411: A toddler missing a bone

On this day, the sky was dull and gloomy, sunlight was scarce, and visibility was extremely low. Ordinary beasts hid beneath caves and tree shade, unwilling to risk going out to forage.

Only powerful Yao Beasts still roamed the Northern Mountain Range. It seemed they had been given patrol orders by the Yuyao Kingdom Envoy; their routes were somewhat regulated, leaving almost no blind spots.

Old Potato did not attempt to interact with these controlled Yao Beasts; instead, he planned to find isolated ones, making it easier to strike.

However, after searching all over North Mountain, he discovered that there were no uncontrolled Yao Beasts.

"The Yuyao Kingdom is truly Heaven-Defying. In such a short time, the entire North Mountain has completely fallen, and the Yao Race of North Mountain, cultivated over ten thousand years, has all been turned into nourishment for the Yuyao Kingdom..."

Old Potato found a well-preserved mountain peak, sat under the shade of a tree, and ate an Eighth-rank Tree Fruit, sighing with emotion.

Just then, his Spiritual Sense suddenly stirred, detecting figures in a valley.

It was a couple holding an infant about one year old. The infant was groaning in pain, their breath as faint as silk, clearly on the verge of death.

What caught Old Potato's attention was that the attire of these three people was unusual.

They wore clothes simply sewn from animal hides, had simple decorations made from polished bone hanging around their waists, and fierce-looking, simple patterns tattooed on their faces using beast blood.

They were dressed like primitives.

Old Potato knew that whether it was the Envoys of the Yuyao Kingdom or their lowest-level servants, their clothing was indistinguishable from normal Human Race factions. Although they might have some bold, prairie-style elements, they certainly wouldn't wear such rough animal hides.

Only the original Human Race inhabitants of North Mountain would dress like this.

"They haven't been absorbed by the Yuyao Kingdom?"

Old Potato was confused. After the Yuyao Kingdom moved south, the Human Race in North Mountain, who had previously been oppressed by the Yao Race, immediately soared and were absorbed into the Yuyao Kingdom.

Even if they were serving as the lowest-level servants, they were still more respected than a Fourth-Rank Great Demon. Why would they be traversing the valley in such a pathetic state?

Driven by curiosity, Old Potato flew toward the trio and landed in front of them.

The couple dressed in animal hides were startled to see Old Potato arriving through the air. The husband held a spear pointed at Old Potato, watching him cautiously.

The wife, however, burst into tears: "Please, Immortal Master, save my child!"

Old Potato looked at the child, and upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

The child's faint breathing was not due to weakness or injury from a fierce beast, but because a piece of bone was missing from their chest.

Strangely, there was no large wound, no uncontrollable bleeding, and even the internal organs seemed undamaged.

It was as if someone had used a certain Secret Technique to directly remove the bone, completely disregarding the rest of the child's body.

'Strange. If only one bone is missing and the rest is undamaged, why is this child so weak? So weak that they are nearly dead?'

Old Potato was completely baffled.

A Cultivator's Physical Body strengthens synchronously; there is no such thing as one part being weak and another strong.

Upon reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, the Physical Body can even be abandoned, allowing survival as a pure soul body.

Although the players have gradually learned new cultivation information—for example, Special Physiques, or the jade bone that only Third Grade High-level Cultivators are worthy of possessing—all this indicates that the Physical Body is not as useless as they once thought; it holds significance.

But no matter how much information was searched, both Special Physiques and the jade bone of a Third-Rank Expert involve changes occurring throughout the entire body simultaneously.

There is no single bone that is so unique that its absence would lead to death.

Even a Mortal can lose a bone, and a Cultivator can regrow severed limbs. How could a bone be so inconveniently vital?

Yet, the infant before him, after losing a bone, truly weakened to the point of death, and his painful groans continuously faded.

Old Potato, momentarily soft-hearted, injected Spiritual Power into the infant, attempting to save him.

The couple was immediately overjoyed and quickly knelt down to kowtow to Old Potato.

Old Potato first injected Spiritual Power to protect the heart, then guided the Spiritual Power to shield the entire body, and subsequently tried to nourish the area near the missing bone, hoping to make the bone regrow.

However, no matter how he tried, he could not make a new bone grow.

'What a joke? Although I, a Golden Core Player, lack some Divine Ability Secret Techniques, I am still Fifth-rank. I shouldn't be unable to reshape a child's bone, right?'

Old Potato found it increasingly unbelievable. This child was truly unique and strange.

Since he couldn't reshape the bone, he gave up and instead used Spiritual Power to protect the entire body and continuously nourish it, attempting to help the child recover.

But the strange phenomenon reappeared: it was as if that bone was the child's source of life. Once it was broken and lost, no matter how hard he tried, the vitality could not be restored.

Old Potato could only use his Fifth-rank Spiritual Power to sustain the life, but he couldn't cure the root cause.

'Seriously, even if my Golden Core is weak, it's still a damn Golden Core! How can I not save a little brat?'

Old Potato glanced at the transaction System and found some Techniques and even Divine Abilities for healing and extending life, both provided by the System and sold by players.

He tried buying a cheap Ninth-rank Technique. Given his Realm, he mastered it completely in almost an instant and immediately deployed it.

A warm, gentle power turned into a bubble enveloping the child, continuously nourishing him, but it could still only prolong his life, not truly heal him.

'No way, something is wrong with this child!'

Old Potato made a preliminary assessment: if a Ninth-rank Technique was completely ineffective, he probably needed a Golden Core-level one, meaning a Fifth-rank Healing Technique.

This would consume quite a few transaction points, and he was reluctant to spend them.

Was it worth spending so many transaction points for a stranger?

Old Potato hesitated and looked toward the couple.

The two were still kneeling and bowing to him, their eyes glistening with tears—pain from worrying about the child, and relief from surviving a disaster.

Old Potato's heart skipped a beat.

He looked back at the infant.

His expression was pained, his eyes couldn't open, and the strength to struggle was gone. This vibrant life seemed like it could vanish at any moment.

Old Potato didn't consider himself a good person. He had killed many people after becoming a Cultivator, and he had even spent time in the Great Love Sect, so he was no stranger to massacres and genocide.

But no matter who he killed, it was always by launching a Technique from afar—out of sight, out of mind; life was just a number.

If he had to stand by and watch a life die in his arms, watching this one-year-old infant go from groaning in pain to struggling weakly, and finally dying completely, he truly couldn't do it.

'Damn it, it's just a Fifth-rank Healing Technique. I'll buy it for peace of mind!'

Old Potato gritted his teeth and immediately purchased the Fifth-rank Healing Technique.

Since it was high-level Fifth-rank, he naturally couldn't master it instantly. He had to explore and apply it while treating the child.

For this reason, he had to find a cave, set up a simple Formation, and treat and heal the infant day after day.

What made Old Potato somewhat despair was that even when he used his Fifth-rank cultivation base to activate the Fifth-rank Healing Technique, the child's vitality continued to weaken.

It was as if death was irreversible.