Chapter 133: Zhao Dasheng’s Lifelong Shame

"Hahahaha..."

Chang Yu finally could not hold back his laughter, bursting into a guffaw: "That was just the dirt rubbed off Yangyang's body."

Katerina frowned, a hint of disgust appearing in her eyes: "Ugh, how disgusting!"

"I can't believe you could come up with such a ridiculous idea..."

"At least it contains skin debris from Yangyang's body, so it should have some effect..." Chang Yu raised an eyebrow at Katerina.

"By the way!" Chang Yu suddenly remembered something, "Haven't you always wanted to get something from Yangyang to make a medicinal drink?"

"How about I rub some off for you to try?"

"Besides, I could get you some of Yangyang's bathwater, too."

"If you ignore the human form Yangyang has taken on now and just look at his original form, the kid is essentially a Poria cocos."

"Wouldn't his bathwater be equivalent to brewing Poria tea by soaking the whole thing in water?"

Katerina immediately fell silent. Truth be told, she was a bit tempted...

As someone who treated wellness as a lifelong career, she naturally hoped to obtain some rare and precious medicinal ingredients.

As a Poria that had lived for thousands of years, wasn't Yangyang the very precious herb Katerina dreamed of brewing into tea?

In the past, out of consideration for Chang Yu's dignity and the fact that Yangyang had developed sentience and taken human form, Katerina had always been unwilling to lay a hand on him.

But now, if there were a way to drink tea brewed from a thousand-year-old Poria without harming Yangyang, how could Katerina not be tempted?

However, the thought of that stuff being the grime and dirt rubbed off Yangyang's body made her feel nauseated again.

"I think I'll pass!" Katerina rejected Chang Yu's proposal.

Mainly, she was a germaphobe, and it was simply unrealistic to expect a germaphobe to drink Yangyang's bathwater.

"Don't be like that!" Chang Yu quickly persuaded her, "Since ancient times, those who achieve great things don't get hung up on minor details. For the sake of health, what's a little bathwater?"

Chang Yu, full of mischief, was trying to trick Katerina.

Wouldn't it be an amusing sight to see Katerina gulp down a full basin of Yangyang's bathwater?

Unfortunately, Katerina didn't fall for his scheme at all.

"If there's nothing else, I'm heading back." Katerina stood up, intending to leave.

Before stepping out, she turned back and instructed Chang Yu: "You can get closer to Zhao Dasheng."

"Though the Bureau has many rules, it isn't entirely heartless. However, you must not proactively leak the Bureau's affairs to him; that is a matter of principle."

"I understand everything you've said, I really do!" Chang Yu straightened his expression, "You can rest assured."

"Alright, then I'm off." With that, Katerina left without looking back.

Katerina knew very well that Zhao Dasheng’s visit to Chang Yu was a visit in name, but an attempt to curry favor in reality.

This was not only because of the powerful abilities Chang Yu had displayed on the cruise ship.

It was also because when Zhao Dasheng used his connections to search for Chang Yu's file, he discovered it had been classified with the highest level of clearance.

Unable to decipher Chang Yu's background, he had no choice but to find ways to build a good relationship with him.

Hence the scene from earlier, where he traveled a great distance just to offer shares...

Given Zhao Dasheng's wealth, he could have easily waved his hand and offered Chang Yu millions or tens of millions as a reward for saving his life.

But Zhao Dasheng hadn't done that.

Instead, he adopted a more subtle, more lingering approach...

That was to have Chang Yu buy into his five-star hotel, tying the two of them closely together.

Zhao Dasheng wanted to make an investment in Chang Yu—an investment not about money or profit, but about friendship.

She did not oppose Zhao Dasheng’s actions because what he was doing posed no threat to Chang Yu.

On the contrary... it had many benefits.

If Chang Yu wanted to put down roots in H City and establish himself there, socializing with the powerful in high society was necessary and unavoidable.

Therefore, Katerina turned a blind eye to Zhao Dasheng's overtures.

At night, Chang Yu fell into a deep sleep once more and arrived at the bird-singing, flower-fragrant Poria Valley.

Chang Yu felt that since he drank that cup of peach blossom wine, his frequency of visiting Poria Valley had increased.

Sure enough, before falling asleep, he had thought about coming here, and here he was.

In the past, Chang Yu's dreams were entirely a matter of chance; he would fail to reach the right place in eight out of ten dreams.

This was largely because, at that time, Chang Yu could not control his dreams to any great extent.

Getting to Poria Valley required luck; one had to be extremely fortunate to have the chance.

Now, though... it didn't seem so difficult anymore.

It seemed his talent for dreaming was directly linked to the strength of his soul power? Chang Yu couldn't help but make this conjecture.

"Master! Master!"

Chang Yu stood in the valley for a long time, but failed to see Master Hao'er, so he shouted a couple of times.

He felt as though... in the last few days, Master Hao'er had been avoiding him.

When the master is the one who tricked his own disciple, why does it feel like he, the disciple, did something wrong?

Not only was there no decent explanation, but he also adopted a "cold treatment" approach, pretending to ignore Chang Yu.

That was truly going too far!

"Master, can you please stop hiding from me?" Chang Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, feeling a sense of deep grievance with nowhere to vent.

Large flocks of birds were startled into flight by his sonic assault, and many spirit beasts fled from his vicinity.

After waiting for a long time, there was still no response.

Chang Yu hardened his heart and brought out his trump card: "Master, let bygones be bygones, I don't blame you anymore."

"Although your act of letting Yangyang crawl into my belly was truly underhanded, you are still my master after all!"

"As the saying goes, a teacher for a day is a father for life; surely we two can't hold grudges overnight, right?"

"If there's any misunderstanding, we can just clear it up face to face. There's no need to keep dodging me."

"You can hide for a day, but you can't hide for a lifetime! This can't go on forever."

"Good disciple! You're finally willing to forgive your master?" Master Hao'er appeared out of thin air with a 'whoosh,' as if he could teleport.

"What's done is done, what else can I do?" Chang Yu put on a pitiful expression.

"Poor me, Chang Yu, a man of such great reputation, having a child before even turning twenty... I'm still just a kid!"

"Tell me... I have no girlfriend, I've never been married! How am I supposed to explain Yangyang's origins to others?"

"Tell me... what girl would still be willing to date me knowing I have such a burden in tow?"

"You... you are effectively making sure your good disciple never gets a wife!"

"Oh, I know, I know." Master Hao'er rubbed his ears, looking impatient.

"Why do you always want to talk to me about these romantic matters every time you come here? You're a grown man, can you not be so long-winded?"

"Isn't it just a wife? I'll compensate you with one, won't I? Our Poria lineage is, after all, a respectable and orthodox sect."

"Aren't there countless girls lining up to throw themselves at you? I'll find you a good match later, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Master Hao'er first rolled his eyes at Chang Yu, then boasted boldly.

At that moment, Master Hao'er, in Chang Yu's eyes, seemed to be filled with a sacred radiance.

"Really?" Chang Yu looked at Master Hao'er with suspicious eyes.

After all, this old guy was quite old himself and seemed to be single.

If the Poria lineage were as powerful as he claimed, why hadn't he found a wife for himself?

Chang Yu figured he was just blowing smoke.

"Would I lie to you?" Master Hao'er flicked his sleeves, "When have I ever deceived you?"

"Tch..." Chang Yu just smiled and said nothing.

But the way he looked at Master Hao'er from time to time was like looking at some sort of scumbag—yes, it was completely the look one gives a scumbag.

Chang Yu had already moved past the stage of blaming heaven and others; what had happened could not be changed.

Once he realized this, most of the anger he had built up over the past period dissipated.

Regarding the issue of Yangyang, he no longer wanted to lose his temper with Master Hao'er.

Since the child was already born, what else could he do?

"It's still early, do you want to cultivate for a while?" Master Hao'er, feeling guilty, changed the subject.

"Fine." Chang Yu didn't mind the dirt and sat down directly on the ground.

Poria Valley was a place of excellent feng shui; the concentration of spiritual energy was extremely dense, almost forming a mist.

In the real world, however, the spiritual energy in the air was extremely thin.

The gap between the two was truly like heaven and earth.

Cultivating here, the speed and efficiency were far beyond what was possible in the real world, so Chang Yu cherished the time spent cultivating here.

Moreover, cultivating here, he didn't need to worry about sudden chest tightness, shortness of breath, or feeling weak...

Since he drank the peach blossom wine and his soul power increased, he could now see through to the essence of things at a glance.

The entire world was much clearer and brighter in his eyes.

From Chang Yu's perspective, the spiritual energy particles in Poria Valley were just like the spirit stones Master Hao'er gave him.

They were not mixed with those grey-black granular objects; there were no impurities at all.

It seemed the problem really was the air quality back in the real world.

Operating the Poria Heart Sutra, the spiritual energy around Chang Yu immediately became active, and vast amounts of tangible spiritual energy gathered around him.

The spiritual energy particles around Chang Yu were disturbed, drawn by some special power, they swarmed to surround him.

Massive amounts of spiritual energy were absorbed into his body, flowing like a babbling brook, circulating continuously through his limbs and bones.

Gradually, the warm current, which was only the size of a small stream, began to grow. At first, it was only a thread or two.

Later, it became a stream or two.

In just a short time, the true energy within Chang Yu's body had more than doubled.

This cultivation speed was comparable to defying the heavens; even if Chang Yu used spirit stones to cultivate, he could not reach this speed.

"Strange, I've cultivated in Poria Valley before, why wasn't the cultivation efficiency this high?"

A faint question surfaced in Chang Yu's heart.

The efficiency of this cultivation session was too high, far exceeding his previous experiences in Poria Valley.

"No need to be confused." Master Hao'er spoke up at the right moment, "This is all the benefit you’ve gained from your increased soul power."

"People with powerful soul power are always more gifted and find it more convenient to cultivate than ordinary people."

"The reason you feel your previous cultivation wasn't as fast as it is now is because your soul power wasn't strong enough back then."

"The spiritual energy concentration in Poria Valley has never changed; what has changed is you yourself, not the concentration of the valley."

"That is why I told you before that the strength of one's soul power is a very important matter; it directly affects a person's cultivation talent."

"People with powerful soul power have the effect of achieving twice the result with half the effort when cultivating. I didn't lie to you about that."

"So that's how it is." Chang Yu suddenly understood.

It turned out that everything just now was not an illusion; his cultivation speed had indeed increased, and his efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy particles had indeed improved.

"Let me help you a bit more!" After saying this, Master Hao'er raised his hand and flicked his sleeve.

Large areas of dense spiritual energy moved without wind, and with Chang Yu as the center, they vaguely condensed into a small tornado.

Tiny, crystal-clear water droplets were faintly mixed within it; that was spiritual liquid, naturally formed once the concentration of spiritual energy reached a certain level.

It was as if... the spiritual energy of the entire valley had been gathered around Chang Yu by a casual wave of Master Hao'er's hand.

Time passed unknowingly, and soon, it was time to return.

Chang Yu felt vaguely as if he had penetrated a thin film of light, crossing from one side to the other.

The feeling of passing through that membrane of light was very strange, like being wrapped and permeated by seawater.

It was icy cold, yet it carried an strange warmth.

Waking up, Chang Yu felt refreshed and invigorated.

Subconsciously operating the Poria Heart Sutra, Chang Yu was not surprised to find that the true energy in his body, which had been the size of a stream, had now become a small river.

This was all the result of last night's cultivation.

Even Chang Yu found it hard to believe; he had only cultivated for one night in Poria Valley, and the harvest was unexpectedly large.

The progress of this one night of cultivation was almost comparable to a month of his hard work.

It seemed Master Hao'er really did have a way to help him accelerate his cultivation!

As expected of an immortal with heaven-reaching powers...

Recalling the membrane of light he passed through before returning, Chang Yu began to wonder about its origin.

"What was that membrane of light?" Chang Yu asked himself.

In the past, he had always been brought back to reality by a mysterious and massive pulling force, never noticing that seemingly soft but actually extremely solid membrane of light.

But ever since his body underwent irreversible changes, this was the second time he had seen that membrane.

"I remember when I was infiltrating Yangyang's dream, Master Hao'er once said something."

"He said that his future disciple was a person from another realm, not from their world."

"If the disciple he was talking about is me, then that means..."

"Master and I are actually not from the same world? If that's the case... it's no wonder Master doesn't know what 'Journey to the West' is."

"Since we aren't from the same world, it's normal that he doesn't know about that book."

"Then can I assume that the membrane of light is actually a boundary membrane connecting two worlds, used to separate them?"

"One side of the membrane is the real world, and the other side is the world I travel to in my dreams?"

"It's like the world of the surface and the inner world; the membrane is the bridge connecting the two."

"And I, like a stowaway, can cross that membrane without anyone knowing and shuttle between the two worlds at will?"

"Then the question is, if that membrane of light were to disappear, what would happen to these two worlds?"

Chang Yu stroked his chin, lost in serious thought.