Chapter 29: Stop Right There

Chapter 29: Stop

"Didn't I tell you to look for the Midnight Lotus at higher elevations?"

It required water for growth, a balance of yin and yang qi—neither a sunny slope nor a shady slope would do—and it needed unobstructed exposure to both sunlight and moonlight. Indeed, it was perfectly suited to grow in such a heavenly lake.

But Shang Yunduo felt as if his throat were blocked, unable to stop thinking about Yan Jia, Wang Ming, the Zhang siblings, the Qishan Three Friends, Yuezhang Fairy, Li Wuzi, and even Niu Chengdian.

One group had recklessly fabricated the Midnight Lotus, another group had foolishly fallen for it, and in the end, they died carelessly in a place where the Midnight Lotus could never grow.

"Senior, how did you know there was a Midnight Lotus here?"

Pei Jie: "Of course, because I've seen one. Hurry up and pick it."

"Oh..."

Thinking about his strange technique that lowered his cultivation, Shang Yunduo silently held back the question that had instinctively risen to his lips: "Why didn't you warn everyone?"

Let alone the potential risk of Pei Jie giving a warning, even if there were none, why would he do so? And even if he had spoken, who would believe a cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining saying, "You've all been fooled; the Midnight Lotus can't grow here at all"? Thinking back to the original situation, he himself wouldn't have believed it.

After mulling it over, Shang Yunduo only muttered a listless "Oh."

He swam over from the water, spotting black and red toads with big, bulging eyes that stared at him with a dazed, endearing look.

Shang Yunduo bypassed them, dove underwater, and lifted the Midnight Lotus from the water. Sure enough, its stamen was green.

Apart from the green stamen, the flower wasn't much different from a regular lotus. The petals were slightly sharper at the tips, and they lacked the fine veins of lotus petals.

Shang Yunduo broke off the flower and noticed the stem was also somewhat different from a lotus stem—it wasn't hollow but transparent inside like aloe vera, a bit sticky, and the spines on the stem were smaller, denser, and sharper than those of a lotus.

After breaking it off, he quickly swam back to the shore, afraid a demonic beast guarding the spiritual plants would rush out from the water.

But all that happened was the Cold Toads and Fire Toads croaked a bit louder. Before Shang Yunduo could figure out what was going on, they plopped into the water and disappeared.

Were they afraid of being caught?

"Senior." Shang Yunduo handed the flower to Pei Jie. "I've picked it."

Pei Jie hummed in acknowledgment. "Eat it."

Shang Yunduo was stunned. "Huh?"

He looked down at the beautiful flower—white, almost translucent, faintly reflective, said to emit a soft glow at night, and, crucially, larger than his face—and repeated, "Eat it? Just... like this?"

Pei Jie: "You don't have a suitable container to store it, so the fresher, the better."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

After gnawing raw medicinal herbs, now he had to wolf down this lotus like a cow eating a peony?

With a grandmother who loved watching and sharing short videos at home and a grandfather who was a doctor, he was quite wary of things to put in his mouth.

The flower was pretty, sure, but it looked like it might have fluorescent agents.

"Hurry up and eat."

Shang Yunduo hesitated, then lifted the flower to his face. It had a faint, faint fragrance. Whatever, he thought. He'd eaten poisonous things before. This couldn't be worse than that mouth-numbingly bitter medicinal root!

He opened his mouth and bit off a petal, and he chewed and chewed. No real taste, very juicy, and it melted in his mouth. He figured that's why Pei Jie urged him to eat it quickly—if left in the sun too long, it would either dissolve or dry up.

After tasting it, Shang Yunduo ate it boldly and quickly. To save time, he didn't even get out of the water but lay on the shore, propped on a rock, and munched down the face-sized flower until it was the size of a teacup. The pain in his body did ease a bit.

He licked the remaining flower juice from his lips and held up the remaining seed pod to Pei Jie. "I've finished eating."

Pei Jie: "Continue."

"...Huh?!"

Shang Yunduo stared blankly at the seed pod in his hand.

This too?

He'd never heard of eating a lotus and then having to gnaw on the seed pod! That would be like eating a fruit and having to chew the pit!

Shang Yunduo looked incredulously at Pei Jie, who appeared composed and matter-of-fact. Skeptically, he took a bite. "Ugh..."

It wasn't crunchy at all, and it was bitter!

It was like eating paper soaked in bitter medicine!

Before he could spit it out, Pei Jie lifted his chin and closed his mouth for him. "Swallow it."

Can't swallow!

"Mmph... bleh—"

Shang Yunduo forcefully pried his hand away, spat a couple of times, and said in a panic, "Senior, can this really be eaten? Is this really how it's eaten?!"

Pei Jie: "Of course it can. Will you eat it yourself, or shall I help you?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He'd better eat it himself.

But after several attempts, he still couldn't bring himself to bite down. In despair, he said, "Senior, can I juice it?"

Pei Jie lifted him out of the water and tossed him into the carriage. He found a nearby cave and set him down. Then, he laid out the day's harvest—mainly Shang Yunduo's harvest—and said, "Grind them all together."

Shang Yunduo watched in shock. Flowers and grasses were one thing... moss and bark were another... but those two kinds of small shells, and the stone—could they even be ground into juice?!

He picked up the most absurd item, the stone, and asked, "Senior, do I have to eat this too?"

The way he said "eat" was full of accusation, quite fierce.

Pei Jie: "Eat the black frost on it."

Shang Yunduo: "...Is this really medicine? Won't I be poisoned to death if I eat it?"

Pei Jie: "Give it a lick."

"Heh..." Shang Yunduo shook his head, turned to run, but Pei Jie grabbed his clothes and pulled him back, using a binding technique.

He was forced to stand there and watch Pei Jie "poison" him.

Pei Jie's "poisoning" method was quite crude—he used a stone as a pestle, threw all the other plants and grasses into a stone bowl, and started pounding.

The bitter and strange smells filled the cave. Shang Yunduo said in despair, "At least take out the small shells!"

But Pei Jie ignored him, brought the concoction of various ingredients to his mouth, pinched his nose, pried open his mouth, and poured it down.

That flavor cannot be described as merely bitter.

Shang Yunduo's meager vocabulary couldn't describe the agony his sharpened taste buds were suffering. The only thing to be grateful for was Pei Jie's herb-pulverizing technique, like a high-speed blender—moss, bark, shells, shell meat, lotus pods, lotus seeds... all ground into fine dust, evenly mixed into the medicinal soup, the texture was like a bowl of thick sesame paste.

A meat-and-veggie version, no less.

One sip shot through his taste buds, straight to his crown chakra, and spread all over his body.

The welts from the poisonous bee stings itched and ached by turns, his body alternated between hot and cold, and soon his stomach, intestines, and meridians began to cramp. If he weren't in a cultivation world right now, he'd have thought he was dying of malaria.

"Senior..." Shang Yunduo's voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum, and he couldn't even think of what he would say if he had to leave a last testament.

Pei Jie pressed him down to sit on the ground, released the immobilization spell, and placed a hand on his meridians to assist him in circulating his spiritual veins. "Follow my spiritual energy."

Shang Yunduo nodded shakily.

As Pei Jie leaned in, Shang Yunduo blurted out, "Wait, are we kissing?"

Pei Jie: "What for?"

Shang Yunduo fought the urge to scratch his stinging, itchy welts, pulled out a mirror artifact, checked himself, gasped, and grabbed a cloth to cover his face.

Pei Jie: "..."

Shang Yunduo: "Hey, hold up!"

Pei Jie: "Now what?"

Shang Yunduo: "Senior, can I have a candy?"

"Candy?" Pei Jie paused. "No."

Shang Yunduo: "I have some! I have some!"

He fished out a small packet of candy—leftovers from buying roast chicken earlier. Just grabbing it, he broke into a cold sweat from the pain. He quickly rinsed his mouth and popped a candy in, and seeing Pei Jie eyeing his candy, Shang Yunduo casually handed him one too. "My mouth is totally numb from the bitter. If you kiss me, you'll probably get poisoned."

Pei Jie: "..."

Shang Yunduo got into a meditation pose, candy still in his mouth, closed his eyes, and said, "Alright."

Pei Jie put away the candy and took his pulse again. "Guide the qi in, slowly. Let the meds work first to repair your spiritual veins."

Shang Yunduo hummed vaguely in response. When he opened his eyes, Pei Jie was already close.

His entire body trembled, and he quickly shut his eyes again. His heart pounded through the pain wracking his whole body, inside and out. Sensing Pei Jie pull his lips away, he couldn't help peeking through one eye. He saw Pei Jie frown, hesitate for a moment, then lean in again.

Shang Yunduo smirked. See? Even through two layers of gauze, it's bitter. Serves you right!

Sunset, moonrise, sunrise, moonset—the cycle repeated. The light in the cave dimmed once more. A beast outside poked its head in, stood by the pool at the entrance, and shook its ears while drinking.

Hearing the water lapping, Shang Yunduo stirred from meditation, feeling like he'd had a deep, satisfying sleep—mind, body, every cell fully rested.

Brimming with energy.

So this is what it's like to guide qi in and circulate spiritual power properly.

Shang Yunduo examined his inner self and sensed his spiritual power had increased a full level, and his cultivation seemed better too.

He tried the Fire Control spell again, using the new method Pei Jie had taught him. Summoning his inner spiritual power was faster and simpler than before, and the fireball he made was hotter and stronger.

With the new method, the fourth layer seemed simpler than what the manual said.

Shang Yunduo was itching to try.

"Your injuries aren't healed yet. Don't overdo it."

"Oh."

Shang Yunduo quickly snuffed the fireball and sat beside Pei Jie.

Earlier, Pei Jie had said the technique he practiced clashed with his natural spiritual energy flow. Shang Yunduo had thought they were total opposites, like east vs west, but actually not. It felt more like his meridians were wide, straight roads, while the technique he learned was complex, delicate, and winding. Or, if training was like solving math, he was good at plugging numbers into formulas and getting results, but the technique needed every derivation step written out.

His strength was speed and power, but he was sloppy and wasted some spiritual energy.

But if he tried to be meticulous and derive every detail, using every bit of energy to the fullest, he felt stuck.

For Shang Yunduo, both methods had pros and cons—like different instruments with different timbres for different songs. You can't use a cello to outdo a violin in high notes, or complain a violin lacks a cello's richness.

Unlike him, Pei Jie used spiritual energy extremely efficiently, getting maximum effect with minimum energy. Shang Yunduo, on the other hand, was better at going all out, winning by momentum and brute spiritual power. Getting too caught up in details led to diminishing returns—strong at first, then weak, then wiped out.

It was like when they both looked at the same Many-Hands-Many-Feet Fist move. Pei Jie used it with lightning speed, lots of moves, and many details, while Shang Yunduo's version was kind of vague, especially the transitional moves left out of the manual. He couldn't even explain why he used them that way; after using them once, he might never repeat those moves.

As for which method was optimal, he didn't know.

After much thought, Shang Yunduo figured besides differences in physique and spiritual root, there was also a gap in their smarts.

He was an intuitive type.

Pei Jie and his family's academic overachiever, Shang Yunxiu, were rational, deductive types.

This difference was very noticeable when they cultivated together.

Pei Jie's spiritual energy flowed freely into his body and could even guide his own energy through his meridians. But when his spiritual energy entered Pei Jie's body, it felt like losing control and getting lost, even with Pei Jie guiding it and him not needing to manage it, it still felt like a foggy maze.

The speed and direction of their meridian circulation were out of sync. At first, it was fine, but as they exchanged more spiritual energy, it became very uncomfortable. They had to separate and practice on their own for a while, then come back together.

The exchange of spiritual energy was still very pleasant, but he felt there was definitely something wrong with their method of dual cultivation.

He wanted to ask, but it felt so weird...

"What do you want to say?"

"Nothing." Shang Yunduo scratched his head.

Two instruments needed a score and arrangement to produce a harmonious melody.

He understood that. Pei Jie probably did too.

Or... he'd wait for Pei Jie to figure it out. Otherwise, it would seem like he was more anxious.

Shang Yunduo steadied himself and asked, "Senior, what do we do next? Go find the Floating Cloud Flower?"

Pei Jie: "No rush. First, heal your injuries."

"Huh?" Shang Yunduo's emotions became complicated. Thinking of that bowl of medicine, fear overwhelmed all other feelings. "Do we... do we have to get stung and take medicine again?"

Pei Jie: "Of course."

Author's note:

Please rate the other's cooking, out of 100.

Pei Jie: 50

Yunduo: -100

Pei Jie: ?