Chen Yan lifted his head, gazing at the few strands of sunlight filtering through the tree canopy and spilling onto him, feeling a surge of countless emotions.
Today's experience reminded him of many years ago, in his previous life, that afternoon when his father had whipped him into a spinning top with a leather belt.
Setting aside those flashback-like memories, Chen Yan was actually quite puzzled.
Even though he currently had no true qi in his meridians, and the cultivation heart techniques he had mastered were completely inoperable.
Still, no matter what, the body that had been tempered through the Body Forging Realm and nourished by true qi should have far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
But the reality was not so. Chen Yan now even felt he was just an ordinary person.
Bumping his head on a table would make him dizzy.
Being beaten with dry firewood would cause pain.
It was entirely the frail physique of a mortal.
The skinny old man, who was about half a head shorter than Chen Yan, pressed the question with a rather forceful tone.
"No."
This was the only answer Chen Yan could give.
He knew very well that if he continued to claim he was the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, what awaited him would undoubtedly be an even more intense education by the rod.
"Tch, I told you you couldn't be the Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain! Wouldn't it have been easier to admit it earlier? Scared the hell out of me!"
The skinny old man wearing the Outer Court Daoist Robe cursed and grumbled as he returned to the campfire to continue roasting fish.
Chen Yan had nothing to say about this.
He desperately wanted to know the truth.
To know what exactly had happened to him, to know why he now had no cultivation whatsoever.
Chen Yan only remembered jumping into the Jieyou Abyss to search for the ring that Qian Xun had thrown into the water.
Then, during his descent, the true qi in his meridians suddenly became chaotic, his body completely lost control, and what happened after that...
He woke up in the thatched hut behind him.
"Take a bite."
Just as Chen Yan's thoughts were in turmoil, a fragrant, golden-brown roasted fish suddenly appeared before his face.
Chen Yan was stunned for a moment, looking somewhat bewildered at the white-haired old man holding the fish.
"I said take a bite!"
The skinny old man raised his voice and shoved the roasted fish right in front of Chen Yan's face.
Chen Yan hesitated no longer, opened his mouth, and took a big bite out of the roasted fish.
When the crispy, charred fish skin and the tender, fresh fish meat wrapped inside entered Chen Yan's mouth, his first reaction was that it was hot, and his second reaction was that it was delicious.
It had been who knows how many years since Chen Yan had craved food like this.
When a cultivator steps into the Qi Circulation Realm, it signifies that for the rest of their life, the existence of food becomes optional.
After swallowing this bite of fish, meat and bones together, Chen Yan spoke:
"Senior, may I ask when you can untie me?"
"When?"
The white-haired old man took a bite from the back of the fish, casually chewed a few times, then swallowed it whole, saying:
"We'll talk about it when I'm sure you definitely won't seek death."
...
In the end, Chen Yan was still taken down from the wooden stake by the skinny old man.
As for the reason, it wasn't because the old man was sure Chen Yan wouldn't seek death, but because he had an urgent need to relieve himself.
Chen Yan now was completely just an ordinary person, and he was well aware of this himself.
But the biggest problem was, he simply didn't know why he had become like this.
Chen Yan wanted to leave this forest where the thatched hut was located. Looking up, he could see almost completely vertical dark rock walls and a waterfall cascading down along them.
So, Chen Yan's current location was quite obvious.
This forest was right at the foot of Yuanhua Mountain.
Chen Yan had also told the white-haired old man about his desire to leave this forest.
And that skinny old man neither agreed nor objected.
"You can't get out. If you don't believe me, you can try."
He only said this.
Chen Yan tried.
Practice proved that what the skinny old man said was correct;
he truly could not walk out of this forest.
No matter what, Chen Yan would always end up back in front of this thatched hut.
He also asked this skinny old man how he could possibly leave this forest, whether it was to the inner sect or the outer court.
The old man never gave him a clear answer.
Just like that, two weeks passed.
Chen Yan had also figured out the cultivation level of this old man wearing the Outer Court Daoist Robe, living alone in the thatched hut.
It was roughly between the middle stage and late stage of the Qi Circulation Realm, equivalent to his own cultivation during his first life. In terms of talent level among outer court disciples, it should be considered medium to low.
There were also some outer court disciples who, despite exhausting their entire lives, could only stop at the Body Forging Realm. The reason the Kongshan Sect recruited these disciples was because the sect's foundation still lacked manpower.
Chen Yan didn't know when the Outer Court Cataclysm would descend.
Based on when he was still on Yuanhua Mountain, there should have been forty-six days left, but he didn't know how much time had already passed since he fell down the cliff with the waters of the Jieyou Abyss.
Chen Yan could only count the days.
First two weeks, then another twenty days, a month...
Until the morning of the thirty-seventh day.
When Chen Yan woke from his sleep again, he found everything had become different.
The true qi in his meridians was vast and mighty, his Qi Sea was full, and several wisps of Clear Rainbow hovered above his Qi Sea.
It was back.
His cultivation was back!
Chen Yan sat up, searching the thatched hut for the old man's figure, but could not find him.
Had he gone fishing again?
Chen Yan didn't know.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the wall opposite the thatched hut, and a pure white color intruded into his vision.
A pure white Daoist robe was hanging on the wall, with cloud crane patterns embroidered in gold thread on the cuffs.
And on the table in the thatched hut, two tokens were placed, one made of jade and the other of wood.
On the jade token were carved the four characters: "Kongyuan Chief Disciple."
On the wooden token were carved the five characters: "Kongshan Imperial Law Court."
Suddenly, a strange premonition surged in Chen Yan's heart.
He took down the Daoist robe hanging on the wall and put it on, then hung both tokens at his waist, and walked out the door of the thatched hut.
The sky was overcast with dark clouds, extremely oppressive.
Chen Yan looked up at the sky;
ashes drifted in the air.
Something had happened.
He quickly realized.
With his current cultivation realm having reached the peak of the Qi Sea Realm, Chen Yan could, of course, perform aerial flight.
Chen Yan stepped into the air and rose. As he went higher and higher, the first thing that entered his view was the sect's outer court. Broken walls and ruins were everywhere. Whether it was the Fate Inquiry Hall where the outer court elders lived, the Training Grounds, or the outer court disciple quarters where Chen Yan had previously resided, all had been ground into dust.
He couldn't help but frown.
This Outer Court Cataclysm seemed to have come more devastatingly than any previous Outer Court Cataclysm.
No.
As if realizing something, Chen Yan's heart began to grow even more tense.
Then, when Chen Yan reached a height sufficient to overlook the entire Kongshan Sect, the scene presented before his eyes shocked him to the core—
The entire Three Mountains and Four Peaks of the Kongshan Sect had completely become ruins.