In the midst of chaos, Chu Zheng felt like he was in a boundless darkness, floating in seething lava, as if he had experienced endless ages.
His consciousness, like the shattered wreck of a ship, painstakingly piecing itself together from the abyss of chaos, slowly ascending.
With a start, Chu Zheng opened his eyes. All around was pitch black, with only extremely faint light seeping in through unknown crevices, barely outlining the coarse wooden textures.
Violent coughing tore through his throat and chest like a broken bellows, each cough bringing a fiery, excruciating pain.
His throat felt as if it had been repeatedly rubbed with coarse sand, filled with an unbearable spiciness and dryness, a burning sensation mixed with the scent of blood rushing to his head.
He raised his hand to draw on the Water Element essence in the void, transforming it into a clear spring, pouring it down his throat, and only then did the burning sensation gradually subside.
His whole body felt much more at ease, the previous weakness from the loss of essence blood no longer present, having been replenished.
Chu Zheng's gaze appeared somewhat dispersed, as tumultuous thoughts swirled in his mind. Just now, he seemed to have had an extremely chaotic and bizarre dream.
Broken images, like paintings torn by the wind, kept flashing in his mind.
Did he see Song Lingxue? At the very thought, this name was like a cold needle, piercing through his chaotic memories.
Besides Song Lingxue, there were many other memory fragments. For more chapters visit novel·fire.net
These memory fragments were illogical, jumbled, like a scrambled puzzle, leaving only intense emotional impact and a dizzying sense of chaos.
After a while, he finally calmed down the turmoil of his thoughts, his gaze slightly vacant as he glanced around, the air moist, permeated with the heavy scent of rotten wood and mud, along with a faint hint of blood.
Chu Zheng's gaze swept across the tree hollow, landing on Xue Qing not far away.
She was sitting sideways, silent, like a solemn ice sculpture in the darkness, her head slightly lowered, occasionally taking a large bite of Cloud Wing Tiger's flesh, slowly chewing.
Seemingly sensing his awakening and gaze, Xue Qing's chewing paused.
She slowly turned her head, in the dark tree hollow, their eyes silently met in the weak light.
Xue Qing's eyes, like icy springs, still bright in the darkness, she simply looked at Chu Zheng quietly, a fleeting complex emotion flickered deep within her eyes.
Her gaze lingered on Chu Zheng's pale, cracked lips for an extremely brief moment, but in the end, she said nothing.
She calmly averted her eyes, lowered her head again, and resumed eating.
The tree hollow sank back into oppressive silence, only the sound of Xue Qing's chewing remained, accompanied by the light crackle of bones being crushed by teeth.
Chu Zheng sensed that the atmosphere seemed somewhat off, but couldn't pinpoint the issue at the moment, nor did he spend much thought on it, instead sitting cross-legged, beginning to restore his depleted energy.
In the current environment, the nature's spiritual energy was still quite abundant, and judging by the present situation, this Ancient Forest, seldom visited, was quite suitable for secluded cultivation.
The spiciness and dryness in his throat still burned, but Chu Zheng's consciousness had become completely clear, leaning against the cold, coarse trunk wall, he slowly absorbed Yuan Qi, while his thoughts surged.
The current situation for him and Xue Qing seemed completely secure. With Yun Tianji's assistance in handling the aftermath, they should be free of Xu Menghan's entanglement.
Moreover, the Cloud Wing Tiger, prepared by Treasure Pavilion's top chef using a Secret Technique, had retained all its essence.
The Sixth Order peak beast, at the Half-step Demon Emperor Realm, its entire body, filled with abundant energy, was enough for Xue Qing to use as her main sustenance, supporting her cultivation for a long while.
The auctioning of Mystic Sun True Understanding brought him 270 million top quality Spirit Stones. After giving Yun Tianji one hundred million as a thank you, 170 million top quality Spirit Stones remained.
The 170 million is sufficient to support a super major sect's operations for centuries, and now it is completely in his hands.
The path ahead seems clearer than ever. With such ample resources, combined with this perfectly secluded environment, there is no need to wander and flee as before.
Even if the Cloud Wing Tiger is consumed by Xue Qing, holding such a vast amount of Spirit Stones means there is no need for concern. He could directly purchase flesh and blood or hire cultivators to hunt, avoiding personal exertion.
More importantly, in this world, without the ever-present curse of Tribulation Qi, Chu Zheng didn't even need to consider incarnating for tribulations.
With his thoughts clarified, a sense of inexplicable relief surged in Chu Zheng's heart.
Chu Zheng silently breathed a sigh of relief, his nerves, tensed for who knows how long, relaxed for the first time in a true sense.
During this period, he could delve into some Qi-Refining Divine Abilities. Basic techniques like the Heavenly Divination Technique, their principles aren't too difficult, with some time, he could fully grasp them.
Chu Zheng slowly raised his right hand, unconsciously tracing in the void before him with his fingertip, a faint talismatic pattern appeared in midair.
The name, emerging from the depths of his fractured memories, resurfaced in his mind.
This was from the beginning of his Qi-refining cultivation, a pattern researched to counter Immortal Path Cultivators, but it was not complete.
Later, when he himself pursued the Immortal Path, he never delved deeply into it.
Currently in the Near Immortal Realm, most are Immortal Path Cultivators, or rather, the Immortal Path that has yet to fully merge, with shared cultivation skills.
The law-breaking rune is equally effective for them, although it still requires refinement.
In the blink of an eye, half a month quietly flew by.