A Narrow Escape

After getting the better end of the deal, Tang Chenfeng did not leave. Instead, he chose to stay, because all kinds of plants had already grown where Ye Hongling had been meditating. Ye Hongling herself was gently wrapped within the giant vines that had grown from the ground earlier, like an enormous flower bud. Green light faintly shone through the gaps, a sign that Life Energy was active.

Tang Chenfeng chose to sit beside the flower bud and meditate, absorbing the Life Energy radiating from it, provided it would not affect Ye Hongling's inheritance. Blue Gold watched from the side without saying anything.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from afar. The sound was uneven, but rapidly approaching. "What is that?" Tang Chenfeng asked warily. As soon as he spoke, two enormous figures sprang from the bushes beside him and leaped over his head, giving him quite a fright. Looking closely, he saw that they were the Wood Wolf and Rock Wolf that had attacked them earlier. However, they now looked utterly miserable, practically in tatters. The Rock Wolf's Rock Armor had completely vanished, exposing its body beneath. Several wounds were deep enough to expose bone, its flesh mangled and torn open. The Wood Wolf was in even worse condition. Aside from sharing all of the Rock Wolf's wounds, one of its legs was broken, and half its face was missing, as if some energy attack had blown it away.

Seeing the two of them, Blue Gold sighed. "You two are truly good for nothing. You had just reached the Hundred Thousand Year Level and already thought you could swagger through the forest. This is what you get." The two wolves did not argue. They merely lowered their heads like children who had done something wrong. Blue Gold spread both hands, and two blue-gold fruits appeared in her palms. She stuffed them into the wolves' mouths. As the fruits entered their mouths, the wolves' wounds healed at a visible rate, and their strength gradually returned. Blue Gold said, "That will do. Each of you ate a Hundred-Year Life Fruit. Your wounds will stabilize soon, and you can recover after resting." After speaking, Blue Gold turned around and waved one hand. The two giant wolves seemed to say something before leaving.

"So those two really were sent by you," Tang Chenfeng said indignantly.

Blue Gold wore a helpless expression. "I had not wanted to invite you in such a rough manner either, but your grandfather was simply too powerful. Wood Spirit and Earth Spirit had just become Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and were extremely full of themselves. They wanted to forcefully bring you here, but the result was that the two of you escaped while they became trapped. So I had Silver Feather bring you back. Unfortunately, after being angered, its methods became a little rough as well."

Blue Gold's words were only half true. He really had wanted to bring the two back safely, but he had never considered whether the method would be rough or not. He said this mainly so Tang Chenfeng would not get too emotional. Otherwise, even the Tree Ancestor might not be able to protect him. Tang Chenfeng was still young and simple-minded, so he believed him. "All right, then. You need to keep them under control from now on."

"Hm? Someone else has come too. Judging from the aura, it should be the other person with you."

"Ah, Grandpa is here!" Tang Chenfeng said in delight.

"Most likely. Oh, since we are Soul Beasts, it would be better if we did not show ourselves in front of your grandfather. I will take my leave first."

"Wait, then how am I supposed to explain this?" Tang Chenfeng suddenly thought of the problem as he looked at Ye Hongling, who had turned into a flower bud.

"Well, I cannot help you with that. He will be here soon, so think of something yourself." With that, Blue Gold's figure completely vanished into the natural surroundings.

Tang Chenfeng was speechless. Why is it like this again? Every time, I am the only one left making up stories to muddle through.

Tang Chenfeng was still thinking when a burst of hurried footsteps came from behind him. Then Ye Jiulong appeared along with the sound.

"Chenfeng. Thank goodness, you are all right." Ye Jiulong was in an extremely bedraggled state. His entire body was covered in blood, some belonging to enemies and some his own. Several large holes had been torn in his clothes, and the edges had nearly become strips that looked ready to fall apart at the slightest touch. Blood was still flowing from the corner of his mouth, but even so, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Ye Jiulong like that, Tang Chenfeng was even more anxious. "Village Chief Ye, your injuries are severe. You should hurry and treat them."

"It is fine." Ye Jiulong patted Tang Chenfeng on the shoulder. "I am all right. As long as you are fine, that is enough. Where is Ye Hongling? She should be all right too, right?"

"Ling'er, she..." Village Chief Ye had arrived too suddenly, and Tang Chenfeng had not yet thought of how to answer. Seeing Tang Chenfeng's silence, Ye Jiulong's face grew paler and paler. "Did something happen to her?!"

Tang Chenfeng hurriedly said, "No, Ling'er is fine. It is just that her Martial Soul seems to have become somewhat different from before. Look, she is over there." As he spoke, he pointed toward the flower bud.

After thinking it over, Tang Chenfeng decided to reveal part of the truth, though he would need to alter it slightly. Some matters truly could not be spoken aloud.

Ye Jiulong walked to the flower bud, reached out, and pressed a hand against it. He began using Soul Power and Spiritual Power to sense the situation inside. After a while, Ye Jiulong withdrew his hand and sighed in relief. "There is no problem. This seems to be something similar to Martial Soul Evolution. It will be beneficial to Ling'er..."

At that point, Ye Jiulong suddenly collapsed to his knees. His face turned white as paper, one hand clutching his chest and abdomen as he looked to be in terrible pain. Then he spat out a mouthful of black blood and fainted.

"Grandpa Ye, what is wrong?!" Tang Chenfeng was startled when Ye Jiulong suddenly collapsed unconscious. He hurried over to check on him. Although Ye Jiulong was unconscious, his face was full of agony. Blood kept flowing from his mouth, and he continuously let out painful groans, as though his life could be in danger at any moment. Tang Chenfeng was anxious, but he had no way to save him. Then he suddenly remembered the Life Fruits from earlier. Those fruits contained immense amounts of Life Energy, so using them to heal wounds would definitely work.

Tang Chenfeng immediately took out a Life Fruit, held it over Ye Jiulong's mouth, and began squeezing it hard. Since Ye Jiulong was unconscious, he could not chew food, so this was the only way.

Emerald-green juice filled with Life Energy flowed into Ye Jiulong's mouth, and the effects appeared at once. Ye Jiulong's complexion visibly improved, and he stopped groaning in pain. The Life Energy followed the juice into his body, gradually flowing through his meridians and spreading throughout him. Tang Chenfeng finally sighed in relief, but just as he did, he noticed that the Life Energy entering Ye Jiulong's body stopped when it reached his chest and abdomen. Rather, it could no longer advance, as if something were blocking it.

Just as Tang Chenfeng was observing, a voice suddenly came from beside him. "I was wondering. No wonder a Limit Douluo like him struggled so much in battle, with such obviously insufficient strength and unstable aura. So he had such severe old injuries." The speaker was Blue Gold, who had disappeared earlier.

Tang Chenfeng jumped in fright. "Could you not suddenly appear like that? It is terrifying. Also, what did you mean by old injuries?"

Blue Gold replied, "Normally, when a human cultivates to the rank of Titled Douluo and continues cultivating until reaching the limit, they become a Limit Douluo, an existence standing at the pinnacle of the human world. Your grandfather is one such person. But that is the limit of humans, not the limit of the world. After a Limit Douluo continues cultivating to a certain realm, they may trigger a tribulation. There are countless methods of undergoing tribulation, each different, but they all have one purpose: to shed the mortal body and enter the domain of gods. The most common tribulation is the Lightning Tribulation. As long as one successfully survives it, one can break through humanity's limits and become a God-tier expert. But if they fail, they can only become dust in the air. Your grandfather belongs to the group that failed, yet for some reason, he did not die. He was merely left with severe injuries. Being able to survive at all is already a miracle."

After hearing the explanation, Tang Chenfeng hurriedly asked, "So is there any way to save Grandpa Ye now?" Blue Gold indicated that he was powerless. After all, it was also his first time seeing someone who had survived after failing a tribulation. Seeing Blue Gold's reaction, Tang Chenfeng knew he had no solution either, but Tang Chenfeng himself had no way to save him.

Just when he was at a loss, Starshine lit up, and a familiar voice came from within. It was Bai Xing's voice. "I have a way. I can save him." Hearing that Bai Xing could save his grandfather, Tang Chenfeng felt as though he had grabbed a lifeline and hurriedly asked what the method was.

Bai Xing said, "Your grandfather's old injuries were caused when he was struck by Lightning Tribulation during his tribulation. The meridians inside his body were scorched, causing blockages. Now, someone needs to channel Soul Power into his body, directly enter his meridians, force out the blocked portions, and then clear his meridians. However, I must remind you of one thing: the person doing this must possess extremely powerful Spiritual Power to control the flow of their Soul Power. Otherwise, one moment of carelessness could destroy his meridians and take his life."

After hearing Bai Xing's words, Blue Gold immediately said that she could not do it. "My Spiritual Power is actually very weak, so I cannot achieve perfect control. I absolutely cannot do this. Besides, the person with the strongest Spiritual Power here should be you."

Blue Gold looked at Tang Chenfeng, and an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. "That is right, my Spiritual Power has long reached the God-tier. There should be no problem using it for control. But the issue is that I am not familiar with using Divine Sense. Can I really do it?" Bai Xing said from the side, "But aside from you, there is no one else who can do this. If you do not, then in thirty minutes, your grandfather will be unable to withstand the Life Energy from the Life Fruit. He will swell up, burst apart, and die!" Bai Xing deliberately dragged out the final word. Tang Chenfeng understood that he could only force himself to do it.

Tang Chenfeng opened Ye Jiulong's shirt, then placed his hand on Ye Jiulong's chest and abdomen. He slowly injected Soul Power into him, allowing it to gradually seep into his meridians. Using Spiritual Power to control his Soul Power, he carefully guided it through the meridians toward the blockage. Tang Chenfeng was extremely cautious. One careless mistake could truly kill someone. At this moment, he pushed his control over his Spiritual Power to the greatest limit he could currently manage. Soon, his Soul Power reached the injured portion of the meridians. There, Tang Chenfeng could clearly feel that his Soul Power had been blocked as well. What he needed to do now was wrap those impurities in Soul Power, then slowly force them out of the meridians and out of Ye Jiulong's body.

After quite some time, Tang Chenfeng finally succeeded in wrapping those impurities with his Soul Power and began trying to force them out. Spiritual Power and Soul Power worked together to draw the impurities slowly out of the meridians, through the flesh, and gradually out of his body. At first, only a layer of black grime appeared on Ye Jiulong's chest and abdomen. But as time passed, the grime grew thicker and thicker. In the end, it became a layer of black crust, like black blood scabs, giving off an unpleasant burnt odor. Yet as it appeared, Ye Jiulong's expression eased. There was none of the pain from before as he lay peacefully on the ground, as though asleep.

Tang Chenfeng finally sighed in relief. He knew that Grandpa Ye was safe. At least for now, he no longer needed to worry about the safety of himself and the other two. At that moment, Tang Chenfeng suddenly felt extremely sleepy. It was the result of excessive mental strain. He desperately wanted to sleep, and then his vision went black. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, he woke up. Blue Gold was already gone, Ye Jiulong had not yet awakened, and Ye Hongling was still in the form of a flower bud. However, the flower bud seemed fuller and more vibrant, as if it could bloom at any moment.

"Mm..." A muffled groan came from beside him. Ye Jiulong had awakened.