Chapter 149 The Black Heart Awakens...



Duncan opened his eyes after a great struggle.

He felt great pain all over his body causing him to gasp audibly. He could feel clearly that the bones in his arms were broken. The blinding pain from his body let him know that he was injured severely.

The sticky feeling on his chest and abdominal region let him know that he was bleeding profusely. As he tried to move, he felt his muscles scream in pain. Especially, his chest region felt as if it was on fire.

Duncan struggled to look down but eventually did so. 

What was presented to him was not a nice sight at all. There was a large cut running from his left shoulder to his right hip diagonally. The moment he saw it, he knew that he was injured very badly.

Duncan deduced that it had occurred due to his sword slamming back into his body from the impact. His injuries didn't just stop there. After smashing through several trees, Duncan's back was in severe pain too.

Duncan suspected that his back must at least be severely bruised from the impact and the landing. Not to mention his other injuries. Duncan was sure that there were some internal injuries in his body as well. 

Given the severity of the cut, Duncan wondered how he was still conscious for a second. He must be near death given the state of his injuries. But, somehow he was conscious at the moment. This puzzled him a bit.

At that moment, the strange experience he underwent in his consciousness flashed across his mind. The moment where the obscure sound echoed in his consciousness, Duncan felt himself stiffen. 

Life Amidst Death…

He could only deduce those three words from the sound. But, Duncan felt as if the sound contained more words. No matter how he tried, he could never hear clearly what the other words were. They were kind of obscured to his hearing.

The moment he recalled those three words, Duncan felt a strange energy flow from his heart. The energy passed through his body entirely and wherever it went, he could feel his body mending back.

Duncan's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He couldn't believe that his broken body was currently being mended without any medicine or spirit herb. It was something inconceivable for him.

Duncan felt his broken bones click and snap back into place. He felt his arms become stronger and lost feeling from them returning. The pain in his back submerged. And he could feel injuries heal rapidly.

Looking down, he saw the cut on his chest heal rapidly at a rate that was visible to the eye. But, it just didn't stop there. When the cut was healed, he could feel his insides being immersed in that strange energy. 

Duncan rolled over and opened his mouth.

The next moment he vomited blood and chunks of injured organs. Stars danced in his eyes for a bit and Duncan felt the energy rush to his head. By the time, the energy was done with its work, Duncan felt as if his entire world had become much sharper.

Taking in a deep breath, Duncan savored this new feeling. He was sure that he was somehow stronger than before. Something about the energy remade his entire body in a strange manner.

Just then, he noticed that his hand was still clutching the sword.

Seeing it, he couldn't help but chuckle. Somehow, even when he gets injured, he never loses the sword in his hand. It was the same when he was a mortal and it was the same when he was a cultivator. This made him happy in a strange way.

Duncan didn't know what happened to him. He knew he was injured fatally by that bastard who was chasing after that woman. And it wasn't even a fight. He was smacked aside like a bug. There was no denying it.

But, something within him had healed him. 

Duncan didn't know what it was, but he was grateful for it. His mind was currently in chaos. He didn't know how he got healed. He didn't know what the strange power inside him was. 

It was all very confusing.

At that moment, he heard a boom in the distance.

Looking over, Duncan could vaguely see someone attacking a cave in the distance. The next moment clarity flooded in and Duncan realized that it was the cave that he had been residing in lately. 

That meant that the issue that almost made him die was not resolved yet. Duncan didn't know how long it has been since he had been blasted away by that bastard who was attacking the cave. But, he didn't expect things to be not yet over.

Duncan frowned seeing that the man was attacking the cave wantonly. There was a frenzied appearance to the man. He was attacking the cave continuously as if he was possessed.

Seeing that man, Duncan felt very uncomfortable. 

Looking at him, Duncan couldn't help but be annoyed. The bastard didn't have any reason to attack him so fatally. If not for the mysterious energy that came from within his body, Duncan would have died due to that attack.

If that bastard had just stopped for a moment and listened to his words, Duncan would have made it clear that he had no intention of getting into this mess. But, the man hadn't even given him any chance to explain himself.

He had swatted Duncan away as if he was a fly. That kind of disregard made Duncan incredibly angry. Ever since he stepped foot on the path of cultivation, he had never suffered such a thing.

Even as a mortal, such things have never happened to him. Sure there were people who treated him badly or even humiliated him. But, no one has ever treated his life like it was nothing. No one had ever attacked him with the intent to kill just for convenience.

It made Duncan's blood boil. Anger rose within Duncan's blood as he saw the man attacking the cave from the distance. Something within him didn't like the sight of the man still breathing.

But, Duncan didn't lose his sense of self immediately.

The rage in him became cold and Duncan reined it in as he knew that there was nothing he could do. After all, he was not as powerful as the man who almost killed him. No matter what he wanted to do, he must swallow it for now and pay it back when he was stronger.

He didn't even know the level of his opponent's cultivation. He had barely escaped death due to some miracle. Since that was the case, how can he do anything about it? In the end, it all amounted to his strength being weak.

Duncan didn't like the feeling one bit. He felt suffocated. Normally, when someone escaped a fatal accident, they wouldn't think of revenge first. They would always think of escaping far away first.

But, Duncan's mind was not working normally at this moment. There was a kind of intent to kill that was brewing deep in his heart. The last bit of rationality in him was the only thing that was keeping him from going there and attacking the man.

Duncan grit his teeth and decided to walk away at this moment. Even though he wanted to kill the man, Duncan knew he wasn't a match for him at the moment. But, he had already decided that he would kill this man regardless of the cost when he becomes stronger later.

With great effort, Duncan turned around and started walking away.

*****

"Ha ha ha… bitch, are you afraid now?" the man cackled in a mad manner. "You are running out of qi aren't you?"

"You are crazy!" the woman exclaimed in anger and disbelief. "You not only wasted all your qi, but you also made me waste my qi!"

"Ha ha ha… guess what bitch," the man smiled sinisterly. "I don't care. When both our qi runs out, you won't be able to operate this defensive formation or suppress the poison in you. At that time, all I need to do is wait for you to run into my arms."

"Don't be so smug," the woman sneered. "I can operate this formation with spirit stones."

"He he he… if you can use spirit stones, you would have already used it. I guess, you don't have any spirit stones, right?" the man sneered.

The expression on the woman's face flickered a bit. In the end, she sighed and produced a couple of spirit stones in her hands. These were the last spirit stones she had in her possession.

Since she was coming into the Grotto Heaven, she didn't think there would be any need for spirit stones. After all, Grotto Heavens were known to possess abundant spirit qi. So, she didn't prepare many spirit stones for this trip. And this became her Achilles heel.

The moment the woman fed the spirit stones to the formation, the formation began to brighten and became powerful once more. This caused the man to be slightly astonished. But, his expression recovered quickly.

"He he he… I will see how long these spirit stones last," the man sneered and stopped attacking.

Both the man and the woman were clear on what is happening. The man was waiting for the energy of the spirit stone to run out before he started attacking. This put the woman in a very delicate situation.

If she stopped using the spirit stones and didn't feed her own qi, the formation would collapse and the man would enter the cave. But, if she continued, it is only a matter of when things fell apart. Time was surely on the man's side. So, he was perfectly content to wait for a while.

"What do I do? If I don't do something quick, time will run out and I will fall into the hands of this bastard. Should I wait and hope for someone to pass by? Or should I fight to the bitter end?" the woman mumbled to herself with a bitter face.

"Regardless, let me deal with this poison first. The spirit stones would last for a while. Before they run out, I must eliminate this poison. Only then, I will have a chance," the woman gritted her teeth and started meditating.

Time passed, both the man and woman were in a stalemate. Inside the cave, the woman was desperately trying to eliminate the poison in her body. Outside the cave, the man was recovering the qi he spent. 

No matter how one looked, it was clear that the man was in the dominant position at the moment. Even before all this, the woman was not a match for the man. Let alone when he freshly recovered and she spent time and qi eliminating the poison in her body.

Things indeed looked bleak for the woman.

*****

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