Chapter 223: Thoughts After Awakening
No one knew how much time had passed.
Luo Wusheng's consciousness gradually returned from the depths of chaos.
The ability to think was the first to be regained, with countless thoughts flashing through his mind, each being sorted one by one.
After a short while, his awareness finally reconnected with control over his body.
Slowly, a pair of eyes opened.
Compared to his right eye, the pupil of his left eye appeared even darker and deeper, faintly glimmering with a subtle light.
Yet at this moment, both eyes reflected the same complexity.
"She's already gone, huh…"
Luo Wusheng sighed softly and sat up slightly, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.
The environment around him was still the familiar cave. However, at this moment, he was the only one left inside.
He was sitting on a stone bed—likely reconstructed by Yao Ji, since the original had been reduced to rubble during a previous incident.
Having completed everything, the pink haired fox girl had probably left with her trusted subordinates for the Netherland by now.
Shaking his head with a sigh, Luo Wusheng lay back down on the stone bed.
The slight chill of the stone against his back made his mind all the clearer.
Sensing that the numbing sensation lingering on his body had completely faded at some point, Luo Wusheng slowly extended his right arm.
The sleeve on that arm had long been destroyed during the tribulation, leaving his evenly muscled arm completely exposed to the air.
'...It looks like I shed a layer of skin.'
As his gaze swept across his now reborn right arm, Luo Wusheng silently muttered to himself. His consciousness stirred slightly.
Instantly, the power of the tribulation lightning, once absorbed and weakened by his tribulation-devouring ability and now residing in his right arm, surged forth.
A streak of violet lightning coiled around his arm, illuminating the dark cave.
"At first glance, it only seems to have the power of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. I'll need to run some tests to be sure. Still, I can't fully absorb it into my being like Yao Ji did to restore herself with the power of heaven and earth. Although this ability was obtained by refining the special nether blood I received from her, it still seems... a little different."
Luo Wusheng's eyes flickered as he dismissed the tribulation-like lightning surrounding his arm and shifted his spiritual awareness to his right shoulder.
At the spot where Yao Ji had previously bitten him, a faint bite mark could still be seen.
Within the shallow imprint lay a small mark—shaped like a ball, encircled by a jagged pattern of electric arcs.
The bite mark itself seemed to have become part of this imprint, faintly glowing with traces of lightning.
When his spiritual awareness delved into the mark, he found the thunder core formed from Yao Ji's remaining tribulation power quietly floating within.
Even Luo Wusheng couldn't help but feel a chill at the terrifying aura radiating from it.
'At least late-stage Nascent Soul... no, peak Nascent Soul, perhaps?'
Sensing the immense power sealed within, Luo Wusheng's expression grew even more complicated.
The scene of the pink haired fox girl transferring the thunder core into his body replayed in his mind.
—It was likely that after discovering he now possessed the tribulation-devouring ability, she had decided to leave him this small gift.
Though that might be the case, Luo Wusheng couldn't bring himself to believe that Yao Ji had shared such an intimate experience with him just to deliver this thing into his body.
No.
That pink haired fox girl probably had genuinely fallen for him.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Wusheng reflected.
He had already spent a great deal of time thinking about this matter when his mind had returned but before his body fully awakened.
If his guess wasn't wrong, why had Yao Ji suddenly taken a liking to him?
Scenes of their brief time together flashed through his mind:
Their first encounter at the Red Blossom Pavilion, where she appeared as the famous courtesan.
Their days spent together at the Wandering Immortal Inn after he helped lift her seal.
And finally—yesterday's upheaval, followed by today's far more intimate encounter than anything that had come before.
It seemed that the Nether Uprising Technique played a role, but beyond that...
"It probably has to do with me explaining all the mess surrounding me to her, huh?"
With a faint sigh, Luo Wusheng gazed at the ceiling of the cave.
Emotions were a strange thing. Sometimes, no matter how much interaction occurred, feelings would grow slowly and steadily. Other times, all it took was a small catalyst for a sudden transformation.
A sense of crisis, for example, was one of the most effective catalysts.
His disappearance yesterday had clearly caused the pink haired fox girl considerable worry. Coupled with everything he had revealed to her today...
Perhaps the looming sense of his remaining lifespan—so short it felt almost visible—triggered a shift in her thoughts. That urgency may have pushed her feelings, which had already reached a certain threshold, past a critical point.
Luo Wusheng pressed his dry lips together.
Thinking about it this way, the pink haired fox girl's bold and obvious actions likely weren't spontaneous. They might have been influenced by her decision to return to the Netherland today, along with the earlier provocation from that white-haired loli whose motives remained unclear.
"Well done, Tower Master Yue. Well done indeed!"
"But… to be in that kind of relationship with Yao Ji now…"
If the pink haired fox girl truly liked him, Luo Wusheng certainly wouldn't mind.
After all, the Netherqueen was breathtakingly beautiful, able to play the guqin exquisitely, and had soft fur that was utterly addictive to touch. Not to mention she possessed peak Tribulation Crossing Realm cultivation, placing her among the few elite cultivators at the pinnacle of the current world.
Aside from the possibility of being slapped to death if he ever cheated, she was practically the ideal partner.
If this were a normal, proper cultivation world, Luo Wusheng would have unhesitatingly chosen to live a life of leisure by her side.
But the problem was...
This world had something known as the "Original Work."
Even Luo Wusheng, after much hesitation, had temporarily abandoned the pure and beautiful dream of "adding the entire protagonist's group to his harem."
His original plan had been simple:
Survive the upcoming Demon Purging War.
Gradually probe the limits of this world's changes.
Finally, decide whether to pursue that dream as his new life's goal.
But as always, plans could never keep up with change.
Not only had the Demon Purging War scenario's difficulty suddenly spiked to nightmare level, but now even the protagonist's potential harem members were throwing themselves at him!
Luo Wusheng felt a headache coming on.
Did this mean he'd added yet another death flag on top of all the others already looming over him?
'Forget it. At this point, what's one more debt when I'm already drowning in them? Besides, the Buddhist sect wouldn't let me die before the war anyway. Things may have gone a bit off-script, but nothing too extreme—there's no need to worry about getting sacrificed to power up the protagonist's group... yet.'
Moreover, Yao Ji had already returned to the Netherland.
Dwelling on it alone would only lead to endless overthinking. Since there wouldn't be any immediate developments, he might as well consider this situation a small victory for himself.
"...I get the feeling that mischievous white-haired loli foresaw all of this."
Recalling the parting transmission from Yue Xuanji, Luo Wusheng rubbed his temples and sat up.
Then, he redirected his spiritual awareness.
This time, it flowed into his left eye—into the Antediluvian Nether Eye space.
Inside, there were items left for him by the Netherqueen before her departure.
Not much.
Just a single letter and a small box.
- - - - - - - - - -
Note: If you want to see more chapters of this story, please join my Patreon[1], for $5 each month, you can read all of the available chapters.
Patreon Account: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024[2]
Latest Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 395: Witness It, My Transfor—[3]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/135351788?collection=1625505[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[2] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/135351788?collection=1625505
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/135351788?collection=1625505