I, the transmigrated villain, please wait, gentle master.

Chapter 102 An Incredibly Tough Life

The princess placed the lanterns in the Taoist temple.

Xia Changfeng listened to her recite Taoist scriptures and swallow incense offerings day after day, and his cultivation naturally improved greatly.

One day, after countless failures, Xia Changfeng, with a hopeless determination, tried once again to refine the lantern into human form.

Damn it, this time he finally succeeded!

After Xia Changfeng used the lantern to transform into a real form, the first thing he did was return to the lakeside where he had drowned.

He couldn't wait any longer and jumped into the deep water, retrieving his own body from the bottom of the lake.

His original body was extremely yang and strong, which counteracted the coldness of the lake water. Furthermore, because he had already formed his golden core before his death, his body was well preserved underwater.

Thus, after careful consideration, Xia Changfeng decided to nurture the original body into an avatar and continue cultivating demonic arts.

And that lantern became the place where his soul rested.

To this day, this is the first time Xia Changfeng has summoned a clone in front of Si Wuxie.

Because of the heart defect, the clone harbored deep resentment towards Si Wuxie, which caused him to have murderous thoughts.

The clone intended to kill him as soon as possible and reclaim its own Vermilion Bird Heart.

This murderous intent, in the end, was still the result of Xia Changfeng's lingering resentment.

It's just that his main body, where his soul resides, can endure it, but his unintelligent clone cannot control itself.

After listening to Xia Changfeng's story, Si Wuxie said slowly, "Your soul can actually use other objects to reshape a physical body... This is truly an extraordinary encounter. But in any case, it's fortunate that you survived in the end."

Xia Changfeng smiled wryly, "A fortuitous encounter? I wouldn't call it that. I just don't want to die yet."

He paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I just didn't want to die like that, so I tried every means to live. Si Wuxie, have you ever heard of a cruel torture called 'bamboo shoot piercing the chest' in the mortal world?"

Si Wuxie shook his head. "What do you mean?"

Xia Changfeng said, "People always underestimate the power of all things to grow, such as a newly sprouted bamboo shoot..."

If you tie a person to a bamboo shoot that has sprouted tender shoots after the rain, within three to five days, the rapidly growing bamboo shoot tip will be able to cut the person open, and a tall, green bamboo will grow out of a pile of rotten flesh.

Even if a huge rock is placed on the tip of a bamboo shoot, the tender shoot that breaks through the soil can still accumulate energy to grow.

Bamboo shoots emerge obliquely from under the weight of rocks; life always finds its own way.

Now, Xia Changfeng is able to calmly recount his tragic past to Si Wuxie.

It's as if they're talking about something that has nothing to do with them.

His tone was as bland as plain water.

On the contrary, Si Wuxie, that old fox, had his unrepentant determination repeatedly shattered.

The ground shook and the foundation became unstable.

Xia Changfeng said casually, "Speaking of which, there is another person in the Taiji Hall who has survived a desperate situation like me."

Si Wuxie was astonished, "There's another one like you?!"

Xia Changfeng's miraculous resurrection was nothing short of incredible luck.

If there were even the slightest mishap during the process, such as the lantern being violently destroyed before he could take human form, then he would never have been able to complete the task.

For example, the soul of a dead person should not linger in the mortal world for too long, otherwise it will be burned away by the yang energy and the soul will be scattered.

If Xia Changfeng hadn't had a special constitution, he probably wouldn't have even taken the first step in the resurrection plan before his three souls and seven spirits dissipated.

After listening to Xia Changfeng talk so much, Si Wuxie felt that every move he made was extremely risky, as if he were walking on thin ice.

Ultimately, the reason he was able to be resurrected can only be attributed to four words: his destiny was strong enough.

His life is strangely tough.

Si Wuxie never expected that there would be someone in this world with an even tougher life than Xia Changfeng.

Moreover, that person was also in the Taiji Hall.

That's really strange.

The cultivation world deeply resented the Taiji Palace, and once uttered a brilliant remark: "The entire Taiji Palace is like a nest of cockroaches that can't be killed, a wildfire that can't burn them all, a rabble on the plains."

In retrospect, that was absolutely true.

Si Wuxie asked, "I'm a little curious, who exactly is the person you're talking about?"

Xia Changfeng had nothing to hide from him and said directly, "It is the Palace Master himself."

Si Wuxie clicked his tongue in amazement, "If you had said another name, I would have been skeptical and found it unbelievable, but if you say it's Li Tingyun, then there's nothing to doubt... because he himself is unbelievable."

Any bizarre event, when attributed to the Master of the Taiji Hall, would seem perfectly reasonable.

Xia Changfeng said, "I know nothing about the Palace Master's past, but I can ascertain that the body inhabited by his soul is not his original body."

"Perhaps the Palace Master, like me, lost his original body due to some experience, and his soul attached itself to other inanimate objects, thus transforming into a human form again."

Si Wuxie asked, "How did you figure that out?"

Xia Changfeng said, "It's simple. It's said that children born from a living person and a ghost have a fainter soul than ordinary people, and their shadows are also lighter in sunlight. If a soul inhabits an inanimate object and takes human form, similar characteristics will appear."

Si Wuxie: "You bastard?"

Xia Changfeng: "...Hmm."

“Li Tingyun, huh? He seems like a jerk… but you’re not.”

Si Wuxie thought about it carefully for a moment and said, "In the mural, under the blazing sun, I secretly followed behind you and played with stepping on your shadow... Your shadow and my shadow, they seem to be the same?"

Xia Changfeng said, "That's because I found my original body and merged it with my current body, so I'm no different from an ordinary person. But the Palace Master still hasn't found his original body."

This is also what Xia Changfeng finds most puzzling—why doesn't Li Tingyun retrieve his original body? Has his original body been completely destroyed and disappeared, or has it fallen into someone's hands, making it impossible for him to retrieve it?

If it's the former, then the temple master can only accept his fate.

But if it's the latter... Xia Changfeng believes there are no "ifs".

There is absolutely no such possibility.

If the original body of the Temple Master were still alive and well, he would definitely do everything in his power to take it back.

No one can stop it.

To put it extremely, if the truth is that the various sects of the immortal realm jointly suppressed the original body of the Palace Master, then according to his personality, he would surely unleash a bloodbath throughout the entire cultivation world. He would not be Li Tingyun unless he wiped out all the major sects.

But the truth is, the Palace Master never seems to be in a hurry to find his original form.

Xia Changfeng: "How strange, how bizarre!"

It's so weird.