Chapter 171: Recovery! Chi Yao’s Timely Breakthrough!
Time quietly passed.
Lost in unconsciousness, Chen Xuan had no idea how much time had gone by.
All he knew was that when he slowly opened his eyes again, darkness had already fallen outside the cave.
The golden rays of the setting sun lingered only faintly at the horizon, painting the cave entrance with a dim orange glow.
Clearly, he had been asleep for several hours.
His mind was still somewhat groggy, but compared to before, the crushing pain had eased considerably.
Just as he instinctively tried to sit up, a beautiful face entered his field of vision.
Long brown hair flowing down bare shoulders and delicate features as beautiful as a painting; who else could it be but Su Ying?
Chen Xuan subconsciously opened his mouth to speak. However, he quickly realized that something was wrong.
Su Ying’s eyes were tightly shut.
Her breathing was slow and even, her head rising and falling gently with each breath in a steady rhythm.
The situation was clear. Su Ying had fallen asleep.
Even so, her hand continued to move unconsciously.
Her slender fingers slowly brushed through Chen Xuan’s hair, as though her body had remembered the motion even after her mind had fallen asleep.
Seeing this, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but shake his head.
He carefully lifted himself up, deliberately suppressing every movement to avoid waking her.
Then, ignoring the pain in his body, he gently supported Su Ying’s shoulders and carefully lowered her onto the stone bed.
Her brows unconsciously furrowed for a brief moment before relaxing again as she continued sleeping peacefully.
Only then did Chen Xuan let out a quiet breath.
Looking at her sleeping face, pale with exhaustion, he felt somewhat emotional.
"This girl..." he couldn’t help but mutter.
"She must’ve realized long ago that she couldn’t completely heal my injuries."
"Yet judging by my current condition, and how depleted her Spiritual Energy has become, she still insisted on treating me for hours with no end."
Under normal circumstances, a Core Formation expert would never get tired. Yet the current situation was anything but normal.
Under normal circumstances, a Core Formation cultivator would hardly feel tired, much less fall asleep from exhaustion.
But this was far from an ordinary situation.
Chen Xuan’s injuries had previously been extreme. Not only had his body been heavily damaged, but even his Nascent Soul had nearly been exhausted.
Combined with the vast gap in cultivation between them, Su Ying needed to push herself to the limit in order to have some results.
Thinking this, Chen Xuan slowly inspected his own condition.
Sure enough, his state had improved considerably.
Although the countless tiny cracks throughout his meridians had only healed slightly, they were no longer on the verge of collapsing.
His previously shaking Dantian had also calmed somewhat. Even the Nascent Soul resting inside had regained a trace of vitality.
All these made his originally fluctuating aura somewhat stable.
It was only a tiny improvement. But compared to before, it was undoubtedly progress.
Chen Xuan slowly clenched his fist. His knuckles turned white.
Sensing his strength, he gave a bitter smile.
He could only exert power equivalent to the Qi Refining realm.
This was already enough to surpass any mortals.
Yet for Chen Xuan, who had stood at the Late Stage of Nascent Soul only hours ago, such strength was practically nonexistent.
A trace of discomfort flashed across his heart.
More importantly, he understood something very well.
The injuries Su Ying had healed were merely the most superficial ones. From this point onward, every further step toward recovery would become exponentially more difficult.
Recovering enough strength to reach the Qi Refining Realm had already taken several hours.
Returning to Foundation Establishment would likely require weeks. For Core Formation, several months at least.
To regain his full strength, it would take him years—even worse than Su Ying had originally predicted.
For Chen Xuan, that was something unacceptable.
Fortunately, he didn’t despair.
Slowly adjusting his posture, he sat cross-legged beside the sleeping Su Ying.
Then, with a single thought, he summoned his greatest trump card.
It wasn’t the Holy Weapons left behind by Mu Xuanyin, nor any of the spells or Great Dao Origins he had cultivated in the past.
Instead, it was the System.
As his thoughts moved, the familiar translucent panel appeared before him. His current status was displayed in full.
...
[Name: Chen Xuan]
[Age: 98]
[Physique: Mutated Yin-Yang Spirit Body (Ultimate Grade) {Damaged}]
[Cultivation: Late Stage Nascent Soul {Damaged}. Current Strength: Qi Refining Realm]
[Technique: Yin-Yang Technique (12th Level), Dragon-Phoenix Body (3rd Level), Heaven-Swallowing Scripture (4th Level)]
[Disciples: Huo Ling’er, Chi Yao]
...
Looking at the panel that perfectly reflected his miserable condition, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but sigh.
Since embarking on the path of cultivation, this was undoubtedly the weakest he had ever been.
Fortunately, there was something he had noticed as he was sleeping that gave him hope for the future.
With another thought, the notification log appeared before him.
His gaze immediately landed on the newest message.
...
[Congratulations! It has been detected that the Host’s disciple, Chi Yao, has achieved a breakthrough!]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Would you like to receive them?]
...
Not much time had passed since he and Chi Yao had gone their separate ways.
Yet during that short period, his disciple had already broken through once again.
’She deserves to be the reborn Demon Empress.’
’If she had been under greater pressure from the beginning, she probably would’ve broken through much sooner.’
’Still... better late than never.’
He naturally understood why this breakthrough had happened. The pressure he had deliberately placed on Chi Yao by mentioning Huo Ling’er’s rapid progress had finally taken effect.
Likewise, once Huo Ling’er learned that Chi Yao had advanced again, she would undoubtedly redouble her own efforts.
Imagining his disciples working tirelessly, pushing each other forward while he sat back and reaped the rewards, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Unfortunately, the smile disappeared just as quickly. His current condition reminded him that now wasn’t the time to daydream.
What he had to do was find a way to recover. Only then could he deal with everything else.
And the current best way to do so was to rely on the System.
Looking at the long list of rewards waiting to be claimed, hope gradually filled Chen Xuan’s eyes.
Without any hesitation, he focused on the final prompt and pressed ’Yes’.
The moment his choice was made, the notification panel flickered.
Soon afterward, lines of text filled his vision.
[You’ve received...]
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