Chapter Eighty-Eight: Descending the Mountain

Elder Zhao’s sudden affability had been beyond Liu Pan’s expectations, and yet, in a sense, it had also been exactly as expected.

Three nights later, Liu Pan sat beneath the moon, the energy within his dantian surging madly through his body.

More than half a month had already passed since he entered the Cloudflow Sect. Although he had spent most of that time studying the art of water-based alchemy, he had not neglected cultivation by much. Tonight, he intended to break through from the eighth to the ninth level of the martial novice realm.

Before he knew that he possessed an intermediate-grade ice spiritual root, Liu Pan had been astonished by his cultivation speed. After learning the truth, however, he no longer knew what to think at all.

An intermediate-grade ice spiritual root was by no means an outstanding talent, and yet his cultivation speed was frighteningly fast.

As the one who had written this world, Liu Pan naturally understood the general pace at which cultivators advanced here.

And yet, after crossing into this world, reality had kept telling him that his cultivation speed was not much slower than that of the protagonist, Liu Kuang. In fact, if someone were to guide him, he might even cultivate faster than Liu Kuang.

A poor spiritual root, yet a cultivation speed comparable to the protagonist’s? What sort of situation was this?

Liu Pan could not make sense of it, nor did he know where to begin. Since the day he had arrived in this world, too many problems had arisen around him. Aside from the question of why he possessed an ice spiritual root, he could not understand any of the rest.

And regarding all these mysteries, Liu Pan felt that if he wanted answers, then he had to become stronger. Only by becoming stronger would he have the ability to seek the truth.

He crazily absorbed the world’s spiritual energy into his body. Breaking through from the eighth to the ninth level of the martial novice realm was truly no great hurdle in the path of cultivation, and in the end Liu Pan succeeded without any surprise.

He clenched his fist and savored the surge that came after the breakthrough; the overwhelming sense of power was genuinely pleasing to both body and soul. No wonder cultivators were so obsessed with cultivation. Such feelings were truly intoxicating.

Rising and brushing at the nonexistent dust on his robes, Liu Pan stepped back to the underground chamber beneath the Alchemy Hall.

Staying awake through the night was perfectly normal for cultivators who had reached a certain level of cultivation, especially for those who had awakened spiritual power.

The stronger one’s cultivation, the stronger one’s vitality and spirit, and the less likely one was to feel fatigue. Going days and nights without sleep was entirely ordinary.

Thus, when Liu Pan returned to the underground chamber, Elder Zhao had not yet rested, but was seated before the white jade table, reading something.

In truth, Elder Zhao had been waiting for him all along.

“So, you’ve broken through to the ninth level of the martial novice realm?” Elder Zhao studied Liu Pan from head to toe, a trace of something unreadable in his eyes.

“Yes, Master. This disciple has just broken through to the ninth level of the martial novice realm.” Liu Pan bowed respectfully.

“Since you’ve already reached the ninth level of the martial novice realm, then from now on you should put more of your mind into cultivation. As for alchemy, once your cultivation breaks through to the martial master realm, I can teach you some things. How much you can learn, though, will depend on your own ability,” Elder Zhao said.

“Many thanks, Master.” Liu Pan was briefly stunned, then said with some delight.

Elder Zhao nodded. After a moment’s thought, he took a black token from his storage ring and tossed it to Liu Pan. “Tomorrow, go take a look at the sect’s scripture tower. With this token, you may choose any technique you like from within. Find one suited to you; it should allow your cultivation to progress faster.”

“Thank you, Master.” Liu Pan was once again grateful.

“Oh, right.”

After a slight pause, Elder Zhao seemed to recall something else. “Go to the mission hall as well and tell them that my Alchemy Hall needs another herb boy. With someone else here to wash the pill cauldrons, you can cultivate in peace.”

“Yes, Master. This disciple understands.” Liu Pan was momentarily taken aback, then bowed again.

“All right, there’s nothing else. Go rest. Tomorrow morning, go down the mountain directly; there’s no need to come report to me first.” As he spoke, Elder Zhao waved a hand, indicating that Liu Pan could leave.

Liu Pan bowed once more before turning and heading out of the underground chamber.

Through his spiritual sense, Elder Zhao watched Liu Pan leave the chamber and enter the side hall. He glanced at the several books on the white jade table before him, then let out a soft sigh. “To be able to read so many books in such a short time and still understand them... truly a clever mind. It’s a pity his talent is too poor. Even if he breaks through to the martial master realm, there’s no hope of awakening spiritual power. He is fated to be only a herb boy, and can never be my disciple.”

If Liu Pan had paid a little more attention before, he would have noticed that several of the books on the white jade table were precisely the ones he had read and later questioned Elder Zhao about.

“You reminded me, and I helped you in return. As for what the future holds, that will depend on your own fate.”

After saying this, Elder Zhao shook his head, then rose and walked into another passage in the underground chamber...

After leaving the chamber, Liu Pan passed through the main hall and returned to his room in the side hall.

His accommodations were truly quite casual. Since only Liu Pan and Elder Zhao lived on Cloudpeak, he had been assigned to the side hall, a place hardly fitting for someone of his herb boy status.

Once the door was shut and he sensed Elder Zhao withdrawing his spiritual power, Liu Pan thought for a moment, then took out the black token Elder Zhao had given him and toyed with it.

He truly had not expected such consideration from Elder Zhao.

Though Liu Pan had never once gone down Cloudpeak these past days, he had chatted quite a bit with the two hall guardians and learned much about the Cloudflow Sect.

The Cloudflow Sect’s scripture tower was by no means comparable to the scripture tower of the Hundred Sun Sect. Even with the qualification to enter, one could not simply choose any technique one wished.

Yet when Elder Zhao gave him this token, he said he could freely select a technique from the scripture tower. Perhaps the word “freely” was a little exaggerated, but it still showed that this token was far from ordinary.

Setting aside the token, what surprised Liu Pan most was that, in order to let him cultivate in peace and break through to the martial master realm as soon as possible, Elder Zhao was actually going to recruit another herb boy just to wash the pill cauldrons. Giving a mere herb boy such treatment would be hard to find a second time in all the world.

It seemed Elder Zhao had probably been stumped by the refinement of the Earth-Origin Pill for quite some time, or he would never have gone to such lengths for a herb boy who had only accidentally helped him.

Putting the black token away, Liu Pan no longer bothered to think too much and simply sat cross-legged on the bed to cultivate.

As for his current level, knowing full well that he still did not even count as an ant on the continent of Heaven Peak, and that the problems surrounding him could only be solved with strength, Liu Pan naturally could not be satisfied.

As for rest, that was merely Elder Zhao’s wishful thinking.

Before long, the night had passed. When his spiritual sense detected that the two hall guardians were almost at the entrance of the main hall, Liu Pan got up and walked out.

“Brother Liu is up so early? I was just about to call you for breakfast,” said the man known as Brother Jade. He had just set the breakfast in his hands onto the stone table at the edge of the square when he saw Liu Pan emerge. “The dining hall had a new item this morning, and I happened to catch it. I know you like trying new flavors, so I brought this especially for you. Come on and try it while it’s hot. Let’s see how it tastes.”

Liu Pan found this somewhat unexpected, and a trace of curiosity flashed in his eyes. “The breakfast even has new items now? What is it?”

After over half a month of acquaintance, he had grown quite familiar with the two hall guardians. Brother Jade’s real name was Yu Yao, while the other was Zhang Pingkang.

Because he was the Cloudpeak herb boy, and because Elder Zhao had been refining pills with near-mad intensity during the first few days, Liu Pan had no choice but to ask these two to bring meals up from the dining hall for him.

Later, after Yu Yao and Zhang Pingkang confirmed that this herb boy would not be chased away anytime soon, they entered full “little brother mode.” Three times a day they brought him food up the mountain. Though they never said anything outright, all their actions were clearly aimed at building a good relationship with Liu Pan.

He had no objections to their behavior and simply let them be.

Ever since he had noticed Wang Dadao’s figure during the sect entrance ceremony, Liu Pan had understood that the less often he appeared within the Cloudflow Sect, the safer he would be. The two men’s conduct happened to suit his wishes.

After all, if Elder Zhao had not personally told him to go down the mountain this time, Liu Pan had originally planned to remain on Cloudpeak until his cultivation broke through to the martial master realm before considering leaving.

The breakfast was beef buns and a bowl of twin-leaf greenflower porridge. The beef buns themselves were nothing special, but the twin-leaf greenflower porridge opened Liu Pan’s eyes. It was a bowl of thick, green sludge, so viscous it looked like a mass of grass-green paint. If such a thing were placed on Earth, probably no one would dare eat it.

After quickly finishing breakfast and exchanging a few more words with Yu Yao and the other man, he wasted no time and took a small path down Cloudpeak.

At the foot of Cloudpeak, the same few thatched huts still stood.

The moment Liu Pan stepped onto the road, he was locked onto by two divine senses; they belonged to the two disciples responsible for guarding the mountain foot in the thatched-hut courtyard.

“Brother Liu,” the two martial master disciples soon emerged from the courtyard and cupped their fists in salute.

Liu Pan returned the greeting. He still remembered how, half a month earlier when he had first come up the mountain, the two had addressed him as junior brother. Clearly, though, he did not care much about titles. “Two senior brothers, Master asked me to go down to handle some matters. I’ll have to go back up in a bit, so this insect-repelling powder...”

“Since Senior Brother is still the Alchemy Hall’s herb boy, you may keep the insect-repelling powder on your person and need not return it to us.” As the tall disciple spoke, both his spiritual sense and his gaze settled on the herb-boy token at Liu Pan’s waist, a faint, peculiar light flickering in his eyes.

“I see. Then many thanks. I have matters to attend to, so I won’t keep Senior Brothers chatting.” Liu Pan smiled, cupped his fists again, and under their watchful eyes walked off into the distance.

Only after quite a while, when he felt the two mountain-guarding disciples withdraw their spiritual sense from him, did Liu Pan quickly remove the insect-repelling powder and the herb-boy identity token, tossing them into his storage pouch. He then took out the sect disciple token he had previously received from the miscellaneous hall and hung it at his waist.

After some thought, he lifted his foot and headed toward the sect’s mission hall.