Chapter 681: Miserable Senior Brothers

Just like a life-substituting talisman, or perhaps even more thoroughly, after the middle-aged man seemingly committed suicide, the blood mist gradually dissipated into an illusion and vanished. Meanwhile, in a certain part of the East Sea, a dishevelled middle-aged man suddenly materialized on a cloud in the sky.

At this moment, the man had none of his previous immortal-like bearing. The characteristic of the life-substituting item was to restore the state before its activation. Thus, his clothes were tattered and his hair dishevelled, he had a sword wound on his chest, and with the other tolls taken from escaping Ji Yuan’s attack range, his entire state was truly miserable.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough… Ugh… Hnngh… Pfft…”

Standing on the cloud, he couldn't help but feel nauseous and spat out a mouthful of dark blood. The blood seeped continuously through the gaps in his hand, which was covering his mouth, leaving him utterly pathetic.

“Ugh… Hnngh… Hnngh…”

With his right hand covering his mouth and his left hand clutching his chest, his body trembled incessantly. His internal energy was also in great disorder. For an immortal cultivator whose cultivation was so high that he had already stepped halfway into the mysteries of the Profound Cave realm, this was an inexpressibly severe injury.

Yet, in this state, he couldn't bother with healing. After anxiously looking back, he mustered his spirit and surged his magic power, continuing to fly forward. He was terrified that Ji Yuan wouldn't let him go, terrified that Ji Yuan would still pursue him. This feeling of fear, which should not appear in a cultivator of his realm, was a long-lost and real sensation that compelled him not to stop.

Dawn had already broken here. He continued flying until noon before finally finding a small island to descend upon.

Landing on the island, he didn't care about the fallen leaves, debris, or whether the ground was dirty. He immediately sat down to circulate his qi and regulate his body. The surrounding wind gradually subsided, and the spiritual energy in the vicinity slowly converged towards him.

However, the man's facial expression grew increasingly grim. His brows were tightly furrowed, and faint beads of sweat appeared. Streaks of sword qi darted through his various apertures, disrupting the internal balance of his body and tearing at his various wounds. Furthermore, an even more troublesome sword intent lingered deep within his mind. At this moment, his mind was unstable, and while healing, he constantly had a hallucinatory vision of Ji Yuan calmly striking him with a sword.

“Pfft…”

Another mouthful of blood spurted out, directly staining a section of a large tree trunk a few feet ahead of him crimson. The man's aura was even more chaotic than before. The wound on his chest, which had previously stopped bleeding, split open again. Immortal light diffused, attempting to re-seal the wound, but a surge of sword qi stirred within it, causing another gush of blood.

“Ugh… Hnngh… Ugh…”

With a flick of his sleeve, the man took out two slender leaves, emitting a faint green glow. Enduring the pain in his mind and body, he lightly tossed the leaves.

The next moment, the two leaves landed one after another on the sword wounds on his chest and back and vanished instantly upon contact. Immediately, the sword qi seemed to be sealed off, and the wounds rapidly drew together. However, the newly regenerated flesh could not erase the sword marks on the wounds, leaving a persistent bloody scar.

More than an hour later, the man, whose injuries were temporarily stabilized, slowly opened his eyes. His gaze swept across the island, and upon sensing no trace of Ji Yuan's presence, he finally let out a long breath of relief.

With one hand, he pulled out a dozen or so immortal insects from his body, many parts of which were charred. Their immortal light was dim, but they were, fortunately, still alive.

A few moments later, these dozen or so immortal insects gradually blurred, transformed into a single point of light before the middle-aged man, and then slowly coalesced in a hazy glow into an old man covered in burn marks and char.

“Pfft…”

A puff of smoky ash escaped the old man's mouth. He trembled on the ground for a while before finally catching his breath.

“Hnngh… Hnngh… Hnngh… Samadhi True Fire is truly terrifying. I almost… almost perished in a sea of flames. If not for you, Senior Brother…”

The old man turned to look at the middle-aged man, and his voice suddenly trailed off.

“Senior Brother! What happened to you, Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”

The old man's scarred hands trembled incessantly. He wanted to approach the middle-aged man but dared not touch him. The other's appearance looked even more wretched than his own. On his pale face, his various apertures were glowing with a bloody light. His hair was dishevelled and his clothes ragged. His chest was covered in a large patch of crimson, and the terrifying sword mark on his chest was clearly visible, with three colors—green, white, and blue—constantly intertwining and battling within it.

His Senior Brother kept his eyes closed, didn't reply, and seemed to have no breath. The old man's heart trembled. As he couldn't gather any magic power himself, he wanted to reach out and check for a pulse.

“I’m not dead yet…”

Hearing his Senior Brother speak, the old man breathed a sigh of relief.

The man slowly opened his eyes again, looking at his equally wretched junior brother. He could see a burning power churning within the other's body, and his junior brother's magic power was fully suppressing this fiery energy. He couldn't help but offer a wry smile.

“Haha, for us brothers to fall to such a state…”

“Senior Brother, you…”

The old man was still somewhat incredulous at this moment. His Senior Brother, in his eyes, was a true immortal of the highest caliber, to have fallen into such a tragic state.

The middle-aged man waved his hand.

“I won't die. I was careless for a moment and took a sword strike from Ji Yuan. It’s… I won't die yet…”

The middle-aged man had originally intended to say it was nothing serious, but given his condition, even to reassure himself, he simply couldn't utter such a phrase. It was simply too unconvincing.

“You must not hastily suppress the fire poison in your body. You need to guide your intention to construct a seal to seal it deep within your mind, and then slowly overcome it with water elemental methods, gradually eroding it. I didn't expect Samadhi True Fire could even burn one's spirit…”

The old man also sat cross-legged at this moment to regulate his breathing, nodding as he circulated his qi.

“Indeed,” he said, “I had only heard that Samadhi True Fire was Ji Yuan's unique fire-elemental divine ability, possessing unfathomable power. I didn't expect this fire could burn both the tangible and intangible, truly difficult to deal with. If Senior Brother hadn't arrived in time, even if I sacrificed ninety-nine percent of my immortal insects, I probably would have been burned to death.”

As he was speaking, the old man's voice paused again. He suddenly remembered something and quickly asked,

“Senior Brother, do you know the whereabouts of our Junior Brother? Before, I held Ji Yuan back so he could escape first. Where is he now?”

The middle-aged man shook his head.

“I calculated it earlier. He's likely in grave danger. He should have already been captured by Ji Yuan.”

The middle-aged man's words were meant to be comforting. In reality, judging by the previous confrontation, his junior brother might have already perished.

“Alright, this place is not suitable for staying long. We need to go even further away.”

“But Junior Brother…”

“With our current condition, do you expect us to go back to Ji Yuan and demand our junior brother?”

This question from his Senior Brother left the old man speechless. He could only sigh and give up.

Then, a faint mist rose from the island. Their subtle escape light hidden within it, they flew together towards the horizon and departed.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuan did not rush back towards the border of Zuyue. Instead, he moved slowly above Zuyue territory.

The sky was already bright, and morning light shone from behind Ji Yuan, as if a myriad of rays of light emanated from around him. Below Ji Yuan's current position was already the heartland of Zuyue. Through layers of clouds and mist, he could discern the surging human vital energy below.

It was fortunate that the battle location yesterday was even more remote and isolated, and that the population of Zuyue had been sparse in recent years. Otherwise, when large tracts of mountains and land were drawn into the sky by the middle-aged man to block the sword, the ones who would have suffered the most, besides plants and animals, would have been the people on the ground.

At this moment, with a flick of Ji Yuan's sleeve, the white-haired old man was shaken onto the white cloud beneath his feet. He lay motionless with his eyes closed, seemingly without a breath.

“Awaken.”

Ji Yuan spoke a command. Not long after he spoke, the old man's eyelids began to twitch, then slowly opened his eyes. Feeling a dazzling sunlight, he instinctively raised a hand to shield his face.

“I… I'm not dead yet?”

The old man felt waves of weakness wash over him, but he still propped himself up to a sitting position. He was met by a gentle breeze, surrounded by blue sky and white clouds. He realized something and leaned over to look around, but couldn't stabilize himself and nearly fell off the cloud as he lost balance. Ji Yuan reached out, grabbed him, and pressed him back onto the cloud.

The old man felt lingering fear, knowing he currently couldn't muster any magic power to cast spells or divine abilities. If he fell off the cloud, he would truly be smashed to pieces. He looked up at his side. An elegant man in a wide-sleeved robe stood with his hands behind his back, riding the wind on the cloud.

“Mr. Ji? My Senior Brother, he…”

In the old man's view, his Senior Brother had stayed behind to buy time. Their brotherhood was deep, so his Senior Brother would never have just run away. And now that he was captured, his Senior Brother was probably in grave danger.

Ji Yuan turned his head, his ancient eyes sweeping over the old man, which made the old man dare not move. Then he said calmly,

“Your Senior Brother was burned by Samadhi True Fire. Although his injuries are not light, he won't die yet. He previously said that the Insect Emperor was already on the Song Emperor. I am not very familiar with insect magic. If you undo this spell, I can give you two choices: one is a swift death, the second is to strip you of your cultivation and let you live out your remaining life as a mortal.”

“What about my Senior Brother?”

Ji Yuan's gaze showed no fluctuation. He knew the old man had already been rescued, but the person before him did not, so he spoke vaguely, avoiding the truth.

“I will spare him this time as well.”

The old man quickly continued,

“Sir, could you please remove the fire poison from Senior Brother? Legend has it that Samadhi True Fire is inextinguishable once it touches something. If Senior Brother's cultivation is crippled, he will surely die!”

Ji Yuan nodded lightly.

“If he is willing to let me heal his fire injury, then of course it's possible. But it still comes back to what I said before: you must first undo the insect magic.”

“Do you keep your word, Sir?”

The old man's voice was slightly agitated. Ji Yuan, meanwhile, turned his head to look forward. Below, in the distance, they were already not far from the capital of Zuyue.

“I, Ji, do not like to deceive people.”

The old man knew a little about Ji Yuan's character, and hearing these words from Ji Yuan's mouth put his mind greatly at ease.

“To avoid being unfilial, I can only tell you how to undo it, but I will not do it myself.”

Ji Yuan nodded without saying anything. With a flick of his sleeve, the white cloud immediately transformed into a wisp of smoke, and like an illusory dragon's shadow, scattered towards the distant land.