Chapter 29: Evil of the Original Body

The white beads were composed of a material resembling jade or glass, lying silently in a shallow groove beneath the shattered wooden floor.

For a fleeting moment, Xu Yuan's gaze flickered between their properties and effects, and from the extensive list of celestial and terrestrial treasures in *Cang Yuan*, he swiftly identified the name of this bead.

Yuan Crystal.

A substance akin to the spiritual stones of immortal realms—no, more precisely, like the condensed lenses of traditional immortal cultivation worlds. It ranked above the pool of spiritual essence currently stored within his Xuyi Amulet.

Yet the real issue now wasn’t that. The real question was: why did Xu Changge’s floating palace in the sky contain such a rare artifact?

The scarcity of Yuan Crystals was no less than that of the soul-plant hearts from the seven-life serpents, and unlike the unique effects of the serpent heart blossoms, Yuan Crystals were genuinely capable of steadily accelerating cultivation progress—true, priceless, and utterly unattainable.

At that moment, Xu Yuan’s mind flashed back to the deep purple-black ring worn on his left hand by Xu Changge.

If Xu Changge possessed a Xuyi Amulet as well, why would he have left such a rare item within the very halls of Xuan Eagle Pavilion?

Silently standing, Xu Yuan reassembled his shattered cultivation technique, then rose and walked toward the broken wooden board.

Stepping closer, Xu Yuan stared at the source crystal for a long while, then bent down to reach for it.

But at a distance of roughly a foot from the crystal, an invisible repelling force—akin to the magnetic push he had known in his previous life—gently pushed his hand away.

Xu Yuan furrowed his brow. He poured the source qi into his Xumi Seal and sent his spiritual consciousness out to probe, preparing to snatch the object mid-air with the seal.

Yet the same repelling force pushed his spiritual essence away as well.

"...?" Xu Yuan.

This must be the reason he had been pushed back earlier.

But what exactly was this force?

A protective array guarding the crystal?

A flicker of thought crossed his mind, tightening his brow even further. With all his might, Xu Yuan activated his cultivation technique, channeling every last drop of source qi into his left hand, striving to withstand the invisible repulsion and reaching out again.

His palm pressed downward, inch by inch—yet after only compressing by about two centimeters, Xu Yuan felt his body's meager reserves of source qi begin to wane.

A low, resonant hum vibrated through the air.

The rebound thrust his left hand backward, the sheer force of the impact breaking Xu Yuan’s half-crouched stance and sending him stumbling backward until he landed squarely on his seat.

He remained there in silence, staring at the source crystal nestled within the groove for a few long breaths, before finally rising to brush the dust from his robes and retreating to his bed with a soft, wry chuckle.

Xu Changge knew perfectly well that he possessed an innate soul physique capable of sensing such things, yet he had placed the treasure right beneath his nose anyway.

Furthermore, the protective array guarding the source crystal was rudimentary at best; given his current innate constitution, if he simply applied himself to his cultivation, he would easily break the seal and claim the prize.

Ha.

His elder brother was certainly taking the scenic route just to bestow a gift upon him, wasn't he?

...

During the journey to Jingjiang City aboard the black eagle, Xu Yuan devoted every waking moment to his cultivation, sparing only two or three shichens each day for necessary sleep.

Circulating his cultivation method day and night was an incredibly tedious and monotonous endeavor, but watching the primordial qi accumulate within his body at a visible pace provided a sense of gratification that entirely washed the boredom away.

For the various restrictions faced by beginners in cultivation, the overwhelming advantages brought by heavy spending completely vanish.

The ancients did not deceive me—

The reason humans fall short is often simply that they have spent too little.

Precious elixirs are swallowed whole, unique medicinal energies not only accelerate his cultivation but also safeguard his joints and tendons, allowing him to train continuously without harm.

Cultivation knows no time.

The Great Inflame Dynasty spans vast territories; a single province often stretches for ten thousand miles, yet the phoenix eagle flies with astonishing speed and requires almost no rest.

Days pass without reckoning, and a magnificent city emerges on the horizon visible to the eagle’s eyes...

...

...

With a long, resonant cry from the phoenix eagle,

Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes while sitting cross-legged at the head of the bed, gazing down at his hands with a hint of bewilderment.

Earlier, while practicing his internal techniques and breathing the primordial qi, he had sensed something inside him being pierced—crisp, clean, and unmistakably sharp.

A single, sharp "snap"—it broke, cleanly and decisively.

An odd sensation.

After a moment of quiet reflection, Xu Yuan roughly deduced that this might be a sign of him breaking through a certain threshold.

Yet, since Ran Qingmo had only taught him the basics of cultivation, he couldn’t yet determine what level of mastery he now possessed after surpassing that barrier. After all, could the cultivation hierarchy of this world truly be measured by the numerical ranks from the *Cangyuan*?

He calmed his thoughts. These questions were not urgent. He could simply ask someone else—no need to waste time pondering them here.

With that thought, Xu Yuan turned his gaze once more to the massive hole in the floor beneath him.

Now that he had broken through the barrier, perhaps it was time to attempt retrieving the source crystal once more.

With that thought, Xu Yuan stepped out of bed and crouched before the shallow groove.

Staring down at the source crystal, which gleamed like a cross between jade and colored glass, he took a deep breath and began to circulate his cultivation technique.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

A sudden rap at the door cut through the silence, followed by Ying'er's slightly raspy voice drifting into the room.

"Third Master..."

"Get out!"

The word left Xu Yuan's lips without a moment's hesitation.

Ever since that woman had directed her murderous intent toward him, this was the only attitude he spared for her.

Bringing medicinal porridge?

He wouldn't touch it. Get lost.

To pass along a message to Xu Changge?

No, get out!

As Xu Yuan slowly sifted through the memories of the original body, he had fully grasped the original's behavioral patterns.

A prodigal, arrogant to the core—but deeply insecure at his very bones.

He could be reduced to a near-fainting state just because a passerby, in a teasing tone, remarked to a friend, "Look, there's the third son of the Imperial Clan—hah~"

In memory,

Xu Changtian sometimes didn't want to act this way. Yet, under the long-standing shadow of his two elder brothers, his character had twisted beyond repair.

What he struggled to accomplish with every ounce of effort—his brothers could achieve with mere ease.

Compared to the two dragons among his siblings, the original was merely an ordinary man, even one of the lower tier.

The expectations of others, the disappointments of others, and the mockery of others.

If it had ended there, the persistent, deep-seated self-doubt might have only produced a withdrawn child.

But the original body had already tasted the power that came with his father’s status as a minister.

It began simply with a conflict at the academy when he was ten years old.

Among the children and youths at the academy, they constantly mocked him by comparing him to his two elder brothers. Over time, this relentless teasing finally erupted into a physical argument.

After morning class, he engaged in a physical altercation with the other children.

Because they were numerous and had already begun practicing martial arts, the young original body—only ten years old—was mocked while being pinned down and kicked repeatedly in the head.

Holding his head tightly in the midst of the crowd, pain surged from all directions, flooding him with a sense of helpless despair.

After the beating, the group of children and youths shouted tauntingly, "If you dare to speak back, we’ll meet you again—beat you again," before laughing and dispersing.

Returning to the minister’s estate, the original body fled straight into his private chamber.

He was afraid...

He feared that going to the academy would plunge him back into that abyss of despair.

At dusk, in a foggy dream, the old steward suddenly knocked on his door, saying someone from the academy was waiting outside the estate.

That single sentence shattered every trace of drowsiness within him.

Fear and unease seized his mind, and he refused to move.

Yet the old steward would not give up. Eventually, under the steward’s patient persuasion, he trembled and stepped toward the main gate.

Beneath the setting sun along the street,

what he saw,

was not the demon who had beaten him during the day,

but rather,

a row of quivering, trembling pheasants, crouching on the ground.

Those murderers who had once roared with fury, threatening to beat him to death, now knelt together with their parents before the Imperial Estate, trembling and shrinking like a flock of helpless pheasants.

At that moment,

as the imperial capital slowly sank beneath the horizon,

the evil within Xu Changtian began to take root and spread...

"Snap—"

At this point in thought, Xu Yuan had already overcome the immense force and grasped the source crystal within the groove, his narrow eyes flickering with something complex...