Han De maintained 1% speed while gauging the condition of the MC. Though he was unsure, he still had doubts about the MC’s condition. Starting slow would be the best option. Han De himself was a (fake) transmigrator, so he knew that unexpected phenomenons may appear at any moment.
Meanwhile, the MC, Yu Xian, was sitting in the lotus position behind Han De.
There were many questions in Yu Xian's mind, but none of them had any answers.
Most of his body was healed by the strange healing spell, but damage around his meridians remained. In fact, his situation was worse than the initial condition of his body. If that healing energy hadn't reinforced his meridians, the repercussions of his rash behavior would've cost him dearly.
Yu Xian's mind went over the events with a frightening speed. He analyzed his actions from his arrival, to the moment he sat down on this deceptively simple-looking sword. Just like before, anything related to the family of his current body elicited an emotional response. He couldn't help but frown.
It wasn't that Yu Xian was an unfilial person, in fact, he was a filial son to his parents, many, many years ago. It was because he was filial to his real family, he did not consider this body's family as his own. Naturally, he would treat them with the utmost respect because he inherited the karma of the previous owner, but they would never really be 'his' family.
Yu Xian felt his eyes were getting moist after remembering his real parents. They lived a long life and died from old age. At the time, he had scoured everywhere for life-prolonging treasures, but even a cultivator's body couldn't go against Heavens’ Will.
Unlike him, his parents didn't have a talent for cultivation. This was a hard-to-accept fact for Yu Xian at the time, and the regret he felt nearly became an inner demon later. In time, he ultimately learned to accept it. Right now though, in the body of this 15-year-old kid, that wound was about to be reopened. Guilt, regret, and anger came back as if they never left in the first place.
He tried to recite the Stillness Sutra in his head to no avail. The dissonance between his body and mind was too great. Many hundred thousand years' worth of memories became blurred; all of his mental conditioning was reset.
In front, Han De found 1% speed excruciatingly slow. Even slower than the Through the Starlight scripture. Since there was no response from the MC, he tentatively increased the speed to 10%, then to 20%, 30%. After some introspection, he increased his speed to 50% of the sword's capacity.
Though he couldn’t control Light Qi due to his body constitution, he could decay Primordial Light Qi into regular Light Qi, and still control any and all Light Qi treasures. The process itself was somewhat convoluted, which made Han De take a mental note about ordering Primordial Light Qi swords in the future.
'Not bad, I can see the outlines of a city. Didn't expect it to be this close!'
*thud* *thud*
Han De reflexively looked back. The cause of the sounds was obviously the MC, and the source was probably an item that he was playing with. That was Han De's guess, but he was wrong. Instead of playing with a random cheat item, the MC was in ORZ posture. Not only that, his body was ever so slightly swaying as well.
This completely unexpected sight required a moment to process. In that time, the MC dragged his body to the edge of the sword. The enlarged travel mode version of the sword was only a meter across, but apparently, that length required heroic effort to crawl through. The faint green hue of the MC's face turned purple. Before Han De could react, he heard a retching sound and it was already too late.
A Nascent Soul cultivator's senses could not be compared to a mortal's. Even when he was in the Core Formation realm, his senses were incredible. Han De was somewhat used to it by now. Unless there was a special stimulus, he wouldn't even be aware of how extraordinary his senses were.
The first time he truly noticed the difference was when Ning Bi served him dumplings. Before she even entered the courtyard, Han De had detected the scent of food, heard the sloshing sounds it made in the tray, and even felt the slight change of temperature in the room originating from the dumplings.
In the present, Han De instinctively turned away from the MC. If he could, he would've pulled himself into an illusion right now, but thanks to his stupid bloodline, that wasn't even an option. He held his breath and started descending instead. It took every fiber of his being to hold the speed at a mere 50%. He even seriously considered kicking the MC off his sword, but thankfully, saner thoughts prevailed.
'Peaceful thoughts. Peaceful thoughts. Peaceful thoughts.'
An excruciatingly quarter of a second later, Han De and the MC came to an abrupt stop right above the ground level. The MC jumped down as soon as he opened his eyes. Apparently, the wobbliness of his legs was secondary next to his urge to get away from the flying sword.
'F#$%#$ swear to god… Man… What the F#$%?! Godf-...
Peaceful thoughts. Peaceful thoughts...'
There were no traces of liquid rainbow on the sword. Han De's Qi was creating a bubble around the sword to create a comfortable flying experience, and the MC still had enough sense to do his business at the edge of the sword. The stream of the rainbow only met the air after exiting the bubble, at which point it exploded, leaving Han De's sword untouched while bringing sunshine and happiness over a large area. Of course, real-life wasn't an anime. There was no rainbow. Hot vomit was hot vomit.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
'... At least the wind is coming from the north, this place should be relatively safe...'
Han De faced the wind and took a few deep breaths. He tried to give the MC the benefit of the doubt. This was probably an unexpected situation. It was too absurd to think otherwise.
'If you did this intentionally I swear to god... What kind of an MC would do that?!?!'
Of course, Han De was only blowing off some steam. Internally. He was pissed, but definitely not pissed enough to show hostile intent.
[Name: Yu Xian]
[Race: Human (100%)]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 15]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation (2/13) (Temporary)]
[Constitution: None]
[Bloodline: - ]
[Roots: Metal (61.13%)]
[Potential Points (Total: 28)]
-------------------------------------------
[Will: 8]
[Talent: 7]
[Comprehension: 8]
[Luck: 5]
[Cultivation Methods]
-------------------------------------------
[Shattered Veil Scripture (Mortal III)]
[Power: Very Weak]
[Comprehension: Advanced (22/53)]
[Stage: - ]
[Expand to view 8 more...]
[Martial Arts Methods]
-------------------------------------------
[Myriad-Beginnings Fist (Mortal II)]
[Power: Extremely Weak]
[Comprehension: Master)]
[Stage: Initial Mastery (7/7)]
[Triumphal Fist of the Unrepentant Forge (Mortal)]
[Power: Extremely Weak]
[Comprehension: Advanced (37/37)]
[Stage: Form Completion (1370/1371)]
[Expand to view 174 more...]
[Expand to view more...]
[Fate: Jade Emperor]
[Notes]
[Good potential. Soul fusion with an awakened all-purpose hammer was interrupted through a soul injury. Requires further stabilization before unlocking the relevant constitution and bloodline. Smithing techniques are strongly recommended.]
[Eligible - Outer Disciple (0/4)]
'Yu Xian huh… How the hell does this guy have only 5 luck? Seriously? Instead of getting his soul destroyed, he got transmigrated into a beginner planet! The most threatening thing here is F#$%#$ boredom! And that's only 5?!
If 5 is that, then what about Ning Bi? Why isn't she finding primordial treasures left and right? She has maximum luck for god's sake...'
Ning Bi's 10 luck score stirred several uncomfortable lines of thought. Han De wasn't sure if there were merit to any of them, or if it was just his habit of expecting the worst. Either way, that was a thought exercise for the future Han De.
He closed the status window and focused on Yu Xian once again. Inspecting someone's heart rate was child's play with spiritual sense, but determining whether they were poisoned or not required some level of medical expertise, and neither Han De nor the cultivation idiot had anything close to that. Both of their preferred methods of healthcare were stuffing themselves with ultra-high-grade healing pills. The poison would have to do some obvious internal damage for Han De to notice, and that wasn't the case here.
Divination was also out of the question, since it required Han De to touch Yu Xian. A no-go from the start.
'Sigh, if it wasn't for that 1 unit of gratitude... Little shit, you better be goddamn grateful...'
Realizing he couldn't do anything without spending effort, Han De decided to stare down Yu Xian instead. Thanks to his strategic positioning, the stench didn't bother him at all!
Yu Xian's face was still white as a sheet, and he was still on the ground, looking at Han De's sword with a startled expression. The sight made Han De sigh internally.
'If he was poisoned he would've tried to expel it, right? He should know some kind of technique to do that. Should I give him a panacea anyway? Hmmm, that's not a bad idea, actually. Pills are cheap.'
Under normal circumstances, Han De would never feed a random MC. Giving them pills, money, items, or anything, really, was useless thanks to their natural tendencies to perform mental gymnastics. There were some exceptions of course, and sometimes there were exceptional circumstances. Giving what they required in their time of need was one of them.
Still, the way that Yu Xian kept staring at his sword made Han De wonder. He decided to check, just in case.
"Junior, we are still some distance away from that capital. Why don't we continue on our way and let a doctor take a look at you once we arrive?"
Yu Xian didn't react at first, but once he was able to comprehend Han De's words, he did a double-take and started explaining with an extremely serious face.
"This junior is ashamed of his actions and will go in self-isolation for 3 days and 3 nights! Due to the time-sensitive nature of my father's condition, this junior will have to continue his 3-year seclusion when fate permits!"
His words would've been more believable if he wasn't lying on the ground. Perhaps Yu Xian himself realized this issue and tried to stand up midway, but his wobbly legs only worsened his situation.
Han De was speechless after realizing his wild guess was actually correct. This guy was practically the opposite of Han De in almost every way, yet both of them were suffering from the same condition. Han De's face immediately became solemn.
'... Was he meditating because he was afraid of flying? That must be it. Yes, it makes total sense. Before the transmigration, that body belonged to a trash. If the brain chemistry of the body is altering his emotions, there could be other side effects too.'
It was all very interesting and extremely relevant to Han De as a (fake) transmigrator, but this wasn't the time.
Although Han De was mostly over his flight and speed phobia, he knew that it was still there. At first, he had no choice but to soldier on, but he wouldn't wish that to happen to anyone else. Yu Xian getting sick to the point of vomiting was way over the line.
The fact that he understood Yu Xian's fear so well made him feel much worse.
'S#$%... Oh well, what's done is done...'
Han De consciously changed his expression to the solemn variation of the hidden expert template. Showing his sympathy or guilt was not an option. He looked at random locations on Yu Xian's body, then even more solemnly nodded.
"I see. You still have internal injuries from the forceful breakthrough. Rushing you without thinking of your condition was my mistake. Here, take this pill, it should help in your recovery."
The box that Han De casually threw contained a filthy-rich-grade healing pill. Until he opened the lid, Yu Xian seemed reluctant, but after smelling the medicinal fragrance gushing out of the box, he looked directly into Han De's eyes.
Both men nodded at each other. There was no need for words between them.
Han De breathed a sigh of relief inside. Their experiences couldn't be more different, their origins couldn't be further apart, but here on this, noob planet, they had an undeniable connection. Han De's Transmigrators Club now officially had two members. A shame that the second member would never become aware of the club's existence!
Yu Xian breathed a sigh of relief on the inside as well. He had many doubts regarding Han De's intentions. Betrayal was fresh in his mind, since from his perspective, his soul was almost destroyed by those he trusted the most, only a day ago. After seeing the heaven-grade restoration pill and the look in Han De's eyes though, he was able to draw a clearer picture.
Although he wanted to analyze, healing his body was far more important. Questions could wait.