“Huh?” Li Che didn’t understand. “You mean, she’s lying to us?” He felt a bit lost, “So you think the first test isn’t really this? Do we need to do something else? Then Yan Xuan…” Li Che looked at Yan Xuan lying on the grass, “Is he brought here to confuse us?”
“Let’s check on him first,” Meng Qi said, continuing toward Yan Xuan.
“O-okay,” Li Che followed her slowly.
The black-robed young man lying on the grass had his eyes closed, his thick eyelashes casting small shadows under his lower eyelids, giving his handsome face a trace of sickly pallor. Yan Xuan’s lips were also pale, devoid of any color. His long hands lay beside him, fingers slightly curled, and his nails lacked any hint of blood.
Meng Qi crouched beside Yan Xuan, followed by Li Che. She extended her hand, pressing it on the unconscious young man’s forehead, and sent a stream of aura into his body. While she had anticipated the chaotic state within Yan Xuan, she was still taken aback by what she ‘saw’ when her spiritual sense followed her aura into his spiritual sea.
Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea was extremely vast and deep. The size and depth of a cultivator’s spiritual sea determined their aura capacity. At the same level of cultivation, those with higher talent would often possess larger and deeper spiritual seas compared to their peers, allowing them to store more aura. As a cultivator’s level increases, so does their spiritual sea. Advancing from the Nascent Soul to the Spirit Severing stage, for instance, greatly expanded the spiritual sea, but small advancement within the same level also had a similar effect. From the early to mid to late stage, and finally, to peak, the spiritual sea expanded every time.
The cumulative difference over time means that the spiritual seas of talented cultivators would eventually become very vast. While the differences might be subtle at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages, they become pronounced by the Nascent Soul and Spirit Severing stages. Regardless of their cultivation path, all cultivators relied on aura, so the size of one’s spiritual sea formed the basis of a cultivator’s strength.
Meng Qi’s spiritual sense followed her aura and entered Yan Xuan’s body. Though not her first time seeing his spiritual sea, its unparalleled vastness always struck her. His cultivation was currently capped at the peak of the Spirit Severing stage, and yet his spiritual sea was as boundless as an ocean.
As a medical cultivator, Meng Qi had seen countless spiritual seas. From her previous life to this one, none she had encountered, including geniuses like Pei Mufeng, Qin Xiumo, and Chu Tianfeng, could compare to Yan Xuan.
But it was something else that shocked her so much.
“What’s wrong?” Li Che, noticing her trance, placed a hand on Yan Xuan’s wrist. Even in unconsciousness, a cultivator’s aura usually protected its owner, but Yan Xuan was an exception—with his inner core destroyed, his remaining aura was no different from that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Li Che’s spiritual sense, like Meng Qi’s, entered his body without resistance.
“Ah—” Li Che let out a surprised gasp, evidently seeing Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea. The vast and expansive sea was magnificent, yet tragically it was completely barren and dry, like a devastated, long-forgotten lakebed. Crisscrossing fissures marred the seabed, ensuring that any aura would leak out through these cracks.
Any cultivators beyond the Golden Core stage would have an inner core rotating above their spiritual sea, continuously replenishing aura. The inner core was an endless source of aura; once formed, it would sustain the cultivator for life. The spiritual sea stored this produced aura, and as it expanded, so did the cultivator’s level.
But Yan Xuan’s inner core was completely destroyed! Not just damaged or rendered useless, but utterly annihilated!
The sky above Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea was now empty—devoid of the core that should be there. He was a spell cultivator; his natal weapon, once refined, would also hover above the spiritual sea, nourished by the aura produced by his inner core, similar to Meng Qi’s natal cauldron. Now, his natal weapon, a crescent moon, barely floated above the spiritual sea, dim and lifeless, as if about to shatter and obliterated at any moment.
Meng Qi withdrew her hand and looked up at Li Che, who also raised his head to look at her. They exchanged a silent glance, both seeing a hint of sadness in each other’s eyes.
“Yan Xuan…” Li Che, still shaken by the sight of Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea, cautiously said, “He used to be very powerful, right?”
Meng Qi nodded and replied, “The top genius of his rank.”
“Yes, my master mentioned that he was the strongest and most talented among the spell cultivators of our generation. His father, the sect leader of Jingyuetian, had high hopes for him, expecting him to restore the former ancient glory of spell cultivation.”
“I also heard from my master…” Li Che thought for a moment and added, “His cultivation had almost caught up with the elders of Jingyuetian. Especially in spell cultivation—it seems that successfully completed some ancient spells that were not fully passed down. Someone like him should have a bright future, becoming the powerhouse of our generation with the potential of reaching the Great Ascension stage. Unfortunately…” Li Che sighed, “Is this what they mean by ‘Heaven is jealous of heroic genius’?”1
“Yes,” Meng Qi affirmed.
“Uh…” Li Che had been merely expressing his feelings and was a bit taken aback by Meng Qi’s firm response. Scratching his head, he said again, “Yan Xuan was injured while trying to stop an invasion from the Devil Realm.”
“Yeah,” Meng Qi nodded. She squinted slightly, letting her aura circulate within Yan Xuan’s body, carefully examining his limbs, meridians, and blood vessels.
Silently, she got up and began pacing back and forth.
Li Che also stood up, “The cracks on Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea, especially at the bottom on the left side… Did you notice they are particularly neat, not like the cracks that form naturally from a complete depletion of aura?”
“It looks like they were caused by an external force, a very sharp one,” Meng Qi said, stopping in her tracks.
“Right,” Li Che nodded, “The marks are dense and sharp, enough to leave such scars at the bottom of his spiritual sea. What could it be? A spell or weapon from the devil cultivators?”
“I suspect Yan Xuan’s cultivation regressed because of the injuries at the bottom of his spiritual sea. Otherwise, he would only suffer from a lack of aura, not a regression in cultivation,” Meng Qi conjectured.
“I agree,” Li Che nodded.
“Not just the spiritual sea, but even his meridians are marred with very fine cuts,” Meng Qi continued, “Tiny, very very tiny, like they were made by a very narrow, sharp blade, slicing along the meridians.”
“His inner core was shattered so thoroughly that not even a trace remains…” Meng Qi began pacing again, deep in thought. In her previous life, she had healed Yan Xuan’s injuries.
Or not entirely! She hadn’t completely healed Yan Xuan, as she still lacked the Netherworld Thorn. But she had obtained the Stardust Stone and managed to repair the cracks in Yan Xuan’s spiritual sea, and she had also found a way to mend his inner core. Although the result was barely adequate, Yan Xuan was eventually able to use aura and almost recovered his cultivation. He just couldn’t engage in frequent combat or exhaust his aura, as that would risk damaging his now fragile spiritual sea and inner core.
That was the limit of what Meng Qi could do without the Netherworld Thorn. Later, when she arrived in the Devil Realm by chance, she proceeded to search for the Nether River, hoping to find the Netherworld Thorn to fully heal Yan Xuan.
And it was during that journey that she eventually lost her life.
Now, they had both the Stardust Stone and the Netherworld Thorn, which should allow them to heal Yan Xuan, yet his injuries were much worse than what she had seen in her previous life.
In her previous life, Yan Xuan’s inner core had only been cracked, but it was still present above his spiritual sea. This time, however, his inner core was completely gone. Previously, his spiritual sea had only a few cracks along its walls, which the Stardust Stone in her possession could easily repair. But now, it was riddled with so many fissures that a small amount of pressure could perhaps make it crumble entirely. By Meng Qi’s estimation, the Stardust Stone in her storage pouch could barely repair a tenth of these cracks.
Meng Qi couldn’t help but smile bitterly as she glanced at the flowing creek. Who would have thought that this seemingly harmless, clear water was actually the deadly Nether River water that could freeze anything it touched?
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