When Ji Yuan woke up, it was already the morning of the second day.
He opened his eyes and looked at the rafters. Half a day and a night of unconsciousness had made his thoughts a little sluggish, and it took him a while to recall everything before he fainted.
After a long while, he let out a silent sigh, filled with a thousand emotions.
"Master! You're awake!"
As soon as the sigh escaped his lips, a voice filled with surprise rang out from not far away.
Ji Yuan turned his head and saw Zhao Yuebai, who had moved a prayer mat and was sitting cross-legged not far from the bed. She looked at him with a joyous expression.
"Should I go tell Shigung and the others?"
Zhao Yuebai stood up and helped him from the bed, asking softly.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan gently shook his head. "I'll meditate and regulate my breathing for a while. There's no need to tell them yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, he assumed the posture of the "five hearts facing the sky." His eyes had barely closed when his mind sank into his body, and he began to examine his own condition.
In recent days, the continuous battles had caused many hidden injuries to accumulate within his body. Observing with his mind, he could faintly detect some black light flickering within his flesh, obscured by mist.
These black lights were essentially manifestations of hidden injuries, and only by observing with his mind or divine sense could one catch a glimpse of them.
However, compared to the state of his physical body, these hidden injuries seemed insignificant.
At this moment, his body was filled with stagnant vital energy, blocking various meridians. The once cohesive blood and qi were now fragmented, difficult to connect with each other.
The consequence of the obstructed blood and qi was that large areas of flesh had become dull and lusterless, with the long-term danger of withering and necrosis.
Furthermore, forcefully activating the lake of sword energy in his brow had severely damaged his meridians, accumulating a large number of hidden injuries, and even his Zi Fu had suffered considerable shock.
Coupled with the injuries inflicted by his opponents, it would truly take at least one to two months to fully recover.
However, while physical injuries were easy to heal, the shock to his Zi Fu was not so easily settled.
Even though Ji Yuan was a highly accomplished alchemist, he was quite helpless in this regard. The medicinal pills he excelled at did not possess the effect of calming the turbulent Zi Fu.
Not to mention, although he had condensed a Dao heart, making his soul more refined, the forceful use of the sword energy lake within his Zi Fu had also damaged his soul.
The greatest fear of all beings in the world was damage to their soul. A single misstep could lead to a loss of sanity, and in severe cases, complete soul annihilation.
After a thorough internal examination, Ji Yuan found that his current state could not be described as merely "bad"; it was an absolute mess!
Physical injuries were easy to heal, but the damage to his Zi Fu and soul could only be repaired bit by bit through painstaking effort.
The most direct consequence of this situation was that he would not be able to use the lake of sword energy or his own comprehended sword intent for the time being.
Perhaps the only good news was that he could still open and close his Zi Fu and command the white jade flying sword residing within it.
Suddenly, Ji Yuan's thoughts stirred, and his mind sank into his abdomen. There, a shrunken Water God Pill was still continuously releasing abundant spiritual energy and medicinal properties.
After a moment of contemplation, he immediately mobilized the surrounding vital energy and began to refine this Water God Pill, which still retained more than half of its medicinal power.
Within a few breaths, a pure aura of water appeared on Ji Yuan's body, gently integrating into his limbs and bones, silently nourishing his body.
Simultaneously, streams of incense and wish power, meticulously refined, emanated from the Water God Pill. Without any need for him to control them, they ascended directly, then split in two, merging into his Zi Fu and soul.
He knew that the Water God Pill had the effect of nourishing the soul light, but he had not expected that the incense and wish power it contained could actually repair the damage to his Zi Fu and soul.
Although the repair speed was not particularly fast, it was extremely stable. During the recovery process, his Zi Fu and soul were also continuously strengthening and becoming more refined.
After observing for a while, Ji Yuan mentally estimated that once this Water God Pill was completely refined, the turbulence within his Zi Fu would be completely smoothed out, and the injuries to his soul would be largely recovered.
"Not good!"
Just as he was feeling pleased about this, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. As his mind sank down, he saw that dense spiritual energy had filled his entire abdomen.
Under normal circumstances, such pure spiritual energy would naturally be more the better. However, at this moment, his meridians were severely damaged, and there were also blockages. He was unable to disperse this spiritual energy throughout his body.
The vast amount of spiritual energy was continuously compressing his abdomen. If it could not be guided out in time, at best, the meridians here would be destroyed; at worst, his physical body would completely collapse, and a large hole would be blown through his abdomen by the spiritual energy.
At that point, even surviving would be difficult!
"I have no choice but to go all out!"
Ji Yuan muttered to himself, then gritted his teeth and sank his entire mind into his lower abdomen, doing his best to control streams of extremely pure spiritual energy to forcefully collide with the blocked meridians!
In an instant, intense pain shot through his abdomen. The piercing agony caused him to break out in cold sweat all over his body.
But at this moment, he had no other choice. Between the possibility of his injuries worsening, his meridians being destroyed, or being blown to pieces by the spiritual energy, he could only and must choose the former.
Taking a deep breath, Ji Yuan endured the pain around his abdomen and guided the vast spiritual energy to repeatedly impact the blocked meridians.
After half a moment, he managed to force open a tiny meridian, creating a channel for the continuously increasing pure spiritual energy to flow out.
However, this was still not enough. The speed at which the spiritual energy flowed out was still slower than the speed at which it was released from the Water God Pill.
Helpless, he could only grit his teeth and continue, guiding the spiritual energy to impact another meridian.
It took a full hour for Ji Yuan to force open seven meridians, finally achieving a balance of spiritual energy in his abdomen. But a new problem arose.
As the Water God Pill continued to refine uncontrollably, more and more spiritual energy poured into the few opened meridians. It would likely not be long before the same situation occurred again.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh in his heart, and a surge of determination welled up within him.
Since things had come to this, he might as well go all the way!
"The Great Dao has profound methods, heaven and earth reside in the heart, observe all living beings, and gaze upon myriad mountains and rivers..."
He silently recited the cultivation mantra in his mind and, disregarding everything else, began to circulate the Xuan Tian Dao Scripture within his body.
Vast spiritual energy surged through his meridians, breaking through areas of stagnation and blockage. Although the danger of explosion was temporarily averted, it subjected him to unimaginable pain at all times.
It was not until after noon, having completed nine great circulation cycles, that Ji Yuan finally opened his tired eyes.
At this point, his Daoist robe had been soaked with sweat several times. Although his cultivation had increased significantly, his aura was extremely weak, even worse than when he had first woken up.
Feeling the even more deteriorated state of his body, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. He then noticed several people standing before him.
Besides his master and disciple, there were also the Song River couple and Zhao Yuansong. As for the others, due to the limited size of the room, they were all crowded at the doorway, anxiously peeking their heads in.
"Disciple, are you alright?"
Seeing him awake, Zhang Zhiya quickly sat by the bed, his aged face filled with worry.
However, although the old Daoist was extremely anxious, he was just an ordinary person with no cultivation. His limited medical skills were of no use at this moment.
Therefore, he could only inquire with concern, his heart almost in his throat.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan felt a warmth in his heart, then smiled and shook his head, repeatedly stating that he was fine and that his cultivation had even improved due to the misfortune.
Only then did Zhang Zhiya feel relieved. After a few words of caution, seeing that the others had something to discuss, he took Zhao Yuebai's hand and walked out of the room.
After the old Daoist left, Song River lightly stomped on the ground, and a simple formation pattern appeared, spreading throughout the small cottage.
"This is a soundproofing restriction, ensuring our conversation will not be heard."
He glanced at Ji Yuan, his expression somewhat peculiar.
With his cultivation at the second realm, how could he not see that Ji Yuan was putting on a brave front? He had only not exposed it earlier out of consideration for the old Daoist.
In fact, given his current condition, even calling it "putting on a brave front" was not entirely accurate. While his cultivation had indeed increased, his aura was even weaker than that of a cultivator in the early stage of the Qi Enlightenment realm.
"Did your cultivation go wrong, or were the previous injuries too severe?"
After some thought, Song River could no longer suppress his concern and asked directly.
Ji Yuan shook his head and roughly explained the situation he had encountered to the three people before him, without any concealment.
After all, whether it was the Song River couple or Zhao Yuansong beside them, they were all people he trusted implicitly.
"It's not a major problem. Although my meridians are almost completely destroyed now, and I can't use much of my cultivation for the time being, at least my life is saved."
He smiled, not showing any unusual expression because of this.
Instead, he comforted the three of them, assuring them not to worry. With his attainments in alchemy, it would simply take more time and a heavier price, but he would eventually be able to recover completely.
"An elder from the Nine Xuan Sect will arrive in a few days. Why don't you return with us after some time?" Zhao Yuansong said with a smile. "Since you are going to hand over the Peak Master token anyway, you can take this opportunity to stay at the Nine Xuan Sect to recuperate."
Qianyu City was no longer as prosperous as it was more than three hundred years ago, and with the current turmoil, the resources that could be gathered were very limited. Even with Ji Yuan's high attainments in alchemy, a clever cook cannot cook without ingredients.
The Nine Xuan Sect, however, was different. As the foremost immortal sect in the prefecture, its profound heritage and the rare spiritual materials and herbs in its treasure pavilion aside, its location alone made it the largest trading hub for cultivators in Feiyun Prefecture.
In a market town outside the sect's mountain gate, complete magical treasures were even occasionally sold, let alone finished healing elixirs.
However, Ji Yuan shook his head, politely declining Zhao Yuansong's kind offer.
For him, going to the Nine Xuan Sect in his current state would not allow him to feel even the slightest peace of mind.
Although most of the people in the Nine Xuan Sect were upright individuals, not everyone acted honorably.
No one could guarantee that there wouldn't be a few scoundrels who coveted the Peak Master token in his hand or the benefits of inheriting a peak with just a nod.
For cultivators, this was both the most anticipated and the most feared "what if."
"Daoist Zhao, there are some things I'd like to discuss privately with Song River."
After a moment of thought, Ji Yuan smiled apologetically at Zhao Yuansong.
Upon hearing this, the latter immediately nodded, naturally knowing when to withdraw. He exchanged pleasantries with the others with clasped hands and then turned to leave.
In the process, he did not forget to close the door and, with one hand each, drag Xu Qiqi and Jiang He, who were trying to eavesdrop by the window, out into the courtyard.
"Old Song, it seems I'll have to trouble you to make a trip to the county town to purchase some spiritual materials for me."
When only the three of them were left in the room, Ji Yuan couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
What Zhao Yuansong had said earlier was indeed the problem he was facing. The resources in Qianyu City were insufficient to gather what he needed.
Even if he commissioned Mingxin Pavilion to have their main branch in the county town arrange it, not only would the price increase by twenty to thirty percent, but it would also expose his current situation to some extent.
Although he had never left the area within a few hundred miles of Qianyu City, and he had no known enemies, some things were better to be cautious about.
It was better to be safe than sorry!
"It's just a small matter, what's the trouble? It's only been a few days, why are you being so formal?"
Song River and his wife sat on a wooden chair, pretending to glare at Ji Yuan with mock displeasure.
Seeing this, the latter laughed heartily. Given the friendship between them, there was indeed no need for such formality.
After laughing, he took out paper and brush, wrote down a list of three pages of needed items, and then, in front of the two of them, summoned the white jade flying sword from his Zi Fu. He took out all the spirit stones and spirit coins and handed them, along with the list, to Song River.
"It might be a little short, or a little over. The rest is up to you."
When it came to financial matters, he was not polite at all. Knowing that it might not be enough, he did not take out any additional money to make up for it.
Song River did not seem to mind and casually put the items into his Mountain and River Bag.
On the other hand, Zhou Yuyan, standing beside him, covered her mouth and chuckled, as if she had long heard from her husband about Ji Yuan's obsession with money.
"Your condition is very strange. The mist in your flesh has been partially dispelled, but under the illumination of your soul light, no spiritual power has been born."
After putting away the items, Song River said with a furrowed brow.
Under normal circumstances, once a cultivator uses their soul light to dispel the soul from their flesh, spiritual power would be born within their body, allowing them to enter the Spirit Point realm.
However, Ji Yuan had clearly achieved this, but no spiritual power was generated within him. He had broken through, yet he had not completely broken through.
Such a situation was unheard of in Song River's past experiences, and he was at a loss for words.
"It's probably related to the severe internal injuries and the near destruction of my meridians."
After contemplating for a while, he offered his guess. "Once the injuries are healed and the meridians are reshaped, I should truly break through."
After speaking, Ji Yuan let out a self-deprecating laugh. He considered this a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, if he had to cultivate on his own, who knew how long it would take.
It was just that this "misfortune" was a bit too significant.