Chapter 361: Lotus blooming with each Step
“Get in there!”
Two guards brought Yi Yun to a chamber in the Chu royal residence and pushed him into it, they then locked Yi Yun’s limbs with chains.
Yi Yun fell down to the ice-cold ground and laid down on his back. Every breath coming from him released cold vapor, causing the water in the air to condense.
The chamber’s doors and windows were all made of a special metal, engraved with arrays in them. Even if a human lord were to be locked in here, he would not have the ability to break out.
Furthermore, there were Chu royal residence guards patrolling outside the door. And further away, there were the legendary figures of the Shen Tu family clan. Attempting to escape only amounted to wishful thinking.
Though, regardless of this, he had still survived. However… he was only able to live for the time being. The reason was because of Shen Tu Nantian’s obsession with Jiang Xiaorou’s blood.
If Shen Tu Nantian did not hate the Desolate race to such an extreme or wished for a chance to capture Jiang Xiaorou, Yi Yun would have already lost his value, leaving him as a corpse.
Yi Yun found this hard to accept. He did not want his survival to be established on so many what-ifs.
Today had been the closest he had ever come to dying. It was also the moment when he nearly lost the most important person in his life.
In comparison, Lian Chengyu’s plots against him in the Cloud Wilderness as well as being hunted by the Golden Crow species in the Fallen Star Gate were much smaller in magnitude.
Death…Yi Yun did not know what it was like. Under the ground it was cold and dark, with a sense of endless loneliness. Bodies rot there, eventually turning into nothingness…
Yi Yun was a modern person in his previous life. He was not like the warriors of this world. He would not easily risk his own life for a particular matter.
Yi Yun cherished his life. As long as his bottom line was not crossed, Yi Yun will try his very best to live on.
If he could live through this disaster… Then, he never ever wanted his life to be in the hands of someone else, never ever should someone else decide his life.
He would not allow anyone to do so, no matter who it was!
Yi Yun’s body remained motionless. In this chamber, in a completely silent environment, he interfaced his spiritual energy with the Purple Crystal. By using the Purple Crystal’s powers, he started to slowly refine the frost toxins in his body.
Even in the midst of despair, he was not willing to give up hope. He wanted to give it his all to gain even a slightly better chance of survival.
He knew that he was temporarily safe.
Shen Tu Nantian was using him to lure out the upper echelons of the Desolate race. As such, they could not maim him too badly. At least he would not be made into a complete cripple, such as the breaking of all of his limbs.
If that happened, when the upper echelons of the Desolate race came, they would realize that Yi Yun was in such a pathetic state and give up on him when they probed him with their perception. This was because saving Yi Yun in such a state would be meaningless. It would only add to Yi Yun’s suffering.
This was probably why Shen Tu Nantian used a Seven Noxious Divine Yin Pill to waste away all of Yi Yun’s cultivation. By doing so, and by controlling the proliferation of news, then on the surface it would look like Yi Yun was void of all energy and extremely weak. Like that, the upper echelons of the Desolate race would not know that they were saving a cripple.
This was also Shen Tu Nantian’s plan.
Obviously, Yi Yun would not succumb to his machinations.
There was no concept of time in the chamber due to the lack of light. So as time passed, Yi Yun remained lying on the ground, without moving even his fingers. However, in Yi Yun’s body, the Purple Crystal had formed a tiny whirlpool. This whirlpool imperceptibly absorbed all of the frost toxins in Yi Yun’s body.
Inside the Purple Crystal, the originally small, blue, ice crystal gradually grew bigger.
Although its quality was inferior to the Pure Yang spirit, this incident had accidentally left behind a frost Yin elemental seed within the Purple Crystal…
One day, two days, three days…
Yi Yun looked up towards the sky with his eyes open. He did not move and on the surface, it looked as if he was dead.
However, Yi Yun’s injuries were slowly healing. His strength was also quickly recovering.
In his Dantian, the Radiant Sun Qi had restarted flowing vigorously, but… Yi Yun used the Purple Crystal to seal the pure Yang energy.
As long as the Purple Crystal absorbed and sealed the energy within itself, then not even Sages could detect it.
At the same time, Yi Yun released the frost energy inside the Purple Crystal throughout his entire body. Because of this, from the surface it still looked as if Yi Yun was poisoned by the frost toxins, and as if his cultivation was nearly wasted away.
There was no night and day in the chamber. The guards of the Chu royal residence would bring a pill and force feed it to Yi Yun every morning. This pill was a life-prolonging pill used to prevent Yi Yun from dying.
The deadline was a few days away. They had to ensure that Yi Yun looked fine, regardless of anything, or they would not be able to lure in the Desolate race.
“Keke! So pitiful. It has been seven days, yet this Yi Yun has not even moved his eyes. If not for his heart still beating, I would have thought he was already dead.”
A guard said with a gloating tone.
As a Chu royal residence guard, their status was not low. However, when compared to an elite like Yi Yun they were almost worthless.
It was inevitable that they felt some hatred and jealousy in their hearts. When they saw Yi Yun in such a misfortune, they got the same feeling as commoners who saw a high ranked official fall.
“Nothing is more lamentable than a dead heart. With your cultivation crippled, you would end up the same when your heart is dismembered a few days later.” Another guard said as he fed the pill to Yi Yun.
“Haha! If I were him, I would probably commit suicide now!”
“Commit suicide? Stop dreaming. Young master Nantian would not let him die. Poisoned by the frost toxin, he does not even have the ability to terminate his own meridians. His limbs are also locked down, so he can only give up hope on committing suicide. With a life-prolonging pill being given to him everyday, it is impossible for him to die even if he wishes to. Hai! This world is unpredictable. Who would have guessed that he, who was like the Sun in the middle of the day a few days ago, would become a pathetic death row criminal? He has fallen from a Heavenly palace and into Hell!”
A guard shook his head as he spoke. He knew that the Shen Tu family clan had invited two enigmatic elders. Both of them had set up a powerful large array to lay down the bait.
In a few days, high ranking Desolate race members might come to break through this virtually unbreakable large array to save a complete cripple.
Just thinking of this made the two guards feel like there was something fun to look forward to.
They really wanted to know what kind of facial expressions the upper echelons of the Desolate race would have when they saved Yi Yun, only to find out that he was now a cripple.
…
The ninth day.
Shen Tu Nantian looked at the sky. The Sun was about to set and tomorrow was the last day. If the upper echelons of the Desolate race did not come, then Yi Yun would be put to death.
“Young master Nantian, I am afraid that the Desolate race will not come. Setting up this Heaven Earth Empyreal Array was not cheap…”
Beside Shen Tu Nantian was an elder in white robes. His eyebrows were very long and hanged down like two white snakes.
The Heaven Earth Empyreal Array needed the blood essence of primordial species in order to draw the array lines. 108 refined desolate bones were also needed to be used as the array flags.
Creating this set of array flags was costly. Furthermore, this kinds of array flags could not be permanently used. A bit of their lifespans would be consumed with every use.
Shen Tu Nantian then said, “Elder Su, Elder Mo, I wish that you do not take this lightly. That witch girl is of a very special status amongst the Desolate race. Her wishes would be valued greatly by the Desolate race. The Heaven Earth Empyreal Array may be expensive, but if we can capture a few high ranking Desolate race members, as well as stop this beast horde, then we can even take this opportunity to capture that witch girl. If we do, then this amount of investment can essentially be ignored.”
The two elders did not reply. They went back to their own positions to meditate and rest. They were recuperating to ensure that they would be in tip-top condition.
However, to the two elders, this obvious trap would likely not give any returns. No high-ranking Desolate race member would want to send themselves to death.
The moon was high up in the sky as a night wind blew through the Chu Prefecture City.
On a mountain in the city outskirts, a lone, silver wolf howled while facing the silver like full moon.
The lone wolf howled.
Beside the silver wolf was a youth holding a bamboo flute that was not more than a foot long. He stood there in solitude.
His eyes like deep, dark, black gemstones. It reflected lights that were brighter than the stars. Behind the youth was a vast galaxy. The silver light was like a waterfall falling from the sky. The scene was reminiscent to that of a dream.
The green-clothed youth looked into the distance towards the Chu Prefecture City. The night wind blew up his green hair band as it fluttered in the wind.
Under the night sky, the Chu Prefecture City was like a huge black beast that was just waiting for his arrival.
The green-clothed youth took a step on the flowing wind and started levitating…
“Huh!?”
Elder Su and Elder Mo, who were meditating, suddenly opened their eyes. They had simultaneously felt a strong presence approaching.
And it was not the Yuan Qi energy of humans, but the surging Power of Desolates!
Power of Desolates… Desolate race!?
They really came!?
The eyes of the two elders flashed. They leapt up into the sky and flew with a golden beam trailing their feet. One of them held a golden sword while the other held a bronze mirror. They were like two gods of war flying in the air.
It was unexpected that with the two of them there, and with the Heaven Earth Empyreal Array, that a Desolate race member was actually willing to come to his death!
To come alone was a military taboo. Besides, they were fresh and fit, with a trap set up. This member of the Desolate race was absolutely crazy!
At this moment, Shen Tu Nantian also flew out from a palace. He was extremely excited that a member of the Desolate race would actually come.
With this, his plan had meaning to it.
If the Desolate race did not bother with Yi Yun, then even if Yi Yun’s heart was dismembered in a day’s time, it would just be the execution of a cripple. It would be no different from stepping on an ant.
However, now, even if he could not capture Jiang Xiaorou, he would still gain a lot just from capturing a high-ranking Desolate race member!
“I wonder what the lineup is. I hope that I will not be disappointed.” Shen Tu Nantian thought. He was estimating that the Desolate race would send at least 7 or 8 experts, to help each other out to reduce the risk.
However, when he saw the person who had come, Shen Tu Nantian was stunned.
A green-clothed youth was slowly walking on thin air.
His movements were calm and elegant. With every step he took, there would be starlight condensing together before it bloomed like a green lotus.
Sliding over water, lotus blooming with each step!
His steps seemed very slow, but every step he took seemed to contract the distance under his feet. A few seconds ago, he was along the horizons, but now, he was already right above the Chu royal residence’s thanks to his calm steps.
“Shepherd Boy!”
Shen Tu Nantian’s eyes flashed coldly!