Thanks to this good disciple, Ye Tiancheng, despite the volcanoes about to erupt in his eyes, managed to control himself at the critical moment.
A beam of light suddenly struck the crown of his head, and powerful true qi emanated from his body.
"Master, it seems to be successful."
Lin Xue's words, clear and gentle, were soon proven true. Ye Tiancheng's true qi surged, and he ascended to a certain height. Seizing this moment of surging energy, he went to confront the divine beast guarding the fragment of the Fuxi Qin.
At the peak of his true qi, Ye Tiancheng unleashed a powerful strike, instantly killing the divine beast. What had been a colossal form moments ago immediately disintegrated into invisible particles, swiftly merging with the air. The divine beast thinned, faded, and finally vanished.
Moments ago, Ye Tiancheng was a cultivator with heavenly power, and any divine beast was like an ant before him. Those fruits were indeed potent, but for someone like Ye Tiancheng, who couldn't control such immense power, they also brought a backlash.
After destroying the divine beast, Ye Tiancheng quickly rushed over. Lin Xue hurried to support him and then, with a heavy body, continued her exploration alone.
With the divine beast dead, Ning Xue and the little phoenix found a box. Inside the box was a fragment of the Fuxi Qin.
When Ye Tiancheng awoke, he felt tiny, firefly-sized lights floating before his eyes. It felt as if he had died, that only those ascending to heaven experienced such treatment.
Then, Ye Tiancheng felt an intense itch all over his body. This itch felt as if it was coursing through his blood, making it impossible to control. Ye Tiancheng quickly got up and frantically scratched his skin, but it was of no use.
Ye Tiancheng tried to use the true qi accumulated in his dantian to alleviate the terrible itch, but he discovered he had no true qi at all.
"Master, you're finally awake. I was so scared. It's true that you've become powerful, but I was also worried that the divine beast's death might have killed you too. Thank goodness you're alright!"
Ling Xue, usually so calm and collected, was overcome with emotion upon seeing Ye Tiancheng awake and rushed to embrace him.
However, Ye Tiancheng felt terrible. He was in immense discomfort, his head felt like it was exploding, and the main issue was the complete absence of true qi. With true qi, even if Ye Tiancheng couldn't achieve immortality, he could extend his lifespan, living for hundreds of years. Some powerful individuals could live for millennia. There were records of people living for tens of thousands of years without achieving immortality, sustained solely by their true qi. But now, with no true qi left in his body, Ye Tiancheng was deeply panicked.
"Xue'er, I seem to have no true qi."
After speaking, Ye Tiancheng attempted to gather true qi within his body again, but that intense itching sensation returned. Unable to gather true qi, Ye Tiancheng felt utterly powerless and let out a roar of frustration.
"What's wrong, Master?"
Lin Xue's emotions fluctuated the most. Just as she had finally relaxed, seeing Ye Tiancheng's reaction, she began to worry again. This situation was clearly not optimistic. Lin Xue feared losing Ye Tiancheng again, which had left a deep scar on her heart.
"I'm fine. Give me some time to digest this."
Ye Tiancheng clutched himself and collapsed onto the bed. He told his disciple, Lin Xue, to leave quickly because Ye Tiancheng's qi and blood were surging uncontrollably, causing an indescribable, excruciating pain.
His dantian felt incredibly tight, as if it were about to explode. The pain in his limbs and bones was beyond words.
Unable to bear it any longer, Ye Tiancheng curled up, embracing himself tightly, and felt a cold sweat breaking out.
"Master, don't be afraid. I know you must be in pain because you're suffering the backlash from those fruits. I'll help you."
Having expended a great deal of spiritual energy, but in saving Ye Tiancheng, Lin Xue was not stingy at all. She immediately acted again. Even though Ye Tiancheng covered his mouth tightly, he couldn't suppress the pained cries.
His cries were tragic and sharp. Ye Tiancheng was filled with fear. In that moment, he had approached death infinitely closely. Although he had come back to life, it felt as if he had died again.
This experience made Ye Tiancheng realize how precious life was. As everything was about to end, a great sense of reluctance surged through Ye Tiancheng's heart.
Soon, Ye Tiancheng's pain blurred his consciousness. He felt the door open, and a familiar figure walked in. The person walked leisurely, a smile on their lips.
Their entire being emanated a radiant light, causing Ye Tiancheng to suddenly focus all his attention on that individual.
"Who are you?"
"It's me, it's the Nuwa Stone. I've cultivated into a human form, so you should be seeing a person now, right?"
Ye Tiancheng was still in agony and found it even more unbelievable. No matter how powerful a divine artifact was, it couldn't casually cultivate into a human. Everything felt utterly bizarre.
"You stinking rock, if you've truly cultivated into a human, can you save me? I'm in so much pain I'm going to die."
At this moment, all Ye Tiancheng could think of was escaping the pain. He panted heavily, his face contorted with a look of extreme suffering.
The Nuwa Stone's face held a hint of frost as it suddenly teased Ye Tiancheng.
"Even if I save you, you won't be able to gather true qi for a while. Moreover, you'll have to endure immense pain. It would be better to just die like this. Then our contract can be dissolved, and I can find a more powerful master, instead of being persecuted by others every few days like you."
"You stinking rock, are you even speaking human words? You actually want to abandon me. We've been together for so long. Even if you haven't appeared during this time, our bond is undeniable. Everything you're doing now makes me feel you're truly pathetic. You've never been sincere with me, always living in a false lie."
For self-preservation, Ye Tiancheng could only babble a lot. He watched as the illusion of the Nuwa Stone chuckled lightly and then struck Ye Tiancheng with its qi and blood. Ye Tiancheng's meridians were already severed, and his internal organs were beginning to decay, but upon receiving this power, his entire body began to regenerate with vitality.
This surge of qi and blood spread through his internal organs in a short period. Ye Tiancheng felt a sharp stinging sensation all over his body. He had initially thought that once the Nuwa Stone acted, Ye Tiancheng would be freed from this pain, but instead, the pain intensified.
Ye Tiancheng's body convulsed, his hands contorted like chicken claws, and his eyes bulged outwards, staring intently at the person before him, looking like a terrifying vengeful spirit.
"Alright, I've saved your life. However, my cultivation has been greatly depleted. I probably won't be able to appear for several years. Don't miss me too much."
After speaking, the Nuwa Stone vanished. Ye Tiancheng got up, wanting to see it off, but after taking two steps, he instantly collapsed onto the ground, trembling all over, feeling as if his flesh and blood were being torn away piece by piece.
The sensation was agonizing. His disciple, Lin Xue, was terrified to the point of her soul scattering. After a few minutes of brief torment, Ye Tiancheng finally fainted.
Seeing her master had fainted, Lin Xue no longer had any spiritual power left to save her master's life. At this point, she could only take out the Fuxi Qin fragment and place it in Ye Tiancheng's palm, hoping for a miracle.
Ye Tiancheng had been in a deep sleep for three days. Any normal person would have assumed Ye Tiancheng was completely dead, but Lin Xue was a cultivator, and she believed her master was not that weak. As long as there was a faint breath of life, a person would be fine.
However, Ye Tiancheng showed no signs of movement, which gave Lin Xue a feeling that everything before her was merely the calm before the storm. She feared Ye Tiancheng might suddenly convulse and die from spitting blood at any moment.
Thus, on the third night, Ye Tiancheng finally woke up. Upon waking, he saw the Fuxi Qin fragment in his hand emitting a faint, ethereal glow.
"Xue'er, where are you? I'm awake."
Ye Tiancheng first looked for someone. When she didn't appear, he tested his dantian and found he could no longer gather true qi. He might not have been able to accept it before, but after this near-death experience, Ye Tiancheng suddenly realized that only being alive was the most important thing. Nothing else mattered. Whether he could gather true qi was just an additional condition. As long as he was alive, everything else could be discussed.
Lin Xue finally heard Ye Tiancheng's voice and ran over. Upon learning that Ye Tiancheng had lost all his true qi, she realized that even after reading so many books, she couldn't confirm what had happened.
She also had no idea if Ye Tiancheng could cultivate again. Currently, he appeared to be just a normal mortal. Ye Tiancheng saw Ling Xue's expression and basically understood, smiling helplessly.
"Alas, if I hadn't been farming and discovered that stone, none of this would have happened. Perhaps the outcome was destined from the beginning. I was too fixated. I've simply returned to my original state. There's nothing to be sad about. It was all just a dream, isn't life like that too?"
Whether Ye Tiancheng's openness was genuine or out of helplessness, Lin Xue tried to comfort him for a while, then told him to rest more. They could then set off for the Pure Land. Now that they had a new fragment, placing it in the Pure Land would increase its purifying power, which might help Ye Tiancheng recover his true qi.
"Alright, disciple, it's settled then. After we leave here, we'll go to the Pure Land."
For now, this was the only path Ye Tiancheng could take. Otherwise, there was no better way out. The next morning, he returned with Lin Xue to the village where they had previously rescued people to meet up with Fatty and Cui Cui.
However, they learned that the village chief had led a group of people and driven away all the villagers. Cui Cui was killed during her escape, her body sinking to the bottom of the lake. As for Fatty, he had also disappeared. The village had now become an abandoned village, devoid of people.
So much had happened in just a few days. Ye Tiancheng couldn't believe it, yet he had to.
Ye Tiancheng quickly used his divine artifact to search for Fatty. The entire process was very tense because he feared Fatty might be dead, in which case the search would yield no results. Fortunately, Lin Xue glanced at Ye Tiancheng and confirmed that Fatty's location was not far from them, only a few hundred meters away, hiding underground.
Ye Tiancheng quickly took Lin Xue with him, found a spot with relatively fresh soil, and began to dig. Finally, they reunited with Fatty.
"Brother Ye, I was so scared. I saw the village chief and some people stab Cui Cui to death and throw her into the lake. I've never seen such a terrifying scene. A living person, stabbed so many times, with holes all over her body. It was so horrifying."
As Fatty spoke, the sky began to snow. Such strange weather made Ye Tiancheng suspect that this was Cui Cui's lingering grievance.
"Fatty, evildoers always face retribution. Those people are already dead, and Cui Cui's revenge has been served. We should leave here now. Let all grievances end here."