The gap between the Seventh Rank and the Eighth Rank was immense. With the Heavenly Thunder Great Art unleashed, the avian demon beast had no power to resist and simply became a corpse.
Mo Tiange stored the demon beast's corpse into her Qiankun Ring, then turned to look at Bai Yanfei and Wu Feishuang.
"Feishuang, how are you?"
Wu Feishuang was covered in blood, with a large claw mark on her chest. One of her arms had been torn off, its whereabouts unknown. Such an injury would be a death sentence for a mortal.
Seeing Bai Yanfei's distraught appearance, Mo Tiange landed on the Ten Thousand Li Solitary Boat and said, "Junior Brother Bai, let me handle this."
Bai Yanfei hastily moved aside.
Looking at the nearly pierced chest, Mo Tiange frowned. Physical injuries were of little concern to a Nascent Soul cultivator, but for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they were fatal.
Without hesitation, she took out a Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill and fed it to Wu Feishuang, then used Azure Dragon's Breath to seal her wounds.
"This will have to do for now," she said. "The injuries are too severe. We'll see if Kuang Zhu has a solution when we return."
Hearing this, Bai Yanfei lowered his head to look at the unconscious Wu Feishuang, speechless and dazed.
Mo Tiange flicked her sleeve, and the Ten Thousand Li Solitary Boat sped towards Bixuan Pavilion.
"How did it come to this?" she asked, her voice somewhat stern. "It was just a Seventh-Rank demon beast. Couldn't you protect her?"
Bai Yanfei hung his head, his voice hoarse. "It was me... She took a blow for me, activating a protective treasure given by Uncle-Master Miaoyi. That... that enraged the demon beast... It probably wanted to lure me out, so it grabbed Feishuang..."
Seeing his look of self-blame, Mo Tiange softened her tone, speaking calmly. "If you truly cared for her, she wouldn't have needed to protect you."
Bai Yanfei lowered his head, silent and despondent.
The Ten Thousand Li Solitary Boat cut through the waves. Before long, they reached the shore. The skirmish had already ended, and the low-level cultivators were cleaning up the battlefield.
The three disembarked. Bai Yanfei picked up Wu Feishuang and ran.
Entering the mountain gate and passing the Sect Leader's Hall, Bai Yanfei shouted, "Senior Brother Hanzhuo! Senior Brother Hanzhuo!"
Kuang Zhu came out. Seeing Wu Feishuang in his arms, he said, "Come inside first."
Carrying Wu Feishuang into a side hall and placing her on a medical bed, Kuang Zhu quickly examined her and nodded. "She can be saved."
Mo Tiange breathed a sigh of relief. She had promised Senior Sister Miaoyi to look after Wu Feishuang. If Wu Feishuang died here, she would have failed her senior sister.
Without a moment's delay, Kuang Zhu turned, took out a small bowl, and retrieved various spirit herbs, medicinal powders, and liquids from a nearby medicine cabinet, mixing them in the bowl. After grinding them, he made a medicinal paste.
"Uncle-Master Qingwei," Kuang Zhu pointed at the Azure Dragon's Breath on Wu Feishuang's wound. "Slowly withdraw this breath while I apply the paste. Remember, withdraw it slowly. If you remove it all at once, her bleeding won't stop, and it will be very dangerous."
Mo Tiange nodded.
Kuang Zhu wasted no more words, pointing at the site of Wu Feishuang's severed arm. "Here."
With a gesture from Mo Tiange, the Azure Dragon's Breath stirred, revealing the horrifying, crimson wound. Kuang Zhu moved his fingers, and the medicinal paste flew from the bowl, applying itself to the injury. The two worked in perfect sync, quickly covering the severed arm wound, then moving to the chest.
The chest wound was more complex, nearly pierced through, with internal organs damaged. Kuang Zhu could only use his own special technique to slowly repair the damaged organs.
Half a day later, Kuang Zhu let out a relieved breath, looked up, and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "Her life is preserved. However, her cultivation has suffered greatly. It will likely take ten to twenty years of recuperation to fully recover."
A weight lifted from Bai Yanfei's heart. He murmured, "As long as her life is saved, the rest doesn't matter, it doesn't matter..."
"Thanks to Uncle-Master Qingwei's spirit pill. If that pill hadn't protected Junior Sister Wu's heart meridian and dantian, she probably wouldn't have lasted until we returned."
Hearing this, Bai Yanfei quickly turned to express his gratitude. "Thank you, Uncle-Master Qingwei." Having calmed down, he finally remembered to address her properly.
Mo Tiange shook her head. "No need to thank me. I promised Senior Sister Miaoyi I would look after her."
Kuang Zhu asked from the side, "Uncle-Master Qingwei, may I ask what spirit pill you used? Its efficacy is truly astonishing. This disciple doesn't seem to have seen it before."
"It was a Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill."
"So it was a Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill!" Kuang Zhu understood. "No wonder it had such an effect." The Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill was precious even to Nascent Soul cultivators. At his level, he hadn't had the chance to encounter such a pill.
Not long after, Qin Xi arrived. "How is she?"
Mo Tiange pointed at the lying Wu Feishuang. "Her life is saved, but..."
Qin Xi glanced over. "Saving her life is enough. When she reaches the Nascent Soul stage, all injuries will be repaired."
"..." Mo Tiange thought to herself, *Reaching the Nascent Soul stage? This Senior Sister Wu is currently stuck at Core Formation. I wonder how she'll react when she learns she's lost an arm.*
Just as she was thinking this, Wu Feishuang's eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Feishuang!" Bai Yanfei exclaimed with joy. "You... you're awake."
Wu Feishuang opened her eyes, staring fixedly at Bai Yanfei, and remained silent for a long moment.
"How are you? Is something uncomfortable?"
Wu Feishuang shook her head slightly and slowly said, "I'm not uncomfortable anywhere. Please leave." Her tone was distant and cold.
Bai Yanfei was taken aback, stammering, "Feishuang, you... are you angry with me?"
Wu Feishuang turned her head away, not looking at him.
Bai Yanfei said, "I'm sorry, I... I..." But he couldn't continue. He didn't know how to apologize. *Sorry, I shouldn't have neglected you? Or sorry, I didn't protect you? Or, sorry, I'll never be like this again?*
He couldn't say these words. The moment he saw her captured while saving him, he was moved. However, however...
"No need to apologize," Wu Feishuang said calmly. "From now on, you never have to apologize to me again."
Bai Yanfei looked at her blankly. "You..."
She took a deep breath, enduring the intense pain, and looked at her left side—empty, lacking the arm that should have been there. She said, "Don't misunderstand. I've been thinking about this for a long time. It's not a momentary impulse."
Seeing Bai Yanfei's stunned expression, Wu Feishuang gave a bitter smile and spoke slowly. "I promised Master I would come to the East Sea to give myself one last chance. Unfortunately... unfortunately, I still lost. Junior Brother, you never cared for me. Marrying me back then was just you acting out of spite towards Junior Sister Jiang—don't argue. I'm not saying you liked Junior Sister Jiang, but rather, you hated the feeling that others thought you would definitely marry her. So, you married me to shock those people."
She raised her head, looking at him. "See? From beginning to end, you never loved me. Not a shred of romantic love, nor any marital affection."
Bai Yanfei remained silent, unable to speak.
Wu Feishuang took another deep breath and continued. "Because of you, I've been stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage for years. Every time I wanted to go into seclusion, I'd think, if others don't handle affairs well, you'll get angry again... So, seclusion was postponed year after year. By the time you formed your Core, I still couldn't find the time."
"Junior Brother, I didn't enjoy spending my time on these miscellaneous tasks. I was also a favored disciple of a Nascent Soul Dao Lord. I was once a proud child of heaven. What you had, I lacked nothing. As Master's last disciple, my aptitude was the highest among my senior and junior sisters. I never worried about Core Formation, let alone Nascent Soul formation. I was willing to handle daily chores for you, not because I enjoyed it, but because... because..."
Bai Yanfei stared at her blankly, as if he had never considered that this was how she felt.
"But in your eyes, I was never there. From the moment we married, you looked right through me. I knew you were still childish, even past a hundred years old, still like a child, so I was willing to wait for you to grow up. But later, I realized that even when you grew up, you still wouldn't love me..."
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued in a calm tone. "You are a good person, though willful and proud. Your concern now is because I was injured for you. Even if you start treating me well from now on, it won't be because you care for me in your heart. So, I don't need it."
"Feishuang, I..." Bai Yanfei felt he wanted to say something, but couldn't get it out. Refute her? It seemed... what she said wasn't wrong, but...
"Junior Brother, I've decided to end this. My love isn't that great. Without reciprocation, I can only end it."
Looking at Bai Yanfei, she smiled again, though tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. "Think of me as selfish, leaving you at a time like this. I said you're a good person. Because I lost an arm for you, you will definitely remember me firmly."
"Feishuang..."
"When I return to Taikang Mountain, I will personally explain to Uncle-Master Zhenyang and Master." Blinking away her tears, she said, "Maybe you'll have a difficult period, but it will pass quickly."
Bai Yanfei said dazedly, "I... I..." He didn't know what to say. He only felt that his nature had been laid bare, all his escape routes blocked by her.
He never considered this Senior Sister Wu important. As she said, marrying her was just an act of spite. Over these hundred years, he never kept her in mind. Even now, he wasn't having a sudden awakening; he was just saddened that she was injured for him. Love never existed, so there was nowhere to find it.
He hated this feeling of being seen through, but this time, he had no strength to refute, because she understood him too well.
"Starting today, I will strive for my Great Dao of Nascent Soul. I'm nearly two hundred years old. If I cannot form my Core before three hundred, then the Great Dao of Nascent Soul will forever be beyond my grasp. I'm sorry, Junior Brother. I've lost to you for over a hundred years. Please let me win once."
"Let's go." Finally, Qin Xi patted Bai Yanfei's shoulder. "Let her rest and recover properly first."
Bai Yanfei, soul lost and spirit gone, finally turned and left. He needed to think about what had just happened and what to do next.
After Bai Yanfei left, Wu Feishuang turned her head, watching his retreating back slowly disappear.
Seeing her expression, Mo Tiange felt there was nothing more to say. She only sighed and comforted her, "Rest well and recover. Your arm may not be gone forever."
Pale from pain, Wu Feishuang still managed to give her a smile. "Yes. Thank you, Uncle-Master Qingwei."
Mo Tiange waved her hand and turned to leave.