Three days passed quietly.
Shen Yuan walked through countless roads beneath changing skies, only occasionally stopping to rest.
Even though he did not actually require sleep.
If he continuously travelled without pause, suspicion would naturally arise. A mortal who neither got tired nor ate nor rested was no mortal at all.
And Shen Yuan had no intention of ending his mortal journey this quickly.
During those three days, he witnessed many things he previously would not even have noticed.
Large marketplaces remained lively even deep into the night.
Warm lantern light illuminated countless stores while mortal voices echoed through the streets endlessly.
Every shop somehow possessed its own uniqueness.
Even food stalls differed from one another despite belonging to the same category.
Some sold only savory food. Others specialized entirely in spicy dishes. Some sold sweets alone.
Very few mixed multiple flavours together.
There were also many art-related stores.
Shen Yuan saw shops selling high-quality mortal scrolls alongside liquid pigments of various colours and brushes crafted from beast fur.
Jewellery stores lined many streets as well.
Gold. Silver. Jade. Pearls.
To mortals, they looked genuine.
But to Shen Yuan's eyes, it was obvious most were counterfeit materials.
Mortals could not distinguish true minerals from fake ones with just their eyes.
But cultivators could easily perceive the subtle differences within materials themselves.
After travelling through the main city and several smaller ones, Shen Yuan finally arrived at the southern city of Shuanghun Country. Shuanghun Country is the country ruled by the Twin Soul Sect.
This city served as a major merchant hub and port.
From here, travellers could enter two neighbouring major countries.
Longmu Country and Tianshou Country.
The former was ruled by the Dragonwood Valley.
The latter by the Heaven-Beast Clan.
Naturally, Shen Yuan chose Longmu Country.
He held almost no hostility toward Dragonwood Valley.
But entering Tianshou Country… after what he did in the sacred sect competition would inevitably lead to unnecessary complications.
In his current mortal disguise, Shen Yuan resembled nothing more than a poor wandering traveller.
Because of that, many merchants avoided him entirely.
After all, merchants only approached where money existed.
Like fish drawn toward a bait.
The southern city itself was lively.
Countless shops stretched across the streets.
Some belonged to mortals.
Others belonged to cultivators.
Most were cultivation-established businesses.
Still, Shen Yuan showed no interest in entering any of them.
Dealing with merchants or shopkeepers would only increase the chances of exposing himself.
Thus he headed directly toward the cow-cart operators.
After another twenty minutes of walking, Shen Yuan finally arrived.
The operators were divided into two groups.
Those on the left transported travellers toward Longmu Country.
Those on the right travelled toward Tianshou Country.
Shen Yuan did not hesitate.
He walked directly toward the left side.
Most cow-carts could only hold around five passengers excluding the operator.
Some were already full.
Others were entirely empty.
Normally, a cart would not depart unless completely filled.
Unless additional money was paid.
Shen Yuan's gaze swept calmly across the carts.
Soon, he spotted one with only four passengers.
He walked toward it.
The operator glanced at him briefly.
"Where are you headed?"
"The border of Longmu Country," Shen Yuan replied plainly. "How much?"
The operator sized him up briefly before answering casually.
"Six silver coins."
Shen Yuan nodded.
He calmly took six silver coins from one of his robe pockets and handed them over.
The operator tossed the coins into a pouch before speaking again.
"Hop on."
Shen Yuan entered the cart silently.
Inside sat four others.
An elderly mortal woman.
A drunk old man whose body smelled heavily of alcohol.
A scholarly-looking young man wearing glasses while reading a book.
And finally, a female cultivator.
She appeared to be in her mid twenties.
Her cultivation base was barely around the seventh layer of the Purifying Realm.
Shen Yuan paid her little attention.
She posed no threat whatsoever.
More importantly…
She could not perceive his cultivation.
Soon, the operator gave a signal.
The cows began moving.
The cart slowly rolled forward.
This was Shen Yuan's first time riding within a cow-cart.
The interior smelled faintly of cow dung and alcohol.
Still, he ignored it entirely.
Instead, he quietly took out a book hidden within his robes.
It was a book regarding the geography, topography, and hierarchical structure of the Storm Jade Planet.
He had taken it from the Twin Soul Sect before leaving.
If he wished to understand karma and the universe itself, then naturally he first needed to understand the planet he lived in.
However, no one within the cart noticed what kind of book Shen Yuan was truly reading.
By using the power of the Devourer's Mirage Eye, he subtly altered their perception.
To others, the book merely looked like an ordinary historical novel.
After all, no mortal could possibly afford a book on the planet's geography unless they were an influential merchant.
As Shen Yuan began reading, detailed explanations and diagrams filled his vision.
The Storm Jade Planet possessed five Great Regions. [Eastern Region. Western Region. Southern Region. Northern Region. And the Central Region.]
The first four regions all connected through the Central Region itself.
Thus, the Central Region naturally acted like a leader among them.
It was also the largest region.
Possessing nine continents.
According to the World Lord's decree, only territories possessing at least five continents could be considered true Regions.
Anything smaller would merely be classified as pseudo-regions.
And there were countless pseudo-regions across the planet.
Then there existed another place entirely separate from the Five Great Regions..
The Land of the Forsaken.
It was far larger than any single Region.
Essentially, it was an enormous collection of countless continents without any true ruler.
And without a ruler, a territory could never become a Region.
Thus, the Land of the Forsaken had become a lawless domain.
A paradise for rogue demonic cultivators. Illegal merchants. Open slaughter. Chaos. And many more other viciousness.
Still, some powerful factions existed there.
Mostly wealthy illegal merchant organizations and demonic sects.
The most infamous faction in recorded history was known as the Heavenly Devil Sect.
Beyond that. There was the ocean.
An ocean at least six times larger than all five Great Regions and the Land of the Forsaken combined.
The ocean itself acted as a border. And had a depth of about 20 billion kilometers.
Separating the Great Regions from the Forsaken Lands.
A massive array divided the sea into two parts.
The side surrounding the Five Great Regions contained fresh salty water and countless Yin and Water-attributed spiritual beasts.
Meanwhile, the side that existed around the Land of the Forsaken appeared far darker.
The air there perpetually smelled of blood.
And the sea itself was filled with demonic beasts.
Shen Yuan continued reading silently.
Each continent contained thousands of countries.
Shuanghun Country. Longmu Country. Tianshou Country.
These were merely major countries within the Wangu Continent.
And the Wangu Continent itself belonged to the Central Region.
Even Fengyue Country and the place where Shen Yuan's original home village once existed.
It was another country within another continent known as the Canglan Continent.
The sheer scale felt immense.
Yet even with Han Bolin as the World Lord there still existed separation.
The World Lord mainly governed the Central Region.
The remaining four Great Regions were ruled by figures known as the Four Great Region Emperors.
According to the book, their cultivation levels were almost equal to the World Lord himself.
Shen Yuan slowly lowered the book slightly.
For the first time, he truly felt the vastness of the Storm Jade Planet.
And suddenly, he wondered how vast the universe beyond the planet itself truly was.
How many worlds existed?
How many cultivators?
How many unknown Daos?
The sheer scale exceeded imagination itself.
Still, Shen Yuan did not dwell upon it for long.
Since his current goal remained unchanged.
To understand karma. To experience life. To comprehend his Dao.
Thus he closed the book.
Only then did he realize evening had already arrived.
He tucked the book back into his robe before quietly looking outside.
The sky was dyed deep violet and dark blue.
Countless stars illuminated the heavens.
Above them hung a half-moon.
To Shen Yuan the beauty of the night time and the rainy season were beyond measure. It was far more ravishing than the time of the sun. However, the reason? Only Shen Yuan himself knew.
Days passed quietly as the cart continued through mountains and valleys.
Occasionally the cart stopped beside rivers or lakes so passengers could rest and drink water.
Then, after one and a half months.
The cart finally reached the borders of Longmu Country.
The vehicle slowly halted roughly seventy feet away from the entrance bridge.
It was evening.
The sun would set within two more hours.
The sky glowed with beautiful mixtures of fiery orange and sunflower yellow.
Ahead stood a gigantic bridge spanning nearly one kilometer.
It separated Longmu Country from the rest of the lands entirely.
The bridge itself was not made of ordinary wood.
Instead, it was crafted from jade-coloured marble engraved with countless crimson dragon patterns.
Shen Yuan slowly stepped down from the cart.
Quietly, he spread out his Divine Sense.
Not too far.
If an Elysian Realm or higher cultivator discovered him, his disguise would immediately collapse.
Therefore, he maintained only a moderate range.
Enough to observe.
Instantly, he could see almost all of the country and mainly first focused on the bridge and every person who were entering.
Cultivators below the Nirvana Realm could enter freely.
Nirvana Realm cultivators and above required special tokens.
Mortals possessed unrestricted access.
Ten guards stood stationed across the bridge.
All were between the first and fifth layers of the Nirvana Realm.
Then Shen Yuan observed the country itself.
Valleys.
Countless valleys.
The lower valleys ranging from 12,000 feet to 328,000 feet housed mainly mortals and cultivators below the Heaven Path Realm.
Meanwhile, valleys ranging from 329,000 feet to over 7 million feet contained cultivation families, rogue cultivators, and vassal sects beneath Dragonwood Valley.
At the highest valley rested Dragonwood Valley itself.
Soon, Shen Yuan retracted his Divine Sense.
Then, using his light-speed movement, invisible to perception anything below the Quasi-Elysian stage.
He instantly appeared beside a nearby tree.
In less than half a second, he crafted a wooden basket using Qi.
Then filled it with random medicinal leaves.
Grass ropes formed across the basket so it could be carried behind his back.
Now disguised as a travelling doctor, Shen Yuan stepped onto the bridge.
And walked forward.
Mortals travelled everywhere.
Mortal nobles rode horses proudly across the marble pathways.
After several minutes, a group of noblemen suddenly stopped directly before Shen Yuan.
One of the men wore black mortal robes.
His expression was stern yet polite.
"Are you a travelling doctor?"
"Yes," Shen Yuan answered calmly.
Instantly, hope appeared within the man's eyes.
He quickly dismounted his horse before cupping his fists respectfully.
"This one is merely a low-ranking noble of Longmu Country," he said. "My son has suffered from a severe cold for many days. Most doctors have failed to cure him. If Sir could help…"
Shen Yuan's gaze shifted toward the youth seated upon one of the horses.
The boy appeared around his late teens.
He coughed heavily.
Without hesitation, Shen Yuan replied.
"I can."
The nobleman's face brightened instantly.
He stepped aside respectfully.
Shen Yuan walked forward before placing two fingers against the boy's wrist.
Almost instantly, he identified the issue.
Phlegm clogging the lungs.
For cultivators, such a thing was insignificant.
Shen Yuan casually took out a leaf from his basket, then sent a bit of his Qi in the leaf before handing it over.
"This will help."
The nobleman frowned slightly after accepting it.
It was merely a Spirit Mulberry Leaf.
A common medicinal leaf used against mild colds.
Certainly not severe illnesses.
For a moment, disappointment surfaced within his eyes.
Then, another man stepped down from a white horse.
This one was a cultivator.
A young man around his late twenties.
His cultivation rested at the sixth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm. Far weaker than even the woman in the cart.
The nobleman handed him the leaf.
The moment the cultivator examined it, his eyes widened violently.
"This…" he muttered in shock. "This is nearly a 200 year old Spirit Mulberry Leaf!"
Even the nobleman froze.
The cultivator immediately looked toward Shen Yuan respectfully.
"Sir… how should it be used?"
Shen Yuan answered plainly.
"Soup or tea will suffice."
Then he continued walking.
Eventually, the sun fully set.
Soon Shen Yuan stopped before a tavern.
Surprisingly, only two minutes later, the noblemen from before arrived as well.
The man in black immediately spotted Shen Yuan.
His face lit up with excitement as he hurried over.
"My son's cold is nearly gone already!"
His voice carried genuine gratitude.
Then he respectfully asked again:
"May this humble one know the name of the kind doctor?"
Shen Yuan pondered briefly.
Using his real name would be far too dangerous, due to his reputation.
So, he calmly answered:
"Chen Mu."
The man smiled warmly.
"My name is Li Wei."
Then he continued naturally.
"Brother Chen, allow me to treat you to some drinks tonight."
Shen Yuan lightly nodded.
"Then I shall leave the drinks to Brother Li."
Soon afterward, Shen Yuan sat beneath a nearby tree while Li Wei and the others gathered around a bonfire several feet away.
At that moment, Shen Yuan slowly formed a hand seal beneath his sleeve.
Immediately, a violent blood-coloured aura began leaking from his body.
Killing aura. Also known as evil energy during the times of the ancient cultivators.
Over the years, Shen Yuan had slaughtered countless enemies.
Naturally, immense killing intent had accumulated within him.
But if he truly wished to become mortal, then he needed to rid himself of it.
Still, simply dispersing such potent killing aura would be wasteful.
Thus he started to condense it.
The blood-coloured aura slowly compressed.
Nearby horses and cows instantly became uneasy.
Their bodies trembled violently before lowering themselves toward the ground.
As though hiding their heads could somehow protect them.
Several minutes later, the killing aura finally condensed into a crimson crystal bearing a tomoe-shaped pattern.
Still, this only represented roughly one quarter of Shen Yuan's total killing aura.
He would need to repeat this process many times.
Just then, he sensed Li Wei approaching.
Shen Yuan calmly stored the crystal inside his storage bag.
Li Wei sat beside him carrying two jars of wine.
"There's no need to be shy," Li Wei laughed warmly. "I brought enough for both of us."
Shen Yuan chuckled faintly before accepting one jar.
The two lightly knocked jars together.
Then began drinking.
The alcohol tasted strangely sweet and sour with a bitter aftertaste.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yuan liked it.
Hours quietly passed.
Shen Yuan drank over nine jars.
Meanwhile, Li Wei had long since become completely drunk, as he had tried to compete with Shen Yuan.
He rambled nonsense endlessly alongside his companions.
"I'm telling you… hic… that new widow in the east district… damn. Her waist is so thin I could wrap my hands around it twice. If I was twenty years younger, I'd climb her wall every night!"
"Climb her wall? You'd fall and break your damn hip, you old fox! Hahaha! But yeah… she's a fine piece. Those hips when she walks to the market… makes this fatty's heart race. My wife saw me staring yesterday and almost beat me with a broom!" said an old chubby man as he slapped the table many times, laughing.
Then a middle aged man added, grinning stupidly. "Wives are the real tribulation… not that heavenly stuff cultivators talk about. My wife nags me every day. 'Why don't you earn more? Why are you always drinking?' Bah! I drink because of her! Pass the jar…"
The middle aged man continued. "Speaking of women… you guys see that female cultivator who fought Shen Yuan? The one with the big… you know… defense? Hahaha! I wouldn't mind if she pinned me down instead of fighting him."
Li Wei spoke, "You? She'd squash you flat like a bug! You're thinner than a chopstick. Now me… I've got experience. I'd show her what a real man from the mortal world can do! This Shen Yuan really has no taste, killing women, what a monster."
Then the fat old man leaned in, suddenly serious. "Forget Shen Yuan, that monster doesn't know how to be a real man. More importantly, did you see the legs on that serving girl tonight? So long and white… like fresh tofu. I tried pinching her earlier but she slapped my hand. Worth it though."
Then all 3 of them said in unison, while holding their jars up high. "To beautiful women who'll never look at us! And to cheap wine that makes us forget we're poor!"
Shen Yuan watched them silently. To him, their conversation topic was the most useless thing he had ever heard in his life.
However, a faint melancholic expression still appeared within his eyes.
And perhaps, a trace of envy.
He envied how free they looked.
As though tomorrow would naturally resemble today.
As though time itself belonged to them.
Meanwhile, cultivators spent every moment calculating.
Competing. Struggling. Fearing.
After a while, Shen Yuan quietly spoke to himself.
"Mortals only live for several decades… yet they spend their days as though time itself belongs to them."
His gaze remained fixed upon the bustling streets.
"Cultivators seek eternity, yet every moment of our lives is spent struggling, calculating, and fearing what lies ahead."
A faint self-mocking smile appeared on his face.
"The shorter the lifespan… the freer the heart. I suppose."
He looked toward the lively crowd once more.
"Then what exactly is the freedom I have been chasing all this time?"
Silence followed.
Cold wind drifted through the streets gently.
After gazing at the moon briefly, Shen Yuan slowly took out a black flute.
It was the flute he had refined for creating undead soldiers.
However, without infusing spiritual energy, it functioned as nothing more than an ordinary flute.
Shen Yuan pressed the flute lightly against his lips.
After a moment of pause, he began playing.
A peaceful melody drifted through the night.
Gentle. Soft. Comforting.
It was the kind of sound capable of allowing hundreds of people to fall asleep without worry.
Without realizing it, Shen Yuan also unconsciously began absorbing nearby Qi.
The melody spread endlessly beneath the moonlight.
The drunk mortals gradually stopped speaking.
Many quietly hummed alongside the tune.
Even the previously frightened animals slowly stood up once more before walking toward Shen Yuan.
As though he had become a safe shelter.
Cold wind continued drifting through the streets.
Yet it was not a chilling cold.
Rather, a peaceful one. A safe one.
The animals quietly laid beside him.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan's flute continued echoing through the night.
Time passed silently.
When Shen Yuan finally opened his eyes—
Dawn had already arrived.
Golden sunlight slowly illuminated the streets.
Not only the animals, but every nearby person had gathered around listening silently.
Yet Shen Yuan himself felt strangely startled.
When playing the flute, it had only felt like several minutes.
Yet in reality, several hours had passed.
Then Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed faintly.
He noticed something else.
His cultivation had silently reached the peak of the Quasi-Elysian Realm.