Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Cui Jue Wakes Up
When Mu Ye saw Fang Cheng Lang’s expression, she knew he must have imagined something serious again, so she quickly denied it.

Fang Cheng Lang pulled the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile.

It was clear he did not really believe Mu Ye’s explanation.

Mu Ye felt a headache coming on.

She felt that she finally understood why Yu Zhao did not want to communicate with Fang Cheng Lang.

Because it was just too tiring.

He always thought in his own way and never really listened to others.

Just then, someone came over to look for Mu Ye. Mu Ye shook her head and left with her Fellow Disciples.

Fang Cheng Lang returned to his courtyard like a lost soul. His first stop was to visit Cui Jue, who was still in a coma.

Far away from home, Fang Cheng Lang had no one to pour out his heart to. Every day, he would come to Cui Jue’s room to talk to him.

He sat down by Cui Jue’s bed with a bitter face and said: “A’Jue, I did not see Little Six again today. She is still angry with me.”

He said: “I… I really know I was wrong. It is fine if she does not want to forgive me. I only want to see her once in a while, but it seems she will not even grant me that small wish.”

“Little Six is getting stronger and stronger. The friends she makes are also very strong. She does not need me to protect her anymore.”

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

“Master… bro…”

Fang Cheng Lang looked down in surprise.

He did not know when Cui Jue had woken up. Cui Jue was lying there with his eyes open, smiling at him.

“A’Jue! You are awake!”

Cui Jue nodded with effort.

“Good, great, wait a moment!” Fang Cheng Lang quickly tried to calm Cui Jue, then ran outside and shouted: “Elder Lian! Elder Lian! My Junior Brother is awake!”

Elder Lian lived next door. When she heard him, she was overjoyed. She rushed over and gave Cui Jue a full examination.

Fang Cheng Lang stood to the side, at a loss, hands tightly clasped together. He asked: “Elder Lian, how is my Junior Brother? Has he fully recovered?”

Cui Jue had been used as a test subject by Yao Wu Jiin order to save him and had suffered all kinds of torture.

Fang Cheng Lang owed Cui Jue a life.

Elder Lian drew back her hand and let out a sigh.

Fang Cheng Lang’s heart sank.

Cui Jue said: “First Senior Brother, I feel very good now. You do not need to worry about me.”

“Senior Brother knows.”

Fang Cheng Lang answered, but his eyes stayed fixed on Elder Lian, full of pleading.

Elder Lian said: “The poison in your Junior Brother’s body has been completely cleared…” She paused, then went on, “But because the poison stayed in his body too long, it damaged his five senses. He has lost his sight, his hearing, his sense of smell, and his sense of taste. The only lucky thing is that his Dantian and meridians were not harmed. He can still cultivate, and he can still sense the outside world through his Divine Sense.”

Fang Cheng Lang stared blankly at Elder Lian. His lips trembled, and it felt like his mind had fallen into endless darkness, unable to find a way back.

A’Jue was different from him.

A’Jue was an Alchemist. The five senses were extremely important to him.

Without smell and taste, could A’Jue still do Alchemy?

Fang Cheng Lang’s body shook hard. He looked back at Cui Jue and finally noticed that although Cui Jue seemed to be smiling at him, his eyes were empty, without a single trace of light.

“No! Elder Lian, A’Jue is an Alchemist like you. You know better than anyone how important the five senses are to an Alchemist. Please help him! He cannot lose his five senses! I beg you!”

Fang Cheng Lang fell to his knees in front of Elder Lian with a heavy thump. His eyes were bloodshot, and his emotions were out of control.

“First Senior Brother.”

Cui Jue could not see or hear, but his Divine Sense was still there. He knew what Fang Cheng Lang was doing and wanted to stop him, but his body was too weak. He could only let out a faint cry.

Elder Lian also felt troubled. She first helped Fang Cheng Lang up and said: “Get up and talk.”

A burning tear fell on the back of Elder Lian’s hand.

Feeling pity, she thought for a moment, then said seriously: “With how serious his poisoning was, losing his five senses is already the smallest price. If you want his body to fully recover, it is not impossible. I can think of two ways.”

“Please advise me, Elder Lian!”

The dull light in Fang Cheng Lang’s eyes suddenly came back.

Elder Lian said: “First, if he can cultivate to Divine Transformation, his body will go through a rebirth. The loss of his five senses will then heal on its own.”

Fang Cheng Lang felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him.

In the whole Cultivation World, there were fewer than a hundred Divine Transformation Cultivators. For Cui Jue to reach Divine Transformation, talent, fate, and state of mind were all required.

“Elder Lian, what is the second way?”

“Above the Endless Sea, there is a Floating Island. It is said that in the center of the Floating Island, there is a strange tree. It spends three hundred years growing leaves, three hundred years blooming, three hundred years bearing fruit, and one hundred years for the fruit to ripen. In a thousand years, it only bears one fruit.”

“The Longevity Tree!”

Fang Cheng Lang blurted it out.

“Yes, it is the Longevity Tree. The Longevity Fruit from the Longevity Tree might be able to help your Junior Brother. But the story of the Longevity Fruit has never been proved, and no one has ever seen it. It may only be a legend.” Elder Lian looked hesitant.

“Rumors always start from somewhere. No matter if it is true or not, I still have to try.”

Fang Cheng Lang’s voice was firm.

“The Floating Island only opens once every one hundred years. Only the Champion of the Cultivation World Grand Tournament can get a place to enter.”

If before, Fang Cheng Lang had joined the Cultivation World Grand Tournament just to bring glory to his sect, now his reason was to search for the Longevity Fruit for Cui Jue.

And he had to win and get the spot to enter the Floating Island.

After leaving some Pills for the next few days and saying a few words of encouragement to Cui Jue, Elder Lian left. Cui Jue and Fang Cheng Lang could finally talk alone.

Cui Jue leaned against the bed, his brows and eyes still clouded with sickness, and said: “First Senior Brother, when my injuries get a bit better, let us go back. We will not stay in Greenwood Sect anymore.”

“But Little Six is also in Greenwood Sect. You have not seen her yet…”

“I will not see her. She will not want to see me. It is better not to bother her.”

Fang Cheng Lang was a little surprised. Before falling into a coma, Cui Jue had kept murmuring Yu Zhao’s name. Why had his attitude changed so much after waking up?

Cui Jue gave a weak smile.

He said: “Actually, I was aware while I was asleep. I heard everything you said every time, First Senior Brother. As long as Little Zhao is living well, I am already very happy.

“And you also do not need to feel sad for me. When I found out that I had fed Little Zhao the Bone-Eroding Pill, I had already decided that I would never do Alchemy again. Ending up like this now is the punishment I deserve. I do not blame anyone.”

Cui Jue spoke in a broken, uneven way, short of breath.

Fang Cheng Lang felt as if his heart were being cut by a knife.

He said: “A’Jue, that was just First Senior Brother talking nonsense. It was only a dream.”

“First Senior Brother, you told me before not to lie to myself. How come now you are the one lying to yourself? We both know it was not a dream.”

The reason Cui Jue believed First Senior Brother’s words so deeply was that when he heard the story, a feeling of heartbreaking sorrow and regret rose up from deep inside him.

That feeling came too strong and too real.

Cui Jue could no longer lie to himself.

He guessed that maybe on another plane, another version of himself had done something very cruel to A’Zhao.

He was willing to use the rest of his life to atone for that other self.