Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 21—Life Dao
Chapter 21—Life Dao
Using his Inner Vision skill, Lei Cheng fixed his focus on the faint green aura within him—a fragile sliver of life force surrounded on all sides by encroaching black.
[ Ding! You have comprehended Life Dao Intent: 0.01%.]
"Damn it." He hissed through his teeth. ’At this rate—if it takes two or three seconds to comprehend 0.01%—reaching even 10% could take days. Days I do not have.’
The problem was clear. The life aura within his body was desperately weak—barely enough to keep him breathing. Enlightenment was not an all-powerful ability that could draw wisdom from nothing. It could only work with what was already there—like trying to understand an ocean from a single drop of water. At best, his Enlightenment could elevate that drop to a cup.
’The life force within my body is enough to comprehend roughly twenty percent of the Life Dao.’
He pressed his palms to his cheeks in his Soul Space, forcing himself to focus. ’No time to waste. The Enlightenment state can run out faster than I expect. Every second counts.’
He pushed himself back into comprehension.
---
In the pharmacy room—entirely oblivious to the battle of life and death unfolding beneath the skin of the unconscious boy on the bed—the purple-eyed woman was doing something else entirely.
She leaned over Lei Cheng and poked his cheek once with a finger. She looked him up and down with clear, evaluating eyes. "Not bad. You’re good looking," Then she noticed his stomach. "You should exercise more. I don’t like belly fat."
She stepped back, apparently satisfied with this assessment, and moved to the chair in the corner. Doctor Qian, Qian Shu, and Qian Jun stood motionless against the wall like furniture, eyes hollow and blissfully unaware.
The rocking chair creaked as she settled into it.
Tick. Tick.
A few moments of quiet passed. Then she stilled. Voices drifted in from outside—passing people on the street below.
"—Hey, did you hear? Today is Lei Cheng’s wedding. The young master of the Lei Clan."
"The whole of Azure Cloud City has been invited. Free food! They’ll have every kind of luxury dish—"
She had not been paying much attention to the street noise—but that single name cut through everything.
’Lei Cheng’s wedding.’
She stood up from the rocking chair. "So today is your wedding day." She glanced toward the bed, then tilted her head. ’But wait—isn’t he here?’
Her eyes moved to the illusion layered over him like a second skin. She regarded it the way one might regard a thin curtain—barely an obstacle. ’Ah. He has an illusion cover. I almost forgot. Such a weak illusion is difficult to notice.’ She sighed lightly. The Illusion Intent had never existed before her gaze. She had seen directly through to his actual face and body from the very beginning.
’Let me see why you’re hiding.’
Her third eye opened.
The fox mark on Lei Cheng’s body had already reacted when she had poked his cheek earlier—instinctively recoiling, burrowing deeper into the layers of his body, trying to hide. She hadn’t glanced at his chest then—his belly fat had simply been the unlucky thing spotted. But now, the fox mark could not hide from the third eye.
"Hm. Fox Groom mark?"
She scanned further, turning her awareness toward the Lei Clan courtyard. The wedding procession came into focus. She found Mo Yong climbing onto the ceremonial horse, following Lin Mei like an obedient, hollow puppet.
"Who is that idiot in Lei Cheng’s appearance?" she muttered.
Then she understood. ’Illusion. He swapped their appearances. That’s actually a good plan.’ Her expression shifted—urgent now. ’But he doesn’t have much time if he has planned something. Not in this state.’
She turned back to Lei Cheng’s bed, reached into her pouch, and withdrew a second elixir bottle. The pills inside were a deep, vibrant green—clearly a higher grade than the first.
"Life Detonation Elixir—one of the most powerful Level One elixirs in existence." She spoke as though explaining to someone who could hear her. "It forcibly seeks out every scrap of hidden vitality within the body and causes it to surge all at once. A desperate healing method—it uses the collision of two opposing forces. Life force crashes directly against injuries the body cannot normally heal, overwhelming them through sheer concentrated violence of energy."
She pulled Lei Cheng’s mouth open and placed the elixir inside. Then she paused—studying his face for a long moment.
"However, since it detonates the life force entirely, there is a chance of death if the injuries are too severe, or if the death energy in the body already outweighs the life force." She held her chin lightly. "In your case—your life force is less than one-tenth of the death energy already present. Ordinarily, this would be a guaranteed death sentence from the elixir alone."
She closed her third eye and settled back into the rocking chair, eyes closing, head tipping back.
"But this isn’t a healing method for you."
Tick. Tick. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
The chair rocked.
---
In Lei Cheng’s Soul Space—
Something ignited.
Every particle of life energy within his body lurched—violently, simultaneously—and rushed toward a single point with overwhelming force. The green energy condensed rapidly, collapsing into a single blazing orb at the center of his chest.
But the black death energy fought back. It coiled around the green orb like a fist closing, pressing inward, smothering. Stray threads of green energy that hadn’t made it into the orb in time were swallowed and extinguished.
Despite it all... The orb held.
"Damn it—" Lei Cheng scowled. ’If that orb goes out—that’s everything. That is my entire life force in one place.’
He threw himself into comprehension with everything he had, his Enlightenment grinding through the blazing orb’s nature at frantic speed.
[ Ding! You have comprehended Life Dao Intent: 0.4%.]
[ Ding! You have comprehended Life Dao Intent: 1%.]
The violent condensation of the orb was working in his favour—there was far more to read now than the faint trickle before. With Enlightenment, he could already feel its presence—a strong, stubborn will of survival. Growth. ’Life. It is the most basic energy a person needs to survive.’
He injected his accumulated 1% of Life Dao directly into the orb to help it withstand the death energy’s assault. But 1% wasn’t enough to push anything back—only enough to hold for a few moments more.
’Hold. Just hold.’
The orb steadied—barely. It could not advance. It could not retreat. Locked in a shivering stalemate at the edge of collapse—but it didn’t vanish.
He kept comprehending. The seconds stretched.
[ Ding! You have comprehended Life Dao Intent: 5%.]
He exhaled—one sharp, controlled breath. Then he injected his entire accumulated Life Intent into the green orb in one push.
The orb surged.
Cracks began spreading through the surrounding death energy.
For the first time since the battle began, it advanced. The black death energy recoiled at the contact. A hissing sound filled his body as the death aura began to dissolve at its edges, retreating under the pressure of the energized life force.
’Good.’
Relief flashed once—briefly—before he locked it down. He did not push further. He did not try to wipe out the death energy completely. ’Wipe it all out too fast, and the rebound could kill me before I’m stable enough to survive it.’ He held the two forces in careful equilibrium—life pressing just enough to keep death from advancing, but no more. He turned his focus back to comprehending.
---
In the pharmacy room, the purple-eyed woman opened one eye.
"So—you’ve finally stepped back from the edge of death." She studied Lei Cheng for a moment, then nodded with quiet satisfaction. "This goddess is pleased." She closed her one eye again and resumed rocking.
Tick. Tick.
Her rocking chair continued its slow rhythm, as though everything had gone exactly as expected.
---
Far away—in a man-made cave carved beneath a forested hillside—a golden light blazed so brightly it flooded every corner of the space.
At the center, a young Fox Bizarre with nine tails appeared to be sleeping—eyes closed, body still, tails drifting slowly in the air around him. But the energy radiating off him told a completely different story.
His nine tails suddenly snapped rigid. His eyes opened. The deep, cold crimson of a bloodthirsty predator filled his gaze.
"A human peered into one of our clan members’ memories."
For the first time in years, a trace of unease appeared in his eyes. It vanished almost immediately.
His roar shook the walls of the cave.
"Elder Nie Kui!"
A young female eight-tailed Fox Bizarre came sprinting through the cave entrance and knelt down, forehead pressed low.
"Clan Head—what has angered you so greatly?"
Clan Head Nie drew a slow breath and closed his eyes. He pressed the fury down with visible effort. When he opened them again, his voice had gone quiet—dangerously, deceptively soft.
"Go. Inform our young prodigies and their protecting Elders—initiate the Final Stage of the plan. Immediately."
Nie Kui’s head shot up. "The Final Stage—? Clan Head, are you certain?"
Clan Head’s soft voice sent a chill directly down her spine. "Is something the matter?"
Nie Kui slammed her forehead back to the ground. "Forgive me, Clan Head—but we have worked toward this for nearly a decade. Initiating the Final Stage now, without completing the proper groundwork, risks the entire plan collapsing."
Clan Head rose to all four fox legs. His gaze settled on her—calm, unblinking, absolute.
"Tell me—do you know what the plan actually is?"
Nie Kui lifted her head slightly. "I know, Clan Head. That is precisely why—"
"Then tell me." Clan Head locked his eyes with hers. "What is the plan?"
