The Immortal Card Divine Artifact?

At that thought...

Wang Yan understood what had happened, yet at the same time, he had no idea what had happened.

"Tch!" Staring at the little red metal plate on his abdomen, Wang Yan muttered, somewhat tongue-tied, "What's going on? Didn't Wang Ziling kill me? What is this thing?"

Still, seeing that metal-like object embedded in his lower abdomen made Wang Yan feel terribly uncomfortable.

With that thought, Wang Yan reached down and tried to pry off the triangular metal plate. But it seemed to have grown into his abdomen, leaving not even the slightest gap. All he managed to do was make his belly ache faintly!

Suddenly!

"Right! My magical power!" Wang Yan remembered that his dantian had been destroyed. That's what matters most! He hurriedly tried to circulate the magical power within his body...

But! Just as Wang Yan had feared.

The moment he tried to circulate his magical power, he found his abdomen utterly empty. There wasn't a trace of magical power-even his dantian was gone.

"It's over! My magical power! My dantian...!" Upon discovering this, Wang Yan seemed to lose every ounce of strength. He collapsed straight to the ground, muttering in utter despair, though he had no idea why he was still alive.

Perhaps it had something to do with the triangular metal plate on his abdomen. But his dantian had been destroyed, and clearly, he could no longer cultivate. For a cultivator, what a crushing blow that was.

No wonder Wang Yan was so disheartened...

"Heavens! You might as well have let me die!" Wang Yan couldn't help roaring in fury, his heart-rending cry reverberating across the entire hilltop.

Just as Wang Yan was howling in anguish.

Suddenly.

"Hey, hey! What's all that racket? Saving you nearly worked these old bones to death, brat, and now look! I haven't got a scrap of magical power left!" An exceedingly cute voice, speaking with the air of an old-timer, rang out inside Wang Yan's mind.

"Who's there?" Startled by the voice, Wang Yan abruptly snapped out of his daze and shouted, looking nervously around as though searching for whoever had spoken.

But all around him was quiet, without a single figure in sight.

And at that moment.

"Stop looking. I'm the one who saved your life, and you haven't even thanked me! Are cultivators these days all so ill-mannered?" the voice continued. It sounded utterly adorable, yet its affected elder's tone made it rather amusing to hear.

However.

Wang Yan couldn't laugh.

"Why should I thank you? Why did you save me? Did I ask you to save me?" Wang Yan snapped angrily, thoroughly displeased and showing not a shred of courtesy.

"Hah? You little brat, how dare you speak to your elder like that! Watch out, or I'll wipe you out!" At his words, the exceedingly cute voice cursed angrily, as though ready to smash an already cracked pot...

"Hmph... then wipe me out... my dantian's ruined anyway! I'm a cripple!" Wang Yan snorted and cursed without the slightest fear, ready to smash his own cracked pot.

With that, he plopped down on the ground. Despite his words, he had already searched all around and found no sign of the speaker. More importantly, he couldn't find a trace of this cultivator anywhere, which naturally bewildered him. He had a faint feeling that the voice was sounding inside his mind.

"Who said you can't cultivate with a ruined dantian?" the voice declared in a low tone, making an astonishing claim with astonishing confidence. After a pause, she chattered on, "You already had one foot through the gates of the underworld, brat, and I still dragged you back out. With me here... you..."

"You mean I can cultivate without a dantian?" Before the voice could finish, Wang Yan cried out in stunned disbelief, his heart jolting. He seemed to have heard a sliver of hope, and naturally...

"Of course! Who do you think I am? Even you...!" the voice replied smugly, rather like a melon seller praising her own melons. Suddenly, she paused, as though remembering something, then snapped, "Right! Didn't you want to die, brat? Why bother cultivating? Go die, then! Who do you think I am? Am I supposed to beg you?!" She sounded as though she was sulking at Wang Yan...

"Senior, Senior! I was wrong! I failed to appreciate your kindness! I was anxious and gave in to despair for a moment. My attitude was poor, too. Please forgive me, Senior!" Before the voice finished, a glimmer of hope rose in Wang Yan's heart, and he immediately spoke with the utmost respect.

Having hope was better than being so utterly hopeless, wasn't it? Whatever the case, someone who could save him from such grave injuries certainly wasn't an ordinary person. Though she didn't sound the part, she was the only straw he could clutch to save himself, and naturally, he couldn't throw it away. He was only in his teens, with far too many things still waiting for him to do...

"Mm! At least you know what's good for you, brat!" The voice sounded quite pleased and gratified, answering in her old-timer's tone. After a pause, she changed tack and said gravely, "But listen carefully, brat. The greatest taboos in cultivating immortal arts are impatience, restlessness, and giving up on yourself. Never give up, no matter what. A cultivator must have the courage to plunge into death's jaws and emerge alive, even in a place of certain death. Only then are they worthy of being called a cultivator!" Her words were firm as iron, hardly seeming to belong to such a cute voice, and they were truly stirring to hear.

"Yes! Your admonition is right, Senior! I was at fault!" Wang Yan's heart steadied at her words, and he answered respectfully, sincerely convinced. He now seemed truly won over by the voice.

"Very good. You finally show a little promise, brat. If not for you... ah..." the voice answered with satisfaction. She seemed about to say more, but immediately changed the subject. "All right! Your life is no longer in any danger! Saving you used up almost all my spiritual energy... so let me...!"

"Senior! Are you inside my body right now?" Before the voice finished, Wang Yan interrupted her, asking gravely. He stroked the red metal plate on his abdomen and continued in a low voice, "And did you put this here?"

"Uh... haha!" At his question, the voice sounded somewhat embarrassed and gave a dry chuckle. After a pause, she made no attempt to deny it, hurriedly saying, "That's right. If I hadn't done that, your little life would have been lost!"

"Oh! I'm not blaming you, Senior. You saved me like this-I can't thank you enough!" Wang Yan said respectfully. Then he paused before hurriedly continuing, "But... you said just now that I could cultivate without a dantian. What did you mean? I've heard that a cultivator's dantian is the vessel that takes in and gathers the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Without that vessel, how am I supposed to cultivate?"

"Well, you'll find out in time...!" the voice hurriedly replied, sounding rather evasive and deliberately mysterious...

"Could it be... that you're deceiving me, Senior?" Wang Yan asked quickly, as though he had realized something.

"Ahem, ahem! Nonsense! Why would I deceive a child like you?" The voice coughed twice in succession, then replied angrily. After a pause, she hurriedly added, "Hey! You little brat! Do you know who I am?"

"Oh! I haven't asked what I should call you yet, Senior!" Wang Yan asked mildly, though inwardly he wondered, Could she have some other motive?

"Listen carefully... you aren't qualified to know my true title. Just call me Card Fairy!" the voice said with an air of mystery.

"Card Fairy? You're a woman?" Li Xiaoya froze at her words and asked in surprise. This Card Fairy kept calling herself an elder, so he had assumed she was a man.

"Ahem, ahem. Just call me Card Fairy, anyway...!" Card Fairy said with a few light coughs, sounding somewhat wounded. After a pause, she hurriedly changed the subject. "Listen carefully. You now possess my super-powerful, thunderous, invincible Immortal Card, a peerless divine artifact! From now on, cultivating and attaining the Dao will be a breeze... so..."

"A super-powerful, thunderous, invincible Immortal Card, a peerless divine artifact?" Wang Yan was momentarily stunned by that grandiose title. The name alone told him it was no ordinary object, and he hurriedly asked in confusion, "When did I get your super Immortal Card divine artifact?"