Unexpected carriage companion

The week went by without anything out of the ordinary. Morning training did not stop and Library Hall was still the place Wu Long spent most of his time in.

Only that, now he was going through the medicine section, searching for what ingredients were known to cultivators in this world.

The Scarlet Fire Ginseng, while capable of possibly solving his problem, was the bare minimum that had no 100% guarantee. It was also heavily dependent on how old it was.

From Liu Li, in one of their conversations, he learned that what the Treasure Hall had, and what most of what could be found on the market, was mere 10 to 30 year old roots, which would not help him. If it would be useful, it had to be at least 100 years old or higher.

She inwardly wondered why he was interested in such a highly precious and expensive but usually useless to most cultivators ingredient, that was only used by high level alchemists to enhance their alchemy flames, since it was not usable by any other purpose as far as common knowledge and research of the cultivation world were concerned. Their sect had only one, and that was something the sect master received as a gift years ago. It was set to an unimaginable high price so that it would not be just bought and wasted. They had no alchemists so it was like a piece of decoration to this sect.

Thus, he was searching if there were any substitutes he could use.

His condition was actually a peculiar one, it was not an inherited or prenatal defect, nor was it a plain physical injury. If it was any of those, he would not need such materials that were considered precious and rare here, he could treat himself with even the most common ingredients by the standards of this world, albeit using high level knowledge, as well as using special techniques. And if it was a mental problem that would have been fixed the moment he awakened.

But the problem was that from his analysis, his condition was induced with a very specific and vicious combination of poisons that were administered slowly and in specific order over and over again over a relatively long period of time. The poisons themselves were already long gone by the time he awakened, and only the damage they had done remained. It also didn't help that by his estimation around a bit less than a year had gone by since this happened to this moment so the damage set in.

Even then, if he was in the Seven Boundless Worlds, he would have no problem finding ingredients to cure himself, but in this undeveloped world he was severely unequipped.

So he had to know what medicinal ingredients were available in general so that he could deduce possible solutions. By the time he was done with his research he concluded that he might need to research more at a place with more information, as the Yin Yang Unity Palace's Library Hall was not very impressive in terms of their collection of knowledge and information, the most extensive area being dual cultivation related, and that too, relatively, as it was a new and small sect in an undeveloped world of cultivation. But he also deduced another possible plan, as he could combine less powerful and precious medicines to create an improvised solution instead, and then he would not need any more research on what was available in this world elsewhere.

When the day of departure arrived he came to the gathering spot near the sect gates where he saw a group of 25 people which included Liu Li, a man and a woman in elder clothes, and surprisingly, Hua Ziyan.

Hua Ziyan also noticed Wu Long, and was shocked since she instantly recognized him. She only saw his face clearly for that one brief moment he looked at her, but his features have engraved themselves into her mind. She went strolling around the sect ever since, hoping to meet him by chance, but was disappointed every time. She even began wondering if he was really a disciple here or just wore those clothes as a disguise.

Seeing him now she was surprised, unsure, nervous and delighted at the same time. She didn't know if she was supposed to pretend not to know him, or if it was alright to talk to him.

Seeing her gaze filled with such a complicated mixture of emotions and thoughts, Wu Long lightly smiled.

"It has been a while Fairy Hua" he said with no care for the round eyes that instantly looked at him from the other disciples in a group. Hua Ziyan stood slightly isolated from the group, and none of them dared to speak to or approach her except one handsome male disciple with clothes similar to hers but without the golden ornaments, indicating he was a core disciple. His gaze was also surprised, but there was also displeasure in it.

If one were to closely examine the group, the rest of the group consisted of 10 pairs of male and female inner court disciples.

Meaning that if the male core disciple was counted as paired with Hua Ziyan, Wu Long was not only the only outer court disciple, which already stood out like a sore thumb, but also the only disciple without a female counterpart disciple in the group, making his existence even more conspicuous.

And this oddity casually spoke to one of the two most unapproachable people in the group as soon as he arrived.

"It has been a while indeed… um…" Hua Ziyan said, but quickly realized she didn't know his name to respond.

"Wu Long, you have arrived" at this moment, Liu Li noticed him, said with a smile and after his nod, turned to the group "we are now all here, we will be traveling in carriages, but only four people can fit in one carriage, so pair up however you like into 4 people groups while we descend the mountain. We will be stopping every night at a small town or roadside lodging so you could regroup then, but not when on the move. Any questions?"

There were no questions as this trip was something they have been preparing for since a week ago. The disciples were to go out gaining experience so they received extensive preparation from their mentors and knew what to expect. The only question they had but couldn't ask was about the outer court disciple that showed up last and seem to both know Hua Ziyan and now even Liu Li, the second most unapproachable person in the group.

Hua Ziyan immediately came to Wu Long and before anyone could say anything she asked "Is it possible to sit in the same carriage?", and she added as she turned to the male core disciple "Senior Apprentice Brother Zheng, would you please sit with the elders?"

The 20 inner disciples would pair up in 5 carriages, and the elders would all sit together, so there was only Wu Long, Hua Ziyan and the male core disciple, Zheng Huang, left based on simple calculations. And normally she would choose to sit with the elders to avoid sitting alone with Zheng Huang, but since Wu Long came, her thinking changed since she wanted a chance to talk to him privately as soon as possible, as she was not sure when this chance would arrive again. After all, he could just disappear during their trip for all she knew.

This proposed arrangement immediately raised eyebrows of the disciples and elders alike, and caused fury to appear in the eyes of Zheng Huang who anticipated riding in a carriage with only Hua Ziyan.

There was a special meaning in him participating in this trip. When Hua Ziyan decided to participate, Grand Elder Zheng Liuei, his father, arranged that he was the only core disciple added to the participants. The other inner court disciples were also went through a selection process, and all agreed to cooperate, leaving them alone at specific times and such. This was a golden opportunity which was prepared for him, and also a test of his father to prove that he was worthy of investing, as his father had many children over the course of his long life.

As for Hua Ziyan, despite being in the sect for a long time since she was brought along by the sect master, she has not chosen a partner and have yet to dual cultivate. Not only was she the prime disciple and future sect leader, she also had a special physique, as well as her Pure Yin Essence intact. Grand Elder Zheng Liuei would have coveted her for himself if he was not worried about the sect master.

Zheng Huang also desired her for a long time now. She was the most coveted and precious disciple in the sect, so it was natural that the competition was high. It was just that in recent years his father gained more and more influence in the sect, and recently even joined forces with the vice sect master, and thus was able to give him this chance.

However, it was not like he could just blatantly refuse, he could only hope that this outer court disciple would pick up on the situation and refuse.

Wu Long didn't care who he rode in the carriage with, so he simply nodded. This action multiplied the rage of Zheng Huang by several orders of magnitude. A sensible one would have declined while saying that he was not worthy.

Liu Li was surprised by Hua Ziyan's proposal as well, but knowing how unusual of an existence Wu Long was firsthand, she had an easier time adjusting.

After they descended the mountain, they got on the carriages that were waiting not far from the mountain trail on the trail that stretched to the nearest human settlement.

There were several sect protectors to guard against demonic beasts and possible bandits. They have escorted the carriages that were hired here from the town, and will now escort them through their journey.

As they got into the carriage Hua Ziyan nervously looked at Wu Long, as she didn't know how to start, and whether he was displeased by her suggesting they ride together.

Wu Long saw this, and smiled, amused by how inexperienced this little girl was, her nervousness written all over her face and most of her thoughts and intentions open like a book.

"Relax, I would have refused if I was uncomfortable. You can also freely ask questions, I'll answer what I want, but I won't get upset over those I don't want to answer" he then told her as he didn't want to sit in this atmosphere for the coming weeks.

Hearing this, Hua Ziyan's nervousness lessened and she was also excited since it seemed like he was not as unapproachable as she felt on that rainy day.

"Um… first, I wanted to thank you, though you might not have done it for me, but because of his mistakes- …" she started out but as she got to the word 'mistakes',

"Stop" Wu Long raised his hand to stop her.

"Let's not mention 'mistakes'" he then added. And inwardly he almost facepalmed as he completely forgot about it. He might have hesitated to go into the same carriage with her if he hadn't, but it was too late now so he could only just try to minimize the damage.

"Ah, yes, understood," she quickly nodded.

"Anyway, I just wanted to properly thank you as regardless of your motives you saved me" she then continued solemnly and made a bow to him.

"Khm, it's ok, let's just forget about that day, don't worry about thanking or repaying me, just… just don't… don't mention it again" he said as he felt a headache just thinking of that day.

She quickly nodded, for which he inwardly praised her as a thoughtful girl who knew to read the mood.

"Then, to start, should I call you Junior Apprentice Brother Wu?"

"You can call me just Wu Long" he said with a slight chuckle, " and don't be so formal, I don't bite…"

"at least yet" he said with a mischievous smile. Her heart skipped a bit when she saw this smile.

In fact, he was only teasing her, he was not really interested in a girl who was still wet behind her ears in his eyes. He was just amused by watching her reactions and how vastly different a girl of her age interacted with him compared to what he was used to. He experienced this feeling to a certain extent with Liu Li as well. Though she was older than Hua Ziyan, in his eyes their ages didn't differ that much. However, he was now intrigued to notice that this insignificant in his eyes difference in age had a profound effect on them and the change was far more drastic. As someone who once already was mortal before and experienced it, it was not like he did not know this, it was just that too long a time has passed and his view has changed too vastly.

Even a mortal would forget how they felt or thought as a child when they grew older, much less someone who lived a life such as an immortal would. Granted, he did have a perfect memory, but that was reserved to things important to him. He could easily forget something that happened a mere month ago if it was not so important in his eyes.

If not for the 'gift' he received from the mysterious woman he would never have a chance to interact with mortals like this, as it was very long since he visited any vicinity of mortal worlds. So he was relishing in these new feelings and experiences.

"T-Then W-Wu … Long, are you really a disciple of the Yin Yang Unity Palace?"

"Yes, I am, and I really am an outer court disciple"

"Do you perhaps hide your cultivation base?"

"Haha, no, I am really in the 7th level of Body Transformation Realm"

She was more and more puzzled by his answers as she could not understand how someone of his prowess was an unknown outer court disciple of a tiny sect.

"Why didn't I know of you before that day?" She then asked, as surely someone this amazing would have been famous in the sect, not to mention his appearance.

"Hmm, I have only been in the sect for a bit more than half a year, and I was relatively low-key for most of the part. "

"Then, is it alright if I ask why you are so strong despite…" she asked, awkwardly not knowing how to phrase it politely.

"Despite my low cultivation base? It's simple, really, it takes more than just a cultivation base to be strong. In fact, the influence of the cultivation base in battle is quite mild if the realms are not too far apart. And even then it could be minimized based on various methods.

The most important aspects in battle are the sense, experience, instincts and mind. All of which are intangible and quite abstract compared to the cultivation base.

There are also techniques and knowledge which are accumulated with effort far exceeding that of a cultivation base.

Plus, there are a myriad of ways of cultivating, an uncountable number of Daos and as many paths as there are cultivators. Thus each person's achievements in the same realm are varied, and the difference could be vastly wider than you imagine." He said, giving off the air of a teacher giving a lecture to his students.

He then went into the depths of the introductory overview he gave first, and explained each and every aspect one by one. His explanations were extremely easy to understand and absorb.

When he finished his explanation, he encouraged her to ask questions which he then answered methodically and with such ease as if she was sitting not before someone younger than her by a few years, but a wisened scholar who spent millenia deepening his knowledge and was also a renowned teacher famous for his teaching technique.