Cannot Give Up

For more than forty years, Tan Hao had never given up on Tan Jie, trudging forward along the immortal path while carrying a brother who had become a living corpse. He not only had to laboriously scrape together resources for his own cultivation, but also had to search for spirit herbs to sustain Tan Jie's life and heal his wounds. No wonder Tan Hao was so destitute! A cultivator at the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refinement stage was hardly at the bottom of the cultivation world. Basic cultivation resources would not be lacking, and at the very least, renting an ordinary cave dwelling should have been easily affordable. Yet the vast majority of Tan Hao's savings had been poured into Tan Jie. No wonder Tan Hao had never been able to achieve Foundation Establishment! Under such harsh circumstances, reaching the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refinement stage was already an extraordinary feat. Unless Tan Hao encountered some miraculous stroke of fortune, it was utterly impossible for him to hoard the resources needed for Foundation Establishment. Thinking back on what had transpired at the auction and the secret market, Qin Sang realized such scenes had probably played out for Tan Hao countless times. Emptying his pockets, exhausting everything he had, just to trade for any spirit medicine that might possibly help Tan Jie. Tan Hao took out the Spirit-Calming Pill he had obtained in the secret market, opened the jade coffin, and gently propped Tan Jie up. Using his spiritual power, he dissolved the medicinal essence of the pill and fed it into Tan Jie's mouth. A spirit pill Tan Hao had risked his life to exchange for only strengthened Tan Jie's origin soul by a tiny fraction. Before, the lamp had nearly run out of oil, its faint flame on the verge of dying out at any second; now, a single drop of oil had merely been added to the lamp, allowing it to burn just a little longer. That was all. It could not change the fundamental situation. It offered virtually no help for Tan Jie's injuries, still unable to halt the dispersion of his origin soul, showing not the slightest sign of awakening. It was clear just how grave Tan Jie's condition was. A question arose unbidden in Qin Sang's heart: was it worth it? With Tan Hao's current cultivation, he might never find an elixir capable of healing Tan Jie in his entire lifetime. Even if he were lucky enough to come across one, he could neither afford to buy it nor possess the strength to seize it. Meanwhile, his own path of cultivation had been ruined as well. The final outcome was not hard to imagine: the moment Tan Hao's lifespan ran out, Tan Jie would die with him. Tan Hao had allowed Tan Jie to live for several extra decades, yet it was merely as a living corpse—unconscious, immobile, drifting through an entire lifetime in a daze, oblivious to everything. It seemed utterly pointless! Yet looking at Tan Hao's expression, he clearly believed it was all worth it. Perhaps out of guilt toward his younger brother, perhaps out of brotherly devotion... Without a shred of regret! Qin Sang suddenly remembered someone—Senior Sister Qingting. How remarkably similar she and Tan Hao were! Senior Sister Qingting had done it for her Dao companion, Senior Brother Jiang; Tan Hao did it for his younger brother, Tan Jie. One was romantic love. The other was fraternal devotion. Both of them were the same—giving everything they had, never giving up! To heal Senior Brother Jiang, Senior Sister Qingting had tried every conceivable method, squandering all her savings to refine a Fire Crow Token and entering the ruins of the Heavenly Corpse Sect in search of a Heavenly Corpse Talisman. Yet because she had sold all her magic tools to buy materials, she ended up dying at the hands of a baleful corpse. In those final moments, Senior Brother Jiang had miraculously regained consciousness, gripping Senior Sister Qingting's hand tightly, and the single tear he shed was her greatest comfort. Senior Brother Jiang knew of all her efforts; they had not been in vain. The scene he had witnessed in the Heavenly Corpse Cave remained fresh in Qin Sang's memory to this day, giving him endless food for thought. He had never expected to witness a similar sight again today. In the cultivation world, as long as one was not dead, as long as a sliver of hope remained, any miracle could happen! Tan Hao must also be clinging to such a conviction, which was why he bore this heavy burden and persevered to this day, right? If he chose to abandon Tan Jie, only to later encounter a real opportunity to cure him, the regret would be agonizing and irreversible. A look of poignant reflection surfaced on Qin Sang's face, his eyes flickering slightly, lost in thought. "A medicinal paste called Purple Gold Paste was added to this spiritual liquid, all thanks to Senior Sister Shi Hong..." Tan Hao carefully lowered Tan Jie back down, letting him lie once more in the liquid within the coffin. Qin Sang turned his gaze to the fluid inside. Within the transparent spiritual liquid, a faint trace of purple shimmered. The liquid contained a vital energy capable of preserving Tan Jie's physical body from decay, which was likely the medicinal efficacy of the Purple Gold Paste Tan Hao spoke of. However, the purple hue in the liquid had grown extremely faint, which meant the medicinal potency of the Purple Gold Paste could hardly last much longer and was nearly exhausted! Qin Sang could well imagine that if no accident had occurred this time and Tan Hao had successfully returned with the Spirit-Calming Pill, he would not have had time to rest at all before rushing out once again without pause to seek spirit medicine to preserve Tan Jie's body. All these years, had this been how Tan Hao lived? "When I first ran into Senior Sister Shi Hong, the moment she heard of Tan Jie's condition, she gave me all her savings without hesitation. Only then was I able to afford the Purple Gold Paste, catch my breath, and cultivate in seclusion for a few years to break through to the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refinement stage. Otherwise, Tan Jie might not have held on until now. Senior Sister Shi Hong saved the lives of us brothers, yet I have never been able to repay her..." Speaking of Shi Hong, Tan Hao's voice was thick with gratitude. He looked at Qin Sang almost pleadingly. Then, this burly, hardened man suddenly bent forward to drop to his knees, about to perform a full formal kowtow. "Brother Qin, I beg you, you must rescue Senior Sister! In this life, I am already a cripple, and I don't know what else I can do to repay your kindness. But I will carve this debt into my heart. If I cannot repay it in this life, I am willing to serve you as a beast of burden in the next!" Qin Sang was quick of hand and eye. With a flick of his sleeve, a strand of spiritual power shot out to halt Tan Hao from bowing, and he said solemnly, "The four of us share the bond of fellow disciples. Even without you saying so, I would give my all to rescue you and Senior Sister Shi Hong! As for words of repayment, treat them as a joke and speak of them no more!" After stopping Tan Hao, Qin Sang walked to the side of the jade coffin and extended his spiritual sense into Tan Jie's body. The injuries to Tan Jie's physical body had healed, but the thorniest issue was his origin soul. Just like Senior Brother Jiang's, it was slowly dispersing. After a thorough examination, Qin Sang asked Tan Hao, "Have you had an expert skilled in the alchemy and medicine arts examine him?" "I have." Tan Hao nodded. "Before Tan Jie's condition deteriorated, he didn't require many spirit medicines, so the burden on me wasn't as heavy. I heard that the Spirit Elixir Pavilion at Yinshan Pass belongs to the Taiyi Elixir Pavilion and has alchemists from the Taiyi Dan Sect, though their fees are exorbitant. I saved for nearly ten years to scrape together enough spirit stones and brought Tan Jie to the Spirit Elixir Pavilion for a consultation." Qin Sang pressed hurriedly, "What did they say?" Tan Hao's eyes dimmed, and he replied helplessly, "That person took a single look and declared that even the immortals could not save Tan Jie. He told me that even if the treasured spirit pills of the Taiyi Dan Sect were brought out, they still couldn't bring Tan Jie back to life—at best allowing him to live a few more muddled years. He urged me to give up as soon as possible and not waste my efforts." "Yet you still held on." Qin Sang sighed with deep emotion. In the Lesser Cold Domain, a conclusion reached by an alchemist of the Taiyi Elixir Pavilion was almost impossible to overturn unless a miracle occurred. "How could I give up on him?" Tan Hao clenched his fists tightly, tears welling in his fierce eyes as he muttered, "If I had persevered just a bit more back then, the one cultivating with the Yanluo Banner would have been me! My brother... he died in my place! How could I give up on him?" "No matter what, I cannot give up on him!"