Chapter 173
Seclusion
In a dark, blood-soaked place,
the sky was gloomy, streaked with faint flashes of lightning,
while muffled thunder rolled across the horizon at intervals,
like the breathing of a sleeping beast lurking in the depths.
Three bodies fell onto the silent sands.
Arthur...
Zhuo Fan...
and the little child.
"Damn... what an annoying pain."
Zhuo Fan slowly opened his eyes,
his gaze moving across the surroundings.
Then...
a radiant smile appeared on his face.
"I succeeded... these are the Heavenly Emperor's Ruins!"
His voice rose with obvious excitement,
his eyes shining as he looked over the desolate landscape,
as though this darkness concealed a priceless treasure.
The young boy woke to the sound of Zhuo Fan's joyful shout.
"Ah, Gu Santong... you're awake."
Zhuo Fan said gently,
stretching his hand to his left without paying attention,
only for it to collide with a body that felt unnaturally hard and rigid.
"...?"
"What is this?"
Zhuo Fan slowly turned his head to the left,
and his expression froze.
Arthur's body was lying on the sand, unconscious.
His left arm had been completely severed from the shoulder,
and the entire left side of his body was severely charred,
as though lightning had roasted flesh down to the bone.
"Damn it! Arthur, wake up!"
Zhuo Fan grabbed Arthur's head with both hands,
trying to wake him,
calling his name,
shaking him...
but to no avail.
Arthur did not move.
"Damn you, bastard... why are you always like this?"
The joy on Zhuo Fan's face from discovering the ruins
turned into a heavy sadness that weighed upon his chest.
"Why is your body weaker than before?
What happened during that month, Arthur?"
Zhuo Fan could clearly see it.
Before Arthur entered his closed-door training,
his body had been stronger,
and his aura had been sharp and imposing.
But now...
his body seemed frail,
his aura weakened,
as though life had been drained from him again and again
until nothing remained but a piece of flesh cast upon the sand.
"Father... who is this?"
Gu Santong asked while pointing at Arthur.
After Zhuo Fan had deceived Gu Santong earlier,
the child had begun calling him Father,
and had come to genuinely care for and respect him.
Zhuo Fan sighed while looking at Arthur.
"He is—"
Before he could finish—
"I am your eldest uncle,
your bastard father's brother."
The voice came low and calm.
Arthur slowly opened his eyes.
"Arthur! You're alright?!"
"And did you really think a weak lightning bolt like that
could kill me?"
Arthur smiled faintly
and slowly forced himself into a sitting position.
He looked down at his body.
His left arm was gone,
and the left side of his body was charred.
'Damn it... this body truly is a broken puppet.'
Had it not been for the Miraculous Healing Elixir that Cain placed in his mouth,
this body would have completely fallen apart...
and Arthur would have died.
But because his current body was artificial,
and not a true human body,
the elixir could neither regenerate his arm nor heal his injuries.
It merely eased the pain
and forced him awake.
Suddenly,
Zhuo Fan's body began trembling violently,
and he coughed up blood,
accompanied by sparks of purple lightning.
"Father! Are you alright?"
"Yes... I didn't expect my injuries to be this severe."
Zhuo Fan sighed as he tried to stand,
but—
"Sit in front of me, Zhuo Fan."
Arthur said calmly.
He snapped the fingers of his right hand,
and a blazing blood-red aura began swirling around it.
Zhuo Fan sat down without objection.
Arthur raised his right hand
and placed it against Zhuo Fan's back.
'Drain.'
With that word,
the dark aura flowed from Arthur's hand into Zhuo Fan's body.
It slowly seeped into his depths,
until it began returning once more...
but this time in a dark purple color.
The energy surged into Arthur's body,
then was transferred into the storage with Cain's assistance.
"How do you feel now?"
Zhuo Fan stood up,
as though lightning had never touched him at all.
Arthur had drained the lightning from his body using the Blood Demon Technique,
and once the lightning was removed,
the injuries would naturally heal after a short time.
"Now...
would you come help me stand up?"
Arthur smiled.
Zhuo Fan stepped forward and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder,
helping him move.
The three of them traveled together for a long distance.
"Arthur... I think we're moving in circles."
"What?
Are you saying we've fallen into an illusion technique?"
"I don't know, but—"
"Oooo, it's just a small illusion technique.
There's no need to worry, Father and Uncle.
I'll take care of it."
Gu Santong waved his hand powerfully toward the front.
A tremendous crashing sound echoed...
but nothing happened.
Zhuo Fan sighed.
"Then... I'll use my nose."
He smiled mockingly at the child's words,
not expecting anything.
A few seconds later—
"I found the exit!"
Gu Santong shouted excitedly,
pointing ahead.
He grabbed Zhuo Fan's hand and Arthur's hand,
then dove with them into the golden sand.
In less than a second,
the three arrived somewhere else.
Gu Santong approached a massive pillar piercing the heavens.
This pillar...
was all that remained of one of the Five Sacred Beasts.
The Heavenly Qilin.
And Gu Santong...
was its descendant.
At that moment...
Arthur collapsed onto the ground,
blood bursting from his body violently.
"Arthur! What's happening? Are you alright?"
"Uncle!"
*'Damn it... this body is falling apart.
At this rate, I'll die...
I have no choice but—'*
"Zhuo Fan... I don't know how long it will take for us to leave this place,
but my current body can no longer endure it.
With every movement,
with every breath...
I feel my body crumbling apart even more.
I will enter seclusion for a while."
"What?!"
Seclusion...
was when a martial artist locked himself away until slow death eventually came.
No one had ever emerged from it alive before.
Yet Arthur did not hesitate.
"Zhuo...
this is the only solution.
Take care of Staroth while I'm gone."
He pulled Staroth out from beneath his clothes,
where the serpent had been hidden around his neck,
and placed it in Zhuo Fan's hand.
Arthur slowly closed his eyes...
and entered closed seclusion.
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