Tidying Up

On the Moon-Refining Continent, the spiritual power possessed within the meridians of those in the Pulse-Opening Realm and higher is known as Origin Essence. Those in the Body Refining stage can only absorb spiritual power to strengthen their physical forms; they cannot store it within their meridians to convert it into Origin Essence. No matter how formidable a physical body becomes, it faces only defeat and death when encountering a powerhouse who wields Origin Essence.

The greatest difference between possessing Origin Essence and lacking it lies in the potency of one's internal force. Regardless of how much raw strength a person has, their attacks against another can, at most, cause total physical destruction, with all injuries manifesting on the surface. Furthermore, no matter how great that strength may be, it can never leave the physical body.

However, once one possesses Origin Essence, their attacks can not only inflict external damage but also allow the essence to surge into the opponent's body, ravaging their internal organs. No matter how strong a physical body is, the internal organs can never reach the same level of durability; this is one of the greatest advantages those with Origin Essence hold over those without.

Another advantage is that Origin Essence can leave the body, unlike raw strength, which only takes effect upon physical contact. With Origin Essence, one can kill from a thousand miles away. Of course, these are abilities that only manifest once one's strength has reached a certain level.

Those who have just acquired Origin Essence cannot perform such feats. Even for someone like Cheng Erhu, who had only recently opened his pulses and possessed little essence, the role it played in combat was minimal. Yet, this slight edge was still a significant advantage against anyone below the Pulse-Opening Realm.

However, this advantage vanished completely against Chu Xiaotian, who not only possessed Origin Essence but also held a much denser reserve than he did. Throughout the fight, Cheng Erhu's Origin Essence was shattered almost the moment it appeared, and by the time he died, he hadn't even seen it put to any use.

Having killed Cheng Erhu with such ease, Chu Xiaotian could not help but feel a surge of excitement. This battle proved at least one thing: his strength was no longer weak—at the very least, not in a place like Greenwood Town.

Without sparing another glance at the motionless Cheng Erhu, Chu Xiaotian hurried toward Xia Xue, who still lay helpless on the ground. She barely had the strength to blink, and naturally, she had not seen the preceding fight. Yet, as Chu Xiaotian appeared in her sight, the helpless girl's eyes instantly shimmered with immense joy.

"Little Xue, are you alright?" He stooped down and scooped her up into his arms. Seeing her face, which looked peaceful and drowsy yet remained silent, Chu Xiaotian asked with a hint of worry. But Xia Xue had been struck by that Bone-Softening Powder; she could barely blink, let alone answer him.

Chu Xiaotian did not know what kind of poison she had been struck with. After asking several times and receiving no response—only seeing her remain in that drowsy state—he grew frantic. He quickly carried her back to the room, laid her on the bed, tucked her in, and then rushed out again like a whirlwind. He walked up to the stone-dead Cheng Erhu and began searching his body with both hands.

This was not out of any peculiar hobby; he was searching for an antidote. To his great disappointment, he found nothing of the sort on Cheng Erhu.

With nothing on Cheng Erhu, he turned his gaze to Cheng Dahu. Cheng Dahu had been struck by Chu Xiaotian's punch, suffering broken ribs and the intrusion of cold Corpse Poison; he had died during the fight, and his body was already beginning to stiffen. Chu Xiaotian rummaged through his clothes and finally, to his relief, pulled out a small cloth bag. It was only the size of a palm, yet its weight was far greater than its appearance suggested.

Seeing this, a smile immediately appeared on Chu Xiaotian's face. He knew this was a Qiankun Bag, an item used for storage, similar to the mustard-seed bags from the legends of the world he once lived in. When Xia Xue and Ba Dao had exchanged medicinal pills earlier, they had used such a bag. Don't let its palm-sized appearance fool you; it could hold as much as a travel bag from his previous world. And this was merely the lowest grade; Ba Dao had once said there were high-grade ones capable of holding an entire mountain. Though it sounded unbelievable, Chu Xiaotian did not doubt the truth of it for a second.

With such a small volume and such high capacity, the convenience of the Qiankun Bag made it an essential item for home and travel. In fact, almost every cultivator on the Moon-Refining Continent possessed one. Most, of course, were of the lowest grade; as for the high-grade ones, they were far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

After retrieving the Qiankun Bag from Cheng Dahu, Chu Xiaotian easily emptied its contents. As for the bag itself, he accepted it without the slightest bit of politeness.

There was a yellow paper packet, a few changes of clothes, three small white porcelain bottles, and fifteen white stones the size of a thumb. Chu Xiaotian left the yellow packet alone; he had seen such a paper in Cheng Dahu's hand earlier and knew the contents were the poison that had incapacitated Xia Xue.

"This is good stuff. Used correctly, even someone in the Sea-Breaking Realm would have a hard time. Hmm, can't let it go to waste," Chu Xiaotian muttered to himself, tucking the yellow packet into his own Qiankun Bag. He then collected the fifteen white stones.

These small stones were called Origin Stones, the universal currency of the Moon-Refining Continent, much like the US dollar on Earth. The currency of the continent consisted of Origin Stones and Spirit Stones. Origin Stones were the least valuable, roughly equivalent to a single dollar. Spirit Stones were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade. The higher the grade, the more precious they were, with an exchange rate of one to one hundred—one hundred Origin Stones for one low-grade Spirit Stone, and one hundred low-grade Spirit Stones for one mid-grade.

Origin Stones had no use other than as currency. Spirit Stones were different; they contained a vast amount of heaven and earth spiritual power, and the higher the grade, the more they contained. Absorbing the power from a Spirit Stone was much faster than absorbing it from the world at large. Thus, they were every cultivator's favorite, and no one ever complained about having too many. In this regard, it was just like the world Chu Xiaotian came from—no one ever complained about having too much money. Since Cheng Yuhu was merely in the Body Refining stage, he naturally had no Spirit Stones on him, but Chu Xiaotian was not discouraged by finding only a dozen Origin Stones. After all, his goal was not wealth, but an antidote.

He turned his gaze to the three white porcelain bottles, opening them with high hopes, only to find them all empty. He felt the urge to curse. He tossed the bottles aside and shook out all the clothes, but found nothing. Finally, he could only spit on the long-dead Cheng Dahu and mutter a curse under his breath. The guy was truly despicable; he hadn't even left an antidote, clearly harboring ill intent.

Chu Xiaotian was incredibly frustrated at not finding the antidote, but at this point, there was nothing to be done. He tucked away the Qiankun Bag and returned to the room to look after Xia Xue. Aside from her eyes, she had no strength to move, making communication nearly impossible, and Chu Xiaotian had no idea if she was truly alright. After a long moment of anxiety, he came up with a plan: he would ask questions, and she would answer—one blink for yes, two for no.

Surprisingly, the method proved quite useful. After questioning her for a while, Chu Xiaotian finally confirmed that Xia Xue was fine; she was simply devoid of strength, to the point where she couldn't even muster the energy to speak. With that, Chu Xiaotian finally set his heart at ease.

"Alright, Little Xue, since you're fine, just get some sleep. You'll be better when you wake up. As for me, I'm going to clear out the trash outside so we don't dirty our home." Seeing that she was safe, Chu Xiaotian breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering the two corpses outside, he decided to step out and bury them.

Upon hearing that Chu Xiaotian was leaving, Xia Xue's expression shifted, a flicker of worry crossing her eyes. She didn't have the strength to move a finger; if she encountered another person like Cheng Dahu, she would be finished.

"Don't be afraid, Little Xue. I won't go far. I'm just going to the entrance of the valley to dump these two guys away from where we live. I'll be right back, don't worry," Chu Xiaotian said, seeing the worry in her eyes and knowing exactly why. He smiled gently and whispered into her ear. Her expression softened, and she struggled to pull the corners of her mouth into a faint, tender smile.

Watching her languid state, Chu Xiaotian couldn't help but kiss her on the cheek. He let out a mischievous laugh at her blushing, indignant expression before heading out to deal with the bodies. He finished the task quickly; he had indeed not gone far, merely digging a pit in a dense forest near the valley entrance to bury them before rushing back. He couldn't possibly feel at ease leaving Xia Xue in her current state alone in the valley.

It must be said that the Bone-Softening Powder Cheng Dahu and his brother used was truly tyrannical; it took Xia Xue a full day and night to recover. During that time, Chu Xiaotian cared for her as meticulously as she had cared for him—perhaps even more so, stopping just short of bathing her himself.

In his own words, this was the legendary "a drop of water in need shall be repaid with a fountain." Of course, he desperately wanted to do more, but under Xia Xue's gaze, that thought remained nothing more than a thought.