Sometimes, it was really nice for everything to be done for you. Although self-sufficient to a large degree, Asura was still able to appreciate the little things in life. At the moment, Slave #1 (Yan Tie) and Slave #2 (Zu Nan) were dutifully completing the orders that their master had decreed. #1 was cleaning up the evidence as well as absolute filth that had become of the operating room they had previously used to (attempt to) extract memories from Wang Xie. #2 was preparing a number of medical salves and spiritual concoctions.
It had already been some time since their enslavement, so they had recovered from their injuries to some extent, cleaned themselves off, and changed clothes. Still, the toll on the body from being forcibly enslaved from mental attack was no joke. It was likely that it would take some time for them to fully recover, and that was a problem. Not only because it was inefficient for them to work while injured, but also because others in the Sect would ask questions.
After all, why would two Elders of the sect be seriously injured following contact with one Wang Xie? Asura could only imagine the headache that the subsequent investigation would entail. His body itself was still comically weak, and he could hardly imagine having the good fortune of enemies sending themselves into his lap (or mind, as it was) repeatedly. It was for this reason that Asura was still clothed in the filthy prison rags that he had come to Medicine Hall in. The Sect Leader especially was bound to have questions, and Asura, in the much-diminished state that he was in, was in no mood to tangle with someone at the Aura Union stage.
He sighed. If only mental fortitude could materialize itself in the physical world. A lot of good willpower did if you were unable to physically act upon it. But the current situation was a serious issue. The ex-Demon Lord mulled it over, playing with the sword that was once this body’s special physique. It was a decent work of craftsmanship, clearly utilizing its base material to a good degree. According to Slave #1, it was both durable, sharp, and capable of emitting flames. Too bad its creation necessitated crippling Wang Xie for life.
And, unlike the lie that Asura had come up with in the prison previously, he had never heard of any harvested physique regenerating naturally, especially when held in a prison. There were, of course, miraculous elixirs and medicines that could do so, but he highly doubted that the sect was affluent enough to spare anything for him. So, the fact was that he was stuck with a sword he could not properly wield and a body that was in no shape to cultivate.
He narrowed his eyes. That was the biggest issue. He couldn’t cultivate with a shattered dantian, and being crippled was an easy way of getting killed or worse. He turned to Slave #2 and clapped to get its attention. Zu Nan quickly stopped what he was doing, scrambled before him, and kowtowed.
“Slave, is there anything useful amongst the herbs and medicines?”
Zu Nan paused, before making a measured reply in broken voice, “M-master, this lowly one asks what you mean by useful. I will certainly procure anything you may need.”
Asura frowned. That was another issue. Though they were completely enslaved in mind, their bodily instincts were still deathly afraid of him, and the accompanying trauma would definitely be scrutinized if onlookers were even a little bit observant. It was good to have obedient slaves, but bad to have fearful ones. The fear would impede their efficiency.
“What I mean is, is there anything that can help me recover my physique or assist me in cultivation?”
There was another pause before the stammering reply came, “N-no, Master.”
“Fine. Is there anything that can quickly heal your wounds?”
“M-master, I estimate that even with the best medicinal herbs and treatment, it would still take three days of complete rest to heal us.”
“Stop stammering.”
“Y-yes, Master.”
Asura sighed yet again. This was such a troublesome situation. In his assessment of his situation, there were three pressing issues.
One: Dealing with the reaction of the Sect.
Two: Dealing with his body’s condition.
Three: Finding out WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM.
Despite the severity of the first two, the third was still far and away the most important to deal with. Even days after his…transition of circumstances, he was still no closer to understanding what had transpired after his self-immolation. Why was he in the body of Wang Xie, a human disciple of the Great Easten Sea Sect on some world, somewhere far away from Demon Lord Asura of the Nether Realm?
And now, with the news from his slave, he was no closer to making headway with any of the present complications.
“Alright,” He said, as he walked towards the bent-over form of Zu Nan, who subsequently flinched, “Just show me where you keep all your herbs.”
Frantically getting up, Slave #2 did exactly that, bringing Asura to another room, the medicine storage room. Stepping through the doorway, the once-Demon Lord disdainfully surveyed the herbs the Medicine Hall had to offer, giving it a once-over. The room before him was fairly large, several spans across, and many more deep. There were rows upon rows of shelves, drawers, and cabinets running down the length of the hall-like room. Asura moved towards the nearest shelf and stopped before a random drawer. Zu Nan followed dutifully behind like a loyal dog.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Is everything in this room safe to open?” He inquired.
“A-ah? Yes, Master, everything should be either sterile or secured.”
“Secure even for non-cultivators?”
“T-they should be.”
He thought for a moment before half-jokingly saying, “Have you and the other slave kill yourselves if I die from opening up a drawer.”
“Y-yes, Master." Zu Nan ended up acknowledging, albeit whimperingly.
Asura frowned again. He was treating the Elder like he would have treated Herald, like a trusted subordinate you could joke with. Herald was probably dead now, though, and the Nether Realm would freeze over the day he replaced them with Zu Nan.
He thought about telling him that that was a joke, but decided against it. They really did deserve to die if something in this room killed him. With that thought in mind, he opened a drawer.
“What is this herb called?” Asura asked, gesturing at the drawer he had just opened. Frankly speaking, his knowledge of spiritual herbs was not the greatest. The Nether Realm was incredibly destitute of such plants, and most spiritual herbs did little to benefit a typical demon’s physiology. Besides incredibly valuable or famous spiritual herbs (like the Golden Lotus), Asura’s knowledge was quite sparse, especially in regard to what seemed to be an obscure local variety right now.
“T-that is a 100-year Yin Ginseng, Master.”
“That’s a 100-year Yin Ginseng?”
“T-that is correct.”
Asura turned up his nose at it, shutting the drawer. What a poor world. He had inquired specifically about the herb because it seemed to bear some vague resemblance to something he had found in the past, and he was right. Sadly, it seemed like this world was sorely lacking in spiritual energy concentration, and the 100-year Yin Ginseng here looked to be an extremely emaciated and malnourished version of the Millenia Yin Ginseng he had come across before.
He continued to upturn drawers, boxes, and storage containers across the room, occasionally asking questions about their names, uses, or other characteristics as he moved down the shelves. Finally, coming to the back wall of the room, he muttered under his breath, “There better be something actually good here.”
“M-master, the back wall contains the best of the Medicine Hall.”
He looked back and asked, “Then why didn’t you bring me here first?”
Zu Nan immediately dropped to the ground and kowtowed again, exclaiming, “This lowly slave apologizes most sincerely for not understanding Master’s intent!”
Asura looked impassively at the quivering form of his slave and gave the Elder a light kick to the head. It was more like a nudge than anything else (and he doubted he could inflict serious physical damage on the cultivator in his current state), but Zu Nan crumpled on impact and began crying out.
“Shut up and stand up.” The mouth of Wang Xie barked.
“Y-yes, Master.”
Shakily, the slave got up. For a moment, Asura considered berating him more, but realized that the slave would just collapse again, and it would be far from productive.
“Stop kowtowing. Never kneel before me again unless I explicitly command you to. Try to control your reactions when you look or talk to me. And stop adding ‘master’ to all of your responses.”
“Y-yes, mas—”
Asura gave him a sharp look and again, the cultivator pathetically flinched.
“Just stop talking unless I address you again.”
There was no pitiful response this time, thankfully. Turning back to the wall of the room, he once again began opening up drawers. This time, he had a specific methodology in mind. Because he lacked any spiritual sense in his crippled state, Asura was relying on seeing phenomena created by spiritual herbs with his own eyes. Spiritual herbs that were capable of manifesting phenomena like lights, auras, or even wind were usually of a much greater value and rarity than those that could not. Thus far, Asura had not seen any through all of the drawers he had picked through. He was hoping the back wall was different.
“Slave, are there any herbs that are capable of manifesting natural phenomena here?”
“I-I cannot remember at the moment. But if you were to give me some time, I am certain I could recall some.”
Asura doubted it. It would be unusual if the Medicine Hall Elder had not memorized the entirety of the contents of the Medicine Hall. If there were any memory issues now, it was probably due to the rush-job he had done to the Elder. Mental enslavement was a messy business, and he hadn’t exactly had the luxury to take his time with the process. It was probable that Zu Nan now had permanent mental and memory issues from being ravaged by the Demon Lord.
“Never mind, I’ll look through them myself.” Asura decided.
He opened a drawer. A random herb greeted him. It didn’t strike any particular resemblance to him and there were no lights, so he closed it thereafter. He opened another one. Same deal as the last. Another. Nothing again. Another. Still nothing. Another. There was a bit of twinkling this time.
“What is this herb and its uses?”
“T-That is the Star Seeking Shoot. It can be eaten by someone with the True Bright Star Physique to strengthen their physique or used as a supplemental ingredient to make a number of products useful in increasing spiritual energy capacity.”
Asura shut the drawer again. Nothing that could increase spiritual energy capacity was useful to him because he could neither contain nor accumulate it to begin with. With a gaping hole of a dantian, and wrecked spiritual veins, he needed a restorative miracle medicine and nothing less.
---
A period of time and many opened drawers later, Asura had found nothing capable of healing his spiritual system, but he did find some things of moderate use.
Firstly, there was the Azure Sea Orb, an organic oceanic treasure that continually spewed out water by processing the humidity around it when pressure was applied to it. To be honest, this was not its primary application (that would be as a primary ingredient to many recipes), but it was for this characteristic Asura had picked it.
Second, there was the Clear Spring Honeydew, something that could be used like an incredible survival food when eaten raw. Once again, however, this was not its primary application. It was supposed to be processed in conjunction with other materials to create a type of feed for many spiritual animals, but this was not what he planned.
And lastly, there was Spiritual Volcanic Ash. It was mostly intended as a divine fertilizer for spiritual herbs, but for Asura’s intentions, its ability to be scattered for a wide distance and act as an effective smokescreen was its concern.
None of these helped his spiritual development, and none of them had any direct practical benefit for cultivators. But they were perfect for living outside of civilization and staging a retreat. This was exactly what Asura was planning.
He had a sect to run away from.