Five days later, in the Ancestral Land.
Scorching sunlight filtered languidly through a dense forest, spilling through gaps between the branches in countless golden shafts, dust drifting within them.
Daoist Chu dug up a lush green medicinal herb with his hoe and, without even washing it, put it straight into his mouth and chewed. For some reason, he had lost more than twenty pounds over these five days. His face was sallow, his lips deathly pale, and he looked utterly listless.
Not far away, Ren Ye cast him a curious look and asked softly, "You fat bastard, why do you keep eating grass? Are you really going to turn into a goat and become one of my subjects?"
"This is castor grass. It reduces pain and numbs the flesh," Daoist Chu replied weakly.
"...Why do you need to eat that?"
"By the fucking boundless Heavenly Venerable, if you told over three thousand jokes in five days, you'd need castor grass too." Daoist Chu instinctively touched his lips. "I don't know why, but whenever I speak, my mouth feels dry... and it stings. I can only eat this so I stop feeling my lips. Little Bad King, tell me, this won't leave permanent damage, will it?"
"It's all in your head. Take out the White Jade Staff, and I'll cure you with a couple of whacks." Ren Ye's complexion was rosy, his vitality extraordinarily vigorous. Even the aura he unconsciously exuded made the surrounding plants look more vibrant.
He had only awakened that morning. All his injuries had healed, the Star Core in his abdomen surged with power, and his condition had reached an unprecedented peak. The price was that the green plants and vines wrapped around his body had all crumbled into dust the instant he sat up.
Ren Ye