To any cultivator of both the Body and Qi cultivation paths, the worst thing that could happen to them was to lose their ability to sense Qi since it meant the absolute end of their cultivation; after all, how can one cultivate when one couldn't even sense the Qi they were about to absorb?
Old Lao and the twins felt something vanish from within the room and they all froze in shock.
Every time they came to observe Ji Min's procedure, they always felt some kind of palpable pressure present in the atmosphere; back then Old Lao said it was called 'Aura'; an ability that was unique to cultivators who were in the Commander Stage.
But just now, the so-called aura seemed to have vanished without a trace.
The twins trembled and covered their mouths with their sleeves with tears threatening to spill out in the next second, fearing that their young master had passed away.
Old Lao simply watched on with a grim expression; he was thinking the Tranquil Poison had gone through a death-evolution cycle and achieved a level of potency that proved too strong for Ji Min to handle.
He then shook his head and gave heaved a defeated sigh that finally caused tears to stream down the faces of the twin sisters.
Backtracking to the time when Ji Min was having his flesh reconstructed. Sensei knew Ji Min was currently treading on the thin line that separated life from death, and he was worried that if he said anything to him at this point in time; then that tiny distraction might just cause him to fall on the other side of the line.
Ji Min was already way past his limits, and all his cells had been weakened to the point where each of his organs was now failing due to lethargy.
Though they were stronger, they couldn't muster any ounce of strength whatsoever and were just like guns with no bullets.
Realizing that there was now a strong possibility of Ji Min dying; Sensei hurriedly took over his reflexes and punched the lid of the cauldron.
Boom!
The lid of the cauldron took off like a rocket, shooting across the room like a comet, before breaking through the walls of the hut like a wrecking ball.
Old Lao and the twins froze on the spot in different weird postures, whilst staring at the smoking lidless cauldron like they had just initiated a summoning ritual that produced a frightening demon instead of a fairy-like familiar.
"~Qi~"
Sensei managed to mutter softly with Ji Min's voice, but the cauldron echoed the voice in a deep tone causing it to sound like the demon within the cauldron had said "~Kill!~" instead.
The twins suddenly felt something wet stream down their legs whilst Old Lao simply used his body to shield them from whatever was within the cauldron.
Whilst breaking out in cold, itchy sweat, Old Lao managed to muster enough courage to speak;
"Ji Min, is that you?" He asked as Sensei repeated with the nigh non-existent energy left within Ji Min;
"~Qi~" but once again, the cauldron did its job and the trio heard another.
"~Kill!~" Sensei sensed Old Lao's hesitation and wondered why the old coot hadn't filled the cauldron with Qi-rich treasures.
Out of desperation, he used the reflex one last time to lift Ji Min's hand to signify how dire his situation was; but as fate would have it, it was the same hand that had punched the lid earlier, and currently, it was bleeding tranquil poison.
Bang!
Old Lao who was already on edge saw what seemed to be the hand of an undead abruptly pop out of the cauldron; and with pure instincts, he sent a canon of pure Qi blasting towards it.
Old Lao then borrowed the recoil of his Qi canon to jump back, grab the soiled twins mid-flight, and then flee as far from the hut as possible, all in one fluid motion.
Meanwhile, the moment the blast of pure Qi touched Ji Min's hand, just like a credit card at the ATM, the Qi seeped through Ji Min's hands, exciting the cells on his skin which began to pass the energy to one another, taking a bit and passing the rest onto the next; [Self-regeneration?! That's impossible!]
Sensei blurted in shock as he watched the wave of Qi ripple across Ji Min's skin heading toward a certain location.
The Qi washed over Ji Min's organs and streamed itself into his heart before surging towards the blob of Tranquil Poison that was hovering right at its center waiting to be activated.
The Qi then seeped into the tranquil poison which began to roil and churn violently like a murderer that had a short-fuse temper, and when the churning reached its peak;
Ka-Boom!
A muffled implosion rocked Ji Min's heart giving his heart a very much-needed jolt.
~Howl~
The air within the cauldron abruptly howled towards Ji Min who took a deep mouthful of hair to support his placid lungs.
His lungs swelled to their limits as the Tranquil Poison released another implosion that pumped the heart once again, causing Ji Min's lungs to forcefully deflate, resulting in Ji Min's forceful inhalation of a mouthful of air once again.
Then the process repeated itself over and over again, until Ji Min's heart began to beat normally, causing streams of tranquil poison to pump through his veins like they were his blood.
[Quick! You need to find a source of Qi to feed your cells so they can begin to sustain themselves!] Sensei urged frantically;
Boom!
Ji Min erupted out of the cauldron, causing spider webs of cracks to litter its entire body.
Upon exiting the hut, he realized it was currently night time and the moon was giving its best performance yet, bathing everything in sight in a silvery blue radiance.
Rargh!
Ji Min snarled as he could barely speak through his weak tongue and vocal cord.
He was feeling aggressively starved, and it was like the hunger was giving him what he called 'Kamikaze-power' simply because the power felt borrowed, and would only sustain him till he found something to eat fast, or die.
Ji Min looked around and realized that there was no one around whom he could ask for something to eat; but then, his eyes landed on the many trees in the garden and he instantly began to drool.