Chapter 1914: Just Thinking About It Is Exciting

His head splitting with pain, Zhang Xuan slowly regained consciousness.

What met his eyes was a spacious room.

"My strength..."

Slowly sitting up, he looked down and saw his body wrapped in bandages, aching all over—clearly severely injured. Trying to circulate his energy, he found that the true qi within him was pitifully scarce.

"Mercury true qi?"

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the remaining true qi was extremely heavy, and even moving a strand was fraught with difficulty.

Previously, he had absorbed mercury spiritual energy and transformed it into his own cultivated true qi, which essentially converted dense spiritual energy into thin true qi. But now, for some reason, the vast, ocean-like true qi within him had vanished, leaving only a trace of mercury-like true qi.

It was heavy, but given his current physical condition, even mobilizing it was extremely difficult, let alone using it to heal his injuries.

"My passage into the Upper Realm was blocked by thunder, and then... I lost consciousness..."

After surveying the chaotic state inside him, the previous experience surfaced in his mind. Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. "Could it be... I've already reached the Upper Realm?"

Normally, he should be drifting in the spatial passage, but now he was lying in a room, his wounds bandaged. Could it be... he had passed through the thunder region and successfully entered the so-called Upper Realm?

He moved his mind, trying to extend his divine sense, but couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

His divine sense, which could previously spread for millions of kilometers, was now tightly confined within his body, unable to extend at all!

"Such strong spatial pressure!"

Without further testing, he knew he must have arrived in the Upper Realm. Not only could his divine sense not extend, but his flying ability was also restricted. Under the immense spatial pressure, even walking was difficult, let alone flying.

Gurgle, gurgle!

His stomach rumbled—he was hungry.

Ever since he reached the Mortal Transformation realm, absorbing spiritual energy had been enough to provide energy for his body; eating wasn't important. This was the first time he felt such hunger, as if his entire body were being hollowed out.

Unable to extend his divine sense, he calmed his mind and sensed his surroundings. Indeed, the air was filled with mercury-like spiritual energy, dense and thick, more than ten times richer than what had descended on the Kunxu Realm platform.

He tried to absorb it, refining it into true qi to heal his injuries, but immediately felt his face flush and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

After a moment, he couldn't help shaking his head.

When uninjured, he could absorb mercury spiritual energy by relying on his own strength without incident. But now, with his entire body battered and his meridians cracked, absorbing it was unbearable, let alone converting it into internal energy.

"I'll have to wait until my injuries are somewhat better..."

Knowing that worrying was useless, Zhang Xuan calmed himself.

Due to his severe injuries and nearly depleted true qi, he couldn't exert his strength of shattering the void, making him appear no different from an ordinary person.

"First, find something to eat..."

Feeling his hunger grow, he struggled to stand, rubbed his stomach, and slowly walked out of the room.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

As soon as he pushed open the door, he heard the sound of wind in the courtyard. Looking up, he saw a young boy holding an iron sword, practicing a sword technique.

His left leg was as stiff as wood—whether from injury or a congenital condition, it made walking very difficult. His movements were unadorned, but the sword in his hand flipped continuously, giving a pleasing aesthetic.

"His basics are passable, but his swordsmanship is lacking..."

After a glance, Zhang Xuan frowned.

The boy's swordsmanship was far inferior to that of any random three-star master teacher, but given his physical limitations, achieving this much was already commendable.

Sighing inwardly, he inadvertently made some noise. Hearing this, the boy practicing stopped, quickly turned around, and his face lit up. "You're awake!"

As he turned, Zhang Xuan saw his face clearly.

The boy was about sixteen or seventeen, not tall—a full head and a half shorter than Zhang Xuan, probably less than 1.6 meters by his previous life's standards. On his left cheek was a bright red birthmark, half a palm in size, covering most of his already plain face.

From a distance, he was not only far from handsome but also somewhat unsightly.

"Thank you for saving my life..."

Zhang Xuan clasped his fists.

"It's nothing. I happened to see you and brought you back... I thought with such severe injuries you'd surely die, but unexpectedly you recovered on your own..."

The boy scratched his head, speaking haltingly, clearly not good at interacting with people.

"Third Young Master..."

An old man walked in from outside. Seeing Zhang Xuan at the door, he paused, then bowed. "Young master, you're awake!"

Zhang Xuan nodded in return.

Looking closely at the old man, he saw his clothes stained with oil, a tear at the corner of his mouth with traces of blood, and bruises on his cheeks—clearly he had just been beaten by someone.

"Old Yi, what's wrong?"

The lame boy, addressed as Third Young Master, saw the old man's condition, his expression changed, and he quickly sheathed his sword and walked over, full of concern.

"Reporting to Young Master, it's nothing..."

Old Yi looked embarrassed, unsure how to answer. After a moment, he said, "It's... the Second Miss of the City Lord's Mansion has come!"

"Xue Qin is here?"

Hearing about this Second Miss, the lame boy's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Yes..."

Seeing the young master's expression, Old Yi's face grew even more awkward.

"Her coming... what does it have to do with your injury?"

After his initial joy, the lame boy sensed something amiss.

"In three days, isn't the Lingyun Sword Pavilion recruiting menial disciples?" Old Yi hesitated, then gritted his teeth. "Second Miss Xue Qin, relying on her relationship with the City Lord's Mansion... obtained a spot in advance..."

"Got a spot?"

The lame boy's face lit up. "Then... isn't that good news?"

Before he finished, he looked down at his lame leg, and his expression dimmed. "I... definitely have no hope..."

"Having obtained a spot, she must be going to the Lingyun Sword Sect. Did she come to say goodbye?"

Shaking off his unhappiness, the lame boy asked.

"She... she..."

As if unsure how to answer, Old Yi paused, then gritted his teeth again. "She... came to break off the engagement!"

"Break off the engagement?"

The lame boy's face turned deathly pale, and he swayed, nearly falling. "Just because... she became a menial disciple of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, she wants to break off our engagement?"

Being jilted by a woman was a huge humiliation anywhere.

"A proud daughter of heaven looks down on her fiancé and comes to break off the engagement; the injured young man, spurred by humiliation, works hard—thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west?"

Hearing their conversation, Zhang Xuan's eyebrows jumped.

As soon as he arrived in the Upper Realm, he encountered such a thing...

Just thinking about it was exciting...