Chapter 39

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Dead?

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Is this what death tastes like?

It isn't as terrifying as I imagined.

To just fall into a deep sleep like this, never to wake again, perhaps it is a form of release.

Just as that sliver of consciousness was about to be extinguished—

A speck of dark golden radiance suddenly ignited from the deepest part of his consciousness.

Following that, a second speck, a third...

The points of light grew increasingly dense, eventually coalescing in the boundless void of darkness into a single dark golden seed of True Qi.

With every rotation of the seed, it drew a wisp of vitality from the surrounding nothingness.

That dark golden seed, relying on an almost instinctive dominance, devoured and absorbed all the vitality it could find.

This was not controlled by the subjective consciousness of Lin Ye, but rather his survival instinct, fully ignited at the moment his consciousness was on the verge of annihilation.

Devour! Plunder! Repair! Survive!

At any cost, live!

Time seemed to freeze in this moment.

Lin Ye's face was as pale as paper, his breathing as thin as a gossamer thread, his chest rising and falling only with the faintest of movements.

"Brother Lin... Brother Lin, wake up..."

"Senior Brother Chen, Senior Sister Su has been gone for so long without returning, could she have met with an accident?"

"Shut up!"

Chen Feng let out a low shout, sternly cutting off the disciple beside him.

"Hum—!"

At the fissure deep within the cave, the humming of the surging earth veins suddenly became piercingly clear.

This massive fluctuation made the hearts of Chen Feng and the others sink, as if some colossal entity were slowly awakening beneath the ground.

When this energy enveloped Lin Ye's body, his aura, which had been so weak it was nearly dissipating, inexplicably became a bit more solid.

"This is..."

"Is Brother Lin's body absorbing the energy of the earth veins?"

"No, is he being assimilated?"

Chen Feng's brows were locked in a tight frown, unable to tell if this was good or bad, and he could only stand frozen in place, watching helplessly while silently praying for a miracle.

Chen Feng's heart sank bit by bit into the abyss.

Could it be that there really is no saving him?

"Rustle..."

A faint sound of footsteps came from the fissure.

Su Muxue dragged the corpse of the gray-robed man and walked back slowly.

"Senior Sister Su!"

Chen Feng and the others were suddenly invigorated and hurried forward to assist her.

"I am fine."

Su Muxue waved her hand, her gaze subconsciously falling upon Lin Ye. Seeing his pale, deathly appearance, her beautiful eyes suddenly constricted, and she rushed to his side.

"How is he?"

"His breath is almost gone, and the energy of the earth veins is constantly eroding him," Chen Feng said with a hoarse voice.

"No..."

"He isn't being eroded; he is merging with the energy of the earth veins, relying on this power to barely hang onto his last breath."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the wound on his severed arm."

Su Muxue pointed to Lin Ye's left shoulder, where the ghastly wound had actually already formed a thin layer of scab.

"Listen to his heartbeat and breathing again."

Su Muxue leaned down, pressing her ear against Lin Ye's chest to sense it intently, then signaled with her eyes.

Chen Feng observed carefully as instructed, and his expression changed instantly; he truly detected the anomaly.

"What on earth is going on?"

"I don't know either," Su Muxue shook her head, "Perhaps it has something to do with that special cultivation technique he practices."

"Then what should we do? Take him and leave?"

Chen Feng looked toward the deep, dark fissure, his eyes filled with concern. This place was treacherous; he had to get Lin Ye out as soon as possible.

"We cannot leave rashly." Su Muxue shook her head decisively. "In his current state, if he leaves the environment of the earth vein, he will likely die instantly. Furthermore, while I was hunting down that gray-robed man, I discovered something else."

"What did you find?"

"Outside this fissure, there is a much larger network of underground caverns. I found traces of manual excavation inside, along with fragments of blood-colored altar formations. The source of the earth vein energy is, in all likelihood, at the deepest part of those caverns."

Su Muxue's expression was grave. "I suspect that the Blood Fiend Hall chose this location to set up their formation not just for concealment, but because it is adjacent to the core of the earth vein. Their master must have a profound connection to this vein!"

"The core of the earth vein?"

"Before that gray-robed man died, he kept muttering to himself." Su Muxue continued, "He said the master is about to awaken, the blood sacrifice has already begun, and everyone who has trespassed here will become an offering!"

"The Blood Fiend Hall is plotting a heaven-shaking conspiracy, and they are now nearing the final stage. We must either find a way to stop them or evacuate immediately."

She looked at Lin Ye. "With him, we won't get far. Staying here is equally perilous. Once the thing in the depths of the earth vein awakens, we will be the first to bear the brunt of it."

After a moment of silence, Su Muxue suddenly spoke: "Perhaps there is one more way."

"What way?"

"Since the earth vein energy can sustain his vitality, we can actively channel this energy to heal his wounds."

"Within the Shuiyue Peak Ice Heart Art, there is a secret technique for auxiliary healing—the Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique. It can freeze the patient's body and soul, delaying the deterioration of their injuries while simultaneously drawing in external energy to slowly nourish them."

However, this secret technique required an extremely high level of cultivation from the practitioner and needed a very gentle energy as a medium for guidance. The earth vein energy was mixed with chaotic baleful qi; guiding it directly would only be counterproductive.

"Then how do we harmonize it?"

"We need a buffer and a medium."

"The Earth Dragon Core is an excellent carrier for energy buffering. The blood baleful qi of the Blood Fiend Hall cultivators shares the same origin as the earth vein's baleful qi, making it perfect for harmonization."

"There is no other choice." Su Muxue said calmly. "If we don't try, we might all die here."

"What do you need us to do?"

"While I am performing the technique, I cannot be disturbed by anything." Su Muxue took a deep breath, sat cross-legged opposite Lin Ye, and began to adjust her state.

The others immediately dispersed, guarding the three directions of the cavern and keeping a vigilant watch on the surroundings.

Su Muxue forced several drops of essence blood containing blood baleful qi from the corpse of the gray-robed man, dripped the essence onto the surface of the core, and then slowly injected her own true qi into it.

As soon as the icy true qi touched the energy of the core, a violent conflict and repulsion erupted instantly.

Su Muxue's face turned deathly pale, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her lips, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to execute the Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique, bit by bit harmonizing this wild and chaotic energy.

It took a full half-hour before the energy fluctuations within the core gradually began to merge, finally forming a glowing orb that emitted an eerie light.

She didn't stop to recover her strength, immediately and cautiously guiding this harmonized orb of energy toward Lin Ye's dantian.

The moment the energy orb touched Lin Ye's body, it seemed to find its home, slowly sinking into his dantian.

Su Muxue immediately changed her hand seals, and a layer of pale blue ice crystals began to spread from Lin Ye's dantian, rapidly covering his entire body.

As the ice crystals completely encased him, Lin Ye's already weak aura became even harder to detect, his heartbeat and breathing nearly stopped, and he looked like a lifelike ice sculpture.

After finishing all this, Su Muxue's face was as pale as paper, her aura withered to the extreme, and even sitting cross-legged seemed incredibly difficult.

"Did it work?"

"It is temporarily stabilized." Su Muxue's voice was weak. "The Ice-Sealing Rejuvenation Technique can last for three days, during which the earth vein energy will slowly nourish him. But whether he wakes up or not depends entirely on him."

Chen Feng looked at the frozen Lin Ye, then at the exhausted Su Muxue, his heart feeling heavy, as if he couldn't catch his breath.

They only had three days.

"Senior Sister Su, you should heal and recover first. We will take turns keeping watch." Chen Feng said in a low voice.

Su Muxue nodded, closed her eyes, and began to regulate her breathing, putting all her effort into recovering her depleted true qi.

Lin Feng Shengze says: Read this book!