"ROOOAAR!!!"
A beast's furious roar, tinged with shock and rage, echoed across the unnamed island. From somewhere deep within the dense jungle, a massive flock of birds erupted into the sky in panic.
"Swish… Swish!!"
Faint sounds of something darting rapidly through the undergrowth reached the air. Suddenly, a small, fist-sized, yellow figure burst from the canopy of a large tree, landing clumsily onto the sandy shore.
This figure was undoubtedly Xiaoqiu. After venturing into the island's interior for roughly half a day, it had finally returned. Its appearance, however, was alarming. Several bleeding gashes marred its small body, the worst being a deep slash running diagonally across its back – deep enough to glimpse bone beneath, the flesh slightly torn and curled. Miraculously, the bleeding had stopped, though how Xiaoqiu managed this remained a mystery.
Despite its bloody and pitiful state, Xiaoqiu's eyes sparkled with urgent hope. Clutched tightly in its tiny claws was a small cluster of fruit, resembling miniature grapes. Each orb, no larger than a peanut, emitted a soft, pearly white glow – clearly no ordinary sustenance. There were five or six in total.
The moment it cleared the tree line, Xiaoqiu's gaze snapped towards the spot where Lin Feng lay. Seeing him still motionless on the sand, a visible wave of intense relief washed over its small features. It scrambled over in a few frantic leaps, landing beside Lin Feng, its eyes scanning him with nervous intensity.
"Kew?" Spotting the faint, multicolored glow emanating from Lin Feng's chest, Xiaoqiu froze momentarily. Then, pure elation flooded its eyes. While it didn't understand the specifics, this change on Lin Feng's body meant one crucial thing: he was still alive!
After a brief assessment, Xiaoqiu acted decisively. It carefully nudged Lin Feng's lolling head into a straighter position. Then, plucking one of the luminous white fruits, it held it above Lin Feng's parted lips. Using both tiny paws, it squeezed the fruit with all its might.
"Drip… Drip…" Clear, viscous drops landed on Lin Feng's lips, trickling into his mouth through the slight opening.
Only when no more juice could be extracted did Xiaoqiu stop. It glanced at the small, pulpy remnants in its paw, then at Lin Feng's unresponsive mouth. Knowing the pulp couldn't be fed, it popped the residue into its own mouth.
Chewing the pulp hastily, Xiaoqiu plucked another fruit. It repeated the process, squeezing the precious juice into Lin Feng's mouth before eating the leftover pulp itself. Then it moved onto the next fruit…
In this manner, the entire cluster of fruit was exhausted within minutes. Xiaoqiu gently nudged Lin Feng's head again, as if helping the juice settle, before crouching close, its expression taut with anxious anticipation, watching for any sign of change.
The origin of these mystical fruits was unknown, but their effect was undeniable. After consuming the juice, a faint flush of color returned to Lin Feng's deathly pale cheeks. More remarkably, the multicolored light within the horrific cavity in his chest intensified significantly, pushing slightly outward from the wound. It pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light, almost like the beating of a heart.
Roughly half a day later, a feeble ripple of true essence energy emanated from Lin Feng's core. Simultaneously, the cluster of colored light in his chest reacted violently – as if pure gasoline had met an open flame. It erupted in brilliance, its radiance multiplying several-fold!
BOOOM!
A powerful shockwave exploded outward from Lin Feng, rippling across the sand. Xiaoqiu, caught entirely off guard, was catapulted backward like a tiny, fluffy ball. It tumbled end over end for a good twenty meters before finally grabbing onto a large rock to stop its flight.
Staring wide-eyed at Lin Feng, now completely enveloped in the swirling vortex of colored light, Xiaoqiu felt a surge of unbridled joy. It could feel it – the miraculous medicine it had risked everything for was working! Lin Feng's life force, a mere ember moments ago, was now flickering back to life!
Lin Feng… wasn't dead!!
This bordered on the impossible. Surviving a direct chest-piercing blow from Yin Wuyang's Corpse Puppet?! While the unknown spirit fruit Xiaoqiu procured undoubtedly played a vital role in pulling Lin Feng back from the brink, his very survival before that was a miracle. From the moment he was struck and plunged into the sea, to the desperate underwater flight, and washing ashore on this island… Lin Feng had somehow clung to the barest sliver of life, refusing to let it extinguish. By any logical measure, it shouldn't have happened. Yet it did. Was it some hidden power of the Prismatic Stellar Art he cultivated? Or some other, unknown reason? For now, the answer remained elusive...
Lin Feng remained unconscious, but the spark of life within him had been reignited. Fuelled by this spark, his body's innate survival instinct roared to life. The Prismatic Stellar Art began circulating spontaneously, initiating the arduous task of repairing his shattered body.
Vast quantities of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy coalesced from the surrounding void. Around Lin Feng, the multicolored radiance solidified, forming a colossal cocoon of light several meters across. It enveloped him layer by layer, soon obscuring him entirely from view. From within this luminous shell, one could only sense a fragile yet tenacious life force – weak, but stubbornly persisting, and steadily growing stronger...
"Kew…" Xiaoqiu let out a long, soft sigh, the sound thick with profound relief. The immense tension that had sustained it finally released. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, it slumped onto the sand. Its eyelids fluttered shut, heavy with fatigue, and within moments, it sank into a deep, motionless sleep…
...
"Hnngh…"
A faint groan stirred within the swirling colors. Hazily, Lin Feng's consciousness began to return. His first, fragmented thought pierced the fog: I'm… not dead?!
Confirming this astonishing reality brought a wave of dazed disbelief. Even he found it hard to accept he had survived…
The confusion, however, lasted only seconds. Clarity snapped back. Now wasn't the time to ponder his improbable survival. He instinctively tried to send out his spiritual sense to scan his surroundings – and was immediately met with shock and alarm. His spiritual sense… refused to extend beyond his own body!
A moment of stunned silence followed, then understanding dawned. The self-detonation of his golden core… His cultivation base was severely crippled. He could no longer project his spiritual sense externally.
Not knowing his location was unsettling, but Lin Feng forced himself to focus inward. His thoughts were still scrambled. Then it hit him – the hole in his chest! He immediately directed his spiritual sense inward, focusing on his torso… and gasped in utter astonishment. His chest was… completely intact!
"It's… healed?!" Utter bewilderment washed over him, mingled with profound disbelief. He instinctively tried to lift a hand to touch the spot, to physically confirm the impossible… but found his body completely unresponsive.
The mystery of his healed chest could wait; it was undeniably good news. Lin Feng pushed aside all lingering questions. With single-minded determination, he began marshalling every shred of true essence energy within him, forcing it to circulate. He needed to recover his strength, now.
Hours crawled by. Finally, a faint tremor ran through his index finger. Then his arm twitched. Summoning immense effort, Lin Feng managed to shift his upper body slightly. Planting his hands firmly into the sand beneath him, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"This is… a beach?"
His hands confirmed the gritty texture of sand. The faint, rhythmic sound of waves reached his ears. Yet, when he opened his eyes, his vision was filled entirely with a blinding spectrum of colored light, obscuring everything beyond.
Gritting his teeth, he managed to shift into a cross-legged posture – the optimal stance for energy circulation. He scanned his internal state with his spiritual sense… and his brow furrowed deeply.
"No time to waste on anything else! I must reform my golden core immediately… or I'll lose the chance forever!!"