Chapter 446 - The Ungodly Decay (1/2)
It was the twenty-first day of the seventh month. Five days had passed and Xiao Chen arrived at a place called Guhe Town—the Town of the Ancient River. He was but only a few more days’ journey from Xianyong City at the eastern peripherals of the Middle Continent. With the rest of the Levitating Dark Fragrance scouring the lands for Gui Xian, there was only Qingluan and Ziyun’er accompanying him.
It rained terribly hard yesterday and it was a hot and sunny day today. Xiao Chen was reading the Elixir King Scripture that Gui Xian had given him at the tavern. The tome hardly contained many methods of healing, focusing instead on extensive recipes and information about elixirs and tonics. But he scarcely understood most of them, and recognized only some recipes for medication that helps to improve blood circulation, cure bruising, and calming or soothing in addition to others.
He shifted himself, sitting cross-legged and began to breathe and rest by following the instructions on the tome. Concentrating on every part of him, he began to search for anything abnormal about his health.
Before long, Xian Chen began to feel a strange sensation about him as if his soul was swimming in a fantasy world within him. Everything went dark around him. There was no earth, no mountains nor rivers. No stars, no sun, and no moon. All that he could see was a world of complete blackness threatening to engulf him whole.
This was one of the intrigues of the physique of a mage. Reaching the stage of the Nascent Soul Realm allows one to reshape the spiritual manifestation of one’s body into a domain of its own, a concept not unfamiliar to Buddhism.
But the length and breadth of one’s “inner domain” hinges on one’s spiritual powers; it could be as small as a speck of dirt or it could be as large as the actual world we lived in so long as one honed one’s physique through the practice of sorcery.
Xiao Chen stood in the middle of the boundless nowhere, feeling fascinated and surprised. “Is this the domain inside me? But it’s so big! Or is this just some hallucination?”
Then he took a few steps and he caught a glimpse of a dot of light. A soft white light beckoning at him. But there was something dark in the light. The shape of a silhouette that he could not clearly make out in the distance. Eager to find out what it was, he cantered into a run. Finally, as he got close, he trotted slowly and breathed, “A tree in nowhere?! Is this even possible!?”
But it looked everything like the veritable tree looming several yards over him. It looked hardly strong and majestic but there was something sacred about it with all of its bark, its branches, and its leaves were all completely white, from top to bottom. The leaves sparkled cheerily at him, glistening like silver in the soft white light that Xiao Chen thought this must be a tree that came from the Heavens above.
Xiao Chen approached the tree, his hand reaching out curiously. His fingers grazed on the hard, jagged surface of the bark and felt the churning ripples of life! Undying and inextinguishable life! “Is this really inside me?! How would I have such a tree in me?! But it looks familiar… as if I had seen it before… But where…”
Xiao Chen stopped to ponder. But he could not remember where he saw the tree before. He walked circles around it, wondering, “So… is this tree somehow related to the recent deterioration of my life?”
“But wait, Red Sleeve had told me that my body is powered by two auras; one of the strongest Yang element and another of the strongest Yin element. What in Heaven…!?”
Confused and puzzled, Xiao Chen only felt his mind blurry and his head dizzy. Then everything became dark around him again. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on his bed. “Wait a minute, was it all only a dream?!”
“Koo-chee!” Koo-chee beast squealed from atop his bed frame, leaning down to lick at his cheek affectionately.
That made Xiao Chen giggle. Then he heard footfalls scuffing against stone outside. His spiritual senses were still far from perfect yet, but he knew it was Qingluan and Ziyun’er. There was also a stranger with them as well. The footsteps stopped just in front of the door and Qingluan’s voice came from outside, “My Lord, are you awake?”
“I am. Come in.”
Qingluan and Ziyun’er pushed past the door and came in, followed by an old man dressed in robes of white trimmed in blue. His rosy cheeks and black hair belied that he looked almost seventy of age and a fascinated Xiao Chen asked, “And this is…?”
The old man smiled and asked Ziyun’er, “Is this the young man you told me about?”
“My Lord,” Qingluan reported, “This man is the Elixir King we’ve managed to find from the town nearby.” Xiao Chen nodded and said to the elderly man, “Please have a seat, old sir.”
The old man strode closer to him. “It’s fine. I’ll first have a look at you.” A white, minuscule fleck of light shone at the tip of his finger and he pointed it at Xiao Chen’s wrist and the blob of light seemed to penetrate him. Unlike most healers or physicians that require to observe a patient’s condition, discuss with the patient, or examine his pulse, mage healers needed only their healing sorcery.
A frown slowly creased on the face of the old man, Xiao Chen noticed and he asked, “Is there a problem with me, old sir?”
“Th-this…” The old healer tried his best to look merrier, but to no avail. He bowed to Xiao Chen and said sourly, “For decades, I, Xue Qingshan have never once disappointed any of my patients. I take immense pride in my craft. But yet today, today, I have met my match. I’m sorry, young sir. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for you! I’m very sorry!” He sounded positively beaten and depressed.
“Can you elaborate in a more precise manner, old sir?” Xiao Chen balked.
“I can feel that you are losing your powers,” said Xue, “But… your physique is no different to any common man. I detect no problems with you, other than your whitening hair… Unless my skills are nothing but mere conceited vanity…”
Xiao Chen felt despondent and morose. “Why… How could this be…” But Ziyun’er snarled suddenly, “You are an Elixir King! You’re supposed to be able to find out what’s wrong with him! To save him! Nemesis of Death, they call you! Look again! Make sure you’re right!”