Qi Xinyue wasn’t surprised that Ding Huan knew about this. "Yes, the people on Earth sent a distress signal to our spaceship, and when we arrived, they shot our ship down."
"Distress signal?" Ding Huan looked at Qi Xinyue, puzzled. The Federation and the Genetic Alliance couldn’t possibly know the universal distress signals used between cosmic planets.
Qi Xinyue continued, "I later found out that they weren’t really sending out a distress signal, but rather a probing signal searching for extraterrestrial civilizations."
"All your companions died, and only you survived?" Ding Huan asked again.
Qi Xinyue shook her head. "No, they weren’t my companions. They thought I was a heretic with God blood, so they captured me, brought me onto that spaceship, and made me work for them."
"The injuries on your body, were they inflicted by your companions?"
As soon as he asked, Ding Huan realized his mistake. Qi Xinyue’s spaceship had landed on Earth seven years earlier, and the wounds on her body were evidently not that old.
Sure enough, Qi Xinyue shook her head. "No, they were inflicted by people from the Genetic Alliance."
"That old bastard." Ding Huan immediately knew it must have been Shi Changyi. Aside from him, no other person would dare or even have the authority to do such things.
"You know him?" Qi Xinyue asked with a look of confusion.
Ding Huan nodded. "I raided his lair, just didn’t encounter the guy."
Qi Xinyue said, "He’s very strong. If it hadn’t been for that general, I would have been tortured to death by now. He interrogated me on various matters and wanted me to hand over my cultivation items. There’s this General Hu, who always stood by his side and didn’t allow him to harm me. The wounds on my face were inflicted by that man when the general wasn’t around. During the recent beast tide, I used the opportunity when those Fierce Beasts broke open my cell to escape. I’m skilled in concealment and movement, and I knew that running counter to their expectations was my only chance to survive. I managed to escape successfully and used a kayak to reach this reef island."
In fact, the real reason she could escape to here wasn’t the kayak but her skills in concealment.
"Thank you," Ding Huan sincerely thanked her once again.
Seeing Qi Xinyue looking perplexed at him, Ding Huan slowly said, "The people on Earth treat you so harshly, yet you still helped me."
For anyone else, it would be unlikely to render help.
Not only was Qi Xinyue’s spaceship shot down by the people of Earth, but she was also imprisoned and tortured by them, coerced into revealing various secrets.
Under such circumstances, it would be hard for her not to harbor hatred towards the people of Earth.
In other words, even if Qi Xinyue saw him and refrained from killing him, just pretending not to see him meant he would surely die.
Qi Xinyue smiled. "There are always good people. General Hu saved me more than once, and I am very grateful to him. I realize that the reason he agreed to detain me was to understand the true nature of an advanced civilization, from the perspective of the Earth people, not to pry into my secrets."
"We’re probably not going to get out of here anytime soon, so why don’t you try cultivating for a while? I have some Primordial Qi stones here." Ding Huan said as he took out a few Primordial Qi stones from his bag and handed them to Qi Xinyue.
The reef cave was spacious enough for two people to cultivate. He also needed to enhance his own strength.
Qi Xinyue shook her head. "It would be a waste for me to use these stones for my cultivation. You cultivate instead."
"What cultivation technique do you use?" Ding Huan asked subconsciously.
He quickly realized what he said and hurriedly added, "I don’t mean to pry into your secrets, but to see if I can help you."
"It’s okay. What I cultivate isn’t a cultivation technique, but a sort of Divine Art that is particularly adept at concealment and short-distance movement," Qi Xinyue explained.
In this situation where death seemed inevitable, she could sense that Ding Huan was similar to General Hu. So she didn’t bother to keep hiding it.
Ding Huan forcefully stuffed three Primordial Qi stones into Qi Xinyue’s hands:
"Take these and try to cultivate. I’ll also cultivate for a while. With our current strength, we definitely can’t leave this place."
Qi Xinyue didn’t really care about leaving this place; what difference did it make to her whether she stayed or left?
In her homeland, she was considered a heretic. On Earth, she had neither family nor friends. If not for the outbreak of the beast tide, she would still be confined in an underground cell.
Taking the three Primordial Qi stones from Ding Huan, Qi Xinyue watched as he prepared to cultivate but didn’t start; instead, she walked out.
...
Ding Huan did not start cultivating immediately but took out the leather scroll he had obtained from an old scavenger.
He flipped through the scroll several times, finding nothing different from the language on it, similar to the scroll he had swallowed before.
Does he have to swallow it again?
After much thought, Ding Huan decided to stow it away for now.
When he initially swallowed the scroll, it was out of desperation, simply wanting to destroy it.
Now, he felt very uneasy about the prophecy on the scroll, not knowing what it meant or whether it was even left by himself.
After putting away the scroll, Ding Huan held a Primordial Qi stone in each hand and began circulating Luo Shijin.
Used to cultivating in ordinary places, the moment he used the Primordial Qi stones, Ding Huan felt like two streams of Primordial Qi surged out from his hands. As he practiced Luo Shijin, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi instantly filled his entire meridians and Dantian.
Just one cycle significantly increased his strength by a small margin.
Ding Huan became even more certain that once he left this place, he would seek out Primordial Qi stones, as they seemed tailor-made for him.
Minutes later, Ding Huan entered a meditative state.
At that moment, Ding Huan was completely immersed in the gratifying process of improving his cultivation. Several dozens of Primordial Qi stones were placed by his side, ready to be used whenever needed.
...
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Qi Xinyue came back to take a look at Ding Huan, saw he was cultivating, and chose not to disturb him. Instead, she went to the edge of the reef island, looking out over the boundless ocean and the horizon where the sea met the sky.
She knew she could never go back home.
In this life, she would never see her mother again.
She was to spend the rest of her life on this uninhabited reef island, perhaps only a few years remained, or maybe just a few days…
Her mother had told her that if one day the outside world could not accept her, she should return to Luoshen Valley, where although desolate, one could live a peaceful life.
But she hadn’t listened to her mother. She was captivated by the prosperity of the city, and that prevented her from ever returning to Luoshen Valley.
Qi Xinyue thought about this until she couldn’t help the redness swelling around her eyes.
Perhaps she wouldn’t die alone, at least there was one more person here.
This person was different from the other Earth People; he seemed indifferent to the secrets she harbored or whether she possessed a higher level of civilization.
He had even given her three Primordial Qi stones, probably what those people on Earth desperately sought.
Time slowly passed, from morning to evening, Qi Xinyue was like a statue. She gazed at the point where the sea met the sky, captivated by the beauty of the setting sun’s afterglow.
"Boom!" A noise of breaking waves exploded as a black Fierce Beast lunged at Qi Xinyue.
Qi Xinyue was startled awake—her thoughts of her mother had made her forget that she was standing on the reef, her feet mere inches above the sea.
Qi Xinyue’s feet sprang into action, and her body launched toward the central part of the reef island as though it had springs installed in it.
"Thud"—an arrow flashed from the sea, piercing straight through her body.
Qi Xinyue felt as if all her strength was being stripped away, and she fell like a kite severed from its string.
She knew very well that once her feet touched the sea water, she would have no future.
Fortunately, at that moment, she spotted a log and quickly stepped onto it.
Almost simultaneously as her feet touched the log, several more arrows shot out from the sea.
Qi Xinyue forcibly twisted her body in an attempt to dodge the arrows.
However, she was severely injured and only managed to dodge two arrows; the others once again pierced her body.
It was then that Qi Xinyue realized why Ding Huan had been injured before—it was these Fish Beasts capable of launching arrows.
She had come here hidden within a kayak; thus, the Fish Beasts hadn’t detected her.
She gave a wry smile.
Just moments ago, she had wondered if she could survive a few days, but now she couldn’t even live a few hours.
"Goodbye, mother."
...
Ding Huan could feel his breath reaching a peak; experienced as he was, he knew he was about to advance a level and prepared himself for the pain he knew was to come.
The Luo Shijin’s Circulation fervently drove the Primordial Qi to surge through his meridians, and powerful True Yuan erupted within him producing a surging sound.
Boom! When the True Yuan reached a climax, the constraints of the new meridian burst open, and the robust True Yuan rapidly spread along the Cycle.
Ding Huan opened his eyes, thrilled.
He was now a fifth-level gene cultivator.
To his surprise, this advancement had not brought the slightest pain—could it be that cultivation here was different?
Or perhaps upon reaching the fifth level, advancement became normal?
No, Ding Huan quickly understood.
The real reason was the Primordial Qi stones; his previous difficulties in advancing were mainly due to the lack of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi in his cultivation environment—this had made his advancements challenging.
Now, many Primordial Qi stones on him made the advancement easier.
He looked down and saw twenty-eight Primordial Qi stones remaining; it seemed he had used ten during his cultivation.
Ten Primordial Qi stones had allowed him to advance from a fourth-level gene cultivator to a fifth-level gene cultivator; indeed, these were valuable.
And it seemed he hadn’t even taken a day.
Ding Huan looked around, not seeing Qi Xinyue; he let his Divine Will sweep out.
To his delight, Ding Huan found that his Divine Will could now reach a hundred meters away—an impressive improvement...
But no, Ding Huan saw Qi Xinyue’s body on the log, then hit by several arrows.
Qi Xinyue’s body wobbled on the log, and Ding Huan had already shot out.
He hated these Fish Demons capable of launching arrows more than anyone. If he could eliminate all such Fish Demons, Ding Huan would do so without hesitation, but he knew it was impossible.
In an instant, Ding Huan reached Qi Xinyue’s side, catching her just before she fell into the sea.
At the same time, dozens of arrows shot towards Ding Huan from the sea.
Ding Huan, still in mid-air, easily twisted a few times and landed right where Qi Xinyue had been standing on the reef.
With a casual flick of his hand, nearly a hundred Wind Blades sliced into the sea, and blood blossomed across the water surface.
Ding Huan’s fury peaked, though even then, he continued to unleash Wind Blades.
As a fifth-level gene cultivator, his strength had increased exponentially; so had his Divine Will.
Now, standing on the solid reef as opposed to the unstable log, Ding Huan easily exterminated all nearby Fish Demons capable of spewing arrows.
More Demon Beasts, drawn by the bloodshed, surged forward in a frenzy to devour the slain jet fish demons.
Even while still holding Qi Xinyue, upon landing, Ding Huan kicked the log back onto the reef island.