Chapter Twenty-Six: The World Overturned, Arrival of the Divine Race?

The tone on the note was resolute. One could almost see Ji Qinghuan curve her lips in a determined, fiery smile.

A scene appeared in Lin Qiye’s mind...

It was a year ago. Ji Qinghuan huddled in the cramped space of a flower vase, holding her breath, silently waiting for the right moment to assassinate Bloodstorm. In that situation, her death was almost certain. Yet, to avenge a good friend, she faced death without fear.

“With her unyielding nature, persuasion is almost useless. I’ll have to break through to the Golden Core stage before she’ll be satisfied...”

“If that’s the case, after the revival of spiritual energy, I’ll go to another world and search for a celestial treasure that can restore vitality.”

Lin Qiye gazed out the window.

In the world inhabited by the Divine Race, there must be herbs capable of restoring life force! As long as he survived the initial phase of spiritual energy recovery, Lin Qiye was confident he could sweep away all obstacles. Then, rare treasures would not be lacking. If one wasn’t enough to help Ji Qinghuan recover, then ten! Twenty!

A determined light gathered in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the opposite direction of Lin Qiye’s distant gaze, Ji Qinghuan had already sunk deep into the magma.

“Brother Ye must have healed me once. Otherwise, I should be dead by now.”

Her wine-red hair floated and danced. Her fair skin shimmered with a white glow amid the molten rock, like a piece of creamy jade, transformed by heaven’s essence and moonlight—every inch of her ethereal, dreamlike, enough to stun the world for millennia.

Rivers of blazing magma curled around her like dragons. The energy within the lava was swiftly refined into pure spiritual energy, then condensed into small spiritual stones. She neither rested nor ate, lying in the magma to restore her spirit when she was tired. When hunger set in, she’d leave the lava and catch a fish in the nearby river to roast and eat. She never wasted a moment.

However, such intense refining of spiritual stones took a heavy toll on her meridians. Two months later, it felt as if her meridians were being torn apart inch by inch. The pain was so great that she bit her lips until they bled. Her shoulders trembled, sweat beading on her elegant collarbones.

“I can’t give up. Brother Ye has no other sources for cultivation resources. I must help him break through to the Golden Core, or he’ll never be able to face that immense crisis! I must persist—”

Her obsession was deep and unwavering, driving her to extract spiritual stones tirelessly.

After three months, thirty-two flame runes appeared at her chest, and she had refined five thousand flawless spiritual stones.

“Five thousand spirit stones—will that be enough for Brother Ye to reach the third layer of Foundation Establishment?”

She coughed up a mouthful of clotted blood, utterly exhausted as she crawled to the volcano’s rim. Though every organ and bone in her body felt torn and aflame, she smiled radiantly, the fire in her eyes dancing with joy.

“When I return, I’ll definitely give Brother Ye a surprise!”

...

The capital.

In front of Lin Qiye’s residence.

Ji Qinghuan descended gracefully.

“Brother Ye, I’ve refined five thousand spirit stones for you—hurry and use them for cultivation!”

Before she finished speaking, her vision went black and she collapsed softly into Lin Qiye’s arms, unconscious.

“Her vitality has been depleted by three years, and her meridians are on the verge of collapse from being scorched. If she didn’t possess a Flame Dao Bone, she’d be dead already...”

Lin Qiye’s expression was deeply moved. He knew all too well how she risked her life for him.

‘Without you, this time I would have no hope of defying fate… Thank you for fighting so hard for me!’

He gently laid Ji Qinghuan on the bed, then used innate true energy to dispel the hidden ailments within her.

Two days later, Ji Qinghuan disappeared again. Clearly, she was risking her life to refine more spiritual stones, determined to help Lin Qiye reach the Golden Core stage.

Thus, for the next several years, every three months, Ji Qinghuan would return with five thousand flawless spiritual stones. Each one was as valuable as a spring of spiritual energy. For three full years, under her relentless support, Lin Qiye’s cultivation soared to the peak of Foundation Establishment. As long as he absorbed the final batch of five thousand spiritual stones, he could step into the Golden Core stage...

“Quick, absorb the spirit stones! This time, you’re sure to become a Core Formation cultivator!” Ji Qinghuan urged.

Looking at her trembling eyelashes, drenched in sweat, her meridians on the verge of collapse for the thirteenth time, Lin Qiye’s actions grew all the more gentle.

“Thank you… you’ve burned away seventy years of your lifespan to help me...”

At this, Ji Qinghuan’s weary eyes filled with a bright, joyful smile.

“No need to thank me. You are the god of our entire Xia Nation.”

“If even a god cannot resolve this crisis, wouldn’t our country be doomed to annihilation? I… as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could I possibly survive such calamity?”

A light danced in her clear eyes, her lips curling into a satisfied smile.

“I just want you to always be a god. Gods must shine with boundless light—I don’t like to see you frown…”

She murmured this almost inaudibly, then drifted into a deep faint.

Lin Qiye exhaled softly, placing his hand over her chest, channeling innate true energy to dispel layer after layer of hidden injuries within her. This time, the damage was greater than ever before. Clearly, she had pushed herself even harder. She must have been terribly anxious.

Lin Qiye drew in a sharp breath, moved to the core. He could not help but tremble inside, utterly in awe of Ji Qinghuan.

“Don’t worry, I will break through to the Golden Core and shield us from all invaders! I am the god of Xia! And your god! A god will not let you down!”

He gathered up the five thousand spiritual stones, refined with her painstaking effort, and entered the cultivation chamber.

“There’s only a month left before the recovery of spiritual energy and the descent of the Divine Race... I must break through! Otherwise, everything will be a mere fantasy—Ji Qinghuan will die, and my journey here will end in bitter loss! From any perspective, I cannot afford to lose!”

With that thought, Lin Qiye closed his eyes and began to rapidly absorb the spirit stones.

Ten days passed in a flash.

...

Lin Qiye had yet to emerge from seclusion. Ji Qinghuan, however, awoke early.

“Brother Ye’s methods are truly amazing; all the fatigue in my body is gone.”

“As expected of my god.”

She walked to the window.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve checked on the state of Xia. I wonder how things are now?”

Knowing Lin Qiye was in seclusion, she did not disturb him, but instead made a tour of the nation.

Nearly four years had passed. Everything in Xia was running smoothly; the number of cultivators had reached 370,000. There were now over ten thousand cultivators at the second level of Qi Refinement, and even with the thin spiritual energy, six prodigies had reached the third level.

“However… faced with that immense crisis, these junior cultivators wouldn’t even be enough as cannon fodder. What kind of disaster could make even Brother Ye so anxious?”

Her curiosity was piqued. She couldn’t imagine it, and could only wait for the answer to be revealed in time.

After completing her inspection, she visited Grandma Lin’s home. The old woman was busy at work.

“Back already, little one? Haven’t seen you in years. You must be terribly busy now?”

“In another month, it’ll be my grandson’s eleventh birthday. I have to prepare.”

At these words, Ji Qinghuan was stunned speechless.

Wha…what? Eleven years old?

“Grandma, are you mistaken? How could Lin Qiye be eleven?”

The old lady chuckled, “No mistake. My grandson was born with divine strength—he was already 1.8 meters tall at six years old. He’s been very busy these last few years, and his birthdays have always been quite neglected. As his grandmother, I wanted to give him a surprise. Would you like to help?”

Ji Qinghuan nodded, her mind blank.

“Four years ago, he was only seven? I like a child?”

At that moment, she felt a heavy sense of guilt, wondering if she had some strange attraction to children. Even when helping out, she found herself flustered and absent-minded, her face sometimes burning with sudden embarrassment.

...

Time slipped by quickly. Ten days passed.

Ji Qinghuan was helping Grandma Lin prepare for Lin Qiye’s grand birthday celebration when, all of a sudden, heaven and earth shook violently, as if struck by a colossal beast!

Immediately after, the sun shifted in the sky, and countless meteors blotted out the heavens, crashing earthward!

Ji Qinghuan stared in stunned disbelief, a powerful sense of crisis and despair rising in her heart.

“Has the great disaster Brother Ye spoke of finally arrived? But he’s still in seclusion!”

“I must stand at the front lines and buy time for him!”

She bit her bright red lip, her aura transforming in an instant into that of a queen of flames.