?A grim look appeared on everyone’s face, as everyone here knew how hard meridians were to heal. Meridians were one of the hardest parts of the body to heal, and for someone with heaven-defying meridians like John, healing them would be far more difficult than the average genius.

“And the problem is compounded by his bloodline he has,” the Prime Shadow continued, then elaborated as he noticed the questioning looks from the others. “His bloodline is beyond anything any of us have seen, and whenever healing Qi is poured into his body, his blood greedily absorbs it all, leaving almost nothing for the rest of his body. The appetite of his blood is insatiable, and we haven’t been able to restore his blood fully, let alone the rest of his body. I’m afraid only the most potent of healing treasures would be capable of such a thing, but…”

“None of us have such a treasure,” Jaxus filled in the remaining words, and received a head nod from the Prime Shadow.

“And lastly,” the Prime Shadow continued, “is his foundation. When John pushed his cultivation as high as he did, his foundation was shaken. His Dantian is quite unstable at the moment, and with him unconscious and unable to firm his foundation again, the cracks in his foundation could grow worse and worse, eventually becoming irreparable if he remains unconscious for too long.”

Silence descended on the group, lasting for some time as many sought for solutions, but could come up with nothing.

At that time, footsteps sounded from behind them, as two figures approached the group, emerging from the chamber leading to the balcony. Looks of welcome appeared on everyone’s face as the moved towards the two who had arrived.

“Welcome!” Jaxus said, hastily rushing up to Ji’Han and the Sword-Saint, the latter whose face was pale and posture quite frail. With the sacrifice of his blood essence, the Sword-Saint had dealt an unrecoverable blow to his body and cultivation, which had receded to the Early World Expansion Realm in terms of power. Not only that, but he would never be able to raise his cultivation in the future, forever stuck at this realm.

For someone like the Sword-Saint, a Holy Manifestation powerhouse whose future was bright, this was a mental and physical blow beyond compare.

The Sword-Saint greeted the others, exchanging some niceties with them before turning his attention to the Prime Shadow. With his power diminished and his perspective changed, the Sword-Saint was like a different person, one far less haughty and confrontational.

“I do not have a solution for the first two problems,” the Sword-Saint said, having clearly overheard the Prime Shadow as he arrived, “but I may have a solution for his unstable foundation.”

“What solution?” the Prime Shadow asked.

“The Ancient Blessings of the Three Daos!” the Sword-Saint said, his expression firm.

“The Ancient Blessings?” the Mage Sovereign chimed up, a thoughtful yet doubtful look appearing on her face. “While the Ancient Blessings would help to improve his foundation, the boy is still unconscious. He won’t be able to guide the heavenly Qi into his body and Dantian, and will instead waste most of the Qi given to him. Are you sure it’s worth the cost? After all, we can only open the Ancient Blessings once every ten thousand years, and only at great cost to us all.”

“John cannot guide the Qi into his body, but someone else can,” the Sword-Saint replied, his words causing the Mage Sovereign’s eyes to widen slightly.

“Impossible,” she scoffed lightly, then corrected herself. “Well, it’s not impossible, but it might as well be.”

“What’s the problem?” Jaxus chimed in, his eyes shifting between the Sword-Saint and the Mage Sovereign. While he was not a powerhouse like the Mage Sovereign, or former powerhouse like the Sword-Saint, his status as Sect Leader of the Yang Phoenix Sect allowed him to speak freely with the others as a relative equal. “If anything can help…”

The Mage-Sovereign glanced at Jaxus, then sighed. “It’s not that it’s impossible, but it’s very very difficult. Since John is unconscious, someone will need to enter the Ancient Blessings with him, and act as a conduit to move the heavenly Qi within the temple into his body and Dantian for him.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Jaxus asked curiously. “I’ll volunteer to-”

“It’s not that simple,” the Mage-Sovereign cut him off. “While I do not doubt your intentions, I doubt your resolve.”

Her words caused Jaxus to frown, not pleased by her opinion of his resolve. The Mage-Sovereign noticed this frown and smiled lightly. “Do not take my words as an insult, because they are not. Not only do I doubt your resolve, I doubt everyone’s resolve when it comes to this matter.”

She glanced at the Sword-Saint, whose expression held firm, then sighed again and elaborated to Jaxus and the others further. 𝑖𝘦𝑎.𝗇t

“The Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao’s is an ancient creation far beyond the scope of our current world. We know only how part of it works, and even those parts are beyond incredible. When one enters the Ancient Blessings, the accumulated Qi of ten thousand years is refined into the purest form of Heavenly Qi one can imagine. To compare it to the Qi surrounding us right now would be the most egregious of insults.

One taste of this Qi will drive any cultivator into a frenzy, with their only goal to absorb as much as possible. To a cultivator, the Qi within the Ancient Blessings is like the most potent of drugs, so intoxicating that it would drive me into a frenzy, let alone anyone else.

If I were to enter the Ancient Blessings with the boy in order to guide the Qi into his body, while my initial intentions would be pure, the desire to absorb that Qi for myself would become too great for me to resist. Myself, you, even the Prime Shadow would most likely succumb to this temptation, taking the Qi for ourselves instead of giving it to John,” she said, falling silent to allow the others to digest her words.

“And there’s one more problem,” she spoke again after some time, all eyes falling on her once more. “In his unconscious state, and with his internal battle with that foul taint, John’s soul is in a state of heightened alert, treating any foreign entity as an enemy. Even if I was able to resist the urge to use the Qi for myself, his soul would instinctively reject my help, treating me as an enemy the same as that foul taint. The only way this would have a chance of working is for the person who joins him to not only have a will beyond any temptation, but also a soul that the boy would never consider a foe. Only then is there a possibility of success, but there is no one like that here-” 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ

“There is one,” the Sword-Saint interrupted the Mage Sovereign, who glanced at him curiously. The Sword-Saint smiled lightly as he shifted his gaze to Lilian, who stood next to the Prime Shadow, silently listening to everyone.

“Her?” the Mage-Sovereign said with slight surprise. “It’s true that she is his master, but I’m not sure their bond is great enough to overcome this obstacl-”

“Trust me,” Ji’Han spoke for the first time, drawing all eyes to him, while he looked directly at Lilian, their eyes locking onto one another. “If there’s anyone who can do this, it’s her. Of that, I have no doubt.”

Lilian couldn’t help but raise a surprised eyebrow at Ji’Han, never expecting to hear such words from him. Everyone glanced back and forth between these two, while the Mage Sovereign looked back to the Sword-Saint, who nodded in agreement with Ji’Han’s words.

“Can you do it?” the Mage Sovereign asked Lilian, who glanced at the Sovereign, then frowned.

“Had I known this was an option, I would have already been inside that place restoring John’s condition,” Lilian replied, then nodded lightly. “I’ll do it. When can we start?”

“Tomorrow,” the Sword-Saint replied before anyone else could, then looked at the Mage-Sovereign and Jaxus. “Make the preparations. Tomorrow we shall meet at the Temple of the Ancients, and open it for John and Lilian to enter.”

𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ