Chapter 220: Liu Yuan's Breakthrough! Du Busi's Gratification
After Huo Yuhao's voice faded, a suffocating silence descended upon his Sea of Consciousness.
The Skydream Iceworm curled its plump body into a tight corner of the mental expanse. Its golden eyes, which usually sparkled with a carefree playfulness, were now dim and entirely lusterless. It offered no rebuttal. It could not. Huo Yuhao's deduction was simply too logical, too perfectly reasoned to deny.
In this entire world, aside from the slumbering Electrolux, there was likely no one else capable of using pure soul-based methods to help the Snow Empress restore her damaged Origin.
The Ice Empress's phantom hovered high above the golden sea of mental energy. Her beautiful, frost-sculpted face twisted with a complex myriad of emotions. "Electrolux..."
"If that old ghost truly took action, it wouldn't be difficult for Xue'er to recover. But Xue'er... why would she ever willingly help Liu Yuan?" The Ice Empress murmured, her voice trembling slightly. "She has always been the absolute sovereign of the extreme north. She is proud. She has never, not once, bowed her head to a human."
The Skydream Iceworm let out a long, heavy sigh. A deep exhaustion weighed down its usually energetic voice. "Bingbing, do you really not understand yet? The Snow Empress stepping forward to help Liu Yuan can only mean one thing. She has reached some kind of binding agreement with him. They might have even formed a Soul Spirit contract. Otherwise, given her unyielding personality, it would be absolutely impossible for her to intervene on a human's behalf in such a deadly situation."
The Ice Empress fell entirely silent. Her phantom flickered.
She knew Skydream was right. The Snow Empress appearing out of thin air at the Execution Platform to block a fatal strike for Du Busi was not some random whim. It was a highly organized, calculated action.
And the mastermind behind that entire operation was undeniably Liu Yuan.
Far away, within the Body Sect's back mountain.
Liu Yuan's private residence sat perfectly situated on a wide stone platform halfway up the towering peak. Lush green bamboo surrounded the estate, naturally creating a tranquil, secluded environment. Yet, at this very moment, a heavy, suffocating atmosphere shrouded the originally peaceful courtyard.
Several days had already passed since the sect members retreated from the Heavenly Dou Imperial Capital. However, the tragic, blood-soaked scenes from the Execution Platform remained violently etched into Liu Yuan's mind.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Du Busi's shoulder being ruthlessly pierced by Death God Douluo Ye Xishui's Death God Tower. He saw the invincible Sect Master crashing down into a pooling puddle of his own blood. The memory acted like a jagged, poisoned thorn wedged deep into his heart, refusing to be pulled out.
Liu Yuan stood rigidly by the open window. He watched the slender bamboo leaves swaying under the mountain breeze, but his gaze remained entirely vacant, staring right through the scenery. His right hand unconsciously clamped down onto the wooden window frame. The wood groaned under the pressure as his knuckles turned a stark, bloodless white.
This entire grand incident had been completely orchestrated by his hand.
From the initial capture of Ma Xiaotao, to collaborating with the Sun Moon Imperial Family for the public execution, and finally forcing Shrek Academy into a corner where they had to take a definitive stand. He was the invisible hand driving every single step.
He had wanted to violently tear away Shrek Academy's hypocritical mask, forcing the entire continent to witness the ugly, self-serving truth behind their so-called Holy Land. He had truly believed his plan was flawless.
But he had failed to account for the sheer depths of the Holy Spirit Cult's depravity.
He never expected that two supreme ultimate Douluo, Death God Douluo Ye Xishui and Darkness Holy Dragon Long Xiaoyao, would personally take the field. Against two monsters of that caliber, Du Busi had possessed almost no power to fight back. The battle had been a one-sided, brutal crushing from start to finish.
If the Snow Empress had not intervened at the absolute last second, Du Busi would have truly perished on that platform.
And the root cause of that near-fatal disaster was him.
Liu Yuan closed his eyes, drawing in a long, ragged breath of the cool mountain air.
He knew Du Busi would not blame him. Shortly after returning to the sect, the old man had even specifically ordered a disciple to send word to his courtyard. The message stated clearly that the operation was a collective decision made by the entire Body Sect, and that Liu Yuan should not overthink the consequences.
But Liu Yuan could not simply wave away his own conscience.
The esteemed Elders of the Body Sect had returned one by one, their bodies battered and broken. Elder Chen's left arm had been severely eroded by an Evil Soul Master's highly toxic poison-attribute martial soul, the flesh still rotting and turning a sickly black. Elder Li had taken a direct palm strike to the chest from Darkness Holy Dragon Long Xiaoyao, shattering three ribs and nearly piercing his heart.
, several accompanying inner sect disciples were currently bedridden, their life forces flickering weakly, entirely unable to stand.
These people were his fellow sect members. They were his teachers, his protectors, and his martial brothers. And they had bled and broken their bones solely because of his miscalculation.
Liu Yuan opened his eyes, slowly lowering his gaze to stare at his own palms.
These hands were already considered terrifyingly strong among the younger generation. He possessed level sixty spirit power, a hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit, a priceless external spirit bone, and a legendary Gold-grade Secondary Awakening.
Among his peers across the entire continent, he was the undisputed number one.
But this was not enough. It was far, far from enough.
When facing absolute apex predators of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao's caliber, he lacked even the basic qualifications to stand on the front lines. He had been reduced to a helpless child, forced to hide behind Du Busi's broad back. He had watched his master get severely mutilated, completely powerless to change the outcome.
That suffocating feeling of total impotence was infinitely more painful than any physical defeat.
"I am still too weak," Liu Yuan whispered into the empty room, his voice carrying a chilling, absolute resolve.
He turned away from the window and strode directly toward his underground cultivation chamber. The heavy stone door ground shut behind him with a heavy thud, perfectly isolating him from the outside world.
Liu Yuan sat cross-legged on a woven meditation mat. As his eyes slid shut, the dense spirit power within his meridians began to circulate, following the ancient, complex pathways dictated by the Body Secret Method.
For the next several days, Liu Yuan essentially vanished from the sect, refusing to step foot outside his chamber.
His daily routine became a brutal, mechanical cycle of extreme discipline. He circulated his spirit power through the early dawn hours, ruthlessly developed and refined his spirit abilities throughout the morning, physically tempered his body against extreme pressure in the afternoon, and resumed deep spirit power cultivation deep into the night.
Day after grueling day, he allowed himself zero entertainment and absolutely no socializing. Even when Princess Weina personally came to visit him, he only met her at the door for a brief, emotionless exchange before immediately sealing himself back inside the secret room.
Weina clearly saw the dark, obsessive intensity burning in his eyes. She wanted to offer words of comfort, to advise him against pushing himself to the breaking point, but she ultimately swallowed her words. She understood Liu Yuan's pragmatic, stubborn personality better than anyone. Nothing she said would penetrate his current mindset. She could only step back and allow him to process the trauma through his own relentless methods.
Down on the main martial arts arena, the disciples who occasionally passed by the path leading up to Liu Yuan's residence would instinctively lighten their footsteps. Whenever they glanced up at that perpetually closed stone door, a heavy respect mixed with concern colored their expressions.
"Is Senior Brother Liu Yuan still in closed-door seclusion?" a newly joined outer disciple asked, keeping his voice to a cautious whisper.
"Do not disturb him," an older senior brother immediately warned, pulling the junior back by the collar. "Ever since the Sect Master returned with those heavy injuries, Senior Brother Liu Yuan hasn't taken a single step outside. He carries a heavy burden in his heart right now. Just let him be."
The new disciple nodded, only half-comprehending the sheer weight of the situation. He cast one final, awe-struck glance toward the sealed stone door before hurriedly following his senior brother down the mountain path.
Meanwhile, inside the side parlor of the Sect Master's Main Hall.
Du Busi reclined heavily against a massive wooden armchair. His muscular torso was tightly wrapped in layers of thick, medicinal bandages. A faint, dark trace of blood still seeped through the linen over his left shoulder, a grim reminder of the Death God Tower's terrifying piercing power. His complexion had recovered slightly compared to a few days prior, but a sickly pallor still clung to his skin—the severe aftereffects of massive blood loss and catastrophic spirit power overexertion.
Elder Chen sat slumped in a chair nearby. His left arm was slathered in a thick, dark green ointment, filling the parlor with a sharp, bitter medicinal scent that masked the lingering smell of rotting flesh.
"Sect Master, is that child Liu Yuan still locked in seclusion?" Elder Chen asked, his voice raspy and dry.
Du Busi gave a slow nod. His sharp gaze drifted through the open parlor window, locking onto the distant bamboo forest halfway up the mountain peak. "He has been shut inside that room since the very hour we returned. Even when the Weina girl went up to check on him, he only showed his face for a brief moment, exchanged a handful of words, and sealed himself right back in."
Elder Chen fell silent for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "The child is likely still blaming himself for everything that happened on that platform."
"I know," Du Busi replied, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly rumble. "I already sent word to him. I made it perfectly clear that the operation was decided by the entire sect together. The burden of responsibility does not rest on his shoulders alone."
"But you know his personality as well as I do. Once that boy sets his mind on a certain path, not even a team of nine spirit oxen could drag him back." Elder Chen let out a bitter, coughing laugh. "That is the absolute truth. Back then at Shrek Academy, he endured a mountain of grievances and hypocrisy. He just gritted his teeth and walked away without a single word of complaint. Yet now, simply because a few of us old bones suffered some injuries, he is the one who refuses to move past it."
"The child is deeply sentimental when it comes to his own people," Du Busi noted softly.
"Being sentimental is a good trait to have, but carrying too much of it makes it dangerously easy to get trapped in a mental rut." Elder Chen shook his head, a deep worry clouding his aged eyes. "He is the absolute hope of the Body Sect now. His future path is boundless. If he develops an inner demon because of this setback and it permanently damages his cultivation foundation, the loss would be catastrophic."
Du Busi did not immediately respond.
He naturally knew that Elder Chen's concerns were entirely justified. However, he also understood the harsh reality of cultivation. For certain mental hurdles, all the advice in the world was utterly useless. Liu Yuan had to break through this psychological barrier on his own.
The two old men sat quietly in the parlor, occasionally taking a slow sip of bitter tea or briefly murmuring about minor sect affairs. For the vast majority of the afternoon, however, they simply remained in a heavy, contemplative silence.
Outside the window, the afternoon sun gradually dipped toward the western horizon, casting a brilliant, fiery golden hue over the swaying bamboo forest halfway up the mountain.
Just as Du Busi braced his hands against the armrests, preparing to stand up and return to his private chambers to rest, a faint, almost imperceptible ripple of spirit power suddenly drifted through the air.
The fluctuation was incredibly light. If one had not been paying constant, subconscious attention to the mountain's ambient energy, it would have been completely ignored as a mere breeze. But Du Busi and Elder Chen were veteran apex powerhouses. They had cultivated on this very land for decades, and their sensory perception vastly exceeded the limits of ordinary mortals.
Almost at the exact same instant, both men snapped their heads up. Their sharp gazes pierced straight through the open window, locking onto the golden bamboo forest halfway up the peak.
That was Liu Yuan's residence.
The subtle, expanding ripple of spirit power was radiating directly from his underground chamber.
"This feeling is..." Elder Chen suddenly sat bolt upright. His spirit, which had been sluggish and listless due to the agonizing poison in his arm, instantly flared with sharp clarity.
Du Busi did not speak. He merely narrowed his eyes as the ambient spirit power around his own body surged in response. Even while heavily injured, his monstrous perception remained terrifyingly sharp.
The distant ripple grew clearer and more defined with each passing second. It was not the chaotic, violent disorder of spirit power losing control or a cultivator suffering from qi deviation. Instead, it was the smooth, natural overflow of energy that occurred during the absolute breakthrough of a major bottleneck. Although the sheer magnitude of the shockwave was not massive, the deep sense of qualitative, internal transformation could never be hidden from powerhouses of their caliber.
Du Busi's tightly furrowed brow slowly unfurled. The corners of his pale, pressed lips curled upward into a faint, highly satisfied smirk.
"This crazy kid..." he whispered, his gravelly tone carrying a deep sense of relief and deep pride.
Elder Chen fully sensed the stabilizing energy as well. He let out a long, shuddering breath and leaned back into his wooden chair. For the first time in over half a month, a genuine, joyful smile broke across his weathered face.
"Level sixty-one."
Du Busi nodded slowly, his intense gaze never once wavering from the distant bamboo forest.
"It seems he has truly taken the bitter lesson from this disaster... and forged it into pure, unstoppable motivation."
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]