Yunyouzi

The elderly man brushed past Qin Sang. Qin Sang turned his head, watching the old man make his way down the street. Seeing him about to vanish into the crowd, Qin Sang's figure suddenly blurred, and he hurried after him. "Senior, please hold your steps!" The old man stopped, looking curiously at Qin Sang barring his path, vigilance veiled in his eyes. "Fellow Daoist, why have you stopped this old Daoist?" Qin Sang gave a Daoist salute and said respectfully, "Junior has been rash—pray forgive me, Senior. May I ask... is Senior's Daoist name Yunyouzi?" Having his identity named by a stranger, the old man stroked his long beard, narrowed his eyes slightly as he took Qin Sang in, and frowned in thought. "Does Fellow Daoist truly know this old Daoist? And yet... this old Daoist has surely never met you." "Senior indeed does not know me." Qin Sang nodded and said in a solemn voice, "Is Senior truly Daoist Priest Yunyouzi? Might Senior still remember Jixin?" Hearing that name, the old man froze. He looked up at the sky, his gaze suddenly distant, as if gazing across several decades of time. After staring blankly for a long moment, he fixed his eyes on Qin Sang and asked, "The Jixin you speak of, young brother—could it be the disciple this old Daoist adopted in the mortal world, Jixin? How do you know Jixin?" ... "Junior was originally a native of the State of Ning. At fifteen, I followed my elders on a trade journey, but fell captive to bandits midway. Having narrowly escaped with my life, I drifted to the Great Sui, where Daoist Priest Jixin took me in out of kindness. Only later did serendipity allow me to step onto the immortal path... Speaking of which, Junior's smooth entry onto the path of cultivation had no small part to do with an ancient medicinal bath recipe Senior left behind..." Inside a quiet tavern. The two had ordered food and wine and sat across from each other. In a gentle voice, Qin Sang recounted to Yunyouzi the story of how he had crossed paths with Daoist Priest Jixin. Speaking of past events, a reminiscent look surfaced on Qin Sang's face, his expression tinged with melancholic nostalgia. He had constantly struggled forward on the path of immortality, wholly absorbed in cultivation, with no leisure to reminisce about the past. Thinking back now, he had ascended Qingyang Temple at age fifteen, and was already past sixty years of age. In the blink of an eye, more than forty years had passed. "An ancient medicinal bath recipe?" Yunyouzi pondered for a moment, then chuckled. "Brother Qin must be referring to the Marrow-Nourishing Decoction, no? It is indeed effective for beginners on the path. This old Daoist also chanced upon it while wandering the world—it originated from a grandmaster of the martial path in the Great Sui. The prescription uses only mortal herbs, yet it takes effect on immortal cultivators. A rare thing indeed." Qin Sang nodded, rose, and gave a deep bow. "Junior has yet to thank Senior. I originally thought Senior was a mortal, never expecting you to be an immortal cultivator as well. Could Daoist Priest Jixin also be a cultivator...?" After offering his respects, Qin Sang sat back down, gazing at Yunyouzi with expectant eyes. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Daoist Priest Jixin's master, Yunyouzi, was actually an immortal cultivator! Back at Qingyang Temple during a New Year festival, Daoist Priest Jixin had brought out a portrait of Yunyouzi to worship, and Qin Sang had joined in, seeing the man in the painting once. Hence, when he brushed past Yunyouzi just now, a sense of familiarity had welled up immediately. He had reviewed everyone he had met since coming to this world and found no connection, until suddenly remembering that portrait, bringing sudden enlightenment. According to Daoist Priest Jixin, when that portrait was made, Yunyouzi was already over seventy. Now Yunyouzi sat across from him. Though looking somewhat older than in the portrait, his features were unchanged, and he even seemed far more spirited than the depiction. If Yunyouzi was an immortal cultivator, could Daoist Priest Jixin and Mingyue both be immortal cultivators too? All those little stunts he had pulled back at Qingyang Temple—none of them could have escaped the master and disciple's eyes, right? Daoist Priest Jixin giving him the prescription—had that been out of pity for his bitter cultivation? Qin Sang smiled wryly. Leaving Qingyang Temple in search of immortals—had that not been going far afield for what was right at hand? A true immortal had stood right before him, yet his clumsy eyes had failed to recognize Mount Lu in its true form. At the same time, Qin Sang was inwardly puzzled. From the time he had stayed at Qingyang Temple, he had never once seen Daoist Priest Jixin or Mingyue use methods beyond those of mortals. To help refugees of famine, Daoist Priest Jixin had willingly endured hunger and subsisted on coarse grains and wild herbs. After buying supplies with the silver he had looted from the bandits, Qin Sang had donated most of the remainder to support the temple. Could they have entered the mortal world to temper their Dao hearts, sealing their own cultivation? Qin Sang let his thoughts run wild, only to see Yunyouzi shake his head. "Jixin is not an immortal cultivator. At least, before this old Daoist departed, Jixin was not. For this old Daoist only encountered immortal destiny after parting with Jixin, and never returned thereafter. Speaking of which, Jixin took in Brother Qin, and today this old Daoist crosses paths with Brother Qin once more... Fate is truly wondrous and abstruse." Hearing this, Qin Sang froze in shock, wondering if he had misheard. In utter astonishment, he said, "Junior heard Daoist Priest Jixin say that when Senior parted with him, you were already seventy years of age..." Yunyouzi said he had encountered immortals only after leaving Daoist Priest Jixin, when he was already in his seventies! Qin Sang saw with utter clarity that Yunyouzi's present cultivation was unmistakably the early Foundation Establishment stage, and his aura was even a few notches stronger than Qin Sang's own! Yunyouzi smiled faintly. "At fifteen, this old Daoist's medical arts were unmatched under heaven, and I was summoned to the imperial palace to serve as an imperial physician. At forty-seven, I committed a grave error and nearly lost my life. Disillusioned, I took Daoist vows, styling myself Yunyouzi. At seventy-two, knowing heaven's mandate, I suddenly sensed my lifespan was running short. Pondering the past, I came to realize the immense terror between life and death. Unwilling to become dry bones in a tomb, on a whim I set out to seek immortals. As it happened, Jixin had grown to manhood and mastered this old Daoist's teachings completely. So that very year, I slung my medicine chest over my back once more, and alone with a staff, journeyed west on foot. Six years later, while gathering herbs in a desolate mountain, I met my revered master. Graced by my master's guidance, I entered the Dao to cultivate at the age of seventy-eight. Burdened by old age and failing health, I cultivated painstakingly for forty years before by stroke of luck achieving Foundation Establishment at one hundred and eighteen, for which I paid no small price. Far from Brother Qin, who possesses such cultivation at so young an age—a boundless future!" Listening to Yunyouzi's steady narrative, Qin Sang felt as though he were listening to a fantastical legend, his inner astonishment swelling with every word. It was a consensus in the cultivation world that after the age of fifty, a Qi Refinement cultivator's primordial qi waned, their origin soul began to age, and their hopes of Foundation Establishment grew increasingly bleak—unless they could find spiritual medicine to remedy the deficiency. Yet every such spiritual medicine was exceedingly precious, and their medicinal effects could not stack. At fifty-eight, Meng Ruhui was already at the twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement stage, but deemed Foundation Establishment hopeless, abandoned the immortal path, and served as a steward in the Yuanzhao Sect. At that age, Yunyouzi had still been a mortal! To begin cultivating at the ripe old age of seventy-eight, never giving up, striving with singular devotion for forty years, and actually succeeding in Foundation Establishment at one hundred and eighteen—it was truly earth-shattering, something Qin Sang had never heard of before! "Junior... is in awe!" A thousand words melted into those few: deep admiration. Put in his shoes, if he were still a mortal nearing eighty, aged and frail, only then encountering immortal destiny, would he still have the unyielding resolve and the do-or-die spirit to see it through? Qin Sang doubted it. He had considered his heart set on the Dao to be steadfast, yet compared to this 'old man' before him, it was not worth mentioning! Qin Sang raised his wine cup in both hands and toasted Yunyouzi. Even had he been a complete stranger, he was still a fellow Daoist worthy of deep admiration.