Chapter 823: Third Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A glint of curiosity flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Who had made such a psychedelic stratagem in this mountain? Moreover, it was in the territory of the Five Tigers Sect. Could it be that it was made by someone from the Five Tigers Sect?
“I’ll find out once I enter it.” Driven by curiosity, Mo Wen intended to break the psychedelic stratagem and explore the hidden place. The person who could design such a psychedelic stratagem was not a simple figure. Could it be that there was someone like this in the Five Tigers Sect?
Now that Mo Wen had inherited Ji Wuya’s heritage, breaking this kind of basic psychedelic stratagem was an easy task for him. In less than seven minutes, Mo Wen had successfully broken through the psychedelic stratagem. The truth was revealed after the illusion was removed. The surrounding woods disappeared in an instant, and a col appeared before his eyes.
As Mo Wen set foot in the col, warm winds blew past his face, followed by the aroma of flowers. The surrounding area was refreshing.
“It’s like spring all year round. This is a good place.” A glint of approval flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Various types of flowers blossomed in the col. The effect was colorful and pleasing. Everywhere Mo Wen looked, flowers filled the ground, forming a sea of flowers. Bees were dancing gleefully in the sea of flowers.
It was winter right now. Chilly winds were howling outside and the ground was covered in ice. The outside world and this place formed a bright contrast.
In the middle of the sea of flowers stood a little wooden house. The wooden house was set on top of a gigantic cob tree. It was rather exquisite.
“Who lives here?” Mo Wen was a little curious. Clearly, this place was suitable for living in seclusion. Could it be that he had found the home of a hidden master?
The wooden house was still quite far away from where Mo Wen was. However, since it was located on a tree, Mo Wen could see it from far away. He was still quite a distance away from it.
Mo Wen walked towards the wooden house. After traversing layer upon layer of flowers, he finally reached the cob tree after walking for more than ten minutes. An elder with white hair was lying on a lounge chair beneath the cob tree. He had a palm-leaf fan in his hand. Once in a while, he would waive the fan to chase away the flies around him.
“Senior, are you the owner of this place? I unintentionally entered this place. I hope you don’t mind.” Mo Wen greeted the elder politely. He was indeed impolite to enter the elder’s place of seclusion without permission.
The elder who was leisurely laying on the lounge chair with his eyes closed seemed to be startled by the sudden voice. He jumped up from the chair. The palm-leaf fan in his hand dropped to the ground as well.
“How did you get in?” The white-haired elder glared as he sized Mo Wen up. He had a look of astonishment in his eyes.
“I unintentionally entered this place.” Mo Wen was also stunned by the white-haired elder’s response. When Mo Wen walked over, he had not hidden his aura and his faint footsteps could be heard. This elder had not noticed.
By rights, those that could live here should not be ordinary people. Not just anyone could setup that psychedelic stratagem.
“Unintentionally entered? Little brother, your luck is quite good. You are the first person who managed to unintentionally enter this place of mine.” The white-haired elder looked at Mo Wen with a meaningful look. There was a look of caution in his eyes. Unintentionally enter? Only a fool would believe him.
Mo Wen also looked at the elder in surprise. No matter how he looked, he did not seem like a hidden master. Also, from his body, Mo Wen could not detect any aura of cultivation. Mo Wen’s sensory ability was astonishing. For such a thing to happen, there usually could only be two possibilities. The first was that this elder’s cultivation was too high, far surpassing his sensory range, and so he could not detect any clues. But such a person would need to have cultivation at least above that of the Primordial Soul Realm.
Another possibility was that this elder was just an ordinary person and had no cultivation at all.
The appearance of the psychedelic stratagem pointed to the first possibility. For ordinary third realm Martial Arts Grandmasters, if they did not have a deep understanding of stratagem techniques, they most likely would be unable to set up the psychedelic stratagem. If the psychedelic stratagem was personally set up by this elder, Mo Wen would not find it strange if he was a Primordial Soul Realm immortal cultivator.
But from this elder’s demeanor, it did not seem that this was the case.
Incredulous, Mo Wen did not care about being polite. He released his deified soul and enveloped the elder, instantly scanning the elder’s body.
If the elder was a Primordial Soul Realm immortal cultivator, he would certainly not let Mo Wen scan around as he pleased. However, Mo Wen’s deified soul managed to scan him without any hindrance.
“So that’s how it is.” After a while, a look of understanding flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes.
“Who exactly are you?” The white-haired elder looked at Mo Wen with a look of caution. Just now, he had felt a creepy sensation envelop his entire body. Although he did not know why, he could guess that the youth had done something.
“I just unintentionally entered this place. I bear you no ill will,” Mo Wen said with a smile.
“Oh, if little brother can enter this place, you must not be an ordinary person. However, sorry to disappoint you, but this place is just a col with a comfortable climate. There is nothing special here. As for me, I am just an elder that is on his way to his grave. I have nothing of value for you to dig up,” the white-haired elder said plainly.
No matter what goal the youth had in coming here, the elder had nothing that was worthy of his interest. Aside from his old life, there was nothing else here.
“I did not come to seek treasures. Whatever is in here is of no importance to me. However, I have discovered something interesting,” Mo Wen said with a smile. He indeed had no goal in mind when he entered here. He was just curious.
“Little brother, what has caught your eye? Feel free to take it. I am but a decrepit mortal and my eyesight is poor. I cannot imagine what item in here would interest you.” The white-haired elder waved his palm-leaf fan. He did not have anything of value here. He did not understand what Mo Wen was interested in.
“Senior, you must be joking. You are not a decrepit mortal. You at least had a glorious past, no?” Mo Wen looked meaningfully at the white-haired elder.
“Who exactly are you?” Upon hearing this, the white-haired elder’s expression changed drastically, and he got up from his chair in an instant. He stared at Mo Wen. Could it be that this person had come for him and was a former enemy? But he had not left this valley in fifty years. This youth most likely was not even born back then.
“If I said that I only appeared here due to fate, would you believe me?” Mo Wen asked.
“I don’t believe you. I have been living in seclusion here for fifty years. Most likely only a handful of people in this world remember me now. You are a youth in your twenties, yet you recognize me. I am very puzzled. Could it be that someone has asked you to come here? Since the person who gave you this mission knows my whereabouts, why didn’t he come here personally?”
Of course, the white-haired elder would not believe that a total stranger would know his past.
“You think too much. I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are either. I am just passing by.” Mo Wen shook his head, calmly saying, “If I am your enemy, why would I hide it?
“The, how did you know…” the white-haired elder asked dubiously. Right now, he was but an ordinary old man. The youth indeed had no reason to hide his intention from him.
“I only know that you were once glorious, with a cultivation of the Martial Arts Grandmaster third realm. After that, you were severely injured and poisoned. So someone took the chance to cripple your cultivation. Other than that, I know nothing about you.”
Mo Wen indeed knew very little about this elder. He did not even know his name. However, Mo Wen had gained some understanding of this elder based on the condition of his body. Mo Wen was the miracle physician who had inherited Ji Wuya’s heritage. Moreover, he had a deified soul. Naturally, he could see through the elder’s body condition.
“As expected, little brother is not simple. Who exactly are you?” The white-haired elder sighed gently. When Mo Wen put it that way, he actually somewhat believed him. This person could get past the psychedelic stratagem and could see through his body’s condition at a glance. Who was he?
“Please do not be alarmed. I am a doctor, hence I notice what other people cannot,” Mo Wen said with a smile.
“You know medicine?” A bright light flashed in the eyes of the white-haired elder.
“Somewhat,” Mo Wen said. Before this, Mo Wen had always taken himself to be a miracle physician, believing that there were very few illnesses in the world that he could not treat. But the more he encountered, the more he learned and the more he felt that he was insignificant. He also grew more humble. Compared with a medical sage like Ji Wuya, Mo Wen was but a drop in the vast ocean.
“Little brother, come, please have a seat. I have some top-grade honey flower tea. I made it using my secret recipe so you will definitely not taste it anywhere else.”
The white-haired elder was suddenly solicitous in welcoming Mo Wen. He quickly took out a table and two chairs from the wooden house. Then, he made tea for Mo Wen. The elder was someone who had lived for many years; he was well-trained in his ability to judge people. Naturally, he did not think that Mo Wen was really as he said, only somewhat knowing about medicine. Could an ordinary physician get past his psychedelic stratagem and understand his condition with just a glance? It was definitely impossible.
“Elder, your cultivation was crippled fifty years ago. If you had treated it back then, it would not have been difficult for you to recover. However, fifty years have passed since then. Your bodily functions have declined and all your vigor is lost. There is almost nothing I can do anymore. It will most likely not be easy for you to recover.”
Mo Wen sipped a mouthful of honey flower tea. It was indeed aromatic and had a unique taste. Mo Wen had an urge to finish all the flower tea in one gulp. Most likely the honey and the flower used to make this tea were not ordinary items.
He naturally knew why the elder had become so solicitous all of a sudden, hence he spoke in a straightforward manner.
For a person who had his cultivation crippled fifty years ago, his body’s adaptability towards Inner Qi was no longer as good as it used to be. How could it be an easy task for him to recover his cultivation? Also, the elder’s condition was not just a problem of his cultivation being crippled. There were also the internal injuries in his body. Those internal injuries had been hidden for decades. Treating them would be rather difficult.
“Recovering is not an easy thing to do? Does that mean that there is a possibility of recovering?”
A look of excitement flashed in the eyes of the white-haired elder. He immediately caught on to the meaning behind Mo Wen’s words. Fifty years ago, his cultivation was crippled. He traveled far and wide, seeking doctors from all around. In the end, the results were always the same, and he was told that it was impossible for him to make a recovery. Even the most renowned miracle physicians and medical clan sects with the most advanced medical skills came to the same conclusion.
After finding doctors to no avail, and being pursued by his enemies, he could only hide away in the mountain forest in despair. In the blink of an eye, fifty years had passed.
However, he hid a sense of dissatisfaction, remorsefulness, and injustice in his heart. The feeling had not subsided one bit even after fifty years. Even in his dreams, he dreamt of recovering his cultivation, of seeking justice, and of killing his enemy. However, in his agony, he knew that what he dreamt of was impossible.