his head, only to spot Pei Jie standing right next to him—when did he get there?

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He stopped shaking off the water mid-motion.

"S-Senior..."

Shang Yunduo started awkwardly curling his toes, wishing the ground would swallow him. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that... Let's forget this ever happened!"

Pei Jie said nothing, just stared at his face in a weird way.

Shang Yunduo felt super uneasy under that stare—he didn't even dare to let his hair stand on end.

He wimped out and was about to apologize again, but Pei Jie reached out and tilted his chin up, just like he had pressed a sword to his neck back in the cave. Pei Jie had the same look on his face.

Shang Yunduo swallowed hard, water dripping pathetically from his face and hair. "Senior...?"

He wasn't about to kill him, was he?

Didn't Pei Jie still want his Heavenly Spirit Root and Pure Yang Body?

Then why did he make him practice that technique? Couldn't he at least feed him a decent meal for once?

What about the value of all those bitter medicines he'd taken?

Lost in his own thoughts, Shang Yunduo was startled when Pei Jie suddenly leaned in, and he instinctively wanted to step back, but his heart was pounding with nervousness and his mind was so chaotic that he forgot to tell his legs to move.

Pei Jie's strikingly beautiful eyes grew larger and larger, and Shang Yunduo blinked, his breathing grew rapid.

What does this mean?

What is he going to do?

"S-Sen... mmph..."

The sound was cut off, leaving only a soft, whimper-like sound.

Through the veil, Pei Jie kissed him.

Shang Yunduo stood there stunned, his thoughts and breath coming to a halt.

He just clutched his wet sleeve, little fireworks going off in his head.

Is this... a kiss?

Does it count as a kiss through the veil?

Then his first kiss... does it even count?

Thump, thump, thump... his heart felt like it was exploding.

Pei Jie pushed him down onto the ground, not moving his lips away, only holding him down to keep him from squirming. In his confusion, Shang Yunduo closed his eyes; the veil was soaked with their mingled breath, damp with moisture. He swallowed hard and was about to return the kiss when Pei Jie pulled back.

Pei Jie covered his mouth, looking dazed for a moment, and sighed, "Indeed, this way, more spiritual energy is exchanged."

Shang Yunduo: "???"

He stared, dumbfounded, his eyes wide.

Pei Jie lifted the damp veil, stood up, and looked down at Shang Yunduo with an imperious stare. His lips – moist, beautiful, and slightly thin – parted: "You can add that clause."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

The agreement was reached, but something went "snap" and shattered inside him.

Author's note:

Today's gossip: Shang Yunduo's private diary: What It's Like When Your Other Half Is a Workaholic (just kidding)