Main Story Volume Two, Chapter Sixty-Seven Chronicle of the Immortal Path

This time, not only had Ye Yun survived, but Brother Meng was also forced to leave, leaving Yu Mu all alone, suddenly bereft of any motivation to move forward.

Yu Mu numbly picked up the monster's inner core and tucked it into his robe. He then reattached his body, transforming once more into a tree to absorb the nourishment of the earth and begin to heal his wounds.

With the area’s immense regenerative power, it was not long before Yu Mu’s injuries were fully healed.

He rose to his feet and wandered dazedly toward the entrance to the third level. For he truly had nowhere else to go, and he had no wish to remain here.

Arriving at the wellhead, just as he was about to leap down, he suddenly heard a faint moaning sound.

Startled, Yu Mu wondered how anyone could be here.

Following the sound, he discovered someone behind a large stone. As he approached, he was astonished.

Behind the stone lay a mortally wounded man, so close to death that it was hard to sense any sign of life within him.

Cang Yunzi?

How could he be here? Who could have wounded him so grievously?

Yu Mu had always felt an inexplicable fondness for this elder. Seeing him so gravely injured, Yu Mu hurried forward, lifting him gently and called out, “Elder, wake up! Who did this to you?”

Cang Yunzi opened his eyes a sliver. In his daze, he saw a shadow moving before him, and suddenly a spark of awareness returned to his gaze.

He forced himself to speak, “Who are you?”

“I am a minor spirit from under Eagle Ridge,” Yu Mu answered truthfully.

“Oh!” On hearing that he was dealing with a spirit, Cang Yunzi seemed disappointed and closed his eyes once more.

Yu Mu saw that Cang Yunzi’s breath was faint, his life hanging by a thread. Compassion welled up within him. With a turn of his palm, a peach appeared in his hand. He gently pried open Cang Yunzi’s mouth, crushed the peach, and fed him the pulp.

The peach dissolved instantly into spiritual nectar, quickly repairing Cang Yunzi’s broken body. Before Yu Mu’s eyes, Cang Yunzi’s pallor began to subside, and a healthy flush slowly returned to his cheeks.

Cang Yunzi opened his eyes again, staring at Yu Mu in utter disbelief. “Little brother, what did you give me? How could it be so miraculous?”

“It was a peach. Since it works for you, Elder, you should have another.” As he spoke, another peach appeared in Yu Mu’s hand.

Cang Yunzi waved it away. “I am beyond saving. It would be a waste to spend such precious spiritual medicine on me. Little brother, can you tell me where this peach came from?”

Yu Mu hesitated, but Cang Yunzi immediately said, “Little brother, I have not long to live. No matter how great your secret, I have no chance to spread it. You need not worry.”

After living for more than three thousand years, how could Cang Yunzi not see that Yu Mu was hiding something?

Cang Yunzi sighed, “Alas! It’s just that this matter is tied to a knot that has weighed on my heart for many years. If I don't find the answer before I die, I will not rest in peace!”

Seeing the emotion on Cang Yunzi’s face and the tears glistening in his eyes, Yu Mu could not bear to refuse him. “I am a millennium-old peach tree who gained sentience. This peach is the fruit I bear.”

“What!?” Cang Yunzi was greatly shocked. He muttered, “How could a peach tree spirit bear such a spiritual fruit? Unless…”

He fell silent for some time, then suddenly said, “Little brother, I am a dying man, and there is something that has weighed on me for over three millennia. Today, let me unburden myself to you. Would you be willing to listen?”

Yu Mu was greatly surprised, but nodded repeatedly.

Cang Yunzi, seeing Yu Mu’s reaction, was greatly pleased. He struggled to lean more comfortably against the stone, and only then began, “Perhaps you have heard some tales about me.”

Yu Mu nodded, “I have heard a few.”

“That’s right, most of those stories are true. From childhood I was gifted, my talents extraordinary. When I was young, I obtained a peerless tome and learned a supreme Daoist art.”

“A peerless tome?” Yu Mu was startled.

Cang Yunzi did not explain but continued, “This method allowed me to cultivate at a tremendous pace. My natural talent was high, so my progress was smooth and swift. I reached enlightenment in ten years, achieved union in a hundred, and crossed the tribulation in a thousand—a miracle by any measure.

“Alas, Heaven is jealous of such talent. After the tribulation, my gifts and abilities seemed to have been exhausted. No matter how hard I tried, I could not advance further. By nature, I am proud and could not accept this. So I journeyed the world, seeking a solution.”

“Is that why you came here?” Yu Mu recalled what Cang Yunzi had said to Qingtian earlier.

Cang Yunzi nodded, “Indeed. After centuries of research and experimentation, I discovered the source of the problem. The flaw was not in me, but in that Daoist art. It brought me success, but also my downfall.

“There is a great defect in that art. It was something discarded by others, yet I treated it as a treasure, a gift from Heaven. Now, in retrospect, it is laughable.”

Yu Mu could not help but ask, “What kind of Daoist art is it? If it’s so harmful, why does it still exist in the world?”

Cang Yunzi shook his head, “I was wrong to blame the art. Later, I realized that the art can be completed, but it requires someone of supreme wisdom and ability to do so. Such a person is rare beyond measure. Where could one find them?”

“So, isn’t it still a harmful art?”

“Not entirely. There is another way, actually, to conceal its flaw.”

“What way?”

“By finding a spiritual medicine to shatter that barrier—the effect is just as good.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Originally, such a medicine was even harder to find than a sage of supreme wisdom. But after just now eating your peach, I sensed the barrier that had bound me for so many years begin to loosen.”

“Ah!” Yu Mu had never imagined his peaches could have such an effect.

“Alas, I have little time left. Otherwise, if I ate a few more, perhaps I truly could break through the barrier and continue on my path. But fate is cruel.”

After speaking so much in one breath, Cang Yunzi was exhausted. He paused to catch his breath, then reached into his robe and took out a book. “Though this ‘Record of the Immortal Path’ has a great flaw, it cannot be denied that it is a masterpiece. If it were lost with me, it would be a waste. Today, fate has brought us together. I wish to give you this art. Whether you choose to cultivate it is your own decision.”

“For… for me?” Yu Mu was shocked.

Cang Yunzi pressed the book into Yu Mu’s hands and sighed, “To become a great cultivator quickly and risk ending up like me, or to follow the steady path and perhaps never reach those heights—you must choose for yourself.”

He changed his tone, “But from that peach, I sensed that you might be able to break through the bottleneck and avoid my fate. Perhaps you will be different.”

Seeing Cang Yunzi grow weaker by the moment, Yu Mu hastened to say, “Elder, please rest for now. When you are better, we can speak again.”