Chapter 635 - 81: Rescue
Earth
Kunlun Mountain Range
On the mountaintop, the wind and snow whip fiercely, the cold piercing to the bone. Only those challenging extreme survival or scientific researchers would venture to such a place.
At a certain moment.
The air rippled like water, and a piece of ’remnant corpse’ suddenly appeared, tumbling heavily down the slope below.
"Bang!"
The ’remnant corpse’ rolled continuously down the slope and over rocks, finally falling into a river filled with ice crystals.
The extremely cold water flowed slowly, carrying the ’remnant corpse’ forward.
This ’remnant corpse’ had no limbs, half its skull was missing, and its chest was torn and tattered.
Yet,
The remaining half of its heart was still stubbornly beating.
"That was close!"
Fang Zheng’s body was broken, his divine soul dim, but his consciousness remained clear under the support of the Secret Technique, not completely fainted.
And in his shattered body, the few bones fused with the Divine Bone emitted a faint glow.
Devouring God and Casting Sacred Bone!
An immense life force grew from deep within the bones.
Meridians, blood vessels, internal organs, bones, flesh... all appeared slowly, from nothing.
This battle had been perilous to the extreme.
He had exhausted all methods to trap the Iron Flute Immortal, only to be caught unaware by a hidden predator.
Fortunately...
"Fortunately, I was always prepared to escape back to Earth, and crucially used the Divine Talisman to temporarily repel Li Yingxuan."
"Otherwise, I’d really be dead this time!"
"May as well!"
Fang Zheng’s thoughts turned:
"My Heart Martial True Skill combines the Yama Heart Sutra and the Elemental Thunder Skill, but it’s only in its initial form. Now that my body and Primordial Spirit are nearly collapsed, it’s the perfect chance to reshape and fully integrate with the Heart Martial True Skill."
"Break to stand!"
"I would never have made such a decision in the past, but now is a good opportunity to properly adjust all I’ve learned throughout my life."
"And then..."
"Li Yingxuan, I’ll remember you!"
......
Winter goes, spring comes.
The severe cold gradually fades, and life reappears.
The Kunlun Mountain Range, rarely visited by humans, shows signs of greenery, except for the mountaintops, still blanketed in snow.
"Crack..."
A dry branch snapped, and a figure appeared in the woods.
The figure was robust, holding a strange dagger, clothes tattered and worn, evidently having lived in the deep mountains for a long time.
"Water!"
The small stream ahead made Xue Rong’s face light up with joy, and she quickened her pace, exiting the dense forest, before halting.
A few months ago, her wilderness survival skills were quite lacking, but now she’s an expert in the field.
Water,
is essential for all living beings, always attracting various predators, representing danger as well.
She cautiously observed the surroundings, confirming the absence of anything apart from a few circling birds, before proceeding to act.
She filled her water bottle, scooped up river water with her hands, and splashed it on her face, the cold refreshing her spirit.
"Refreshing!"
Xue Rong was a woman, but extremely robust, her voice raspy, easily mistaken for a man at a quick glance.
Yet it was all worth it.
Looking down at her reflection, her coarse features were intolerable for any beauty-loving woman.
She was no different.
Reluctantly closing her eyes, Xue Rong sighed silently, about to rise and depart when her eyebrows suddenly knitted.
She saw a strand of black hair slowly floating among the water plants not far away.
Looking past the hair, she saw a ’corpse’ wrapped in water weeds and vines.
"A dead body?"
Xue Rong touched her chin.
From the looks of it, this corpse likely floated down from the mountain, entangled by aquatic plants.
Perhaps dead from last year, it flowed down with the melting ice and snow from the mountain.
No!
Xue Rong’s expression changed, and with a few strides she approached the ’corpse’, her expression freezing.
"This person..."
"Looks quite good."
The ’corpse’s’ features weren’t outstanding but were perfectly adequate, giving an extremely comfortable feeling.
As if,
It was meant to be that way.
Though average, the features were so perfectly matched, it seemed artistic.
The key is...
"Not dead!"
Xue Rong looked surprised, slashed away the water plants with her dagger, revealing the man’s unclothed body.
Robust muscles, streamlined form, and...
Xue Rong blushed and instinctively looked away, then frowned, curiosity rising.
The faint breathing and pulse indicated that this person wasn’t dead, or at least not entirely.
"With such muscles, he must be an expert, yet there are no injuries on his body, which is strange."
Unless purely into fitness, mountain climbing, rock climbing, or survival generally leads to injuries.
Scars are inevitable.
This person in front, their skin tender and smooth like a baby’s, unscathed, yet bore the marks of being tempered repeatedly.
This seemed illogical.
Watching the man in the water, Xue Rong’s expression changed, caught between saving or not, until she sighed helplessly:
"Luckily for you, you met me; your life isn’t meant to end."
With that, she bent down, grabbed his arm, hefted him onto her back, and struggled back into the woods.
She was, after all, a woman; despite having trained, carrying a man over a hundred pounds wasn’t easy.
Panting heavily, she didn’t notice the man’s eyelids twitch slightly, before calming once again.
*
*
*
"Is there a cold snap here too?"
In the cave, Xue Rong rubbed her hands, looking out through a beast hide door curtain, frowning.
In recent days, the temperature outside had plummeted, today snowstorms raged, clothing the Kunlun Mountain Range in frost.
Such a beautiful sight is indeed delightful if purely appreciated.
Unfortunately,
her food supplies were running low, and continuous worsening weather threatened survival.
Helplessly shaking her head, Xue Rong turned back to prepare a meal, her eyebrows subtly lifting at the sight.
"You’re awake."
The man she had brought back days ago had, unbeknownst to her, opened his eyes, looking at her calmly.
There were no emotional fluctuations from his brush with death, nor overwhelming gratitude for being saved, just calmness.
"Yes."
Fang Zheng nodded slightly:
"Thank you, miss, for saving me."
"..." Xue Rong hesitated, then chuckled:
"You speak so formally, like an ancient person, were you an actor in historical dramas?"
"I must say, with your looks and physique, you’d definitely fit the role of an ancient general, much better than today’s young idols."
Fang Zheng smiled:
"Kunlun Mountain is rarely visited, and with the current harsh weather, why are you here?"
Xue Rong paused in her actions, shrugged:
"Aren’t you here too?"
"True." Seeing she wasn’t willing to elaborate, Fang Zheng didn’t press, casting his gaze outside the cave:
"Your supplies are running out, I have a temporary cave mansion up on the mountain with some provisions."
"Cave mansion?" Xue Rong burst into peals of laughter, yet due to her physique, it seemed more like burly spasms.
She laughed till she teared up, gasping:
"You’re not cultivating on the mountain, are you?"
"..." Fang Zheng pondered momentarily, then nodded:
"More or less."
"Haha..." Xue Rong couldn’t hold it anymore, pounding the blanket beside her with her fists, laughing.
?
Fang Zheng’s expression was odd.
This woman, her sense of humor is really low.