章 4: Divine Pills Sect[Calm Before the Storm]

A small ripple in space extended outwards, following the emergence of a spatial tear. A bloodied youth emerged from the void. Looking at his pale countenance and his terrifying blood red eyes resembled an Asura that came from the deepest part of hell itself. If anyone would find him in his current condition, they would be scared silly to the point of fainting.

A whizzing sound echoed, the distorted crack in the air stabilized, and the youth that emerged from it, fell on the grasslands, unconscious.

...

An unknown time passed...

The youth groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. Before him, an unfamiliar wooden ceiling could be seen. Well, at first, he couldn't even recognize if that was actually wood, due to its current state of dilapidation.

He looked towards the surroundings, and as expected, he was inside a wooden hut. The bed he was on creaked and almost threatened to collapse when he tried to sit down.

The youth frowned.

'How could the current Divine Pills Sect became this poor?'

The youth couldn't imagine seeing a Divine Pills Sect that was decayed to the point that it couldn't even sustain the maintenance of its pavilion. The reason? Because they made pills! No matter in what era, the Divine Pills Sect was always one of the richest sects in the entire cultivation world!

He slowly stood up and made sure that he used the right amount of force, for he was afraid to break the bed of his benefactor. Now that he thought of it, just who was it that saved him?

Just as he had these thoughts in his head. A round of footsteps echoed, and a small voice exclaimed in delight.

"Ah! You woke up!"

The youth's eyes shifted to the source of the voice, sure enough. A girl with ragged clothing came running towards him.

"Are you fine?! Are you hurt anywhere?! Do I need to take you to the ICU?! Are you hungry?! Do you feel weak?!" The youth's eyes widened as the girl bombarded him with questions with a voice that made his ears hurt.

He wanted to scold the girl, but judging from her questions and the delighted tone of her voice, she must be his benefactor.

"Ah, why are you standing? You mustn't stand up, yet!" The girl cried, as she realized that the youth before him was actually standing. The day that she found him fainted on the grasses, she could see that he was covered in blood, and his upper body filled with deep slash wounds.

"Ughhh..." The youth weakly groaned, he couldn't help but fall towards the bed. The bed sharply creaked as it was desperate to endure the youth's weight.

"See? I told you! You shouldn't force yourself yet." A hint of pity could be seen in the girl's eyes. The youth expressed amusement towards the girl's expression. He then moved his line of sight towards his upper body, which was wrapped with thick layers of yellowish bandages.

Though he could not see the wound. He could feel that he was deeply wounded. The reason? That was the after effects of spatial teleportation. Although there was still a small amount of Divine Emperor Qi, that remained in his body, Since his dantian had withered, his body had similarly decayed, to the point that he needed to temper himself once more, to regain the strength of fleshly body which he once possessed.

Even though he could just refine the Second Chance Pill to regain his previous cultivation. But would it really be that easy to do? In his peak, the ingredients required to refine such pill was astronomical enough that even selling all the assets of his sects wouldn't suffice to obtain it.

And with the small chance of success? Nobody even dared to imagine refining it, yet even seeing the ingredients required.

The youth deeply sighed. But, he quickly regained his confidence. Although he had a withered Dantian and Meridians, he would still be able to nurture it so that it can once again regain its elasticity.

'Divine Talisman Sect... I will find those who caused your ruin!'

A determined glint appeared in his eyes, causing the panicking girl to be struck dumbfounded. However, seeing the current condition of the youth made her misunderstood.

In her eyes, the youth, with his eyes shining with profound determination, paired with him clenching his fists, and him gritting his teeth. The girl took the impression that the youth was valiantly enduring the pain wracking his entire body.

The girl's eyes shone with even more pity, however, other feelings could also be noticed in that small shining light. It was something that all girls in this world have!

Motherly Instincts!

"I will be back!"

Upon seeing the suffering of the youth before her. She clenched her fists and shouted with resolution, as she bolted out of the room, leaving a field of dust behind.

'Huh?' The youth stared at the place where the girl was, dumbfounded. Actually, the youth's wounds had already started to heal since the time he woke up. Thanks to the small amount of Divine Emperor Qi left in his body which pushed itself to the limits to heal his body. The reason why he groaned and fell on the ground earlier was he could feel his body stitching itself, which caused a sudden sharp pain that surprised him.

The youth gave a small smile, people that were altruistic like her could be sought, but could only be found by chance! However, he still shook his head. If not for the fact that he experienced countless betrayals to his road to the peak. He could have trusted this girl already.

However, he knew that in the world of cultivation. Naivety could spell your doom! As he thought of this, he gave himself a mocking smile and thought. 'I still can't seem to trust people, but my principle is always the same, if kindness if obtained, repay it ten times, but if hatred is given, repay it a hundred times!'

He would never be merciful to his enemies! All for the sake of reaching the peak once again and uncovering the truth behind the destruction of his sect!

The youth closed his eyes, his mind dissipated all distracting thought, as he opened his eyes once again, you would only see a vast expanse of blankness. As if you're staring to the void itself.

The youth's ears twitched as he detected several different footsteps towards the direction of the door. One pair of footsteps, in particular, was familiar, it belonged to his benefactor.

'Creakkk...'

'Bang!'

The door opened, and the figure of a girl arrived before him before swiftly slamming the door with a bang. The girl panting with ragged breaths hurried towards the youth and said.

"Quickly, open your mouth and swallow this!" Her voice tinged with urgency.

"Eh? Ouahh!" The youth could only explain as the girl didn't wait for time, she opened the youth's mouth with her left hand and shoved the pill down his throat with her right hand.

'How domineering!' the youth couldn't help but exclaim, and at the same time swallowed down the pill.

"Lily, you wretch!" The owner of the other unidentified footsteps he heard earlier shouted.

'Bang!'

The already broken-down door finally collapsed and returned to ashes as a kick had destroyed it. A figure of a boy with fiery legs could be seen standing in the same place where the door was earlier.

The youth frowned, his eyes briefly flashed towards the broken door before staring dead-eye towards the unexpected guess. Judging by the tone of his voice and his anger filled entrance. He could deduce that the boy had some kind of grievance towards the benefactor that saved him.

While he observed the boy. He could feel a comfortable warmth seeping outwards from his stomach, but instead of assisting the Divine Emperor Qi in healing his wounds caused by the spatial teleportation, the domineering Divine Emperor Qi instead used its dominance to divert the medicinal essence's healing prowess towards his dantian and meridians. The youth's eyes widened in shock. 'Just what is this pill?'

"Lily, you bitch! You actually dared to steal one of my Tier 3 Healing Pills!" The boy shivered in anger and pointed towards the Lily.

The girl named Lily had her head drooped down. No matter what, Tier 3 Healing Pills were precious enough that even her grandfather wouldn't be able to fend off for her!

The ring on the boy's left hand shone with a green light. The green light from the ring flew towards the boy's left eyes and stayed.

'Those rings...' The youth couldn't help but deepen his frown due to the actions that Lily took next.

Lily suddenly jumped before him, clearly protecting him from harm.

"Elder Gabica won't blame me for this!" The green light on the boy's eyes manifested in the air before him, and with a sizzling sound, flew towards Lily.

'Danger!'

The instant that the youth detected danger. The world before him slowed down. His brain exploded with potential as it calculated all kinds of information. The time it will take the green light will hit Lily, the time it will take to completely dodge the green light, and the time it will take to counter-attack. All of it was being processed inside his brain in this slowed down spacetime. Beaded drops of sweat formed on his forehead, and he could see that the movements of the green light before him was extremely slow. With the speed that it was flying, he could judge it just in time.

However, in this small span of slowed spacetime. He couldn't affect the world around him. He could dodge, but he can't touch anything other than the ground in this span of time. The youth gave a small smile, he had already decided.

As he willed, a fine amount of Divine Emperor Qi flowed towards the tip of his fingers, and at the same time, he formed a sword with his middle and index finger, forming an Emperor's Divide which unconditionally prevents any kind of force from crossing it.

The world around the youth returned as a blood red light formed before Lily and the green light. The green light forcefully struck the Emperor's Divide. A sharp sound like glass touching each other echoed out.

In an instant, the green light was reflected towards the youth's eyes as he cried out in pain.

"AHHH!!!" The boy fell backward, his left hand touching his left eye as he rolled down in pain. Blood constantly dripped down towards the ground. The atmosphere turned silent.

Lily who had closed her eyes in despair stared at the scene in front of her in shock.

'Just what, just happened?!' Her mouth didn't move, but her expression betrayed all of her refusal to voice out her opinion.

Of course, she cannot be blamed for her ignorance as to what just happened. Everything happened in the span of a fourth of a second. From the boy using his ability to the youth creating an Emperor's Divide, and she had her eyes closed in despair at that moment, which did not permit her to see the actions that the youth took.

And also, she didn't even think, even in their dreams that the youth behind her was the one who made the move. For he was 'deeply injured'!

Lily turned towards the sky and bowed down while murmuring in the air.

"To the senior that helped, I give my thanks!"

The youth's eyebrows twitched and gave a small smile, but it wasn't a victorious one. It was more of a painful smile.

'Here goes my effort in becoming low-key!' He cursed in his heart. But there was no use crying over spilled milk. Seeing the rolling boy on the ground crying like a pig being slaughtered. He shook his head, as he could predict that the days before him will become even more hectic.