Ten years passed in a blur.
Atop a peak third-tier spiritual vein, Jiang Ding opened his eyes.
Beside him, the thousand-meter-tall Solar Divine Tree stopped drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the Great Sun as he did. Its dazzling light withdrew within.
The turbulent sea of clouds for a hundred miles around gradually settled.
"My injuries have begun to heal..."
Jiang Ding examined himself inwardly.
His sea of consciousness, once shattered and riddled with spiderweb cracks, had stabilized somewhat. The cracks remained but had narrowed, and the larger gaps were mostly mended. His soul was whole enough that simple arithmetic no longer went awry.
The same was true of his meridians. They could now carry his magic power without worsening his injuries.
His charred skin had grown back. It was still pale, translucent in places, with blood faintly visible flowing beneath it, but at least it had grown back.
"I've recovered a fraction of my fighting strength."
"If danger comes, I can unleash my full strength. My injuries will worsen, but the safety of the world within is more secure."
Jiang Ding nodded slightly and calculated how long a full recovery would take. "About thirty more years before I'm completely healed, with no lasting effects."
"My cultivation speed will suffer a little in the meantime, but not much."
Such were the terrible consequences of burning his essence blood, his soul, and his flesh.
And that was after Jiang Ding had used vast quantities of fourth- and fifth-tier healing pills and medicines sent over by the Immortal Sect. Without them, merely surviving would have been a stroke of immense luck. Continuing along his Dao Path would have been out of the question.
Jiang Ding looked up at the sky.
Over the past ten years,