Preserve Ashes and Await Rekindling

Plundering would eventually come to an end.

As dawn broke in the east, the cultivators from the many sects who had run wild all night rose in twos and threes and left the city, leaving nothing behind but a field of wreckage.

Qiu Yu opened his eyes and saw light streaming into the hollowed-out great hall.

"Looks like you no longer want to die?"

Ye Xiu's voice came from behind him. Qiu Yu's body instinctively tensed, but then, with a soft pfft, flames ignited all around him on their own.

"This is..."

The abundant spiritual power made Qiu Yu feel stronger than ever before. Though the injuries inside his body remained, he could clearly feel that his strength was no longer something that could be mentioned in the same breath as before.

"Using your own body and lifespan as sacrificial offerings to seize greater spiritual power is not a bad method. Unfortunately, the efficiency is still far too low. That so-called resolve to die was only half a bucket sloshing about."

Ye Xiu rose to his feet and looked down at the bewildered Qiu Yu.

"I shattered your dantian. The spiritual power that lost control gathered back on its own, but the lifespan you burned away is not something you can easily recover."

"If you still want to live, you'd best seek a breakthrough within ten years."

"But even without that pressure, I doubt you would stop here."

Watching the phantom image of a Phoenix flicker in and out amid the flames around Qiu Yu's body, Ye Xiu nodded in satisfaction.

This had been an experiment.

Long ago, Ye Xiu had learned that the human race in this world was not entirely pure.

Although the Human Ancestor had led the previous generation of humans through briars and ragged clothes, relying