They Can!

"Please save my friend." Bai Lingyun was shocked as she opened her door to find an unconscious Fang Yun on the back of a bowing Lou Meng. She didn't even respond to the talented Cultivator in front of her and pulled them inside as soon as she heard what happened.

In fact, she felt quite guilty inwardly because she believed her Ice Aura might be the cause of Fang Yun's suffering. Although she did somewhat blame Lou Meng for treating the Colourless Blood she gave as Tonic but she couldn't blame his ignorance. If she had properly explained what the Colourless Blood was in the first place without thinking that Lou Meng probably knew, these circumstances would not have even came to be.

"Lay him in the floor." Bai Lingyun's calm words stunned Lou Meng as he turned his head to look at her.

"What? Do you want to put him on my bed instead? This is an emergency so I won't mind if you do, but do you think your friend here is cold resistant?" As soon as she finished her words, she pointed at the bed not far away that looked like it was encased in frost.

"Thank you." Lou Meng realised his mistake and apologised. The ice woman in front of him may not be the kindest, but she was at least someone who wouldn't mistreat them using petty reasons. He didn't understand why a Mortal like her was so strong at first, but now he understood it a little.

Bai Lingyun grabbed Fang Yun's wrist to check his condition and was shocked to find that his vitality was vanishing at a gradual pace. She didn't know what was happening to him but she knew that it probably has something to do with the Colourless Blood inside him.

"The Colourless Blood within him is active and Ki within your friend's meridians are being absorbed into it without his conscious control. If he doesn't stop letting the Colourless Blood absorb his vitality from him, it will absorb his very life-force." Bai Lingyun's voice was somber as she informed Lou Meng of what was happening to him. She couldn't comprehend why the Colourless Blood within Fang Yun was acting up by itself but knew what to do in these current circumstances despite it being her first time encountering such a condition.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lou Meng grabbed the hand that was slap Fang Yun awake with anger. Although he was fine with lowering his head to save his young master, he was unwilling to allow her use this opportunity to harm him in any way.

"Then what do you suppose is a good way to wake him up?" Bai Lingyun retracted her hand and asked with skeptical eyes. The most easiest way to wake Fang Yun up would be through pain. Even if it was embarrassing for him, it's better than dying isn't it?

"Let me try to wake him up." Lou Meng responded without a change in his expression. He then grabbed his shoulder and shook him furiously.

"Wake up!!!" Lou Meng shouted in his ear as he flailed his young master about like a rag-doll. Bai Lingyun was stunned by his actions but what happened next nearly made jaw drop to the floor. After he stopped shaking him about, he casually poured in a glass of cold water into a cup and dumped it all down on top of Fang Yun's face.

The expression he made to her seemed to say: "Only I'm allowed to do this."

This confused Bai Lingyun about their relationship even more. Fang Yun was just a friend? Then why did Lou Meng treat him like a younger sibling? These kind of disrespectful actions aren't something you do to just a 'friend'!

"What? I'm trying to help him. Even if he wakes up, he can't complain about my methods since it's a lot better than slapping him." Lou Meng didn't even seem phased by her stare and spoke while looking at Fang Yun's drenched face helplessly. In his mind, it would be better to get punished for what he did than watch his young master die.

"I won't argue with your logic... But just know that the only thing I can do now is try to forcefully slow down the pace of which he's dying." Bai Lingyun sighed as she decided not to say anything about what he did. She took the glove off her hand and placed it onto Fang Yun's head in order send her Ice Aura to his sea of consciousness.

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Within Alex Stuman's and Fang Yun's sea of consciousness, the Ice Aura that was slowly melting away suddenly became colder and latched on to their Colourless Blood. Alex was annoyed by Bai Lingyun's intervention, but didn't stop his actions in order to retaliate since she was just delaying the results.

As for Fang Yun, he was lost in his nightmares to the point he started to feel that even existing was a form of torment. Usually people would find themselves slowly being erased by the illusions manipulating them, but Fang Yun slowly regained clarity of heart the deeper he was thrust into the abyss.

This was because he was forced to face many things he had tried to ignore about himself. Like the fact that he was no longer the same person he was in the past... and the fact that he could actually emphasise with Alex's pain.

The memories he treated like footage of a movie gradually became a major part of his current personality, the pain he rejected from Alex Stuman's life as a soldier tempered his mentality to the point of rivalling his original. His heart experienced love, solitude, and various other kinds of emotions throughout the process of accepting who he truly was.

Fang Yun could've easily broken out of Alex's illusions using the clarity he felt from properly accepting himself completely, but he refrained from doing so because he knew he wasn't a match for his original self. He could only sigh to himself as the illusions around him became shards of his deepest traumas. In fact, most of shards contained his traumas as his past incarnation as Alex Stuman.

Fang Yun knew that these memories and the emotions contained within them didn't belong to him. Nothing he gained from the man named Alex Stuman was his own. However, he couldn't deny that they were part of him now. He may not be the original Alex Stuman, but he was still a 'fake' that truly understood Alex's heart.

'He's right. I'm just a fake... hah... Well who cares anyway? I guess now that I'm neither Alex nor Fang Yun, I can be who I always was: Myself.' The answer he came up with might sound almost comically simple, but sometimes a problem is only a problem if you think of it as one. He no longer believed that becoming someone who even Chu Rinyu wouldn't recognise was a bad thing, so it no longer pained his heart.

Within the Devilish Aura's sinister illusions, Fang Yun thought up a solution to the problem his original self had with him, yet he still needed to find a way to last long enough to inform the plan he came up with. This made him sink into contemplation about what his current advantages and disadvantages were right now. What did he have right now that his original self doesn't?

It was then that he remembered that he was more familiar with the human body due to his previous naive self embarking on the Medical Dao. An idea arose in his mind as soon he came to this revelation, making him have the confidence to face Alex one-to-one.

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On the outside of Fang Yun's Astral Body, Alex was about focus his efforts into pulling his hand out of the Colourless Blood beside him. It was only after being shocked by the fact that Fang Yun calmly opened his eyes to look at him did he shift back his focus towards the 'target' in front.

"Miss me?" Fang Yun smiled while asking in a carefree demeanour that seemed different from how it was when Alex trapped in his own nightmares.

He didn't give Alex any time to respond as he sent him flying with a single push using merely his palm. Alex was surprised by Fang Yun's burst of strength yet felt no fear towards his opponents new abilities. As a martial artist who had reached the level of a grandmaster at a young age, just an increase in strength wasn't enough for Fang Yun to even begin to rival him.

"I gotta say thanks for breaking me out of that. Let me repay you by giving you a 'good' death." Alex spoke while clenching the fist that had been pulled out of the Colourless Blood by the force of Fang Yun's mere push. The Spirit Seed that was once trapped Alex's hand returned to Fang Yun and integrated into his Astral Body, but he felt that it wouldn't be able to help against Alex.

Although the Lightning Dao was the natural enemy of all kinds of sinister Dao, the Spirit Seed integrated with Alex's Astral Body would just cancel his own if he was to use it to attack. Fang Yun was happy he didn't count on the Spirit Seed's power and instead focused on getting into his own martial stance.

When Alex saw Fang Yun put his hands into a prayer sign, the corner of his lips twitched. He glared at the copycat before him with eyes full of derision.

"You're still trying to copy me? Looks like you just don't learn. I am Alex Stuman, while you on the other hand are a faker! What right do you have to deny me my new life?" Alex's face twisted unnaturally as his fingers joined together to form two spears.

"Firstly, this is undoubtedly my own body so I have no obligation to give it up. Secondly, even if you do get control of my body, there isn't anything for you to do with it. You should already know that I'm just a Mortal, a nobody in the eyes of those who defy the Heavenly Laws." Fang Yun retorted in an over-dramatic tone like an innocent victim.

Alex could no longer recognise the person before him as he couldn't believe there existed a person who could still joke around in these current circumstances. He remembered this demeanour, it was how the previous Fang Yun acted towards others to hide his insecurities, a coping mechanism to protect himself from feeling solitude.

However, the way Fang Yun spoke with his current demeanour was no longer filled with insincerity. Instead it was backed up with a confidence Alex couldn't understand. It was alright for Alex to feel confidence because he was the superior fighter and had greater talent in the Martial Dao, but what did the faker in front of him have that made him so full of self-assurance?

"I don't really care about your current physical condition. Once I take control of this body, I will change it to suit my needs. As for what these 'needs' actually are: You don't need to know-"

"You're thinking of building a martial arts dojo, aren't you?" Fang Yun interrupted Alex's cold words with a question in a teasing tone of voice.

"Senior Apprentice-Brother, you're so much like our master. You don't understand how much I respect your decision." He then slapped the identity of being his fellow disciple onto himself as he continued with admiration. Alex couldn't be bothered arguing with this clown anymore decided to just attack.

A feeling of deja-vu arose in Alex's heart as the paradox of absolute defence versus absolute power appeared before him again. The situation was different from the time he fought his father due to the fact that they both could keep on going forever since they didn't have physical bodies.

Alex wasn't concerned about it though since he was altering the Horn form of the ancient Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style to counter Fang Yun's Halo form. The martial arts Fang Yun was using may be suitable for someone who has merged the essence of Survival into their mind and Health into heart but one must remember that Alex was the one who founded the Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo hybrid style. A person who was just copying his own personal style will never beat him.

When Alex finally clashed with his opponent, reality didn't meet with his expectations. Although the stance Fang Yun used to initiate his form was the same as the Halo form, the style of martial arts he used was completely original. Fang Yun seemed to switch between the Halo form and the Horn form of the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style to create a new form that seemed almost like he was holding a sword and shield. With one hand he'd parry an attack while the other would meet brute force with brute force.

Alex also sensed that the new form Fang Yun was sharpening using him as a grindstone was a sort of 'Extreme Basics' he'd never seen before. The use of energy within Fang Yun's body became more intricate as he seemed to 'dismantle' everything Alex threw at him while also dishing out more. As time passed, Alex saw Fang Yun in a new light due to how powerful the new defensive form of martial arts he made.