Yet it was precisely this woman, who cared for him so deeply and even willingly sacrificed years of her own cultivation to heal him, who ultimately ended up in such a tragic state!
And when she fell ill, the version of himself in the original text not only failed to seek out a cure for her, but instead drained her blood for a blood sacrifice!
Yet the only time the original self would ever see her was precisely when her blood was being drawn.
Because of this, Hua Ruowei would harbor a deep yearning for Qingyu to draw just a little more of her blood back then.
If merely having her blood drawn allowed her to feel Qingyu's presence, then she was willing to let Qingyu drain her dry.
Yet when Qingyu drew Hua Ruowei's blood, he never once treated her as a human being, never even considering that she had once burned away her cultivation as a top-tier expert of the Soul Formation stage just to save him!
He merely regarded her as a talking blood-extraction tool.
It was utterly maddening!
At this thought, Qingyu could not help but release a burst of pressure unique to a top-tier expert of the Soul Formation stage.
The surrounding grass, flowers, and trees were whipped into a violent, swaying frenzy.
"That damned original text... Heh!"
With a cold laugh, Qingyu raised his head and looked up at the sky.
His eyes were filled with a murderous intent.
Yet very quickly, Qingyu calmed himself down.
His pace quickened.
He was not someone prone to reckless impatience.
He had to remain calm.
There was still time, time enough to save her.
Soon, Qingyu arrived outside a dilapidated little wooden house further away.
This was Hua Ruowei's dwelling, and it was exceedingly run-down.
Compared to other cabins, this place was simply uninhabitable.
Had Hua Ruowei not used wooden boards to patch up a few spots, this cabin would have looked even more dilapidated.
Standing outside, Qingyu could clearly see that not a shred of light was emanating from the entire cabin.
Could it be that she hadn't lit a lamp?
The question arose involuntarily in Qingyu's mind.
With this thought, Qingyu approached the wooden door of Hua Ruowei's cabin, raised his hand to knock, and spoke out.
"Ruowei, are you inside?"
A crisp knocking sound rang out.
Qingyu waited outside the door for several seconds, yet heard no movement whatsoever from within the dwelling.
At this sight, a look of profound bewilderment crossed Qingyu's face as he released his spiritual sense to examine everything inside the cabin.
Upon seeing the interior, Qingyu's already perplexed heart grew even more troubled.
Because the cabin was completely empty.
Hua Ruowei was nowhere to be found.
Pulling back his spiritual sense, Qingyu began to ponder.
Where could she have gone?
Drawing upon the original text, Qingyu thought over matters concerning Hua Ruowei.
A dozen seconds later, his expression suddenly shifted.
Not good! Hua Ruowei was in danger!
In the original text, it was precisely last night that Hua Ruowei had suddenly received a piece of intelligence.
Namely, the location where the Nine Nether Spirit Herb would appear.
The Nine Nether Spirit Herb was a supreme and precious medicinal herb!
Precious to what extent?
Even a Grade 5 Medicinal Pill paled in comparison before it!
The Nine Nether Spirit Herb could immensely enhance one's mental power!
Moreover, it could eradicate all mental scars and trauma!
It possessed immense efficacy even for top-tier experts of the Soul Formation stage!
Over countless years of cultivation, many cultivators suffered innumerable mental scars.
In fact, quite a few cultivators lost their sanity and became Demonic Cultivators precisely because of severe mental trauma.
Others suffered damage to their fundamental foundation due to mental scars, preventing them from progressing any further.
While mental scars like those of his obedient disciples could be healed by himself, those untreatable mental traumas required the Nine Nether Spirit Herb.
Qingyu knew very well that Hua Ruowei had grown deeply suspicious upon seeing such a drastic change in him, wondering if something had gone terribly wrong with his mental state.
After all, she had been by his side for over a hundred, nearly two hundred years.
For him to suddenly turn out like that meant something must have gone amiss with his mind.
And so, despite only being at Mid Nascent Soul, she had set off directly for the place where the Nine Nether Spirit Herb appeared, determined to acquire this precious medicinal herb.
Her sole purpose was to restore him, the villainous Demonic Lord.
Realizing this, Qingyu did not hesitate in the slightest. He soared directly into the air, channeled the spiritual power within his body, and rushed at full speed toward the place where the Nine Nether Spirit Herb had appeared.
Qingyu's flight speed was blindingly fast, as he alternated between flight and teleportation, appearing to flicker through the sky.
He caused no commotion whatsoever and remained completely undetected by anyone.
Qingyu was consumed with anxiety at this moment.
The place where the Nine Nether Spirit Herb appeared was a secret realm located at the foot of Tianbai Mountain in the northernmost part of the Central Province.
That place was extremely far from here, to the extent that even Qingyu could not rush there instantly.
It would take at least several minutes.
Driven by the dire urgency, Qingyu even burned the essential blood within his body as a price to double his movement speed once more!
As for why he would resort to such a measure—it was because Hua Ruowei's affliction had been contracted precisely while she was gathering the Nine Nether Spirit Herb for him!
The time was tonight!! Right now!!
In the original text, there were as many as a hundred cultivators who went to gather the Nine Nether Spirit Herb! Both righteous and Demonic Cultivators were among them!
The majority were Nascent Soul experts, alongside three top-tier experts at Early Soul Formation!
Hua Ruowei had been rather lucky and managed to obtain the Nine Nether Spirit Herb, yet she ended up trapped within the secret realm by over a hundred people.
To force Hua Ruowei out, the righteous and demonic factions briefly cooperated, having those Demonic Cultivators execute a joint blood sacrifice to release a Corrupting Curse into the secret realm—one that even Early Soul Formation experts could not withstand.
Since Hua Ruowei was merely a Mid Nascent Soul cultivator, she naturally could not resist it.
Afflicted by the Corrupting Curse, she burned away her vital essence and fought desperately just to barely escape.
Yet when she returned to the place where Qingyu and his three good disciples resided, the Corrupting Curse within her flared up, stripping her of the ability to use her spiritual power or spiritual sense, while her vision and hearing began to fade away as well.
Yet in Hua Ruowei's eyes, all of this was worth it.
However, in the original text, when Hua Ruowei brought the Nine Nether Spirit Herb to Qingyu, an enraged Qingyu directly tore it to shreds and threw it away.
The reason, absurdly enough, was simply because Hua Ruowei's absence over the past few days had prevented Qingyu from sending people out to gather intelligence on the true heroine!
Thus, in the original text, a furious Qingyu had ripped apart and discarded the Nine Nether Spirit Herb that Hua Ruowei had gone to such great lengths to harvest.
He had also severely reprimarded Hua Ruowei, and even struck her several times.
Recalling these various actions from the original text, Qingyu could not help but gnash his teeth in hatred.
Thinking back on the original text was not merely a matter of remembering words on a page; it felt like a genuine memory, as if Qingyu had truly committed those deeds himself!
These memories completely unleashed the already oppressive weight within Qingyu's heart.
Boom!!!
A terrifying pressure, belonging exclusively to an expert at Soul Formation Peak, swept across a radius of over a hundred miles.
Accompanying it was a boundless wave of murderous intent!
Every cultivator in the vicinity felt this dreadful pressure!
They turned their gazes toward the sky in alarm.
As for the cultivators currently flying in mid-air, they were struck down to the ground by the sheer force of this pressure.
Only a tiny fraction of truly powerful experts managed to withstand it.
Most of these cultivators wore expressions of utter terror.
An almighty expert was passing by—who wouldn't be terrified?
Meanwhile, Qingyu stood clad in a black robe, his body shrouded in a protective barrier of spiritual Qi, his face locked in an icy expression brimming with killing intent.
A dense aura of blood surged from his entire body.
Qingyu would not allow anyone to harm Hua Ruowei!
Not even himself—he would never permit it!!
Everything that had happened before must be completely altered!!
He would not fail her!!
Hua Ruowei must not meet with any misfortune, absolutely not!!!