The Heavenly Eye shot out a scarlet pillar of light, falling silently upon Zhang Sheng.
Sword-light, the immortal sword, and even the man wielding it crumbled inch by inch.
Inside and outside the domain, above and below the vault of heaven, countless eyes watched Zhang Sheng's body disintegrate and turn into calamity ash. Immediately afterward, a white lotus bloomed beneath his feet, turning his form from illusion back into substance, reborn between heaven and earth.
In some unfathomably deep space, an enraged and deeply regretful roar suddenly sounded: "The White Lotus of the Defiled Earth!"
This matter had great karmic ties to him, and with the Great Curse present in the world while heavenly secrets manifested, Xu Wangu, who took the appearance of a youthful immortal, deduced the origins of the White Lotus of the Defiled Earth in an instant. Never could he have imagined that the supreme treasure he had dreamed of day and night had actually been right beside him, and he found it even harder to accept that it had slipped right past him!
For an instant, he wanted nothing more than to charge out of this space and erase every person and every matter related to it from the world to vent the fury in his heart. Yet the instant he left here, the Karma Great Curse would descend upon him.
To reach this point today, he had done far too many things; at this juncture, he could no longer bear even the slightest shred of extra karma. Only now did he faintly sense that what was called "unable to obtain what one seeks" in this world might very well be the karmic causes he had sown himself.
Reborn, Zhang Sheng was still not free of danger. The scarlet beam shot by the Heavenly Eye remained fixed upon him, instantly reducing him to nothingness once more.
Wei Yuan was frantic with anxiety, but the remaining fire on his body burned so fiercely that his consciousness and vision began to blur. He violently ignited everything in Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains that could be burned, soaring into the sky! The shadow in the moon had originally been asleep under the influence of some power, only now being jolted awake.
Inside the round moon, the head of a bird suddenly appeared. Opening its beak, it inhaled, instantly swallowing every bit of karmic luck within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains!
Above Wei Yuan's head faintly manifested a colossal three-eyed bird head. Its three eyes shot forth three completely distinct beams of light, carving three fissures into the blood-red firmament. In that instant, Wei Yuan instinctively knew that those rifts offered a path to survival, though the sensations of the three rifts were entirely different, seemingly leading to different worlds.
By now, he had no time to think, nor the strength to do so. Grabbing Zhang Sheng in his arms, he plunged into one of the rifts on pure instinct and vanished. Having abruptly lost its target, the Heavenly Eye blinked, its pupil actually betraying bewilderment.
The world churned with turmoil as normal skies rolled in from all directions, pressing against the blood-red vault. Lacking a target, the Heavenly Eye could hardly resist the immense power of heaven and earth; after flickering several times, it finally vanished.
At that moment, Yu Zhizhuo sat within a blast furnace, using the furnace fire to counter the pale fire. With the sudden disappearance of the pale fire, the furnace flames instantly burned him so badly that he let out a shriek of agony and dashed out from the core of the furnace.
Sun Yu lay collapsed on the ground, massive chunks of flesh missing from his body in horrifying disarray. With the only hand he could still move, he grabbed a handful of medicinal powder, tore open the wounds that had already crystallized, and sprinkled the powder over them.
Feng Tingyu swung her long saber, relentlessly slicing away thin layers of skin and flesh from her arms and thighs. Pale fire burned upon the flesh, turning to ash as it hit the ground. Yet no matter how she sliced, as soon as the pale fire consumed the flesh, it would always reignite in the exact same spot. Still, her muscles wriggled and grew at an astonishing speed, allowing the wounds to expand only slowly.
Yet as she went on slicing, the pale fire abruptly went out. Feng Tingyu froze for a second, then burst into wails of weeping...
***
Darkness.
That was the first sensation Wei Yuan regained.
Beyond the darkness, his surroundings felt utterly foreign. Wei Yuan felt one hand and one foot freezing cold, as though submerged in icy water, almost unbearably chilling. Only parts of his body retained any warmth, while many areas had no sensation at all, as if they had ceased to exist.
He had never experienced such a feeling before. Having succeeded in Body Casting, he had long possessed minute, seamless control over every inch of himself; how could there be places he could not sense? Wei Yuan tried to move, but his body was unexpectedly stiff and heavy, filled with desolate deathly energy throughout, with only a tiny spark of life's fire buried at the very core.
Wei Yuan felt toward his left chest; it was hollow there, a total void in his perception. His hand was somewhat uncooperative, missing the right spot twice. On his third attempt, he finally felt he had found the right place, but his hand touched nothing—his chest was completely hollow, empty of everything!
*Where was my heart?*
Wei Yuan wanted to sit up and take a look, but as soon as he moved, he realized that everything before his eyes remained black. Slowly raising his hand, he touched his face and felt a strip of cloth tied over his eyes.
Wei Yuan's hand twitched, but in the end he did not untie it. He knew that even if he removed it, it would be useless—he could not sense his eyes right now anyway. Having no heart was no big deal either; dead people did not need hearts, Wei Yuan consoled himself.
Just then, a flurry of light footsteps approached from the distance, followed by someone opening the room door. The instant the door opened, a gust of freezing wind swept in, sending an immediate shiver through Wei Yuan. The footsteps reached the bedside, and a pleasant, cool voice asked, "You're awake?"
"Where is this? Am I... dead?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Wei Yuan gave himself a fright. His voice was hoarse and slurred, nothing like his usual tone.
"We're in a tiny, isolated village. No outsiders have been here in many, many years. In the past, the village elders used to say we were descendants of some forgotten clan, but the elder who knew the most died last winter, so nobody remembers where we came from anymore. As for you, you're probably not dead yet, though not far from it."
"How did I end up here?"
"A few days ago, the heavens were mourning and blood kept raining from the sky. Then you suddenly fell down. Oh, you've been unconscious for three days."
"Was I the only one who fell?"
"Just you."
Wei Yuan's heart trembled. *Where was Master?*
"What happened to my eyes?"
The woman hesitated for a moment before saying, "You... are already blind."
Wei Yuan had anticipated as much. He asked again, "Are my left arm and left leg still there?"
"They're there, just severely injured. Actually, the villagers all said you couldn't survive and that there was no need to waste firewood and grain. But I figured that even if you're a bit broken, you hadn't breathed your last after all, so I might as well try to save you. Besides, if I couldn't save you, the stuff on you would belong to me anyway. I really didn't expect you to wake up, though."
*So I really am alive...* Wei Yuan slowly probed his sea of consciousness. After a tearing, excruciating pain, he finally appeared above Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. At this moment, the earth was deathly still, and several colossal rifts ran in the distance, almost cleaving the entire continent into separate sections.
Jade Mountain was dim and lusterless. Though free of fissures, its quality had degraded severely, its interior completely obscured. Atop Jade Mountain, the small tree had curled branches and withered leaves, scarred by scorch marks everywhere; fortunately, a thread of life still remained.
Only a section of trunk remained of the Red Lotus Bodhi, charred black across the break. The celestial laurel tree and the Bingli Divine Wood had retracted beneath the earth into a dormant state, uncertain if life still stirred within them. Aside from the immortal plants, all the spiritual plants projected from Qingming had been reduced to charcoal.
Maiden Yin-Yang stood quietly, unscathed. The two dharma idol warriors and numerous Dao Foundations were still present as well, but had lost their spirituality, turning entirely into stone statues. Furthermore, the Dao Foundation space was exceedingly desolate; all the Dao Foundations Wei Yuan had fabricated beforehand had been cast out in a torrent to assault the Heavenly Eye.
A round moon still hung high in the sky, but the shadow within it was nowhere to be found.
The three giant swords remained in the Dao Foundation, an unexpected boon. Unfortunately, the great swords served only for inheritance; Wei Yuan could not utilize the sword intent contained within them. Even if he could, with his current battered body, a single strand of sword qi would likely crush him to pieces.
Wei Yuan swept his surroundings with what little divine sense he had left, gathering a vague impression.
This was a stone cottage with a roof of timber and thatch, letting freezing wind seep in from time to time. A hearth pit sat in the corner of the room, serving as the sole source of heat indoors.
Standing beside the bed was a woman, tall and only slightly shorter than Wei Yuan. She showed faint traces of Body Casting on her, but possessed no Dao power, nor could Wei Yuan sense a Dao Foundation; she had likely done little cultivation.
She brought in an armful of straw, spread it over Wei Yuan, and weighed it down with several pieces of wood. This did indeed make Wei Yuan feel a bit warmer.
Only charcoal embers glowing with faint sparks remained in the hearth, though some dry firewood lay piled in the corner. Even with the hearth nearly dying out and the bone-chilling cold in the room, the woman did not add any wood to the fire. It seemed firewood was scarce and precious here, requiring strict rationing.
Suspended over the hearth was an earthenware pot with soup simmering inside. The woman ladled a wooden bowlful of the soup and said to Wei Yuan, "There's medicine in this. The village elder said it's good for your injuries."
Wei Yuan tried to prop himself up with his only hand that retained sensation, but his arm gave out, and he collapsed back down.
The woman caught him, though she lacked strength herself and was nearly dragged down with him. Setting aside the medicinal bowl, she exerted herself with both hands, finally helping Wei Yuan sit up.
In the bowl was something resembling vegetable soup, medicinal decoction, and millet porridge all at once, tart and bitter. Floating inside were a few slices of something whose texture felt like boiled balsa wood. At the woman's insistence, Wei Yuan chewed them thoroughly and swallowed them down.
Having finished the bowl of medicinal soup, Wei Yuan realized it held virtually no medicinal efficacy at all. The bowl of hot broth had mostly served to warm his stomach and put a little food in his belly.
This place was exceedingly barren and desolate, with thin spiritual energy. How could there be any potent immortal medicines? It could naturally bear no comparison to the Palace of Grand Beginning, nor to Qingming after it gained the Hall of Merits.
Having drunk the hot soup, Wei Yuan felt a bit more spirited. He said earnestly, "Such immense kindness is beyond mere thanks! If I can survive this calamity, as long as it is within my power, I will surely repay you in the future!"
To his surprise, the woman said, "Who waits until the future to repay a favor? The village elder said it's been ages since an outsider arrived. You might be crippled, but your frame looks quite sturdy, so you should still be able to sow seed. As long as you leave four children for the village—two boys and two girls—you can leave. Any other way of repaying us, we don't care for!"
Wei Yuan was dumbfounded. "How... how am I supposed to leave children?"
"Just how anyone leaves them! You can do it with me, or with the other elderly aunties in the village. Either way, you can only leave once four have been born. The village elder said that in three to five days, once you recover a bit of strength, you can get to work. Don't dream of slacking off before you pay off your debt!"
"Could... could we change the method? I am a cultivator; once I recover a bit, I can do many things for the village!" Wei Yuan said earnestly.
"No way! The village elder said a painted cake can't fill an empty belly. You're not some villain who plans to just up and leave after we saved your life, are you?" the woman asked suspiciously.
Wei Yuan was rendered speechless.
"If you don't want to repay us, that's fine too. Tomorrow we'll strip you bare and throw you outside the village. Precious grain can't be used to feed ungrateful wolves. Think it over yourself!"
After the woman left, Wei Yuan felt his head buzzing.
Such a demand couldn't really be called unreasonable, and they had stated their terms very clearly. By rights, repaying a debt of gratitude had to be done in a manner the benefactor was willing to accept; one couldn't just do whatever they pleased, or what kind of repayment would that be? Pure self-comfort.
What little conscience Wei Yuan had left would not let him do that.
The problem was, even if Wei Yuan were willing, judging from what the woman said, aside from her, all the rest left in the village were elderly aunties!
If the elderly aunties couldn't conceive and she had to bear them all alone, wouldn't he have to stay here for four years? And if they didn't turn out to be exactly two boys and two girls, he would have to stay even longer!
Although his divine sense couldn't discern her facial features clearly, the woman at least had a fairly prominent figure and posture, though hard living meant her movements lacked grace and gentleness. If it were only her, and if it only required siring offspring, perhaps Wei Yuan could accept it.
What he dreaded most was that the elderly aunties might refuse to give up their sliver of a chance to contribute to the village's continuation, and set their sights on having a few babies too!
The more Wei Yuan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Right now he couldn't move and was blind; he likely had no ability to resist. And given his current physical state, fleeing the village would almost certainly mean death.
Wei Yuan curled up in the bed, feeling colder and colder. That bowl of hot soup hadn't really contained anything of substance; after providing a brief moment of comfort, it had actually left him feeling hungrier. But having harbored thoughts of ingratitude, Wei Yuan was too ashamed to ask for another bowl.
Having narrowly escaped death with great difficulty ought to have been a joyful thing, yet the moment he thought of the elderly aunties in the village, Wei Yuan felt that the world had not grown any kinder to him at all.
Chapter 355