Although circulating qi in my dantian brought a tearing pain, it was bearable.
That pain was only physical.
The loss of cultivation was what hurt me most.
I could feel that my cultivation had dropped from the early Strength Soul Realm to somewhere between the middle and late stages of the Central Pivot Realm-not even its peak.
It was only a little more than one stage, but I had fallen an entire major realm.
From the Strength Soul Realm, I had slipped back to the middle-to-late Central Pivot Realm.
Master had mentioned before that a vast gulf lay between the Central Pivot Realm and the Strength Soul Realm.
Many people might never cross that gulf in their entire lives.
Yet now, I had fallen straight from the Strength Soul Realm back to the peak of the Central Pivot Realm. It felt awful.
I had always wanted to grow stronger, to fulfill the destiny I bore as soon as possible.
Even a drop in cultivation like this could leave me unable to shake my inner demons.
That red-robed ghost woman on the mountain behind us had to die.
Leaning against the headboard, I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.
But fuck, how was I supposed to stay calm after something like this?
The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. If I hadn't been so weak, I would have led Master straight up the mountain right then and hacked that red-robed vicious ghost to pieces.
With Master's current cultivation and abilities, killing a red-robed ghost wouldn't pose much of a problem for him.
As those thoughts ran through my mind, Master was already calling to Mao Jing.
"Xiao Mao, Xiao Mao..."
Mao Jing was in much the same state as me and groggily woke up.
Once