Zhua Yun and Mad Old Man

The sudden outburst and accusation frightened Long Zhanye out of his wits.

Ignoring his physical discomfort, he scrambled up from the ground with both hands and feet, staggering desperately toward the open wooden door!

This time, Mad Old Man did not stop him or chase after him.

He merely stood where he was, maintaining that accusing, outstretched gesture as incomprehensible murmurs continued to spill from his lips.

Long Zhanye did not dare stop until he had climbed out of the underground chamber.

Leaning against the icy bridge pier, he gasped for breath, cold sweat already soaking 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 he keeps spouting nonsense no one can understand..."

Inside the secret chamber, silence returned.

That "Mad Old Man" remained frozen in his previous posture, pointing toward the doorway without moving.

His gaunt body trembled faintly. Intermittent, meaningless rasps came from his throat, while his eyes alternated between emptiness and flashes of fierce struggle.

After this unsettling dead silence continued for roughly the time it took to brew a cup of tea,

the tightly shut wooden door deep within the secret chamber unexpectedly slid inward, opening a narrow crack.

A figure darted out with agility, then immediately turned back and closed the door again.

The newcomer was a young man who looked to be around twenty.

He was tall and straight-backed, dressed in simple, neat dark-gray combat attire, with quite a handsome face.

The moment he saw the "Mad Old Man" standing rigidly there in obvious distress, he hurried over and gently supported the old man's trembling arm.

"Master, Master, are you all right?" The young man's concern was plain to hear.

Mad Old Man showed no reaction to his call. The rasping in his throat only grew heavier, and his body shook even more violently.

The young man did not hesitate. He swiftly took a small jade bottle from his robes and poured out a pill the size of a soybean, its surface a gentle jade-green.

The instant the pill appeared, it released a crisp, elegant fragrance of herbs and vegetation, utterly out of place amid the stale air of the chamber.

Carefully, he pried open his master's cracked lips and placed the pill into his mouth.

The pill melted the moment it entered.

Within a few breaths, Mad Old Man's violently trembling 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 cloudiness 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, some clarity had returned to his mind.

He raised a hand and brushed aside the most troublesome strands of messy hair hanging over his forehead, revealing a withered face with increasingly steady eyes.

Turning to the young man beside him, his voice was still hoarse but now coherent. "Zhua Yun... you heard my conversation with that child just now, didn't you?"

Zhua Yun nodded, helped his master sit on a wooden stool nearby, then stood solemnly 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 was still open.

After a moment of silence, he slowly said in a voice filled with boundless regret, "That child..."

"Though I only examined him briefly, his bone age is no more than thirteen. Before his cultivation was crippled, his Soul Power foundation had already been firmly established at the level of a four-ringed Soul Elder..."

"With such talent, even among the records of our Body Sect throughout the generations, he would be as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn—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 sank, heavy with helplessness. "What a pity... fate can be so cruel! This... this may be the greatest and most irreparable loss our Body Sect has suffered in recent years!"

Deep regret also appeared on Zhua Yun's face.

He continued, "Yes, Master. His Martial Soul was shattered and his foundation ruined. Yet Heaven showed him mercy—he possesses Twin Martial Souls, so there is still a sliver of hope."

"But of all things... his crippled first Martial Soul was actually his heart!" His brows drew tightly together as he spoke.

"This is simply too... too bizarre. The heart is the nexus of a person's vitality. Having it as a Martial Soul is already rare and extraordinarily dangerous."

"A shattered Martial Soul is no different from having one's vitality shaken. Even if he can cultivate the second Martial Soul instead, his body..."

"Will inevitably suffer extremely severe, perhaps permanent, aftereffects. His path of cultivation in the future will likely be... fraught with hardship."

"Indeed." The old man nodded slowly.

"Originally, if one's first Martial Soul was crippled, as long as it was handled properly, one could rely on the second Martial Soul to cultivate anew. Though the beginning would be difficult, it would not necessarily mean no future accomplishments."

"But his first Martial Soul happened to be his heart... The backlash from its shattering has fundamentally eroded and damaged his body, especially his heart meridians and blood vitality."

"His body is now like a palace whose most vital supporting pillar has been removed. Even if its exterior can barely remain standing, it is already crumbling within and could collapse completely at any moment."

"What a pity... truly, such a 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 that beneath his master's seemingly mad exterior lay profoundly vast knowledge.

He also knew even more deeply of the complicated yet inseparable feelings his master held for the sect.

Once the atmosphere of regret had settled somewhat, the old man abruptly changed the subject.

His gaze deepened. "Though I have lived in seclusion here for decades, nearly cut off from the world, it 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, organizing his thoughts. "The Clear Sky Sect, once the number one sect in the world, has now sealed off its mountain and closed its gates, concealing its strength and refusing worldly affairs. Outsiders can no longer gauge the depths of its foundations."

"The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect... sigh. 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 turned solemn. "And now, on the continent, the one with the greatest momentum and most imposing reputation is undoubtedly Shrek Academy."

"It has not only gathered the finest teachers and most talented students of this age, but is also rumored to have a Limit Douluo standing at the pinnacle of Spirit Masters overseeing it. Beneath that person, there are no small number of Super Douluo as well."

"It is like a towering tree, its roots sunk deep and its branches luxuriant, nearly covering half the Spirit Master world. In the future..."

"If our Body Sect wishes to reclaim its former glory, or even merely fight for greater room to survive, Shrek will be an obstacle we cannot avoid—and the strongest one at that!"

At this point, the old man's tone was full of worry and urgency. "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 been of great use... Sigh, where does our path ahead lie?"