PID Chapter 20.2

Chu Yusheng and several others immediately lunged forward—they couldn’t endure this torment any longer. “What is it? Tell us!”

 

Xu Er nearly fainted from being shaken but unceremoniously slapped Chu Yusheng away before turning back to Chu Jinglan alone. His hands trembled as he forced himself to speak clearly through gritted teeth.

 

“The spirit crystal doesn’t have enough spiritual energy but won’t stop trying—it’ll draw power from the secret realm itself to open the portal. But before it succeeds… we’ll be crushed by the collapsing realm unless we forcefully open the gate first.”

 

Tears streamed down Su Baimo’s face as he sobbed: “How do we do that?”

 

Everyone froze as realization dawned upon them—the answer was obvious yet terrifyingly simple. Those who understood shuddered involuntarily before slowly turning their gazes toward Chu Jinglan.

 

What was lacking must be replenished—the answer was spiritual energy.

 

Xu Er knelt before Chu Jinglan abruptly and bowed deeply: “If I could help… I wouldn’t hesitate for even a moment. But only pure and refined spiritual energy from someone at Golden Core stage or higher can be absorbed by the spirit crystal… Young Master Chu… I beg you… save us.”

 

Among all those present, only Chu Jinglan had reached Golden Core stage.

 

Su Baimo looked at Chu Jinglan with tearful confusion.

 

The jade band tying Chu Jinglan’s hair had loosened slightly; strands of black hair fell against his face as he stood against climbing spiritual light and collapsing mountains behind him. Lowering his gaze slightly, he spoke with an eerily calm tone: “What will happen to me?”

 

Xu Er knelt trembling on the ground, forcing out each word through clenched teeth: “At worst… death; at best… your dantian and meridians will be destroyed… your cultivation will fall.”

 

Chu Jinglan let out a low laugh—a bitter sound: *At best.*

 

Death if severe; crippled if not.

 

He had begun cultivating at three years old and endured fourteen years of grueling effort—protecting both himself and his mother within the devouring environment of the Chu family—all relying on his sword in hand. If he became crippled… how would he survive?

 

But if he did nothing now… they would all die here today in this collapsing secret realm.

 

Xu Er actually didn’t need to beg him. As long as Chu Jinglan wanted to live, he only had one choice.

 

However, even knowing the correct answer was right in front of him, it wasn’t easy to take that step. Who would willingly give up a lifetime of cultivation just like that?

 

“Chu- Chu Jinglan, I’m begging you too!”

 

Chu Yusheng stumbled over and knelt down, his face looking utterly miserable. But Chu Jinglan only gave him a faint glance, remaining silent.

 

Chu Yusheng felt a chill down his spine from Chu Jinglan’s cold, frost-like gaze. He inexplicably felt as if Chu Jinglan was looking down on them from high above, abandoning all of them.

 

People on the edge of extreme panic and breakdown can’t handle stimulation. Even the slightest disturbance can drive them mad. Chu Yusheng was not a kind-hearted person by nature. Kneeling down to beg was out of necessity and humiliation for him. He had already knelt down, what more did Chu Jinglan want?

 

“You don’t want to save me, do you? Fine, I knew it! Chu Jinglan, you ungrateful bastard! The Chu family gave you everything you wanted, yet you’d let us die without lifting a finger. You deserve to be cut off from your family and left all alone!”

 

Chu Jinglan’s calm gaze suddenly condensed into a cold sword, stabbing straight at Chu Yusheng. Chu Yusheng shuddered violently, falling on his backside and scrambling backward like a stray dog, retreating several meters.

 

Chu Wumei, who had always gone along with him, came up and gave him a shove that made him stumble. She pleaded with Chu Jinglan: “Brother Jinglan, don’t listen to him. Brother, for the sake of our blood ties, please save me. Your sister is begging you!”

 

Brothers and sisters? Chu Jinglan never felt he had any.

 

He indeed had murderous thoughts towards Chu Yusheng. If not for the Chu family’s intervention, Chu Yusheng would have been dead long ago after he hired assassins to kill Chu Jinglan.

 

Along this journey, he hadn’t really protected Chu Yusheng, but Chu Yusheng had managed to survive by using others and hiding well.

 

Chu Jinglan thought casually: What a pity.

 

If he had killed Chu Yusheng with his own hands, once the others got out and the Chu family learned the truth, he, now crippled and his mother, would likely have no chance of survival.

 

Chu Jinglan had to bring out the other survivors, otherwise, with just his word about what happened in the secret realm, people outside might not believe him and would think he had killed everyone.

 

The murderous intent Chu Yusheng had provoked in Chu Jinglan gradually subsided.

 

Chu Yusheng had narrowly escaped death and didn’t dare bark anymore, keeping far away from Chu Jinglan.

 

The secret realm was on the verge of collapse, yet Chu Jinglan didn’t move.

 

Cripple, cripple… He never thought this word would one day be associated with himself.

 

Chu Jinglan rubbed his fingertips, unconsciously raising his hand close to his shoulder until his fingertips felt a very slight coolness.

 

Chu Jinglan silently turned his head to see the inner demon sitting on his shoulder, holding one of his fingertips with both hands. The little figure’s pitch-black body was trembling non-stop.

 

Chu Jinglan’s tightly strung back suddenly relaxed.

 

He was the one about to be crippled, yet someone else seemed even more afraid than him.

 

Regardless of the inner demon’s reasons for worrying, whether for its own benefit or something else, at least at this moment, Chu Jinglan’s hand stopped shaking.

 

He raised his finger and pressed it lightly on top of Xiao Mo’s head.

 

Then, under everyone’s gaze, he turned and walked towards the spirit crystal.

 

Whether they felt relief or great joy, Chu Jinglan didn’t want to see.

 

Su Baimo opened his eyes and saw Chu Jinglan’s actions. Although his feelings were complex, relief and joy dominated. He knew he would be saved now, how could he not be happy?

 

“I’m saving myself,” Chu Jinglan said.

 

Xiao Mo approached the spirit crystal, black mist swirling chaotically around him. Only he could hear Chu Jinglan’s voice. Xiao Mo said, “I know.”

 

You just happened to save their lives too.

 

Chu Jinglan threw away his sword, gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips, and pressed hard on his Lingxu acupoint. Spiritual energy rapidly gathered in his meridians, flowing from his shoulders and neck into the Taiyuan point. Spiritual energy poured out from his entire body without restraint, and then he slammed his palm onto the spirit crystal.

 

The pillar of light that had been struggling to rise paused for an instant. The next moment, golden light burst forth brilliantly, like a hungry and greedy beast, frantically absorbing the food delivered to its doorstep.

 

Chu Jinglan’s meridians and dantian were set ablaze. He became the life-saving fire in a snowstorm, the fuel that burns itself, a beacon fire lighting up the vast expanse. Chu Jinglan’s eyes seemed to have caught fire too, shining startlingly bright.

 

Whether it was because the golden light was burning the inner demon or not, Xiao Mo’s internal organs also felt intensely hot, half pain and half swelling, as if seawater was flooding into a small stream, expanding to the point of bursting.

 

Chu Jinglan’s spiritual energy surged to its peak. In his sea of consciousness, moonlight blazed brilliantly. The last remaining gap in the moon gradually filled in, actually touching the door to the Nascent Soul realm in this extreme burning.

 

Just as it seemed the moon would become full and complete, it stopped at the final tiny distance.

 

The silver-white moon, like a reflection in a mirror, began to fluctuate violently. Ripples spread out in circles, creating huge waves in the air. With a thunderous boom, the moon in the sea of consciousness shattered into pieces, turning into stardust and falling from the sky, landing on withered tree branches and into the lake.

 

The silver-white fireflies on the branches flickered one last time before fading powerless.

 

Chu Jinglan’s dantian shattered completely, his meridians all ruptured. He coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the spirit crystal and fell backward.

 

Golden light burst forth, penetrating heaven and earth. Before the secret realm completely collapsed, the great door opened, enveloping all those still alive.

 

Outside, the elders who had sensed something was wrong had been waiting for a long time. When the door opened, brilliant clouds of light appeared like the path they had taken when entering. But while they had entered full of vigor, they returned covered in blood, a tragic and sorrowful sight.

 

Many people tumbled out, but Chu Jinglan seemed to have been given a gentle push, landing steadily.

 

Chu Jinglan hadn’t lost consciousness yet.

 

The feeling of spiritual energy draining away had disappeared. All he felt now was pain, as if he was being drawn and quartered. It felt like his flesh was being cut open. He struggled to move his fingers but couldn’t accomplish anything or see clearly before falling into darkness and passing out completely.

 

At the same time, in his sea of consciousness, black mist surged frantically, enveloping the inner demon that had just been pulled back. Xiao Mo’s slender limbs curled up tightly as he lay in a fetal position. He closed his eyes, half-floating in the black mist. The red lotus on his forehead blazed brightly, his eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings as he struggled to awaken.

 

Xiao Mo’s clothes had disappeared, leaving him as bare as a newborn. His body, which should have been whole, was now broken and damaged, with large hollow patches that only left traces of golden light burning at the edges.

 

Black mist swirled and wrapped around his body, cocooning him.

 

The cultivation that Chu Jinglan had pushed up to the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm had shattered into nothingness, plummeting drastically. However, the inner demon, being his shadow, was filled to the brim with power, its momentum undiminished.

 

The mist cocoon poured strength into Xiao Mo’s body from every pore, gradually repairing his shell. His missing flesh slowly filled out, becoming lustrous like jade, smooth and delicate, without any trace of injury.

 

The furrowed brow and trembling eyelashes on Xiao Mo’s face gradually smoothed out. His beautiful face settled into a peaceful expression, looking so pure and touching in his slumber.

 

Black hair cascaded down his fair back, softly falling to the small of his waist, a stark contrast of black and white, breathtakingly beautiful.

 

He was bewitchingly alluring, yet also utterly pure.

 

In a moment, Xiao Mo let out a soft moan and slowly awakened.

 

His eyes still held a haze of confusion, misty and rippling like water. But a dark red light flashed across his pitch-black pupils, unconsciously curling the black mist around his body, brimming with demonic intent.

 

The cultivator had fallen into the abyss, while the demon rose gracefully into the sky.

 

The inner demon’s Nascent Soul was fully formed.

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