However, the absorption of the life force must not be without restraint.
Too much is as bad as too little!
Besides, when Qihan brought Feifei back from the Secret Realm all those years ago, her divine soul was already shattered, and precious little of her cultivation remained.
Without the anchor of her true physical body, her divine soul would only dissipate faster.
Upon her return to the Mist Clearing Forest, Feifei had practically no vital energy left in her.
Back then, the person who had risked their life to protect a fragment of Feifei's divine soul had also paid a heavy price.
Left with no other choice, the Venerable One had forcibly placed Feifei's remaining divine soul into a true body crafted from a seed of the Star Sea Sacred Tree.
Yet, after all, Feifei's divine soul was far too weak to control such a powerful true body.
To suppress the rapid growth of Feifei's true body, Qihan had continuously dosed her with poisons.
Consequently, under the effect of countless poisons, Feifei's true body had transformed into that of a child of twelve or thirteen, and over the more than twenty thousand years since, she had only grown to look about sixteen or seventeen.
Yet the side effects of these drugs were immense, which was the primary reason Feifei's entire body would burn with heat whenever she fell into a deep sleep.
After such prolonged suppression, the spiritual energy within Feifei's body had long grown turbulent and restless, constantly trying to break out of her body.
Meanwhile, the Venerable One wanted Feifei to refine those remnants of divine souls so she could recover her peak-period cultivation as quickly as possible, believing that was the only way she could take full control of this body in the shortest time.
Yet Feifei had always felt that those fragments of divine souls had long since developed their own sentience, that they were independent living individuals, and that she had no right to simply strip them of their lives.
Lord Wuheng gave a self-deprecating chuckle, recalling how back then, he had not hesitated at all to refine that soul fragment to enhance his own cultivation; though if he had to do it all over again, he would still do the exact same thing.
Feifei offered a faint smile. After all, regret and non-regret were polar opposites; she felt it was naturally a good thing that Lord Wuheng had no regrets, only that deep down she had not the slightest desire to refine those divine soul fragments, and thus she was certain she would regret it in the future.
Lord Wuheng understood:
"So Divine Doctor Qi has been trying to cure your body all this time so that you can grow up as soon as possible?"
Feifei frowned, feeling as though countless bowls of medicine were appearing before her eyes once more, and hastily shook those images out of her mind.
"Yes! I had it miserable before, having to drink so much medicine every day, which is why the mere sight of him irritates me—it's just that I don't have to take medicine quite as often now!"
After all, more than twenty thousand years had passed, and she hadn't grown up all that much; drinking so much medicine only made her unhappy and left her with an even worse temper, so she might as well just live happily instead!
Consequently, most of the medicine Qihan currently gave Feifei was meant to soothe and nourish her divine soul, and the pill he had given Wuheng last time was actually meant for Feifei.
Feifei's body was extremely yin-cold, yet her entire body was abnormally scorching hot.
From the very moment he first laid eyes on Wuheng, Qihan had devised a plan, figuring that if he could transform Wuheng into a body of ultimate yang and ice-cold nature, using his pure-yang body as a medicinal catalyst, it would surely serve to rescue Feifei in her hour of peril.
Since then, Qihan had been continually refining the medicinal formula to treat Wuheng, and ever since Feifei began applying ointment to him, his constitution had been slowly changing.
Male members of the Demon Race naturally possessed a very heavy amount of yang energy, and besides, it was only a tiny bit of yin-coldness—he would surely be able to neutralize it with ease.
The last time Feifei's condition had flared up, the medicinal pill Qihan gave Wuheng had possessed somewhat violent properties, leaving him unable to remember what had even transpired.
Therefore, over the past few days, Qihan had been continuously improving the formula, preparing to step up the refinement of new pills.
Although the Venerable One was well aware of everything that had happened, he had not stopped that blockhead from concocting medicine, partly because Feifei currently did indeed look somewhat different, as if she had even grown quite a bit.
The two of them seemed relatively unconcerned about Wuheng's physical well-being, both figuring that he was an Upper Deity with a tough destiny, and that he would easily be able to shake off the minor side effects of the pill.
Of course, Wuheng and Feifei remained entirely oblivious to all of this.
The two of them chatted and laughed all the way, carefree and thoroughly happy!
Suddenly, Wuheng raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze brightening:
"I suddenly have an idea!"
Feifei looked at Wuheng, a sudden sense of foreboding washing over her. Pausing slightly, she asked:
"What idea?"
Wuheng leaned closer to Feifei, raising an eyebrow with an alluring smile:
"Why don't we just transfer the Jun Clan Soul Seal from your body? Once you do that, you can just go to the God Realm and absorb all the life force you want—you'll definitely recover your health in no time!"
The God Realm owed its existence to the Law of Life, and the Law of Life had somehow nurtured the Tree of Life, which in turn gave birth to an endless stream of life force.
Meanwhile, the life force in the Mist Clearing Forest originated from the Star Sea Sacred Tree and shared the same origin as Feifei, but its yin-cold energy was far too heavy, making it unsuitable for a young woman recuperating her health.
Therefore, the life force born amidst the light in the God Realm was much more suitable for Feifei.
Hearing this, Feifei hurriedly shook her head to stop him:
"That kind of thinking is very dangerous, you know! Besides, Moqi is still the Emperor Lord, and I already owe him far too much; I can't cause him any more trouble!"
She thought to herself: Hasn't Lord Wuheng changed a bit too much? What on earth is going on here? The Mist Clearing Forest couldn't possibly have such a massive influence, and Grandfather would certainly never harm Lord Wuheng. Could it be because of Old Man Qi's medicine?
Yes, exactly—Old Man Qi is the most suspicious one. I'll definitely have to investigate this thoroughly later.
On the other side, Qihan was engrossed in concocting medicine when he suddenly shivered from a chill, feeling somewhat baffled. He looked around in all directions, but found nothing out of the ordinary, and finally decided he was just imagining things.
Seeing Feifei looking so burdened, Wuheng smiled faintly and said nonchalantly:
"He won't mind at all. He's probably been wanting to quit for ages—he'd likely welcome it with open arms!"
Du Moqi had served as Emperor Lord for so many years, and the most that could be said was that he was dutiful; as for anything else, he avoided interference whenever possible and let his subordinates handle most matters.
Nowadays, divine manifestations were a rare sight across the Six Realms and the Human Realm.
Du Moqi's current cold demeanor had also formed slowly after Feifei's disappearance.
A mental illness naturally required a mental cure; if Feifei were to return to the God Realm, he would likely recover his former self in no time.
Feifei frowned slightly, a trace of sorrow flashing across her eyes as she said softly:
"Lord Wuheng, you are also of the God Clan—don't you care at all about your fellow citizens of the Demon Race? How can you harbor such a dangerous thought? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the Law of Life?"
Wuheng laughed heartily, raising an eyebrow slightly as he calmly replied:
"The Mist Clearing Forest is the territory of the Star Sea Sacred Tree after all, and the Law of Life can't hear what I'm saying anyway. As long as you're willing, I don't mind at all, and Emperor Lord Chongan certainly won't mind either. Besides, your master has served as Emperor Lord for hundreds of thousands of years, working tirelessly without a single complaint, only to end up with this result—he's bound to harbor some resentment, so he won't stop you either. Look, none of these big shots in the entire God Realm object; what on earth are you hesitating for?"
Besides, life force was inexhaustible and would sooner or later become abundant again.
Who knew, the temporary disappearance of life force might even aid the cultivation of the Demon Race citizens; after all, they had always enjoyed smooth sailing under the protection of successive Demon Lords.
As for the Human Race, they always needed to endure some trials and tribulations before they could find a broader path to the Great Dao!
Hearing this, Feifei was somewhat startled:
"This..."
At this moment, the Venerable One's voice rang out, carrying a heavy sense of majesty that seemed to freeze everything around them into absolute stillness.
"Wuheng, you brat, if you dare talk nonsense to Feifei again, I'll throw you out right now!"
Yilang woke up with a start, whimpering as it ran over to Wuheng and Feifei to seek comfort.
Wuheng maintained an expression of total composure. Looking back, the massive depletion of life force in the Demon Realm must have been caused by the Venerable One, who had undoubtedly borrowed a great deal of spiritual energy from the Demon Realm in order to save Feifei.
As for why he had to borrow it from the Demon Realm, the answer was already obvious: on one hand, the Demon Realm's spiritual energy nourished divine souls, while on the other hand, the Demon Realm possessed heavier yang energy.
This was something Wuheng had only figured out slowly after discovering Feifei's body was burning hot.
After all, the Mist Clearing Forest carried a very heavy yin energy, yet Feifei was entirely unfazed by the yin-cold force of the Ice Mist Barrier.
Of course, the primary reason remained that Feifei herself had no desire to leave, nor did she wish to implicate the entire God Realm for her sake alone.
And neither the Venerable One nor Qihan wished to force her into making a choice.
Judging by the Venerable One's reaction just now, Wuheng had more or less figured everything out; as for the rest, it was best to proceed through subtle hints, otherwise Feifei would never willingly leave with him.
Feifei stroked Yilang's head, noting that it looked thoroughly terrified—after all, this seemed to be the first time her grandfather had spoken with such severity.
"Lord Wuheng, you heard him. My grandfather thinks otherwise, so your idea must be a terrible one!"
The Venerable One's tone suddenly softened considerably:
"However, transferring the Jun Clan Soul Seal out of Feifei's body... that is actually a very good idea!"
Hearing this, Feifei's eyes widened. Did slaps in the face really have to come this quickly?!
Yilang also seemed to let out a long sigh of relief, quietly sprawling out at Feifei's feet while casting a disdainful glance at Wuheng, silently thinking: 'If you hadn't been spouting nonsense, the Venerable One wouldn't have lost his temper!'
Wuheng glared right back at Yilang, thinking silently: 'Yilang, do you want to get beaten again?'
Startled, Yilang shivered and hastily burrowed into Feifei's arms.
With quick reflexes, Wuheng picked Yilang up with one hand and banished it to the other side of the Mushroom Carriage.
Looking deeply aggrieved, Yilang spun around in circles in frustration, lifting its paw to pound and scratch at the carriage.
Feifei looked at Wuheng, observing his arrogant and smug expression as he teased Yilang. She felt this looked nothing like the former him; gone was that unpretentious dignity, that measured and courteous demeanor, and that radiant grace of a humble gentleman.
Wuheng smiled triumphantly. Seeing that Feifei was watching him, he arched an eyebrow slightly, smiled faintly, and quickly slid over to sit beside her, saying gently:
"Feifei, look, what a brilliant idea! Your grandfather only said I was talking nonsense; he didn't say it was a terrible idea, you know!"
Hearing this, Feifei was momentarily at a loss for words:
"This... Grandfather... did he really mean that?"
With a playful smile, Wuheng leaned back lazily against the chair:
"Look, aren't I still sitting right here safe and sound? Your grandfather didn't throw me out, did he?"
Feifei burst out laughing:
"Grandfather has already walked away!"
Wuheng sat up straight, leaned closer to Feifei, and asked:
"How do you know?"
Without missing a beat, Feifei blinked and said casually:
"Grandfather told me! He went to see the Sacred Tree Ancestor!"
Hearing this, Wuheng was utterly astonished; this was an answer he truly hadn't anticipated, though it promptly gave rise to a whole new set of questions.
......