Chapter 157: Cui Jue Awakens

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Mu Ye glanced at Fang Cheng Lang’s expression and instantly guessed that he had imagined something outrageous. She quickly denied it.

Fang Cheng Lang forced a faint smile, clearly unconvinced by Mu Ye’s explanation. Mu Ye felt a headache coming on. Now she understood why Yu Zhao avoided interacting with Fang Cheng Lang—he was incredibly stubborn, always sticking to his own assumptions and ignoring others’ words.

Just then, someone approached Mu Ye. Shaking her head, she excused herself and left with her fellow sect member.

Fang Cheng Lang, despondent, returned to his courtyard. His first stop was to check on Cui Jue, who was still unconscious. In this foreign place, Fang Cheng Lang had no one to share his troubles with, so he visited Cui Jue’s room every day to talk to him.

“Ah Jue, I didn’t see Little Six again today. She’s still angry at me,” he said, sitting by Cui Jue’s bed with a bitter expression. “I truly know I was wrong. It’s fine if she doesn’t forgive me; I just wish she’d let me see her once in a while. But it seems even that small wish is too much for her.”

“Little Six is getting stronger day by day. Her friends are impressive too. She doesn’t need my protection anymore.”

“Ah Jue, when will you wake up? Senior Brother wants to go home.”

“…Senior…Brother…”

Fang Cheng Lang froze and looked down in shock. Cui Jue had woken up at some point and was smiling faintly at him.

“Ah Jue! You’re awake!” Fang Cheng Lang exclaimed.

Cui Jue nodded weakly. “Yes.”

“Good, this is great news! Wait here for a moment!” Fang Cheng Lang said hurriedly. He dashed out of the room, shouting, “Elder Lotus! Elder Lotus! My junior brother is awake!”

Elder Lotus, who lived next door, was overjoyed to hear this. She rushed over to perform a thorough examination of Cui Jue.

“Elder Lotus, how is my junior brother? Is he fully recovered?” Fang Cheng Lang asked anxiously, his hands tightly clenched. Cui Jue had been poisoned and tortured by Yao Wu Ji in Fang Cheng Lang’s stead, and Fang Cheng Lang owed him his life.

Elder Lotus withdrew her hand and sighed. Fang Cheng Lang’s heart sank.

Cui Jue spoke up, “Senior Brother, I feel fine now. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I know,” Fang Cheng Lang replied, but his eyes remained fixed on Elder Lotus, filled with a desperate plea.

“Your junior brother’s body has been cleansed of all toxins,” Elder Lotus began, pausing briefly before continuing, “but the toxins lingered too long, severely damaging his five senses. He has lost his sight, hearing, smell, and taste. The only consolation is that his dantian and meridians remain intact, so he can still cultivate and perceive the world through divine sense.”

Fang Cheng Lang stood stunned, his lips trembling. It was as if he had plunged into a bottomless abyss, unable to recover. Unlike him, Cui Jue was an alchemist. The five senses were vital to an alchemist. Without taste or smell, could Cui Jue continue refining pills?

A shiver ran down Fang Cheng Lang’s spine. He turned toward Cui Jue, only then realizing that although Cui Jue was smiling at him, his eyes were void of light—empty and lifeless.

“No! Elder Lotus, Ah Jue is an alchemist like you. You understand better than anyone how crucial the five senses are to an alchemist. Please help him! He cannot lose them! I beg you!” Fang Cheng Lang fell to his knees, his eyes red and his voice trembling with emotion.

“Senior Brother.”

Cui Jue, though blind and deaf, still had his Divine Sense intact. He was aware of what Fang Cheng Lang was doing and tried to stop him, but his body was too weak to do more than utter faint, nearly inaudible cries.

Elder Lotus also felt conflicted. She first helped Fang Cheng Lang to his feet. “Stand up and answer me,” she said.

Grasping Elder Lotus’s arm, a single, hot tear fell onto the back of her hand. Deeply moved, Elder Lotus softened her tone and said earnestly, “Given his condition after being poisoned, losing his five senses is already the least severe consequence. However, it’s not impossible for his body to fully recover. Two methods come to mind.”

“Please, Elder Lotus, tell me!” Fang Cheng Lang’s dim eyes lit up with a spark of hope.

“The first method is to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage. At that level, his body would undergo a complete transformation, potentially curing the loss of his senses without the need for any external remedies.”

Hearing this, Fang Cheng Lang felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. Across the entire Cultivation World, there were fewer than a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators. For Cui Jue to reach that stage would require unparalleled talent, opportunity, and perseverance.

“Elder Lotus, what is the second method?”

“Within the Endless Sea, there is a Floating Island. Legend has it that at its center grows a mystical tree. This tree takes three hundred years to sprout leaves, another three hundred to flower, and three hundred more to bear fruit. The fruit takes a final hundred years to ripen, and after a thousand years, it produces a single fruit.”

“The Longevity Fruit!” Fang Cheng Lang blurted out.

“Yes, the Longevity Fruit. It might be able to help your junior brother. However, the existence of this fruit is unconfirmed, and no one has ever seen it. It could just be a myth,” Elder Lotus said hesitantly.

“Even if it’s just a rumor, I must try,” Fang Cheng Lang said resolutely.

The Floating Island only opens once every century, and only the winners of the Cultivation World Grand Tournament can earn the right to enter. Before, Fang Cheng Lang had participated in the tournament to bring honor to his sect. Now, his purpose was singular: to find the Longevity Fruit for Cui Jue. He had no choice but to win.

Elder Lotus left behind some alchemy pills and offered a few words of encouragement to Cui Jue before departing, leaving the two alone to finally speak.

“Senior Brother, once I recover a bit, let’s leave here. We shouldn’t stay with the Green Wood Sect any longer,” Cui Jue said, leaning weakly against the bed, a persistent pallor on his face.

“But Little Six is still here. You haven’t seen her yet…”

“There’s no need. She wouldn’t want to see me. It’s better not to disturb her.”

Fang Cheng Lang was stunned. Before falling unconscious, Cui Jue had been muttering Yu Zhao’s name constantly. Why had his attitude changed so drastically upon waking?

Cui Jue gave a weak, bitter smile. “Senior Brother, I could hear everything while I was unconscious. All the things you said, I heard it all. As long as Xiao Zhao is happy, that’s enough for me.

“You shouldn’t feel sad for me either. From the moment I fed Xiao Zhao the Bone-Eroding Pill, I resolved never to refine pills again. Ending up like this… it’s the punishment I deserve. I don’t blame anyone.”

His words came haltingly, interrupted by his frailty.

Fang Cheng Lang felt as if his heart was being shredded. “Ah Jue, that was just a nightmare I had. None of it was real.”

“Senior Brother, you always told me not to deceive myself. Why are you doing the same now? You and I both know it wasn’t a dream.”

Cui Jue’s unwavering belief stemmed from the overwhelming grief and remorse he felt deep inside when hearing his brother’s account. The emotions were too intense, too raw, to be anything but real.

He suspected that in another plane of existence, another version of himself had wronged Yu Zhao terribly. And now, he was determined to spend the rest of his life making amends for the sins of that other self.

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