"So it is about protecting the sect," he thought, his gaze softening. "Don't worry, Miss Yun. Rest assured, I will do everything within my power to help you as your assistant."
Yun Xiu stared at him a bit longer than necessary. His words, "as your assistant," echoed in the quiet.
Yun Xiu felt a pang of guilt wash over her. Here she was, the formidable Sect Master of Skywind, burdened by responsibility and suspicion, yet a stranger, a mere three-star tempered body, offered his unwavering support.
A wry chuckle escaped her lips. "Three stars," she thought, the corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly.
Life-saving debt. The phrase held a weight far greater than gold or jewels. She, who had weathered countless storms, felt a strange warmth bloom in her chest. Perhaps, she had misjudged him.
A reluctant smile, a rare sight on her face, softened her features. "Perhaps," she murmured, the single word a concession, a bridge built between them. "Perhaps you can be of some assistance, after all."
The silence that followed was charged with a newfound respect. The tension, once a barrier, began to dissipate, replaced by a tentative harmony.
The setting sun cast long shadows, painting the mountain path in hues of orange and gold. As they walked on, a comfortable stride settling between them, Yun Xiu, for the first time in a long time, felt a sense of ease.
Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days.
Now, Yun Xiu could stand on her own. She could walk slowly, though there was not much strength in her body. She still needed time to recover.
She slowly sat on the ground and looked at the box in front of her containing the herb.
Slowly, she opened the box and gently took the herb in her hand. As soon as she held it, she could feel the immense energy contained within this treasure.
Hun Yu sat silently in the corner, watching. She had told him that she wanted to consume the herb today.
She took a deep breath, and in the next second, she swallowed it whole. The plant, infused with condensed energy, felt rough against her throat, momentarily catching in her windpipe. A surge of power, wild and untamed, roared to life within her.
Yun Xiu's eyes snapped open, a gasp escaping her lips. Her body tensed, muscles rippling with unfamiliar energy. The cave pulsed with an otherworldly light as the herb's power began its rapid assimilation.
Across the cave, Hun Yu watched. He knew the power of such herbs was a double-edged sword. While it could propel her cultivation forward, it could also tear her body apart if not handled correctly.
Yun Xiu's face contorted in a silent scream as raw energy coursed through her veins. Her eyes, once serene pools, now glowed with an unnatural light. The air crackled with chaotic energy, threatening to burst from her very core.
"System, what is happening?" he asked, looking at the struggling Yun Xiu.
{She is struggling to absorb the power of that herb. If this continues, she will die from the uncontrolled energy running through her body.}
He heard the system. "Is there a way to help?" he thought.
{Did Host forget the 'Empathic Healing' ability that you received?}
After the system's prompt, he remembered that he indeed had an ability called that, but he had ignored it because its effects were not what he wanted.
{Empathic Healing: You can take the pain and suffering of someone else to help them.}
Yes, this ability would be perfect for this situation.
He slowly walked towards her. Approaching her was like walking against a tornado; the energy she released seemed to push him back.
But he did not retreat. Instead, he walked closer and closer, the chaotic energy tearing pieces of his clothes, cuts appearing on his skin.
He sat down in front of her with great struggle and slowly extended his arm, taking hold of hers.
"Empathic Healing," he muttered, and it seemed like he and she were connected.
His expression turned ugly as he felt like his whole body was being destroyed from the inside.
Yun Xiu, struggling to control the rampant energy, suddenly felt it become much easier to manage. Unaware of what was happening outside, she focused on stabilizing her cultivation.
Minutes passed.
Yun Xiu slowly opened her eyes, only to see Hun Yu sitting in front of her, his whole body bloody with countless cuts and tattered clothes. Before she could process what had happened, Hun Yu fell directly into her lap.
Panic hit her as she tried to understand the situation. She immediately took out a pill and pushed it into his mouth. In just a few moments, all the cuts healed, and he regained consciousness.
"What..." he muttered, still in pain and feeling as if he had been on the brink of death.
"Mind explaining what you were doing in front of me?" Yun Xiu's voice came from above. He looked up a little and realized his head was on her lap. Hastily, he stood up with a cough.
Though he didn't want to reveal his ability, he knew he had to give her a reasonable explanation. Telling the truth seemed like the best option.
"You see, I actually have a special ability," he began.
Her eyebrows raised in curiosity. "A special ability?"
"It is called Empathic Healing. I can take the pain of other people to help them," he explained. "When I saw you struggling, I thought you wouldn't make it out, so I used this gift of mine to help."
Yun Xiu did not doubt his words. When she was absorbing the herb, the pain from the rampant energy was overwhelming, and it had suddenly disappeared.
She looked at Hun Yu's tattered clothes and felt warmth in her heart.
She could tell how severe the pain was, and he had endured it just because he thought she couldn't make it out. A strange, unfamiliar feeling blossomed in her heart, but she maintained her composed expression.
"Hmm. Thank you for your help," she said, a hint of red on her face. She had never said thank you to anyone in her life; only a handful of people had received her gratitude.
It's not that she didn't appreciate others' help; it's just that there was rarely anyone who could be of help to her. She glanced at Hun Yu.
It must be her luck to have such a good and dedicated assistant. In a world full of people enslaved by their desires, finding someone like Hun Yu, who could ignore profit for her sake, was rare.
She didn't dwell on it much and sat on the ground in a meditative form.
Although her strength had not fully recovered, she could feel her realm break through from the third to the fourth rank. But that wasn't what she wanted.
She needed to see if her true goal had been achieved; otherwise, she would be facing death.
She estimated it would take around three to four weeks to fully recover. Currently, her strength was equivalent to that of a tempering body seventh to ninth rank cultivator.
As she sat silently with her eyes closed, another day passed. Hun Yu looked at the two to three remaining fruits and remained silent, realizing that Yun Xiu had eaten a lot of them yesterday.
It might be because she was recovering and felt hungrier due to her recovery process.
He knew he couldn't go outside as the system had mentioned that their presence was hidden only inside this cave.
But if they stayed, they would die of hunger. He had to take the risk of going outside, despite his pitiful cultivation of a tempering body.
With a sigh, he stood up. He had to risk it and pray that the prana beasts would ignore him. He glanced at Yun Xiu, who was in a meditative state. Not wanting to disturb her, he left the cave quietly.
As soon as he left, Yun Xiu opened her eyes, noticing his absence. She looked around, trying to find him.
"Did he go outside?" she thought. This forest was dangerous, and wandering outside alone was life-threatening. "If he doesn't come back in an hour, I'll have to go find him," she decided, feeling a strange sense of worry.
Hun Yu, who was outside, had already gathered many things to eat. The prana beast forest was full of edible resources.
Although he considered hunting some animals for Yun Xiu, he remembered his limited strength and dismissed the idea.
He picked a lot of berries, fruits, and tree branches for firewood. Just as he was returning to the cave, he noticed a river a few hundred meters away. An idea struck him, and he walked towards the water.
His eyes fell on the crystal-clear river, with fish clearly visible through the water. With a swift movement of his sword, he easily caught three to four fish. Just as he was about to head back, a strange sensation washed over him.
His vision went dark.
"Huh, finally. Taking over this kid's body was harder than expected," Hun Yu muttered, though his voice sounded different.
The aura around him changed but quickly returned to normal. "I have to act like this kid to trick that woman," he thought. He had been resting inside the core of that tier 6 boar prana beast. When the beast was killed, his consciousness awakened.
He had been watching everything the woman and this kid did until now. He found a chance to enter the kid's body without alerting the woman when she was falling from the sky.
She was a High Lord Profound realm cultivator and could have detected him if he had made a move earlier.
But since her qi was exhausted and would take time to recover, it was better to kill her now.
"Kekee!!" An evil laugh escaped his lips.