133: wake

“Hmm~”

Li Xiangyun slowly opened his heavy eyelids, his vision blurry, as if covered by a thick layer of mist.

A tempting aroma, mixed with the smell of blood, permeated the air, drilling into his nostrils.

His entire body felt as if pierced by thousands of silver needles; every inch of his skin screamed in pain, and his bones felt like they had come apart. Even a slight twitch of a finger required all his strength.

His throat was terribly parched, as if a raging fire was burning within. When he tried to speak, only a hoarse, broken gasp escaped, “Where… am I?”

“Kid, you’re finally awake. If you hadn’t woken up soon, this old man would have thrown you to the dogs!”

Just then, an old, playful voice sounded in his ear.

Li Xiangyun reluctantly turned his stiff neck and saw a mysterious old man sitting by a bonfire, roasting meat. He also saw himself wrapped in layers of gauze soaked in medicinal liquid, with faint dark red bloodstains seeping through.

Memories flooded back like a tide; that thrilling life-and-death battle was still vivid in his mind—Zhou Huanyu’s arrogance, the dissipation of his own spiritual power… So, I really did survive.

But with such severe injuries, he wondered when he would recover… However, Li Xiangyun did not dwell on this. Instead, he struggled to sit up and thanked the old man, “Thank you, Senior, for saving my life. I, your Junior Li Xiangyun, will repay you a hundredfold!”

“At least you know to be grateful.” The old man’s tone was neither warm nor cold. Then, he sneered, “But your Meridians are shattered. You’ll probably be a cripple from now on. How will you repay this old man?”

“This…” Li Xiangyun’s expression was troubled.

Originally, with the System, as long as he didn’t die immediately, he was confident he could heal.

But now he was severely injured, and he didn't know what had become of the Li Family. If the Li Family couldn’t withstand the Great Zhou Dynasty’s subsequent pursuit.

Then what good would having the System do him?

After all, this System only worked by developing the Family, but if the Family was gone, what was the difference between that and a car without oil?

Fortunately, he glanced at the System and found that although the Li Family’s population had slightly decreased, overall there wasn't much damage, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

It was one of the only two good pieces of news since he woke up.

As for the other good news, it was undoubtedly the old man in front of him.

Li Xiangyun was not foolish; he naturally saw that the old man in front of him had saved him.

And from his understanding, there was never hatred without reason in this world, so naturally, there was no help without reason.

Since this old man had saved him, he naturally wanted to get something from him, but a severely injured him couldn't help the other party much.

Therefore, perhaps without the help of the System, the key to his injuries lay with the old man in front of him.

Thus, Li Xiangyun’s eyes flickered. Just as he was about to speak, it seemed his thoughts had already been seen through by the old man, who directly interrupted, “I’m starving!”

“Kid, didn’t you say you wanted to repay my kindness?”

“Then help this old man roast some meat first!”

With that, the old man waved his hand, and a Yao Beast the size of a mountain crashed down, shaking the entire forest with a thunderous roar.

Yet, the ground around the old man remained unmoved, and even the seemingly ordinary orange-yellow bonfire was not affected in the slightest.

“This is… a Crimson Scale Bone-Eating Python!?” Li Xiangyun was somewhat shocked.

The Yao Beast in front of him was a unique third-tier Yao Beast of the Misty Swamp—the Crimson Scale Bone-Eating Python.

Its scales were crimson, containing corrosive venom, and its breath was like miasma, capable of eroding bones and dissolving flesh.

But what truly shocked Li Xiangyun was that the Crimson Scale Bone-Eating Python in front of him had no injuries whatsoever.

Even in his prime, he couldn't achieve this, which showed that the old man in front of him was at least a Nascent Soul, or even higher.

“What, a mere third-tier beast scares you?” The old man scoffed, then impatiently urged, “Hurry up, do you want to starve this old man?”

With that, a crisp clang was heard as a dark ice-colored longsword fell at his feet.

Its blade was like sculpted ice crystals, clear and azure, with mysterious runes subtly flowing, seemingly containing the spiritual power of a frosty sky.

The hilt was wrapped in golden threads and cold jade, adorned with exquisite cloud patterns and ice crystal carvings, inlaid with blue glowing gems.

The sword guard exuded a restrained brilliance, echoing the blade, emitting a cool yet majestic pressure, as if it could cut through the clouds and freeze the universe.

Li Xiangyun’s expression froze again, “A Dao Artifact!?”

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiangyun calmed himself and picked up the longsword from the ground.

When his palm connected with the longsword, it felt as if a heroic Qi, like “looking west at the floating clouds, a long sword for a thousand miles,” was brewing in his chest.

If he had held this longsword when he fought Zhou Huanyu, he probably wouldn't have ended up like this.

Li Xiangyun couldn't help but imagine, then he looked up at the old man, who was eating his roasted meat, seemingly not paying attention to him.

However, Li Xiangyun still collected himself and began to carve the python meat.

A moment later, a tempting aroma permeated the entire forest, yet no creature dared to approach.

Li Xiangyun also didn't expect that after two hundred years, he would rediscover his lost culinary skills.

This time, to please the old man in front of him, Li Xiangyun even purchased seasonings and recipes through the System.

He cooked the giant python in over ten ways, including frying, boiling, and roasting, making the old man extremely comfortable.

Li Xiangyun also took this opportunity to taste the flavor of a third-tier Yao Beast, and could only say it was truly a delicacy.

Before long, a mountain-sized Crimson Scale Bone-Eating Python was consumed by the two, leaving only a pile of bones.

However, most of it was eaten by the old man, as Li Xiangyun, though also a Golden Core, could not digest a third-tier Yao Beast while severely injured.

“Hiccup~” The old man leaned against a fallen tree trunk, letting out a comfortable burp, and chuckled while picking his teeth, “That meal was really satisfying. I didn’t realize, kid, you had such skills.”

“How about it, interested in joining this old man?” The old man said drunkenly, looking a bit intoxicated.

After all, how could roasted meat be without wine? So Li Xiangyun even specially offered the third-grade spiritual wine he exchanged from the System, which pained him greatly.

However, compared to the life-saving grace, it was clearly not worth mentioning.

And a mere third-grade spiritual wine obviously couldn't get the old man drunk. The reason he was like this was just to enjoy the slightly tipsy feeling.

Therefore, he did not use spiritual power to dispel the alcohol’s effects.

Regarding the old man’s words, Li Xiangyun did not answer directly. Instead, he said with a hint of seriousness, “It’s been so long, yet this Junior still doesn’t know Senior’s esteemed name?”

The old man glanced sideways at Li Xiangyun and said casually, “Cang Lanzi!”