The sudden outburst and accusation scared Long Zhanye out of his wits.
Ignoring his physical discomfort, he scrambled up from the ground on all fours and staggered desperately toward the open wooden door!
This time, Mad Old Man neither stopped him nor gave chase.
He merely stood where he was, maintaining that accusatory pointing gesture as meaningless murmurs continued to spill from his mouth.
Long Zhanye did not dare stop until he had climbed out of the underground hole.
Leaning against the cold bridge pier, he gasped for breath as cold sweat soaked through his inner clothes.
He glanced back at the pit, let out a long breath of lingering fear, wiped the cold sweat from his brow, and muttered to himself:
"That Mad Old Man... he really is a complete lunatic... nothing he says makes any sense, his moods change without warning, and all he says is incomprehensible nonsense..."
The secret chamber fell silent once more.
That "Mad Old Man" still maintained his previous posture, pointing toward the doorway as he stood rigidly in place without moving.
His emaciated body trembled faintly. Broken, meaningless hoarse sounds came from his throat, while his eyes alternated between emptiness and flashes of fierce struggle.
After this unsettling dead silence continued for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea,
the tightly shut wooden door deep within the secret chamber silently slid open a crack inward.
A figure nimbly slipped out, then immediately shut the door again behind him.
The newcomer was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties.
He was tall and straight-backed, dressed in a neat set of dark gray fitted clothes, with rather handsome features.
Seeing that "Mad Old Man" standing rigidly there in an obviously abnormal state, he immediately hurried over and gently supported the old man's trembling arm.
"Master, Master, are you all right?" The young man's concern was unmistakable.
Mad Old Man showed no response to his call. The hoarse sounds in his throat merely grew heavier, and his body trembled even more violently.
Without hesitating further, the young man swiftly took a small jade bottle from his robes and poured out a pill the size of a soybean, its entire surface a gentle jade-green.
The moment the pill appeared, it released a clear, delicate fragrance of grass and wood that seemed utterly out of place amid the stale air of the chamber.
He carefully pried open his master's cracked lips and placed the pill into his mouth.
The pill dissolved as soon as it entered.
Within only a few breaths, Mad Old Man's violently shaking body gradually calmed, and the strange sounds from his throat vanished.
The chaos in his eyes slowly subsided.
Though they still carried the weariness and murkiness of a life weathered by hardship, they no longer held that chilling madness from before.
He slowly let out a long, turbid breath. Though exhausted, he had regained some clarity of mind.
Raising a hand, he once more swept aside several especially troublesome strands of messy hair from his forehead, revealing a gaunt face and eyes that had begun to stabilize.
Turning to the young man beside him, his voice remained hoarse but was now coherent. "Zhua Yun... just now... you heard everything I said to that child, didn't you?"
The young man called Zhua Yun nodded. He helped his master sit on a wooden stool nearby, then stood respectfully at his side with his hands lowered.
"This disciple heard it, Master."
Mad Old Man looked toward the direction Long Zhanye had left. The wooden door remained open.
After a moment of silence, he slowly said in a tone filled with boundless regret, "That child..."
"Though I only examined him briefly, his bone age is no more than thirteen, yet before his cultivation was crippled, his Soul Power foundation had already been firmly established at the realm of a four-ring Soul Elder..."
"With such talent, even among the records of our Body Sect throughout the generations, he would be exceedingly rare—a true prodigy."
"This... this should have been the backbone and hope of our sect for the coming decades, perhaps even a century!!"
His voice lowered, filled with helplessness. "What a pity... how cruelly fate toys with us! This... this may be the greatest and most irreparable loss our Body Sect has suffered in recent years!"
Hearing this, deep regret appeared on Zhua Yun's face as well.
He added, "Yes, Master. His Martial Soul has shattered and his foundation has been destroyed. Fortunately, Heaven has shown him mercy—he possesses Twin Martial Souls, leaving him with a single thread of hope."
"But unfortunately... his crippled First Martial Soul was actually his heart!" At this point, his brows drew tightly together.
"This is simply too... too sinister. The heart is the core of a person's vitality. Having it as a Martial Soul was already rare and exceptionally dangerous."
"A shattered Martial Soul is no different from having one's vitality shaken. Even if he can cultivate anew through his Second Martial Soul, his body..."
"Will inevitably suffer extremely severe, perhaps permanent aftereffects. His future path of cultivation will likely be... fraught with hardship."
"Indeed." The old man slowly nodded.
"Originally, if the First Martial Soul was crippled, then as long as it was handled properly, he could rely on his Second Martial Soul to cultivate again. Though the beginning would be difficult, he might not have been unable to achieve something else."
"But his First Martial Soul happened to be his heart... The backlash of a shattered Martial Soul inflicts fundamental erosion and damage upon the body, especially the heart meridians and blood vitality."
"His body is now like a palace with its most vital load-bearing pillar removed. Though its exterior may still barely hold, within, it is already on the verge of collapse and could crumble completely at any moment."
"What a pity... truly, what a terrible pity." His final sigh was long and heavy.
Zhua Yun, twenty-one years old, was a disciple of the current generation of the Body Sect and the only personal disciple of the mysterious old man before him.
The old man had discovered him as a child, secretly taken him in, and taught him. Zhua Yun knew well how profound his master's knowledge was beneath his seemingly deranged exterior.
He also knew even more deeply of the complicated yet inseparable feelings his master held toward the sect.
Once the atmosphere of regret had settled somewhat, the old man abruptly changed the subject.
His gaze became deep. "Though I have lived in seclusion here for decades, nearly cut off from the world, that does not mean I know nothing of the outside."
"Zhua Yun, you often go out, and I have kept all the information you bring back in mind."
He paused, sorting through his thoughts. "The Clear Sky Sect, once the greatest sect in the world, has now sealed off its mountain and closed its gates, concealing its strength and ignoring worldly affairs. Outsiders can no longer gauge the depth of its foundations."
"The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect... alas, the glory of an auxiliary-type sect could not withstand the grinding of time and war. It now shows signs of decline and is no longer at its former peak."
His voice gradually grew grave. "And now, on the continent, the faction with the greatest momentum and most imposing presence is undoubtedly Shrek Academy."
"Not only has it gathered the finest teachers and most talented students of this age, rumor also says that it is guarded by a Limit Douluo standing at the pinnacle of Spirit Masters, with no small number of Super Douluo beneath him."
"It is like a towering tree, its roots sunk deep and its branches flourishing, covering nearly half of the Spirit Master world. In the future..."
"If our Body Sect wishes to reclaim its glory, or even merely secure a larger space to survive, Shrek will surely be an obstacle we cannot avoid—and the most powerful one at that!"
At this point, the old man's tone brimmed with anxiety and concern. "But our Body Sect..."
"Our inheritance is unique, and our requirements for disciples' aptitude are exceptionally strict. We have always had few members."
"Outstanding disciples with the potential to climb to the summit are even rarer still... and now we have lost another seedling who could have borne great responsibility... alas, where does the road ahead lie?"
Before you continue