Free Web NovelChapter 326: Arduous Recovery
Consciousness drifted in endless darkness, like a drowning man struggling to grasp a glimmer of light.
Excruciating pain radiated from his limbs, Meridians, organs, and even the depths of his Sea of Consciousness, like thousands of steel needles piercing him simultaneously, akin to being scorched by raging fire or stabbed by ice picks.
His Divine Soul felt as if it were being torn into countless fragments, swaying violently between Chaos and clarity.
Fang Hao felt like he was about to die.
That brief clash with the Golden Horned Thunder Python was the closest he had come to death since stepping onto the path of immortality.
The furious strike from a Peak Fourth-Stage Demon Beast, even after being blocked by the golden puppet and weakened by the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art, had left residual lightning power that nearly destroyed his vitality.
His Meridians were severed, his Dantian was on the verge of collapse, his organs were all damaged, and his Sea of Consciousness was in ruins, as if ravaged by a storm.
If not for the Battle Intent erupted by the battle heaven axe at the final moment that forcibly awakened his will, if not for the faint Chaos Spiritual Power vortex in his Sea of Consciousness releasing the power of Chaos to protect his last shred of life, and if not for that random teleportation talisman activating in time... he would already be food in the belly of the Golden Horned Thunder Python, his body and soul destroyed.
He did not know how long had passed; perhaps days, or perhaps just a fleeting moment.
In the darkness, a faint, gray glimmer flickered stubbornly, like a candle in the wind.
This was the Chaos Derivation Art operating on its own, driving the nearly dried-up Chaos Spiritual Power vortex in his Dantian to extremely slowly and arduously absorb the free-floating, negligible Spiritual Qi from the world, converting it into wisps of Chaos Spiritual Power to nourish his broken Physical Body and Divine Soul.
The process was despairingly slow, and every wisp of Spiritual Power generated was accompanied by heart-wrenching pain.
Yet it was this faint vitality, like the toughest vine clinging tightly to the edge of a cliff, that prevented him from falling completely into the abyss of death.
Gradually, the gray glimmer seemed to grow a little stronger.
The Chaos Spiritual Power, like the gentlest stream, flowed slowly through his severed Meridians, bringing a faint coolness and... an itch wherever it passed.
That was his Physical Body undergoing an extremely slow self-repair.
The excruciating pain remained, but his consciousness finally broke free from the total darkness by a sliver.
"...Cannot... die..."
A faint, hoarse, and almost indistinguishable voice sounded within Fang Hao’s "consciousness."
It was his obsession to survive, the last pillar supporting him from sinking completely into oblivion.
He "saw" his own broken body.
Charred and withered, like dead wood struck by lightning, lying on the cold riverbank mixed with gravel and silt.
Beside him was the golden puppet, equally charred, with a huge dent in its chest and its spiritual light almost completely dimmed.
Further away was the silver light shuttle, broken in two and completely ruined.
Feelings of despair, like a cold tide, tried to engulf him.
But he gritted his teeth and suppressed that despair.
"I... cannot die..."
"Nascent soul... Dao... Revenge... has not yet been avenged..."
The fragmented thoughts, like scattered pearls, were strung together one by one by his tenacious will.
The revenge against the Sun Family Old Ancestor had not yet been avenged.
The nascent soul pill formula had not yet been found.
Higher Realms, a wider world, he had not yet witnessed.
He had endured countless hardships to walk from a menial servant to today; how could he fall here?
The desire to survive transformed into the most primitive motivation.
He no longer "waited" for the Chaos Derivation Art to operate on its own, but instead used his remaining will to actively guide and drive it!
Even if every cycle felt like suffering in a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, he gritted his teeth and persisted!
The gray Chaos Spiritual Power vortex spun just a little bit faster.
Wisps of Chaos Spiritual Power, like spring rain, moistened things silently yet persistently, repairing those small, relatively easy-to-fix cracks in his Meridians.
Time passed slowly amidst pain and persistence.
He did not know how long had passed when Fang Hao felt a fishy sweetness in his throat. He struggled, moving extremely slowly, to turn his head and cough out a mouthful of black-red, charred-smelling stagnant blood.
With the coughing out of this stagnant blood, the tightness in his chest seemed to ease a little.
This was a small step forward, but it gave him a boost of energy.
He tried, extremely slowly, to lift a finger.
This simple action almost exhausted the sliver of strength he had just accumulated; his finger trembled like a withered leaf in the wind, but it had finally... been lifted.
He was still alive.
He could still move.
Hope, like a firefly in the darkness, although faint, was real.
He began to try to mobilize his Divine Sense.
In his Sea of Consciousness, that chaotic "ruin" trembled slightly, and the excruciating pain struck again, but he endured it and forced a strand of Divine Sense, thinner than a hair, out of his body.
As his Divine Sense swept over, he "saw" the surrounding environment clearly.
This was a desolate riverbank located by a winding section of the downstream Golden Sand River, surrounded by reeds and rarely visited by humans.
The air was filled with moisture and a faint fishy smell, and the Spiritual Qi was thin, but at least... there was no aura of powerful Demon Beasts.
"Temporarily... safe."
His heart eased slightly.
That random teleportation talisman, although not of high quality and with uncertain teleportation distance and location, had at least taken him away from the territory of the Golden Horned Thunder Python.
He controlled that faint strand of Divine Sense to arduously open the Storage bag at his waist (he currently lacked the strength to open the storage ring) and took out a Medicinal Pill.
It was not the precious yin yang harmony pill, nor a potent healing holy medicine, but the most ordinary, mild-natured second-grade "rejuvenation pill."
Given his current injuries, the medicinal power of High Grade pills was too violent; he was too weak to absorb them, which might instead worsen his injuries.
He placed the Medicinal Pill into his mouth; he was too weak to even chew, so he just let it slowly melt, turning into a gentle medicinal force that merged into his Meridians.
The medicinal power of the rejuvenation pill was like a drop in the bucket for his current injuries.
But little by little, he would accumulate it.
Combined with the Chaos Derivation Art, he would surely recover bit by bit.
He no longer thought about the Golden Horned Thunder Python, the ruined silver light shuttle, the damaged golden puppet, or even temporarily set aside his obsession with the nascent soul pill formula.
At this moment, he had only one goal—to live.
To live, to recover from his injuries.
One day, two days, three days...
Fang Hao was like the most patient craftsman, repairing his "container" that was on the verge of collapse bit by bit.
The Chaos Derivation Art operated slowly, the medicinal power of the rejuvenation pill was constantly replenished, and he even began to try to guide the thin Spiritual Qi in the air, as well as... the faint, sharp-edged Metal-attribute Spiritual Qi belonging to the Golden Sand River beneath the riverbank.
At first, the Metal-attribute Spiritual Qi was like fine needles, stabbing his Meridians with pain.
But he did not give up. Instead, using the inclusive and evolutionary characteristics of the Chaos Derivation Art, he forcibly incorporated it and converted it into a part of his Chaos Spiritual Power.
Gradually, he discovered that although this Metal-attribute Spiritual Qi was violent, under the harmonization of the power of Chaos, it seemed to have a peculiar nourishing effect on his damaged Physical Body, which already contained Geng Metal Qi, and the repair speed even faintly accelerated.
On the seventh day, he was barely able to sit cross-legged; although still weak, he was at least no longer lying paralyzed on the ground.
On the fifteenth day, he could operate the Chaos Derivation Art for one major cycle on his own, and the Chaos Spiritual Power vortex in his Dantian had recovered from being nearly dried up to about ten percent of its state.
On the thirtieth day, he tried to take out a third-grade High Grade "Meridian Continuation Pill" from Mo Yunhe’s storage ring.
This time, he withstood the medicinal power.
The Medicinal Pill entered his abdomen, turning into a pure, gentle, yet powerful medicinal force, and began to systematically repair those severed and clogged main Meridians.
Two months later.
On the riverbank, Fang Hao slowly opened his eyes.
Although there was still fatigue in his eyes, the previous dimness and despair were gone, replaced by a calmness and tenacity born from experiencing life and death.
Most of the charred dead skin on his body had peeled off, revealing new, slightly pale skin, beneath which a white-gold luster faintly flowed.
His aura, although still weak, had stabilized around the Foundation Establishment Stage and was slowly rising.
The most severe meridian injuries had been mostly repaired.
The Chaos Spiritual Power vortex in his Dantian had recovered by about thirty percent.
The trauma to his Sea of Consciousness had also healed for the most part; although his Divine Sense strength was far from restored, at least there was no longer the tearing pain.
"Finally... managed to save my life."
Fang Hao let out a long breath; his voice was still hoarse, but it had a bit of vigor.
He stood up and stretched his muscles and bones, a light crackling sound coming from within his body.
Although there was still a long way to go before full recovery, especially to restore his combat power to the Perfected Golden Core, at least he was no longer that dying cripple.
He walked to the side of the golden puppet.
The huge dent in the golden puppet’s chest was still shocking, and its spiritual light was dim, like a dead object.
Fang Hao tried to input a wisp of Spiritual Power, but the golden puppet did not react at all; clearly, the core driving Formation was severely damaged and nearly ruined.
He took another look at the silver light shuttle broken in two and shook his head.
This Magical Artifact used for flying that had accompanied him for so long was considered completely destroyed.
"There are a few spare Magical Artifacts for flying in Mo Yunhe’s storage ring, but their quality is far inferior to the silver light shuttle."
Fang Hao moved his mind and took out a cyan-colored, ordinary-looking third-grade Medium Grade flying boat, the "azure spirit boat," from the storage ring.
This boat had average speed and decent defense, but its advantage was its low consumption, which was perfect for him to use while his condition was poor.
He put the wreckage of the golden puppet and the silver light shuttle into the storage ring.
Although the golden puppet was severely damaged, its main Materials were precious; if he could find a High Grade Artifact Refiner in the future, there might still be a possibility of repair.
After doing all this, Fang Hao identified the direction.
This place was downstream of the Golden Sand River, still far from the Myriad Laws Immortal City, but at least he had entered the hinterland of the Western Regions, which was relatively safe.
"The priority now is to find a place rich in Spiritual Qi, safe and hidden, to thoroughly recover from his injuries and attempt to repair the golden puppet."
Fang Hao made up his mind.
The Spiritual Qi here was thin, and it was close to the river, so it was not a place to stay for long.
He summoned the azure spirit boat, his figure flashed, and he entered the boat.
The flying boat slowly ascended into the sky, turning into a beam of cyan light, and flew slowly toward the mountain area away from the Golden Sand River and into the interior.
This time, he flew very slowly and very cautiously.
Escaping death gave him a deeper understanding of the word "danger."
This Immortal Realm was indeed full of murderous intent everywhere, and one could never be careless at any time.
The azure spirit boat cut through the sky and soon disappeared into the clouds.
On the riverbank, only a pool of long-dried and blackened blood remained, along with a few messy footprints, which were soon buried by the gravel blown by the wind, leaving no trace.
But Fang Hao knew that some things were already different.
This near-death experience was like the cruelest tempering, making his Dao Heart become more tenacious.
