The Dao Fruit of Life

Jiang Lan's gaze was deep and shadowed. His slender hand rested over his chest, where he could feel the beating coming from within.

But this heart did not belong to him.

"In the original story that followed, Jiang Ruxian's cultivation had long since stood above the world. If she had wanted to investigate the causes and consequences of that year, it would not have been difficult. Yet she never did so. She remained stubbornly convinced that the once modest, courteous, gentle, and kind young man had dug out her Seven-Orifice Exquisite Immortal Heart, and she insisted on taking revenge..."

"Even after the original owner had died, she still refused to let him go."

"After so many years, seeing him reduced to a wastrel drowned in wine and women, did she truly not harbor even the slightest suspicion? Or was she simply unwilling to accept the truth?"

A curve touched Jiang Lan's lips, impossible to tell whether it was mockery or indifference.

As for whether the original owner later understood the cause of it all in the original story, or whether he had sought Jiang Ruxian out to explain—

To the current Jiang Lan, none of it mattered in the least. Nor was there any need for it.

Once a crack appeared in trust, it was destined to slowly widen until everything shattered completely.

What would explaining things clearly change? It was all too late. Nothing could be changed.

Besides, the original owner's heart had already died the moment Jiang Ruxian thrust that sword into him.

Given his nature, once he learned that Jiang Ruxian's Seven-Orifice Exquisite Immortal Heart was inside his body, he surely would not have chosen to live on alone either...

"Clearly, he was a peerless genius destined to shine brilliantly and be revered by countless people. Why did he have to live such a stifled, humiliating life, only to be misunderstood and resented by the person he had once admired and cared for most, even after death..."

"Heh..."

Jiang Lan softly let out a breath.

When he had merged with those memories, he had not felt any anger. He had merely felt heartfelt pity for the original owner, believing it was not worth it.

Beyond that, there was only an utterly undisturbed calm.

As for hating Jiang Ruxian?

Jiang Lan did not feel that way. At most, he felt indifferent.

Nothing in this world was simply black or white. Jiang Ruxian's Seven-Orifice Exquisite Immortal Heart was indeed within his body. It was only natural that she hated him and wanted to kill him.

He had nearly been killed by her too, taking a trip before the gates of death.

And from beginning to end, the original owner had a clear conscience. He had done all that benevolence and righteousness demanded, and had never owed Jiang Ruxian anything.

Even after she fled following her assassination attempt, though the original owner did not understand why and suffered terribly, he had never asked his parents to send people after her to kill her.

If there had to be anything, it was that her former Seven-Orifice Exquisite Immortal Heart was still inside him, still beating to this day.

Jiang Lan was no saint. Naturally, he could not possibly remove his heart and return it to Jiang Ruxian just because of that.

If he had the choice, he did not particularly want this so-called Seven-Orifice Exquisite Immortal Heart either.

"This misunderstanding was truly settled the moment the original owner's heart died. The pain Jiang Ruxian endured was no less than what the original owner endured. She nearly lost her life, and the original owner had nearly died by her hand as well..."

Though Jiang Lan could understand Jiang Ruxian's actions, that did not mean he would agree with them.

As far as he was concerned, he had neither reason nor standing to approve of or forgive the harm she had inflicted upon the original owner.

"She was justified in wanting to kill me, and if I want to kill her, that is naturally just as justified..."

His thoughts returned.

The next moment, Jiang Lan's consciousness sank into that deep, pitch-black Mud Pill Palace.

There, a vine of lush emerald green, as though carved from flawless jade, was rooted in place, shrouded in a mysterious Aura.

The vine was not thick. Its leaves were verdant and crystalline, like jade, gleaming with a soft luster. Fine wisps of mist-like substance coiled around it.

At the end of the vine hung something resembling a fruit.

It had now grown to the size of an adult's fist, exuding an unfathomable and inscrutable Aura.

Its entire body was blue-green, and a mysterious, surging vitality flowed from within it.

"I didn't expect it to mature so quickly. It seems that while I was unconscious from my illness, Su Qinghan truly provided a great deal of Qi Luck..."

"Still, this is only the first stage of maturity."

Jiang Lan looked at the vine, pleasantly surprised. In truth, when he had awakened earlier, he had already sensed the abnormality within his Mud Pill Palace.

It was only because Su Qinghan had yet to leave that he had not revealed anything unusual or investigated it.

One could only say that Su Qinghan was indeed the Female Protagonist.

Their relationship had merely grown much closer; she had not yet given him her heart completely, yet she had already provided him with so much Qi Luck.

Before he fell unconscious, the Qi Luck Dao Fruit had only been the size of an infant's fist. Over these past few days, it had expanded by a full circle and could already be considered mature.

The Qi Luck Dao Fruit had a total of five stages of maturity.

The first stage was merely blue, the second green, the third purple, the fourth gold, and the fifth red.

Though it was only at the first stage now, it was already enough for Jiang Lan. Without hesitation, he immediately merged his consciousness into that Qi Luck Dao Fruit.

In an instant, surging, boundless vitality rushed toward him like rivers and vast oceans.

"Life."

Within Jiang Lan's Mud Pill Palace, a vast and mighty will also emerged, like the true words of heavenly law.

In that instant, Jiang Lan felt as though every cell in his body had been starving for ten thousand years, greedily drawing in and exhaling that vast, boundless vitality.

The more than sixty trillion cells in the human body seemed to awaken all at once.

Every single cell appeared to possess a will of its own, surging and breathing in the essence of life.

That life essence transformed into threads of vital energy and blood, racing through his organs and viscera, endless and inexhaustible. Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it surged and roared, coursing through every inch of his body.

Though the process seemed like heavenly thunder beating and ten thousand seas rumbling, not the slightest sound was made.

Jiang Lan sat cross-legged on the bed. The white undergarment draped over him fluttered gently despite the absence of wind.

He did not know how long this process lasted.

When Jiang Lan regained consciousness, he discovered that it was already noon.

The soreness, searing pain, exhaustion, and frailty that had filled his body before had long since vanished.

Though boundless vitality brimmed within him, his figure remained thin and pale, as though nothing had changed.

Even in his memories, he had never experienced such a strange sensation of fullness and strength.

"The Life Dao Fruit derived from the Qi Luck Dao Fruit... This so-called life is not merely vitality. It is a form of control over life itself. To me, it is an Immortal Body terrifying beyond measure—and this is only the first stage..."

Jiang Lan marveled softly.

He had long known that the Qi Luck Dao Fruit was extraordinary, but he had never expected it to possess such a bizarre effect.

He rose and took a longsword from the wall beside him, where several ornaments hung.

The blade gleamed brightly and was incomparably sharp. Without the slightest hesitation, he drew it directly across his arm.

A clearly visible wound immediately appeared.

With a slight movement of Jiang Lan's thoughts, however, the flesh on both sides of the wound began to squirm. The blood that had flowed out seemed to be sucked back in, and in an instant, the wound healed completely.

Even cultivators with considerable attainments could never possess such astonishing vitality.

Jiang Lan then looked beyond the window lattice. Several sparrows were perched on a willow tree not far away.

With another flicker of his thoughts, one of the sparrows suddenly stiffened and fell straight down from the treetop.

As it fell, all its feathers silently began to shed, as if unseen netherfire had appeared in the void and set it ablaze. Soon, nothing remained but its skeleton.

The instant it touched the ground, that skeleton too turned into ash that scattered through the sky and vanished without a trace.

Jiang Lan could clearly feel a faint thread of vitality appearing within his body.

Within that faint vitality were also traces of memories, experience, and even talent related to that sparrow...