Su Mo had already grown numb, almost beyond feeling pain, but this fall made him grimace and hiss in agony.
Sakurai Mii apologized repeatedly, “Sorry, sorry…”
While gently saying sorry, she stuffed Su Mo into a burlap sack, packaged him up, and carried him away…
Inside the sack, Su Mo wore an expression of utter despair.
Where did they find this person to rescue me? She’s so unprofessional.
Fortunately, the journey was extremely smooth. Even though she ran very fast, he didn’t feel much jostling.
Dazed and confused, he had no idea how much time had passed. He felt himself being loaded onto a vehicle, then off again, unsure of where he was being taken.
Finally, he saw the light of day once more. Beside him was only a woman who appeared to be in her twenties, exceptionally beautiful, her large eyes continuously appraising him.
“Where are you taking me?” Su Mo asked, enduring the pain.
Sakurai Mii smiled sweetly, “Back to our homeland.”
The faint sound of waves crashing reached his ears.
He immediately realized he was on a ship heading for the island nation.
“You’re Chiba, right? I heard from my senior brother that you’re quite impressive. Enduring their torture for so long without saying a word.”
Su Mo let out a bitter laugh, “Not talking at least meant you’d come rescue me. If I had talked, I’d be completely finished.”
“You’re quite clever.” Sakurai Mii looked at his numerous wounds, her expression turning somewhat fierce. “It must hurt terribly. Unfortunately, I don’t know medicine, so I can’t treat you.”
Her voice was indeed pleasant, melodious and moving like a lark’s, though her words were a bit sharp.
Su Mo lay flat, hoping to alleviate some pain. Unexpectedly, this sharp-tongued lark suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!” and pulled out a bottle of medicine. “I almost forgot, Senior Brother gave me a bottle of medicine, said it’s specifically for external injuries. Maybe you should try it.”
Su Mo reached out to take it, but she dodged his hand. Pressing her lips together in thought for a moment, she said, “You have to call me ‘sister’ before I give it to you.”
“Did your senior brother say that too?”
“Not really.”
Su Mo curled his lip, his expression clearly saying, Suit yourself. Give it or don’t. No skin off my nose.
Sakurai Mii immediately found it dull. “Fine, here. Apply it yourself. I’m a bit of a germaphobe.”
Having said that, she moved far away.
It was a private room. Besides him and Sakurai Mii, there was no one else.
Su Mo carefully peeled off the shreds of clothing stuck to his body, revealing a torso riddled with wounds, a horrifying sight.
He cleaned his body first, then applied the medicinal ointment. He didn’t utter a single sound throughout the process.
After finishing, he looked at Sakurai Mii. “Do you have any clothes? Can I borrow something?”
Sakurai Mii picked out a pink garment and handed it to him.
Su Mo was momentarily taken aback but didn’t disdain the overly girlish color. He took it and put it on directly.
After being a girl for so long now, it’s just a piece of clothing. I stopped caring ages ago.
But then again, he looked rather cute in pink…
That comment was made by Sakurai Mii. (Not the author.)
While cleaning his wounds earlier, he had specifically checked and found his injuries weren’t actually severe. Though they looked terrifying, they were mostly minor.
This was thanks to the special effects of the Golden Skin Fruit, which had greatly enhanced his skin’s defensive and regenerative abilities.
Seeing Su Mo now clean, with only the somewhat gruesome wounds remaining, Sakurai Mii finally dared to approach him.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. “Miss Mii, the soup you requested is ready.”
“Leave it by the door.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps considering that Su Mo hadn’t eaten for a long time, all the food she had prepared was liquid-based, and the temperature was just right.
Su Mo took the fish soup and gulped it down, warmth spreading comfortably in his stomach.
“Aren’t you afraid I might have poisoned it?” Sakurai Mii asked, quite curious seeing him eat so readily.
Su Mo retorted, “Would you poison it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what is there to fear?” Su Mo stated with confidence.
After the meal, under the pretext of needing rest, Su Mo closed his eyes to sleep. In reality, he turned his consciousness inward to inspect his Dantian (energy sea), gathering spiritual energy to heal his wounds. He coughed occasionally, his face showing pain.
Sakurai Mii stayed by his side the whole time, genuinely thinking how pitiful Su Mo was.
At that moment, she received a message from her senior brother, Shigenobu.
Shigenobu: “Are you on the ship?”
Sakurai Mii: “Yes, Chiba is lying down resting. I’m right here keeping watch. No unusual activity so far.”
Shigenobu: “I feel much more at ease with you there. But still be careful. She’s been trained since childhood and isn’t easy to deal with. Make sure you don’t fall for any of her tricks.”
Sakurai Mii: “Don’t worry, Senior Brother. Mii isn’t a pushover either. (^ω^)”
Ending the chat, she didn’t sit in meditation to cultivate. Instead, she sat to the side and started watching a movie—a horror film, no less.
The “sleeping” Su Mo twitched at the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself, This lark sure has unique tastes.
But there was another possibility: she was an Awakened who had manifested an ability. She might possess formidable strength without needing to cultivate through traditional means.
Take Nie Yun, for example. Young as she was, she became the Kaiyang Elder. She didn’t usually cultivate either, always having a lollipop in her mouth, yet she was absolutely formidable in a fight.
Su Mo’s consciousness sank into his Dantian. When he opened his ‘eyes’ there, two majestic, towering snow-capped mountains stood before him.
Looking up, Su Mo was surprised to find that the conversion rate of his second Dantian had increased significantly compared to before. Moreover, it converted automatically without him actively circulating the Crimson Flame Art.
Recalling the scenes from the past two days where the Yin Fire went out of control, Su Mo couldn’t help but wonder: Could it be related to the Crimson Flame Art?
Before, the Yin Fire wasn’t pure enough, so it behaved obediently and didn’t dare act up. Now, the Yin Fire’s ‘wings have hardened’; it dares to sneak out to play when its master’s consciousness fades.
Explaining it this way seemed to make some sense.
He had previously considered whether to pause cultivating the Crimson Flame Art for a couple of days to test, but found he simply couldn’t stop it…
The Yin Fire conversion had transitioned from a non-spontaneous process to a spontaneous one. Even with external intervention, reversal was difficult, if not impossible.
Why do I always have this sense of unease?
Su Mo frowned, gazing at the second Dantian above him.
For now, the loss of control only happened when he was asleep or unconscious. But in the future, as the purity of the Yin Fire continued to increase, whether it would ‘commit crimes under the very nose of authority’ remained unknown.
Thinking of this, Su Mo formulated a new plan for his subsequent cultivation—focus on spiritual cultivation.
The reason his spiritual power was strong largely depended on the Yin Fire; his own body contributed little. Now that the Yin Fire was becoming unruly, if he didn’t strengthen his foundation, he’d be in trouble if one day the Yin Fire rebelled and took control.
Currently, the only ability he had related to spiritual power was the Spiritual Assault Technique. But the Spiritual Assault Technique focused on how to use spiritual power for attack and defense; it didn’t directly enhance spiritual strength. Therefore, he still needed to find another technique specifically for boosting spiritual power.
He was already cultivating two techniques: the Jade Seed Art and the Crimson Flame Art. If he added another one…
I really am a freak!