"That’s more like it, my good apprentice. Your body has been eroded by toxins for years, and several of your main meridians are severely damaged. Although I have spent several days repairing them with the spiritual essence of the Yuyin Dan, your dantian and meridians are only just beginning to stabilize. After a half-month of gentle nourishment, you should be able to begin cultivation." He sighed, then added, "Alas, to fully recover, you will need a top-grade Juyuan Dan..." He fell into a melancholy silence, wondering if anyone on this Fengxu Continent was even capable of refining such a thing.
"Master, there is no need to worry so much. Why don't you first explain how someone as extraordinary and highly cultivated as you ended up inside my body?" Although their communication was purely mental, Lan Qinghuan could still sense the shadow of his anxiety.
"Sigh, I don't even know where to begin. It would take quite a while to explain it all. You only need to know this: for me to emerge from your body, it requires the combined efforts of a Divine Lord-level runemaster and a Divine General-level warrior to break the seal on this Yuyin Dan. Alternatively, if you manage to cultivate into a Divine Emperor-level Space Summoner, you could tear through space directly, and I would naturally be freed from your body... Come now, take this. It is a secret manual for space cultivation that I have cherished for many years. Take it and practice." A streak of white light flickered, and a scroll appeared in her mind. The gilded characters looked ancient and majestic, yet she could find no joy in it.
"What? Are you joking? A Divine Lord-level runemaster? A Divine Emperor-level Space Summoner? Do you think those are as easy to find as vegetables at the market? Do you really think such figures exist on this Fengxu Continent?" Ever since the Great Cataclysm of the world eons ago, not even the spirit-rich Nine Profound Heavenly Realm had seen a figure surpass the Divine General level. In the divine realms Lan Qinghuan knew, there were four major tiers: Divine General, Divine Lord, Divine King, and Divine Emperor. As for the God Descender, that was a legendary, terminal path of ancient divinity—one that hadn't even appeared in the modern Nine Profound Heavenly Realm. She didn't believe for a second that Ying was a God Descender, but becoming his apprentice was no loss to her. She had never had a master before, so she might as well take one.
In her past life, she was naturally gifted and exceptionally talented at martial arts, essentially self-taught. Even though she was only at the Divine General level, she could fight opponents above her rank, making her nearly unrivaled in the Heavenly Realm. However, that was only after thousands of years of bitter training under the careful cultivation of her father and brother. There were a few Divine General and Divine Lord-level figures in the Nine Profound Heavenly Realm, but now that she was trapped in this mortal shell, how could she ever return?
She wasn't sure if Di Lianzhe had arrived in this world with her. If he had, she wouldn't be in such a rush; she could simply ask him for a top-grade Juyuan Dan, cultivate slowly to the Divine Emperor level, and then release her master. But if he hadn't, she needed to cultivate as quickly as possible, find her father, and return to the Heavenly Realm.
"No rush, no rush. I have waited for such a long time; waiting a little longer won't hurt. Do not be so discouraged. Once this body is restored, your cultivation will progress quickly. With a master like me, it would be impossible not to produce a brilliant apprentice... Someone is coming." Seeing Lan Qinghuan's distress, Ying offered some comfort.
Within the Zhuxian Formation, the five elements and time itself were frozen. But Ying did not belong to the five elements; darkness was his attribute. Those old fools had tried to destroy him without even understanding his nature, leaving him to suffer for countless ages in that array. Now that he had escaped, he was in a sorry state, his soul fractured. He could not let his tracks be discovered. Without his divine core, he was vulnerable; while it was difficult for him to escape the seal, it would be easy for others to finish him off. Cutting the connection between the Yuyin Dan and the outside world, Ying vanished.
Lan Qinghuan focused her senses outward. Indeed, a large group of people was rushing toward her room. It would take them at least a stick of incense's time to arrive. She knew they were coming because she could hear Xi Yun'er chattering away about how strange she was acting and how her "illness" had flared up again. She couldn't figure out how that girl’s brain worked; she had been by her side for years, yet remained so dense. They say that if you stay near vermilion, you turn red, and if you stay near ink, you turn black—how could she, once so calculating, have raised such a naive, dim-witted creature?
The deep, heavy, yet anxious voice belonged to her uncle. The shrill, affected voice was clearly Concubine Fang's. And the persistent coughing was from Aunt Ruxue. Even her sickly aunt had come; it was quite the crowd. Aunt Ruxue had always treated her as her own daughter, and Lan Qinghuan had literally grown up on her milk. After Lan Qinghuan fell "ill," Ruxue had fallen ill out of worry, and they had rarely seen each other since. In her memories, Aunt Ruxue loved her like a mother. After the aunt fell ill and her father disappeared, her uncle's devotion to her grew even stronger, as if he were trying to compensate for the love of her aunt and father combined. Such affection made Lan Qinghuan uneasy; was he trying to make up for something?
As the toxins in her body intensified, she became a useless cripple who could not cultivate, mocked as a lunatic by everyone. She had distanced herself from the crowd, all the while secretly investigating who was poisoning her. There were too many secrets here, and she needed to know them. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized that even as a "lunatic," there were those who envied and hated her. A bowl of poison from Concubine Fang was meant to erase her soul entirely, turning her into a mindless puppet. In her moment of utter despair, the soul of the Martial God Lan Qinghuan had passed by, condensing her remaining consciousness into a memory bead to draw the other’s soul into the body. She wanted her to uncover the truth; she could not bear to depart like this.
Footsteps drew closer. Lan Qinghuan lay under the covers, feigning sleep. She still had many memories to organize; she would let these people who had rushed over to watch a show wait a little longer.
"Stupid girl, how dare you play tricks on us? Isn't she lying here perfectly fine?"
*Smack!* A loud slap echoed, causing Lan Qinghuan to shudder. What a vicious woman. Because she didn't see the spectacle she had hoped for, she resorted to violence to vent her anger. Just wait until I deal with you villains who have bullied this body.
*Alas*, to avoid giving herself away, she had to continue playing the fool. It was truly a pity for Yun'er; she had only called her uncle out of genuine concern, never expecting to bring this crowd of spectators.
"Ah! Monster! Stay away from me! Ah! I’ll fight you!" Even if she couldn't deal with them now, she had to give them a taste of her fury. Lan Qinghuan pretended to be caught in a nightmare, scrambled out of bed, and threw herself at Concubine Fang, scratching and biting in a wild, vicious frenzy.