Chapter 087

Chapter 87: Physical Collapse

After Yun Xi took the first bite of the glowing soul that tried to possess her, she noticed it wasn’t fighting back or moving at all—it just hovered silently in the center of her spiritual sea. She didn’t pause to think why, immediately lunging forward to continue biting it fiercely.

She swallowed the glowing orb in big mouthfuls, devouring it greedily. She knew the rule of survival clearly—[If I don’t kill you now, once you recover, you’ll devour me instead.]

“No! Stop! Please let me go! I promise not to possess you again—” The glowing orb desperately begged for mercy.

But Yun Xi ignored its pleas, biting down ruthlessly, each bite larger than the last. With every mouthful, her own soul grew brighter and bigger, while her opponent shrank smaller and dimmer.

“Spare me! I’ll tell you the secrets of Treasure Blossom Range. Just let me go…” The orb kept struggling, still unwilling to accept its fate.

Yun Xi paid no attention, simply chewing down relentlessly. [Only a fool would believe you,] she thought. She knew perfectly well that once released, this soul would expose all her secrets without hesitation.

Finally, amidst the pitiful howls of the glowing soul, Yun Xi swallowed the last piece and let out a satisfied burp, her soul finally relaxing in relief.

Taking a quick inspection around her spiritual sea, she saw the wooden tablet floating calmly in the center and the hidden floral forehead immortal ornament shimmering softly. She guessed that the mysterious strength she used in her desperate counterattack had come from that immortal ornament.

After confirming nothing else foreign remained within her spiritual sea, Yun Xi began absorbing the memory fragments left by the glowing orb she’d just consumed.

From these scattered memories, Yun Xi confirmed that the soul belonged to none other than the senior who had gifted her the cultivation method. He had a single lightning spiritual root and had reached the Integration Stage before he died.

He had come to Lofty Cosmos Realm’s Treasure Blossom Range with his companions to seal an undiscovered secret realm, intending to wait until the timing was right and then take the realm back to the spiritual world.

However, after sealing the realm, conflict arose among his group over who would claim ownership. He was betrayed, attacked by his companions, but ultimately managed to kill all three of them using his hidden trump card, thus taking control of the secret realm alone. Yet, he was gravely injured and could no longer return to the spiritual world.

His cultivation had been forcibly suppressed to enter Lofty Cosmos Realm, but now, with his injuries and the prolonged stay, his cultivation steadily declined. Eventually, he had no choice but to abandon his dying physical body, preserving his soul and waiting for an opportunity to possess a new body.

He waited in agony for over a thousand years, his soul nearly dissipating until Yun Xi arrived. Initially, he had disregarded her due to her triple spiritual root, deeming her body unsuitable. His original plan was to infiltrate the sect through her, find a better candidate, and possess them instead.

To lower Yun Xi’s vigilance, he gave her the Peerless Sword Lightning Manual without any traps, even pretending his soul had dispersed while secretly attaching himself to the prayer mat made from seventh-order Soul-Congealing Grass.

But Yun Xi, eager to absorb the lightning cultivation method, unwittingly revealed her lightning spiritual root. Realizing he almost overlooked the perfect body, he seized the opportunity as she tried to absorb the method and attempted to possess her.

Unexpectedly, Yun Xi had an immortal artifact protecting her, causing him to fail spectacularly and instead becoming nourishment for her soul.

“Phew! That was close!” Yun Xi muttered softly. She examined her now-expanded soul with a satisfied expression. In some ways, this disaster turned into a blessing.

These memories gave her a clearer understanding of her current predicament. Although the original novel didn’t explicitly mention this cultivator who sneaked into Lofty Cosmos Realm, Yun Xi speculated that he had succeeded in possession originally—likely targeting Sheng Yu Hong, as he was the most talented and powerful cultivator among the group who had entered the underground lair.

If she hadn’t interfered, it would have naturally been Sheng Yu Hong who became the chosen vessel. This explained why Sheng Yu Hong later aligned closely with Wei Yun Qing, the female lead blessed by fate—he was likely trying to cling to her destiny’s power. And that explained his ruthless behavior toward the secondary characters, especially Yun Xi, who served as a whetstone for the heroine.

The strange phenomena appearing in Treasure Blossom Range might also be due to Immortal Spirit Herb absorbing the sealed realm’s spiritual vein, inadvertently causing the secret realm to surface. [This is truly a butterfly effect in reality,] Yun Xi thought.

Yun Xi felt she was onto something. Despite the danger, she had gained significantly. Now she wondered when this hidden realm might appear, and if she would get a chance to benefit from it.

At that moment, an anxious, unfamiliar voice echoed urgently inside her mind:

“Master! Master! Wake up, please! Hurry!”

The voice was tiny, young, and extremely worried.

Startled, Yun Xi quickly returned her soul to her physical body and opened her eyes abruptly. Immediately, intense pain surged throughout her body, causing her to cry out in agony.

“Hsss! It hurts so badly! What’s happening?”

“Master, if you don’t wake up now, your physical body will collapse completely!” the voice said urgently. The palm-sized Trail Seeking Mouse was rubbing anxiously against her ear.

Yun Xi didn’t need to look to realize she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Even the slightest movement caused more blood to seep from her skin.

“How did you form a contract with me?” Yun Xi asked directly. Although unable to move her body, her spiritual sense had become incredibly strong, nearly reaching the Divine Transformation Stage. She could easily kill the first-stage Trail Seeking Mouse with a single thought.

The mouse trembled nervously but answered honestly:

“Master, after you saved me from that bad cultivator, I decided to follow you. But just now, the situation was urgent. I couldn’t wake you up, so I quickly used your blood to establish a blood contract. This was the only way to call you back through spiritual resonance.”

Yun Xi took a shaky breath and instructed weakly:

“I can’t move right now. Feed me what I take out.”

Using her divine sense, she retrieved a basket of milk fruits from her storage space. The tiny mouse sniffed the fruit eagerly, scrambled quickly onto the basket, and carried a fruit to Yun Xi’s lips using its slender tail. It carefully punctured the skin, letting the milky juice drip into her mouth.

As Yun Xi swallowed slowly, she realized her current problem—her soul had become too powerful for her physical body, causing it to deteriorate under the immense spiritual pressure.

If she hadn’t regularly consumed milk fruit before, her body would have already shattered during the possession attempt. Her body’s innate toughness, thanks to the milk fruits, was the only reason she had lasted this long. Silently, she expressed heartfelt gratitude toward Tribe Warrior.

After painstakingly drinking ten milk fruits, the agonizing pain finally reduced to a tolerable level. But Yun Xi knew this was only a temporary fix, not a permanent solution.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she planned her next step, knowing that to survive this crisis, she would need something far stronger than milk fruits.