"Cough"
Xuan got up, coughing mouthful of blood. Dark, black blood poured out of his mouth as he coughed again and sat up.
"Cough"
Stunned, he looked at his hands, which were also soaked in his blood. "This is!"
Confusion was evident on his face. A few moments ago, his hands were charred black from burns, and he couldn't even lift them. But now, not only were his hands healed, he could even move them.
"Cough."
Another mouthful of blood came out from his mouth and then stopped, but Xuan could already feel weakness from so much blood loss.
[Primordial Heart has taken shape]
[Status: Incomplete 1%]
"Lub-dub."
Xuan could feel his heartbeats, although very weak, he could feel it faintly.
He muttered, "Primordial heart?"
But only silence met his question. He knew that the weak heart in his chest wasn't the purple fire heart of his, which was taken by the imperial family, but something new, strange, and primordial. But what this Primordial Heart was, only he could find out on his own.
Suddenly remembering something, he turned his face towards the beast, which was slumped on the ground, lifeless.
Its condition was worse than death, as if it had died years ago. Its skin had become so dry and rough that Xuan couldn't compare it with the human-sized beast he saw earlier.
"This is done by the curse?"
Xuan gulped after seeing the condition of the beast. He couldn't believe that the beast, full of life a few minutes ago, was now dead and lifeless, as if its whole life force was sucked away.
"What is happening with me?" He just couldn't believe how a curse could take away someone's life all of a sudden, but his healed body and faint heartbeat of his weak heart were evidence of what had just happened.
Suddenly, he felt emotional. He never needed this. He just wanted his old life back. His parents, the love of his life, and most importantly, his ordinary life. But he knew this wasn't going to come back.
His own words reverted in his head, "Family, huh? There is nothing like family in this world, just selfish beings."
His emotions began to well up, and the rage hidden deep in his heart swelled as he yelled,
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
Pouring out all of his strength into it, then a soft chuckle left his mouth, "I wanted to live a normal life, but it seems I'm not destined to live such a life."
Xuan got up on his legs. He was naked as the remaining clothes of his were burnt.
He looked back at the forest which was part of Nan Kingdom.
"I'll come back for my revenge," he muttered under his breath and began moving in a certain direction under the light of the moon.
Walking for a few hours, he stopped at a place, looking closely to find something, and then his eyes focused on a certain thing as he moved towards it.
It was a graveyard, and people in this world always leave some clothes on the grave of the dead as part of their custom. Xuan knew this and found one of the recently created graves, with the aroma of incense still burning on it.
"This is fresh, maybe from the afternoon." He moved closer, "Hope it's not some woman."
As he got closer, he sighed in relief as not only did the grave has fresh clothes of a man on it, but it also had some fruits. Seeing them, his stomach growled in hunger as Xuan hurriedly wore the clothes, which somehow fitted him, and then he grabbed the fruits and left the graveyard.
Xuan felt that returning to the Ye Clan would be stupidity, and even being around that place would force him to do something he wanted to avoid until he was capable of saving his own life.
"I'm too weak," a sigh left his mouth as he slowly walked forward.
Even though he was alive, his cultivation was still at the 6th stage of Body Strengthening. Though his weak meridians somehow felt different than usual, he had no way to check it unless he cultivated Qi.
"That way is the Flora Sovereign State!" He kept his gaze on the massive mountain, knowing that it marked the path to his new destination.
The sheer size of the mountain was astounding; it was clearly visible even from the Ye manor. When Xuan was a child, he'd often ask his mother about the colossal peak. She'd tell him that beyond its formidable slopes lay a Sovereign State, one far grander than the Nan Kingdom.
Flora Sovereign State was one of the biggest lands in the world, and it was comprised of two kingdoms called Jade Flora Clan and Divine Flora Clan.
To Xuan's other side lay the Desert Mainland, a place he preferred not to visit. Geographically, it was positioned to the west of the Nan Kingdom.
While further north of both the Desert Mainland and the Nan Kingdom was the Flora Sovereign State which was his initial destination.
This knowledge had been instilled in Xuan by his parents, who loved sharing their travel stories and hoped he would embark on his own journeys one day.
Toady Xuan has indeed began his journey to the outside of the Ye clan or more precisely outside of the Nan Kingdom but this wasn't as his parents expected for him.
"Maybe I can find them…" A glimmer of hope ignited in his heart as Xuan began walking towards the north, not knowing that he is going to turn the world upside down.