Chapter 100: Grave Injury

“How is that possible?”

Before the elder could finish speaking, the young man interrupted, “I’ve read that ancient text too. Although it mentions evil cultivators, that was during the Primordial Era—a time of chaos. Back then, the world was in turmoil, so the emergence of evil cultivators was understandable. But now, the world is orderly. How could evil cultivators still exist? Wouldn’t they be hunted down and killed by the righteous cultivators?”

“Orderly world? Nobody dares to practice the dark path?” The elder snorted coldly. “That’s because your vision is narrow! Growing up in Burning Sky City, how much do you really know about the outside world? Do you think your father sent me to bring you here for no reason? It was so you could see the world beyond, not to remain a frog at the bottom of a well in Burning Sky City.”

“This world is not Burning Sky City, and Burning Sky City is not this world. Don’t look at this world with the eyes you use for Burning Sky City. Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died.”

The elder’s tone was indifferent, yet his words carried profound earnestness. The black-clad man stood stunned for a long moment before gradually regaining his composure.

“What do we do now?” the black-clad man asked. Facing an evil cultivator for the first time, he truly didn’t know how to proceed.

“This evil cultivator can trigger such a terrifying Nine Lightning Tribulation; their talent is certainly extraordinary. Moreover, they barely finished the tribulation, yet vanished without a trace in the brief time since we arrived. It’s likely that a powerful cultivator assisted them from the sidelines...” The elder pondered briefly, then continued, “Send the news back to the sect. I’m afraid this is beyond what you and I can handle. Let your father make the arrangements.”

Soon, the young man and the elder mounted their flying device and descended from the mountaintop.

...

“Evil cultivator? An ancient text from the Primordial Era?”

From behind a rock, Liu Pan emerged, his body still scorched and blackened from the lightning tribulation. He frowned as he looked at his charred form.

As the author, Liu Pan naturally knew what an evil cultivator was. But he had no recollection of any ancient texts about the Primordial Era.

In his writings, the earliest events date back ten thousand years. The only things connected to the Primordial Era were a few legendary cultivation methods. But after much thought, Liu Pan couldn’t see any connection between those methods and his current predicament.

“What is going on?” After the tribulation, encountering something unrecorded in his own book left Liu Pan feeling bewildered.

And evil cultivator? Was he one? Liu Pan remained noncommittal.

In the book, he had clearly described those who cultivate by killing, drinking blood, or seizing primordial cores and spirits as evil cultivators. But he had never done any of those things, so how could he be one?

As for the abnormal lightning tribulation... Liu Pan felt it necessary to research those ancient texts the elder mentioned to understand the true situation. After all, this abnormal tribulation was directly connected to him.

Raising his spirit to support his physical body, Liu Pan quickly descended the mountain and found the storage pouch he had left below.

Carefully laying his body beneath a large tree, Liu Pan took out all usable items from the pouch and began tending to his wounds.

He felt somewhat relieved he hadn’t brought all his medicinal pills during the tribulation; otherwise, he would have been completely at a loss now.

Yet just as relief washed over him, confusion set in. He had the healing pills, but how was he supposed to use them?

External ointments could be crushed and applied to wounds directly, but internal pills? A soulless body obviously couldn’t swallow them. Even forcing them into his mouth would be useless.

“Let me try,” Liu Pan finally decided on a desperate measure: returning his soul to the body.

After some thought, he placed a few internal healing pills, like Bone Renewal Pills, inside the mouth of his physical body. Then he aligned his ethereal form with his body’s posture and lay down.

“Hiss~!”

Suddenly, intense pain radiated through every part of his body. Liu Pan gasped sharply, nearly fainting.

Originally, he thought that since his soul had been blasted out by the tribulation, returning to his body wouldn’t be so easy. But in fact, the moment he lay down, he distinctly sensed a faint barrier. Then, with a slight thought, the barrier shattered, and he reentered his physical form.

The excruciating pain assaulted his nerves, but as consciousness returned, Liu Pan activated the “Profound Ice Technique” to its fullest extent.

Icy cold energy swept through his body, gradually dulling the pain. Struggling, he swallowed the pills in his mouth, then examined his body’s condition again. He sighed deeply.

Though he had expected it, the injuries were truly severe.

Not a single bone was intact; even his skull bore cracks. His flesh and blood were nearly dried up and mostly charred. If there was any part still intact, it was probably the brain encased within the skull.

“Am I really still alive?” Liu Pan doubted it. Yet the relentless pain was a clear, undeniable sign that he was.

How could this be?

That night, Liu Pan lay beneath the tree, staring at the stars. He thought a lot, but understood nothing.

At dawn, as warm sunlight bathed his body, Liu Pan snapped out of his daze.

He knew the best time for cultivation was early morning, so almost instinctively, he closed his eyes and began circulating his cultivation methods, actively absorbing the world’s primordial energy.

Unconsciously, his thoughts drifted deep into his dantian, where he saw his primordial core—and was surprised.

Because the lightning tribulation had come too suddenly, he had only glanced at his core before, paying it little attention. But now, upon closer inspection, he felt something was off.

“This color...”

Though he had never seen a primordial core before, his subconscious impression was that it should be a bright golden hue. Yet his core was a dull gold.

“Am I overthinking?” Liu Pan frowned, and for the first time, the elder’s words about “evil cultivators” crossed his mind.

Could it be... no, that’s impossible!

His thoughts spun out of control—this was the first time since crossing into this world that Liu Pan felt truly confused.

In the end, he set aside the question of his core’s color, deciding to confirm it by observing others’ cores in the future before investigating further.

A day passed quickly. Liu Pan remained lying beneath the tree, motionless. His injuries were simply too severe.

He estimated that moving would take at least two or three days; full recovery might take one or two months.

Having used all the pills in his storage pouch, he resorted to eating some herbs as makeshift food. Beyond that, there was nothing useful left.

Bored to no end.

After silently lying beneath the tree for three days, Liu Pan was finally able to stand and walk with difficulty.

Pain still wracked his body, but he ignored it. All he wanted now was to find a comfortable place to rest. He truly did not want to spend another night counting stars under that tree.

After three days of "rest," most of his external wounds had healed, except for a few severely torn and burned areas.

His physique had changed drastically since the tribulation. He was skin and bones—thinner than a monkey—probably half his original weight.

Liu Pan couldn’t help but marvel at this fantasy world. The constitution of cultivators was extraordinary, and even the pills were miraculous. Otherwise, with such grievous injuries, surviving would be a miracle, and standing or walking again would take months, if it ever happened at all.

Struggling, he took out some clothes from his pouch to change. After scanning his surroundings with spirit power, he chose a direction and set off.

Walking slowly through the forest, he relied on his spirit power’s foresight to avoid any wild beasts or monsters.

From dawn until dusk, he wandered until he finally reached a village.

It was a mortal village, with only about twenty households. As night fell, nearly every door was shut, with only faint light seeping through cracks in windows and doors.

Without hesitation, Liu Pan approached the nearest house to the village entrance.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The sound of his fingers tapping on the wooden door was clear, but he felt a sharp ache in his finger bones, much to his annoyance.

“Who’s there so late?” came a voice from inside. The door opened, revealing a middle-aged man.

Startled by Liu Pan’s gaunt appearance, the man soon realized he was human and looked him over skeptically. Seeing that Liu Pan appeared no threat, he stepped aside and said, “Come in.”

“Thank you, sir,” Liu Pan replied gratefully.

Just as he stepped over the threshold, a sudden flash of light caught his attention.

Someone undergoing a tribulation? Liu Pan was stunned. Slowly turning, he looked toward the horizon... (To be continued.)