CHAPTER 26: HOPE AMID SCREAMS

"Roar!"

The Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon writhed in pain and curled up into a ball. It never expected that a mere cultivator at the Qi Absorption Realm could actually injure it.

After landing a successful strike, Lu Chen could no longer hold himself up. He slowly collapsed to the ground. He stared hard at the beast. "We must stop the Fire Flood Dragon... or else..."

He was completely drained. If no one could stop it now, what followed would be nothing short of a massacre.

"Roar!"

The Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon launched into the air with a furious roar, charging straight toward Nantian Xiu. "Humans, you will pay for this!"

"No... don't!"

Lu Chen struggled to rise, wanting to stop the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon, but his body had long since given out. He couldn't even lift a hand.

The Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon stirred a storm of blazing flames, setting the surrounding forest ablaze before unleashing a torrent of purple flame toward Nantian Wan'er.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out. Smoke and dust surged high into the air where Nantian Wan'er had been. When the smoke finally settled, all that remained was a blazing inferno. Nantian Wan'er and Nantian Xiu were nowhere to be seen.

"No!" Lu Chen stared at the scorched battlefield, a wave of sorrow crashing over him. He couldn't accept what he was seeing. "Why...? Am I really cursed? Why is it that everyone who treats me well ends up dead or hurt?"

Seeing that Nantian Xiu and Wan'er had vanished, the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon turned and charged toward Lu Chen.

Facing the oncoming beast, Lu Chen slowly closed his eyes. He could no longer move, and all he could do now was to quietly wait for death.

Just then, a thunderous voice rang out from the sky. "Wretched beast! Die!"

Lu Chen opened his eyes. A golden dragon descended from the heavens, its massive tail sweeping through the sky as it struck the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon and sent it flying.

The golden dragon landed and gradually disappeared, revealing Nantian Xiu and Nantian Wan'er beneath it.

Lu Chen's face lit up as he saw them. "You're both alright! That's such a relief! How is Wan'er?"

Nantian Xiu let out a long sigh and gently placed Nantian Wan'er by Lu Chen's side. Then he turned back to face the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon.

Lu Chen struggled to look at Wan'er. She remained unconscious and covered in frost, cold mist curling off her hair like wisps of smoke.

Lu Chen called out to Nantian Xiu. "Grandpa Xiu... Wan'er's body..."

Nantian Xiu's face was filled with fury. He gave no reply to Lu Chen and instead drew a sword with his right hand.

"Die, you damn wretched beast!"

He tossed the sword into the air and quickly formed a hand seal. The sword shimmered with golden light, multiplying behind him into thousands of flying swords.

"Nantian Dragon-Slaying Sword! Go!"

With a surge of immense pressure, Nantian Xiu controlled the swords and launched them toward the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon.

The countless swords in the sky converged into a golden dragon radiating pure spirit qi, suppressing the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon and leaving it paralyzed.

Boom!

The golden dragon's head crashed into the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon, and the formation broke apart, transforming back into thousands of flying swords. They pierced toward the beast like a dazzling meteor shower.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The flurry of swords tore the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon's flesh apart, leaving it bloodied and battered.

"Kill!"

Nantian Xiu formed another hand seal. The thousands of swords fused together, glowing with blinding light as they plunged into the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon's skull.

Just as Nantian Xiu prepared to strike again, Lu Chen shouted from behind.

"Grandpa Xiu, come back quickly! Wan'er is trembling all over! She won't last much longer!"

Nantian Xiu no longer cared whether the Purpleflame Fire Flood Dragon was truly dead. He turned and rushed back to Nantian Wan'er's side.

By now, she was entirely encased in ice, and her breath had grown faint. Nantian Xiu channeled his spirit qi into her, but it had no effect. The cold energy within her had even begun absorbing his qi, growing stronger by the second.

Nantian Xiu clenched his fists and pounded the ground in despair. In that moment, he no longer looked like a powerful cultivator, but just an old man consumed by grief, mourning the fact that he had failed to protect his granddaughter.

"I, Nantian Xiu... I once was a favored son of a golden age, a prodigy of my generation... And yet, a mere Fire Flood Dragon has taken my granddaughter from me. What good is this cultivation if I can't even protect the one I love?"

BY NOW, LU CHEN HAD REGAINED SOME OF HIS STRENGTH. HE TRIED TO COMFORT NANTIAN XIU WHEN HE SAW HIS HELPLESS LOOK, "GRANDPA XIU, MAYBE... MAYBE THERE'S STILL ANOTHER WAY TO SAVE WAN'ER."

"UNLESS WE FIND SOME HIGH-QUALITY FIRE-ATTRIBUTE ENERGY RIGHT NOW, THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT... I'VE SPENT YEARS SEARCHING FOR IT, BUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAN'T BE FOUND SO EASILY."

LU CHEN QUICKLY SAID WHEN HE HEARD WHAT NANTIAN XIU NEEDED, "FIRE ENERGY? I HAVE PLENTY ON ME!"

"IT'S NO USE. I'VE ALREADY EXAMINED THE FIRE POISON IN YOUR BODY. THAT'S JUST A BUILDUP OF TOXIC RESIDUE FROM FIRE ELEMENTS. IT'S USELESS."

"No! The fire poison in me isn't the only thing in my body! I carry the fiercest and purest flame under heaven and earth. I will save Wan'er."

He began to crawl toward Nantian Wan'er. With every inch he moved closer, the ice encasing her visibly melted away.

Watching the scene unfold, Lu Chen remembered how the fire poison within him would gradually subside whenever he was near Nantian Wan'er in the past.

There had to be some kind of connection between them and some way to resolve the fire and ice poisons.

As Lu Chen's hands touched hers, the Twin-Fish Medallion within his body began to spin of its own accord. A method for qi transference surfaced in his mind.

His body moved involuntarily, fingers interlocking with Nantian Wan'er's as warmth began to return to her body. The frost that clung to her slowly faded, and her breathing grew steady again.

Nantian Xiu stared in shock. "What... what kind of technique is this?"

The image of the Yin Ocean Pearl emerged in Lu Chen's mind. It was part of the information Feng Tiancheng had left behind, tied to the search for the Yuanyang Twin-Fish Disk.

Lu Chen focused on the memory in his mind. The Yin Ocean Pearl? Could Wan'er's ice poison have come from the Yin Ocean Pearl?

He asked, "Grandpa Xiu, when did Wan'er first contract the ice poison?"

If the Yin Ocean Pearl was indeed the cause, he was confident he could save her.

"I believe it started around eighteen years ago. At that time, I suffered a near-fatal injury during a failed breakthrough. At the brink of death, I stumbled upon Wan'er. She'd been abandoned, barely clinging to life. It was she who gave me a reason to go on. After I recovered, I brought her back to the sect and raised her like my own granddaughter. At first, she was just weak to the cold and prone to falling sick. It wasn't until she began cultivating that the ice poison started to accumulate."

Nantian Xiu recalled the scene of their first meeting in great detail, hoping this information could help Lu Chen save her.

Lu Chen quickly did the math. "Eighteen years ago... and she's eighteen now. The timing lines up. Her ice poison must've come from the spirit qi upheaval back then. The Yin Ocean Pearl must've separated from the Yuanyang Twin-Fish Disk at that time."[1]

Nantian Xiu had placed all his hope on Lu Chen. "The Yin Ocean Pearl? Do you mean you have figured out a way to save Wan'er?"

"I have an idea. I'm not sure if it's going to work, but I will try," Lu Chen replied.

Now that he understood the source of the frost, Lu Chen began controlling the Twin-Fish Medallion, initiating the qi transference technique. He gripped Nantian Wan'er's hands tightly and started channeling spirit qi through her right arm and into her meridians.

Her meridians had long been blocked by layers of frost. Once Lu Chen's spirit qi, mixed with the heat of the Yang Ocean Pearl, entered her body, the ice immediately melted. His qi continued to circulate through her body, completing two full cycles. As it did, her chest began to rise and fall again, and the pale hue of her skin started to flush with color.

"It's working!"

Seeing the changes in her condition, Nantian Xiu finally allowed himself to breathe, but Lu Chen knew this was far from over. The real danger lay deeper, within her Heavenly Pool. He guided his spirit qi with extreme care, directing it toward her Heavenly Pool. What he found was a massive block of ice, so dense there wasn't even a trace of space for his qi to enter.

After confirming there was no immediate threat inside, Lu Chen gradually increased the flow. Little by little, a tiny, pea-sized crack began to form. One minute passed, then two. The crack widened until, finally, a glint of sky-blue light caught Lu Chen's attention. At the center of the pool sat a bead the color of the open sea.

Lu Chen fixed his eyes on the bead. That must be the Yin Ocean Pearl. If I can remove it, Wan'er will be safe.

The white fish residing within his Heavenly Pool seemed to sense it too. It darted excitedly through the qi bridge connecting him to Nantian Wan'er and entered her body.

The moment it reached the Yin Ocean Pearl, the white fish practically danced with joy, as if it had just found a long-lost friend. It swallowed the pearl in a single gulp and then, without pause, devoured every last remnant of the frost within Nantian Wan'er's Heavenly Pool. Content, it turned and began swimming back toward Lu Chen's body.

But just as it exited Wan'er's Heavenly Pool, an overwhelming surge of icy energy burst from deep within her meridians, instantly enveloping her entire body.

"No!" Lu Chen's expression changed. "The Yin Ocean Pearl's been in her body for too long. The cold has already penetrated her organs. Without the pearl to suppress it, the ice poison could destroy her from within."

Realizing his mistake, Lu Chen immediately guided the white fish back into Nantian Wan'er's Heavenly Pool.

The chill inside her was intensifying. After years of accumulation, this sudden eruption was far more violent than before. Not even the white fish and Yin Ocean Pearl could suppress it now. Cold mist poured from her pores, blanketing both her and Lu Chen, freezing her blood vessels and internal organs.

Lu Chen stared at the wave of frost overtaking Nantian Wan'er. He knew he had to draw it out himself.

Lu Chen muttered the method, "Qi transfer... Qi transfer..."

Then, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Nantian Wan'er's.

A ceaseless torrent of cold surged from her body into his, running through his meridians and completing a full cycle before finally settling within his Heavenly Pool.

There, the heat of the Yang Ocean Pearl and the chill of the Yin Ocean Pearl coexisted. The fire poison that had plagued him began to dissipate. A perfect balance began to take shape within his pool.

The ice poison within Nantian Wan'er's body gradually diminished to a manageable level. The white fish began guiding the remaining icy qi outward, leading it through the bridge that now connected their Heavenly Pools.

On the other side, the black fish stirred in response. Sensing the change, it began channeling fiery qi through the same pathway back into Nantian Wan'er's Heavenly Pool.

1. The raw mentions that Lu Chen got the Twin-Fish Medallion 18 years ago. However, since he is currently 18, that would make him a baby at the time, which doesn’t align with how he could have acquired the medallion. Additionally, the raw states that the Yuanyang Twin-Fish Disk scattered into fragments during the spirit qi upheaval, referred to as "the explosion." Since the novel has not yet detailed what occurred during that upheaval, the team has decided it is best to leave this part vague for now and provide a full explanation only when the raw text does. ☜