180: Chapter 181 Returning to the Origin, an Immense Merit

There were seven people lying there in total.

One of them was The Woodcutter.

He sat cross-legged on a piece of shattered bluestone, his eyes tightly shut, his complexion ash-gray, and there was no movement in his chest.

Now, he was nothing but an empty shell; his Soul had been swallowed in one gulp by the True Form of the Heart Ape.

Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Ye walked toward the other figures.

The first was naturally Old Man Shen.

Old Man Shen's condition was extremely dire; his hair was like withered grass, devoid of any luster, and he looked like an ancient corpse that had been air-dried for a thousand years.

Fortunately, through Slaughter Vision, Lin Ye could see that Old Man Shen still retained a faint trace of life force.

Although it was so weak it was almost invisible, it confirmed that he was still alive.

Next was Commander Zhuge Yuan.

His condition was slightly better than Old Man Shen's, but he was still on the verge of death.

Lin Ye checked the others; their conditions were all similar.

Their flames of life were flickering, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.

However, Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as they were still alive, they could be saved.

He closed his eyes, sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness, and communicated with the Time Dial.

The property of the Time Dial was to accelerate the flow of time within a certain area at the cost of consuming Lifespan; the higher the acceleration rate and the larger the range, the more Lifespan was consumed.

Of course, this Lifespan did not necessarily have to come from the user themselves; it just needed to be stored in advance.

The gray-white mist he had seen earlier in the array was actually the Origin of life from hundreds of villagers in Qishan Village and thousands of wild beasts, which had been forcibly bound by The Woodcutter using the Sealed Dust Severed Thought Array.

Lin Ye sensed it briefly and found that the Origin of life contained within the Time Dial was abundant.

If he only covered a radius of three meters, it would be enough for him to use for about ten years; for the short term, he didn't need to worry about insufficient energy.

However, this also contained the Origin of Old Man Shen and the others, so that portion had to be returned.

Flipping his palm, a palm-sized golden dial appeared.

"Go!"

He reached out and tapped it, and the pointer on the dial began to rotate counter-clockwise.

Immediately after, strands of golden light overflowed from the dial, drifting like silk threads toward the people lying on the ground.

As the golden light poured in, their bodies began to change.

Their skin gradually regained some color from its deathly gray, the wrinkles on their faces began to fade, and their gray-white hair turned black again.

Lin Ye could feel that their dried-up Origin of life was being restored bit by bit.

The entire process lasted for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Although they remained in a coma, their bodies had basically returned to their original state, no longer looking like they were about to kick the bucket at any moment.

However, Lin Ye was a person who held grudges.

He had not forgotten how Captain Yang had deliberately picked a fight and scolded him by flaunting his status.

Although it wasn't a major grudge, that didn't mean he didn't care.

Therefore, Lin Ye held back a portion of Captain Yang's Origin of life—not much, just five years—as a small punishment.

After finishing this, Lin Ye put the Time Dial away and let out a long sigh.

Tired.

Not physically tired, but mentally exhausted.

From the time he entered Qishan Village until now, although less than four days had passed in the outside world, he had lived in Qishan Village for over a month in reality.

During this time, he was either Cultivating or running for his life every day, only occasionally logging off to rest for half an hour.

Most importantly, that omnipresent pressure had kept his heartstrings taut, and he dared not relax for even a moment.

Fortunately, it was all over.

Looking up at the moon in the sky, a smile appeared on the corner of Lin Ye's mouth.

...

The next morning, the first to wake up was Captain Zhang.

He opened his eyes abruptly, panting heavily like a fish thrown onto the shore.

"Lin... Lin Ye?" Captain Zhang's voice was so hoarse it was almost unintelligible.

"Are we... still alive?"

"Yes, alive." Lin Ye nodded with a smile, then added another sentence.

"Everyone is still alive."

Upon hearing this, Captain Zhang was stunned for a moment, then a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The smile was ugly, but it was a smile from the heart.

He did not rush to ask for the reason; he simply closed his eyes and sat cross-legged to circulate his Qi.

The second to wake up was Old Man Shen, which was also related to the fact that Lin Ye had returned enough Origin of life.

As soon as Old Man Shen woke up, he shouted, "Fuck your grandma!"

Lin Ye was taken aback.

He didn't know what Old Man Shen had encountered afterward to force him to curse like that.

"Elder Shen, here, have some water to moisten your throat." Lin Ye smiled and handed him a waterskin.

"Kid Lin? You're here too... No, wait, where is this..." Old Man Shen looked around, seemingly still confused about the situation.

"Don't worry, we have safely made it out."

Hearing this, Old Man Shen finally realized what was happening, then gritted his teeth and said, "We were all deceived by that thick-eyebrowed guy, The Woodcutter. If I ever run into him again, I'll beat the shit out of him!"

"Ahem, Elder Shen, that might not be necessary." As Lin Ye spoke, he pointed toward the mummified corpse not far away.

"Huh? What do you mean? Are you saying that is The Woodcutter?"

"Yes, he is already dead."

Hearing this, Old Man Shen fell silent, then seemed to suddenly recall something.

"By the way, where is Commander Zhuge Yuan? Did he make it out too?"

"Don't worry, he is still alive, but his injuries are quite severe. He should wake up in a while."

Old Man Shen nodded, "That's good."

He knew the true identity of the Commander.

If Commander Zhuge Yuan died, every single one of them would suffer the consequences.

Then, Old Man Shen asked about what happened afterward. Lin Ye briefly explained the truth of the matter, leaving Old Man Shen dumbfounded.

After a long while, he slowly spat out two words: "Prodigy!"

To this, Lin Ye could only accept it graciously.

After all, the things he had pulled off were truly not something a mere Eighth-Grade Martial Artist could accomplish; not to mention Eighth-Rank, even a Sixth-Rank or even Fifth-Rank might not be able to do it.

Calling him a Prodigy was not an exaggeration.

Time quickly reached noon, and Commander Zhuge Yuan finally woke up.

As the person with the highest cultivation present, his recovery speed was naturally much faster than the others.

It was just that he had suffered severe damage to his Soul, which was why he woke up slightly later than Old Man Shen and the others.

Commander Zhuge Yuan sat up, his gaze immediately falling upon Lin Ye.

His eyes were complex.

There was surprise and confusion, but mostly gratification.

He had not expected that Lin Ye would actually succeed.

Another half a day passed, and the other captains woke up one after another.

Of course, Captain Yang was the last to wake up.

After everyone woke up, they all wore expressions of having survived a disaster.

Then, under the questioning of the group, Lin Ye recounted the ins and outs of the matter once more.

Of course, he omitted some details that were inconvenient to disclose.

For example, the ruyi jingu bang, or the Stairway to Divinity.

After listening, the group was silent for a long time.

A single Eighth-Grade Martial Artist, by his own power, had not only resolved an anomaly caused by a legendary rank Spiritual Artifact but also taken out a remnant of the Taiping Sect that even their own Commander was no match for.

Such an exaggerated achievement would not be believed by anyone if told.

If the facts were not right before their eyes, and with Commander Zhuge Yuan providing testimony, they would never have believed that all of this was the work of Lin Ye, even if they were beaten to death.

"Lin Ye." Commander Zhuge Yuan broke the silence first.

"We were able to make it out alive this time thanks to your great contribution."

"After we return, I will personally request merit points for you from the superiors."

"Additionally, I will report this matter to my Family. I believe the reward from my Zhuge Family will not disappoint you!"

Commander Zhuge Yuan looked solemn.

Hearing this, Lin Ye was just about to say a few humble words, when his heart suddenly stirred, and he tentatively asked, "Um, Commander, that is... about how many merit points can I expect to receive this time?"

Commander Zhuge Yuan was slightly stunned, as if he hadn't expected Lin Ye to ask this.

However, he still thought about it seriously, and then gave an answer that left Lin Ye dumbfounded.