Injury to the Origin

Zhang Lexuan, seeing that she had been found out, could only smile awkwardly. "You're right, sir. I was at fault in this matter."

Ling Tianchen's expression immediately turned strange.

Being called "sir" by the senior sister—though it was a respectful form of address—still left him somewhat flattered when it came from her. For a moment, he did not know how to respond.

He gave a light cough, concealing his slight discomfort.

"Senior Sister, you jest. My medical skills are nothing special. I may not deserve such high praise from you. Let's discuss the specifics."

Zhang Lexuan nodded, took a deep breath, and began slowly.

"This concerns me personally. It began half a year ago, during a soul ring hunt in the Star Dou Forest..."

Ling Tianchen listened attentively, nodding from time to time as he did his best to play the role of a listener.

In truth, he had already guessed most of what Zhang Lexuan was about to say.

The situation was not complicated. Zhang Lexuan had broken through to Rank 80 and led eleven inner courtyard disciples deep into the Star Dou Forest to hunt for soul rings under Xuan Zi's escort.

The journey had been uneventful. The other students had all successfully acquired suitable soul rings, so Xuan Zi let down his guard, left them to their own devices, and happily went off to look for bird eggs to eat.

But the soul ring Zhang Lexuan needed required an exceptionally high cultivation level, so they had to continue deeper into the mixed zone.

This should not have been overly dangerous. Of the twelve of them, four were Soul Sages, while the rest were at least Soul Kings, with most being Soul Emperors. As long as they did not run into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, they should have been able to handle any emergency.

Yet the accident happened all the same. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Silvermoon Luanbird had appeared in the mixed zone. No one knew whether it had been driven out by the ferocious beasts of the core zone or had ended up there for some other reason.

In any case, they happened to encounter it.

The Silvermoon Luanbird absorbed the essence of moonlight and possessed incredible speed. It could also unleash Blood Moon's Eclipse, a terrifyingly powerful attack.

After a desperate battle, they finally slew the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast at the cost of eight companions' lives.

However, even after they sent out a distress signal, Xuan Zi did not arrive for a long time.

Zhang Lexuan and the others assumed that Xuan Zi had been delayed by something. Fearing that the hard-won Hundred-Thousand-Year soul ring would go to waste, Zhang Lexuan, the only one present who still had an empty soul ring slot, could only absorb that red soul ring through tears.

The outcome was predictable.

Absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year soul ring and soul bone beyond her rank allowed the violent energy to rage endlessly through her body. She had been carried back to the academy and spent a full half year bedridden before she could walk again.

But physical injuries were not the most fatal. What truly damaged her foundation was that, during both the killing of the Silvermoon Luanbird and the absorption of the soul ring beyond her rank, her origin had been injured.

Origin was the most fundamental core of both soul masters and soul beasts.

After Snow Empress failed to form her complementary yin-yang dual Soul Cores and injured her origin, she no longer even had the courage to face the seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. In the end, she could only rely on a Hundred-Thousand-Year snow lotus to take human form.

Dragon God Douluo Mu En had been severely injured in a battle against Du Bisi, though the injuries had not been fatal. Yet because he had rushed to absorb the Dragon Pill, he suffered a backlash that damaged his origin. He remained hunched over for the rest of his life, never again possessing the might of his prime.

Zhang Lexuan was the same.

She had reached Rank 69 at the age of twenty and had nearly swept through the Soul Master Tournament by herself, helping Shrek defend its title.

At just over twenty-three, she had broken through to Rank 80, completing the entire Soul Sage stage in less than four years.

Her talent truly lived up to her reputation as Shrek's once-in-a-century genius.

Yet after the incident in the Star Dou Forest, though she appeared incomparably glorious in the eyes of outsiders—with a Hundred-Thousand-Year eighth soul ring and a Hundred-Thousand-Year torso soul bone—the injury to her origin had firmly nailed her in place.

Could anyone believe that after absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year soul ring and soul bone at the age of twenty-three, she should have been at least Rank 82, and most likely Rank 83, yet was still only Rank 86 at thirty?

Excluding the time she had spent bedridden, it had taken her a full six years to advance a mere three or four ranks.

Compared to her meteoric progress during the Soul Sage stage, this was practically a cliff-like plunge.

Was this the cultivation speed a once-in-a-century genius ought to have?

Yet Zhang Lexuan only said that she had suffered some internal injuries and never mentioned that her origin had been damaged. Clearly, she was still holding something back.

"The residual energy from that Hundred-Thousand-Year soul ring remains in my torso, and I was unable to absorb it completely. This chaotic energy runs rampant through my meridians. Whenever I try to refine and absorb it, it hides inside my torso soul bone as though it has eyes, leaving me empty-handed every time. As a result, ever since I broke through to Soul Douluo, the speed of my Soul Power growth has been... rather ordinary."

She paused slightly and looked up at Ling Tianchen.

"Tianchen, you can manipulate life force, and this energy is essentially formed from the life force left behind after the Silvermoon Luanbird's death. I hope you can draw it out of my body. Consider this energy your reward. The Silvermoon Luanbird is also of the phoenix bloodline, so it should be greatly beneficial to you. What do you think?"

Ling Tianchen looked at her, feeling deeply helpless. Was her cultivation speed merely slowing down?

She was really downplaying the serious parts. Even now, she was still beating around the bush.

Then an idea occurred to him. Why not play hard to get and give his senior sister a proper squeeze?

With that thought, he stood up without saying a word and turned toward the door.

Zhang Lexuan hurriedly rose, grabbed his wrist, and half-pushed, half-invited him back to the sofa. Rare panic entered her voice.

"Come, come, sit down quickly. Tianchen, why are you leaving without saying a word? Could it be that the reward I promised is not enough? That can be discussed..."

Ling Tianchen went along with it and sat down. In fact, if she truly meant to stop him, he would not have been able to leave anyway.

"Your Soul Power growth is merely ordinary? I sincerely wished to treat Senior Sister, yet Senior Sister has deceived me like this. I'm truly disappointed."

Zhang Lexuan placed both hands, one atop the other, over one of Ling Tianchen's hands and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Tianchen is right. Actually, that residual energy is no longer limited to the meridians in my torso. Part of it has already slipped into the meridians of my hands. More than half of the circulation route for the Great Circulation has been damaged, so naturally, cultivating has become... twice the effort for half the result. Yes, twice the effort for half the result."

"Hahaha..."

Ling Tianchen turned his head aside and laughed loudly. He was laughing not only because Zhang Lexuan was still pretending that nothing was wrong, but also to conceal the slight panic he felt at having his hand enveloped by Zhang Lexuan's warm, soft hands.

"Why are you laughing, Tianchen?"

Zhang Lexuan's heart skipped a beat, though she knowingly asked the question anyway.

"I heard that Shrek's students are not only won over by Senior Sister's unrivaled strength, but also admire Senior Sister's strong character. It seems that is indeed true. But from what I see, Senior Sister, you have chosen the wrong person to show your strength to. Isn't putting on a brave face before a healer simply asking to suffer?"

"Tianchen truly has discerning eyes. Your rebuke is entirely correct!"

Zhang Lexuan leaned closer, putting on an admiring expression to ease the awkwardness of having her lie exposed.

"To be honest, the circulation of the meridians between my legs is not very smooth either. My current cultivation speed is probably... less than one-tenth of what it was before."

"One-tenth?"

Ling Tianchen turned his face slightly to the other side, coughed lightly, then put on a stern expression again.

"Don't try to fool me. Your Soul Power cannot improve at all now, can it? And I would wager that your origin has suffered some damage. Even if your current injuries can mostly recover in a year or two, your future cultivation speed will certainly be greatly reduced. I'm afraid even reaching Super Douluo will be difficult."

Of course, he was only trying to scare Zhang Lexuan. With her talent, even with an injured origin, reaching Super Douluo by slowly grinding away at it over time would not be a problem at all.