Chapter 98

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

"Fellow Cultivator, the leaves of your Rune Spirit Tree are withered and lack any light halo; it will be extremely difficult for it to survive in the future.

Asking eight hundred Spirit Stones is too expensive; here we can give five hundred at most."

On the wide, bustling street filled with human habitation, Shen Yao crouched beside a stall, haggling with someone.

This was basically Shen Yao's daily life; ever since arriving at the Qingmu Sect, every time she went shopping she would inevitably interact with some of the surrounding merchants and shopkeepers.

Truly, not looking one doesn't know; one look and one is shocked — the Qingmu Sect has some things, ah.

Earlier she had heard that the people of the Qingmu Sect excelled at Spiritual Object planting; Shen Yao hadn't felt much about it, thinking they were merely more professional than the Spirit Plant Farmers of other sects.

Unexpectedly, residing in Jiuzhen Commandery these days, Shen Yao had her eyes opened wide.

'The Cultivation World is vast; nothing is too strange.'

Shen Yao and the System in her mind exclaimed a couple of sentences, and in the end she successfully bought this specially cultivated Rune Spirit Tree at a price of five hundred fifty Spirit Stones.

The crown was overall a blue-white bicolor, the tree height not even reaching an adult's chest.

On the Rune Spirit Tree, both leaves and branch trunks were composed of natural runes.

If a Rune Spirit Tree is cultivated well, one can even directly pluck its leaves to use as Talisman Paper.

One hand pays money, one hand takes goods.

Shen Yao put away the Rune Spirit Tree and was just about to leave when she was called out to again by the stall vendor behind her, "Fellow Cultivator, seeing you are extremely fond of this type of Spirit Tree, I wonder if you might be interested in a Willow-pattern Curved Blade Tree?"

Hm?

Shen Yao quickly glanced at the stall, "Fellow Cultivator, you have a Willow-pattern Curved Blade Tree?

That tree is even harder to keep alive than a Rune Spirit Tree; ordinary people dare not easily take it on."

The Willow-pattern Curved Blade Tree is a species of Spirit Tree cultivated postnatally by the Qingmu Sect.

The leaves this tree bears are shaped like willow leaves; when they fall and are taken away they are like sharp curved blades.

The ideal result would naturally be to use the willow leaves as ordinary Magic Artifacts.

But reality is more cruel compared to the ideal; the Willow-pattern Curved Blade Tree currently has a bad reputation, and the Qingmu Sect has already ceased cultivating it.

This person says he has a Willow-pattern Curved Blade Tree? Who knows from which obscure corner he dug it up.

She shook her head, voiced her concerns, and Shen Yao was about to leave.

In the end, it was still because the stall vendor took out a mature Mingxin Dan Fruit Tree that Shen Yao reluctantly bought one get one free, taking both.

Both parties considered themselves to have made a good deal, and both were very satisfied.

Shen Yao stayed the longest in Jiuzhen Commandery, under the jurisdiction of the Qingmu Sect.

Of course, this was also related to her Spiritual Root; a Water-Wood Spirit Root is innately affinity with Spiritual Plants.

Moreover, the Qingmu Sect are experts at cultivating Spiritual Plants; for Shen Yao to absorb experience and perfect herself here was a rare opportunity.

By the time Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan left Jiuzhen Commandery for Wuding Commandery, another fifteen years had passed.

"Counting the time, we have been traveling outside for several decades.

Linlang and Jinxiu have already finished Closed-door Cultivation; Xuan'er and Yu'er have also raised their Cultivation Realm to Golden Core Late Stage; Ning'er has progressed further, left the Endless Sea, seeking an opportunity to condense a Nascent Soul.

Cheng Qi, why don't we go to Wuding Commandery and then return to the Tianjian Sect to see the children?"

To tell the truth, Shen Yao felt some desire in her heart; moreover, their return would only be a small gathering, and afterward they could still continue traveling outside.

Fu Hengyan nodded, "Good, I'll send word to them in advance," so that Yao'er wouldn't return and not see the children and feel sad.

After many years of training, Fu Hengyan had become a qualified doter-on-his-wife.

He didn't care in the slightest whether the children had time; whatever Shen Yao said must be satisfied.

Perhaps because their feelings were too deep, and time passed too fast, Fu Hengyan could not accept the fact that they would eventually part.

……

People have always been a very strange species; not mentioning it is fine, but once mentioned one inevitably worries.

Shen Yao missed the children, causing her to be unable to stay in Wuding Commandery at all.

Simply strolling around one of the Commandery cities with the most female cultivators, Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan hurriedly rushed back to the Tianjian Sect.

Fu Zexuan and the other four, having received word early, had already returned to Lingyun Peak ahead of time.

The Small Courtyard was just as it had been when they left years ago; only the caretakers had changed from Bai Wei and Bai Mei to two other unfamiliar faces.

"Madam, Elder Sister Bai Wei and Elder Sister Bai Mei, thinking of fallen leaves returning to their roots, left early and returned to Yunwu City."

Bai Zhu finished speaking, handed the Transmission Talismans left by Bai Wei and Bai Mei to Shen Yao, and sensibly withdrew.

Shen Yao looked at the Talisman Paper in her hand; after listening to the contents she sighed with deep regret.

Perhaps this is a parting that even Cultivators cannot resist.

There will come a day when all of us will bid farewell and leave this world.

She took a deep breath, called Bai Zhu, and asked about the scene when Bai Wei and Bai Mei left.

Learning that the two of them had everything go smoothly and held no regrets in their hearts, Shen Yao herself could also let go a little.

Back then she brought them out of Yunwu City; she didn't expect that decades later they would choose to return to Yunwu City once again.

Speaking of Yunwu City, 'How is the Shen Clan?'

Summoning the System in her mind, Shen Yao conveniently inquired about her birth clan.

The System spoke truthfully, 'Everything is fine; whether inside the clan or outside, all are thriving day by day, flourishing.'

Shen Yao: Hah?

The Shen clan's patriarch is still Shen Zhouhai; he is a clever person.

The implication being that a clever person would not do stupid things; if the Shen clan wants to decline, they would at least have to replace the patriarch first.

However, judging by Shen Zhouhai's Foundation Establishment lifespan, he can still serve as patriarch for at least several more decades.

It would be difficult for the Shen clan to show any decline in the short term, let alone other problems.

Shen Yao: Is that so? Then she could rest assured.

Shen Yao's daily life upon returning basically consisted of staying together with her several children.

Fu Hengyan, on the contrary, was uncharacteristically not accompanying her, but fortunately he would still show up occasionally, and Shen Yao did not feel lonely.

The three boys, Fu Zexuan and the others, were all easy to speak of; as for the two girls, Linlang and Jinxiu, Linlang's heart was entirely set on cultivation, but Jinxiu brought up the matter from before.

"True Person Baili? He indeed has this intention? What do you think."

Shen Yao was surprised; she had thought that back in Yunzhong City this matter had already been tacitly considered settled.

Unexpectedly, after several decades, once Jinxiu's cultivation advanced to the Golden Core stage, the Baili Imperial Court formally sent people to make contact.

"Mother, your daughter feels that leaving it to fate is best," she did not reject it in her heart, but neither was she delighted.

Jinxiu appeared to be the gentlest and most even-tempered of the five children, but in reality, she also had her own insistence.

Regarding a Dao Companion, Jinxiu had always maintained a dispensable attitude.

If there is one, treat them well; if not, live her own life — a Dao Companion is not the entirety of life.

Shen Yao thought for a moment, lowered her head, fished out a bottle of pills from within, and handed it to Jinxiu.

"These pills were purchased by your mother from the Pill Alliance.

Not just you; Xuan'er and the others all have them too — merely a precautionary measure."

The pills are named Pregnancy Pill, a type of alchemy commonly used by cultivators in the cultivation world to promote conception.

On the basis of retaining the bottle and the pill name, Shen Yao utilized the system's built-in function to perform a partial replacement.

It can guarantee that whether the five children themselves or their Dao Companions take them, they will conceive and give birth to descendants with excellent aptitude bloodlines.

This is merely the comparatively important pills Shen Yao left for the several children.

Regardless of whether they will have use for them in the future, it is all a portion of her heart's intent.

Besides this, after years of traveling, Shen Yao had no few spiritual objects in hand.

Picking and choosing, selecting and feeling, each person reaped no small harvest.

Shen Yao stayed at Lingyun Peak for five years; when the five years were up, she and Fu Hengyan departed once more.

Only unlike the previous time, Shen Yao did not know whether she would still be able to return to the Tianjian Sect next time.

"But what is the use of thinking so much? Being sentimental does not suit me."

Encouraging herself in her heart, Shen Yao rallied her spirits and set off toward the many commandery cities she had not yet visited.

Fu Hengyan was like Shen Yao's shadow; the two people were simply inseparable.

The following several years, even several decades, the two of them never separated.

Even during this period there was once when they accidentally entered a mortal kingdom.

There was no spiritual energy there, nor any rumors concerning cultivators whatsoever.

Under the premise of temporarily finding no way out, the two could only choose to integrate and live ordinary days like common mortals.

For this, Shen Yao simply resumed her old trade and opened a branch of her Shen Clan Medical Hall in the most prosperous capital city of the mortal world.

After all, with the foundation from back in Wanle, Shen Yao's medical hall exploded in popularity immediately after opening.

Whether commoners or high officials and nobles, all frequently patronized her medical hall.

Even the reigning monarch of the country requested Shen Yao into the palace to diagnose his pulse, and incidentally after curing him she obtained a large batch of gold, silver, pearls, and jewels as corresponding rewards.

Shen Yao:... Quite generous with the handout.

The Shen Clan Medical Hall operated in the capital for ten years, finally closing its doors and ceasing business one morning; Shen Yao, as the medical hall's owner and physician, vanished without a trace.

Everyone speculated where the medical hall's owner had gone; some said she went to the imperial palace, some said she was silenced by murder, and still others said she offended an imperial concubine and had no choice but to leave.

"What a pity, what a pity; Madam Shen not only had superb medical skills but also outstanding appearance, to be gone just like that makes one sigh with regret."

"What can be said; just blame her bad fate, a beautiful woman of lowly status, hmph."

"..."

The rumors grew ever more intense, while Shen Yao, who had already changed to a new place and started a new life, knew nothing of it.

If she could hear them, she would certainly be utterly speechless; she merely worried that her unchanging appearance would arouse certain people's suspicion — as for those conspiracy theories, with her outstanding medical skills, no one dared to provoke her for the time being.

"Cheng Qi, how is the situation?"

Shen Yao still had that same appearance, only the aura around her was even more gentle and peaceful.

This time, they opened a general store in a city a thousand li from the capital.

Mainly selling various tools that commoners could all use.

Things like some seeds and plants, their shop would also occasionally sell.

Since they had come all this way, Shen Yao would certainly experience a few more professions.

Not for anything else, just to accumulate experience for going to other worlds in the future.

As long as the skills she learns are numerous enough, she will not fear encountering difficult problems.

"Still no good; in here, there is not the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It seems we have arrived at a Spiritless Land."

Fu Hengyan explained a couple of sentences, then raised his head to look at the sky where birds flew past the cloud layers.

The result of the finger-pinching divination was not optimistic; golden light halos dotted about, vanishing in an instant upon touching the ground.

"They all say a Spiritless Land is isolated from the world, yet the Wu Kingdom has been prosperous for many years; it looks different from the descriptions."

Regarding the Spiritless Land mentioned by Fu Hengyan, Shen Yao held some doubts.

It's not that what Fu Hengyan said was wrong, but if this truly is a Spiritless Land, then for them to get out, I'm afraid it will be difficult on top of difficult.

Because a Spiritless Land is isolated from the world, an existence that doesn't even have a Boundary Wall.

For them to get out, unless their own strength is hard enough to tear open a gap, or they find that Cave Abode they fell into before, there is no third path to take.

"Here, strictly speaking, does not count as a complete Spiritless Land."

Afterward, Fu Hengyan explained to Shen Yao the origins of Spiritless Lands as well as Xuantian Continent's partial views on Spiritless Lands.

Shen Yao: ……

"If we go out, will this place become Tianjian Sect's disciple recruitment ground?"

Shen Yao was dumbfounded; so these Spiritless Lands also bore part of the source of reserve population for cultivation sects.

Fu Hengyan nodded, and also said the two of them need not worry too much about the time in the Spiritless Land.

Because there is a flow speed difference between the Spiritless Land and the Outside World, and the Spiritless Land's flow speed is on the slow side.

They are cultivation practitioners; bodily changes are only closely related to the Outside World.

In other words, the time restriction of living here will not truly take effect on their Lifespan.

Shen Yao: …… broadened my horizons

Shen Yao, who had been somewhat anxious and plagued by Lifespan, suddenly saw the light.

Since Heaven Earth Man are all favorable, then she might as well decisively utilize this period of time to experience one by one all the various daily life scenes she had once imagined in her mind.

For many years after, Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan lived within Wu Kingdom's borders.

They opened an Inn, sold Wine, had a Store, owned their own snack stall, even Fu Hengyan served as a City Lord Clan Head, and the two also went to the fields to farm for several years.

Because their appearances didn't change, every place they went, at most seven or eight years, at least three or five years, they would choose to leave timely.

Just like that, walking and stopping along the way, when Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan had lived here for nearly a Hundred Years, they finally found the entrance they came in through, and left via a formation Transmission Talisman.

Jinxiu was surprised, "So, Mother, you and Father, the reason you two disappeared for thirty years was actually that you entered a Spiritless Land?"

Linlang continued, "This makes sense; Senior Martial Brother Zhao once sent people to bring back a few disciples originating from the mortal Wu Kingdom.

Thought it was some newly established Country, didn't expect the Inside to involve a Spiritless Land."

Tianjian Sect Lingyun Peak Small Courtyard, Jinxiu and Linlang looked at each other, listening to their own Mother's hundred years of various experiences while voicing exclamations, conveniently discussing with one another.

Time passes very fast; Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan who came out of the Spiritless Land merely sent this location marker back to Tianjian Sect in the form of a Transmission Talisman.

The two of them did not come back, but continued traveling outside.

Until they finished walking the entire Dongzhou, they only then returned satisfied.

At this time, the five kids left at Tianjian Sect all had their own different Encounters/Adventures.

Among them Fu Zexuan and Fu Zeyu successfully formed Nascent Soul, currently in Closed-door Cultivation stabilizing cultivation realm.

Fu Linlang Golden Core Perfection, only waiting to see Shen Yao then Closed-door Cultivation to form Nascent Soul.

Fu Jinxiu still needs some time to form Nascent Soul; the reason being thirty years ago, Fu Jinxiu married Qian Kingdom's Crown Prince, that is the Baili Xuan Yin who is already Golden Core Late Stage, and during this period successfully gave birth to a pair of Dragon-Phoenix Twins, her own cultivation realm suffered impact and she had to postpone forming Nascent Soul.

Fu Zening is the one with the highest cultivation realm among the five; already Mid Nascent Soul Stage cultivation realm, soon will break through to Late Nascent Soul Stage and assault the even more profound Spirit Transformation Realm.