I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

Lin Qing'er rushed over and knelt beside him. She pressed her hand against the largest wound on his chest, and her spiritual energy surged into it frantically. But there were too many wounds, and they were too large; her spiritual energy was like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

Chaos Heaven walked over. He neither sped up nor slowed down, but walked at a leisurely pace, each step landing on the void with a dull thud.

"I told you," he stopped in front of the two of them, looking down at Qin Yuan, "you can't beat me with her in tow."

Qin Yuan did not respond. His eyes were closed, his breathing was weak, and the rise and fall of his chest was almost imperceptible.

Chaos Heaven raised his right hand, his outstretched fingers slowly closing. A beam of black light shot out from his palm, enveloping Qin Yuan and Lin Qing'er. The light was not an attack, but a kind of restraint—like an invisible hand, grasping them, then shrinking them, shrinking them until they were the size of a fingernail, before being tucked into his sleeve.

Lin Qing'er felt a sudden dizziness, and then darkness enveloped her. Not the darkness of night, but a dense, heavy, blanket-like blackness. She couldn't see or hear anything, only feel Qin Yuan's body temperature in her arms. His temperature was dropping, slowly, but steadily decreasing.

She dared not let go. One hand pressed against the largest wound on his chest, while the other reached for his wrist, checking his pulse. The pulse was still there, weak, but still there.

She didn't know how much time had passed. In this darkness, time lost its meaning. It could be minutes, it could be hours, it could be a whole day. She simply kept sending spiritual energy into Qin Yuan's body, again and again. Her spiritual energy was also being depleted, but she dared not stop. Because she knew that if she stopped, Qin Yuan might not wake up.

Qin Yuan's finger twitched. Lin Qing'er felt the tremor in his fingertip and stopped channeling her spiritual energy.

"Brother Qin Yuan?" she called softly.

no respond.

She called out again.

"...Hmm." Qin Yuan's voice was very low, as if it came from a very far place.

Lin Qing'er's tears fell onto Qin Yuan's face. Qin Yuan's fingers twitched again, this time lifting up and touching her hand.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"In his sleeve," Lin Qing'er said, "He shrunk us and put us into his sleeve."

Qin Yuan was silent for a while. She could feel him trying to sit up, but he failed.

"I'm badly injured," he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yes," Lin Qing'er said, "My left shoulder is shattered, my right leg is broken, and at least four ribs are broken. My internal organs are also damaged, but I'm not sure how serious it is."

Qin Yuan remained silent for a while.

"Where's the elixir?"

"It's all used up. It was used up after Chaos Fire City."

Qin Yuan remained silent. Lin Qing'er knew he was pondering what to do.

After a while, he said, "Help me sit up."

Lin Qing'er helped him sit up, letting him lean against her. Qin Yuan took several deep breaths, each exhale carrying the metallic taste of blood.

"I still have three powers within me," he said. "Fire, ice, and lightning. Chaos fire crystals, chaos ice crystals, and the heavenly thunder of chaos—they are still in my body, not fully absorbed."

"Can you use them?"

"It won't work. They repel each other; if I move them around, they fight." Qin Yuan paused. "But I'm thinking, what if I don't let them fight?"

Lin Qing'er didn't understand, but she didn't ask. She knew that Qin Yuan didn't need her to interrupt when he was thinking.

Qin Yuan closed his eyes. His consciousness sank into his body, struggling to move through the damaged meridians. Three different powers remained in the three meridians. Flames resided in the meridians of his right arm, ice in his left arm, and lightning in his spine. Each occupied its own territory, refraining from encroaching on the other, but whenever Qin Yuan tried to manipulate one, the other would pounce like a wild beast invading its territory.

He tried to mobilize all three powers at once. Flames, ice, and lightning surged forth simultaneously, colliding in his dantian. A sharp pain exploded from his dantian, and Qin Yuan groaned, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Brother Qin Yuan!" Lin Qing'er's voice was strained.

"It's nothing." Qin Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I'll try another way."

He didn't force the fusion. He let the flames circulate through the meridians of his right arm and return to his dantian. Then he let the ice circulate through the meridians of his left arm and return to his dantian. Next, he let the lightning circulate through the meridians of his spine and return to his dantian. Round and round, and round again. After the flames finished, the ice finished; after the ice finished, the lightning finished; after the lightning finished, the flames started again.

Like a gear with three teeth. When one turns, the other turns, and then the third turns too. It's not merging, but meshing.

The three forces in the dantian no longer clashed. They circulated in sequence, like three horses pulling the same carriage, moving in the same direction and at the same pace.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, but he could feel his body changing. It wasn't an increase in his cultivation level, but a change in his aura. Originally, his aura was golden, warm, like sunlight. Now, there was a layer of hazy grayness, like mist.

He reached for the broken sword. The hilt was still there, but the blade was less than an inch long. He gripped the hilt and channeled three different powers into the blade. A hazy gray light emanated from the hilt, extending along the broken blade and coalescing at the break into a three-foot-long blade of light. It wasn't golden, red, blue, or purple, but a murky, chaotic gray.

He stood up. His left shoulder and right leg still hurt, but he could stand.

He swung his sword, slashing at the black energy barrier.

The hazy sword energy struck the wall, leaving a shallow mark. It wasn't deep, but it did leave a trace. Previous attacks hadn't even left a mark.

Lin Qing'er also saw the mark. "There's a mark."

Qin Yuan swung his sword again. The mark was deeper. The third sword, even deeper. The fourth sword, the energy barrier began to shake. The fifth sword, the shaking intensified. The sixth sword, a crack appeared on the barrier.

The crack wasn't big, only about the length of a finger. But light shone through it—white light, not the gray of chaotic energy, but normal, bright light.

Qin Yuan didn't continue slashing. He put down his sword and turned to "look" in Lin Qing'er's direction. Although he couldn't see her, he knew she was there.

"Let me recover a bit," he said. "Splitting like this has taken a toll on my health."

"No rush," Lin Qing'er said. "He hasn't let us out yet."

Qin Yuan sat down and began to regulate his breathing. The three forces circulated within his body, repairing the damaged meridians. The speed was slower than usual, but faster than doing nothing.

In the black palace, Chaos Heaven sat on a stone chair. A bronze lamp sat on the stone table, its golden flame flickering and casting his shadow on the wall. The shadow was black, but there was more than one shadow on the wall—the flame of the bronze lamp split his shadow into three, each casting a different direction.