After Chu Xinghui let it go, the black bird lived through a period of great anxiety.

It barely managed to regrow the feathers on its body, first observed the surroundings for several days, then provocatively challenged Chu Xinghui a few times. Seeing that Chu Xinghui truly had no intention of beating it again, it finally felt at ease and made a nest on the tree outside the small courtyard, settling nearby.

This bird’s schedule was very unlike that of a mortal creature, it often flew around wildly in the middle of the night, and it was most active near dawn, frequently bursting into loud songs.

So from that day on, every day before dawn, Chu Xinghui was awakened by the bird’s calls.

He opened the window, gazed faintly at the tree where the black bird lived, and began to consider whether letting the bird go earlier had been a mistake.

In the end, Xie Liufeng couldn’t stand it any longer. Somehow he obtained a suona (a kind of horn), and every morning whenever the black bird started to sing, he went to the tree with the suona and played against it. Only then did the bird get dizzy and understand the importance of not disturbing the neighbors.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He began to seriously consider the necessity of moving out from here.

*

A few days later, Chu Xinghui finally found a good opportunity to break through.

That early morning, he was practicing swordsmanship in the forest when suddenly light rain fell from the sky.

It was the peak of summer when vegetation flourished, and in Wanling Valley there were many spiritual flowers and trees. The rain enhanced the spiritual power of the flora, which caused Chu Xinghui’s own spiritual power to surge along with it.

Chu Xinghui then put away his spirit sword and quickly returned to his room.

He had long prepared for the breakthrough, and when the moment came, he did not panic. He quickly set up the formation he had prepared around the room, sat cross-legged, and began his breakthrough.

The breakthrough went very smoothly.

His foundation was solid, and the spiritual power inside his body was naturally deeper than that of an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator. At this time, everything went smoothly, and he quickly broke through the barrier from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.

Even the series of contingency plans Chu Xinghui prepared cautiously did not need to be used.

Chu Xinghui breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes to regulate his breath for a moment, and ran his spiritual power through several cycles.

When a cultivator rises to Foundation Establishment, not only are the existing meridians widened for spiritual power flow, but the tiny hidden meridians inside the body are also opened. The spiritual power capacity inside the body is more than ten times that of Qi Refining stage. After the breakthrough, it is necessary to quickly get familiar with the changes in one’s spiritual power in order to better adapt to the new realm.

At that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

When the spiritual power flowed to a newly opened meridian near the heart meridian, Chu Xinghui suddenly felt a pain in his chest, a bloody sweetness in his throat, and involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood.

A pervasive chill poured out from his body, he almost felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen.

Immediately after, the spiritual power inside him uncontrollably overflowed and dispersed into the air.

The temperature inside the room dropped rapidly, and soon a thin layer of ice formed.

…This scene was obviously not caused by just his spiritual power.

Chu Xinghui immediately understood exactly what had gone wrong.

Without a doubt, the hidden danger inside his body had erupted at this critical juncture.

But at this time, his body temperature had nearly dropped to the extreme, and he was about to lose consciousness.

At the last moment, Chu Xinghui gritted his teeth, desperately gathered a trace of spiritual power, and ignited the communication talisman left to him by Xie Liufeng.

…

Not far outside the door, the black bird had gathered several peculiar branches in the nearby woods and was decorating its nest.

The weather was bad, so it hung two large leaves on top of the nest to shield against possible rain.

Then it picked up a branch, trying to figure out where to put it, when suddenly an incoming surge of ice-type spiritual power knocked it off balance.

Sensing the source of this unusual spiritual power, its feathers bristled. It immediately dropped the branch from its beak and flew into Chu Xinghui’s room.

The courtyard had long been set with restrictions. Chu Xinghui knew he was about to break through, so he had also set up protections inside his room. But all of these seemed to have no effect on the bird at all, it did not pause and squeezed through the half-open window into Chu Xinghui’s room.

Chu Xinghui’s face was frighteningly pale, covered with a layer of frost, and he had already fallen into a semi-conscious state.

The mark left by Xie Liufeng on his forehead began to take effect, a stream of ice-blue spiritual power flowed out and quickly protected his heart meridian.

The ice-type spiritual power inside him still leaked outward, forming a ring of ice around him that was difficult to approach.

The black bird stood on the ground, tentatively took two steps toward Chu Xinghui, but was immediately frozen in place by the ice spiritual power that instinctively attacked all living things that came near.

It barely managed to pull its two feet out of the ice, panicked and didn’t know what to do, flew back and forth inside the room, trying to approach Chu Xinghui.

But its main body was still sealed, its current power was simply insufficient to save him.

Just as it was at a loss, the door behind suddenly creaked open.

The black bird looked toward the sound and saw Xie Liufeng standing at the doorway.

He looked like he had hurried back from somewhere, still carrying rainwater and moisture that had not been dealt with. The spiritual power inside the room immediately froze the hem of his clothes.

The reinforcements had finally arrived. The black bird’s eyes brightened, and it flapped its wings excitedly, calling out loudly.

Xie Liufeng frowned at the scene inside the room, grabbed the bird by its wing, and threw it out the window: “Shh, don’t make noise. Leave this to me.”

He quickly walked forward and checked Chu Xinghui’s condition.

Chu Xinghui sensed someone approaching, barely opened his eyes, and called his name: “…Xie Liufeng.”

Xie Liufeng half-kneeling on the ground, scooped him into his arms with one hand, while sending spiritual power into his body with the other. He even had the leisure to tease him: “Hmm, good, you can still recognize people.”

Chu Xinghui clenched Xie Liufeng’s sleeve and instinctively moved closer to the warmth.

Xie Liufeng sighed softly, took off his outer robe, and wrapped him completely inside it.

Chu Xinghui was quiet for a while, then faintly called his name again: “Xie Liufeng.”

“It’s me, I’m here,” Xie Liufeng replied, gently patting his head, his voice gentle: “Sleep for a while, you’ll be fine when you wake up.”

Hearing this, Chu Xinghui’s will to struggle and resist losing consciousness finally relaxed, and he peacefully fell asleep.

…

Chu Xinghui did not know how long he had slept.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Xie Liufeng sitting by his bedside, resting his cheek on his hand and looking at him.

It had rained all night outside, but now the rain had stopped. However, Xie Liufeng had opened the window, and the air still held the moist scent of rain.

Seeing him awake, Xie Liufeng smiled warmly and greeted him: “You’re awake.”

Chu Xinghui checked his own condition. His spiritual power was abundant, and the wounds on his meridians had disappeared. If it wasn’t for the lingering chill in his body that still caused some sluggishness when running spiritual power, he almost thought the previous ordeal had been a dream.

He looked at Xie Liufeng, blinked, and said: “You… saved me?”

Xie Liufeng felt a little regretful.

When he was injured just now, he was obedient and clingy, but now that he was awake, he had regained some distance.

He smiled gently: “Guess.”

Chu Xinghui did not expect him to joke at this moment, and the chaotic emotions in his heart suddenly dissipated by more than half.

Xie Liufeng chuckled and stopped teasing him: “Alright, besides me, there’s also our bird neighbor. Although it didn’t do anything, it was there.”

Hearing this, the black bird flew down from a nearby branch, perched on the windowsill, first observed Chu Xinghui, then angrily flapped its wings at Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng casually picked up something nearby and mischievously poked it twice.

The black bird got even angrier but dared not resist, so it silently flew back to the branch and cursed in bird language from a distance.

Chu Xinghui looked at the man and the bird, and finally felt a little reality amid the familiar frustration.

He got up, wanting to sit up in bed.

Xie Liufeng reached out and pressed him down, reminding him: “Although you’re fine now, you should lie down for a few more days.”

Chu Xinghui was silent for a moment, then asked: “My body…?”

Talking about this, Xie Liufeng became serious: “It’s still uncertain. Judging from the pulse pattern during the episode, it looked like poisoning. I’ve already asked someone to come. They’ll arrive in a while and help you check carefully. Or if you have any memories related to this, you can tell me.”

Chu Xinghui raised his eyes and frowned: “Poison?”

Xie Liufeng responded with a “hmm”: “Based on what you said, this poison was probably carried over from before you were born.”

He sighed and apologized to Chu Xinghui: “It was my negligence. Knowing your body had issues, I should have come earlier to watch over you during your breakthrough.”

Chu Xinghui wasn’t used to being treated so carefully, so he awkwardly looked away and softly said: “Breakthrough opportunities don’t have fixed times. It’s not your fault.”

Xie Liufeng lowered his head, took his hand, and checked his pulse again: “Fortunately, this time it was timely. We caught it in time.”

Chu Xinghui stared at him for a while, then suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

Xie Liufeng was startled and gently asked: “What’s wrong?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t know what he wanted to do, stayed silent for a moment, then quietly released his hand.

Xie Liufeng pushed his hand back under the blanket and suddenly said: “I have to go out for a while. You probably know your own body best. When I’m not here, don’t get into fights with anyone.”

He sounded a bit worried as he added: “If someone provokes you… you can hold a grudge for now, or I can get you some laxatives or something just in case.”

Chu Xinghui ignored his usual offbeat remarks and asked: “Where are you going?”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment and answered: “To take care of some small matters. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Chu Xinghui pursed his lips and confirmed: “You’ll really come back?”

Xie Liufeng seriously considered for a moment: “Although I’ll probably come back, we still have to consider the unlikely event of a world-ending disaster or something. So if I don’t come back, just treat this courtyard as your inheritance. Or do you want some of my other fishing rods too?”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He completely burrowed under the blanket and didn’t want to talk to Xie Liufeng anymore.

 

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