Chapter 10: Smashed by a Door Panel

The tall woman is beautiful, and her strength is equally extraordinary.

However, Yan Xiao does not like this kind of ice-queen woman; she acts as if the whole world owes her money, which is unpleasant to look at.

"Qingxue, are you alright?"

Once the others had walked far away, Yan Xiao finally regained his ability to move and hurriedly ran to Qingxue's side to check her injuries.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Qingxue felt Yan Xiao pacing back and forth beside her and couldn't help but ask.

"Qingxue, are you unable to see the things around you again?" Yan Xiao asked, his tone filled with disappointment and self-reproach.

"It doesn't matter; with Brother here, it doesn't matter whether I can see or not." The little girl held Yan Xiao's hand and said with a smile.

In front of Yan Xiao, she is always the sunny and cheerful Qingxue.

Yan Xiao stroked the little girl's head, his face full of doting affection.

Although it was Laojiugui who adopted them, they did not spend much time with Laojiugui.

It has always been the two siblings relying on each other, encouraging one another, and keeping each other warm.

Yan Xiao, who had just transmigrated, knew nothing and understood nothing; though his mental age was much older than the little girl's, he actually cried in front of her that day.

Thinking about it is a bit embarrassing, but it is mostly moving.

The tacit understanding and trust between them transcend that of ordinary people.

Just like this, one big and one small, they relied on each other, and now there is a black cat in the little girl's arms.

Wang Dazhu pouted as he watched the heartwarming scene before him, shedding tears of bitterness.

He recalled the process of meeting his former Master.

It was a dark and windy night, the rain was heavy that day, and bandits attacked.

His Master, Liu Tiezhu, just hid in the grass, not moving an inch.

Later, taking advantage of the bandits' distraction, he jumped out, killed one with a single strike, and then hurriedly hid back.

He watched from the side clearly; his former Master used this grass-hiding tactic to wipe out a group of four bandits.

He will always remember his Master's tall back and exquisite blade technique when he killed the last bandit.

What a pity!

Such a formidable Master actually died on the belly of a female fox Phantom Demon.

It is truly heartbreaking.

Wiping away his tears, Wang Dazhu looked around, but where were the shadows of Yan Xiao and the little Mistress?

Seeing the collapsed house, he felt a wave of bitterness.

Was his current Master going to abandon him too?

Wang Dazhu lowered his head in disappointment.

"Dazhu... Dazhu..."

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to him, and he smiled happily.

"Hey... I'm here."

He shouted back.

"Why don't you come over and help?" Yan Xiao shouted hurriedly.

"... Help? Help with what?" Dazhu was puzzled; he looked around but didn't see his Master's figure.

"I'm pinned under a door panel, hurry over and lift it."

Yan Xiao was lying on the ground, supporting himself with his hands, shielding the little girl beneath him; a door panel was pressing on his back, making him unable to catch his breath.

It turned out that as he and Qingxue were cuddling and reminiscing about the past, the door panel suddenly collapsed; to protect the little girl, he could only use his back to block it, and a bloody welt was smashed onto his back.

"Ah! Master, I'm coming to save you right away."

Wang Dazhu was stunned, then hurriedly ran over and moved the door panel away.

"Hiss... Ouch, ouch, ouch... It's killing me, I called you for ages, why didn't you answer?"

Yan Xiao held his waist with one hand, his face full of pain.

"Ah? I was thinking about my former Master's heroic deeds..." Wang Dazhu scratched his head and said awkwardly.

"Brother, are you alright?" Qingxue asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, what could be wrong?" Yan Xiao said with a grimace.

In reality, it hurt like hell.

The damn door panel had smashed right onto his waist; his kidneys would probably be weak for a few days.

"Master, are you really alright?"

Wang Dazhu looked at the swollen lump on Yan Xiao's waist, his face full of shock.

Wouldn't his kidneys be ruined by this?

Fear Value from Wang Dazhu +1.

Yan Xiao looked at him in confusion; was it that scary?

It even triggered Fear Value.

Turning his head to look at the swollen part of his waist, Yan Xiao was startled.

"System... System, why is it so swollen? My kidneys are fine, right?"

"Owner, this is a side effect of the Spirit Pill you consumed, commonly known as Pill Poison; it is not a simple blunt injury. You need to learn a cultivation mental method as soon as possible to expel the Pill Poison from your body."

The system prompted.

Yan Xiao nodded and confirmed again: "My kidneys won't have any problems, right?"

"You must expel the Pill Poison as soon as possible, otherwise it will damage your kidney function," the system replied.

Damn it!

This is a major matter.

I must exchange for a mental cultivation method immediately, and start practicing at once...

The house collapsed, so the three of them had no choice but to sleep on the streets.

Because of Yan Xiao, and because of that shout Yan Xiao let out earlier, everyone in town had locked their doors tight; no matter who knocked, they wouldn't open them.

Consider it the price Yan Xiao paid to earn Fear Value.

Finding a deserted, dilapidated temple, the three of them sat down on the ground.

There was no other way; staying in a dilapidated temple was still better than being out in the open.

"Qingxue, are you hungry?"

Yan Xiao sat leaning against the wall and asked aloud.

Qingxue stroked the black cat in her arms, shook her head, and said, "Not hungry."

"Master, I'm hungry." Wang Dazhu swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked at Yan Xiao expectantly.

"If you're hungry, go find something to eat; why are you looking at me?" Yan Xiao rolled his eyes; he was hungry too, but his waist hurt, and he couldn't walk.

"Master, please rest and recover from your injuries; I will go find some food."

Wang Dazhu wasn't angry either; he gave a silly laugh and walked out of the dilapidated temple.

"Wait, take the blade with you."

Yan Xiao tossed a large blade to Wang Dazhu; the blade was broad, and at a glance, it was clearly not a Mortal Grade item.

Wang Dazhu was overjoyed, "Many thanks, Master! Master is truly generous!"

"Get lost."

Yan Xiao waved his hand; his kidneys hurt, and he didn't want to listen to his flattery.

The blade was a gift from the system when Yan Xiao purchased the mental cultivation method gift package.

Yan Xiao had no use for it, and it just took up space in the System Space, so it was better to give it to Dazhu.

It was a gesture of goodwill, after all.

The mental cultivation method gift package cost 999 Fear Value.

After Yan Xiao purchased it, he had 156 points of Fear Value left; he was truly pitifully poor.

Looking at the Soul Gathering Pill for treating Qingxue, which cost 100,000 Fear Value, Yan Xiao couldn't help but sigh; it seemed that if he wanted the little girl to recover her Divine Sense, it would be a long process.

Returning to the mental cultivation method gift package, it contained one Qi Refining cultivation manual, the 【Three Elements Spirit Gathering Art】.

It was a Yellow-tier Upper Grade technique; practicing it to completion could triple one's speed of absorbing heaven and earth Spirit Qi.

There was also an elemental technique, the 【Quenching Fire Technique】, which was also a Yellow-tier Upper Grade technique; it could increase affinity for the fire element and deepen one's control over fire.

The accompanying blade had been generously gifted by Yan Xiao to Wang Dazhu.

Finally, there was a cultivation guide that introduced Phantom Demons and cultivation levels.

Yan Xiao took a casual look at it.

He gained a rough understanding of the Phantom Demon levels.

Phantom Demon levels range from 1 to 9, corresponding to the levels of cultivators: Body Tempering, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Cave Profound, Spirit Void, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Tribulation Transcendence, and Divine Treasury, among the nine realms.

The formation of Phantom Demons is quite complex.

Some are formed when a wild beast dies but its soul does not dissipate, possessing a mortal and absorbing human essence to strengthen itself.

Others are formed when a person dies and their soul possesses a wild beast, turning into a monster.

In short, a Phantom Demon is a very special existence; it is not a single species and is distinct from a pure Demon Beast.

Just like Qingxue's Cat Demon; it is the soul of a wild cat that, after death, borrowed the body of a beautiful woman, except the two have already merged to become one entity.

The Cat Demon is an outlier among Phantom Demons; in the traditional sense, it has already surpassed both Phantom Demons and Demon Beasts, and can be considered a hybrid product.

"Hey... System, if a human soul possesses a wild beast's body, isn't that a transmigration? How did it become a Phantom Demon?"

Seeing this, Yan Xiao couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Transmigration occurs when the soul is undamaged and possesses autonomous consciousness; in a sense, the individual is still human.

However, the soul that becomes a Phantom Demon has no autonomous consciousness; it inherits the beastly nature of the animal—cruel and greedy—and only wants to eat humans to strengthen itself. It is merely a combination of a Phantom Demon; perhaps it has some human habits, but it does not even consider itself human."

So that's how it is.

So monsters are actually transformed humans!