Chapter 18

"What the fuck! Where's my lifespan? Where's my huge fucking lifespan?!"

Fang Yue was stunned—he had 11 days and 10 hours of lifespan before he started cultivating, and now it had been burned down to just 10 days and 5 hours.

That's not fair…

Fang Yue felt like crying without tears; at this stage, he'd never heard of anyone gaining lifespan—he'd barely practiced the martial art, and already over a day's lifespan was gone. Is this even livable?

Shit heart method! Shit martial art!

But cursing won't stop him from practicing.

Fortunately, only heart methods consume Human Soul lifespan.

Running the heart method only consumes Internal Power.

Only Blade Techniques consume lifespan when activated.

"Internal Skill? Keep training. But Blade Technique… I'll leave it for now."

Fang Yue felt weak—only because he had so much lifespan could he afford this waste; any other player would've trained themselves to death.

Sitting cross-legged, Fang Yue activated the Starfire Heart Method, burning his Human Soul. After several major celestial cycles, his Internal Power returned to full.

He continued, waiting for his Internal Power maximum to begin rising one point at a time.

Seconds ticked by. When his Internal Power reached 25/25, Fang Yue suddenly turned pale and spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

"System Prompt: Internal Breath chaotic, Meridian Disorder, Internal Power emptied, Heavy Injury inflicted."

Why is my Internal Breath chaotic? It was fine just now!

Fang Yue numbly opened his stats.

"Name: Yese Liming."

"Realm: Post-Heaven Third Rate."

"Status: Meridian Disorder, Heavy Injury."

"Health: 100/100 (Heavy Injury)."

"Internal Power: 0/25."

"Control: 1 (-20) (Heavy Injury) 【12】."

"Dodge: 1 (-20) (Heavy Injury) 【12】."

"Talent: Night's Breath (Human Upper Grade)."

"Skills: Analysis (Human Lower Grade), Starfire Blade Technique Level 1 (Post-Heaven Third Rate) 【Red】, Starfire Heart Method Level 1 (Post-Heaven Third Rate) 【Red】."

"Lifespan: 9 days 3 hours."

Puff!

Fang Yue nearly spat another mouthful of blood.

Fuck!

Why is my stat down to 1 point?!

What devilish debuff stacking is 【-20】 + 【Heavy Injury】 + 【Meridian Disorder】?!

And why are both techniques showing in red text?!

He locked his gaze and activated Analysis Pupil.

"Starfire Heart Method: Conditions not met, unusable."

"Starfire Blade Technique: Conditions not met, unusable."

"Meridian Disorder: A consequence triggered after Qi Deviation—meridians disrupted, unable to learn or use Internal Skill, effectively a cripple."

Fang Yue:?!!

Fine, the first two I'll accept—but Meridian Disorder is bullshit!

My Martial Dao has just begun—and now it's over?

Fang Yue stared blankly.

Suddenly, a faint warm ray of light shone down from the horizon, passing over his forehead and striking the ground.

Light?

Wait—what time is it?!

He instinctively looked outside and saw a warm golden glow rising on the distant horizon—it was the rising sun, the Mao Hour had just begun.

The sky had brightened.

I'm ruined…

Fang Yue suddenly understood everything.

【Night's Breath】 increases his stats by 20 at night, decreases them by 20 by day.

He had met the conditions to learn Starfire Heart Method and Starfire Blade Technique only because of 【Night's Breath】's stat boost.

Now that it was daytime, 【Night's Breath】 reduced his stats—not to zero or negative, but forcibly locked them at 1 point.

With only 1 point, he could not learn Starfire Heart Method or Starfire Blade Technique—but he'd already learned them, like a wounded master who possesses martial arts but cannot use them.

Fang Yue had never realized this—he'd been lost in cultivation, completely losing track of time.

When day and night shifted, when the night ended and day arrived, the Mao Hour came.

His stats instantly dropped to 1 point, yet he kept running Starfire Heart Method—which his stats could no longer support—causing Qi Deviation, Meridian Disorder, Internal Breath chaos, and Heavy Injury.

"I killed myself!"

Fang Yue felt like crying without tears.

He tried moving his body and found every part of him ached terribly; with each motion, "-1" "-1" health loss prompts floated above his head.

He couldn't even walk like this.

"Help… help! Someone! Please help me!"

Helpless, Fang Yue could only shout for help.

But soon, he realized he could call online players for help.

Before he could send a message, his door was kicked open.

Six burly men in Patrol Team attire, wielding iron spears, stepped cautiously into the house.

They were well-trained and moved in perfect sync.

Two of them immediately spread out to search the house, while the other four pointed their spear tips—glinting with cold light—directly at Fang Yue on the ground; one forward thrust and he would be dead.

"Big brothers, it was me calling for help…"

"Shut up!"

A spearman with a scarred face glared and barked: "Check if he's been possessed."

At that moment, the two who had searched the house also emerged and, hearing the spearman's words, shook their heads.

"Yong Ge, we're out of talismans."

What were talismans?

What would happen without them?

Fang Yue was puzzled, but he soon learned the consequence of having no talismans.

The man called Yong Ge raised his brow, lifted his spear high.

"Then follow the rules—kill him outright."

As the words ended, the spear plunged straight toward Fang Yue's heart.

Fuck!

Fang Yue turned pale with terror and shouted: "Wait! Spare my life! I was brought into the village by Lord Han!"

The spear stopped. The men stepped back.

But not because of Fang Yue's words.

Before Yong Ge's spear tip touched Fang Yue's heart, it had already recoiled violently.

The others did the same.

Where they had stood moments before, several Gold Coin Darts now lay embedded.

They stood back-to-back, eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

"Who's there?"

"It's your Lin Grandpa!"

A cold snort echoed as a figure strolled slowly in from the doorway—it was Lin Ling, Second Captain of the Guard Team.

Their faces changed instantly; they hastily sheathed their weapons and bowed respectfully.

"Captain Lin, what are you doing here?" Yong Ge said, trembling.

"Hmph! If I'd arrived one step later, your heads would already be off!"

Saying this, Lin Ling walked to Fang Yue's side and helped him up, still shaken.

"He's Xiao Ye, brought into the village personally by Lord Han. Lord Han values him deeply—if he suffers even a scratch, can you bear the responsibility?!"

They exchanged uneasy glances, faces pale with fear.

"W-we didn't mean to—we were just following procedure…"

"Hmph! I know you've patrolled all night, exhausted your wits. I won't mention this to anyone else. Now go back and rest."

"Thank you, Captain Lin!"

They hurriedly withdrew. Fang Yue was still trembling.

Fuck—I almost died at the hands of these Patrol Team idiots.

Fang Yue realized he still knew too little about Gu Yue Cun; acting recklessly could cost him his life anytime.

(End of Chapter)