65 Exploring the Boundaries between Life and Death

---Blue Wind Imperial City---

A hooded woman wearing a dark gray robe walked inside one of many inns. At first look, she was a very unnoticeable individual with an inconspicuous aura but when she first arrived at this inn a few drunkards quickly managed to catch a glimpse of her face and they immediately tried to have her accompany them without any fear as there was no noticeable strong aura around her, however how much they were wrong... Only one glance from her cold clear blue eyes caused them to shiver and sober up, quickly retreating without saying anything else other than apologies.

She quickly rented one of the rooms and without saying anything else, she immediately went inside her room.

*SIGH* She released a loud tired sigh but most likely from having to deal with such people instead of physical exhaustion.

She dropped down onto the bed before taking her hood off, revealing the face of a beautiful young woman around 20 years old with glossy long green hair tied in a high ponytail, hiding the rest of her hair under her robe. She took out a yellow jade stone and looked at it with a complicated expression containing worry and hesitation along with a hint of fear. If anyone saw her with such expression, no one would believe their own eyes

"Was this truly enough? ...No...time doesn't matter. What matters is whether I am satisfied with myself now at the moment or not." She muttered while looking at the yellow jade stone before transferring her sight towards the window with a distant look in her eyes.

She gripped the jade more tightly and imbued her profound energy into it, the jade released a yellow light but when she opened her mouth, the words got stuck in her throat.

After a while of silence...

"Yufeng?" She finally heard the voice from it which woke her up, she clenched her teeth, self-ridiculing herself for her hesitation despite swearing to herself that she would no longer be indecisive.

"Yes...Where are you? Is it possible for us to meet?" She replied with a completely calm tone.

"Hmm...That might prove to be impossible at the moment but if you can make it to the location near the Wasteland of Death...There is a waterfall and quite a big lake with a small cave nearby if you will travel east from the Wasteland of Death... I am willing to meet you there in 1 month, how does that sound?" The voice from yellow jade explained the location in more detail.

"I see...I will be there at that time. I wish you luck in whatever you are doing right now. Farewell...Meng" She replied with a faint yet happy smile appearing on her face.

"See you later...And in case I won't be there even after 3 days after the agreed time, you might as well leave..."

"Wait, wait, if you will turn out to be busy with something later, you can just inform me through the sound transmitting jade." She quickly said before the second side could cut off the connection.

"I doubt I will be able to activate it at that moment or even after...See you there, Yufeng!"

"?! Wait, what did you mean-!" She tried to ask in a panicked tone but the yellow shine released by the jade changed a bit which was enough for her to know that the other side is no longer listening to her.

*sigh* She once again sighed, not sure of what she should think of this.

'I guess I have 1 more month...I am lucky that my father gave me a few cultivation resources...I am really an unfilial daughter...At first, I have run away to marry someone against my father wishes, making him enraged for a long time and once he calmed down and I arrived back, I caused that mood to completely deteriorate once again, making him shout at me day and night when I requested his help with "that", despite that, he did as I wished despite knowing that our reputation would be tarnished...' She thought with a slightly sad expression before looking towards the window once again.

'However, once he saw my diligence and determination, he completely forgot about that matter and couldn't care any less for any reputation, however, I once again ruined that mood when I said that I want to leave...He once again flew into rage going as far as to lock me up but in the end, he let me go after a few days.' She thought about how her father was experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions just because of her.

Despite knowing what she is doing to her father, she had to meet up with him and at least thank him for completely changing her life just by a few actions of his. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to even say that a few of his words completely changed her life.

---Snow Region of Extreme Ice---

Meng tightly gripped the yellow jade in his hand while looking at it with a complicated expression. He suddenly felt a bit uneasy after hearing Yufeng's voice. He couldn't pinpoint the reason but his instinct simply told him that he caused something...not necessarily bad but it would depend on how a person looks at it.

'Why the hell am I feeling uneasy from hearing her voice when I am about to go for the journey of who knows how many days without any profound energy to help me resist the cold. Only my physiques will be helping me but I won't be activating them at all so their effectiveness will last for a week at most. I can actually die if a single thing goes too wrong!' Meng shook his head and stored the jade inside his inventory before stepping outside of the barrier, immediately feeling the chilling cold wind blowing against his skin.

'Shit...it feels this cold without the layer of my profound energy around my body. If this won't kill me, I might as well transcended and become a god after this.' Meng joked while covering his eyes from the snowstorm.

'You have guts to even crack jokes...? You have one of the stupidest ideas, Meng." Su Zhu replied to him with a dead-serious tone.

'Does that mean you approve of its effectivity?' Meng replied with a smile before he started walking towards the south.

'Effective with more than half chance of you dying while at it. Did it ever occur to you that you might even get lost inside those snowstorms?' Su Zhu asked with a worried tone.

Hearing her words, Meng's smile only grew wider as of that madman.

'Do you know what I have discovered about life in my short life here?' Meng asked.

'...What?'

'The fact that the heavens decide who is going to be born talented and who not. Nothing and no one can change that fact, the only thing that might influence the heavens are genes but sometimes even genes are completely ignored by the heavens, letting 2 heaven-defying geniuses have a talentless child. But there is something that the heavens can't grant upon the birth and that is Dao Heart. Perseverance to improve. Willpower to face and overcome any challenge. All of this must be gained through your own effort.' Meng explained while moving through the knee-deep snow.

'...Then let's hope for the best' Su Zhu understood that at this point, no matter what she would say, nothing would be able to stop Meng. Even if she were to suddenly offer him to directly step into Sovereign Profound Realm. However, she couldn't help but wonder why would Meng want to become so strong as to risk his life in a challenge that he never had to face and most likely would never have to in the future, yet he decided to do something that truly only a weak Profound Practitioners should do.

She knew Meng's thought process and she knew that he has a kind heart and clear maybe even a naive mind. The only reason that she could think of was when she noticed how much fun Meng had during the exploration of the Heaven Basin Secret Realm.

.

.

7 days later, absolutely nothing changed for Meng who kept walking in the knee-deep snow. Only scenery sometimes changed when the snowstorms stopped for a while, revealing clear blue skies for a little while but no matter where he looked everywhere on the horizon he only saw pure white snow. He didn't even sleep, eat, or drink during those 7 days. He just kept walking with his already numb fingers, ears, and toes.

His crimson eyes were still full of life despite his expression being in slight pain since as of now, his Physiques started being less effective, letting him experience chilling coldness comparable to a feeling of cold steel piercing his skin all over his face.

14 days of walking in snowstorms, a layer of ice was beginning to form on his profound veins making him experience extreme pain but every time it tried to completely freeze his profound veins, his weak Yang energy inside them always got rid of the layer of ice but it didn't get rid of the coldness surrounding them. He could still move his hands but he could no longer feel them, he could no longer smell anything. He already lost 2 of 5 basic senses but it was most likely more as he didn't even try to taste anything. He hasn't slept, eaten, or drink for the whole 14 days, and instead of his weak profound energy, his physiques were still capable of providing him basic nutrients.

21 days... Meng's half-open crimson eyes were no longer clear and bright filled with life, now they were completely dull, constantly only looking on the ground in front of his legs no longer bothering to check his surroundings even with his Spiritual Sense. The insides of Meng were all fucked up, a layer of thin ice appeared almost on all of his organs but since they were enhanced by his Hell Suppressing Physique, none of them stopped working. His body cells were slowly dying but once again the regenerative ability of Hell Suppressing Physique managed to keep regenerating them back at the same rate they were dying.

28 days... *Thud* Meng's legs suddenly gave up and he fell down to his knees. His blue lips were no longer even quivering from cold. His brain stopped getting enough blood so he started getting sleepy and the entire world for him started spinning.

'Meng, get up! If you will close your eyes here, nothing will save you by that time!' Su Zhu shouted in his head in a really worried tone, however, Meng kept staring at the ground in front of him with hollow eyes that were barely kept open.

[Ejecting host's item from inventory] Vista's sound resounded just for Meng to hear even though he didn't hear him and with a small flash of light, a yellow jade has fallen on the ground in front of Meng. The only thing different from snow to feast his eyes on. It obviously immediately caught his attention.

'Ah...Right...I promised to meet someone.' These were Meng's only thoughts before his mind became once again completely empty without any thoughts. He used all his remaining strength to slowly get up and then he continued walking, slowly moving his legs that felt as if they were frozen in place while dragging the rest of the body with him.

'What caused that yellow jade to come out, it couldn't have been Meng, right? Well, it doesn't matter as long as it helps him get through this...' Su Zhu thought.

Meng's brain was lacking so much oxygen and blood that he no longer even remember the item that Yueli gave him, he even forgot about the existence of his Physiques so he truly could die now. But the most ironic thing is that he longer even knew the concept of death, he previously stopped just because he felt like resting, there was no thought of possible consequences. He simply wanted to rest so he stopped, when he saw that yellow jade stone, he suddenly remembered that he recently promised something to someone so he decided to get up and fulfill his promise first before resting as this was what he has always done even in his previous life...First promises and work before the rest.