Xiao Han crouched by the river, staring at the unconscious white-clad woman before him, his mind racing.
‘She’s still breathing.’
That was the first thing he confirmed.
Her breathing was very weak, the rise and fall of her chest barely visible, but when he leaned in close, he could feel the warmth of her breath, puff after puff against the back of his hand.
‘Second thing, she’s poisoned.’
Her lips were purple, her fingernails blue.
On the exposed skin, he could faintly see thin, hair-like black lines spreading like a spiderweb from her limbs toward her torso.
‘Third thing…’
The direction she drifted from was exactly where he had set up a barrier using a tree trunk.
If it weren’t for that tree—which he had snapped in half with a single elbow strike—blocking the river bend and pressing her body down, she would have been swept into the downstream rocky shoal.
The water there was less than a foot deep, the bottom covered in sharp stones.
In her unconscious, drifting state, one knock to the head would have been the end.
‘So her unconsciousness… shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right?’
Xiao Han stared at the white-clad woman pinned by the large tree trunk at the river bend, seriously mulling over the question.
She was poisoned first, chased by a snake first, and drifted here later.
He was just practicing his martial arts by the river, and happened to use the tree trunk to stop her.
So… ‘I’m probably in the clear. She’s just lucky.’
‘Look at it another way—if I hadn’t broken that trunk to stop her, who knows where she would have drifted by now. I’m actually the one doing a good deed here.’
Xiao Han nodded, satisfied with his logical reasoning.
Then he crouched down and began to observe Luo Qingci’s condition seriously.
Her skin was cool to the touch, but not the icy cold of hypothermia—it was a chill emanating from within, accompanied by fluctuations of spiritual power.
There was a faint spiritual energy reaction around her dantian, like a lamp about to go out, its flame flickering precariously in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment.
Xiao Han placed his fingers on her wrist, attempting to probe a thread of spiritual power into her meridians to check her condition.
The moment his spiritual power touched her skin—
[Ding — Special Event Detected]
A semi-transparent panel materialized out of thin air in front of him, visible only to him.
Target: Luo Qingci (Ice Soul Fairy · Not Awakened)
Current Status: Dying
Poison Type: Jade Scale Python Venom
Note: The target should have awakened the first stage of the Taiyin Xuancha Constitution during this event.
Due to external interference (trunk impact), the awakening process has been interrupted, and the opportunity has deviated from its original trajectory.
[Emergency Quest Issued: Reverse the Deadly Calamity]
Quest Objective: Heal your fiancée, Luo Qingci, to remove her from the dying state, and assist her in regaining the opportunity to awaken the Taiyin Xuancha Constitution.
Time Limit: Half an hour
Quest Reward: Skill “Swift as Fire” — Wraps the body in flame spiritual power and significantly enhances movement ability.
Under the “Swift as Fire” state, some movements can inflict “strike” and “burn” effects.
Can be used in conjunction with Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow.
Failure Penalty: Deduct 2,000 points.
Randomly remove one existing skill.
[Task Suggestion: The Taiyin Xuancha Constitution needs to be unlocked in a dying state. It is recommended that the host use [Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow] to elbow the target after detoxification. Or smash her head against the ground.]
Xiao Han stared at that final “Task Suggestion” for a full three breaths.
‘So… if she had drifted downstream and hit her head on those rocks in the river, it would have helped her awaken her constitution. And now I’ve stopped her?’
‘Furthermore…’
‘Elbow her?’
‘With Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow?’
‘That elbow strike with true damage?’
‘On a dying, poisoned girl who looks like she could croak at any moment?’
‘System, are you serious?’
The system didn’t answer.
The system never answered questions like that.
Xiao Han took a deep breath.
‘Fine, fine. I’ll elbow her, okay? It’s still better than picking her up and doing a piledriver.’
He pulled his focus away from that absurd suggestion and re-examined the unconscious white-clad woman before him.
Luo Qingci…
That name was all too familiar.
Before he transmigrated, in the game called “Nine Heavens Immortal Path,” he had crossed paths with that name countless times.
Mid-game boss, Ice Soul Fairy, the final obstacle in the “Icy Ruins” dungeon—the nightmare of all mid-game players.
Luo Qingci.
Delicate features, flowing white dress, an expression as cold as ice.
Her ice-based spells were flawless, her damage output ridiculously high, and she had two lives—after the first life was depleted, she entered a berserk state, attack power doubled, defense zeroed out, a stupidly designed boss where one mistake meant instant death.
Back when he was first clearing that dungeon, he spent an entire night wrestling with her.
He died over a dozen times before finally beating her with a cheese strategy.
He’d accidentally discovered that the boss had no rear hit detection and no anti-air capability.
So he used an Invisibility Talisman, circled behind her, wedged himself into a corner, and chipped away at her for a full half-hour until she died.
Later, he saw more cheese strategies on the forums: someone stood on a wall and trimmed her hair for forty minutes; someone wedged her into a terrain gap and whittled her down with Hidden Weapons…
As a mid-game boss, she was strong, but not very well-rounded.
No rear hit detection, no anti-air, which gave rise to countless ways to abuse her.
Later, he saw… other things on the forums.
“Ice Soul Fairy High-Res Illustration Pack,” “Luo Qingci Doujin MMD,” “Icy Ruins Boss Fight Highlights (with BGM),” “[AI Restoration] All Luo Qingci Scenes Cut”…
Even though her background story said she was originally male…
‘Who cares about that? She changed when she was just a sprout, and after over a decade, she’s probably no different from a normal girl.’
He’d also watched quite a few of those AI-made little videos of Luo Qingci.
To sum it up in one sentence: very fap-worthy.
But now, the woman before him—pale from being soaked in the river, purple lips, blue nails, her face smeared with mud, sand, and waterweed…
Was she even the same species as the Luo Qingci in his memories?
Xiao Han made a serious comparison.
In the illustrations, Luo Qingci had skin like snow, features like a painting, a white dress like clouds, an ethereal aura, like a fairy from the Ninth Heaven who didn’t eat mortal food.
The Luo Qingci before him had a face swollen by a full circle, lips so purple they were almost black, three strands of waterweed and a dead leaf tangled in her hair, and her collar had been washed down to her shoulder by the river, exposing her collarbone and one shoulder.
Xiao Han silently pulled her collar back up.
“Sorry for the offense,” he muttered under his breath, then reached out to check the pulse at her neck.
‘First, detoxify.’
Xiao Han flicked through the system store.
All-purpose Detox Pill: 120 points.
Current point balance: 135.
After buying the detox pill, he’d have 15 points left.
Xiao Han hesitated for a fraction of a moment, then pressed the purchase button.
A small, emerald-green pill appeared in his palm, emitting a clear, bitter medicinal scent.
He shoved the detox pill into Luo Qingci’s mouth, but she didn’t have the strength to swallow.
The pill stayed between her lips and teeth, refusing to go down.
Xiao Han hesitated, then took a water pouch from his Storage Pouch, uncorked it, and carefully trickled a bit of water into her mouth.
Still not swallowing.
He thought for a moment, then gently pressed on both sides of her throat.
The pill finally slid down.
Luo Qingci’s throat moved, and she let out a faint, barely audible moan.
Then her brow furrowed.
Xiao Han breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Frowning is good. Frowning means she’s not dead.’
The detox pill was taking effect.
Next up—
His gaze drifted to the task suggestion on the system panel.
[It is recommended that the host use [Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow] to elbow the target after detoxification.]
Xiao Han stared at that suggestion, at Luo Qingci’s furrowed brow, at the slowly fading blue-purple of her fingernails, at the “half an hour” countdown on the system.
The Taiyin Xuancha Constitution needed to be unlocked in a dying state.
He had to knock her back into a dying state.
With an elbow strike.
Xiao Han was silent for a long time.
Then he stood up, picked Luo Qingci up off the ground, found a flat spot covered in fallen leaves, and sat her down there.
He crouched beside her, right arm bent at the elbow.
Closed his eyes.
Opened them again.
“System,” he said in a voice only he could hear.
“Are you messing with me?”
The system didn’t answer.
Xiao Han took a deep breath.
Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow.
He closed his eyes, calculating the force in his mind—not too heavy, or he’d really kill her; not too light, or it wouldn’t trigger the dying state.
Meteorite Breaking Sky Elbow had true damage.
With his current cultivation at the Peak of Qi Refinement, fifteen percent true damage applied to a poison-recovering, physically special cultivator also at the Peak of Qi Refinement…
‘Should be just right.’
He ran the logic through his mind three times, confirming he wasn’t just making excuses.
Then he opened his eyes and looked at Luo Qingci’s face.
Her brow was no longer furrowed.
Most of the black aura on her face had faded.
Her lips had turned from purple to a bluish-white.
Her breathing was steadier than before.
The detox pill was working better than he’d expected—maybe she’d wake up before the half-hour was up.
If she woke up, the opportunity would be lost forever.
Xiao Han gritted his teeth.
He bent his right arm, aimed at a spot three inches above her dantian.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Then he struck.
“Man!”
Luo Qingci’s body arched violently, like a shrimp stepped on by a foot.
She flew backward, then slammed heavily back onto the ground.
Her face went deathly pale in an instant.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Xiao Han pulled his elbow back, watching her face nervously, already ready to pull pills from his Storage Pouch to save her.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
A trickle of dark red blood seeped from the corner of Luo Qingci’s mouth.
Then, her body began to glow.
Not the faint glow of spiritual power circulation, but an icy blue radiance bursting from deep within her body, carrying an intensely cold aura.
The light first ignited from her dantian, then rapidly spread throughout her limbs and bones, like a frozen tree taking root and sprouting in an instant, enveloping her entire body in a halo of ice-blue.
The air temperature plummeted.
Luo Qingci’s body trembled slightly within the glow, as if something inside her was awakening.
The black aura on her face vanished completely.
Her bluish-purple lips regained color.
The black lines on her fingernails faded like they were washed away by water.
Her aura was growing stronger.
From the barely-there state of near death, to the steady pulse of early Qi Refining, to the fullness of mid Qi Refining, to the depth of late Qi Refining—
Then, a breakthrough.
She didn’t reach Foundation Establishment, but she was no longer an ordinary Peak of Qi Refinement.
If measured by layers, maybe it could be called…
Qi Refinement Layer 11?
Xiao Han felt that breakthrough aura—not his, but hers.
A soft but clear crack came from Luo Qingci’s dantian, like the sound of ice splitting.
‘It actually worked?’
The system panel popped up with a new notification:
[Taiyin Xuancha Constitution First Stage Awakening Complete.]
[Quest Rewards Have Been Distributed.]
Xiao Han dismissed the panel.
The ice-blue glow on Luo Qingci’s body slowly dissipated, and the surrounding temperature gradually returned to normal.
Her breathing was steady.
Her face was still pale, but no longer the pallor of a corpse.
She was still unconscious, but no longer in a dying state.
Xiao Han sat down beside her, leaned against the big tree he had broken with his elbow, and looked up at the sky.
The sun was already sinking toward the west, the horizon faintly tinged with orange-red.
He had spent nearly all his points to save his own fiancée, then elbowed her.
‘If she wakes up and finds she’s broken through beyond the Peak of Qi Refinement, will she think heaven helped her?’
‘Probably. After all, Qi Refinement Layer 11 basically means invincibility within the same cultivation level. She might even be able to tangle with an Early Foundation Establishment cultivator.’
‘And who would ever suspect that some stranger by the river gave her an elbow?’
Xiao Han pulled a piece of dry rations from his Storage Pouch, took a bite, and chewed slowly.
His gaze fell on Luo Qingci’s face.
After the constitution awakened, the swelling had also gone down.
Mud and sand were still smeared on her face.
Her hair was a mess like a bird’s nest.
Her collar had come askew again, revealing a section of her collarbone.
But he thought she looked beautiful like this…
However… because of that elbow of his, there was now a very obvious bruise on her belly.
‘True damage is just ruthless. The constitution awakening healed all other injuries, but the spot where I elbowed her didn’t heal at all.’