Cultivation Is Not a Wind That Comes from Nowhere

"Beyond Changjing lies a mountain several hundred li wide, called North Qin Mountain. I, Ling, live on the far side of North Qin Mountain. Since childhood, I've heard that there is a Snake Immortal in those mountains, famed for benevolence and virtue, watching over the mountain folk. But there is also a reclusive divine physician in the mountains, known to the world as Cai Divine Physician, who is even more renowned. Have you heard of him, worthy younger brother?"

The middle-aged scholar picked up the little gourd at his waist and tipped back his head for a drink.

Only a faint breeze stirred the river. The spring day was pleasantly mild, and with the wine warming their bodies, there was no saying how delightful it was.

"How could I not have heard of Cai Divine Physician?" The young scholar recited the details as though counting treasures. "Cai Divine Physician possessed miraculous medical skill. He traveled through Hezhou to eliminate demon plagues, through Jingzhou to treat great epidemics, and practiced medicine everywhere. His Cai Medical Canon, once promoted by the Imperial Academy, was revered by physicians across the realm as a sacred medical text. Even now, famous doctors in every region still labor to study its mysteries, benefiting without end. Two years ago, there were even reports that Cai Divine Physician's merit had reached the heavens. After his death, he became a Hall Lord in the netherworld—a sovereign of the underworld, supreme above all."

"Haha, worthy younger brother truly is a man fond of such matters." The middle-aged scholar asked again, "Then have you heard anything of the Snake Immortal of North Qin Mountain?"

"I have heard less of this Snake Immortal. Still, I heard elsewhere that at the end of the previous dynasty and the beginning of this one, when