Wanting to stay alive

Black mist drifted, gathering up all the supreme-grade spirit stones on the table and moving Chi Yu to the other side.

Then Xie Xiyi lifted the lamp, took a Nascent Soul body from it, and continued refining it.

Chi Yu wasted no time either. He hurried into a meditative state and began cultivating.

Just as Xie Xiyi had said, spiritual energy flowed through him extremely quickly. Vast quantities poured in: the first level of Qi Refining, the peak of the first level, Qi Refining second layer, Qi Refining third layer, the peak of Qi Refining third layer!

In a single afternoon, he had actually jumped three layers!

But he still had a mortal body, and soon grew hungry.

When he woke, Xie Xiyi was absent. The talisman rings were still fastened around his waist and neck, leaving him unable to move. Without bones, he could not even raise his hands.

His stomach growled with hunger. As he wondered what to do, he suddenly remembered Xie Xiyi saying that this curse seal would let him squeeze through tiny holes. He tried concentrating, hoping to squeeze out of the talisman rings.

But these things had come from Xie Xiyi, after all, and were no ordinary magical artifacts. As he squeezed himself thinner, the talisman ring shrank with him, clamping tightly around his waist.

Unable to break free, Chi Yu could only put aside his distracting thoughts and resume meditating on an empty stomach.

He struggled through a little more cultivation, then heard a faint sound. He immediately broke out of meditation and opened his eyes. Sure enough, Xie Xiyi had returned.

Xie Xiyi carried several cultivators in his hands and casually tossed them onto the ground.

Chi Yu looked down at them. "Miserable" hardly began to describe their condition. Being drenched in blood was bad enough, but they were also missing arms or legs. He could not discern their cultivation, but judging by Xie Xiyi's tastes, it probably was not low-at least Golden Core.

Chi Yu had seen plenty of corpses since transmigrating into the book.

Cultivators were a dime a dozen in the cultivation world, and competition was fierce. Conflicts broke out frequently. You killed me today; I slaughtered your entire sect tomorrow. It was perfectly normal, so cultivators' corpses could occasionally be found lying in roadside woods. Some older ones had already been gnawed by wild beasts, while fresher ones could still be seen intact.

At first, Chi Yu had been afraid, but familiarity had dulled that fear. This counted as his first time seeing cultivators who were still alive.

What made people human was their emotions, their sympathy, their capacity for empathy, and their sense of shared humanity.

Thus, seeing these injured cultivators, Chi Yu could not help having mixed feelings, even though he knew they had nothing to do with him.

Chi Yu cleared his throat and said to Xie Xiyi, "Boss, I'm hungry. Could you undo these things for me?"

Xie Xiyi said flatly, "You're bold, daring to order me around."

"Uh," Chi Yu said. Just as he was considering how to rephrase his request, the talisman rings restraining him came undone.

Without their support, Chi Yu immediately slid limply to the ground.

Contemplating.jpg

Being boneless would not do. He could not even toss a wok to cook.

Chi Yu asked, "Boss, do you have any spells that can grow bones for me? It's hard to work like this."

Xie Xiyi ignored him, taking a spirit stone and going off to do his own work.

Left with no choice, Chi Yu could only use Rejuvenation again.

His age jumped to fourteen, and his bones slowly returned.

Once all his bones had grown back, Chi Yu lit the stove and started cooking.

One good thing about the cultivation world was that seasonings were readily available and extremely cheap. He had received plenty for free when he bought his pot.

Perhaps because he had returned to his growing-boy years, his hunger was even more intense. He made several extra dishes and steamed a whole large pot of spirit rice.

He did not even bother with a bowl. Once the dishes were ready, he ate straight from the rice pot, holding it in his arms.

After finishing his meal and cleaning up the utensils, he sat down to cultivate, only for his cultivation speed to slow again.

Sure enough, he could not have it both ways.

That night, when the bright moon rose above the peaks, Chi Yu heard angry cries and curses coming from inside the cave while he was outside.

Needless to say, they came from those cultivators.

Chi Yu poked his head inside for a look. Xie Xiyi was experimenting with curse seals on two of the cultivators.

Seeing this, Xie Xiyi had actually gone easy on him. One cultivator had grown a fish's tail from his severed leg.

The other cultivator had rotted into a puddle of flesh, yet remained conscious and was cursing Xie Xiyi.

What a transformation from a noble, upright immortal sect's senior disciple into a twisted, deranged scientist.

Chi Yu's pupils trembled. Could he really kill Xie Xiyi?

Was he going to be stuck in this cultivation world forever?

Chi Yu pulled back and gazed at the bright moon above, his thoughts churning. Finally, he flexed his fingers, took a chemistry test paper from his bundle, and got writing!

Author's note:

Chi Yu: If I die again, I'll turn into a fertilized egg.jpg

Xie Xiyi: I'm not some kind of devil. Confiscating dangerous items.jpg

Chapter 8: Wanting to stay alive

After staying there for two days, Chi Yu finally saw Xie Xiyi pull Ling Hezhou out of the lamp.

Ling Hezhou was shocked to see Chi Yu. "Chi Yu, you're alive?! I thought you were dead. Thank goodness!"

Chi Yu said, "Ah..."

Chi Yu turned to look at Xie Xiyi, who watched their exchange with interest without interrupting.

Chi Yu had always known that Xie Xiyi was a nasty person who enjoyed toying with others and harbored a subtle, pure malice toward everything good and beautiful.

It was deeply uncomfortable, but Chi Yu showed none of it on his face. As he spoke with Ling Hezhou, he considered how to get Xie Xiyi to hand him over.

His conclusion was... there was no way.

His cultivation was low, and he had nothing worth offering Xie Xiyi in exchange.

Besides, Xie Xiyi had already said that this was his prey.

Snatching food from a beast's jaws was simply impossible unless one was stronger than the beast.

Constantly acting weak was beginning to frustrate Chi Yu, too. But if he showed any toughness, Xie Xiyi would immediately teach him a bloody lesson.

An amazing villain who could cure any defiance (not).

Chi Yu was not afraid of pain, nor was he all that afraid of death. At this stage, what frightened him was underperforming on the college entrance exam and ending up at a second-tier university or vocational college. Still, if he could avoid suffering, he would. Suffering did not taste good.

Chi Yu was troubled. As he kept thinking, his younger age made his emotions show more readily, leaving him unable to control his expression. That touch of misery looked particularly pitiful on his delicate, handsome face.

Ling Hezhou noticed his expression, too, and belatedly remembered their current circumstances. A similarly miserable look appeared on his face.

But he was somewhat calmer than the others. He told Xie Xiyi, "Kill me or torture me as you please, but Chi Yu is only at Qi Refining. Bullying the weak is no gentleman's conduct. Let him go."

He tried to look composed, but his cheeks had flushed red, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Xie Xiyi said with a smile, "Let him go? Ask him what his position is now."

Chi Yu said, "I'm on his side now."

Ling Hezhou said, "Huh??"

Chi Yu sighed. "Sorry, I can't save you."

Ling Hezhou had more or less guessed as much. A mortal trying to survive in a fiend's hands could only swallow his pride and submit.

Ling Hezhou breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, as long as you're all right. It would've been awful if you'd lost your life because of me."

Xie Xiyi watched from the side. The dark side of human nature had not emerged as he had expected, nor was there any struggling or begging. The sight left him utterly uninterested.

Mist enveloped Ling Hezhou and stuffed him into the Soul Pearl, which Xie Xiyi casually tossed to Chi Yu. "Clean the cave," he instructed flatly.

Chi Yu's eyes widened. "You're giving Ling Hezhou to me?" he asked in disbelief.

Xie Xiyi said, "Shut up."

"..." Chi Yu said, "Sure thing!"

A smile appeared on his face. He carefully threaded the Soul-Guarding Pearl onto an earring again and put it on his ear.

Then he eagerly grabbed a basin, went outside the formation to fetch mountain spring water, and brought it back to wash the cave floor.

Blood and tissue clung to the floor. A simple cleansing spell could have removed it all, but Xie Xiyi had never cleaned it, and Chi Yu did not know that spell.

Chi Yu held his nose as he cleaned. Xie Xiyi stood nearby for a while, then left without a sound.

After he left, Ling Hezhou chattered incredulously in Chi Yu's ear. "He actually let me go?"

Chi Yu laughed and said lightly, "Count your blessings. I asked him for you several times, and he always refused. Just now, I thought you were done for. Do you know how the souls of the Nascent Soul cultivators before you were used?"

Ling Hezhou swallowed. "How?"

Chi Yu said, "It looks like he refined them into magical artifacts, then refined them into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner...? I think that's what it's called. He refined them twice."

Ling Hezhou pondered this. "I know that one. It's a magical artifact used by ghost cultivators. Very difficult to deal with."

Chi Yu said solemnly, "Don't worry. I'll send you back to the Tianyan Sect. I promised you."

Ling Hezhou was deeply moved. "...You don't have to go that far. You're only a mortal... Huh, wait, you're at Qi Refining third layer??? How are you cultivating so fast?"

His tone immediately grew serious. "Did you use the pills and spirit wine in my Sumeru Ring? You can't use too much of those. I did, and now they barely work anymore. My foundation is extremely weak, too."

Ling Hezhou was not particularly talented, and his father doted on him, giving him whatever he wanted. Over time, he had grown lax in his cultivation. In truth, he had reached Golden Core by taking pills.

Taking pills would not have mattered in itself. He was already the young sect master, appointed as the next sect master of the Tianyan Sect. With power awaiting him, his cultivation had become less important.

Because of this, Ling Hezhou had slacked off even more.

But after his father was gravely injured and entered seclusion, the sect's situation had deteriorated. Goaded by someone, he had left the mountain early to gain experience.

Now that disaster had struck, he could not help hating his former laziness and complacency.

Chi Yu denied it. "I haven't been taking pills. I do know about pill toxins and all that."

Chi Yu had only drunk the spirit wine Ling Hezhou brought during the initial stage. The wine was mild, making it just right for opening his qi apertures.