Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 232 Fate Falls in the Snowstorm, Soul Falls into the Valley

Chu Ning then noticed that he was lying on a thick, unidentified animal hide, and covered with an equally old gray felt blanket, which offered some protection from the cold. Had the old woman saved him?
"Thank you... for saving my life, senior," Chu Ning said with difficulty, his gaze involuntarily sweeping towards the misty hot spring lake below the valley.

The Soul-Guiding Stone pressed against his chest, sending out faint yet clear throbbing sensations.

Qingli!

Her presence was in the direction of that hot spring! Clearer and closer than ever before.

"You have physical injuries, but your soul is even more severely wounded." The old woman finally stopped wielding her bone knife, raised her dark golden eyes, and calmly looked at Chu Ning.

That gaze seemed to pierce through flesh and skin, looking directly at the hideous soul crack between his brows and the newly formed, fragile, milky-white soul core inside.

"If you move around, you'll die."

Her tone stated a simple fact, without any threat, yet with an undeniable power.

Chu Ning felt a chill run down her spine and forcibly suppressed the urge to rush to the hot spring immediately.

This old woman is unfathomable.

He spoke with difficulty, his voice urgent:

“Senior…I…I have a companion…a very important person…she should be down there! She’s injured! Very badly! I must…”

"You mean that little girl?" The old woman interrupted him, a subtle understanding flashing in her dark golden eyes, or perhaps it was just an illusion.

She lowered her head again and continued whittling the piece of dead wood, saying slowly:
“She arrived before you. She was seriously injured. Her soul was almost scattered, and she still had the death aura of ‘Return to the Void’ and the curse mark left by ‘Bone Guardian’ on her body.”

Qingli! She really is here.

Moreover, his injuries were extremely severe, and Chu Ning's heart clenched instantly.

“However…” the old woman paused, her wood-carving movements still steady, “she’s quite resilient. Being soaked in the icy pool has temporarily kept her alive. Little Jiu’er is taking care of her.”

A cold pool?

Little Jiu'er?
Chu Ning grew even more anxious: "Senior! Please! Take me to see her! I..."

"What good will it do you go?" The old woman raised her eyes again, her dark golden eyes looking at Chu Ning with an unwavering gaze. "Will you use your crippled body to provoke her again? Or will you use your chaotic and shattered soul sea to awaken her equally shattered divine soul?"

Chu Ning was struck as if by a heavy blow, and was instantly speechless.

The old woman's words were like a cold awl, piercing his impulsive act of disregarding everything.

Yes... what can he do now?
Besides causing trouble and making her worry...

He was overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of powerlessness and pain once again.

He slumped back against the animal hide, his empty eyes staring blankly at the gray sky, utterly lost. The Soul-Guiding Stone pulsed weakly in his chest, carrying Qing Li's faint aura, yet it felt as if it were so close yet so far.

The old woman fell silent; only the soft rustling of the bone knife cutting through the dead wood echoed gently on the quiet snow-covered slope.

She whittled very slowly and with great focus, as if the withered wood in her hands were the most precious treasure in the world.

Gradually, the outline of the dead wood emerged in her hand—a small, cross-legged, human-shaped wooden sculpture with a blurred face.

The old woman picked up the wood carving, looked at it in the dim light, and a faint, almost imperceptible hint of satisfaction appeared on her wrinkled face.

She casually placed the wooden carving on the snow next to Chu Ning.

"Your soul wound stems from 'defying fate' and 'forcing things.' External forces cannot heal it; only you can save yourself." The old woman's voice rang out again, carrying a distant meaning. "Calm your mind, calm your spirit. Feel your soul core, feel... the 'marrow light' that is integrated into your soul. It is not only a life-saving medicine, but also... the 'key'."

A key? What key?
Chu Ning stared blankly at the rough wooden carving on the snow, then looked at the old woman.

The old woman offered no further explanation, but slowly stood up, her hunched figure casting a small shadow on the snow.

She brushed the wood chips off her clothes and looked down at the misty hot spring below the valley. A complex emotion seemed to flash across her dark golden eyes, too fleeting to be detected.

"The remnant soul returns to its place, old memories are like snow." She murmured to herself, her voice as soft as a sigh, blending into the wind, "This snow mountain... is about to be turbulent again."

After saying that, she stopped looking at Chu Ning, and leaning on a withered branch she had picked up, she walked slowly but steadily toward the quiet and mysterious valley village at the foot of the hill.

The small figure quickly disappeared into the rising mist below the snow slope.

On the snow slope, only Chu Ning remained, lying on the cold animal hide, gazing at the gray sky.

He was in excruciating pain all over his body, and his soul core felt like it was about to shatter.

The Soul-Guiding Stone throbbed weakly but stubbornly in his chest, guiding him toward the hot spring.

He struggled to raise his trembling hand and clutched the warm stone to his chest. The old woman's words echoed in his ears.

Calm your mind... Tranquility... Feel the light of the marrow... The key...

He closed his eyes, enduring the excruciating pain and confusion, and tried to focus his consciousness on the shattered and burning core between his brows.

There, the newly formed milky-white soul patterns struggled to pulsate under the erosion of the black cracks, and a pure and gentle power flowed slowly like a trickle.

Qingli... wait for me...

The old woman's hunched figure disappeared completely into the misty fog below, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, leaving no trace.

On the snow-covered slope, only Chu Ning remained, lying on the cold animal hide, accompanied by the howling wind.

The excruciating pain throughout his body and the searing, tearing pain in his brow core gnawed at his remaining consciousness like maggots clinging to his bones.

Every breath brought a dull ache to his internal organs, and every heartbeat caused the newly formed, milky-white soul core, covered in black cracks, to groan under unbearable pressure.

However, the faint pulsation emanating from the soul-guiding stone in his heart was like a resilient thread, piercing through the physical pain and the chaos in his mind, tightly binding his consciousness and preventing him from completely succumbing.

Qingli... is down there.

The old woman's words were cold and truthful: his crippled body would only cause trouble if he went.

Aside from the faint yet persistent throbbing transmitted by the Soul-Guiding Stone, there was nothing he could do.

An immense sense of powerlessness and anxiety, like ice and fire intertwined, tormented his soul.

"Calm down...settle your mind...feel the light of the marrow...the key..." The old woman's hoarse words echoed again in the howling wind, carrying an undeniable power.

key?

What else does this soul source essence light, which has been integrated into his soul core and reshaped his life, hold besides its immense life force?
Chu Ning closed his heavy eyelids, and like a traveler sinking into a quagmire, he laboriously and slowly sank his almost scattered consciousness toward the source of the excruciating pain—the soul core between his eyebrows.

The moment his consciousness sank, boundless darkness and tearing pain surged in like a tide, almost engulfing him once again.

He suppressed the fear of his soul collapsing, as if grabbing a piece of driftwood in a raging storm, and stared intently at the faint, pure milky-white light deep within his soul core.

It was faint, flickering like a candle flame in the wind, surrounded by the menacing black soul rift.

But the aura it exudes is incredibly warm and resilient, carrying a vitality that embraces all things.

Chu Ning's consciousness cautiously approached, as if approaching fragile glass.

He did not try to touch the raging soul rift, nor did he expect to repair it immediately; he simply tried to "feel" the rhythm of the milky white light itself.

At first, there was only excruciating pain. A pain that penetrated to the bone marrow and tore at the soul.

Each faint pulsation of light was accompanied by the tearing of his soul, blurring his consciousness and making him almost want to give up.

But the faint yet clear throbbing of the Soul-Guiding Stone in his heart, like a silent drumbeat, sustained him and reminded him—she was still there.

She needs him to live, to live consciously.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, his consciousness like the most resilient thread, entwining itself around that milky white light, feeling the warmth and vitality brought by each of its pulsations, feeling its tenacity in resisting the black death aura.

Gradually, a strange connection was established between consciousness and the marrow light.

The excruciating pain was still there, but it seemed as if a thin veil had been placed over it, making it less unbearable.

He could even vaguely sense that deep within that milky white light lay something...something more ancient and profound.

It's like a sealed melody, or a dusty doorway.

This is... the key?
What key leads to? Memory, power, or... the truth?
Chu Ning's consciousness was immersed in this strange realization, and he was completely unaware of the passage of time.

The intense pain between his eyebrows seemed to have eased slightly, and his body, wrapped in the cold and animal hide, fell into a strange state of semi-consciousness.

Only the pulsation of the soul-guiding stone in his heart still clearly connects to the direction of the hot spring below the valley.

Deep in the valley, beside a hot spring lake.

The rising white mist, like a soft veil, enveloped this warm haven.

The azure hot spring water bubbled and released the scent of sulfur and a rich life energy.

Inside a simple yet exceptionally clean stone house by the lake, a warm and inviting atmosphere prevailed.

Qingli was soaking in a naturally formed hot spring pool in the center of the stone house.

Warm spring water enveloped her cold, broken body, the water level just reaching her collarbone.

The spring water was not crystal clear, but rather had a strange milky white color, like diluted milk. The gentle life energy contained within it was seeping into her skin, nourishing her withered soul and suppressing the stubborn black aura of death at the wound on her left shoulder.

Her face remained as pale as paper, her lips were bloodless, her eyes were tightly closed, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly in the rising steam.

Its breath was faint, but much more stable than when it was in the collapsed cave.

A little girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, with rosy cheeks and her hair styled in two buns, was squatting by the pool, carefully wiping the cold sweat from Qingli's forehead with a soft towel soaked in hot spring water.

"Sister, please wake up..." Xiao Jiu'er's voice was clear and childlike, filled with deep worry. "Grandma said it's a miracle you survived... but you've been soaking for so long..." She tilted her head, looking at Qing Li's furrowed brows even in her unconscious state, and muttered softly, "What were you dreaming about? Why are you so sad..."

at this time--

"Uh...no...don't!"

A faint groan, filled with extreme fear and pain, suddenly escaped from Qingli's tightly clenched lips.

Her body trembled violently in the water.

His brows furrowed into a tight knot, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

"Sister?!" Xiao Jiu'er was startled, and the towel in her hand fell into the water.

Dreamland.

An endless darkness that swallows all light.

Countless twisted and writhing shadows emitted silent shrieks as they surged in from all directions.

A cold sensation wrapped around my ankles, and the suction of death tugged at my soul.

Above, a massive axe blade, covered in pale white bone spikes, tore through the darkness, cleaving down with the intent to annihilate everything.

There's nowhere to escape! There's no way to resist!

"Chu... Ning... save me..." A broken, heart-wrenching cry struggled out from the suffocating fear!

boom--!
In the dream, the moment the axe blade struck.

In reality, Qingli's body suddenly arched upwards.

His tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.

His pupils dilated to their maximum size in an instant, filled with the most primal fear and despair of someone who had just escaped from the abyss of death.

She gasped for breath, like a fish out of water, her chest heaving violently, stirring the hot spring water with a gurgling sound.

"Sister! You're awake!" Xiao Jiu'er was both surprised and delighted, and quickly reached out to help her.

Qingli, however, seemed completely immersed in the lingering nightmare, her eyes unfocused and terrified, oblivious to everything around her.

An overwhelming fear, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed her nascent and fragile consciousness.

She instinctively wanted to escape this terrifying illusion, and her body jerked back.

Wow!

Water splashed everywhere.

Her already weak body was unable to maintain its balance, and she leaned back, her head about to hit the hard edge of the pool.

"Watch out!" Little Jiu'er exclaimed!

At the critical moment!
boom!
The simple wooden door of the stone house was suddenly kicked open from the outside.

A figure, exuding a chilling aura, swept in like a whirlwind.

It’s Chu Ning!
He didn't know when he had woken up, nor how he dragged his broken body, enduring the excruciating pain of his soul core about to shatter, and stumbled his way here, following the incredibly clear and urgent throbbing of the Soul-Guiding Stone.

The moment he burst through the door, he saw Qingli fall backward, and he saw the lingering, deep-seated fear in her eyes.

It was done without any thought, purely out of instinct.

"Qingli!" A hoarse cry, as if squeezed from the depths of the soul.

Chu Ning's figure burst forth with speed beyond the limit, like a moth drawn to a flame, and he plunged into the hot spring pool.

Completely ignoring the splashing scalding spring water, just as Qingli's head was about to hit the edge of the pool, his bloodied, trembling right hand reached forward recklessly, firmly and steadily—padded between the back of her head and the hard rock.

Boom!
A dull thud.

Qingli's head slammed heavily into Chu Ning's palm, avoiding a fatal injury.

Chu Ning's hand slammed solidly against the cold edge of the pool.

A sharp pain shot through him instantly, his finger bones groaned in agony, and blood instantly seeped from the abrasion on the back of his hand, dripping into the milky white spring water and spreading a faint red hue.

(End of this chapter)