The endless cold wind howled through the gaps, its icy breath swirling and gusting wildly. Ren Yuanhao, perhaps accustomed to the temperature, no longer shivered.
A dull, faint light emanated from the earthy-yellow egg in the darkness, filling him with unexpected joy. Even though the light seemed cold, Ren Yuanhao was content.
"System Miss, for giving me these three items, she must have had a purpose."
He eagerly opened the ancient Five Elements scripture, using the符箓木 (fu lu mu) to read.
After an unknown amount of time, he had skimmed through the first volume of the Five Elements scripture. Its contents were even more intricate than the Three Points of Origin Qi, but having cultivated the碧海潮生 (Bi Hai Chao Sheng) and Three Points of Origin Qi, he now felt a sense of profound simplicity when reading this scripture.
The ancient Five Elements scripture stated that the five primordial energies of heaven and earth existed from the beginning of primordial chaos. Great God Pangu split the heavens and earth with a single sword stroke, causing the clear energy to rise and the turbid energy to descend. The upper became fire, and the lower became metal, wood, water, and earth. From Tai Yi, water was born; from Tai Chu, fire was born; from Tai Shi, wood was born; from Tai Su, metal was born; and from Tai Ji, earth was born. Thus, the Five Elements came into being.
Although the explanations were somewhat convoluted, Ren Yuanhao understood that these five energies gave rise to and overcame each other. Among the Five Elements, metal represented the sharpest and hardest things in the world, wood represented endless vitality, water was yielding, fire was firm, and earth carried all things.
In the ancient Five Elements scripture, these five energies were transformed into the human body: wood bones, metal sinews, earth flesh, water blood, and fire qi.
As Ren Yuanhao realized this, he immediately understood the flaw in his own body!
"That's right. My dantian was shattered, and the fire-attribute true qi was burning my internal organs. It's impossible to reconstruct the dantian, but since the container is gone, in theory, I can use the principle of mutual generation and restraint of the Five Elements to regulate it."
Ren Yuanhao continued his study, murmuring to himself, "Wood generates fire, and water restrains fire. Therefore, I shouldn't focus on the dantian right now, but rather use the Mermaid's Tear to continuously suppress the fire-attribute true qi."
With this thought, Ren Yuanhao sat cross-legged and attempted to channel the water-attribute true qi from the Mermaid's Tear.
However, the dantian was the foundation of qi cultivation for ordinary people. With his dantian shattered, even with something like the Mermaid's Tear in his body, channeling true qi was much more difficult than before. It was like trying to travel between two points with a pit dug in the middle of the direct path, forcing him to take a detour.
Ren Yuanhao had no idea how long he had stayed in this void of life and death, but in the mortal world, a major event was unfolding.
...
It was said that after Ren Yuanhao saved Ziyuan with his life, Ziyuan led her remaining tribespeople back to her homeland.
These tribespeople were already infected with an unknown disease, and Ziyuan was merely fulfilling their wish to return to their roots. Two days later, all the tribespeople died one by one under the erosion of the virus.
Since Ren Yuanhao could no longer endure any further travel, Ziyuan could only stay alone in the small desert oasis, hoping for Ren Yuanhao's recovery while burying her deceased kin.
However, their tribe was not the only one in the oasis. The news of Ziyuan's return soon reached the ears of other tribes.
On this day, the fourth day since Ziyuan returned to her ancestral land, she, as usual, wiped Ren Yuanhao's feverish body, trying to alleviate his pain through physical cooling.
Just then, a person slowly emerged from the courtyard of the once-prosperous family.
"Ziyuan, you cannot save that man like this."
The man's face was adorned with colorful totems, and he leaned on a gnarled ancient vine staff. He appeared to be a shaman of some tribe.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
Ziyuan defensively drew two short daggers from her waist, resembling a tigress revealing her claws and fangs.
"Miss Ziyuan, who shines like a pearl in the entire desert, who wouldn't know you?"
The shaman leaned on his ancient vine staff with both hands. He was so thin that he looked like a skeleton clad in clothes.
"You didn't come here just to wag your tongue, did you?"
"Of course not. I brought this."
The shaman held out a sheepskin map, not daring to approach immediately, as Ziyuan's guard was still up.
"Come in."
The shaman obeyed. His gait made him seem as if he could fall apart at any moment. The more he was like this, the more curious Ziyuan became.
"Do you mind if I take a look at this young man?" After handing the map to Ziyuan, the shaman did not explain the map or his purpose first, but instead requested to examine Ren Yuanhao.
Ziyuan nodded. Although her strength had not yet recovered, dealing with such an elderly man in his twilight years was not a problem.
As the shaman approached the bed, a wave of heat washed over him.
"What terrifying true qi. Even this small amount that has leaked out carries such a fearsome aura. One can imagine the terrifying power raging within him."
The shaman frowned. As soon as he placed his hand on Ren Yuanhao's pulse, he was startled and nearly lost his balance. "His pulse is chaotic, and his dantian, which accommodates true qi, is also shattered. No wonder he's in this state."
Ziyuan had also examined Ren Yuanhao's body and naturally knew how dire his condition was. However, hearing it from the shaman made her even more flustered, especially since this man had fallen into such a state precisely because he had saved her.
A shattered dantian was far more terrifying than having one's abilities devoured.
"Do you have any good solutions?" Ziyuan bowed respectfully. Seeing that the shaman paid her no mind, she then half-knelt and cupped her hands in a gesture of deference.
Even though her family had fallen into decline, a trace of pride remained in her bones. Yet, for the sake of a man, she had completely abandoned her dignity.
To her, the most important thing was for this man to live.
She didn't care about dignity.
"The method is actually in your hands."
"In my hands?"
Ziyuan looked down at the map. At a glance, many of the landmarks on the map were indeed place names of this oasis, showing underground rivers, water flow directions, and the locations where certain plants and flowers grew.
"This is just a map of our oasis. The method you spoke of..."
The shaman stroked his silver beard and replied, "That's right. Outsiders merely think of our Western Wasteland Desert as a barren land, but they don't know that billions of years ago, the desert was like the interior lands, with endless grass and lush trees. Some ancient relics are scattered in this desert like pearls lost in the sea, waiting to be discovered. And in one place on this map, there grows a secret fruit that can slowly repair the dantian. As long as you can find that thing, this fellow's dantian will eventually recover."
The shaman paused here for a moment. Ziyuan urged him on, and he continued, "It's just a pity that the family possessing the complete map has sent me to ask Miss Ziyuan for something."
"What is it?"
"You."
...