Jianyu was in pain. Which didn’t make sense, considering he was dead. After all, the afterlife was supposed to be a place of peace, where souls would reincarnate based on the

accumulated karma of their past lives.

Given that he was in pain, and therefore could not possibly be dead, Jianyu focused on the sensations around him. The first thing he noticed was that his pain seemed to be concentrated in the middle of his torso, around where his dantian was. Or should’ve been. Which was the second thing he noticed; using his still activated Soul Sight, Jianyu examined his interior. What he saw wasn’t promising.

Instead of the normally sparkling and pristine channels that denoted his meridians, he saw toxic buildups of a deep, dark purple colouration clogging his meridians. The blockages were moving slowly through his channels, coating the interior of his channels with impurities resembling a dark sludge.

When he examined his core, what normally would’ve been a peak-Foundation dantian prepared for Core Formation was simply nonexistent. Where his dantian should’ve been, there was a dark mass of shattered particles rolling around in his gut. He could see Qi escaping from the remains of his core into the air.

Rather than dwell on the fact that he was likely condemned to life as a mortal, Jianyu addressed the current threats to his survival. He couldn’t do anything about his shattered dantian, but he could do something about his lifespan. Which would be fairly short, if the howls he heard in the distance were indeed getting closer to him.

Unlike the broken circle that was his path of cultivation, the benefits afforded to him by his significant progression in body cultivation were still mostly present. He had enhanced hearing, increased bodily strength, and his skin was as tough as mortal iron. Similarly, his Soul Cultivation was also intact, maintaining the benefits of his Luminescent Soul, including the ability to suppress weaker souls,

The only physical problems that Jianyu was suffering were his lack of sight, due to the overuse of his Soul Sight, and the hole in his torso, still open and bleeding. The only reason he wasn’t dead was that his body was healing just fast enough to keep the blood loss from killing him. This still didn’t explain how he was still alive, though.

The fog finally gone from his mind, Jianyu remembered the events that had transpired before his body had been left where he now lay. He had been stabbed point blank by a blade poisoned by void Qi, and yet he was still alive, though only barely. Upon further examination, Jianyu discovered why. Within the gaping hole in his torso, located directly above his liver, there was a faint purple disk, upon which were inscribed numerous symbols from some unknown language.

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But Jianyu knew what it was. He remembered when he had seen it for the first time, years ago when his brother had first awakened his bloodline. He had seen it most recently during his battle with the elite assassin, as his brother tried to save his fellow disciples. Little Zhaohui, his precious little brother, had sacrificed his life to save Jianyu. And it was all for nothing, because Jianyu was now a cripple who couldn’t hope to challenge the assassin who had taken his life.

The howls were getting closer.

Jianyu couldn’t walk, as the whole in his chest was still repairing itself. He was essentially defenseless, and he could barely get off of the ground with his numerous injuries. Using his Soul Sight once more, he surveyed the area for a long stick to prop himself up with. It appeared that his precious jian had been stolen from his body, assumed to be dying or dead already. While this was unfortunate, it was hardly the worst of his problems.

If he had more time, he might have stared in wonder at the numerous colors that glimmered within his vision. The bodies of his deceased comrades appeared to be painted black, evidence of the Death Qi that had been transformed from whatever energy remained in their bodies at the time of their deaths. Since he didn’t need to use his eyes, and he was already face down on the ground, Jianyu used his hands to clutch at the ground around him and pull him towards a particular disciple.

The disciple in question had likely been a staff practitioner, as a length of Qi-fortified wood laid haphazardly next to her body. In the incense time it took for Jianyu to crawl towards it, he observed the tight strings of karma leading away from the staff. Almost every strand led back to the body of the unfortunate disciple, before disappearing into the hole where her dantian was located, or would have been located had she still been amongst the living. The strands that didn’t lead back to her were all faint in comparison save one, which likely indicated a former owner of the weapon.

Every time he pulled himself forward with his hands, gravel and debris underneath his body dug into his chest, worsening his injuries. But he didn’t have much choice; he could either die soon, unable to defend himself as scavengers picked him apart, or die later from his injuries.

After what felt like an eternity, Jianyu finally arrived at the corpse. Given the odor, the body had not been decomposing for long, although it was still rather unpleasant. He heard, rather than saw, flies around the body, their incessant buzzing only interrupted by the bowel movements of the deceased disciple.

He grabbed the staff, and using what little strength remained in his body, Jianyu propped himself up. He began to drag himself towards the remains of a building, likely brought down by a stray technique, using the staff as a third leg. This was the best defensive position he could find, although that wasn’t saying much. He could only hope that whatever scavengers appeared would ignore him in favor of a meal that didn’t require work to defeat.