novelraw Chapter 1468 - 1467 - Pain
Chapter 1468 - 1467 - Pain
Lind handily won his way into the semi-finals. His opponent was nothing like Ethry. They were strong but demons relied too much on brute strength at times.
When confronting a beast, strength was not a bad thing to rely on but to have no fall back was a fool's errand.
Unlike with Ethry or even the elimination round, he only needed to catch the demon off guard to send him sailing off the platform.
The crowd actually booed him for not being more entertaining but it still told him enough about his condition to have more faith in his combat recovery.
Compared to how exhausted he got from Forging, he realized his physical recovery was nearly complete. That left a troubling aspect he knew would be slow to recover.
His soul and dantian.
While the dantian had taken little damage, it could still be weakened by his desperate gamble to survive the Origin Flame. After Forging and fighting, he felt it would be all right so long as he did not push it to the very edge of his ability.
His soul, however, had revealed issues. He felt pain. Not the kind of pain that the body had which could be traced to a location or center. Muscles led to tendons and so forth.
No matter how bad physical pain was, it could be discovered and restored. Pills, elixirs, even simply pastes could speed that along.
The soul, while not impossible to heal, was infinitely more delicate. The pain from it was also constant and nothing could bring it relief. Worse, tracing the source was next to impossible.
The soul had no organs, muscles, or anything to try and place the kind of pain it was experiencing. While he had elixirs to help restore a soul, healing a soul completely was not possible at his level.
The same issue as his elemental nodes. HIs soul was fused to his harmony and was thus far more powerful than any elixir he could create to heal it!
It was mostly healed and would complete on its own but it left him up a river for his next contest.
Weaving relied solely on the soul from beginning to end. Even a Soulmancer would not use other souls in his current state.
He proceeded to a healing hall. He might be able to get a better assessment from an external rundown. The experts in charge bowed as he entered but he moved to an alcove that was open.
It was used for assessing and no one argued with him or asked him why he was there.
He inserted Immortal Qi stones and then stepped into the alcove. Light particles shimmered as he lowered his defenses. He had built the things so he trusted them.
Still, he was surprised when the pain increased across his senses. He grimaced as the pain continued to rise until finally the alcove finished its analysis.
He emerged and pulled the slate.
{Divine Progenitor True Lord Lind Frey}
{Physical Health: 99% recovered compared to baseline scan.}
{Dantian and Meridians: 88% strained but safe to use.}
{Mental State: Stable}
{Soul: Fractured}
[Recommendation: Enter seclusion to allow the soul to recover.}
He frowned but could not disagree with his own technology. He was surprised that his dantian and meridians were not as healthy as he thought. He had baseline scans from long ago so he knew it was fairly accurate.
"Damn it." He went to leave when he felt a chill down his spine.
He glanced over and found Fey, of all people, working in the hall! She narrowed her abyss and green eyes at him before walking towards him.
He did not dare to leave as that would only make things worse. She summoned a sphere that shimmered as it bombarded him much as the alcove did.
She then looked up at him and pointed to a bed.
"Sit." He sighed and did as she asked. He felt her aura wash over him and he hid nothing. She quickly summoned a few vials with pills and forced him to consume them. He felt Qi flow in a soothing fashion in his meridians.
He was surprised but happy to have her help.
She checked him again and frowned deeply.
"Your body resists or is not affected by my best pills. Father, you should withdraw." Her words only confirmed his analysis.
"I have to see what the goal is first. I may be able to–" She got very close to his face and made him reflexively pull back. HIs Mother had taught her well!
"You will only risk damaging your soul in your current state. Even if you could heal it faster, there is not enough time. Your next contest is within the week." He sighed as he could not argue with her.
Still, he could not simply withdraw. Weakness invited too much trouble, sadly.
Before he could form his argument, she summoned a jade communication stone and he felt the tremor of a mental contact. He tried to block it but the door burst open as if the woman had waited outside!
His Mother strode through the hall as all the healers bowed low to her.
Her dark green eyes were locked on him and Lind felt small in front of her gaze. How had she gotten there so quickly?!
She should have been preoccupied with her own hall!
"I will take over, good work Fey." Fey smiled at her and Lind felt betrayed! His daughter betrayed him with such ease!
Mira summoned her own tablet and he knew what it showed her. She then looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"If it were up to me, you would be done. Yet, you have proven you can fight and still make elixirs or Forge. Weaving is done. I will submit it now." He wanted to stop her. He was a Sovereign Tier but her Radiant Tier aura made him shiver.
"Resistance is futile. Your own rules bind you. Do not be stubborn, my son." Lind nearly laughed at her first words. Even he knew where they came from in his old world, but she meant it literally.
"Mom–" He was slapped before he could finish. The other healers and even the patients looked away instantly. They had no desire to claim they had seen a Sovereign Tier shamed by his own Mother!
"You know what is wrong with you but you insist on projecting a useless gesture? You will only make things worse and a soul injury is not something you mess with. Am I clear?" He nodded but looked frustrated.
He had been doing so well and weaving was his specialty! He was able to do things others could not! Now, because of his desperate gambit, he had lost a third of his production contests!
"Is there truly no way for me to compete?" Her deep frown was his answer. He had tried to deny it but his path forward had been cut off.
He summoned his jade token and infused a particular section with his aura.
[Yes, Ancestor?] A young woman responded. He sighed as he had no choice but the Harmonic Dragons would not be happy.
[I just had my soul assessed and confirmed by an expert healer, I must withdraw from the weaving competition.] There was a long pause before he received a response.
[We have received the analysis of Elite Healers Fey Frey and Mira Frey. We have also confirmed via alcove 217 that your soul is damaged, Ancestor.] He blinked at those words. He had not even seen his Mother or Fey use a communication stone!
When did they send such a report?! He glanced up to see his Mother smiling at him. They had preemptively examined him! He had been cornered in a trap!
He sighed but then sent confirmation.
[I confirm, my soul is damaged. If I try to weave, it will become much worse.] She accepted his words and the bracket quickly updated.
His name greyed out and his next opponent won automatically. There was no way to avoid it but he saw the healing hall ripple with surprise.
He had no doubt the entire arena was mimicking the surprise in the hall. He had been a favorite to win the weaving competition but now he was out. He could not hide his condition either and so his other opponents would now know his weakness.
Soul attacks. His next combat round would be brutal if his foe had any soul Arts or other attacks of that nature.
He was about to leave the healing hall when he felt a pull on his robes. He looked down to see his Mother's face looking grim.
"You are going nowhere. You are injured and you have at least a half a year until your next contest. Sit and we will work on you to the best of our ability." Fey came at his other side and he could only sigh.
Escape was impossible. He could only comply.
He laid down and they began to work on him. Pills and elixirs could no longer help him but the pair knew more about him than any other healer alive save himself. His pain remained but it began to slowly recede.
Based on his estimation, it would take at least 5 to 8 years to heal his soul. That assumed the pair continually helped his soul speed up its recovery but they could not maintain such power for long.
He estimated he was out of commission as a weaver for at least a decade if not longer. It was normally a small amount of time for an Immortal but his harmony was integral to many aspects of his cultivation.
Holding back for a decade meant he would be vulnerable. He adjusted the plans in his head and also noted down Arts he could not use. The Storm Arts were essentially shutdown as they used his harmony to work.
It would be difficult but he had not been told to withdraw from his other contests. He wondered how his rivals and enemies would move now but he had no power over that until it happened.
He hoped the spirits would be merciful to them and merciless to his enemies.