Chapter 308 Compensation

Chapter 308: Compensation

No matter how chaotic things got outside, deep within the Endless Sandsea there was only silence.

This was a lifeless place, a true no-man's-land.

Deep under the desert, it should've been even more deathly still.

But when Pei Jie finally woke up, he momentarily forgot he was lying under the Endless Sandsea.

Glowing artifacts hung overhead, with pots of trailing vines dangling to block the light.

He seemed to be sleeping in a sand pit, the edges planted with flowers and greenery.

Bitter and sweet smells mixed with the scent of dried herbs and medicinal plants along the walls, creating a weird medicinal odor.

Not bad, but not exactly good either.

The cave should've been pitch-black and dead silent, but these plants—not exactly thriving, but alive—and Shang Yunduo sprawled across his stomach, breathing slow and steady, brought it to life.

Pei Jie shifted a little, tucking away his feathered wings. Shang Yunduo was still dead asleep, one hand clutching a compass, the other holding a book.

Pei Jie picked up the book to look at it—it was a formation manual, and from the handwriting, it was Shang Yunduo's own.

Since he'd last seen him, Shang Yunduo's handwriting had gotten much smoother, and his diagrams and strokes were way more confident.

Pei Jie patted his head, brushing the hair off Shang Yunduo's face, and sure enough, saw exhaustion written all over it.

He pinched Shang Yunduo's cheek, and Shang Yunduo nuzzled into his stomach, letting go of the compass to hug him tight before going still again.

Pei Jie chuckled. "What've you been up to to get this tired?"

His voice was hoarse from not being used, barely a whisper, but Shang Yunduo's head shot up right away.

He squinted, looking confused, glanced up at Pei Jie, mumbled "Senior," and lay back down.

Pei Jie found it funny. He silently counted to three, and sure enough, Shang Yunduo suddenly snapped awake, jumped up, and yelled "Senior!" as he threw himself on him.

"You're awake, you're awake!"

Pei Jie got knocked flat again. "Mm, I'm awake."

Shang Yunduo's voice was already choked up as he buried his face next to Pei Jie's. "I thought I was dreaming again."

Pei Jie: "Did I sleep that long?"

Shang Yunduo whined, all pitiful. "Mm!"

Pei Jie smiled.

Shang Yunduo: "How are your injuries? You better? Why'd you put your wings away? I've been guessing how you were doing from your wings..."

As he talked, he instinctively pulled the blanket off Pei Jie, and instead of pretty feathers, he saw familiar skin.

After ten years of deep sleep, Pei Jie had clearly recovered well—less pale, more color in his face, skin healthy and full, though the muscle definition in his chest and abs wasn't as sharp as before, making him look softer.

At his worst, even Pei Jie's face had been covered in feathers, his whole body almost fully demonized. Though his upper body had turned back human since, Shang Yunduo hadn't seen him like this in a long time.

Shang Yunduo was stunned for a second, not moving.

Pei Jie: "Where you looking?"

Shang Yunduo's face went bright red instantly.

Thick white mist filled the whole room, completely blocking out another presence.

Pei Jie: "Who's that in the other room? A Bai?"

Shang Yunduo: "Mm!"

He quickly pulled the blanket back over Pei Jie. "A Bai can float out of the Soul-Hosting Wood for a bit now."

With Kong Yu—a big-shot senior who'd once cultivated all the way to breaking through realms as a Ghost Cultivator—around, A Bai wanting to learn ghost cultivation was like having an expert coach.

Only problem was, Kong Yu thought he was super slow.

Now Kong Yu had stuck A Bai with the nickname "Dummy" and would occasionally call him an idiot.

But ever since he'd gotten the sudden idea to put the Sea-Subduing Flag with the Soul-Hosting Wood, letting Kong Yu temporarily move into the Soul-Hosting Wood to teach A Bai, things had gotten a lot quieter.

With the studious A Bai keeping Kong Yu busy, Shang Yunduo felt genuinely relaxed and happy, and had even carved out a big new room for them.

But he'd only share Kong Yu with A Bai.

Kong Yu, who had no sense of boundaries, also had to be kept out of his space.

Pei Jie looked at the mist—thicker and whiter than at the Border Mountains—and smiled. "Guess I really did sleep for a long time."

Shang Yunduo: "Mm!"

Pei Jie reached out, pulled him closer, and kissed Shang Yunduo.

Shang Yunduo's face got even hotter and redder as he stammered. "Is this... compensation?"

Pei Jie: "Yeah."

Shang Yunduo: "Then... kiss me again."

Pei Jie obliged, giving him a light peck that gradually deepened.

Shang Yunduo let out a soft hum, staring at Pei Jie with burning intensity.

Pei Jie smiled, pulling him down to lie beside him, all his senses slowly waking up with the kiss.

The white mist swirled, clinging and surging.

The cold underground got stifling, and the carefully cultivated Spiritual Plants got knocked all over the place.

Shang Yunduo hastily tidied up, brought water over, and they each drank half a pot to cool off some of the lingering heat.

Shang Yunduo pressed up against him again, warm and eager. Pei Jie brushed the sand off him and kissed Shang Yunduo, whose heart still hadn't slowed down.

Pei Jie asked. "Did you find this sand too?"

Shang Yunduo: "This was originally a sand pit, but it's been so long that the coral and beast bones that could replenish it are gone—so it doesn't do much anymore."

Pei Jie ruffled Shang Yunduo's hair. "And these spiritual herbs?"

Shang Yunduo: "I dug these up myself! With my own hands!"

Shang Yunduo launched into a lively account of how he had discovered these spiritual herbs.

Pei Jie asked him to start from the time he left Wentian City.

Shang Yunduo muttered, "It's been so long I don't even remember," then chattered on nonstop about everything that had happened since they parted, and what had occurred over the past decade.

After the spirit stone mine was blown up, the soil really did become more fertile. Now countless mortals had moved to the outskirts of Wentian City, with a small village every few dozen li, and they had carved out huge stretches of farmland.

People even traveled thousands of li to move there, and Wentian City had once again become a holy site in mortal eyes.

The old sects whose spirit stone veins had been destroyed chased him for years, but since they could never find him, most eventually gave up and found other things to do. Only a few stubborn, dogged ones were still sniffing around for news of him. But the cultivation world was huge, so they rarely ran into each other. Some late Nascent Soul cultivator somehow found out he went to Boundary Mountain every year and actually showed up to ambush him.

Then the Spirit Severing cultivators politely but firmly sat him down, "fairly and impartially" mediated the dispute, and forced the guy to make nice with him.

Of course, as compensation, Shang Yunduo had to give the other party half a vein's worth of spirit stones, which still stung a little. Because when those demon clan Spirit Severing cultivators dug up someone else's spirit stone veins, they didn't have to pay a single thing.

They were just picking on him because his cultivation was low.

After Feixiao died, the Night Owl clan got ganged up on by several other clans, lost their territory, and had to move out to the boonies. The demon clan still hadn't picked a new Demon King—a few had declared themselves king, but nobody could get everyone to fall in line.

Now the demon clans were fighting even harder among themselves. The big clans were fine, but the small ones stuck in between were having a rough time.

He figured the demon clan's overall combat strength was high not just because of their racial edge, but because they were fighting all the time—even the ones who didn't go looking for trouble couldn't dodge it when it came knocking.

When he went to the demon territories to scout for ores and spirit herbs, he ran into an old acquaintance, the Tiger King. The Tiger King didn't ask why he'd disguised himself as a tiger back then—instead, he asked how Pei Jie was doing and even helped him score a bunch of ores...

On the human side, Wen Fei had died. He attended the funeral. He honestly thought Wen Fei was more impressive than any cultivator.

His senior sister was still in closed-door cultivation.

He didn't know if she'd been affected when the spirit stone vault in Wentian City blew up, but Kong Yu had stirred up her heart demon before. Kong Yu said she had almost no shot at forming a nascent soul.

He didn't buy it and argued with Kong Yu. He was afraid that butting in rashly might mess with his senior sister, but he didn't know many Nascent Soul cultivators to ask. So in the end, he asked Pei Ke.

Pei Jie couldn't help laughing. "Did he help you?"

"Mm..." Shang Yunduo scratched the tip of his nose, still a bit awkward. "He's actually not a bad guy, I guess... just a bit stuck in his ways."

Ever since he'd started going to Boundary Mountain alone, Pei Ke would show up a few days early every year and wait for him. Before leaving, he'd also watch until Shang Yunduo was safely on his way, like he was looking out for him on Pei Jie's behalf.

But he barely talked. Every time they chatted, the only thing he'd ask was whether Pei Jie was doing better, and he never once offered to come see him.

That left Shang Yunduo unable to even muster any jealousy, and even more awkward about asking, "Did you ever love my senior?"

"He taught me a few methods and told me that fighting a heart demon ultimately comes down to yourself. Otherwise, even if you barely manage to form a nascent soul, your cultivation base won't be stable, and you might even regress and lose years off your life. He told me not to worry too much and definitely not to force anything."

Pei Jie nodded.

Actually, when it came to heart demons, Shang Yunduo should've been able to see through them more easily than Pei Ke. It was just that he had no experience, and his worry was clouding his judgment.

"If you're worried, go to Wentian City and play some calming, mind-settling tunes, and transplant a few spirit herbs and trees that clear the mind."

"Pei Ke said the same thing and even told me where to find that sort of tree. He told me that rushing to form a nascent soul without proper preparation could take ten or even decades, and that's normal. At first I didn't believe him, but then I thought about it—after all these years, my own cultivation hasn't budged much either, so forming a nascent soul must be really tough."

He looked at Pei Jie again. "You were hurt so badly, you'll definitely need years to recover too. So I'm not in a rush."

Hearing that, Pei Jie grabbed Shang Yunduo's hand and squeezed it over and over. "You've been through a lot."

Shang Yunduo said, "It's been a bit rough, but if you'd kiss me..."

Pei Jie laughed helplessly. "Haven't you had enough kissing?"

Shang Yunduo said, "I want to kiss you every single day."

Pei Jie said, "Fine."

Shang Yunduo immediately exercised his newly granted right, and they cuddled for a good while longer before Pei Jie carefully checked his meridians.

He'd noticed earlier during their dual cultivation that, maybe because of all the demonic transformations, Shang Yunduo's meridians were wider than before—already on par with a lot of Golden Core cultivators. Yet he was still at the Foundation Establishment stage, and his body didn't even store much spiritual power.

When he said his cultivation hadn't changed over the years, Pei Jie became even more certain.

Previously, whether it was sealing Kong Yu, facing a group of Nascent Soul cultivators alone, or subsequently using illusion arts to trap Spirit Severing cultivators, he had overexerted his body and damaged his meridians. Although the injuries appeared healed now, his foundation had ultimately been harmed. Shang Yunduo might never be able to form a golden core.

Pei Jie was silent for a long while.

Shang Yunduo said, "Senior?"

Pei Jie said, "You only know how to find herbs to heal me—why don't you look after yourself?"

Shang Yunduo said, "Me? I'm fine. It's not like spiritual cultivation is the only path in this world. I can be a music cultivator, a demon cultivator, or an alchemist."

Shang Yunduo counted on his fingers. "Besides, I've already undergone demonic transformation. Even with just a tiny bit of mirage dragon blood, my lifespan is longer than an ordinary Golden Core cultivator's. Our dragon clan has strong recovery abilities—maybe I'll just heal myself over time. The mirage dragon clan never had much in the way of healing methods anyway... And I can refine longevity pills for myself!"

Pei Jie stayed silent, still brooding over it.

The remedies he could think of, when viewed over a long timeline, might all be inferior to simply letting Shang Yunduo recover slowly.

But how much he could recover—even Shang Yunduo himself couldn't say. Perhaps his cultivation would be stuck at this level forever.

Shang Yunduo tugged at his arm. "I don't mind my low cultivation. Do you mind me?"

Pei Jie said grumpily, "What do you think?"

Shang Yunduo grinned. "It doesn't matter whether you mind or not. I can run really fast now—you can't shake me off."

"..." Pei Jie didn't speak, but he thought, why did he need to run so fast? Because he was being hunted by those Nascent Soul cultivators? Or because someone thought his cultivation was low and wanted to steal his treasures?

Shang Yunduo didn't realize he had let something slip. He just happily pressed against Pei Jie and grinned foolishly. "Don't think about all that. Didn't we both survive?"

That was enough.

Back then, he had been certain he was going to die.

If Pei Jie died, he couldn't go on living.

If he died, Pei Jie wouldn't be as fragile as him—he would keep thinking about avenging him, constantly taking risks.

He didn't want that.

The present was better.

Pei Jie was awake, and his sky had cleared.