Chapter 62 (Patreon)

The world was pure white and filled with mist.

In his delirium Chen Haoran thought he arrived in heaven.

“Shit, Chen Haoran!” Lan Fen’s face appeared and he realized it couldn’t be heaven. He was thankful. It was embarrassing to make a mistake like that. “Shit.” Her voice was odd, as if she were speaking to him from the other side of a fishbowl. He couldn’t tell who was the fish though.

“You brat, why did you bring the moron in here!” Another face appeared. Pure white and translucent, like a ghost. He was a sharp-looking man with severe eyes. A white crown sat on his head. “Are you a fool!” His voice didn’t have the same fishbowl sound as Lan Fen. Off to the side, Chen Haoran heard screaming. It was familiar though. Phelps was really showing off his lungs. “What could have compelled you to-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Lan Fen roared at the ghost man. Chen Haoran wanted to ask where Lan Fen learned that kind of language from but his lips wouldn’t move. Oh well, he would just have to try harder. Cool, electric fingers touched his head. Ten different stimulating points sent a pulsating wave of qi into his head. It bounced around before eventually settling as a low, constant background noise in his brain. “Stay awake. Do not close your eyes.”

It was different than Elder Qianbei’s brutal invasion that forced him awake. This one, while still foreign, assisted his own qi’s natural function rather than forcing its own way in his body. Clarity of vision and clear thought were restored to Chen Haoran. He opened his mouth, breathed deep, and screamed his lungs out.

“We could have avoided this if you didn’t expose your biggest trump card,” the ghost man said, covering his ears.

“He already knew about the uses of the ring if you didn’t want him to know about you then you should’ve hid yourself,” Lan Fen snapped.

“You should have never revealed it to begin with,” the ghost man snapped back. “And I am the White Tyrant. I do not hide. Especially not in my own domain!”

“If you’re not going to be useful then be silent!” Lan Fen brought a pill to Chen Haoran’s mouth. It was red and smelled like cinnamon and blood. “You have to eat this.”

The White Tyrant snorted. “As if a Profound-rank pill will do him any good now.”

“He just needs to be stabilized. I’ll take the trial and get better medicinal pills later.”

Even though he was screaming there was a part of Chen Haoran that was still thinking. It wanted some silence so he forcibly took what qi he could and blocked his lungs. He coughed and sputtered and flecks of blood sprayed out but he stopped screaming for the moment.

“Eat it,” Lan Fen urged him.

The White Tyrant said it wasn’t enough. Lan Fen said it would stabilize him. His arms and legs were broken. He couldn’t wait.

“Pu-Put it in my hand.”

“Chen-”

“Please,” he wheezed.

“Oh just let him do it,” the White Tyrant said. He reclined in the air as if laying on a couch. “I want to see what pathetic logic this is.”

Lan Fen frowned but moved the pill out of sight. He couldn’t fell his hand so he could only trust she put it there.

“Phelps.”

The screaming stopped. He heard shuffling and a wet nose brushed his cheek.

“Phelps you ne-need to eat what’s in my hand.”

“A bleeding heart to go with a bleeding body a truly unrivaled Heavenly Physique,” The White Tyrant said.

Chen Haoran ignored him. “You must have gotten hurt too when you attacked that guy. Please eat.”

Phelps squealed. It was low and cautious sounding.

“He said to eat it,” Lan Fen ordered.

“Stop.” Even as he spoke he felt his heart tighten. Lan Fen was intelligent. She had observed him enough that she’d be able to figure out the rest of his power with this. There was no other choice. “He has to do it himself.” Lan Fen said nothing and continued to cycle her qi to his head.  “Phelps please.”

Phelps seemed to have gotten it. Snuffling he retreated from Chen Haoran’s side. There was no sensation to be felt but eventually, the sound of Phelps chewing could be heard.

Please. Please.

Received Hundred-Fold: Earth-Rank Salamander Reconstitution Pill.

With a thought the pill appeared in his mouth and he swallowed it. He heard an intake of breath from Lan Fen and a shouted expletive from the White Tyrant. He couldn’t make out anything else however as the stress finally caught up and he fell into darkness.

——

When he woke up he was still in the world of white. His head was much clearer than before so he didn’t make the same mistake of thinking he went to a good afterlife. His body was still in pain but compared to before it was far less excruciating. A reflexive attempt to lift his body quickly dispelled the notion of actually going through with it. He lifted his head to see his arms and legs bandaged and set with splints. He set his head back down and felt something soft underneath him he craned his to and found… dresses? Had Lan Fen used her clothes to make a pillow for him?

He turned his head as far as he could to observe his surroundings. The white space seemed to stretch on endlessly, not helped by the mist that billowed all over and messed with any sense of distance. Not far away he could see Phelps floating in the air and doing somersaults around the ghost man, The White Tyrant?

“A floating sloth,” The White Tyrant mused. “I’ll give you a ten out of 1 million on a scale of interesting things I’ve seen. I never thought this planet would have something beyond a five.”

Phelps squealed at The White Tyant and twisted in the air, locking eyes his Chen Haoran as he revolved. Phelps squealed in joy and doggy-paddled through the air to him. Nuzzling his cheek and happily burbling.

“I’m glad to see you too buddy.” Chen Haoran smiled. “Thanks for your help.”

“You dare show gratitude to an animal before you thank this master? You must have a death wish.” The White Tyrant casually floated over to Chen Haoran and looked down at him. His eyes roamed across his body and narrowed into slits. “You will explain yourself and I might let you live.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whatever principle it was that you summoned that pill yesterday and that tusk now that I recall it. How was it possible for you to do that without any spatial fluctuations?”

“Excuse me but who are you and where is Lan Fen?”

The White Tyrant reared back as if he’d been slapped across the face. His arrogant look somehow became even colder. “Ignorant ant. I have conquered ten Solar Realms and forged their crown jewels into my royal regalia. My legion has decimated billions and the fortress I rule from is the despair of civilization. Countless seek my wisdom in the Way of Metal and countless more seek defeat in front of my power. Not even death was enough for the Heavens to take my spirit. I am the White Tyrant, the greatest cultivator born in the history of this miserable planet!”

So Lan Fen was carrying around the spirit of a powerful cultivator in her Inventory space. This… explained a lot. “Hello White Tyrant, I’m Chen Haoran.”

“Do I like I care what your name is moron?”

Is being a dick some sort of requirement for powerful cultivators.

“As much as he complains about it he is also the direct cause for why the world has become so miserable.” Lan Fen suddenly appeared out of thin air. Various crates and bags appeared with her. “He is both my boon and bane.” She approached Chen Haoran and knelt beside him, brushing her hands over his limbs. He could feel the lightning tingle of her qi. “Just try to ignore his nonsense.”

The White Tyrant coldly snorted. “Brat you have been dangerously testing my patience in this period.”

“How do you feel?” Lan Fen asked him.

“Alive,” Chen Haoran replied. A nervous shudder ran through him. Luckily, he silently amended.

Lan Fen searched his eyes before placing her hands on the ground and bowing her head. It wasn’t low enough to be called a dogeza, her head was still well above the ground, but it was the lowest bow he had ever seen her give.

“I deeply apologize. It was because of my negligence that this occurred. Had I been less arrogant and more respectful of my opponent you would not have been placed in such danger.”

Chen Haoran didn’t say anything and let Lan Fen sit there. He just stared up into the misty depths of the Inventory space. For all the risks to his life he had so far faced, none had ever come so tortuously close as this one. Had Elder Qianbei not wanted to use him as a hostage he would have died right then and there. If he hadn’t thought to use the Earth Mammoth Ivory then he still would have died. So long as Lan Fen got within the Elder’s range he had no more use, killing him would be a simple snap of the neck.

He sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if choosing you was really the best choice for me.”

Lan Fen accepted the criticism in silence. She didn’t ask for forgiveness and he didn’t offer any.

Still, she saved his life. “Thank you.”

Lan Fen lifted her head and nodded.

“How are my injuries?” he asked

“Much better after you took that Earth-Rank pill. While I am not a specialist you should be able to recover functionality in a month.”

Even after taking the pill, it would take him a month to recover. It hammered home just how serious his injuries had been. Without the pill how long would it have taken him to heal? Would he have been permanently crippled?

Lan Fen seemed to read the distress on his face and took out a small jade bottle. “I still have two Salamander Spirit Pills if you’d like to use them.”

He had to give Lan Fen credit for stepping around the elephant in the room. He nodded and she placed the pills in his hand. Phelps it seemed had learned from the first time and immediately ate both pills after permission from Chen Haoran. It could have been because it found the pills to be beneficial to it but given Phelp’s intelligence he’d like to think it was because the sloth recognized they helped him.

Received Hundred-Fold: Earth-Rank Salamander Reconstitution Pill.

A thought placed the pill in his mouth and he swallowed it. As soon as it entered his core he felt the qi in the pill turn into a powerful heat. Lan Fen immediately put her hands over his core.

“For medicinal pills like this it helps to deliberately distribute the effect,” she said, answering his silent question. Under her care of her qi the medicinal effect flowed to his limbs. He traced the path with his own qi and observed her control. When the fiery qi entered his limbs he watched it flow through his broken meridians and rather than spill out wastefully it sank into his flesh and began to knit together soft tissue, reconnect bones, and repair his meridians. He could feel his arms and legs heat up and itch but he ignored it and focused on Lan Fen’s technique. Soon he was using his qi to take over more and more until Lan Fen removed her hands and he directed the last of the pill’s energy by himself.

He slowly lift up one arm, then the other, and did the same for both legs. After that, he gingerly sat up. Lan Fen removed his splints and redid his bandages. With her assistance, he stood up to Phelps’s joyous squeals. He was still a bit shaky and lacked strength but it was otherwise a miraculous recovery. Once he took the third pill he’d be as good as new.

“Don’t even think about it,” The White Tyrant said, startling Chen Haoran.

“Excuse me?”

“I know that look.” He snorted in disdain. “You’ve already taken two pills back to back and built a resistance. Taking the third one now is just a waste. Just let your qi’s recovery ability do its work and you’ll be fine in the next few days.”

“I see.” He remembered Lan Fen mentioned being resistant to certain pills earlier. “Thank you.”

“Do I need such paltry gratitude? You know what I want.” Lan Fen frowned. The White Tyrant sneered at her. “You’re curious to brat, don’t deny it.”

“I will not standby and watch you force him however,” Lan Fen said.

Chen Haoran held up a hand before they could argue again. He looked at Lan Fen. “I know you’ve already grasped the gist of my secret just like I have yours. It’d be ridiculous to keep up the pretense at this point.”

Lan Fen hesitated but nodded in agreement in the end.

“Does the name Everlasting Hundred Blessings Charitable Prosperity mean anything to you?”