Chapter 95: Unknown Scenery

My head felt dizzy and heavy, and my eyelids were weighed down; my entire body felt as if it had been filled with lead.

Without realizing it, Feng Zi's consciousness had cleared, yet he still felt his thoughts were "several beats slow."

For this rare experience, Feng Zi felt quite nostalgic:

Ever since he began practicing the Martial Dao, he had almost never experienced a similar "sense of sluggishness."

And after ascending to the realm of a Martial Master, as long as one possessed sufficient Fullness of Qi and Blood Power within—

Even without sleep or rest, the body's state could be maintained at an optimal level, so naturally, he had never had this experience again.

Feeling the still-Full Qi and Blood Power within his body, Feng Zi guessed that this must be a "sequela" caused by being swept into that unknown vortex.

His strength remained, and there were no unfamiliar auras nearby, so Feng Zi did not pay it much mind; he even wanted to experience this feeling of "sluggishness" once more:

He was certainly not some kind of pervert, but he always held an unusually strong curiosity toward such novel things:

As long as there was no danger, Feng Zi was always willing to give it a try.

But it was obvious that not everyone was as carefree as Feng Zi:

"Feng Zi, Feng Zi, can you hear me?"

That was Qing Lin's voice, and there was even a hint of sobbing in it; she was clearly frightened.

That's right, Qing Lin was still here; he couldn't just abandon her just to satisfy his own playfulness.

Thinking this, Feng Zi slowly opened his eyes.

Qing Lin's face, full of sorrow, immediately came into view, with tears shimmering in her eyes.

As his consciousness returned, the surging Qi and Blood Power rushed forth once more, and the fatigue entrenched in his body was swept away in an instant.

Seeing Feng Zi wake up, Qing Lin finally broke into a smile through her tears: "Great, you've finally woken up!"

Hearing this, Feng Zi felt all other thoughts vanish from his mind; he smiled helplessly and pinched Qing Lin's cheek: "Why are you crying? I wouldn't die so easily."

Listening to Feng Zi's comfort, Qing Lin pouted and took the opportunity to hug him: "You scared me to death—just a short while ago, you suddenly stopped breathing!"

"It was that serious?" Hearing this, Feng Zi scratched his head in astonishment and asked instinctively:

Hearing Qing Lin's words, he realized that his state just now had been far worse than he had imagined.

"How long have I been 'asleep'?" His head was still a bit muddled, so Feng Zi asked whatever came to mind.

Qing Lin hesitated for a moment and asked with uncertainty: "About... three or five days, I suppose?"

Although Qing Lin herself had no real sense of it, Feng Zi knew deep down that her strength far surpassed his own.

As his strength progressed, Feng Zi perceived ever more clearly that his own feelings were increasingly unable to influence his perception of time.

This point should apply to Qing Lin as well, which was why he had asked.

Qing Lin's answer was similar to his own feeling, which allowed Feng Zi to gradually regain a sense of stability in "controlling the current situation."

But what puzzled him was that Qing Lin also seemed somewhat confused, so Feng Zi followed up with a question: "What's wrong? Is there something not quite right?"

To this, Qing Lin's expression became even more puzzled: "I don't know... I just feel like something is not quite right."

Qing Lin's perceived time was about three or five days, but her intuition told her that there was something fishy about it.

Feng Zi secretly kept this matter in his heart and patted Qing Lin's head with a smile:

"Don't think about things you don't know; there is no need to worry about problems that have no answer for the time being."

Having said that, he looked around:

This was just a very ordinary mountain cave; under the erosion of time, the stone walls inside were very smooth.

Not far from his side, Lu Hanwen and Li Shou lay horizontally on the ground, as if they had been tossed there by someone at random.

"Brother Hanwen, Brother Li Shou?" Seeing the two of them, Feng Zi could not help but be stunned:

Could it be that these two had also been swept into that dangerous vortex?

He hurriedly walked over and discovered that the two men's breathing was very steady, and the Qi and Blood Power within their bodies was gradually becoming active; there was no danger to their lives.

Seeing that the two were safe and sound, Feng Zi instinctively breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, everyone is fine."

Afterward, he searched back and forth in the cave, hoping to get a clear picture of the surroundings:

This natural cave was not small, but it was also very empty; he walked around the cave and saw the remains of something resembling a Demon snake in the corner.

Feng Zi examined it up and down for a long time before asking in disbelief: "This is... a Demon snake?"

It was no wonder he dared not believe it, because the shape of these remains was truly too difficult to identify—

The flesh and blood on the corpse had completely vanished, the hard white bones had been eroded by time, and even the few remaining scales were as fragile as fish scales.

If he hadn't been able to roughly distinguish the outline of its snake shape, Feng Zi would hardly have dared to reach this conclusion.

Regarding Feng Zi's doubt, Qing Lin nodded slightly and handed over a broken bead:

"When I woke up, the Demon snake was already in this state; the only thing of value... might be this half of a Demon core."

"Demon core?" Hearing this term, Feng Zi instinctively took the broken bead and observed it closely:

This "bead" was not large, only the size of a thumb's fingernail, and the entire body presented a crystalline ink-green color.

Although this Demon core was not large, Feng Zi could clearly perceive that it contained a majestic amount of Qi and Blood Power—

No, it was not Qi and Blood Power, but a more "pure" force that drifted between heaven and earth and existed within all things!

Feng Zi could not put it into words, but a glimmer of realization gradually arose in his heart:

Perhaps his future path of cultivation would be to "refine" Qi and Blood Power into this more exquisite force.

But now was not the time for deep thought, because Feng Zi could clearly perceive that the power within that bead was rapidly dissipating!

Leave it for Lu Hanwen and Li Shou? That was unrealistic; they were still unconscious.

If he waited for the two to wake up, the power within would likely have already scattered.

Let himself use it? Theoretically, that was quite plausible.

But Feng Zi remembered the situation when he broke through to the Transformation Realm—what if he could not completely refine the power within it?

Neither option was feasible, so Feng Zi made a prompt decision and tossed the Demon core to Qing Lin: "Since you discovered it, I'll leave it to you."

Yes, leaving it to Qinglin is the most reliable option:

Firstly, she urgently needs to restore her strength and will not waste even a sliver of the power within it;

Secondly, her strength far surpasses Feng Zi's, so even if the spirit of the snake Demon remains inside the Demon core, Qinglin can easily handle it.

"Leave it to me." Since Feng Zi had already said as much, Qinglin naturally would not decline any further.

She immediately tossed the Demon core into her mouth and sat down cross-legged at once.

Seeing this, Feng Zi walked toward the cave entrance, both to stand guard for the three of them and to figure out his current location.

Just as he approached the cave entrance, dazzling sunlight spilled in from the outside.

Feng Zi's eyes adjusted for a moment, and he finally saw the appearance of the outside world:

It was a boundless sea of forest!

And what made up this sea of forest were nothing but primeval giant trees towering over a thousand feet high!