Chapter Forty-Four: The Body of Profound Spirit

“The Celestial Spirit Physique?” Long Yun cried out in astonishment! The Celestial Spirit Physique was one of the most renowned spiritual constitutions in the world, so rare that only one might emerge among a hundred thousand people. If any of the cultivation sects were to discover this boy, they would go to any lengths to recruit him.

Among the few great spiritual bodies, the Celestial Spirit Physique was the most attuned to spiritual energies. It was said that such a constitution was the very wellspring of spiritual essence, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

However, this physique most often appeared within the Buddhist orders, particularly among the Zen Sect, which presided over the southeastern region as one of the Eight Great Sects of Central Province. After the sect leader of the Zen Sect passed into final meditation, they would always select a spiritually attuned individual as the reincarnated Living Buddha.

And the most fundamental requirement for every Living Buddha was to possess the Celestial Spirit Physique.

Such a rare constitution was not something just anyone could recognize. Long Yun could perceive it because he himself possessed one of the myriad peerless holy bodies.

Yet as for the precise nature of his own physique, even he did not know, nor could the ancient elders of Divine Dragon Island discern it. Moreover, his constitution had not revealed any particular advantage in cultivation, which was why he had been abandoned by Divine Dragon Island.

All peerless sacred bodies shared a mysterious connection. Thus, the moment Long Yun laid eyes on the boy, he recognized his nature, just as at this moment, the boy’s bright, lively eyes were fixed upon him in turn.

“Xuan’er, what’s wrong with your mother?” Old Chu, anxious and oblivious to Long Yun’s exclamation, quickly asked the boy.

Hearing his father’s voice, Chu Xuan snapped out of his daze and replied, “Mother just coughed up a lot of blood and her breathing is weak. Father, please help her! I don’t want Mother to die!”

At these words, Old Chu rushed to the side of the white-haired woman and checked her breathing, his face immediately darkening.

Long Yun now shifted his gaze to the white-haired woman, and a flash of shock crossed his eyes. A chill emanated naturally from her body.

She was not ill—she had been possessed by evil energy!

Evil energy was a unique form of spiritual power. If wielded by a cultivator, especially a demonic one, it could be a tremendous boon, but in an ordinary person, it became a deadly curse.

This woman had been invaded by evil energy, which had reduced her to her present state. No wonder Old Chu had spent so much money yet failed to cure her.

Thinking of this, Long Yun strode to Old Chu’s side and gently placed his hand on the woman’s pulse, sending a strand of true qi into her meridians.

“How cold and sinister this evil energy is!” Long Yun frowned slightly. For a woman to survive so long under the assault of such evil was already a miracle. Most likely, the spiritual nature of the boy’s Celestial Spirit Physique had temporarily suppressed the evil, allowing her to linger until now. Fortuitously, she had met him today—otherwise, her life would have been forfeit!

“Old Chu, do you trust me?” Long Yun suddenly asked.

Old Chu was confused by the question, but he had heard that cultivators possessed great powers, even able to bring the dead back to life. Hope flickered in his heart at Long Yun’s words, and he nodded hastily, “Young master, you are a good man—I trust you!”

Long Yun nodded slightly, “Your wife is not ill; she has been afflicted by evil energy. As a cultivator, I can expel it, but it will take some effort. Fetch me a basin of cold water first.”

Not daring to delay, Old Chu hurried out at once.

Long Yun glanced at the boy and said gently, “Little brother, I am about your age. You can call me big brother. Are you afraid, seeing your mother like this?”

The boy nodded, his large eyes filled with curiosity as he looked at Long Yun.

“Big brother, seeing you feels very familiar to me, as if I’ve known you forever,” the boy suddenly said.

Long Yun smiled. Both of them possessed peerless sacred bodies; it was not surprising the boy felt this way. “That means we are fated to meet. I will help save your mother, so watch closely and don’t say a word, all right?”

The boy nodded earnestly, “Don’t worry, big brother, I’ll be good!”

Long Yun smiled softly and turned his gaze back to the woman. “Xuan’er, when did your mother’s illness begin?”

At that moment, Old Chu returned with the water and, hearing the question, sighed, “My wife and I have been married for over twenty years, always childless, and we had given up hope. One day, while gathering firewood in the mountains, she found a black pearl. I thought it was a bad omen and wanted her to throw it away, but she was taken with it and brought it home.

That very month, she became pregnant, which made me ecstatic. I thought the pearl had brought us fortune and wanted to offer thanks, but when I went to retrieve it, it had crumbled to dust. Later, my wife gave birth to Xuan’er, but then she fell ill, her health deteriorating day by day. It’s been eight years now.”

Long Yun nodded inwardly. That pearl must have been a relic from a Buddhist artifact, and had likely been lost after a great battle. The other party must have been a demon, and a strand of evil energy remained within the pearl alongside the Buddhist power, the two forces originally in balance.

After Old Chu’s wife brought it home, both energies entered her body at once, curing her infertility, while the Buddhist power fused with the fetus, bestowing the Celestial Spirit Physique upon Xuan’er.

After the boy’s birth, the evil energy lingered in the mother, causing her grievous illness.

Truly, the workings of fate in this world are unfathomable!

Long Yun sighed. Under Old Chu’s anxious gaze, he pressed a hand to the woman’s brow and sent a stream of true qi into her body.

That malicious energy had now invaded her organs. Had it not been wary of the Buddhist power within Xuan’er, it would have already permeated her entire being.

Long Yun’s true qi surged forth, mingled with sword intent. His sword intent, having mutated, possessed a holy aura even more effective against evil energy than Buddhist power.

This was why Long Yun was confident he could drive out the evil.

Not rushing to expel it at once, he slowly infused true qi and sword intent, encircling the evil energy, gradually confining it.

The woman’s face began to flush with color, and Old Chu trembled with excitement—for the first time in years, blood returned to his wife’s cheeks.

Under the pressure of Long Yun’s true qi and sword intent, the evil energy shrank, dodging the discomfort of the holy aura, until it was forced entirely into her lower dantian and encircled.

Finally, the evil energy panicked and grew violent. The white-haired woman’s body trembled fiercely, her skin shifting between red and white, alternating between icy cold and burning hot.

“Still want to wreak havoc? Be shattered!” Sensing the moment had come, Long Yun shouted and sent a surge of prepared true qi crashing down.

The holy aura erupted, utterly shattering the evil energy!

Afterward, beads of sweat dotted Long Yun’s brow. Though it looked easy, it required precise calculation and control—one mistake and the woman would have perished on the spot.

“It’s done!” The white-haired woman’s face bloomed with color, her breath steadied, and, even more wondrously, her once-white hair began to change.

“Benefactor!” Old Chu, weeping, dropped to his knees before Long Yun, bowing repeatedly.

Chu Xuan joined his father, kneeling and knocking his head to the ground before Long Yun.

With a wry smile, Long Yun helped them up. “As cultivators, we are duty-bound to aid the innocent. Saving your wife was a matter of destiny; you needn’t thank me. Think of it as a reward for your righteous path.”

But Old Chu, choked with emotion, replied, “Young master, the kindness you’ve shown the Chu family can never be repaid. From this day forth, you are our honored guest. The Chu family will serve you for generations! Xuan’er, do you hear? Never forget this benefactor—he is the eternal friend of our family!”