After a night of fierce battle, his blood had flowed endlessly. Only now did Xia Ning Chang realize that her junior brother's composure from start to finish was merely a facade, upheld by his immense willpower.
Such injuries would have claimed the lives of countless others, but he had stubbornly held on, determined to fight alongside her until the last enemy was slain and the Nine Yin Congealing Dew was secured.
But after all was accomplished, his mind finally relaxed, and he could no longer sustain himself.
Suppressing the sorrow in her heart, Xia Ning Chang frantically searched Yang Kai's body for any remaining pills, then rummaged through Wen Feichen's belongings, forcing herself to stay calm. She took out some healing medicine and fed it to Yang Kai.
Yet, in his unconscious state, he couldn't swallow the pills. Helpless, Xia Ning Chang chewed the medicine herself and fed it to him.
Amidst this chaotic scene, the Nine Yin Eight Lock Formation that had sealed the entire valley suddenly trembled and collapsed.
Dawn had arrived! As the sun rose, the formation shattered on its own.
Xia Ning Chang was oblivious to the changes in the valley, still desperately trying to save Yang Kai.
A powerful yet gentle presence swept over them, causing Xia Ning Chang to tremble. She looked up in shock, and a moment later, a figure suddenly appeared before her.
"Master!" Seeing her mentor, Xia Ning Chang finally found an outlet for her suppressed emotions, and tears streamed down her face.
Meng Wu Ya, with a stern expression, was about to scold her when he noticed something amiss. Shocked, he asked, "What happened?"
Meng Wu Ya had been waiting outside the Nine Yin Eight Lock Formation for most of the night, not daring to break it. He had assumed that the plan to capture the Nine Yin Congealing Dew would go smoothly, especially since he had prepared Xia Ning Chang for years. With Yang Kai's cooperation, success seemed certain.
All that was required was for his precious disciple to make some sacrifices.
Having waited outside for so long, Meng Wu Ya had grown increasingly frustrated. Who else in the world would be drugged by their own disciple? Only he, it seemed. His anger wasn't about being incapacitated, nor the loss of face, but rather about Xia Ning Chang's reckless plunge into the depths of Black Wind Mountain. What if she had encountered danger?
So, Meng Wu Ya had intended to lightly reprimand her after the formation broke, though not too harshly, as he doted on his disciple like a treasure.
But the scene before him swallowed his words, shocking him to the core. He landed heavily, his face grave as he looked at the unconscious Yang Kai. "What happened?" he asked again, his voice deep.
"Master, save him!" Xia Ning Chang pleaded tearfully, her voice full of despair.
Meng Wu Ya didn't hesitate. He knelt, placed two fingers on Yang Kai's wrist, and swept his consciousness through his body, frowning deeply as he muttered, "Such severe injuries?"
To Meng Wu Ya, Yang Kai's injuries were beyond severe—they were life-threatening. His internal and external injuries were secondary; the real danger lay in his chaotic energy and severely damaged meridians and flesh.
Such injuries would require not only a rare elixir but also the skills of a master healer. Unfortunately, Meng Wu Ya had neither.
"Master, will he die?" Xia Ning Chang asked, her voice trembling with grief and fear.
Seeing her expression, Meng Wu Ya sighed inwardly. Fate was truly relentless. Despite all his precautions, it had still found a way.
Not wanting to see his disciple suffer, Meng Wu Ya reassured her, "Don't worry. With me here, he won't die."
As he spoke, he took out a bottle from his robe and poured out a single pill. The pill, about the size of a dragon's eye, was a deep golden color, clearly no ordinary medicine.
Seeing Meng Wu Ya take out the pill, Xia Ning Chang's frantic expression eased somewhat, knowing the power of this medicine.
With a look of deep reluctance, Meng Wu Ya hesitated for a moment before, under Xia Ning Chang's anxious gaze, prying open Yang Kai's mouth to feed him the pill.
"I'll do it!" Xia Ning Chang suddenly snatched the pill, chewed it herself, then leaned down, using her tongue to push the medicine into Yang Kai's bloodied mouth.
What! I'm still here! Meng Wu Ya shouted internally, quickly averting his gaze.
Watching his disciple so intimately tend to another man left Meng Wu Ya with a sour feeling, as though the daughter he had raised with care was about to leave him.
Once the pill was in his stomach, Yang Kai's condition seemed to improve slightly, though not as much as expected.
Taking advantage of the moment, Meng Wu Ya glanced around, his previously dull eyes now gleaming with sharp light. He saw Wen Feichen's corpse and Long Hui's dismembered body.
The confusion cleared.
Now he understood why Yang Kai was so gravely injured and why his disciple looked so disheveled, as if she had been through a fierce battle.
Rage surged in Meng Wu Ya's chest, and his face hardened with a dangerous glint.
Now was not the time for questions. There would be time later to uncover the full story of what had transpired.
Meng Wu Ya only regretted not breaking the Nine Yin Eight Lock Formation immediately upon arriving. If he had, neither his disciple nor Yang Kai would have faced such peril.
Regret and self-reproach morphed into anger, swelling into a towering fury.
Taking a deep breath, Meng Wu Ya suppressed his rage and gently said, "Disciple, did you secure the Nine Yin Congealing Dew?"
"Yes," Xia Ning Chang replied absentmindedly, her gaze still fixed on the unconscious Yang Kai.
"Then refine it now. Don't worry about Yang Kai; with me here, he won't die." Meng Wu Ya offered a comforting smile.
Xia Ning Chang hesitated for a moment before nodding and warning, "Master, please don't let anything happen to him. If I'm still alive, it's because of him. Without his protection, I would have already…" She trailed off, sobbing again.
"Rest assured!" Meng Wu Ya forced a smile and nodded.
Finally calming down, Xia Ning Chang wiped her eyes and took out the package she carried. While keeping an eye on Yang Kai, she began refining the Nine Yin Congealing Dew.
Half an hour later, the Nine Yin Congealing Dew was fully refined, though Xia Ning Chang kept its power suppressed within her dantian, not absorbing it. Absorbing it would take time, and once complete, she would ascend to the True Element Boundary, a process that would require even more time.
But with Yang Kai still unconscious, she wasn't in the mood.
"Let's go. We need to leave this place. He needs proper care." Meng Wu Ya bent down, picked up Yang Kai, and, with Xia Ning Chang, swiftly left Black Wind Mountain.
They didn't immediately return to High Heaven Pavilion, as it was too far away. Instead, they headed to the small town where Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang had previously stayed.
They found an inn in the town and settled down, with Xia Ning Chang tirelessly caring for Yang Kai every day, attending to his every need.
Meng Wu Ya also came daily to infuse Yang Kai with True Qi, hoping to heal his injuries.
After falling unconscious, Yang Kai found his consciousness in a void-like world. In this world, there was nothing except the Indomitable Golden Skeleton he had obtained from the Wordless Black Book.
The golden skeleton sat cross-legged, glowing with a golden light, while Yang Kai sat opposite it, motionless.
There was no sound, no light; Yang Kai stared at the skeleton, and though it had no eyes, he felt it was staring back at him.
Time passed, and Yang Kai remained in this silent state with the golden skeleton.
He was contemplating the mysteries of the skeleton. When he had previously comprehended the Indomitable Spirit, Yang Kai had sensed that there were still secrets hidden within the skeleton, waiting for him to unravel. But at that time, he was unable to do so.
After surviving a night of life-and-death battle, Yang Kai now felt a much closer connection to the skeleton.
If there had been a barrier between him and the skeleton before, it had now disappeared.
His unyielding spirit and will had conquered the skeleton's arrogance, making it content to have found a worthy master.
Suddenly, Yang Kai smiled.
The golden skeleton began to change, dissolving into specks of light that merged with his body, just as it had when they first met.
But Yang Kai knew that it was only now that he truly possessed the Indomitable Golden Skeleton. Though it had merged with his body before, it had not fully submitted to him. It had been observing, testing him, and now, satisfied with his performance, it had fully accepted him and dissolved its reservations, becoming a true part of him.
The void shattered, and Yang Kai's consciousness returned to his body.
He didn't immediately open his eyes, instead checking the condition of his body.
His injuries were largely healed, though his chest still ached slightly, and the sword wounds on his abdomen and shoulder were healing well.
In his dantian, the original forty-plus drops of Yang Liquid had dwindled to just seven or eight. The battle that night had drained him significantly.
Merely fighting Senior Brother Cai and Wen Feichen had cost him twenty drops of Yang Liquid, not to mention the effort required to resist the invading cold and continue fighting.
But although he had lost much Yang Liquid, the battle wasn't without its rewards. Remarkably,