A few tens of thousands of kilometres away from the Ancient Sect Ruins, there was a barren mountain with such thin World Energy aura that there was hardly any vegetation, making it look extremely desolate.
In such a place, cultivators could rarely be found because no herbs, treasures, or anything of value could be found here, making it unattractive to explore.
The mountain wasn’t big and only stretched a dozen kilometres or so, similar to the old Dragon Cave Mountain, but it was far worse in terms of scenery and aura.
A streak of light swiftly approached from a distance, and as it passed through this barren mountain, it suddenly came to a halt before flying down and rushing into a natural cave halfway up the cliff.
When the light dispersed, three figures appeared.
Everyone looked quite dishevelled, with blood staining all of their clothes as if they had just experienced a very difficult battle and barely escaped with their lives.
These three were Yang Kai, Qian Tong, and Fei Zhi Tu.
A few tens of thousands of kilometres was a safe enough distance. It wasn’t that Yang Kai didn’t want to travel further; it was just that Fei Zhi Tu’s state wasn’t optimistic now. He didn’t dare delay any longer, and this barren mountain was a decent spot to hide and rest.
After rushing into the cave, Yang Kai immediately put Fei Zhi Tu down, allowing him to lean against the cave wall before placing his fingers on his wrist and using his Saint Qi to examine his injuries.
Fei Zhi Tu’s injuries were by far the most serious among the trio, with his aura extremely weak and chaotic, as if he was a lamp running out of oil.
After a moment, Yang Kai frowned, his face gloomy.
“Yang Kai, Old Fei…” Qian Tong was as anxious as an ant on a hot wok, not even caring to deal with his own injuries as he asked Yang Kai nervously.
“His situation isn’t good,” Yang Kai replied in a deep voice, immediately raising his eyes to stare into Fei Zhi Tu’s as he asked, “City Lord Fei, what kind of Secret Technique did you use to cause such harm?”
“Haha…” Fei Zhi Tu gave a miserable laugh, his face as pale as paper as he slowly shook his head, “It wasn’t a Secret Technique, this old master hasn’t cultivated such a Heaven-defying Secret Technique.”
“If it wasn’t a Secret Technique, could it be…” Qian Tong’s expression changed when he heard this, as if he suddenly remembered something.
“En, when they captured us, this old master took out that Yuan Burst Pill and hid it under his tongue while they weren’t paying attention!”
“A Yuan Burst Pill?” Yang Kai’s expression changed dramatically. As an Alchemist, he had naturally heard about this pill as well as the terrible side-effects it caused. Although a cultivator’s strength would be greatly increased for a short time after taking it, the backlash would cause unimaginable damage to a cultivator once the medicinal efficacies passed.
This pill granted a burst of strength by overdrawing a cultivator’s vitality!
This kind of pill was rarely refined by Alchemists and was even more rarely used because one needed to be prepared to perish after taking it!
It was no wonder Fei Zhi Tu had been able to instantly break through the seals placed on him and restore his strength, it turns out he had hidden such a pill in his mouth in advance.
Yang Kai instantly understood what had transpired.
While the trio spoke, the medicinal efficacies of the Yuan Burst Pill seemed to have completely disappeared and the true backlash began to appear.
Fei Zhi Tu’s black hair turned white at a speed visible to the naked eye and even his skin began to shrivel and dry up, leaving many deep wrinkles on his face.
In mere breaths, it seemed he had aged hundreds of years.
Fei Zhi Tu originally looked like he was only in his early forties, the prime of his life, but now he had the appearance of an old man who was approaching his death.
Even his cultivation gradually began to drop, from Third-Order Origin Returning Realm to Second-Order, then First-Order before teetering on the brink of dropping to the Saint King Realm.
“Old Fei…” Qian Tong was heartbroken. The friendship between him and Fei Zhi Tu was hundreds of years old, so he knew better than anyone where that Yuan Burst Pill had come from.
When the two of them were young, they had gone out together for life experience and had found a single Yuan Burst Pill in some ancient ruins. Qian Tong had scoffed at it but Fei Zhi Tu decided to keep it. Unexpectedly, Fei Zhi Tu had found an opportunity to use it after close to three hundred years.
For a moment, Qian Tong felt deep pain and guilt wrack him.
If it was he who had been the one to keep that Yuan Burst Pill, then he would be the one suffering from its backlash today rather than helplessly watching his old friend pass away before his eyes.
Fei Zhi Tu was already seriously injured, and now that the backlash from using the Yuan Burst Pill surfaced, in addition to the shock his Soul received after the Blue Jade Bowl was destroyed, it was clear he wouldn’t survive long.
“Old Qian, why do you look like your father and mother just died?” Fei Zhi Tu grinned, “I understand my own situation best, this time it was you and I who failed to pay attention to our surroundings and caused such a huge mess. My old bones aren’t worth feeling sad about. Old Qian, listen, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect actually dared to risk public condemnation by attacking both of us, so there’s a good chance that they have someone backing them they can rely on.”
“Someone to rely on? You mean…” Qian Tong frowned.
“This is just my own guess, but whether it’s true or not, I’m not certain. In any case, don’t rush to take revenge, our Shadow Moon Hall isn’t any stronger than those two forces, and if all of this was plotted by ‘them’, we will be the only ones who suffer in the end.”
“Just leave the matter of revenge to me, City Lord Fei need not worry about this,” Yang Kai reassured.
“Haha, you’re too thoughtful Yang Kai. If that’s the case, this old master won’t say anymore,” Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded before falling silent.
Qian Tong’s eyes became wet as tears appeared at the corners of his eyes.
“Why are the two of you acting like this is a lifelong separation?” Yang Kai couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, “Although the damage to City Lord Fei’s foundation is quite grave, it’s not like all hope is lost.”
Hearing this, Qian Tong’s eyes lit up.
Fei Zhi Tu also looked over at Yang Kai in amazement.
As he said just now, he understood his own situation the best. If he had just been seriously injured this time, it wouldn’t be a major problem, all he would need to do is enter retreat for a few years to recuperate and he would be able to recover, but after taking that Yuan Burst Pill, things were different. His vitality had been severely overdrawn and he could no longer stop his foundation from crumbling. He would definitely die within a few days, possibly even a few hours.
“Yang Kai, please don’t make jokes at a time like this. If you really have a way to pull Old Fei back from the gates of death, please use it quickly. This old master will certainly remember this gratitude for the rest of his life!” Qian Tong said anxiously, as if he was a drowning man grasping at straws.
Fei Zhi Tu also looked at Yang Kai expectantly.
If they could live, who would choose to die? However, did Yang Kai really have a way to save him from this kind of situation or was he just trying to comfort him?
“Junior is naturally not making a joke with two Seniors,” Yang Kai nodded before putting on a serious look, flipping his wrist, and taking out a jade bottle from his Space Ring. Uncapping this bottle, a strong, refreshing aroma instantly diffused.
When this fragrance entered his nose, Fei Zhi Tu’s pale face suddenly became a little ruddy and even his extreme weariness was slightly dispelled.
“What is this?” Qian Tong was an experienced man and at a glance could tell that whatever was inside this jade bottle was something extraordinary, but unfortunately he couldn’t identify it at all.
From its colour, white and flawless, it almost looked like some kind of milk.
“Two Seniors should be familiar with the Three Great Divine Waters, yes?” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“What? The Three Great Divine Waters?” Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were shocked.
“En, this bottle contains one of them, Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” Yang Kai said before flicking his wrist and extracting a drop of the pure white Life Revitalizing Jade Cream from the bottle, wrapping it in his Saint Qi, then floating it towards Fei Zhi Tu.
“It’s actually Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” Qian Tong was ecstatic. If this was really one of the rumoured Three Great Divine Waters, then Old Fei really could be saved.
The biggest reason for his current state was his overdrawn vitality which made it impossible for him to suppress his other injuries. However, if he could restore his vitality, it wouldn’t be a problem to suppress his physical wounds with his cultivation.
The greatest function of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters, was to replenish vitality.
It was the perfect medicine for this situation.
Qian Tong was overjoyed!
“City Lord Fei, please accept this!” Yang Kai said seriously.
Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched slightly with excitement and he didn’t hesitate to open his mouth and swallow the small drop of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
As he swallowed this drop of liquid, Fei Zhi Tu felt a stream of warmth flow from his mouth straight down to the abdomen before a wave of vigorous vitality began spreading out inside his body. Feeling this, Fei Zhi Tu was shocked and couldn’t help closing his eyes and circulating his Saint Qi to refine the raging medicinal efficacies.
Seeing Fei Zhi Tu’s aura stabilizing at an extremely rapid pace and that there was no longer any worry about him losing his life, Qian Tong couldn’t help shedding some tears as he celebrated his old friend escaping from the gates of death.
“Yang Kai, the weight of this gift is simply too great!” Qian Tong wiped the corners of his eyes as he looked towards Yang Kai gratefully.
“Elder Qian is too polite, Senior Fei was implicated by me and even forced to take that Yuan Burst Pill to help this Junior resist that last attack. This Junior has nothing but gratitude in his heart, so a trivial drop of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream is not even worth mentioning. Actually, Elder Qian, your injuries…”
“This old master is fine, I can break the seal placed on me on my own, I simply need to meditate for a few days. As for this arm… haha, it’s not an issue, although this old master is getting on in years, he’s still strong and healthy, a mere broken arm won’t be a problem to fix.”
“Alright, if that’s the case, Elder Qian should focus on his own recovery. I have some healing pills here, they should help Elder Qian achieve twice the results in half the time,” Yang Kai said, taking out a few bottles from his Space Ring and pouring out a pill from each before handing them to Qian Tong.
Qian Tong originally wanted to refuse; after all, as a Shadow Moon Hall Elder, how could he not have healing pills on him? But when he saw what kind of pills Yang Kai took out, he swallowed the words which came to his lips back down and accepted them with a smile, “Kid, you really have many good things on you, it would be impolite for this old master to refuse.”
“This is what I should do, this Junior will stand guard for two Seniors, so two Seniors can concentrate on healing!”
“Yeah. You should also deal with your own injuries, don’t allow any hidden dangers to remain behind.”
And so, the three each found a spot in the cave, sat down cross-legged, and began meditating.
Fei Zhi Tu’s injuries were the most serious, but at least he no longer had to worry about losing his life. As for how much of his strength he could restore, that would depend on his own ability. Qian Tong’s injuries weren’t a big problem and neither were Yang Kai’s.
With his Golden Blood, Yang Kai’s restorative ability was many times stronger than average and his physical body was also quite resilient, so even if he was hit by those lightning arcs, he hadn’t suffered much damage. All he needed to do now was restore himself and he would be fine.
