The last thing I felt before the darkness took me?
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Two Days Later
The cave hummed with an eerie quiet, the black and white crystals pulsing like a slow, steady heartbeat. On a smooth crystal slab, a figure lay motionless.
A boy.
But not the broken, bleeding child who had crawled in days before.
This boy was unearthly. His hair—black as the void between stars—spilled across the crystal like spilled ink. His skin, pale as freshly fallen snow, seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. His lashes, long and dark, rested against his cheeks, hiding the golden eyes beneath.
He looked like a fallen celestial.
And beside him, watching with an unreadable gaze, stood a woman.
Her robes were a flowing tapestry of black and white, shifting like living shadows and moonlight. Her beauty was sharp, dangerous—a blade disguised as a flower. Her crimson lips curled slightly as she studied the boy's peaceful face.
Around her, two spectral *Pisces* circled in an eternal dance, their forms shimmering between corporeal and ephemeral.
One fish, *white as sacred moonlight*, radiated a soothing chill, its scales glinting like frost-kissed silver. The other, *black as abyssal void*, pulsed with a quiet, devouring heat, its movements leaving faint trails of ember in the air.
They orbited her like celestial bodies.
The boy's golden eyes snapped open—sharp, alert, burning with an intensity that didn't match his delicate features.
His gaze locked onto the woman looming over him, her inscrutable expression framed by the swirling black and white Pisces orbiting her like living shadows.
For a heartbeat, neither moved. Then, his voice—hoarse but edged with defiance—cut through the silence: "Who… are you? And where is this place ?"
The woman's painted lips curled into a smirk, her fingers still hovering near the ring on his hand. "Tch. Rude little bastard, aren't you?" she drawled, tilting her head with mock disapproval.
"Here I am, your glorious savior, and instead of gratitude, you demand answers?" Her nails tapped against the ring's metal, a deliberate, almost threatening rhythm.
"How about you thank me first… then we'll see if you're worth my time"
The boy gritted his teeth, forcing out a begrudging "Thank you"—though his tone made it clear gratitude didn't come easily.
The woman arched a slender brow, unimpressed but amused. "Was that so hard?" she mocked,flicking her sleeve dismissively.
When he demanded answers again, her smirk deepened.
"This," she said, gesturing to the cavern's shimmering crystals, "is the *Purple Lightning Valley*—an island exiled to the far east of the Douqi Continent.
A place where the heavens strike the unworthy dead… and the interesting ones get a second chance."
Her gaze flicked back to his ring, a shadow of something unreadable crossing her face. "As for who I am?" She leaned down, her breath cold against his ear. Call me Lady Yin, if you must.
The boy's stomach growled loudly, a stark reminder of his dire situation. The woman, Lady Yin, let out a mocking laugh.
"Hungry? Thirsty? Good luck finding anything in this wasteland. The storms here have turned everything to ash."
Desperation gnawed at him. He rushed outside, scanning the horizon, but all he saw was endless scorched earth—not a single plant, not a drop of water. Defeated, he turned back to her, his pride crumbling. "Please," he gritted out, fists clenched.
"Take me somewhere with food. I can't die here. Not before I kill that bastard." His voice dripped with venom, his killing intent sharp enough to cut the air.
Lady Yin's eyes gleamed with intrigue. "Such hatred in one so young," she mused. "I could help you... but what do I get in return? I already saved your life once."
The boy hesitated, then growled, "I'll serve you after I've had my revenge."
She scoffed. "A weak, half-starved brat as my servant? How useless."
Frustration boiled inside him. With no other option, he turned toward the pond, eyeing the Pisces swimming within.
"You're not seriously thinking of eating them , are you?" Lady Yin sneered. "Have you forgotten how the water burned you alive?"
"What choice do I have?" he snapped. "I won't just sit here and rot!"
For a moment, silence hung between them. Then, with a sigh, she flicked her wrist. "Fool. Check your ring."
"What ring?" he muttered, confused.
"The one on your finger, idiot."
He looked down—and there it was. A deep blue ring adorned with 12 shimmering metallic crystals , pulsing faintly with energy. His breath caught.
"What... is this?"
Lady Yin's lips curled. "Your real last hope."
He looked into the ring :
The boy's mind reeled as he took in the vast, seemingly endless expanse within the ring—a treasure vault beyond imagination.
Towering shelves groaned under the weight of ancient tomes and scrolls, their spines etched with characters pulsing with latent energy. Cauldrons of blackened mythril hummed with residual heat, while racks of gleaming weapons—swords that whispered of bloodshed, spears that crackled with lightning—stood like an army frozen in time. Piles of gold coins, gemstones that glowed with inner fire, and raw ores of metals he couldn't even name formed literal mountains in the distance.
"This... this is the clan's treasury," he realized, his pulse spiking. "Why do I have it—?"
Then, the memory struck him like a slap— his mother's last act. In the chaos of the massacre, she must have slipped it onto his finger. A final gift.
His throat burned, yanking him back to the present. He frantically scanned the stacks until— water! A crystal flask, stoppered with a silver seal. He ripped it open, gulping down the liquid so fast it spilled down his chin. It tasted like life itself, cool and sweet, and for the first time in days, his body didn't scream in protest.
Next, food—dried meats, hardtack, and strangely, a single ripe peach that glistened as if freshly picked. He devoured it all, barely chewing.
Then— a rustle.
The boy sat cross-legged, the scroll spread before him—his mother's meticulous handwriting detailing the foundational principles of **Dou Qi refinement**. He had read it countless times before, but now, every stroke of ink felt like a whisper from her.
"Breathe in the energy of the world. Gather
Dou qi in your dantian. Cycle it through your meridians and use it to refine your flesh and bones ."
He closed his eyes, focusing. For a brief moment, he felt it—the faintest trickle of energy seeping into his body.
Then—agony.
A searing, splitting pain exploded in his skull, as if a white-hot blade had been driven through his mind. His meridians—those pathways that should have channeled energy like rivers—were shattered. Broken. Useless.
"No… NO!"
He collapsed forward, clawing at the dirt, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The truth crashed down on him like a mountain.
He couldn't cultivate.
His body— reforged by the pond, remade by whatever power lurked in that cave—was still crippled where it mattered most.
Despair threatened to swallow him whole.
How could he kill Huang Xun Ji? How could he burn the heavens themselves if he couldn't even gather Dou Qi?!
His fists clenched hard enough to draw blood.
"This… can't be the end."
Seeing his look , lady yin mocked " you also discovered it didn't you? Yes , Your meridians are crippled , you can't cultivate , tell me what are you going to do , you were blabbering about some revenge or something.
He looked at her , he didn't say anything ,he went inside the cave and started to scan the contents of the ring .
" If can't cultivate douqi then I will cultivate my soul , according to my mother when a person soul reaches peak emperor realm , his combat poweress is about 9 star dou Sheng and that is enough for destroying those bastards of Huang clan "
I have to look for a soul cultivation technique preferably of xuan rank to cultivate my soul to peak mortal realm after that I will change the technique to earth level .
It is necessary to do this as my mother told me that people should use cultivation technique in order for highest efficiency as new cultivators should use xuan rank technique because there meridians are not strong for the flow of earth level dou qi technique, the order was like this :
From Dou Zhe to Da Dou Shi - Xuan Rank
From Dou Ling to Dou Zong - Earth Rank
From Dou Zun to Dou Di. - Heaven Rank
Since I can't cultivate douqi , soul cultivation followes the same parameters
Mortal realm - Xuan Rank
Spirit realm - Earth Rank
Heavenly realm and Emperor realm - Heaven Rank
" This will do " as he found a scroll ,
The boy's fingers traced the worn leather of the Soul Refinement Sutra , its title embossed in fading gold. The pages whispered as he turned them, each character pulsing with a faint, eerie light.
"If my meridians are broken... then I will make my soul unbreakable."
He sat upon the crystal slab, the cave's dual energies—scorching heat and biting cold—seeping into his skin. The sutra's opening lines burned into his mind:
"Breathe"
As the lotus rises unburdened from murky waters,
so too shall your spirit awaken.
Feel not with hands, but with the quiet pulse between heartbeats.
Hear not with ears, but with the hush of dawn's first light.
The soul remembers what the body has forgotten -
its original song, unsullied and eternal.
Begin as the moon begins with the tide:
Gentle. Inevitable.
Let your awareness ripple outward
until you touch the place where all rivers meet..."
He focused, drawing his consciousness inward, envisioning his soul as raw ore in a smith's furnace.
Then— agony. ( Again )
Not the dull ache of physical wounds, but a splintering, all-consuming torment , as if his very essence were being unraveled thread by thread. His mind fractured under the pressure, his senses drowning in white noise.
Why ? Why ? Whyyyyyy?
Why I can't even cultivate my soul , he screamed in frustration, he started to sob ,
Lady yin also came inside the cave , she threw a bunch of needles in front of him,
He recognized them, they were Ghostfire needles that burn the soul with poison at the moment of contact , it is one of the most ruthless assassination tool that was made in the history of douqi continent .
" I found them hidden in your soul when I healed you" said lady yin.
" They reek of soul poison , what are they , and I assume you can't cultivate your soul either because of it , don't you ? " Asked lady yin .
" Yee.....s , they are the reason, ghostfire needles are forged from the Netherworld / Ghostly Poison flame " he said .
" You mean the heavenly flame that is on 20th rank" she asked .
"Yes , it burns the very fabric of soul , because of which people can't reincarnate ."
His throat burned .
Lady yin sighed and asked " what will you do now ?? "
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