Chapter 146: Mortal World

Chapter 146: The Mortal World

Shang Yunduo thought he was hearing things, but listening closely, someone was indeed calling for help.

They hurried over and found a person hanging from a cliff face, clutching a vine, with one foot barely on a tiny ledge and the other dangling, clinging precariously in the middle, unable to go up or down.

"Seems like an ordinary person?"

"Mm."

Pei Jie rode his sword down to retrieve the person. The herb gatherer, who had been hanging there for half a day, was extremely grateful and kept calling them "immortals."

Shang Yunduo asked in surprise, "How did you end up so far away all by yourself?"

He remembered that the nearest town would take four or five days on foot for an ordinary mortal.

Although there were no high-level demon beasts in this area, any demon beast would be fatal to a mortal.

The herb gatherer smiled bitterly. "The Double Ninth Festival flowers in the mountains have bloomed. They only appear for a few days each year, so I had to come."

Shang Yunduo: "Double Ninth Festival flowers?"

He had no impression of this flower. "Is it a medicinal herb? What does it treat?"

The herb gatherer: "It replenishes yang energy! It nourishes qi and blood."

As he spoke, he took a bundle from his basket to show Shang Yunduo and Pei Jie. Shang Yunduo smelled a faint, elegant fragrance—quite pleasant—but unfortunately this herb had no spiritual energy, so he couldn't distinguish it well. Curiously, he asked, "What color is it? What shape?"

Pei Jie: "Yellow, very small."

The herb gatherer then noticed that Shang Yunduo's eyes seemed to have a problem, and instinctively said, "Young master, do you have an eye ailment? I've just gathered some herbs for improving eyesight..."

He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly remembering that these two were immortals. He scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Hehe, sorry, it was just a momentary lapse..."

Shang Yunduo: "I understand, I understand! You're eager to save lives!"

The herb gatherer laughed. "Yes, yes!"

After he had rested a bit and his legs stopped trembling, Pei Jie and Shang Yunduo accompanied him to the foot of the cliff, where they found a donkey hidden there, carrying two medicine baskets on its back.

Before parting, the herb gatherer took an unremarkable-looking grass from his basket and gave it to him, saying it could clear the mind and improve eyesight; fresh grass could be applied externally, and dried grass could be boiled for tea or used in other medicinal decoctions.

"I can see you don't have external injuries. This Bright Eye Grass is the favorite of the embroiderers in our town. I have no way to repay your life-saving grace; I only have these herbs. Please do not refuse them, two immortals."

Since it was offered with good intentions, Shang Yunduo accepted a small amount. Gathering herbs was hard work, so he definitely wouldn't throw it away. He smelled it—not unpleasant—no wonder it could be dried and brewed as tea.

Although it had no spiritual energy, it was still medicine. That evening, he enthusiastically crushed it, wrapped it in cloth strips, and applied it to his eyes.

"Huh? It's actually quite comfortable." It felt cool, with a hint of mint fragrance and a slight bitterness of grass.

However, compared to applying it on his eyes, he preferred to use it for tea. After drying, the fragrance of Bright Eye Grass became even stronger, and it tasted quite good as tea. Shang Yunduo also wanted to grind it up and add it to his spice mix.

He liked it, and Spirit Rhino liked it too. The grass drying on the deck was mostly eaten by the frolicking Spirit Rhino.

By the time Shang Yunduo finished refining a furnace of pills and wanted to drink tea, even the tea had been drunk up by Spirit Rhino.

"Aren't you afraid of getting burned?" And it broke another cup! "If you keep this up, I'm not letting you out to play again!"

Spirit Rhino lay on the cushion, blinking its round, beautiful eyes at him innocently.

Whether it was the effectiveness of Bright Eye Grass or just that enough time had passed, his eyesight began to recover slightly. One morning after waking up, Shang Yunduo vaguely felt that he seemed to see a glimmer of light. Although it was just a fleeting moment, it was enough to make him leap out of bed with joy. He didn't even put on his clothes before running to find Pei Jie. After Pei Jie made him lie down for an examination, Shang Yunduo was still buzzing.

His body was fine, and his previous injuries had mostly healed. Logically, his eyes should've recovered ages ago. Pei Jie couldn't explain why.

Could it really be that bundle of grass taking effect?

Better safe than sorry. Since the healer was no help and the mortal's herbs seemed to be working, Pei Jie decided to take him to see a mortal doctor.

Try anything even if it's hopeless.

Even if it doesn't cure him, it won't make things worse.

They packed up and headed straight for a nearby human town. Once in town, they asked about the best medical clinic and went for a checkup.

It was the summer harvest season. On the streets, many people were selling and buying grain, some carried baskets of fruit and veggies, and some led kids to the morning market. Suddenly going from the silent Boundary Mountain to the city, hearing the bustling vendor cries, chatter, and the laughter and shouts of adults and children, Shang Yunduo felt a strange sense of novelty.

So lively!

He hadn't heard such liveliness in ages.

The cities run by cultivators weren't like this, and demon cultivator cities even less so. Only where mortals gathered could you find such rich and lively bustle. Standing there a while, it felt like even a transcendent being would pick up the dust of the mortal world.

Shang Yunduo suddenly grabbed Pei Jie's hand tightly.

"Hm?" Pei Jie was puzzled. They were surrounded by mortals, what was he doing?

Shang Yunduo: "You need to hold my hand."

Pei Jie: "?"

Shang Yunduo: "I can't see. With so many people, we might get separated."

Pei Jie: "..."

He looked down. All over the street, the only ones holding hands were kids—kids no taller than his waist, kids who might run off.

Pei Jie held back a smile and continued to lead him, all the while being stared at by the little ones tugging at their parents' hands and wanting candy.

At the medical clinic, an old doctor with white hair and beard frowned while taking his pulse and examining his eyes, then said hesitantly, "From your pulse, young man, there's nothing wrong with you. Not only is there nothing wrong, but you're as strong as an ox."

Pei Jie immediately burst out laughing.

The old doctor also laughed and continued, "Just that you've got a bit too much internal heat. You haven't hit your head, and your eyes haven't suffered external injury. The temporary blindness might be from too much heat and anger... I'll prescribe a few doses to cool you down and clear your vision. Try taking them."

Shang Yunduo: "Does the prescription include Bright Eye Grass?"

Old doctor: "Yes."

That's fine, then.

While picking up the prescription, he also bought some extra Bright Eye Grass to brew tea.

Coming out of the pharmacy, Shang Yunduo shook the medicine bag and grinned, "Senior, what does it mean if the healers couldn't cure me, but mortal medicine works?"

Pei Jie: "It means your blindness isn't an aftereffect of demonic transformation."

Shang Yunduo: "Huh?"

Pei Jie: "If you can really be cured by ordinary herbs, then it proves that the Illusion Art has nothing to do with spiritual energy." Shang Yunduo was confused. "Huh? Um..."

That makes sense too. In the cultivation world, healing mainly relies on spiritual power. If a Healer or Alchemy Cultivator can't cure him, that proves his spiritual power is fine.

Of course, Healers and Alchemy Cultivators also understand mortal medicine; in fact, these medical skills are basic knowledge. If the old physician really could cure him, it's not because the physician's skill is extraordinary, but because the medicine happened to be the right one for his condition.

It's a pity that he couldn't use his Illusion Art either; otherwise, he could see if there was anything special about these herbs.

With Pei Jie's hint and recalling that Pei Jie once said his blindness was caused by overdrawing his talent, since his spiritual power was fine, Shang Yunduo thought of a possibility: 'Could it be that I'm overdrawing those dots in my body?'

Pei Jie had naturally thought of this possibility long ago, and had even tried to use Illusion Art to examine his eyes, but unfortunately he had no talent for Illusion Art and couldn't figure anything out. 'It's possible.'

Shang Yunduo: 'Right, right! Those dots are just like spiritual power—they're all energy!'

But now he couldn't tell if the dots on his body were gone.

Seeing that he looked as if he had discovered some great secret, Pei Jie found it amusing. 'The author of the Illusion Art, in his final debate, discussed non-spiritual techniques. Unfortunately, too much time has passed, and no one recorded the specifics of the debate. I've only heard the name of that debate.'

A thousand years ago, and even since the division, or even earlier, the cultivation world had always assumed that the only path of cultivation was through spiritual power. Any talk of non-spiritual techniques was pure fantasy.

Now he got it.

Unfortunately, this non-spiritual technique was not suitable for everyone; perhaps its requirements were even stricter than needing a spiritual root to draw spiritual energy into the body.

But could one achieve Ascension through the Illusion Art alone?

So far, none of its previous owners, including the creator, has achieved Ascension.

Shang Yunduo didn't really care about that; after all, he didn't cultivate for Ascension. He was just curious: 'What cultivation level did the author of the Illusion Art have? Was it the Transformation stage?'

Pei Jie: 'Deity Transformation stage.'

Shang Yunduo: 'Deity... Wow!!'

Shang Yunduo almost choked on his own breath. He remembered that in this world, the number of humans and demons in the Deity Transformation stage combined was less than ten, and even their names were rarely mentioned. Whether they were alive or dead was unknown.

No wonder Flying Owl had been so relentless in chasing Pei Jie back then.

A technique left by a Deity Transformation cultivator—maybe if he mastered it, he could also break through to the Deity Transformation stage.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help asking: 'Senior, what cultivation level did you have before? Was it also the Deity Transformation stage at your peak?'

Pei Jie shook his head: 'Late Nascent Soul.'

Shang Yunduo: 'That's very impressive!'

There wouldn't be many cultivators at the Late Nascent Soul stage in both the human and demon realms—it's hard to say if there are even thirty of them. And Pei Jie was undefeated among cultivators at the same stage. Wasn't he the strongest cultivator below the Deity Transformation stage?!

Shang Yunduo: 'Senior, how about I teach you the Illusion Art?'

Pei Jie: 'Hm?'

Shang Yunduo: 'Maybe if you learn it, you can also advance to the Transformation stage.'

Pei Jie laughed: 'Keep it for yourself. Techniques are not necessarily better in greater numbers; they need to suit you. My failed breakthrough wasn't due to the technique.'

Shang Yunduo: 'Failed breakthrough?'

Didn't that mean that Pei Jie hadn't just entered the Late Nascent Soul stage, but had already reached the Nascent Soul Perfection, just one step away from entering the Deity Transformation stage?

No wonder he so casually gave away the Illusion Art, a Deity Transformation stage technique—it turned out that he could reach the Deity Transformation stage on his own.

But how exactly did he fall from half-step Deity Transformation all the way back to the Qi Refining stage?

Before he could finish asking, Shang Yunduo was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise of gongs and drums. The frantic sound made him want to cover his ears.

'Come, take a look! Treasure Pavilion's three-hundred-year anniversary sale! All treasures discounted, even the store's treasure is for sale! Hey, hey, you two young men, are you from out of town? Come in and take a look! Come in!' A shop assistant with an unusually loud voice grabbed Shang Yunduo's sleeve without a word and dragged him in.

With a confused grunt, Shang Yunduo was pulled inside. His Spiritual Sense swept over—it seemed to be a small shop, packed full of goods. While being dragged in, he kicked something that sounded like wood. The whole shop seemed to sell nothing special. A few items with spiritual power were all packed in boxes and placed on high shelves.

He took a quick glance—well, it was probably the kind of quality that Chen Zhi bought to trick people when he was sweeping goods in Sifang City.

Sure enough, as soon as he stood still, he heard some neighbors whispering: 'Fooling out-of-towners again.' 'He's been celebrating this three-hundred-year anniversary for almost eight hundred days now.' 'Look, look, he's bringing out that fake trash again.'

Then a middle-aged man with an honest-looking face approached and said to them and a few other customers who had just been dragged in: 'We've got artifacts, talismans, spirit herbs, spirit medicines, rare demon stuff, and precious pills. Honored guests, anything you need?'

Someone immediately said: 'No thanks, no thanks!'

Then he turned and bolted.

'Hey, hey! Customer!' The assistant started chasing after him.

The remaining three, either actually interested or still confused. Shang Yunduo wanted to leave too, but Pei Jie didn't say anything—he seemed to be staring at something on the shelf. So he stayed quiet, listening to the middle-aged man introduce the so-called artifacts while scanning the shelf with his Spiritual Sense, curious about what Pei Jie was looking at.

After introducing the three to the items, the middle-aged man asked him: 'Young man, what would you like to see?'

Shang Yunduo: 'I...'

He couldn't tell what Pei Jie was looking at.

'That one.' He pointed at the shelf. 'What's that?'

'Oh wow, you've got great taste!' The middle-aged man slapped his thigh. 'That's my family's heirloom—the store's treasure!'

Shang Yunduo: '...'

Wasn't this the Treasure Basin that the neighbors had just gossiped about, the one that hasn't sold in four generations?

Author's Note:

Shopkeeper: 'Customer, you have great taste!'

Shang Yunduo: 'I'm blind.'

Shopkeeper: 'What?! Even though you can't see, you still picked it out! A gift from the heavens!'

Shang Yunduo: '... After two years of cultivation, do I still look like an easy mark?'

Shopkeeper: 'It's a real treasure! I swear! Just listen to the name—Treasure Basin! Treasure!'