Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

“Fellow Daoist Peng, I’ll take my leave.”

Song Changsheng was anxious, so he didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He simply stood up, ready to depart.

“It’s a shame the timing was so poor,” Peng Siying said, rising to see him off with a sincere expression. “Next time you’re in Gusu, just come find me at Wanlong. I’ll take you to the biggest stone-gambling house in the city to try your luck. Consider it my way of being a good host.”

Song Changsheng nearly stumbled at her words. ‘The logic of a gambling fiend truly is different from a normal person’s,’ he thought. ‘Who on earth shows their hospitality at a gambling den?’

He didn’t dare frequent a place like a stone-gambling den. Walk a dark road too many times, and you’re bound to meet a ghost.

After mumbling a few vague excuses, Song Changsheng ignored Red Simurgh’s gaze and practically fled back to the inn.

He explained the situation to Niu Dazhuang. Then, with Zhuang Yuechan in tow, they used the address from Peng Siying to enter the underground Black Market.

Peng Siying’s token, it had to be said, was quite effective. The Cultivators guarding the Space Transmission Array saw it and let them pass without any trouble.

The three of them took the Cross-Domain Spatial Transmission Array and arrived at the Black Market stronghold in Luoxia City in less than an hour…

The next day, a white-robed elder with an immortal-like bearing rose from Zhuang Yuechan’s bedside. He turned to the others waiting in the room and announced, “Young Friend Zhuang is not in any grave danger. You may all rest easy.”

Hearing the elder’s words, Song Changsheng and the others let out a collective sigh of relief. A great weight had finally been lifted from their minds.

Even the ever-impassive Muu Guibai revealed a faint smile. He gave the elder a slight bow and said, “We are indebted to you, Medicine King. I have prepared a stalk of [Purple Marrow King Ginseng] as payment for your services. I implore you not to refuse it.”

Song Changsheng was startled. [Purple Marrow King Ginseng] was a treasure among Tier Four Low-Grade Spirit Medicines. There were only a few stalks in the entire Daqi Cultivation World. That was certainly not a cheap consultation fee.

But considering the identity of the man before them, it made sense.

No one knew the elder’s real name anymore. Everyone who knew him simply called him the Medicine King. He was the current Valley Master of Medicine King Valley in the Great Yu Cultivation World, a Tier Four High-Grade Alchemist and Physician.

When it came to the healing arts, he was universally acknowledged as the best in the Four Realms: Daqi, the Lu Kingdom, Gusu, and Great Yu.

A man of his stature could command legions of Golden Core Cultivators with a single word. For him to travel thousands of miles to treat a junior was him humbling himself; to accept only a single stalk of [Purple Marrow King Ginseng] was practically a friendly gesture.

“Great City Lord, you are too kind.” The Medicine King gently stroked his white beard, his smile widening.

‘A single stalk of [Purple Marrow King Ginseng] was nothing to him. If Medicine King Valley was short on anything, it certainly wasn’t Spirit Medicines.’

‘What he truly valued was Muu Guibai himself.’

‘The reason Medicine King Valley had maintained its transcendent status for millennia was by forging alliances with promising Cultivators. He didn’t even need them to do anything; their mere existence was a form of intangible deterrence.’

‘His eyes could not only diagnose illnesses but also judge character. He had met Muu Guibai once, long ago, and had determined then that the man was no small fish in a pond. Sooner or later, he was destined to leap the Dragon Gate.’

‘As it turned out, his judgment had been correct.’

‘And Muu Guibai’s potential was far greater still.’

‘Forging a good relationship today would surely yield unimaginable returns in the future.’

‘That was why he had rushed over without a moment’s hesitation upon receiving Muu Guibai’s invitation.’

“If I may ask, Elder, since she’s unharmed, when will my disciple awaken?”

“She remains unconscious because her Divine Soul was battered by another, far more powerful one. It caused her to temporarily lose her sense of self.”

“She will awaken naturally once her consciousness returns from this lost state and she either rejects or integrates the foreign memories. As for how long that process might take… even I cannot give you a precise answer.”

“The time required is directly proportional to the volume of memories her Divine Soul absorbed. The more she absorbed, the longer the integration will take.”

“It could take a year or two at the short end, but it wouldn’t be impossible for it to take several decades, or even a century.” The Medicine King clicked his tongue, offering a vastly wide timeframe.

Hearing this, Song Changsheng and Niu Dazhuang were horrified. Others might not have known the truth, but they knew it all too well.

When Song Changsheng had interrupted the ritual, Zhuang Yuechan had already absorbed nearly all of Jade Rinse True Monarch’s memories.

That was a Nascent Soul True Monarch who had lived for a thousand years, then lingered in that grotto for several thousand more after her demise. The sheer volume of her memories was oceanic.

If Zhuang Yuechan had to integrate all of that, the time it would take was a secondary concern. No matter how long it was, Song Changsheng could wait.

The real question was, after Zhuang Yuechan integrated Yushu’s memories… would she still be Zhuang Yuechan, or would she become Yushu?

After all, compared to Yushu’s vast sea of memories, Zhuang Yuechan’s own thirty-odd years of life were but a drop in the ocean.

At this thought, panic began to set in for Song Changsheng. Mustering his courage, he posed this very question to the Medicine King.

When the others heard Song Changsheng’s question, their expressions all turned grim. It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered the issue; they had simply been avoiding it on purpose. They didn’t know how they would cope if the answer was not the one they hoped for.

The Medicine King glanced at Song Changsheng in surprise. Stroking his beard, he said, “You must be the one they speak of—Song Changsheng, the youngest Purple Mansion Cultivator in the Daqi Cultivation World.”

“Your reputation is well-deserved. That is an excellent question.”

“Elder Medicine King, your insight is truly sharp,” Muu Guibai said respectfully. “His question is the very one I wished to ask. What effect will integrating so many foreign memories have on my disciple?”