Chapter 112 Return to the Mortal Realm: News of the Missing Spirit Essence Spreads
Lou Shuhe's throat was a little hoarse, "You..."
The small white flowers in the box are isolated by spiritual energy, preventing the fragrance and pollen from spreading and drawing people into an illusion.
Song Yin placed the box in Lou Shuhe's hands, "Grandmaster, please wait a moment."
She ran to other rooms, cut off a palm-sized piece of the hidden Brahma Thorn, put it in a new box, and then ran back to her master and stuffed the box into her master's other hand.
Purple thorns lay in the wooden box, and Lou Shuhe felt like she might be dreaming.
"Didn't it disappear from the cultivation world tens of thousands of years ago?" Lou Shuhe's voice was soft, afraid of being startled awake from her dream, but if this was a dream, it was too real.
To her, the Brahma flower was far more precious than the giant spiritual marrow outside the house compared to the Brahma flower in the box.
Song Yin: "Grandmaster, I have gathered all the spiritual herbs needed for the Soul-Returning Pill."
Lou Shuhe understood Song Yin's meaning. She looked at her grand-disciple with clear and bright eyes, "You've brought out two treasures in a row. Aren't you afraid I'll keep them all for myself?"
Song Yin: "But I took it out to give to my master, and I can't refine the Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill. At most, I can only refine the Four-Turn Rejuvenation Pill."
Lou Shuhe gripped the wooden box tightly; Song Yin's sincere words struck her heart like a hammer blow.
Song Yin: "I think each of my grandmaster, master, mistress, and senior brother should carry a Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill with them. Oh right, grandmaster, please give one to Shi Heming. He may not have made any great contributions, but he has worked hard. He contributed to both the spiritual marrow and the Brahma Flower."
Lou Shuhe: "..."
She wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
How fortunate Danque Peak is to have encountered such a successor. She possesses a pure and sincere heart, yet she is also ruthless in her methods. Cautious, decisive, clear about right and wrong, and clear-headed, these various characteristics blend together to form the unique Song Yin.
A Song dynasty accent that cannot be summarized in just a few words.
Lou Shuhe: "Grandmaster will not let the Heavenly Burning Flower go to waste. When you return from the mortal realm, come directly to me to get the pill."
Song Yin: "I still want to know, why did my master insist that I go to the mortal realm?"
Lou Shuhe: "I am a divination cultivator. I just cast a divination, and it says that your journey to the mortal realm will be beneficial to you. I won't tell you exactly what will happen, but in time, you will reap the rewards."
"Grandmaster, aren't you a pill cultivator?" Song Yin was stunned by her grandmaster's question about divination.
Lou Shuhe: "Aren't you a pill cultivator? How come you're a sword cultivator?"
I understand now. Our grandmaster also practiced dual cultivation! And specifically, the Dan Gua dual cultivation!
No wonder my grandmaster wasn't surprised at all that she cultivated both alchemy and swordsmanship!
Song Yin: "It seems that the most useless person on Danque Peak has become the master. We all cultivate two paths, but only the master cultivates the Dao of Alchemy alone."
Lou Shuhe nodded, "That's right, my master is a practitioner of both alchemy and array formation."
Song Yin silently swallowed her saliva. Wasn't it said that there were fewer people practicing dual cultivation, and that choosing one path would make cultivation easier?
It turns out she practices two paths, which is a tradition of Danque Peak.
The master was the one who broke the tradition, and she announced that the master would be kicked out of Danque Peak.
Lou Shuhe: "Very few people know that I am a divination cultivator. Those who know about it are either dead or have ascended to heaven. Letting others know that there is a Mahayana-stage divination cultivator still alive in the world is a very troublesome thing, so do you understand?"
Song Yin made a gesture of tightening her mouth, "Don't worry, Grandmaster, I will keep my mouth shut."
She took out a magical artifact. "Grandmaster, there are still the souls of four evil cultivators inside. I originally planned to exchange them for contribution points in the sect, but now it seems I can only deal with it privately."
Lou Shuhe took the ritual implement, and without even opening it, she cast a spell through the small gourd.
"Alright, I've taken care of it for you."
Song Yin was surprised that her grandmaster had intervened directly. "Thank you, grandmaster."
"Let me teach you another technique for dealing with the soul." Lou Shuhe touched Song Yin's brow with her fingertip.
After transmitting the technique, Lou Shuhe continued, "The fact that the Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill can be refined must also be kept secret. If the news is leaked, it will cause a lot of trouble."
Lou Shuhe thought to herself that she had to handle things properly and not leave any trouble for Song Yin.
"Wen Zhiling, Qi Zibo, and Shi Heming, come in."
Upon hearing the ancestor's summons, the three obeyed and entered the house.
Elder Yuan was still immersed in the giant spiritual marrow when Shi Heming called him over, explaining that he also had a share of the spiritual marrow. Ah, his disciple was so filial.
As for why Old Master Lou invited them in but left him outside, he neither asked nor inquired about it.
Lou Shuhe asked Shi Heming, "You know about the pills, right?"
Shi Heming: "Yes."
Lou Shuhe: "Okay." She flew the wooden box to Qi Zibo's hand. "The Brahma Flower, your apprentice found it. She also gathered all the spiritual herbs needed for the Rejuvenation Pill and asked me to refine a Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill for each of you."
Qi Zibo looked at the Brahma Flower, then at Song Yin, then at the Brahma Flower again, then at Song Yin again…
Lou Shuhe: "The matter of the elixir is rather complicated and cannot be leaked. Therefore, I will make all of you swear an oath that you will not reveal a single word of what happened today to anyone else. At the same time, I will also place a restriction on you to prevent any accidents from happening. Wen Zhiling, bring Shen Yuzhu to me later as well."
In the world of cultivation, there are countless methods to be devised. Without setting up restrictions, who can guarantee that things won't be revealed?
Wen Zhiling was still out of the loop, so Qi Zibo explained the effects of the Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill to her.
After listening, Wen Zhiling was unable to calm down for a long time. When she looked at Song Yin smiling, her heart suddenly felt sore and soft.
Over the years, she hadn't been particularly devoted to taking care of Song Yin, nor had she ever thought that Song Yin would repay her kindness in raising and educating her. She just hoped that Song Yin could grow up safely and have a smooth life.
Who would have thought that she would return with such a wonderful surprise! It's truly astonishing...
Song Yin: "Ta-da~ A surprise for everyone!"
Wen Zhiling and the others accepted Lou Shuhe's request, each swearing an oath, and also had Lou Shuhe implant the restriction into their bodies.
Everyone present kept their mouths shut about what happened at Danque Peak today, leaving no trace.
Elder Yuan and Shi Heming were the first to leave.
After returning to his Dao Seeking Peak, Elder Yuan was still filled with excitement. Thinking of his two filial and sensible children who would be going to the mortal realm for five years, he immediately rummaged through the treasures he had collected over the years.
Wen Zhiling asked Song Yin to wait a moment. She went straight back to Wujian Peak and prepared many things that Song Yin might need, and also prepared a set for Shi Heming.
Qi Zibo handed Song Yin a familiar-looking key.
Song Yin looked at the key and it seemed familiar. "Isn't this the key to the pill storeroom?"
Qi Zibo: "It's not easy to collect these pills. I know you've been thinking about them, so I'm giving them to you today. This is the last pill storehouse."
Song Yin's expression went blank. "Master, you're just giving this to me like this? What about you?"
Qi Zibo: "You're not happy even when I call you stupid. Without these stockpiles, I'll naturally start from scratch. Besides, I'm an alchemist, and I also have the Medicine Immortal Pavilion in private. How could I lack pills? I can refine another warehouse full of them for you in no time."
Wen Zhiling came in with a storage ring, saying, "It contains things I prepared for you, as well as some things that are useful in the mortal realm."
Song Yin probed the storage ring with her divine sense and was so frightened that she withdrew, "This is too much."
Wen Zhiling: "Not much. You are a direct disciple. Go out and see, which direct disciple of a major sect isn't rolling in money and making a grand entrance?"
Song Yin raised her hand: "But I'm already wearing a storage ring on my hand."
Wen Zhiling: "Wearing a dozen or twenty fingers is no problem."
She pulled Song Yin's right hand and put the pin on her directly.
Wen Zhiling: "I also told your senior brother. I took him to Elder Lou to place a restriction. When he heard that you hadn't returned to the sect for five years, he ran away. I don't know what you've been doing."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yuzhu ran in from outside.
Shen Yuzhu hurriedly shoved a storage ring into Song Yin's hand, panting as he said, "When I heard you were going to the mortal realm, I thought I'd prepare some things for your trip. But Master and Grandmaster have definitely made preparations in all aspects, so you probably won't need what I've prepared."
"Then I realized that eating too much mortal food is not good for us cultivators, so I went to various restaurants and had them make a lot of food, which I packed and stored in my storage ring."
Wen Zhiling praised, "Not bad, that's thoughtful. Your master and I didn't really consider that. The things in the storage ring won't break, so they can be stored there for as long as they want."
Another storage ring appeared. Song Yin wanted to say that she didn't have such a strong appetite, but seeing her senior brother's expectant expression, she smiled and accepted it.
With everything prepared, Shi Heming returned from Daowen Peak.
Song Yin and Shi Heming quietly returned to their sect and then quietly left again.
A group of parents left behind in their hometowns watched their children leave for a long journey with reluctance.
This is a real long trip, and a very long one at that.
On the flying boat heading to the mortal realm, Shi Heming opened his palm.
An exquisite storage ring lay in the palm of his hand.
Song Yin exclaimed, "Huh? Again!"
Shi Heming: "This was prepared for you by your master. In addition to spirit stones and high-grade talismans, it also contains a flying boat and a personal cave dwelling. He asked me to pass it on to you."
Song Yin raised her hand, "They gave me the two new ones. They prepared a lot of things for us, including food and clothing."
Shi Heming casually slipped the storage ring onto Song Yin's finger, "Now I have a place to stay and travel."
In addition to her existing storage rings, Song Yin now wore two storage rings on each of her left and right hands.
Song Yin looked at the storage ring, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
They had already left the territory of the Immortal Cloud Sect. Song Yin stood by the flying boat, gazing into the distance. The entire landscape was laid out before them, mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, like the veins of the earth.
"Our master only pointed us in the right direction, telling us to go to the mortal realm, but he didn't say exactly where we were going. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Shi Heming: "Either is fine."
As long as he's with Song Yin, it doesn't matter where Shi Heming goes.
“Sigh, in that case, let’s go to the Great Xing Dynasty first and be a Great Xing Dynasty citizen for a while.” Song Yin changed the subject. “No, we were originally Great Xing Dynasty citizens.”
He laughed at himself after saying that.
"In short, I'll take things as they come for the next five years and see how things unfold."
They flew for several days straight, unaware that chaos was gradually breaking out on the ground.
When they were still in the cultivation world, they often saw other cultivators hurrying away in the sky. It wasn't until they crossed the spatial barrier between the two worlds and set foot in the mortal realm that there were no other people in the sky.
They found a secluded spot, lowered the flying boat's altitude, and Shi Heming stored it in his spatial storage. The two then flew for a while before finally finding a proper road. There were quite a few people on the road; some drove oxcarts and mule carts, but most relied on their own two feet. When they saw vehicles passing by, some would look on with envy. People came and went, busy making a living.
Walking down the street, thinking of something, Song Yin suddenly said, "Congratulations to you and me for becoming unregistered residents of the Great Xing Dynasty."
Shi Heming laughed out loud: "Whether it's registering your household or using magic in a critical moment, there are many solutions. It depends on which one you want to choose."
Song Yin: "We only have five years to wait, so of course we'll choose the latter."
As they walked down the street, many people looked at them.
Seeing this, Song Yin cast a small spell on the two of them, making them appear ordinary and less noticeable to passersby.
They walked quickly and saw a mule cart in the distance carrying a large number of people, both adults and children. The cart was heavy with people, so the mule moved very slowly.
The children on the bus were also crying incessantly.
"Shut up, or I'll skin you alive if you keep crying and making a scene."
“If they keep making noise, just gag them. They’re so annoying,” one of them said to the other.
Their unusual behavior attracted the attention of pedestrians on the street.
Some people asked directly, "What are you doing with so many children? Where did you come from, and where are you going?"
The man driving the car shooed them away, saying, "Go away, get out of the way. These are all girls who were sold into slavery by their families. Another one trying to kidnap us. It's so annoying."
Several children, neither too young nor too old, cried incessantly, wanting to say something but being watched by the adults around them, none of them daring to utter a word. The last child who spoke out of turn had his body carelessly thrown into the wilderness to be eaten by wolves.
The pedestrian who was stopped touched his head and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I thought you were a kidnapper."
Song Yin and Shi Heming had already entered by then. Song Yin counted the children on the mule cart; there were seven of them, both girls and boys, all dressed in dirty clothes, and you could smell them from a distance.
These children's eyes were filled with fear and numbness; they lacked the vitality that children their age should have.
"Are all of these really sold?" Song Yin asked the man driving the carriage directly.
The man driving the carriage had a fierce-looking face, typical of someone who looked menacing.
"Otherwise what? Want to be a good person? Then pay with silver. Twenty taels each, all contracts are for life."
A kind passerby reminded Song Yin, "Young lady, they are not kidnappers, it's a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" Song Yin scoffed. "I despise child trafficking and child abduction more than anything else in my life, let alone the fact that you are child abductors."
"What?!" The pedestrian was taken aback.
One of the men in the carriage drew his knife and threatened, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you up!" He then said to the man driving the carriage, "Hurry up and leave, don't cause any trouble."
Song Yin: "Whether they are kidnappers or not, let the children decide for themselves."
As more and more people gathered, it became clear that this was the main road, and there were still many people there during the day.
The person rushing to catch the carriage cursed inwardly: "If only I hadn't been tempted by the main road being easier and shorter, I should have continued to take the side road. What bad luck!"
A burly middle-aged woman on the bus shoved the child in front of her, one hand still gripping the child's lower back. "Quickly tell them, were you sold by your family or were you abducted?"
The child cried out in pain, then sobbed, "Sold, sold by my family."
The onlookers advised Song Yin, "Why don't you just give up? These are obviously going to be sold off."
Shi Heming drew a mantra with his fingers under his sleeve and struck one of the older girls, "Tell me, were you sold by your family?"
Under the threatening gazes of many, the older girls wanted to say that they had been sold, but their mouths wouldn't stop them, and they blurted out the whole truth.
“None of us were sold. My home is in Qiyuan County, Changzhou. If I tell the truth, I will be beaten to death and thrown into the mountains to be eaten by wolves.”
Song Yin and Shi Heming both looked at the little girl. The place she mentioned was the place where they lived before they entered the Xianxiao Sect.
By all accounts, the young girl and they were from the same hometown.
"What are you saying, you brat!" the woman shrieked!
The burly man pointed at her: "You're talking nonsense, aren't you? You want to be fed to the wolves, right?" Enraged, he reached out to pull her down, "Since you say we'll make you feed to the wolves, then I'll make you feed to the wolves right now."
Song Yin struck the man's leg with her spiritual energy, and the man immediately fell to the ground.
"Fellow villagers, we'll find out if it's true or false by sending them to the authorities. We should be close to the city now, so you can all take them in," Song Yin said to the onlookers.
The man with the knife jumped out of the car, intending to attack someone directly.
Song Yin snatched the knife from him and kicked him next to the man with a face full of scars.
"Ouch! How can you be so strong! It hurts like hell!"
"Impressive skills! You're amazing, young lady!" The people who were planning to run away clapped and cheered when they saw the bad guy being taken down.
Shi Heming also took control of everyone in the car. "Someone come here and help untie the ropes binding these children. Give me the ropes to use to tie up these kidnappers."
Four people immediately stepped forward from the crowd, quickly untied the ropes, and even helped tie up the crutch.
Song Yin: "Everyone, please help us escort them into the city. They're already tied up, so they're safe. We'll follow behind to ensure everyone's safety."
Having witnessed the skills of these ordinary-looking young people, everyone believed Song Yin's words.
"I'll do it!"
“I can also catch the train, I’ll catch the train.”
"I'll take care of these children. I still have a few pancakes in my basket." The young woman took out her rations for the day, broke them up, and gave them to the children. "Eat up, they won't hurt you anymore."
The children all burst into tears.
"I want to go home, sob sob sob, I'll never eat food from strangers again."
"Waaah, I want to go home too, I want my parents."
"I want to go home."
Hearing the child's cries, the situation became clear. A large group of people escorted them into the city and stormed off to the government office.
On the way, Shi Heming transmitted his voice: "How do you know they are kidnappers?"
Song Yin transmitted her voice: "Families that are even slightly wealthy don't sell their children; most of those who are sold come from poor families. Among poor families, even if they sell children, it's mostly girls. Some families would rather starve than sell their boys. There are seven children on the mule cart, three of whom are boys, so I suspect they are child traffickers. What about you?"
Shi Heming transmitted his voice: "These children have strange eyes. They have obviously been beaten, scolded, intimidated and threatened by this group of people for a long time, so I deduce that they are not good people."
They followed this group of people.
They would only leave the crowd quietly after the traffickers were imprisoned and the government arranged for the children to be sent home.
When the government was about to reward the people, the group of people discovered that the two most capable young men had already left.
They tried to recall the two young men's appearances but could only vaguely remember them. When the officials asked for their names, they couldn't say either, only that they were two exceptionally skilled young men and women.
The two people they were looking for had already found an inn in the city to stay at.
Shi Heming: "Can we say that today we have accomplished our task and left without a trace, concealing our merits and fame?"
“Of course it counts, and our rescue in the valley counts too. With both of those things, we’ve become reclusive masters.” Song Yin poured herself a glass of water, picked it up, and smiled. “I just wonder what the situation is like in the cultivation world.”
Shi Heming: "In any case, this matter is no longer related to us. The affairs of the cultivation world will not affect the mortal world."
The cultivation world that the two of them were talking about has now become a hot topic.
A few days after they left, Qi Zibo and the other elders received a summons from the sect leader.
A group of people gathered in the sect's main hall. With the spiritual vein threat temporarily eliminated, Sect Master Yan began to focus on other matters.
To be precise, Sect Leader Yan has always been concerned about all kinds of matters in the sect, but the issue of the depleted spiritual veins has been weighing heavily on her shoulders, forcing her to put aside other matters and focus on solving the spiritual vein problem.
Now that the Primordial Spirit Pearl protects her spiritual veins, the burden on her shoulders has been lightened somewhat.
"The reason for summoning all the elders is to discuss the matter of the Spirit Marrow," Sect Master Yan said bluntly.
"Spiritual marrow?" Several elders asked, puzzled.
The three elders, including Qi Zibo, who knew the situation, had already guessed what the sect leader was going to say. They put on a show, pretending to be ignorant and confused.
Sect Master Yan compiled the collected information onto a piece of paper, then copied it multiple times and distributed it to the elders.
"This..." Elder Yuan held the paper, his eyes darting left and right as he looked at the person beside him.
Everyone else was astonished after reading it.
"A spiritual marrow as tall as a person, where did these evil cultivators get such a good thing?" The outer sect elder stared wide-eyed, unable to believe the contents of the paper.
Sect Master Yan: "The disappearance of this spiritual marrow has directly exposed many people who are colluding with evil cultivators, which is a good thing. However, I called you all here today not just to talk about this."
Elder Shi of Tianqiao Peak said, "Sect Master, you want to find the missing spiritual essence, right?"
Sect Leader Yan: "That's right." She then looked at Elder Su of Xuanji Peak, "Elder Su, I'm counting on you this time as well."
Elder Su did not refuse and immediately cast a divination on the spot.
Everyone craned their necks to see the divination result.
Qi Zibo and the others also pretended to be curious and went over to see the result.
Elder Su cast several divinations in a row, each with a completely different meaning.
"Huh?"
Sect Leader Yan: "What happened? What was the result?"
Elder Su looked embarrassed. "Sect Master, I can't figure out where the spiritual essence went."
"You can't even pinpoint which continent the spiritual essence is located on?"
"I can't figure it out." Elder Su's confidence was somewhat lacking.
As a divination cultivator, she was unable to share the burden of her sect. Over the years, she had wanted to improve her cultivation, but the advancement of divination cultivators was not easy, and she could never reach the threshold of advancement.
Sect Leader Yan: "You can't figure it out at all?"
Elder Su sighed, "I can't figure it out."
Sect Master Yan: "Even Elder Su couldn't figure it out. It seems finding this spiritual marrow will be difficult."
Elder Xin of Lingdan Peak said, "Could it be that there isn't a spiritual marrow as tall as a person, and the news is false, which is why Elder Su couldn't calculate the location?"
Elder Su: "It's also possible that a diviner even more powerful than me intervened and concealed the secrets of heaven."
After a moment of contemplation, Sect Master Yan slowly said, "Whether it's true or false, the matter of the giant spiritual marrow cannot be hidden. It's precisely because the actions of all parties were too obvious that this matter was exposed."
"In the incident involving the evil cultivators, disciples of powerful cultivators in the Tribulation Transcending stage of the Immortal Alliance were also implicated. Many people went to ask the innocent people who were rescued, and they all said that the two rogue cultivators killed the evil cultivators. Therefore, everyone speculated that the spiritual essence was taken away by the rogue cultivators."
Elder Xu of Lingjian Peak said, "My disciples who are training outside have sent back a message saying that people in many places are looking for rogue cultivators, and rogue cultivators are also looking for other rogue cultivators."
Wen Zhiling: "The cultivation world is likely to be in chaos for the next few years."
Sect Master Yan: "Elder Wen is right. Once the news spreads far and wide and everyone knows about it, many disciples of our Immortal Firmament Sect will probably choose to go out for training."
"Elder Wang, if any disciples register for training trips at the affairs hall, should we grant them permission?"
Elder Wang of the Affairs Hall: "Yes."
Wen Zhiling, Qi Zibo, and Yuan Ci exchanged glances briefly, their unspoken understanding unspoken.
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Author's Note: [20 small red envelopes will be given away in this chapter]
You have a cute little kitten, and you love it very much. Your biggest wish is for the kitten to grow up happily.
One day, your kitten went out. A few days later, your kitten returned, all dirty, and brought you the things you needed. Your kitten, fearing you might die, also brought you some miracle cures.
Finally, your dirty little kitten, with its big, bright round eyes, sits obediently in front of you, showing you its gift. [Poor thing]
(The above are from several adult perspectives [dog head with rose in hand])
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[Empty bowl]
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