Chapter 355: Repaying a Favor

Start of Volume 5: If Love is Fated

A crimson beam of light shot forth from the heavenly eye, silently striking Zhang Sheng.

The sword beam, the immortal sword, and even the man wielding it began to disintegrate inch by inch.

Both within and beyond the realm of Qingming, from the heavens above to the earth below, countless eyes watched as Zhang Sheng’s body disintegrated into ashes of tribulation. Immediately afterward, a white lotus blossomed at his feet, transforming his body from ethereal back to solid, and returning him to this Heaven and Earth, reborn.

In a certain dark and inscrutable space, a roar filled with both extreme fury and profound regret suddenly erupted, “The White Lotus of Tainted Earth!”

This matter was deeply intertwined with his own karma, not to mention that a Great Curse was looming over the world, and the heavenly mysteries were being revealed. Consequently, Xu Wangu—currently in the form of a youthful immortal—instantly deduced the origin of the White Lotus of Tainted Earth.

He could never have imagined that the treasure he had longed for in his dreams was right beside him this whole time, and he definitely could not bear the thought of it slipping through his fingers just like that!

For a fleeting moment, he even wanted to burst out of this space and wipe every person and event related to it from the face of the world, just to vent the fury in his year. However, the moment he left this place,the Great Karmic Curse would descend upon him.

He had done far too much to reach this point. At this moment, he could not afford to bear even the slightest bit of additional karma.

Only now did he vaguely sense that what the world called “unattainable desires”, might, in fact, all stem from the causes the individual themselves had sown.

Although Zhang Sheng had been reborn, he had not escaped danger. The crimson beam of light firing from the heavenly eye was still shining upon him. It quickly began reducing his body into nothingness once more.

Wei Yuan was overcome with panic, but his consciousness and vision were beginning to blur once more due to the remaining flames burning on his body.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan set ablaze everything he could within the Great Realm and soared skyward!

The shadow in the moon had been slumbering under the influence of some force all this time. It was only now it had suddenly been startled awake.

A bird’s head emerged from the full moon. It opened its beak and, with a single inhalation, instantly devoured all the fortune that existed within the Great Realm!

A massive three-eyed bird’s head faintly materialized above Wei Yuan’s head. The three eyes emitted three completely different beams of light and sliced open three rifts in the blood-red sky.

In that instant, Wei Yuan instinctively knew that the rifts held the keys to survival. However, he also felt as if the three rifts were completely different from each other, as if they each led to a different world.

But he neither had the time nor the strength to think. He pulled Zhang Sheng into his arms and, acting on instinct, threw himself into one of the rifts, vanishing into it.

The heavenly eye abruptly lost its target. It blinked, and a look of confusion actually appeared in its pupil.

At that moment, heaven and earth started shaking violently, and the normal sky surged in from all directions, squeezing the blood-red sky. Having lost its target, the heavenly eye could no longer resist the natural, immense power of Heaven and Earth and began faltering. After flickering a few times, it finally vanished.

At that moment, Yu Zhizhuo was sitting inside a blast furnace and relying on the furnace fire to resist the pale flame. As the pale flame suddenly vanished, the furnace fire instantly engulfed him and caused him to elicit a blood-curdling scream. He panickedly burst out from the heart of the furnace.

Sun Yu was lying on the ground. From time to time, entire large chunks of flesh would suddenly vanish from his body. It was an utterly horrifying sight. Using the only hand he could still move, he grabbed a handful of medicinal powder, tore open the already crystalized wounds, and sprinkled the powder over them.

Feng Tingyu was swinging her long saber and repeatedly slicing off thin layers of flesh from her arms and thighs. The pieces of flesh were covered in pale flames, and they turned to ash as soon as they hit the ground. BUt no matter how much she sliced away, the pale flame would always reignite in the exact same spot after consuming the sliced piece of flesh. However, her muscles were twitching and regenerating at an astonishing rate, so the wounds could only widen slowly.

Suddenly, the pale flame went out. Feng Tingyu froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into tears.

......

Darkness.

This was the first sensation Wei Yuan regained.

Aside from the darkness, his surroundings felt completely unfamiliar. Wei Yuan could only feel that one of his hands and one of his feet were ice-cold, as if submerged in icy water. It was so cold he could barely bear it. At that moment, only certain parts of his body were warm, but many areas were completely numb, as if they no longer existed.

He had never experienced anything like this before. After reaching perfection in the Body-tempering stage, he had long since achieved precise control over every part of his body and united them all into a seamless whole. So, how could there possibly be any part of him that he couldn’t sense?

Wei Yuan tried to move, but his body felt unexpectedly stiff and heavy. Stillness and lifelessness were everywhere. Only a faint spark of vitality existed within the deepest depths of his body.

Wei Yuan reached toward his left chest but couldn’t find anything inside. As far as his senses could tell, it was empty. Then again, his hand wasn’t quite heeding his mind; twice he had failed to place it in the correct spot. But on the third try, he finally sensed he was touching the right place, and still he felt nothing. As it turned out, his chest really was completely empty—there was nothing there at all!

Where is 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 was still pitch black. He slowly raised his hand and touched his face. That was when he felt a blindfold tied around his eyes.

Wei Yuan’s hand twitched, but in the end, he didn’t remove the blindfold. He knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway—he couldn’t feel his eyes anymore.

It’s no big deal not to have a heart; the dead don’t need one, do they? Wei Yuan tried to reassure himself.

Just then, the sound of light footsteps came from the distance, growing louder and louder. He heard the sound of a door being opened, and a cold draft swept in, causing an instant shiver.

The footsteps reached his bedside, and a pleasant, cool voice asked, “Are you awake?”

“Where am I? Am I... dead?” Wei Yuan startled himself as the words came out. His voice was hoarse and slurred, completely unlike his usual tone.

“This is a small village cut off from the outside world. No outsiders have come here for many, many years. The village elders used to say we were some kind of remnant clan, but the elder who knew the most passed away last winter, so no one remembers our roots anymore. As for you, you’re probably not dead yet, but you’re close.”

“How did I end up here?”

“A few days ago, there was a heavenly calamity. Blood rained down from the sky until you fell out of it. Oh, you’ve been unconscious for three days.”

“Was I the only one who fell?”

“Only you.”

Wei Yuan’s heart trembled. What about Master?

“What’s wrong with my eyes?”

The woman hesitated for a moment before replying, “You’ve... gone blind.”

Wei Yuan had already anticipated this. He asked, “Do I still have my left arm and left leg?”

“Yes, but they’re badly injured. Actually, everyone in the village said you wouldn’t survive, and that there was no point in wasting firewood and food on you. But I figured that even though you were a bit battered, you weren’t quite dead yet, so I decided to try saving you. After all, had I failed, whatever you had on you would become mine. I really didn’t expect you to wake up, though.”

So, I’m still alive...

It took some time, but Wei Yuan eventually perceived his sea of consciousness. After a wave of excruciating, tearing pain, he finally found himself amidst the Great Realm.

At the moment, the land lay in deathly silence. In the distance, several massive fissures stretched across the landscape, nearly splitting the entire continent into pieces.

The jade hill had lost its luster. Although it showed no cracks, its texture had experienced severe deterioration, and its interior was completely obscure. The small sprout on its summit was curled up and bearing scorch marks everywhere. Fortunately, a glimmer of life remained.

Only a stump of the Red Lotus Bodhi remained, its broken ends covered in charred marks. The Bay Laurel Immortal Tree and the Ice-Glass Divine Tree had retreated underground and entered a dormant state. It was unclear if they were still alive.

Aside from the immortal plants, every other spirit plant projected from the realm of Qingming had been reduced to charcoal.

Yin Yang, the girl, was completely unharmed. Not a single hair appeared to be out of place. The two Avatar-stage warriors and the numerous Dao Foundation stage warriors were also present, but they had lost their spirituality completely and turned into true statues.

A full moon still hung high in the sky, but the shadow within it had vanished without a trace.

The three giant swords in his Dao Foundation still remained—a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, they were solely intended for the inheritance purposes, so Wei Yuan could not harness the sword intent within them. Even if he could, given the frail state of his body, a single wisp of sword qi would likely crush him.

Wei Yuan used whatever was left of his perception to scan his surroundings. He was able to catch a faint impression.

He was inside a stone hut with a roof of wood and thatch, through which cold winds occasionally seeped. In the corner stood a hearth; the only source of heat inside the house.

A woman was standing by the bed. She was tall, slender, and only slightly shorter than Wei Yuan. She bore some traces of Body-tempering, but possessed no Dao energy whatsoever. He could not detect any Dao Foundation in her either, which suggested that she hadn’t cultivated much.

The woman carried in a bundle of straw and covered Wei Yuan with it. She then weighed it down with a few pieces of wood. Thanks to this, he felt a little warmer.

Only embers with faint sparks remained in the hearth. There was a pile of dry firewood lying in the corner, but the fire was nearly out, the cold in the room was bone-chilling, and the woman made no move to add more wood to the hearth. It seemed that firewood was expensive and scarce here, so they had to use it sparingly.

A clay pot hung over the hearth, simmering with soup. The woman ladled a bowl of soup into a wooden bowl and said to Wei Yuan, “There’s medicine in this. The village elder said it will help your injuries.”

Wei Yuan used the only hand he could still feel to prop himself up, but he collapsed back down just a second later. His arm was simply too weak.

The woman caught him, but she didn’t have much strength and nearly fell over herself. So, she temporarily set the bowl of medicine aside and braced herself with both hands. Only then did she manage to help Wei Yuan into a sitting position.

The food inside the bowl resembled vegetable soup, medicinal concoction, and millet porridge all at once. It was astringent and bitter, with several floating pieces that tasted like boiled softwood. At the woman’s urging, Wei Yuan chewed them all to a pulp and swallowed them.

After drinking the bowl of medicinal soup, Wei Yuan realized it had virtually no medicinal properties. Its main purpose was to warm his stomach and fill his belly.

This was an extremely barren and remote place, with sparse spirit energy. How could there possibly be any immortal herbs with potent medicinal properties? It certainly could not compare to the Palace of Absolute Beginning, nor to Qingming, which possessed the merit hall.

After drinking the hot soup, Wei Yuan felt a bit more energized and said earnestly, “I dare not even begin to express my gratitude for such great kindness! If I survive this ordeal, I will do everything in my power to repay you in the future!”

Unexpectedly, the woman replied, “What kind of favor must wait until the future to be repaid? The village elder said that it’s been a long time since any outsiders came here. Although you’re disabled, you look pretty sturdy. You should still be able to father children. All you need to do is to leave four children for the village—two boys and two girls—and you can go. We don’t care for any other forms of repayment!”

Astonished, Wei Yuan stammered, “H-how am I supposed to do that?”

“Just do it! You can come to me, or to any of the other older women in the village. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that’s certain is that you can’t leave until you’ve fathered four children. The village elder also said that in three to five days, once you’ve regained some strength, you can start performing physical labor. Don’t even think about slacking off until you’ve paid off your debt!”

“Is... is there another way? I’m a cultivator—once I’ve recovered a bit, I can do a lot for the village!” Wei Yuan said earnestly.

“No way! The village elder said that empty promises don’t fill an empty stomach. You’re not some bad guy, are you? We saved your life, and now you’re just planning to walk away?” The woman asked suspiciously.

Wei Yuan was at a loss for words.

“If you don’t want to repay us, that’s fine too. We’ll simply strip you naked tomorrow and throw you out of the village. Our precious grain can’t be wasted on an ungrateful wretch. Think it over, will you?”

Wei Yuan’s head was still abuzz after the woman took her leave.

Her demand wasn’t entirely unreasonable. In fact, she had stated her expectations very clearly. Logically speaking, repaying a debt of gratitude should be done in a way the other person was willing to accept; you couldn’t just do whatever you wanted and consider a debt repaid. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be gratitude, it would just be self-comfort.

The last shred of conscience Wei Yuan had left wouldn’t allow him to do such a thing.

The problem was, even if Wei Yuan was willing, judging by the woman’s words, the rest of the village aside from the woman was made up of nothing but older women!

His perception wasn’t strong enough to make out the woman’s features clearly, but her figure was at least striking. Of course, years of the hard life had stripped her movement of any grace or softness, butIi it were just her, and if the goal were simply to produce offspring, then perhaps Wei Yuan could accept this arrangement.

But what if the older women of the village decided that one woman wasn’t nearly enough to ensure the continuation of the village’s legacy, forcing themselves on him to try to have a few kids of their own?

The more Wei Yuan thought about it, the more likely the scenario seemed. Right now, he was both immobilized and blind. He probably wouldn’t have the strength to fight back. And given his current physical condition, escaping the village would most likely mean certain death.

Wei Yuan curled up in bed, feeling colder and colder. The bowl of hot soup actually didn’t have much food in it at all. He had felt a bit better after drinking it, but after the warmth passed, all it left behind was a deeper pang of hunger. However, Wei Yuan was currently entertaining ungrateful thoughts, and try as he might, he simply couldn’t bring himself to ask for another bowl.

Having narrowly escaped death should have been a cause for celebration, but every time he thought of the older women in the village, Wei Yuan felt that the world hadn’t become any kinder to him.