Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 188 Tang Xiaoyu on the Verge of Death
"What?! Your fourth senior sister is dead?!"

When Zhang Chengdao heard an outer disciple report to him like this, his mind went blank and he almost exploded!

His precious gold card, which he had just acquired and hadn't even had time to warm up before, and whose master was about to become the head of the formation, had actually kicked the bucket!?
Don't be so abstract!

Gold cards are so hard to get!

Zhang Chengdao rushed into the disciples' courtyard at almost the fastest speed he had ever used since he began cultivating immortality after transmigrating.

Along the way, he was filled with deep self-blame, regretting that he hadn't spent more time paying attention to these personal disciples, so much so that he had no clue why Tang Xiaoyu had ended up in this situation.

The disciples' quarters are four people per courtyard. Tang Xiaoyu and Murong Ruyan live in the same courtyard, which is considered the courtyard where direct disciples live. Their conditions are the same as other disciples. However, as number 0201, they are directly opposite number 0101 where Chang Ping'an, Ye Shuyun, and Huang Wu live. They are all at the very top of the disciples' quarters, making it convenient for junior brothers and sisters to find them in case of emergency.

Many disciples were gathered outside Tang Xiaoyu's house, their faces filled with sorrow, and some even had red eyes and were sobbing softly.

Outside the courtyard, everyone lowered their voices, as if afraid of disturbing the "Fourth Senior Sister" who had been declared dead.

Zhang Chengdao frowned, bringing up Tang Xiaoyu's character panel in the character list as he landed on the ground.

Of course, my heart settled back into my stomach.

Because on Tang Xiaoyu's character panel, the word after the status column is "near death," not actually dead.

"Near death" means not yet dead, which means there is still hope.

Zhang Chengdao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as I'm not dead, with all those rare and precious treasures I have, I can always bring back this valuable gold card!
Once inside the house and seeing Tang Xiaoyu's appearance, Zhang Chengdao's heart tightened again.

Because Tang Xiaoyu looked ridiculously old!

Her face was gaunt, and her hair had completely fallen out and was scattered on the pillow.

His skin clung to his slender bones like dried meat, and he looked like an old corpse that had been dead for decades, exuding a gloomy and lifeless aura.

This completely stunned Zhang Chengdao.

Zhang Chengdao had nothing to fear, whether it was injury, poisoning, or any acquired illness. With Ge Gen Tang and Die Da San, as well as their advanced versions, available through the system, he had them.

But in Tang Xiaoyu's case, it seems more like her time is up.

In other words, she's about to die of old age!
Neither Ge Gen Tang nor Die Da San can help prevent old age and death!

Just as he was worrying, Xu Ying, who had entered the room almost immediately after Zhang Chengdao, spotted the things on the table and quickly picked them up, reminding him, "Sect Leader! There's a note left by Tang Xiaoyu and a Qiankun bag here!"

Zhang Chengdao took the note, glanced at it, and then opened the [Qiankun Bag].

Inside was a letter and a red bead that emitted a very unsettling aura.

He calmly put the bead back into his [Qiankun Bag] before reading the letter. "The Gravekeeper..."

Zhang Chengdao murmured something, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

When Zhang Chengdao saw the Blood Demon and Blood Demon Orb mentioned in the letter, his first thought was that this world had already had a transmigrator.

But then he thought it was unlikely—what transmigrator would do nothing but kill people and absorb their inner energy to cultivate immortality? Even a prison resident sentenced to life imprisonment wouldn't do something so contrary to modern social values, right?

Then, he remembered the Mirror Master from some time ago.

Although that thing's methods seemed wicked, it was clearly within the cultivation power system. Plus, it had mentioned being imprisoned and that both it and the thing were pitiful creatures...

With such obvious hints and information-rich words, even the poorest neighbor would sue for plagiarism, right?

In short, we can make some bold guesses, such as what kind of small world this is, or what the real "cultivation world" is outside of it.

For example, this place could simply be a "prison" in the "cultivation world"?
However, in any case, with his current Golden Core stage cultivation, it's too early for him to think about such things.

Anyway, with the cheat system at his fingertips, even if he's trapped, slowly reviving the spiritual energy in this world and leading the natives to cultivate immortality is not a bad path.

Naturally, the most urgent task is to find a way to save the gold card that I went through so much trouble to draw – the grand plan for the teleportation array depends on this gold card!
After rummaging through his backpack for a while, Zhang Chengdao took a deep breath and nodded to Xu Ying: "There's still hope."

Before the surrounding crowd could show any joy, he took out a piece of clothing he had hastily crafted—the most precious item in the entire cheat system: the [Heavenly Silkworm Robe]—because it provided the highest values ​​for increasing "life experience" and "internal disease reduction".

Then, he found two female disciples who were standing outside the house and asked them to help Tang Xiaoyu put on the [Heavenly Silkworm Robe].

A piece of clothing certainly couldn't save Tang Xiaoyu, but it could greatly alleviate her rapidly aging body.

It's like a deflated balloon. The deflated air can't be replenished immediately, but at least the hole can be sealed up, and at worst, the status quo can be maintained.

With Tang Xiaoyu's current Qi Refining stage cultivation level, under normal circumstances, she would not live to be three hundred years old and would die of old age. In other words, she would die from organ aging and failure, like she is now.

There are actually quite a few rare and precious materials that can increase lifespan, but none of them exist in this world where spiritual energy has just been revived, nor are they among the items in the original game.

However, things rich in spiritual energy can have a certain effect on body repair. Just like the food and medicine created by the system's cheat code, the higher the grade of spiritual materials, the higher the grade and the more effective the synthesized food or medicine.

So, Zhang Chengdao first stuffed a few Immortal Dew Grasses into Tang Xiaoyu's mouth, then used his spiritual power to infuse his voice and soothe her in a low voice: "Although the spiritual energy here is thin and rare treasures are scarce, I still have a way to save you. For now, you just need to keep eating what I feed you."

Whether it was the [Heavenly Silkworm Robe] working or not, Tang Xiaoyu could hear her master's voice sometimes near and sometimes far, and her body felt as if it were filled with lead, so heavy that she could hardly breathe, but she still felt the courage to live on.

Master said he has a solution!
Tang Xiaoyu chewed the fairy dew grass in her mouth with all her might, almost swallowing the grass whole.

A refreshing stream of spiritual energy slid down my esophagus and into my stomach, surging through my meridians. It was a little painful, but also a little comfortable—at least my body didn't feel so heavy anymore.

She strained to open her cloudy eyes. Although she still couldn't see clearly, she could already feel a faint light, like the hope her master had brought her.

(End of this chapter)