Chapter 1936: Thinking About It Is Exciting

With a splitting headache, Zhang Xuan slowly awoke.

What met his eyes was a spacious room.

“My power…” He slowly sat up and looked down. His body was covered in bandages, and he was racked with pain. It was clear his injuries were severe. He tried to circulate his energy, but found his true qi was pitifully scarce.

“Mercury true qi?” Upon closer inspection, he found that the remaining true qi was incredibly heavy. Even circulating a trace of it was extremely difficult.

He had previously absorbed mercury spiritual energy and transformed it into the true qi he cultivated. This process was essentially converting dense spiritual energy into refined true qi. But now, for some unknown reason, the vast, ocean-like true qi within him had vanished, leaving only some mercury-like true qi.

While it was dense, with his current physical condition, it was incredibly difficult to even mobilize it, let alone use it to heal his injuries.

“I was entering the channel to the Firmament, blocked by lightning, and then... I lost consciousness…” As he observed the chaotic state of his body, his past experiences resurfaced in his mind. Zhang Xuan’s pupils contracted. “Could it be... I’ve already reached the Firmament?”

Normally, he should still be drifting in the spatial channel, yet now he was lying in a room, his body already bandaged. Could it be... he had already passed through the lightning zone and successfully entered the so-called Firmament?

With a thought, he tried to extend his spiritual sense outwards. His mouth twitched involuntarily.

His spiritual sense, which previously could extend for millions of kilometers, was now tightly confined within his body. It couldn't spread out no matter how hard he tried!

“What strong spatial pressure!” He didn't need further confirmation; he knew he must have reached the Firmament. Not only was his spiritual sense unable to extend, but his ability to fly was also restricted. Under the immense spatial pressure, even walking was difficult, let alone flying.

Grrr... His stomach rumbled, and he realized he was hungry.

Since cultivating to the Transcendent Mortal realm, absorbing spiritual energy had been enough to sustain him, making eating unnecessary. This was the first time he had felt such intense hunger, as if his entire body was being hollowed out.

Unable to extend his spiritual sense, he calmly perceived his surroundings. Indeed, the air around him was filled with mercury-like spiritual energy, dense and abundant, more than ten times denser than what he had encountered on the elevated platform in the Kunxu Realm.

He tried to absorb it, refine it into true qi, and use it to recover from his injuries, but his face immediately flushed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

A moment later, he couldn't help but shake his head.

When he was uninjured, he could absorb mercury spiritual energy and counteract its effects with his own strength without issue. But now, no part of his body was intact, and countless cracks had appeared in his meridians. He couldn't withstand it the moment he tried to absorb it, let alone convert it into internal energy.

“It seems I’ll have to wait until my injuries recover a bit…” Knowing that there was no point in rushing, Zhang Xuan calmed his mind.

Due to his severe injuries, and with almost no true qi left, he couldn't unleash his Void Shattering power. He looked no different from an ordinary person.

“First, I need to find something to eat…” Feeling his stomach growl louder, he struggled to stand up, rubbed his belly, and slowly walked out of the room.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Just as he pushed open the door, he heard a flurry of movement from the courtyard. He looked up and saw a young boy holding an iron sword, practicing swordsmanship.

His left leg was as stiff as wood—he wasn't sure if it was an injury or congenital—making walking quite difficult. His movements were without frills, yet the sword in his hand twirled ceaselessly, offering a pleasing sight.

“His fundamentals are decent, but his swordsmanship is a bit lacking…” Zhang Xuan glanced at him and frowned.

The boy's swordsmanship was indeed subpar, easily surpassed by any three-star master teacher. However, considering his physical impediment, it was quite impressive that he could achieve this much.

He sighed inwardly and inadvertently made some noise. Hearing the sound, the boy practicing swordplay stopped. He quickly turned his head, his face lighting up with joy. “You’re awake!”

As he turned, his features became clear. The boy was about sixteen or seventeen, not very tall, a head and a half shorter than Zhang Xuan. By standards from his previous life, he might not even be 1.6 meters tall. On his left cheek, there was a crimson birthmark, about half a palm in size, covering a large portion of his already plain face.

From a distance, he was far from handsome, and even a bit unsightly.

“Thank you for saving my life…” Zhang Xuan cupped his fist.

“It's nothing. I just happened to see you and brought you back... I thought your injuries were so severe that you wouldn't survive, but I didn't expect you to recover on your own…” The boy scratched his head, speaking disjointedly, clearly unaccustomed to interacting with people.

“Young Master Three…” An old man entered from outside. He paused upon seeing Zhang Xuan at the doorway, then bowed. “Young Master, you’re awake!”

Zhang Xuan nodded in return. He looked closely at the old man. His clothes were covered in grease, the corner of his mouth was split with traces of blood, and his cheeks were bruised. It was clear he had just been beaten.

“Old Yi, what happened?” The limping young boy, referred to as Young Master Three, saw the old man's appearance and his expression changed. He quickly put away his sword and walked over, filled with concern.

“Reporting to Young Master, it’s nothing…” Old Yi's face was awkward, unsure how to answer. After a moment, he said, “It’s... Young Miss Two from the City Lord’s manor!”

“Xue Qin is here?” Upon hearing about Young Miss Two, the limping boy's eyes lit up, with a hint of excitement.

“Yes…” Seeing his young master’s expression, Old Yi’s face grew even more awkward.

“Her visit... what does it have to do with you being injured?” After his initial joy, the limping boy realized something was amiss.

“Isn’t Lingyun Sword Pavilion recruiting attendant disciples in three days?” Old Yi hesitated, then gritted his teeth. “Young Miss Two, Xue Qin, used her connections with the City Lord’s manor... to get an early spot...”

“She got a spot?” The limping boy’s face brightened with joy. “Then... isn’t that a good thing?”

Before he finished speaking, he looked down at his limping leg. His expression immediately darkened. “I... certainly have no hope now...”

“If she got a spot, she’s definitely going to Lingyun Sword Sect. Could she be here to say goodbye to me?” Shaking his head, he cast aside the unpleasant thoughts in his mind, the limping boy asked.

“She... she…” Old Yi seemed unsure how to answer, pausing for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth again. “She... she’s here to break off the engagement with you!”

“Break off the engagement?” The limping boy’s face instantly turned ashen white. His body swayed, and he nearly fell. “Just because... she became an attendant disciple of Lingyun Sword Pavilion, she wants to break off our engagement?”

To have an engagement broken off by a woman, no matter where, was an extremely humiliating affair.

“A proud daughter of heaven looks down on her fiancé and comes to break off their engagement. The injured young man then strives for self-improvement, embodying the saying ‘thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river’?” Listening to their conversation, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows twitched.

To encounter something like this as soon as he arrived in the Firmament... Just thinking about it felt exciting...