13: Chapter 13 Soft-hearted? Impossible.

"Ah!!!"

Yang Bai let out a terrified scream and sat up, gasping for air with a look of horror on his face.

During the 100-plus years Yang Bai spent in the Red Dust Samsara, he had been experiencing the mortal world through Chu Gehang's senses.

The moment Chu Gehang died, Yang Bai felt what death truly was for the first time.

A true death. It terrified Yang Bai so much that it directly severed the connection between his mental sea and divine domain.

"What's with all the shouting? Have you seen a ghost?"

Yang Bai's yelling alerted the Guard Teacher outside the Confinement Room. The latter approached Yang Bai's door with displeasure, knocking as he shouted.

"Get lost!"

Yang Bai lifted his head, his gaze meeting the teacher's.

"You..."

The Guard Teacher's words caught in his throat. He took two steps back, beads of sweat the size of soybeans breaking out on his forehead.

The Guard Teacher was a Second-Order Deity, more than twenty levels higher than Yang Bai. Logically, he shouldn't have been afraid no matter how crazy Yang Bai acted.

However, the pressure emanating from Yang Bai at this moment was so powerful it nearly suffocated him.

After a few seconds, Yang Bai finally calmed down. He withdrew his pressure and said apologetically,

"I'm sorry, Teacher. Something went wrong with my cultivation. I wanted to ask, what time is it now?"

Once the pressure was withdrawn, the Guard Teacher swallowed hard and whispered,

"A day has passed since you entered the Confinement Room. You didn't touch the food I brought earlier either. I thought you were cultivating, so I didn't want to disturb you."

"Are you all right? Do you want me to call the school doctor for you?"

The Guard Teacher wasn't someone who went out of his way to make things difficult for Yang Bai.

Even though Yang Bai was in confinement, he was still a student of No. 4 Middle School. As a teacher, he was still concerned if something went wrong with a student's cultivation.

Yang Bai smiled and said, "No need. Thank you for your concern, Teacher."

The Guard Teacher hesitated for two seconds, his expression turning serious.

"Yang Bai, the Law Enforcement Team escorted you to confinement, and you've been cultivating since then, so I haven't had a chance to ask you."

"Can you tell me now? Why did you do that?"

"You beat your own classmate—the vice class monitor and your own helper in class—into a vegetative state."

By the end, the Guard Teacher's tone had grown heavy.

Yang Bai thought for two seconds, sighed, and said,

"I met Liu Tong during our second year. He was a good rival. We competed for a year; we were enemies but also friends. In the first half of our third year, he served as my deputy and helped a lot."

"So I gave him a chance, but unfortunately, he didn't cherish it. My heart ached for him when I struck, too."

Hearing Yang Bai's answer, the Guard Teacher grew even angrier. "Your heart ached and yet you still did it? He's a cripple now. Do you know how much his parents expected of him? You've destroyed a family."

"Teacher, feeling heartache doesn't mean I can be soft-hearted."

Yang Bai said in a heavy tone.

With those words, the two fell into silence.

After a long while, the Guard Teacher let out a long sigh, opened the Confinement Room door, and tossed a pale purple canister to Yang Bai.

"You just went through a major battle and then forced yourself to cultivate; it might have affected your mental sea. Drink a Recovery Potion and get some rest."

After saying this, the Guard Teacher closed the Confinement Room door again and turned to leave.

He knew Yang Bai. In his eyes, Yang Bai had been a hardworking, ambitious, and good student.

But since that serious incident, his opinion of Yang Bai had changed.

After all, when one obtains a powerful ability that doesn't match their maturity and uses it recklessly, it is already the behavior of a criminal.

Therefore, on that basis, the Guard Teacher felt more strictness and disappointment toward Yang Bai.

"Thanks. I actually need this right now."

While Yang Bai spoke words of thanks, he actually just stuffed the Recovery Potion into his pocket and ignored it.

First, he was only low on divine source matter, not experiencing a problem with his mental sea. This kind of potion was useless to him.

Second, one must always be wary of others. Using something handed over by someone else randomly was not a good habit.

After this brief Q&A, Yang Bai also recovered from the aftereffects of the Red Dust Samsara.

Yang Bai had felt those 145 years of mortal life from Chu Gehang's perspective. To him, it felt like having a grand dream; there was no discomfort upon waking.

But soon, Yang Bai noticed changes in his body.

"This is... the Azure Wood Qi Refining Method?!" Yang Bai exclaimed in surprise.

Because of the Five Elements Heavenly Spiritual Root talent, even if Yang Bai didn't circulate the White Jade Creation Art, his body could autonomously absorb surrounding spiritual energy for recovery and cultivation.

Although the spiritual energy in the real world was so thin it was almost non-existent, the Five Elements Heavenly Spiritual Root's absorption was a hundred times more powerful than using a dehumidifier to extract water in a dry desert.

As Yang Bai organized his thoughts, he discovered that the Daoist cultivation techniques and manuals Chu Gehang had practiced were actually imprinted in his own mind.

Seeing this, Yang Bai subconsciously mobilized the spiritual energy throughout his body, circulating it according to the meridians marked in the Azure Wood Qi Refining Method.

A faint green light shimmered on the surface of Yang Bai's body, and endless vitality erupted from within him.

Fifteen minutes later.

Yang Bai let out a long breath, then lifted his shirt to look. "As expected, after experiencing the Red Dust Samsara, I can now use the techniques Chu Gehang practiced."

On Yang Bai's abdomen was the spot where the Law Enforcement Team member had struck him when he first entered the Confinement Room.

That was a punch from a Third-Order Deity. Although the force had been held back, it had still caused Yang Bai's stomach to cramp and resulted in slight internal bleeding, leaving a dark, bloody fist print on his abdomen.

Now, that fist print had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

The Azure Wood Qi Refining Method focused primarily on making a cultivator brim with vitality and longevity.

Logically, since Chu Gehang practiced the Azure Wood Qi Refining Method, his lifespan should have reached 200 years; it shouldn't have stopped at 145.

Unfortunately, the backlash from failing Foundation Establishment twice and failing to break through had damaged his foundation, shortening his life.

Yang Bai touched his smooth belly, lowered his shirt, and fell into a state of excitement.

After circulating the Azure Wood Qi Refining Method, Chu Gehang's other memories flooded into Yang Bai's mind, including the Immortal Martial Arts he had learned and the Daoist knowledge of the Azure Wood Sect.

In the current era, if a Divine Lord wanted to become stronger, they had to increase their deity level, undergo systematic cultivation, and use special Divine Art Cards to increase their abilities.

All of these required spending energy and resources.

Now, the Red Dust Samsara allowed Yang Bai to directly inherit the abilities and experience of his Vassals. This undoubtedly allowed Yang Bai to avoid many detours and save a massive amount of resources.

Yang Bai lay back on the bed, reconnected to his mental sea, and transmitted his consciousness into his divine domain.