The Immortal Cultivator

1,298 words

“Cough! I suppose I’m a victim in all this too.”

Yu Zitong began by trying to win Han Li’s sympathy, to distance himself from Doctor Mo as much as possible, but seeing no reaction from Han Li, he was forced to continue:

“I was originally a rogue cultivator…”

Yu Zitong obediently laid out his background and the full sequence of events in meticulous detail. Of course, in this account, he painted himself as a poor wretch forced into collusion by Doctor Mo, placing all the blame on the deceased physician.

Han Li naturally did not believe everything he said, but by combining this with the information Doctor Mo had previously revealed, he could still deduce roughly seventy to eighty percent of the truth.

After filtering out the possible fabrications, Han Li had a general understanding of what had transpired.

The earlier part of the story Doctor Mo had told him—about being ambushed and seeking a method to restore his strength—should have been true. There was no reason for him to have fabricated that.

However, the later claim of finding a mysterious book in some secret place that contained the method for recovery was clearly a lie. It was all because of Yu Zitong that Doctor Mo had been able to recover, but it was also because of Yu Zitong that he had been cursed.

It turned out that Yu Zitong had originally been a member of a so-called cultivator family. He had trained the Eternal Spring Art to the seventh layer, achieving a certain level of mastery. But due to his limited aptitude, his progress in the Eternal Spring Art had stalled, and he could not meet the requirements for formal Foundation Establishment.

A cultivator who had not achieved Foundation Establishment could not be considered a true member of the cultivator class, nor could they formally set foot in the immortal cultivation world. So, with no other choice, Yu Zitong left his secluded dwelling and prepared to experience the mortal world for a while, hoping to break through his current bottleneck through a change in mindset.

If possible, finding some rare medicinal herbs to refine into spirit pills would be even better. He knew this hope was slim, but no matter what, it was a matter of luck. Perhaps he would strike it rich and find something overlooked!

Carrying this enticing ambition, Yu Zitong, still in his twenties, entered what cultivators called the mortal world.

The outside world was too dazzling and soon overwhelmed Yu Zitong’s senses. His state of mind, never particularly stable, completely collapsed within a few years. He became a guest of some powerful noble’s household, indulging in worldly luxury and splendor, and his heart for cultivation gradually faded.

For a disciple like Yu Zitong who had abandoned his path halfway, his family would naturally strike his name from the clan register after a hundred years. From then on, his branch would be considered part of the mortal world, with no more contact with the main family, unless one of his descendants possessed exceptional talent for cultivation and was allowed to rejoin the lineage.

If things had continued like this, while Yu Zitong’s path to the Great Dao was hopeless and he could no longer cultivate immortality, a life of wealth and a long, peaceful existence were still within reach. Though this situation was rare among cultivators who had not yet established their foundations, it was not unheard of. It was not such a big deal.

But whether it was fate opening its eyes or Yu Zitong’s luck turning around, a few years later, on an ordinary day, he happened to be strolling through the market and, out of habit, stopped by a pharmacy. There, he discovered an extremely rare Blood Spirit Herb. This herb closely resembled common red oil, so the ignorant shopkeeper had displayed it among the other herbs.

Overjoyed, Yu Zitong saw a great hope of breaking through his bottleneck with this herb, and his desire for cultivation stirred once more. He immediately prepared to buy it.

But then, another cultivator entered the shop. He also recognized the herb and refused to let it go. The two argued on the spot.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper, realizing he had a rare commodity, declared that whoever paid more would get the herb. Since Yu Zitong had a bit more silver on him, he naturally claimed the prize.

However, he wasn’t stupid. Knowing the other party wouldn’t let the matter rest, he fled his lodgings that very night, heading for his family territory. But halfway there, his pursuer caught up, and a great battle ensued.

The other’s magical power was far stronger than his own. Yu Zitong was beaten until he vomited blood and was thoroughly defeated, yet he couldn’t bear to part with the herb he had obtained. Gritting his teeth, he activated a life-preserving talisman he had brought from his clan, using a mutual-destruction secret technique to scare off his pursuer, and managed to escape.

But by then, he was gravely wounded. It was under these circumstances that he encountered Doctor Mo, who was also out searching for a cure for his own condition.

It was Yu Zitong’s own misfortune. Though he had wandered the mortal world for years, he had no experience dealing with people from the martial underworld. After seeing Doctor Mo’s physical state, he carelessly blurted out his observations and inadvertently revealed that he possessed effective medicine.

This brought a catastrophe upon him. Doctor Mo, who was desperately searching for any cure, immediately latched onto him. Hearing that the other man had medicine that could save him, he used every means at his disposal, begging and pleading.

But the medicine Yu Zitong spoke of, while not as rare as the Blood Spirit Herb, was still concocted from over a dozen precious ingredients and required a great expenditure of his own vital energy to refine using a cultivator’s methods. He had very little left on him. Injured as he was, he treasured it even more. How could he be willing to give it freely to a mere mortal he saw as an ant?

Seeing that even his humble pleas could not get him the medicine, Doctor Mo’s shame turned to murderous intent. He secretly followed Yu Zitong to a secluded spot and administered a secret poison from behind.

Logically, ordinary poisons should not have affected Yu Zitong. But the secret poison Doctor Mo used was so potent that even he did not fully understand its power. It worked instantly.

Yu Zitong, already severely injured, was now also poisoned, and his life was hanging by a thread. Only then did Doctor Mo reveal himself, swaggering over to search the young man’s body.

Seeing this, Yu Zitong understood everything that had happened. Blinded by rage, he activated the Blood Arrow Soul Curse without a second thought, converting his entire essence and blood into a blood curse which he spat onto Doctor Mo’s head. Then, his primordial soul abandoned its fleshly body and quietly drifted away.

After his soul left his body, Yu Zitong realized he had made a terrible mistake—he had no magical vessel prepared to house it. With no other choice, he burrowed into Doctor Mo’s body to temporarily avoid the danger of his soul dissipating.

Startled at first by the spray of blood, Doctor Mo, finding nothing amiss, soon dismissed it from his mind.

Relying on his knowledge of medicine, he identified the pills on the corpse and joyfully consumed them. The medicine worked as if by magic, and his strength was completely restored.

Overjoyed, Doctor Mo gathered the spoils from the body, including a copy of the Eternal Spring Art manual he could not understand, and prepared to return to Lan Province to exact his revenge and re-establish his dominance.

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Parasitic Soul's Confession — How a Cultivator Became Doctor Mo's Trap

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Yu Zitong's story is a devastating cautionary tale about the 'failed cultivator' in xianxia—a character type that is often overlooked but central to understanding the brutal hierarchy of this genre. In a world where talent (Spiritual Roots) is a hard genetic lottery, the vast majority of cultivators never break through to Foundation Establishment. They reach a wall in their twenties or thirties and then either stagnate in obscurity or, like Yu Zitong, drift into the mortal realm and waste away. The idea that 'cultivators' are a meritocracy of willpower is largely a myth; Yu Zitong's 'heart demon' was not spectacular vice, but simple human weakness: comfort, luxury, and the slow surrender of ambition. This chapter also introduces the Blood Arrow Soul Curse (血箭阴魂咒), a forbidden self-sacrificial technique that converts all of a cultivator's vital essence and blood into a curse before the soul escapes the dying body. It's a desperate final play, often used when a cultivator has no other means of revenge. The fact that Yu Zitong used it in a panic, without even having a proper vessel (法器) ready, shows his inexperience—a true veteran would have prepared an anchor for their soul before triggering such a suicidal attack.

Chapter Overview

Get ready, cultivators—because chapter 58 is the long-awaited exposition dump that fills in the biggest blank space in the Doctor Mo arc. And boy, is it a doozy. With the main villain dead, the second soul living in his body spills everything: how a once-promising cultivator named Yu Zitong went from a hopeful young Daoist to a jaded immortal courtier, and how his pursuit of a single rare herb led to a nightmare of mutual destruction. This chapter doesn't just explain what happened before Han Li time—it rewires your understanding of the conflict entirely. The fight was never between Han Li and Doctor Mo alone; it was a three-way parasitic trap where nobody could afford to lose. If you've been wondering how a mortal doctor could possibly know about a primordial soul, you're about to get your answer—and it's darker than you think.

Key Plot Points

Yu Zitong, the second soul cohabiting Doctor Mo's body, gives a full confession to Han Li about his origins and the events leading up to his current condition. He attempts to frame himself as a victim and place all blame on the dead doctor.
Han Li cross-references the confession with what Doctor Mo previously revealed and concludes that only about 70-80% of the story can be trusted. His inherent distrust of anyone's self-serving narrative is validated.
Yu Zitong was originally a rogue cultivator from a minor immortal family who trained the Eternal Spring Art to the seventh layer but could go no further due to limited aptitude. Without Foundation Establishment, he was not considered a true cultivator.
He entered the mortal world seeking a breakthrough through experience but quickly succumbed to worldly pleasures, becoming a noble's guest and abandoning the quest for immortality.
A few years later, his luck seemingly turned when he discovered a rare Blood Spirit Herb in a pharmacy. This led to a confrontation with another cultivator, a chase, and a battle he lost badly.
Yu Zitong scared off his attacker with a mutual-destruction talisman, but he was already severely wounded when he crossed paths with Doctor Mo, who was also searching for a cure.
Carelessly revealing he carried effective medicine to a desperate man, Yu Zitong was poisoned from behind when he refused to share it. Doctor Mo then ransacked his body.
In his dying rage, Yu Zitong activated the Blood Arrow Soul Curse and spat it onto Doctor Mo's head, then fled his own body—but without a magical vessel, he had to burrow into the doctor's soul to survive.
Doctor Mo consumed the recovered pills, recovered fully, and returned to Lan Province for revenge, unaware of the parasitic soul living within him.

Reading Guide

This is the kind of chapter that rewards a second reading. Initially, it looks like a straightforward confession from a pitiable survivor who just wants to live. Look closer, and every sentence is a veiled negotiation. Yu Zitong is trying to establish a narrative of victimhood and usefulness, pleading his case even after his physical body is gone. Pay attention to the gap between his words and what Han Li deduces—the text explicitly warns us that only 70-80% is true. The most important takeaway here is not the specific details of Yu Zitong's downfall, but the structural revelation: the Doctor Mo arc was never a simple 'evil master vs. clever disciple' story. It was a three-layer hostage crisis. Han Li was a hostage to his family's safety, Doctor Mo was a hostage to his own failing body, and Yu Zitong was a hostage inside Doctor Mo's mind, unable to escape. The entire conflict was a closed system of mutually assured destruction. If you're looking for themes, this is it: the Mortal Stream's core thesis that in a world of absolute competition, even the villains are trapped.