Chapter 58: Chapter Fifty-Eight: Cultivators

“Cough! To be honest, I’m a victim too.”

Yu Zitong opened his mouth hoping to win Han Li’s sympathy, trying to distance himself from Mo Daifu, but seeing Han Li unmoved, he had no choice but to continue:

“I was originally a lone cultivator…”

Yu Zitong honestly recounted his origins and the entire sequence of events in meticulous detail, portraying himself in this account as a pitiful victim forced into collusion by Mo Daifu, shifting all blame onto the deceased Mo Daifu.

Han Li naturally did not fully believe his words, but combining them with the fragments Mo Daifu had revealed, he could still deduce seven or eight tenths of the truth.

Removing the likely falsehoods from Yu Zitong’s account, Han Li gained a general understanding of what had transpired.

The part of Mo Daifu’s earlier story—about being ambushed and setting out to find a way to restore his power—was almost certainly true; he had no reason to deceive him then.

But his earlier claim of having found a mysterious book in some hidden place, from which he learned how to restore his power, was pure fabrication—Mo Daifu had regained his strength solely because of Yu Zitong, yet it was also because of Yu Zitong that he became cursed.

Originally, Yu Zitong had been a member of a so-called cultivator family, having cultivated the Evergreen Technique to the seventh level, achieving a certain degree of proficiency, but due to his limited talent, his progress stalled, and he could never meet the requirements for Foundation Establishment.

Without Foundation Establishment, a cultivator was not considered a true member of the cultivation world and could not officially enter the realm of immortals; thus, Yu Zitong had no choice but to leave his secluded retreat, preparing to undergo trials in the mortal world, hoping to break through his current bottleneck through spiritual refinement.

Of course, if he could find some rare medicinal herbs to take back and refine into Spirit Pills, that would be even better—but he knew this hope was slim. Still, it was a matter of luck; perhaps his fortune would suddenly turn, and he’d stumble upon a windfall!

Driven by this tempting ambition, the twenty-something Yu Zitong entered the mortal world spoken of by cultivators.

The dazzling, extravagant world outside overwhelmed him; his spiritual resolve, never strong, crumbled quickly, and within a few years he had fallen into decadence, becoming a favored guest of a powerful noble family, indulging in worldly luxury and splendor, his cultivation aspirations gradually fading.

For disciples like Yu Zitong who abandoned their path, his family would, after a century, erase his name from the clan register, severing all ties with his branch forever—unless a descendant of his line later emerged with exceptional talent, in which case they might be allowed to rejoin the ancestral lineage.

Had things continued thus, Yu Zitong might have lost the path to immortality, but he could still have lived a long, wealthy, and comfortable life—a rare but not unheard-of fate among those who had not reached Foundation Establishment, and nothing particularly extraordinary.

But whether fate favored him or his luck had turned, one day several years later, while idly strolling through the streets and, out of habit, visiting a herbal shop, he unexpectedly spotted a rare Blood Spirit Herb—so similar to ordinary Red Oil Flower that the ignorant shopkeeper had placed them together.

Seeing it, Yu Zitong was overjoyed; with this herb, he had a real chance to break through his bottleneck, and his cultivation fervor stirred once more—he immediately reached for his purse to buy it.

But then another twist occurred: another cultivator entered the shop and also noticed the herb. Naturally, he refused to let it go, and the two immediately began arguing.

The shopkeeper, seeing the opportunity, declared it a bidding war: whoever offered more silver would claim the herb. Yu Zitong had slightly more money, so he naturally secured the Spirit Herb.

But he was no fool—he knew the other man wouldn’t give up. That very night, he fled his lodging and headed for his family’s territory, but halfway there, he was caught up with—and a fierce battle ensued.

The opponent’s magic power far surpassed his own; Yu Zitong was beaten into spitting blood, yet he could not bear to abandon the herb he had just won. He gritted his teeth, activated a life-saving talisman he had brought from his family, and used a self-destructive secret technique to scare off his foe, barely escaping.

But by then, he was severely wounded—and in this state, he encountered Mo Daifu, who was also out searching for a cure.

It was Yu Zitong’s fate: though he had wandered the mortal world for years, he had zero experience dealing with martial arts world people. Upon seeing Mo Daifu’s condition, he carelessly revealed his situation and inadvertently hinted that he possessed a potent remedy.

This brought him deadly danger—Mo Daifu, desperate and frantic after failing to find any cure, suddenly heard of a remedy, and could not help but resort to every means possible, pleading and begging.

But the remedy Yu Zitong spoke of, though not as rare as Blood Spirit Herb, was still composed of over a dozen precious herbs, refined at great cost to his spiritual energy, and he had very little left. In his current gravely wounded state, he treasured it even more—how could he give it away to a mortal he regarded as an ant?

When Mo Daifu realized his humble pleading yielded nothing, he grew furious and murderous. He secretly followed Yu Zitong to a desolate place and slipped a secret poison into his food.

Normally, ordinary poison should not have affected Yu Zitong—but the secret concoction Mo Daifu used was so obscure that even he didn’t fully understand its potency, and it struck Yu Zitong down instantly.

Already gravely wounded, Yu Zitong’s condition worsened as the poison ravaged his heart, leaving him on the brink of death. Only then did Mo Daifu reveal himself, calmly searching Yu Zitong’s body.

Seeing this, Yu Zitong instantly understood everything. Filled with rage, he acted without thought, unleashing the “Blood Arrow Spirit Curse”—transforming all his essence into a single blood curse, spitting it onto Mo Daifu’s head, then abandoning his body, his Primordial Spirit slipping silently free.

Only after his Primordial Spirit exited did Yu Zitong realize his mistake—he had prepared no magical artifact to house it. With no choice, he slipped into Mo Daifu’s body, narrowly avoiding annihilation.

Mo Daifu, drenched in blood, was startled at first—but finding no ill effects, he soon dismissed it.

Relying on his knowledge of pills, he identified the several pills on Yu Zitong’s corpse and joyfully swallowed them. Instantly, his illness vanished—his cultivation power fully restored.

Overjoyed, Mo Daifu took the items looted from Yu Zitong’s body and the unreadable Evergreen Technique manuscript, preparing to return to Lanzhou to seek revenge and reclaim his former glory.

WwW.feiazw.CoM