Chapter 144: Out-of-Body
Yu Qingtang glanced outside. “There seems to be an oasis right next to this village. Do they need to move too?”
“Mm.” Tu Jiaojiao nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry too much. These villages are already used to relocating along with the mineral veins. A bit of hardship is still better than losing their lives.”
She reached the doorway, then suddenly looked back.
“Since you came because of this trouble, want to travel with me?”
“I won’t be returning to the Heavenly Fire Cult for a while. I’ll be staying in the desert to investigate everything properly. I was going to venture deeper into the mineral veins, which meant calling in more cult disciples for support and finding a few capable people to help. With you two here, that saves me the trouble.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I count as capable too?”
Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes curved with amusement.
“At least you’re more convincing than a certain Qi Refining young sect master.”
“All right.” Ye Chenyan nodded. “But you’ll have to wait for us a little.”
Tu Jiaojiao looked at him in surprise.
“What, you still have something to do in this village?”
Ye Chenyan tugged Yu Qingtang closer and lightly pointed at his own neck.
“I think it’s about time.”
“Huh?” Yu Qingtang stared at him. “Now? That suddenly?”
Tu Jiaojiao looked even more confused.
“What kind of secret code are you two speaking?”
Yu Qingtang was already rushing for the door. He shoved it open.
“Come on, hurry! You can’t break through inside someone’s little mud house. What if it collapses?”
“Jiaojiao, we’re going to find somewhere for him to break through first! I’m guessing it’ll cause quite a commotion, so once you’re done here, just follow the disturbance and come find us!”
“Hey—!” Tu Jiaojiao didn’t even have time to stop him. She watched the normally unhurried Yu Qingtang yank Ye Chenyan outside in a rush and shouted after them, “Do you need anyone to guard you?”
Ye Chenyan, on the other hand, looked completely unconcerned, as if he weren’t the one about to break through.
“No need. It’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious?” Tu Jiaojiao stared after them. “He’s breaking through from Nascent Soul to Out-of-Body! How is that nothing serious? I...”
“Forget it. Maybe they don’t want anyone else there.”
She sighed helplessly and waved a hand.
“Heavenly Fire Cult disciples! Go cordon off an area for them. Don’t let anyone wander in by accident.”
“Yes!”
...
Yu Qingtang piloted the spirit boat with the inexplicable sense of duty of a taxi driver rushing a pregnant woman to the hospital.
He kept nervously looking back.
“You okay? Feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Should I take off the Spirit-Locking Ring first?”
“Hiss—” Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes and slumped against him. “Actually, I do feel a little...”
Yu Qingtang instantly tensed.
“What is it?”
Ye Chenyan frowned deeply and pressed a hand to his dantian.
“A little...”
Yu Qingtang grabbed his hand in alarm.
“A little what?”
“A little happy.”
Ye Chenyan gently bumped his forehead against Yu Qingtang’s, his eyes curving with his smile.
“You’re worried about me.”
Yu Qingtang silently released his hand and pointed a trembling finger at him.
“You...”
“I was wrong!” Ye Chenyan immediately grabbed his finger. “I didn’t mean to...”
He paused.
“Actually, I think I did.”
Yu Qingtang closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
“So are you really about to break through, or were you messing with me about that too?”
“That part’s real.” Ye Chenyan tugged lightly at the Spirit-Locking Ring. “Ever since we entered the desert, the spiritual energy throughout my body has felt restless, like it’s becoming impossible to suppress.”
“At first I thought it might be the climate. But after using spiritual energy in that fight just now, I realized I’m probably right on the verge of breaking through.”
Yu Qingtang opened his mouth.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“I could still hold it back.” Ye Chenyan didn’t seem bothered. “I couldn’t exactly turn around in the middle of a fight and tell you, ‘Sorry, I’m about to break through, cover for me,’ could I?”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Ye Chenyan tilted his head.
“Are you angry?”
“No.”
Yu Qingtang added, “Not right now.”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.
“Mm?”
Yu Qingtang reached out, pinched his cheeks, and smiled through clenched teeth.
“I! Am! Not! Angry! Right! Now!”
He leaned in close and stared at Ye Chenyan.
“Once you finish breaking through, just you wait.”
“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan’s gaze darted away as he leaned back slightly. “Th-Then maybe I should hold it in a little longer and break through later...”
“No!” Yu Qingtang pointed at him. “Break through!”
Ye Chenyan slumped against him again, closed his eyes, and shamelessly whined, “But once I finish breaking through, you’re going to be angry.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He slowly turned to stare at this brat, who somehow still had the nerve to act spoiled.
Ye Chenyan happened to have one eye cracked open, secretly peeking at him.
Yu Qingtang sighed mournfully.
“Fine. I won’t be angry.”
“Really?” Ye Chenyan’s scheme succeeded immediately. He leaned closer. “You promised. If you go back on your word...”
Yu Qingtang nodded firmly.
“Then I’m a puppy.”
Only then did Ye Chenyan turn and step off the spirit boat.
“Then I’m going.”
“Wait!” Yu Qingtang grabbed him anxiously. “What about the pills?”
Ye Chenyan obediently took the Harmonizing Pills from his storage ring.
“Right here.”
Yu Qingtang leaned closer, still worried.
“Open it. Are there really nine?”
“You think some could’ve disappeared?” Ye Chenyan laughed and opened the container for inspection. “See? Relax. I didn’t sneak any.”
Only then did Yu Qingtang reach for the Spirit-Locking Ring around his neck.
He swallowed nervously.
“B-Be careful. The old Pill King said it too. If—if, and I mean if—you take all nine and still don’t succeed... don’t force it.”
Ye Chenyan met his worried gaze. A faint smile appeared on his face as he leaned closer.
“If you’re that worried, how about helping me one more time?”
Yu Qingtang immediately pulled out the Dragon-Crane Zither, lined up a row of Spirit Recovery Pills beside himself, and thumped his chest.
“Don’t worry! Do you want the Heart-Cleansing Melody or the Heart-Questioning Melody? Even if I have to stuff myself sick on pills today, I’ll play for you until the very end!”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
He rubbed his forehead helplessly.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Hm?” Yu Qingtang blinked in confusion.
Ye Chenyan leaned in, placed a hand behind his neck so he couldn’t retreat, and lowered his voice.
“Why are you still embarrassed?”
Yu Qingtang immediately realized what he wanted.
His face went scarlet.
“W-Who’s embarrassed? It’s not like we haven’t kissed before. I just...”
“Other people bathe, burn incense, clear their minds, and settle their thoughts before a breakthrough. Y-You’re about to break through and you’re still doing this?”
“Other people are other people.” Ye Chenyan cupped his face. “I’m not like them. I don’t cultivate an emotionless path.”
“They bathe. I slack off. What’s the difference?”
“That’s not what ‘slacking off’ means... Never mind.”
Yu Qingtang cautiously looked left and right.
Only after making sure no one could see them did he dart forward and kiss Ye Chenyan on the cheek.
“There!” He pulled away the instant their skin touched. “Don’t push your luck. Cheek only. There are people everywhere outside.”
“All right.” Ye Chenyan reluctantly agreed, then turned and jumped off the spirit boat. “Put the rest on my tab. I’ll collect tonight.”
“Huh?” Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened. He leaned over the edge of the spirit boat to stare down at him. “What?! I never agreed to that! You can’t just force a loan on someone and then force them to repay it!”
Ye Chenyan pretended not to hear him.
Still smiling, he sat cross-legged with great ceremony and began regulating his breathing.
“Clear the mind and focus the spirit—”
Yu Qingtang pointed at him, furious, but didn’t dare keep arguing at a time like this.
He could only pick up a bottle of Spirit Recovery Pills, pour them into his mouth, and start playing the Heart-Cleansing Melody with his cheeks puffed out.
This guy’s head was full of distracting thoughts. He needed his mind cleaned out first.
In the original novel, Ye Chenyan had naturally broken through to Out-of-Body without incident.
Not only that, he had perfectly fused his immortal and demonic energies, leaving his strength far beyond other cultivators of the same realm.
Yu Qingtang lowered his gaze toward him.
Knowing that was one thing.
Worrying was another.
Maybe because he wasn’t only worried about whether Ye Chenyan would succeed.
He was also worried about whether the process would hurt.
Vast spiritual energy and surging demonic energy howled out of Ye Chenyan’s body, dragging the spiritual energy across this entire stretch of desert into motion until it nearly formed a hurricane.
Yet every current of spiritual and demonic energy flowed around the little leaf-shaped skiff where Yu Qingtang sat.
Yu Qingtang withdrew his gaze and concentrated on the zither.
Once he finished the Heart-Cleansing Melody, there was still the Heart-Questioning Melody.
Today, Ye Chenyan was getting the full playlist on repeat.
...
After Tu Jiaojiao finished arranging everything on her end, she sped over to help guard the two of them.
She looked up at the overwhelming phenomenon in astonishment, her eyes gleaming.
“The primordial spirit leaves the body, and heaven itself produces an omen. So this is what the elders meant by heaven-bestowed talent.”
The disciples beside her were equally impressed, though they still stubbornly insisted that their own sect was best.
“When Flame Immortal and Emperor Fire broke through in the past, flaming clouds filled the heavens as if the entire sky were burning. When the Holy Maiden breaks through, your phenomenon certainly won’t be any weaker.”
“Of course.” Tu Jiaojiao folded her arms and lifted her chin proudly. “With all the outstanding talents beneath heaven gathered together, there has to be a place for me among them.”
“He’s just getting there one step ahead of me.”
She flicked her sleeve.
“The Heavenly Fire Cult stands proudly over Rongzhou. Naturally we can tolerate someone temporarily walking ahead of us.”
“The phenomenon accompanying his breakthrough is unusual. Don’t get too close.”
She looked from afar toward the center of the vortex of immortal and demonic energies.
Amid the visibly swirling black-and-white energies, a tiny leaf-shaped skiff remained perfectly steady. A figure in green sat aboard, playing the zither at Ye Chenyan’s side, utterly unaffected.
Tu Jiaojiao looked at the sandstorm raging everywhere else.
Then she looked at the calm, windless space around Yu Qingtang.
She couldn’t help clicking her tongue.
“Needs someone sitting beside him even while breaking through. Spoiled.”
She turned away in a huff.
“...I’m finding myself a music cultivator too!”
...
Ye Chenyan was completely unaware of anything happening outside.
His awareness had sunk deep into his mind sea.
His Nascent Soul had condensed until it was nearly tangible, while the immortal and demonic energies inside him had practically turned his body into a battlefield, slaughtering each other without mercy.
Were his physical body not exceptionally powerful, it would never have withstood such violence. By now, he would have been riddled with wounds.
Yet Ye Chenyan did not immediately take a Harmonizing Pill.
He guided his consciousness slowly through his meridians.
Faintly, he could hear the Heart-Cleansing Melody Yu Qingtang was playing for him.
That made him even more confident.
He had known that when he broke through to Out-of-Body, the immortal and demonic energies within him were destined to wage a tremendous battle.
And yet, amid what looked like a life-or-death struggle, clusters of smoothly fused immortal-demonic energy were gradually being shaken loose.
Even without the Harmonizing Pills, the immortal and demonic energies within him would slowly fuse through their conflict.
The problem was that his physical body probably wouldn’t survive long enough.
He guided his consciousness, gathering those fused strands of immortal-demonic energy little by little and drawing them under his control.
Only when his meridians began to ache did he swallow the first Harmonizing Pill.
The moment the pill entered his body, its vast spiritual power became like an enormous hand that seized his immortal and demonic energies and crushed them together, forcibly fusing them and shaking loose a tremendous quantity of immortal-demonic energy.
The remaining medicinal power then seeped into his meridians, rapidly repairing his body.
Again.
And again.
This was destined to be a long cultivation session.
Ye Chenyan sat cross-legged, outwardly serene and composed, while inside his body, his immortal and demonic energies had long since started tearing each other apart.
Three days and three nights passed.
The moon rose. The sun set.
Immortal and demonic energies occupied the region, dividing heaven and earth between them.
At first, Tu Jiaojiao could still observe what was happening inside from afar.
But as the spiritual and demonic energies grew increasingly dense, even with her Nascent Soul cultivation, she could no longer see through them.
All she could sense was the terrifying pressure that occasionally rolled out from within.
“There’s already the pressure of the Out-of-Body realm.”
Tu Jiaojiao narrowed her eyes.
“I wonder how it’s going.”
Then she abruptly raised her head.
“The zither stopped!”
Author’s Note:
Dragon-Crane Zither: It’s bad enough that I don’t have a beautiful mistress, but now you make me sit between two men and watch them kiss? I refuse to live like this!
Demonic Weapon: Want me to take over?
Dragon-Crane Zither: ...I was joking. Life isn’t that unbearable.