Five-Day Countdown

Ran Qingmo could hardly be considered a good teacher.

Her method of instructing Xu Yuan was as lukewarm and unhurried as her own detached temperament.

Fortunately, her formidable strength still allowed her to provide clear, accessible guidance to Xu Yuan, who was just beginning his journey into cultivation.

From the most fundamental identification of acupoints and meridians to sensing the Origin Qi hidden within the world under her guidance, everything fell into place naturally.

It was precisely this process of sensing Origin Qi that made Xu Yuan understand the function of the Soul Intent.

The more refined and powerful a person's Soul Intent, the greater the volume of Origin Qi they could sense existing between heaven and earth.

Because of the presence of that pool of spiritual energy and the Spirit Locking Array, the Origin Qi within this cave dwelling had condensed into a near-liquid state in Ran Qingmo's perception, yet to Xu Yuan, he could only detect a few scattered, faint "Qi clusters."

The gap in their Soul Intent was suffocating.

Of course, this was also partly because Ran Qingmo's strength far exceeded his own.

Soul Intent could also be continuously refined and strengthened as one's cultivation level increased.

Meridians determined the speed at which a person could absorb and convert heaven and earth Origin Qi for their own use, while Soul Intent determined the amount of Origin Qi one could perceive.

The two complemented each other during cultivation.

If a person possessed an Innate Body with fully opened meridians but had a scattered and hazy Soul Intent, then no matter how fast their body could convert Origin Qi, they would only be able to absorb the few "Qi clusters" they could sense.

Conversely, the same held true for someone born with only a natural soul body.

As Ran Qingmo gradually imparted all the knowledge regarding cultivation in this world, Xu Yuan realized more and more the terrifying nature of the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art in his hands.

A cultivation technique capable of artificially creating an Innate Dao Body.

If this were leaked to the outside world, It would be no exaggeration to say that this technique could ignite a war.

He did not know how many times he had opened his eyes on the jade bed, but what greeted Xu Yuan's gaze was still the dim stone ceiling of the cave.

He rose and glanced sideways at the stone wall by the head of the bed.

There, A row of neat "Zheng" characters caught his eye.

Because he could not see the sky and could not distinguish day from night, Xu Yuan could only estimate the passage of time by recording the number of times he slept.

By the time he woke up this time, the stone wall at the head of the bed was already filled with six complete "Zheng" characters.

He had been alone in the cave with the black-clad girl for about a month.

Through these days of diligent study, the basic knowledge regarding cultivation in this world had essentially been covered.

Now, Xu Yuan had fully mastered the use of his Soul Intent to sense the Origin Qi between heaven and earth.

Furthermore, two weeks ago, Ran Qingmo had taught him the Lotus Sword Art, an inner sect technique of the Sword Sect, allowing Xu Yuan to experience the feeling of drawing Qi into his body.

Two weeks later, Xu Yuan was now fully capable of practicing on his own without Ran Qingmo's guidance.

As he thought this, Xu Yuan subconsciously glanced at her, sitting cross-legged in the corner.

Staring at her for two seconds, Xu Yuan chuckled, shook his head, and looked away.

Even though he had grown accustomed to her face without the black veil, that flawless countenance could still occasionally leave one stunned.

It was just a pity that although the two of them had shared these hardships in the cave for so long, the attitude of this "big block of ice" surnamed Ran had not changed much toward him.

Heh.

Stories in fairy tales were indeed all lies.

Casting these messy thoughts to the back of his mind, Xu Yuan calmed his heart and opened the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art once again.

The obscure terminology that had once left his head spinning now seemed suddenly clear, all of it understandable and coherent.

The entire content of the technique had long since been memorized by heart over the past month, yet Xu Yuan still read it every day, over and over again.

This concerned his life.

In matters of cultivation techniques, even a single character's difference could cost someone their life when circulating Origin Qi.

Don't ask—if you do, it's because of personal experience.

The circulation path of the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art was infinitely more complex than the Lotus Sword Art Ran Qingmo had given him. To avoid being caught off guard when he truly began to practice, Xu Yuan had started trying to guide the faint Origin Qi within his body along the meridian routes described in the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art a week ago.

At the start of this attempt, everything went smoothly; Xu Yuan's weak Origin Qi circulated methodically according to the technique's path.

Unfortunately, when he reached one-third of the way, his focus slipped for a moment, and the guided Origin Qi deviated by half a step from the description, causing him to immediately suffer a cultivation deviation.

The feeling of a cultivation deviation was not pleasant.

Because of that momentary lapse, all the Origin Qi in his body instantly spiraled out of control, rampaging through his fragile meridians.

If not for the fact that the Origin Qi Xu Yuan had accumulated was extremely weak, he could have imagined those rampaging currents shattering his meridians into dust.

Fortunately, Ran Qingmo, that great expert, was right there beside him, and she had immediately intervened to stabilize his violent Origin Qi before his meridians could be damaged.

Even though it was a false alarm, Xu Yuan realized the difficulty of practicing the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art.

One had to know that when he practiced a medium-difficulty technique like the Lotus Sword Art, he had succeeded on the first try without the slightest inclination toward deviation, yet with the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art, he had suffered a deviation before even completing a third of the cycle.

However, this setback did not make Xu Yuan feel frustrated; instead, it left him faintly excited.

Because he discovered that even if he suffered from cultivation deviation, this icy block of a woman named Ran Qingmo beside him could stabilize his condition before he was truly injured.

In other words, He could attempt it an infinite number of times until he was completely familiar with the circulation path of this technique!

Once the thought occurred to him, Xu Yuan acted upon it.

Ran Qingmo could tell that Xu Yuan was practicing some sort of difficult technique, but perhaps due to her personality, she did not ask too many questions.

She simply, silently, saved him time and time again as he fell into cultivation deviation.

After reading through the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art once more, Xu Yuan silently placed it on the jade bed and slowly rose to walk toward her in the corner.

Just then, Ran Qingmo's crisp voice reached him from the corner first.

It was very soft, yet clearly audible.

"The array outside is about to break."

"..."

An array?

Hearing Ran Qingmo's abrupt words, Xu Yuan's footsteps faltered slightly.

But in a flash, he realized what she meant by the array.

It seemed his initial speculation upon entering this cave dwelling was correct; there truly was an array capable of shielding it from external perception.

However, this array was about to break.

This news caused Xu Yuan's heart to sink.

He was not yet fully prepared to begin practicing the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art.

Under Ran Qingmo's repeated rescues, he could indeed now circulate his Origin Qi perfectly along the meridians required by the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art.

But that was while he was in a clear, conscious state.

If he wanted to execute it perfectly while on the verge of death, the difficulty would inevitably increase geometrically.

Collecting his thoughts, Xu Yuan said in a calm, low voice:

"I see. About how much time is left?"

Ran Qingmo closed her eyes to sense it for a moment, then said softly:

"About half a ten-day period."

Xu Yuan took a deep breath and whispered:

"Will they be able to find this cave?"

This cave was clearly located deep within the mountain, perhaps...

"Yes." Ran Qingmo's crisp voice shattered Xu Yuan's illusions directly.

"..."

This moment caused Xu Yuan's thoughts to become extremely chaotic.

A five-day countdown to death had now quietly begun.

He stood there in silence for a long time.

Amidst the stillness, She suddenly said softly:

"You do not need to worry."

Hearing this, he slowly regained his focus and looked toward her.

Her clear eyes were fixed on him with great earnestness:

"I will take you and escape."

Looking into her sincere eyes, Xu Yuan was silent for two seconds before offering her a faint smile.

It was slightly amused, but filled mostly with helplessness.

If he were to nod and agree to her suggestion, Xu Yuan could already foresee, Five days from now, the sight of this beautiful woman in black lying headless.

There were simply too many powerhouses in this world.

If Ji Qingyue could be killed, then Ran Qingmo could naturally be killed as well.

In the end, Xu Yuan did not answer Ran Qingmo's words and slowly sat down beside her.

Silence stretched for a long moment.

He suddenly asked in a low voice:

"Ms. Ran, can you force me into a near-death state?"

A flicker of confusion appeared in Ran Qingmo's eyes:

"What?"

Xu Yuan repeated softly:

"I said, can you force me into a near-death state?"