Chapter 109: You’re Sleepy

“This peach blossom brew is best for someone like you, with your unusual gift. It will greatly accelerate your future cultivation; it is practically made to measure for you,” Daoist Hao explained.

“I don’t care. Let me finish this cup first,” Chang Yu said, tilting back his neck and raising his hand. In one gulp, he drained the entire cup of peach blossom brew.

Threads of icy liquor slid down his throat. A chill rose from his tailbone and shot upward like a rocket, straight to the back of his head.

In that instant, Chang Yu felt utterly refreshed, inside and out, as though he were immersed in a cold sea.

“Excellent wine!” he exclaimed without thinking.

To tell the truth, in all his life, he had never drunk anything so delicious.

The bottle of Moutai he had had yesterday was already considered an exceptional vintage.

For countless lovers of strong drink, being able to taste a proper mouthful of Moutai would fulfill a lifelong wish.

Yet even Moutai, hailed as the king of wines, paled in comparison to this peach blossom brew.

The difference between them was simply too great. It could only be said that one was in the heavens and the other beneath the earth.

No matter how fine a mortal wine might be, it remained only mortal wine.

How could it compare with a divine liquor brewed over a thousand years from blossoms opened on a thousand-year-old peach tree and water drawn from a thousand-year-old ice spring?

If the wine connoisseurs of the world knew that there existed such an elegant and delicate immortal brew, one mouthful fragrant with lingering sweetness, would they not sell their pots and pans, abandon even wife and children, and swarm here in a frenzy just to drink a single cup of this golden nectar found only in dreams?

While Chang Yu was basking in self-adoration, a sudden coolness stirred in his mind.

It felt as though all the alcohol in his body had transformed into wisps of frost, pouring into his thoughts.

His mind became quicker. His vision grew clearer.

Even objects a hundred meters away were visible to him in fine detail, as if he were using a magnifying glass.

His head felt a little swollen and dizzy. Perhaps that was the wine hitting him, but this dizziness was different from ordinary drunkenness; it was not unpleasant at all.

Chang Yu’s current sensation was strange indeed. His thoughts were perfectly clear, and his sense of self remained sharp.

“This is the manifestation of an increase in soul power,” Daoist Hao said, having also noticed Chang Yu’s unusual state.

“Peach blossom brew is a wine that nourishes soul power. Because heavenly treasures that can replenish soul power are exceedingly rare, this wine has always been worth a fortune and impossible to obtain on the open market.”

“Soul power... what is that?” Chang Yu had heard a new term from Daoist Hao, something entirely foreign to him.

“Soul power is the strength of the spirit,” Daoist Hao said succinctly.

“Most of us who cultivate immortality focus on refining true energy. Very few pay attention to soul power, and many cultivators do not even know what it is.”

“And even those who know soul power exists still do not know how to increase it. There are simply too few ways to do so.”

“The strength of one’s soul power is innate. If the proper method cannot be found, it is very difficult to strengthen or cultivate it afterward.”

“Over time, the existence of soul power gradually faded from the field of vision of cultivators. Some who did know of it even came to think it was something entirely dispensable.”

In Daoist Hao’s opinion, however, such thinking was far too short-sighted. Soul power was by no means as useless as they imagined.

On the contrary, for a cultivator, the strength of his soul power could directly determine how far he would go on the road of cultivation.

Those born with powerful soul power were usually of better natural talent, and their cultivation would also advance by leaps and bounds.

“To look at the great powers of the cultivation world, which one of them was not born with formidable soul power?” Daoist Hao said.

“Never mind the distant ones. An increase in soul power will also help you break through to Golden Core and form a Nascent Soul in the future. Your odds will be a little higher than other people’s.”

“From the first day I met you, I knew your soul power was strong. Compared with others your age, yours is several times greater.”

“The techniques of our Poria lineage are somewhat special. Only those with strong soul power can cultivate them. That is also why I never took on a disciple.”

“People with strong soul power are too hard to find. They are as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns. You might not even find one in a million cultivators.”

“So... you took me as your disciple because my soul power is strong?” Chang Yu stared wide-eyed.

“If not, then what did you think?” Daoist Hao said, wearing an entirely matter-of-fact expression.

“I thought it was because you thought I was handsome, so you wanted to take me as your disciple,” Chang Yu said a little sheepishly.

“Tch... you really dare to imagine things.” Daoist Hao could not help but twitch his white eyebrows. “Finding someone more handsome than you is far too easy.”

“The most important thing in life is to face reality. Even the rare birds and beasts in this valley are more handsome than you.”

Chang Yu: !!!

Master, I never expected you to be that kind of master.

Your sarcasm is max-level.

“Oh, right, Master. This disciple... has something I want to ask you,” Chang Yu said. Perhaps because his soul power had increased, his head now felt unbearably swollen, as if it were a balloon being blown larger and larger.

The sensation was a little like a hangover: his head felt heavy while his body felt light, as though he were floating, yet his mind remained perfectly clear.

“Do you remember the spiritual herb on the third shelf in the medicine room? The one you told me to fetch before you left... that herb for curing my friend’s infertility.”

“What about it? Is there a problem?” Daoist Hao immediately became interested, leaning in as if to listen closely.

“There’s nothing wrong with the herb...” Chang Yu’s face suddenly turned red, and his words became halting.

“It’s just that you didn’t tell me there were two identical large gourds on the third shelf!”

“I didn’t know which one was the medicine you wanted, so I had no choice but to take both of them.”

“Mm-hm... then so be it,” Daoist Hao replied carelessly, as though he cared not at all where the two gourds had gone.

“But... one of those gourds didn’t contain the spiritual herb for treating infertility. It contained...”

“It contained a Poria plant?”

“Master, you knew?”

“Of course. I put it there with my own hands. How could I not know?”

“Then do you know that Poria plant could take human form?” At last he had reached the point. Chang Yu drew a deep breath, his expression twisted in conflict.

To be honest, he truly did not want to tell Daoist Hao about the humiliating matter of a man giving birth.

But...

Such a huge change had occurred in his body. If he did not tell Daoist Hao, he would have no peace of mind.

“Mm. Heavenly treasures taking human form by borrowing a human body—such cases are rare, but they have happened before,” Daoist Hao said, his expression finally turning serious.

“As for a man giving birth... it is a bit embarrassing, but never mind. Your master will keep his mouth shut for you and will not go spreading such a shameful matter around.”

Chang Yu slapped his thigh hard in excitement. “I knew you were divine, Master! Even the fact that I, a grown man, gave birth to a child, you already know!”

“My admiration for you is like an endless surging river—”

Wait!

Halfway through his flattery, Chang Yu abruptly stopped. He looked at Daoist Hao with a strange expression, his mouth hanging open.

“Uh, Master... I don’t think I ever told you that I gave birth to a child, did I? How did you know?”

Once suspicion takes root, trust between people is not so easily restored.

Chang Yu was in exactly that state.

If he remembered correctly, he had only just mentioned the matter of the thousand-year Poria taking human form.

He had absolutely not told Daoist Hao how that thousand-year Poria had taken form.

So the question was: how did Daoist Hao know that Yangyang had been born to Chang Yu?

Had he guessed it?

Or had he... known all along?

Chang Yu did not believe Daoist Hao had guessed it. What normal person could possibly imagine that Yangyang had taken form in such a unique, unprecedented way?

“Haha, good disciple, don’t ask about that,” Daoist Hao said with a somewhat evasive look, not daring to meet Chang Yu’s eyes. It was obvious he had something to hide. “As the saying goes, heavenly secrets must not be revealed...”

“Master, did you already know about this?” Chang Yu fixed Daoist Hao with a suspicious stare, not blinking once.

When it happened, Daoist Hao should have been outside drinking. It was hard to say whether he had deliberately left Poria Valley to avoid Chang Yu.

Mm... the more Chang Yu thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

And Daoist Hao had deliberately given such an ambiguous explanation of where the infertility medicine was located, causing Chang Yu to bring back both gourds.

At that moment, an idea flashed through Chang Yu’s mind like blue lightning.

“This... could it have been arranged by you, Master?”

“Aha ha...” Daoist Hao gave a dry laugh. “Don’t ask me. I know nothing.”

“Then how did you know I had just given birth?”

Chang Yu narrowed his eyes. Threads of killing intent gathered in those small but sharp eyes of his, like the first signs of a brewing storm.

“You drank too much today,” Daoist Hao said, stroking his goatee with feigned casualness. “You should be sleepy by now.”

As though his words carried some kind of power, the moment Daoist Hao finished speaking, Chang Yu felt his eyelids grow heavy, as if they were filled with lead. He became exactly like someone who had drunk too much and wanted nothing more than to collapse into sleep.

“Have a good rest,” Daoist Hao said kindly. “By the time you wake again, you should have almost completely absorbed the medicinal power of this peach blossom brew.”

“When that time comes, you will find that the world is no longer as it once was.”