But at this moment, the second warm current from the Blood Soul Body-Melding Pill also began to disperse into these broken meridians.
This current was warm and viscous, bringing a numbing warmth wherever it passed.
Sensing this, Xu Yuan knew the time had come. He immediately began guiding the medicinal power of the Blood Soul Body-Melding Pill to circulate along the path of the Blood Origin Heart Extinction Technique.
As the medicinal power of the Blood Soul Body-Melding Pill spread and flowed, Xu Yuan's broken meridians slowly repaired.
However, this was just the beginning.
The two distinct medicinal powers, one from the Calamitous Star Pill and the other from the Blood Soul Body-Melding Pill, began chasing each other in endless circles within Xu Yuan's meridians.
The Calamitous Star Pill charged ahead, demolishing everything in its path, while the Blood Soul Body-Melding Pill followed closely behind, repairing the damage.
The constant interweaving of pain and comfort drove his mind to the brink of madness.
Meridians broke and healed, healed and broke again.
Again and again, cycle after cycle.
In cultivation, time loses meaning.
As time passed, Xu Yuan realized his consciousness wasn't blurring despite the constant near-death states and intense pain. Instead, it grew increasingly solid and clear.
After some unknown period, Xu Yuan could even spare a part of his mind to sense the Yuan Qi floating in the world around him.
Previously, he could only sense three or four weak wisps of Yuan Qi in this cave, but now, with the continuous circulation of the Blood Origin Heart Extinction Technique, they multiplied.
His pale face gradually flushed with color, and his faint breathing gradually stabilized.
Beyond that, strange images began flowing into Xu Yuan's mind like a trickling stream.
Like watching an avant-garde film.
Fragmented, complex, yet forming a coherent whole.
Upon careful reflection, Xu Yuan quickly noticed something unusual.
These images... were they Xu Changtian's memories?
As his soul and body merged perfectly, these memories stored in the body gradually appeared in Xu Yuan's mind.
There were mundane moments of daily life, like washing and bathing—and instances of bullying others in the streets by flaunting his family status.
There were also horseback hunting expeditions and outrageous scenes of this Third Young Master taking aphrodisiacs and playing with five women at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
The images transitioned from blurry to clear.
What surprised Xu Yuan, however, was that there were very few memories of Xu Changtian's father.
Most of the time, the man appeared only as a silhouette of a receding back, a back view that instilled fear.
Fear?
Xu Yuan realized that when the image of that back flashed through his mind just now, he too felt a faint trace of fear.
He was being influenced by these memories.
Realizing this, Xu Yuan quickly composed himself and stopped thinking about the Grand Chancellor.
But in the next moment, those memories continued to surge uncontrollably.
Compared to his high and mighty father, the figure most deeply etched in Xu Changtian's memory was his elder brother.
As the memories flooded in, Xu Yuan discovered that this body's fear of Xu Changge was even greater than its fear of his father.
It was an almost bone-deep terror.
Just thinking about him, Xu Yuan noticed that his current body was actually trembling slightly.
How terrified must one be to have such a reaction?
Soon, Xu Yuan got the answer from the scenes in those memories.
Scene after scene of memories appeared before his eyes.
"Trash! You can't even handle something like this!"
"If I see you embarrassing yourself in public again, I'll beat you to death on Father's behalf."
"You bastard, look at the good things you've done in the Imperial Capital!"
"You can't cultivate. You failed the Imperial Examination. Xu Changtian, can't you learn from your Second Brother and Fourth Sister?!"
"Hahahaha... Xu Changtian! It’s truly an eye-opener, I must see you in a new light! I was only away on a mission to the Northern Barbarians for three months, and you've done this kind of good thing as soon as I got home. Well done! Now you even dare to lay hands on the Marquis of Military Brilliance's granddaughter ?! Ying'er, bring me the whip! The thickest one!"
"..."
As these scenes appeared in his mind, Xu Yuan fell silent.
Xu Changge was ten years older than Xu Changtian. With their father busy with court affairs, the eldest brother Xu Changge had practically raised him since childhood.
It's just that the eldest brother's way of education was extremely crude and brutal.
When he said he would beat him, he really beat him, and it was the kind of beating that nearly killed him.
Xu Changtian's memories continued to surface, and Xu Yuan could clearly feel his own emotions being affected. He didn't want this, but he had no choice but to passively accept it.
Just as the Blood Origin Heart Extinction Technique’s circulation was about to be completed, Xu Yuan's mind suddenly went blank.
All the preceding memories seemed instantly erased.
Just as Xu Yuan was wondering about this, a sword appeared in his consciousness.
A sword that seemed to pierce through the entire Tianmen Mountain.
However, this sword appeared and disappeared quickly, vanishing from his consciousness almost instantly.
The technique was complete. Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
The memories remained, but the emotions attached to them had vanished.
But what was that sword that appeared in his mind at the end?
His gaze flickered as he suddenly recalled the Sword Intent he had sensed while gazing towards Tianmen Mountain from Suspended Heaven Cliff.
He hadn't pondered it deeply then due to the urgency of the situation, but thinking back now, many things seemed unusual.
The sword that appeared in his mind should be related to what he had glimpsed then.
But why?
The Heaven’s Gate atop Tianmen Mountain has existed for at least ten thousand years, and countless people have seen it. Why would this fortunate encounter appear only to him?
Thinking it over, the only difference Xu Yuan could find was that he didn't belong to this world.
Could it be that only the souls of those who had crossed over could sense the Sword Intent that had lingered for ten thousand years?
This was absurd.
Unable to figure it out, Xu Yuan set the matter aside for now.
Just then, Ran Qingmo's voice came softly from beside him, "The formation outside has disappeared. They're coming."
Xu Yuan glanced at her, reached for the Blood Origin Heart Extinction manual on the jade bed, and replied, "Understood."
As he spoke, he circulated his cultivation technique. Wisps of crimson Yuan Qi emerged from his fingertips, coiling around the manual.
The next moment, flickers of flame ignited, and the sole existing copy of the Blood Origin Heart Extinction Technique vanished from the world.
Similar to the Frozen Cloud Steps within Ran Qingmo's cultivation method, the Blood Origin Heart Extinction Technique included various applications. This flame was one of them.
Having disposed of evidence that might reveal his identity, he changed into the blood-red Blood Jade Glazed Robe and methodically began to clear out everything useful from the cave.
He put the spatial ring on his index finger and took the jade bed and that spiritual spring into the spatial ring.
After a pause, Xu Yuan looked at the Luminous Pearl on the stone wall and also placed it into the ring.
Suddenly, the cave was plunged into complete darkness.
With nothing to do in the darkness, Xu Yuan sat cross-legged and tried to cultivate.
He was somewhat eager to experience the cultivation speed of the Innate Dao Body.
When he extended his spiritual sense, he immediately noticed the difference.
Unlike the three or four wisps of Yuan Qi he had sensed before, Xu Yuan now felt as if he were immersed in a vast sea of Yuan Qi.
Unbeknownst to Xu Yuan, Ran Qingmo's clear eyes had been silently watching him in the darkness the entire time, her expression suggesting she had something to say but was hesitant.
Time slipped quietly by.
Suddenly.
"Um..."
Hearing her voice, Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes and looked at Ran Qingmo.
"My name is Ran Qingmo." Ran Qingmo.
"..."
Xu Yuan was puzzled by her statement.
Although he had always called her Heroine Ran, he remembered clearly stating her name back in the Buddhist temple.
He nodded. "I know."
After speaking, he closed his eyes again.
About ten seconds later, Xu Yuan opened his eyes again, infusing Yuan Qi into them to discover that the woman beside him was still staring at him unblinkingly.
Slightly startled, he quickly realized she was asking for his name.
They had been together for so long, but she still didn't know his name.
He instinctively wanted to give his own name, but the words stopped at his lips.
His eyes flickered for a moment. Xu Yuan's eyes slowly lowered, and he breathed a sigh of relief, and a meaningful smile curled up at the corner of his lips.
"My name is... Xu Changtian."