Mundane Saint-Chapter 39 – Even mortals take disciples

She glanced at him, then slowly lowered her eyes. "Because of this."
Qin Yiyao took out a purple-gold pendant from beneath her collar. The moment Gu Heng saw it, he felt that it was definitely worth a fortune.
He reached out to take a closer look, but was met with Qin Yiyao's wary gaze.
Gu Heng paused, then shook his head with a smile. "This thing... is very precious, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"I originally lived in an alley on the southern edge of the city, but that area was taken over by the Black Forest Gang, and they drove me out. I hid this jade under a brick, and tonight I sneaked back to get it, but they found me..."
She sighed.
Gu Heng nodded slightly, pondering for a moment. "Is this a relic left by your family?"
"...Yes."
She thought about it. This item was something she had placed in her coffin before her death, so it was indeed a relic, and a very important one at that.
Once, the territory of the Great Qin Empire spanned half of the Mysterious Heaven Realm, with imperial treasuries everywhere, guarded by complex and powerful forbidden formations. This Purple Gold Spirit Pendant was the key to open each treasury!
Qin Yiyao had considered that after her resurrection, the Great Qin Empire might have fallen, and she would have to start from scratch, even anticipating that she would lose all her cultivation. But she never expected that all the precious pills and treasures she left behind would become useless because of the formations she herself had set.
So, the Purple Gold Spirit Pendant in Qin Yiyao's hand was actually of no use now, but she couldn't give it up.
"Sigh..."
This girl's situation might be even more tragic than Gu Heng imagined.
Judging by her demeanor, she seemed to come from a once-wealthy family, but some unknown misfortune had left her destitute. That purple-gold pendant was surely valuable, but she couldn't bear to pawn it.
How could one so easily part with a relic left by family?
He raised his hand, gently patting her head to comfort her. "Do you have anywhere else to go?"
Qin Yiyao shook her head.
"Then stay with me."
She looked up in surprise, only to see Gu Heng already standing, tidying up the bowls and chopsticks.
"But, it's not for free. You have to be my apprentice."
He added.
"Apprentice?"
"I'm a healer who makes medicine to save people. I just arrived in Cloud Spirit City and bought this shop. I'm starting from scratch and need an assistant. Since I saved you tonight, it seems we are fated."
"Anyway, you can learn all my medicine-making skills. What do you think, are you willing?"
"...Alright."
Qin Yiyao didn't take long to agree.
She truly didn't know where to go. She was all alone in this world, with possibly no one she knew left.
"Then you can call me Master from now on."
Gu Heng shrugged, thinking it was unexpected for him, a mere mortal, to take on an apprentice.
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"But you... aren't you afraid the Black Forest Gang will come looking for trouble because of me?"
Qin Yiyao's concern wasn't unfounded. After all, the Black Forest Gang was quite a strong force outside Cloud Spirit City, with four or five Core Formation cultivators. Although they didn't dare cause trouble in the east, west, or north of the city, this was the south, and she feared Gu Heng might get into unnecessary trouble because of her.
"Not afraid."
Gu Heng said nonchalantly, "The Black Forest Gang isn't worth fearing."
If ordinary thugs came, he could take them down in a few moves. If a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivator came, well... his poison had no antidote.
He still remembered the first time he used poison to kill a Core Formation cultivator in Greenwood City.
It was then that Gu Heng realized the gap between weak cultivators and mortals wasn't that big.
So, there was nothing to fear.
"...Hmm."
Qin Yiyao quietly watched him, feeling that her guess might be correct. He didn't seem like an ordinary mortal.
"Go get some sleep. You must be tired. I've prepared a bed upstairs."
"Also, take this book and practice well."
Gu Heng, like performing a magic trick—though he actually just took it out from the System Backpack—handed a book to Qin Yiyao.
She took it, looking at the large characters on the cover—
"Body."
As she opened it, Qin Yiyao's eyebrows shot up.
Ancient golden characters, this was the Great Void Immortal Script!
Qin Yiyao suddenly remembered what this book was.
She had once searched for this immortal book that had completely vanished during the Great Void Era.
Legend had it that during the prehistoric era, the boundaries of the Mysterious Heaven Realm were blurred, connecting it with other realms. The Ancient Realm, Immortal Realm, Nether Realm, Demon Realm, and Mysterious Heaven Realm, the "Mortal Realm," were all interconnected, creating pathways. It was then that above the Holy Sage stage, the Mysterious Heaven Realm saw the emergence of the "Ascending to Immortality" stage!
After reaching the tenth level of Ascending to Immortality, one would step into the realm of "Immortality"!
Below the Immortal realm was collectively called the "Mortal realm."
Transcend the mortal, and one could enter the immortal.
During the prehistoric era, a few Ascending to Immortality experts emerged in the Mysterious Heaven Realm. They wrote extremely precious tomes to pass down their cultivation insights to future generations. Among them were "The Grand Medicine Compendium," "Supreme Boundary Breaking Art," and others.
The "Body" book was one of them.
It was written by a prehistoric expert who reached the tenth level of Ascending to Immortality. He pursued the path of body cultivation to the utmost, and according to the methods in this book, one could temper the body, transforming the physical form. Even a mortal with no foundation could, after reaching a certain level of physical tempering, grow a Dao root!
Even if one followed the book's methods step by step, they could steadily enter the ranks of the strong. Although further progress would depend on personal understanding of the Dao, this book at least allowed one to avoid many difficult paths!
However, at the end of the prehistoric era, a great war among the five realms caused the boundaries to become unstable, and the pathways between the realms collapsed, leading to a world-ending catastrophe.
After the calamity, countless beings perished or were devastated.
Since then, the so-called "Ascending to Immortality" became an elusive myth.
Qin Yiyao had once sought the "Path to Ascending to Immortality." For this, she expanded her territory, bringing the Great Qin Empire to its peak, but had no success in finding the path to immortality, and thus retreated in dismay.
It was a lamentable affair.
She looked at the heavy, ancient, yellowed book, her eyes flickering, her heart stirred.
This "Body" book was in his hands!?
Could it be that he practiced the "Body" book?
Qin Yiyao suddenly realized that her new master had many secrets, and at her current state, she couldn't possibly see through them.
Including his cultivation.
Could it be that he had already reached the Ascending to Immortality stage?
Highly possible!
Although Qin Yiyao currently had no cultivation, her sense of any cultivator's strength was something she would never forget. Even if a Holy Sage stood before her, she could still sense certain clues.
Except for him!
Perhaps sensing her puzzled gaze, Gu Heng turned around. "Your body is weak, and the methods in this book suit you well. Train your body, and maybe in the future, you can practice swordsmanship."
This book was, of course, a reward from the system after he maxed out his "Body Refinement" skill proficiency.
It was also the most straightforward book the system had given, as it only had one word on it, clearly telling you that if you followed this book, your body would definitely become robust.
Unlike the "Grand Medicine Compendium," which was all mysterious and cryptic.
Of course, Gu Heng didn't practice it because his body refinement was already at the maximum level, and he had seen the book's content, which was a bit... too simple. When he was training his body, the system guided him step by step.
The content of this book, in his view, was only suitable for someone with no foundation to practice.
And Qin Yiyao was just such a person.
"Thank you, Master, for the book. I will practice diligently."
Qin Yiyao smiled and nodded.
Looking at him now, she felt he was transcendent, hiding his sharpness, with a brilliance like a galaxy, as if he was just one step away from reaching the ultimate peak.
Could the final step on the path to Ascending to Immortality be to enter the mortal world, to hide one's sharpness, to refine the immortal heart?
Is that why he was here, wanting to be a mortal, to experience the last bit of insight the mortal world could offer him?
Unexpectedly, in her previous life, in pursuit of the elusive path to Ascending to Immortality, she gained nothing. Yet after her rebirth, in an alley of this later dynasty, as a fallen mortal, she encountered someone who had truly embarked on the path to Ascending to Immortality.
And now, she had become his apprentice.
Truly, it was fate.
Qin Yiyao felt she might have found the "opportunity" she had sought for years but never found.
...
Outside Cloud Spirit City, at the edge of the Cloud Spirit Forest, atop Black Forest Mountain.
The Black Forest Gang had been rooted here for decades.
"Bang!"
A loud noise came from the stone fortress at the mountain's peak, followed by the sound of flesh and blood splattering.
A tall, sturdy man, covered in blood, crawled out from the ground. He staggered forward two or three meters, then fell to his knees, gasping heavily, as if he had used all his strength just to catch his breath.
"Please, please, spare me, Chief!"
"I really didn't lie!"
He knelt on the ground, desperately kowtowing.
Beside him, a middle-aged man with a grim expression sat in the main seat, his face dark enough to drip water.
The Black Forest Gang's leader, Huang Su, listened to his subordinate's pleas, silently pondering what had gone wrong tonight.
Right in front of him, and under the eyes of this large group of gang members, Hong Ba's corpse lay there, still warm, eyes wide open as if he died with grievances.
All his meridians shattered.
He died a very painful death.
As for what happened... after listening to this guy's tearful, terrified account, Huang Su felt more and more that something was amiss.
They had gone to the south of Cloud Spirit City to reap the benefits from those mortals, taking over their houses to rent them out at high prices. Then a brat, after being driven out, sneaked back in the middle of the night to steal something, and they caught him...
Then, when they caught that brat, someone intervened and taught them a lesson...
With one move, they turned Hong Ba into this sorry state!