The plot was heating up: updates are here, come watch on Coke Novel!
Dead?
Was this what death felt like?
It wasn't as terrifying as he'd imagined.
To simply sink into sleep and never wake again might even be a kind of release.
Just as that wisp of consciousness was about to vanish—
A point of dark golden light suddenly flared in the deepest reaches of his consciousness.
Then a second point, a third...
The points of light grew denser and denser, until at last they gathered into a dark golden true-qi seed in the boundless void of darkness.
With every turn, the seed drew a wisp of vitality from the surrounding nothingness.
Relying on an almost instinctive, domineering force, the dark golden seed devoured and absorbed all that vitality.
This wasn't controlled by Lin Ye's conscious will. It was the instinct to survive, fully ignited as his consciousness teetered on the brink of annihilation.
Devour! Plunder! Repair! Endure!
At all costs, survive!
Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
Lin Ye's face was as pale as paper, his breath as faint as a thread, his chest barely rising.
"Brother Lin... Brother Lin, wake up..."
"Senior Brother Chen, Senior Sister Su has been gone for so long. She hasn't come back. Could something have happened to her?"
"Shut up!"
Chen Feng barked, sharply cutting off the disciple beside him.
"Buzzz—!"
The rumbling of the earth's veins at the mouth of the fissure deep in the cavern suddenly grew sharper and louder.
The immense surge weighed heavily on Chen Feng and the others, as though some enormous creature were slowly awakening beneath the earth.
When this energy enveloped Lin Ye, his already faint, nearly vanishing aura inexplicably grew a little steadier.
"What is this..."
"Is Brother Lin's body absorbing the energy of the earth's veins?"
"No, is it being assimilated?"
Chen Feng furrowed his brow. Unable to tell whether it was good or bad, he could only stand frozen, watching helplessly and silently praying for a miracle.
Chen Feng's heart sank bit by bit.
Could he really be beyond saving?
"Scuff, scuff..."
Light footsteps came from the mouth of the fissure.
Su Muxue returned, slowly dragging the corpse of the gray-robed man behind her.
"Senior Sister Su!"
Chen Feng and the others' spirits lifted. They hurried over to help her.
"I'm fine."
Su Muxue waved them off, her gaze instinctively falling on Lin Ye. When she saw his deathly pale, lifeless appearance, her eyes narrowed sharply, and she hurried to his side.
"How is he?"
"His aura is almost gone. The energy of the earth's veins is constantly eroding him." Chen Feng's voice was hoarse.
"No..."
"He isn't being eroded. He's merging with the energy of the earth's veins, using it to cling to the last thread of life."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the wound on his severed arm."
Su Muxue pointed to Lin Ye's left shoulder. The hideous wound had already begun to scab over with a thin layer.
"Now listen to his heartbeat and breathing."
Su Muxue bent down and pressed her ear against Lin Ye's chest, focusing on her senses. Then she looked up and gestured to Chen Feng.
Chen Feng did as she said. His expression changed at once as he noticed the strange signs.
"What on earth is going on?"
"I don't know either." Su Muxue shook her head. "Perhaps it has something to do with that unusual cultivation technique he practices."
"Then what do we do? Take him away?"
Chen Feng looked toward the shadowy mouth of the fissure, his eyes full of concern. This place was dangerous; they had to get Lin Ye out as soon as possible.
"We can't leave rashly." Su Muxue shook her head firmly. "In his current state, if he leaves the environment of the earth's veins, he may die immediately. And when I was chasing the gray-robed man, I discovered something else."
"What?"
"Beyond this fissure is a much larger network of underground caverns. I found signs that they were artificially excavated, along with remnants of formations at several blood-red altars. The source of the energy in the earth's veins is most likely in the deepest part of those caverns."
Su Muxue's expression was grave. "I suspect the Blood Fiend Hall chose this place to set up its formation for more than just concealment. It's also because the site borders the core of the earth's veins. Their Master must have a profound connection to these veins!"
"The core of the earth's veins?"
"Before the gray-robed man died, he kept muttering." Su Muxue continued, "He said the Master was about to awaken, the blood sacrifice had begun, and everyone who entered this place would become an offering!"
"The Blood Fiend Hall is plotting a shocking conspiracy, and it's already close to succeeding. We either find a way to stop it, or we withdraw immediately."
She looked at Lin Ye. "With him, we won't get far. Staying here is just as dangerous. If whatever lies deep in the earth's veins awakens, we'll be the first in its path."
After a moment of silence, Su Muxue suddenly spoke. "Perhaps there's another way."
"What way?"
"If the energy of the earth's veins can sustain his life, then we can guide that energy ourselves and use it to heal him."
"Among the techniques in my Shuiyue Peak's Ice Heart Art, there's an auxiliary healing secret art—the Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique. It can seal an injured person's body and soul in ice to slow the worsening of their injuries, while drawing in energy from the surroundings to nourish them gradually."
But this secret art required the practitioner to have extremely high cultivation, and it also needed very gentle energy as a guiding medium. The energy of the earth's veins was mixed with chaotic baleful intent; guiding it directly would only backfire.
"How can we harmonize it, then?"
"We need a buffer and a medium."
"The Earth Dragon Core is an ideal carrier to buffer the energy. The blood baleful energy of Blood Fiend Hall cultivators shares the same source as the baleful energy in the earth's veins, so it's perfect for harmonizing them."
"We have no other choice." Su Muxue spoke calmly. "If we don't try, all of us may die here."
"What do you need us to do?"
"While I'm performing the technique, I can't be disturbed." Su Muxue took a deep breath, sat cross-legged opposite Lin Ye, and began to steady herself.
The others immediately fanned out, guarding the three directions of the cavern and warily watching for any movement around them.
Su Muxue drew several drops of blood essence containing blood baleful energy from the gray-robed man's corpse. She let the essence fall onto the surface of the core, then slowly poured her true qi into it.
The moment her icy true qi touched the core's energy, the two clashed and repelled each other violently.
Su Muxue's face turned deathly pale. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of her lips, but she clenched her teeth and forcibly circulated the Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique, harmonizing the violent, chaotic energy bit by bit.
It took a full half hour for the energy within the core to gradually merge. At last, it transformed into a mass of light radiating a strange glow.
Without taking time to recover, she immediately and carefully guided the harmonized energy toward Lin Ye's dantian.
The moment the mass of energy touched Lin Ye's body, it seemed to have found its home and slowly sank into his dantian.
Su Muxue immediately changed her hand seals. A layer of pale blue ice crystals began spreading from Lin Ye's dantian, quickly covering his entire body.
As the ice crystals completely enveloped him, Lin Ye's already faint aura became even harder to detect. His heartbeat and breathing nearly stopped, and he looked like a lifelike ice sculpture.
After completing all this, Su Muxue's face was as pale as paper, and her aura had dwindled to the point that even sitting upright was a struggle.
"Did it work?"
"For now, he's stable." Su Muxue's voice was weak. "The Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique can last three days. During that time, the energy of the earth's veins will slowly nourish him. But whether he wakes up is entirely up to him."
Chen Feng looked at Lin Ye, sealed in ice, then at Su Muxue, exhausted in body and mind. His heart felt unbearably heavy, as though it were squeezing the breath from his lungs.
They had only three days.
"Senior Sister Su, rest and recover first. We'll take turns keeping watch," Chen Feng said gravely.
Su Muxue nodded, closed her eyes, and focused all her strength on recovering the true qi she had expended.
Linfeng Shengze says: Read this book!
Before you continue