Mortal: Traveling Between Two Realms with Mei Ning to Pick Up Trash

When Mei Ning returned, it was already dark.

She pushed open the door and came in, carrying two fish in her hand, probably for tonight's dinner, but she stopped in her tracks as soon as she crossed the threshold.

Her gaze fell on Zhou Yu's left arm, where the black and purple wound was particularly conspicuous in the dim light.

"What's wrong with you?" Mei Ning threw the fish aside, took three steps in two to walk to the bedside, squatted down to check Zhou Yu's wound.

Zhou Yu opened his mouth, trying to come up with a reason.

However, his current level of local language proficiency is only enough to say "hello" and "thank you".

It's impossible to explain such a complex plot as "I used a calligraphy brush that could cut through space to run into a battlefield with the remnants of an ancient behemoth, and then I was chased out and bitten on the arm."

Zhou Yu simply shut his mouth.

Mei Ning didn't ask any more questions. She reached out and placed her hand above Zhou Yu's wound. A faint spiritual light emanated from her palm, and she uttered a few short syllables.

Low-level healing techniques.

The spiritual light entered the wound, suppressing the chilling aura slightly, but it quickly rebounded, causing Mei Ning's brows to furrow even more tightly.

She withdrew her hand, her tone turning serious. "This is not an ordinary injury; it's caused by some kind of chilling aura. My magic can only suppress it temporarily. To eradicate it completely, I need yang-attribute pills or talismans."

She glanced at Zhou Yu, her eyes filled with a scrutinizing gaze that made him feel guilty.

"I don't have those things," Mei Ning said, her voice lowering. "This injury isn't exactly serious, it's just rather troublesome."

Zhou Yu lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling of the bamboo house, his feelings complicated.

I was too reckless.

They got cocky when they had cheat codes, and they became arrogant when they had spiritual roots, thinking they were some kind of chosen one.

He was instantly killed as soon as he entered; if he hadn't run fast, he would have become that giant beast's dessert by now.

Having cheat codes alone isn't enough.

I must begin my cultivation.

With spiritual power, I can truly use that brush; with spiritual power, I can open the storage bag; with spiritual power, at least I won't be knocked down by a wisp of cold energy like I am now.

Zhou Yu turned his head and looked at Mei Ning.

Mei Ning sat down in front of herself, crushed a few herbs and applied them to the wound, then wrapped it tightly with strips of cloth.

"Sister Mei... Sister Ning," Zhou Yu began, his pronunciation still slightly off, but the meaning was clear, "teach me... how to cultivate immortality."

Mei Ning paused for a moment.

She looked up and met Zhou Yu's eyes.

There was a long silence.

"Okay," Mei Ning said, "but I only have the most basic techniques."

She paused, then tied the last bit of cloth.

"Without the aid of elixirs, the cultivation speed will be very slow."

Zhou Yu looked at his left arm, which was wrapped up like a dumpling, and then at Mei Ning's expressionless face.

slow?

If they can't move at the slightest sound right now, why would they be afraid of being slow?

"Slow down...don't be afraid," Zhou Yu said, enunciating each word carefully. "As long as I can cultivate...that's enough."

Mei Ning glanced at him, said nothing more, and turned to clean up the two fish that had been thrown on the ground.

Zhou Yu leaned against the pillow, the wound on his left arm still throbbing slightly.

Starting tomorrow, he will begin cultivating immortality.

It's not about showing off, but about living a better life in this world.

Early the next morning.

Mei Ning brought over a thin booklet.

Bihai Gong

Zhou Yu opened the cover; the words inside were crooked and messy, like those written by a primary school student, but he could now read them, albeit haltingly, to make sense of them.

Mei Ning didn't let him see it himself directly.

She sat down on the edge of the bed; this was the first time she had stayed in Zhou Yu's room for so long. Then she explained things to him, sentence by sentence.

"The first level of Qi Refining: Sensing Spiritual Energy."

Her voice wasn't loud, like a teacher giving a lesson to elementary school students.

"Close your eyes, empty your mind, and feel the flow of energy between heaven and earth. Spiritual energy is everywhere. What you need to do is not to look for it, but to calm yourself down and wait for it to come to you."

Mei Ning didn't let him look at it on his own, but sat next to him and explained it to him sentence by sentence.

Zhou Yu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Quiet.

In the distance, there was the sound of waves crashing rhythmically. Zhou Yu could hear his own breathing, heartbeat, and even the sound of his blood flowing.

Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes.

"I...didn't...feel anything."

"That's normal," Mei Ning said. "When mortals first sense spiritual energy, it can take a few days or a few months. Since you have a Heavenly Spiritual Root, you should be able to sense it soon. Set aside two hours each day for meditation, and continue learning languages ​​the rest of the time."

Two shichen? That's four hours.

Zhou Yu calculated the intensity of his final exam preparation during his university years and felt that it wasn't unbearable.

He nodded and then closed his eyes again.

Two days later.

Zhou Yu vaguely sensed something.

The feeling was hard to describe; it was like a very faint breeze brushing across the surface of the skin, almost imperceptible, as if someone had gently blown a breath from a great distance.

It wasn't real wind, because the doors and windows were closed, and there wasn't a breath of air in the room.

Is that spiritual energy?

Zhou Yu was overjoyed and continued to hold his breath and concentrate, trying to grasp that faint feeling.

Just when we were about to reach the edge.

A sharp pain came from the wound on my left arm.

The chilling aura seemed to be startled by his attention, and it surged up suddenly, thrashing about in his arms.

Perception is interrupted in an instant.

That wisp of spiritual energy disappeared.

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to subside before closing his eyes again.

Come again.

This time he was smarter and tried his best not to think about his left arm, focusing all his attention on his breathing.

But it still didn't work.

Every time he was about to grasp that wisp of spiritual energy, the chilling aura would activate.

He tried five times.

It was interrupted five times.

When Mei Ning came in, she saw him looking like this.

She walked over, placed her hand on his left arm, and after a moment's thought, examined it for a moment and frowned.

"The cold, damp energy is interfering with your perception of spiritual energy," she said, her tone becoming more serious. "If you don't clear it away, you won't even be able to advance to the first level of Qi Refining."

Zhou Yu fell silent.

He knew that Mei Ning had done her best; the herbs and healing techniques she used could only suppress the symptoms, not cure the root cause.

"As I said before," Mei Ning began, "to eradicate the Yin energy, you need Yang-attribute pills or talismans, which I do not possess."

She paused.

"But my brother, Mei Feng, might have one."

Zhou Yu raised his head and searched his memory. It seemed that the character had no name in the original work, was not an important character, and died because he was just there for the sake of it.

"He is practicing on another island ten miles to the southeast," Mei Ning said. "I sent a message to him using a talisman."

That afternoon, Mei Ning received a reply.

Meifeng's echo was brief.

"Male or female?"

Zhou Yu didn't know how Mei Ning replied, but about half an hour later, the second reply came.

It grew a little longer this time, but not by much.

"Alright, bring him here."

Mei Ning began packing her things, preparing to leave early the next morning.

Zhou Yu sat on the edge of the bed, looking at his left arm, which was wrapped up like a rice dumpling.

He recalled the frustration he had felt during his cultivation over the past few days. He closed his eyes, tried to sense his surroundings, but was interrupted. He closed his eyes again, and was interrupted once more.

It's like a vicious cycle.

If he doesn't eradicate this chilling aura, he won't even be able to touch the threshold of cultivating immortality.

Zhou Yu took a deep breath.

He touched the calligraphy brush hidden in his clothes.

When he arrives at Meifeng's place, how should he answer if the other party asks how he got the injury?

Tell the truth?

"Hello, this wound was inflicted by the remnant soul of an ancient behemoth that died countless years ago, using its chilling energy. By the way, I have a calligraphy brush that can cleave through space; would you like to take a look?"

That sounds like a madman.

Or should I make up a lie?

"I tripped and fell while walking, and a chilling aura emanated from me."

That sounds like an idiot.

Zhou Yu thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution.

The only thing he was certain of right now was that, in this world, the only person he could trust was Mei Ning.

It's strange, really. This mortal of unknown origin, who couldn't speak the local dialect, had no cultivation, no spirit stones, nothing at all. Any normal cultivator would probably have thrown him out long ago, or simply killed him to avoid trouble.

But Mei Ning did not.

She gave me books, food, and shelter, and now she's going to take me to my brother to ask for medicine.

Zhou Yu lay down, staring at the ceiling, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

Meifeng.

A name not mentioned in the original work.

But in this real world, he is a living, breathing person, someone who might decide whether or not he can continue cultivating immortality.

I'll see him tomorrow.