“You can’t possibly be Feng Qiubai, can you?”
There was no way it could be such a coincidence. Besides, Feng Qiubai was hundreds of years old, and this guy looked far too young.
“I didn’t expect Young Master Yu to be so young and yet know of someone like me.” He looked quite pleased with himself.
“You really are Feng Qiubai?”
In the original text, Feng Qiubai was portrayed as a handsome man. There was some kind of attractiveness ranking list in the book, with Duan Qianyue ranked first and Feng Qiubai second.
Because the female protagonist had very little screen time and ultimately didn’t achieve a proper happy ending, when I glanced at the comment section back then, the highest-voted comments were all shipping Feng Qiubai and Duan Qianyue.
Yu Xin had also loved shipping male-male couplings, which was why I had some familiarity with this. Looking back at the person in front of me, his appearance was indeed rather ordinary, let alone comparable to Duan Qianyue.
“I never change my name when I travel, nor do I hide my surname. I am indeed Feng Qiubai.” With that, he produced a folding fan and snapped it open in his hand.
Inscribed on the fan in bold, flowing calligraphy were three large characters: Feng Qiubai. Although it was somewhat absurd, the original text had mentioned this very fan, serving to show that Feng Qiubai was an extremely narcissistic person.
“Do you have the antidote for the blue grass poison?” I asked casually, not holding out much hope since I was, after all, someone who had read the original work.
“Everyone knows that the blue grass poison has no cure.”
I turned to leave, but he called out to me.
“Young Master Yu, please stay your step.” Seeing that I was truly walking away, he stopped keeping me in suspense.
“However, there is indeed a method to prevent the blue grass poison from relapsing.”
I looked back at him, and he continued:
“Dual cultivation.”
“What is dual cultivation?” Seeing that I had taken an interest, he motioned for me to sit closer and poured me a cup of wine.
“This dual cultivation involves joining with a partner in intimacy. Your partner’s cultivation level must be higher than yours, and the higher, the better. I only found out about this by chance: a certain cultivator contracted the blue grass poison but never suffered a relapse, and it was later discovered that he engaged in dual cultivation every single night.”
My brow furrowed deeply as I listened. I didn’t belong to this world in the first place, and I still held high hopes of returning. I didn’t expect I would be getting married and having children in this world.
On top of that, I would have to find a female disciple whose cultivation level was higher than mine. In this novel, most of the powerful characters were male, and female cultivators with high cultivation levels were either quite old or… Never mind, I couldn’t be bothered to think about it. I would just cross that bridge when I came to it.
“Thank you for the information. My junior brother is still waiting for me outside, so I must take my leave.”
Feng Qiubai closed the folding fan in his hand and pressed it lightly against my shoulder. “Don’t be in such a hurry, Young Master. Let me offer you a small token.” With a flick of his hand, he materialized two talismans and held them out before me.
“What are these?”
“A transmission talisman and a summons talisman. If you ever need anything, Feng is more than willing to oblige.”
These were genuinely useful items for saving one’s life.
“Many thanks.” I put the items away safely.
“Until we meet again, Brother Ah Yu.”
As soon as I descended to the first floor, I heard Chen Xiaowu’s voice.
More than a dozen people were already sprawled across the floor at the entrance, while Chen Xiaowu was still shouting:
“Release my senior brother, or I will raze this Drunken Dream Pavilion of yours to the ground!”
I hurried outside, pretending to be an ordinary passerby as I rounded the corner, only to be spotted by him.
“Senior Brother, you’re out! They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”
I let out a sigh. My foolish junior brother really must have thought there were demons inside.
Once we had walked a good distance away, I looked back at him.
“Why is Senior Brother looking at me like that?”
Never mind. Educating people was a job best left to Master. Although this junior brother was a bit foolish, he was certainly loyal and righteous.
“My junior brother cares for me so deeply. I am truly moved.”
“Hehe, just now I was about to charge right in and save Senior Brother.”
I sighed and changed the subject. “Junior Brother, have you ever heard of Feng Qiubai?”
“Of course, I’ve heard of him! Several hundred years ago, a cultivation prodigy appeared who reached the Mahayana realm in just a few short decades, but his heavenly tribulation failed, and he vanished ever since. Some say he died, while others say he retired into seclusion in the mountains. Why did Senior Brother suddenly ask about this?”
Right, Chen Xiaowu was a character within the story, and his understanding of Feng Qiubai was limited strictly to rumors.
In this world, it was quite common for cultivators to live for hundreds or thousands of years. If Feng Qiubai wanted to roam freely and enjoy himself within Luocheng without being recognized, naturally he couldn’t show his true face to the world.
As written in the original text, those who wished to find him would go looking for him at his residence.
Presumably, while he put on the airs of an otherworldly expert, his inner self was actually quite wild, using disguises to go out and indulge in wine and merriment.
“What is Senior Brother thinking about?” Seeing that I hadn’t responded for a long time, Chen Xiaowu asked.
“I was just pondering some matters. Junior Brother, you must not act so rashly next time. No matter what, those people are ordinary mortals with no power to truss a chicken, and they are no match for you.”
“Understood.”
At that moment, a palm-sized spiritual crane flew over and settled gently in my palm. Master’s voice rang out: “The matter concerning the Wang family has been resolved. Yu Er, return to the sect as soon as possible; your cultivation must not be delayed.”
“Ah, we have to go back already. I haven’t had enough fun yet, and I haven’t even eaten many of the good foods here in Luocheng. Who knows when I’ll get to come out again,” Chen Xiaowu grumbled dejectedly.
I, on the other hand, was hoping to get back sooner. I was still far too weak right now; I couldn’t even defeat a mere gray bear spirit, which was utterly humiliating.
After returning to the Rong Prince’s Estate to pack up briefly and handle some arrangements, we set off on our journey.
Suddenly remembering the food the junior sister had asked for before we left the mountain gates, and figuring that since Duan Qianyue had already treated me the way he did, I needn’t worry about him seeing me as a love rival, I decided to buy them anyway. Otherwise, the little girl would throw a tantrum and cry, which would be even more of a headache.
I had someone buy the items, and Ah Yun drove the carriage to drop us off at the foot of the mountain, after which Chen Xiaowu used his flying sword to carry me back to the sect.
That kid Chen Xiaowu had actually sneaked out without permission, and Master intended to punish him, but I interceded on his behalf.
“Master is well aware that my cultivation is impaired, and Junior Brother Xiaowu only accompanied me down the mountain to protect me.”
Taking into account his young, playful disposition, the punishment was waived.
I picked out a few foundational cultivation manuals and finally managed to sort out the seven stages of cultivation: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Transformation of Deity, Tribulation Transcendence, Mahayana, and Ascension.
In the beginning, gathering a tiny speck of spiritual energy at your fingertips was enough to ignite or extinguish a candle several meters away, while later on, channeling spiritual energy into a sword allowed a single sword aura to chop down a tree a hundred meters out.
However, you couldn’t use it constantly. This wasn’t just about brawling; even regular cultivation carried consequences. Minor bouts brought a sharp pain in the chest, while major ones led to vomiting and coughing up blood. If this were the modern world, I would have thought I had a terminal illness and was on the verge of death.
Yaoshuang and Chen Xiaowu occasionally came to visit me. Because they were younger and had to follow the unified cultivation schedule within the sect, they didn’t have the freedom of time that I, the senior head disciple, enjoyed.
Every time they came, they would tell me who had broken through to the Golden Core stage, or who had been punished by Master, and sometimes they would team up to go catch spiritual beasts in the Foggy Forest.
The Foggy Forest was located halfway up the back mountain and was shrouded in mist year-round, which was how it got its name. The spiritual beasts inside were mostly of the first or second rank and posed no real danger.
Going to the Foggy Forest was considered a form of reward within the sect, permitted only with Master’s approval. The spiritual beasts captured could be kept as pets, eaten to strengthen the body, or taken to the sect’s accounting room to be exchanged for silver taels or equivalent items, such as weapons, talismans, and spiritual cranes.