Chapter – 175 - Merging Back With Her Body

Rihanna was currently contemplating her life. At that moment of inspiration, she had uttered such big words to Su Maihiya. Now it seemed that those same words had come back to gnaw at her soul.

She sighed in depression. Ever since she had opened her eyes again, she was in this constant state of suspended animation. This was the same state of being inside nothingness she had experienced while fighting against Zenoba Taskunae. She was floating in a vast nothingness. She could see everything in front of her, but the sounds were very muffled and seemed to be coming from very far away.

She sighed again. At least she was out of that state of continuously being shifted between memories and soul state! She could now see the main group and where they were going. She could even see Uncle Yaoi and Artreya. Even Ye Luo, Uncle He and Uncle Ranaba had joined the group at some point.

She turned to stare at her own body lying prone atop Palatun. They securely tied her body atop the giant bull-like beast, and she was lying unconscious as the group made way towards Abarone-Tengai.

It was very weird seeing her own body lying unconscious before her eyes! It was like an out of body experience, but more scary. Unlike the times she had let her spiritual consciousness separate from her body, this time she had no control over her spirit consciousness.

In fact, she couldn't even see her spirit body when she looked down. She could barely feel a connection with her own body, but unlike the time when she was fighting, where she could move her fingers and body with her will, her body refused to move to her will at the moment.

Was it because she was completely unconscious right now? Then what in the world was happening to her? Was it because she was not the original soul of this body?

After observing her own body, and the others in the group and also the surroundings, she had realized that they had been attacked by the vengeful souls of Dark Forest. That attack had probably shaken her soul. Moreover, she already had a vast amount of unstable mental power which had forcefully molded into a ball and sucked into her mind.

This was probably the consequence of her soul losing grip over this body, and the mental powers threatening to break down the body and mind?!

Rihanna sighed again. It was not like there was much else she could do. She didn't even know what to call her current self, since neither the souls of the forest, nor even Apu could sense her presence. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that she was an alien soul.

She looked around. Ever since she opened her eyes in this state, she had noticed that Su Maihiya had disappeared. Did she scare that little girl so badly that she ran away? Rihanna wondered fleetingly how Su Maihiya was going to explain to the Sect about the death of their Sect Leader. And also the disappearance of so many disciples of the Sect. Was she going to get more people to come after her again? Not that the Sect had any one more powerful than the Sect Leader....whom she had already destroyed. But now that the girl knew that Su Matsao could cultivate, she could easily gather strong people under the pretext of getting rid of evil cultivators, and shove them towards her.

Not like she could do anything much in the current scenario. Firstly she had been kicked out of her body. And secondly, Little Purple was still in deep sleep.

Rihanna turned her head to stare ahead. They had almost reached the borders of Madsa-Tamu and Abarone-Tengai. She wondered how long it had been, how many days had she been unconscious? How in the world was she supposed to go back into her body? She couldn't possibly remain in this suspended state forever!

She turned to stare at her own body again. Surprisingly she could feel every cell within her body. She could feel them recovering. The fight had been very intense, and it had drained off all her powers and even eaten into her essence. Thankfully, Uncle Yaoi and Artreya had immediately given her recovering elixirs, and Apu seemed to have bound her body within a protective barrier. Even though the process of recovery was slow, it was even and undisturbed. She had regained most of her energy and most of her wounds had healed.

Rihanna wondered if she would be able to re-enter her body once it had completely healed.

Having nothing to do, she focused on her own body sensations. This was another development on her part. Now she could feel every part of her body, every cell, every organ. She could feel the strange sensations of wounds healing, blood flowing, the itchiness of old skin being discarded, new skin growing, the pain and throbbing within her organs.....every sensation was heightened and clear.

She could even feel the elemental energy flowing through her body...every point where it was facing obstructions, the places where it flowed smoothly, the way it circled within her dantian, the sensation it produced as the energy merged into her muscles, blood, bones and nerves.

It was strange....she could feel something different as the energy flowed within her. As if there was something within that energy which was slowly merging into her body. It was barely a sensation, not at all clear, and she couldn't feel any threat from it.

But it made her feel as if there was some element contained within this energy which was slowly imbibing with her body and mind, becoming a part of herself. And it was also helping in the healing process.

Rihanna wondered for a long time what this element was. Once Little Purple woke up, she would need to chat with him.

As she was in deep thought, she failed to notice the slivers of green energy invading into the dark space all around her. It was only when these green streams of energy started shimmering as they flickered around the hazy darkness around her that she snapped out of her reverie.

Rihanna frowned. Now what?! What was this new thing slowly creeping up on her?

As she continued staring, the green energy became thicker and thicker, albeit at a very slow pace. Not that she had anything much to do. So she just stared endlessly as the green energy streams very slowly turned into a blanket of green, surrounding her from all sides.

'Wait! Isn't this the life energy the Emperor had put inside me? What is it doing here?!'

Feeling confused, Rihanna also felt a sense of anticipation growing within her. Could this green energy help her back into her body? It didn't seem to give off any unfriendly intention. Moreover, she herself didn't know why, but a deep sense of comfort and belief radiated from within her soul whenever she thought of that ice-cold man. Well....truthfully, he had always been rather warm towards her. And very kind and gentle.

Before she could start thinking on this divergent topic, she felt a great force sucking at her, a feeling of discomfort and slight pain invaded her senses. Her mind turned blank once more, and a familiar darkness cut off all her senses.

"Ughhh! Umph! What is going on now! Unghh! When will it stop!"

Ye Luo, who was riding right next to Palatun, was the first to hear the muffled groans of protest erupting from Palatun's tall back. As the first flicker of surprise wore down, he became anxious upon realizing that Rihanna had finally woken up.

Artreya was initially surprised to suddenly see the giant bull being dragged away from the group to the sides of the path by Ye Luo. By the time the rest came to realize that the girl had woken up, Ye Luo was already on the back of the bull, untying the frowning girl from Palatun's back.

Artreya climbed up to help, and both of them slowly brought down the groaning girl and laid her down on the thick grass at the side of the path.

Rihanna opened her eyes, and immediately shut them again as the bright light pierced her brain. The frown deepened, and she tried to shake her head, lifting her hands to hold her throbbing head soon after that.

"Rihanna? Are you feeling okay? Is it still paining anywhere?"

Rihanna opened her eyes when she heard the familiar words, then squinted her eyes and blinked. The familiar faces loomed up all around her vision, all staring down hard, as if trying to check her condition with their eyes.

Seeing the worry and concern etched on each face, Rihanna broke into a chuckle. So she had finally returned back into her body...Huh?! then that green life energy was truly capable! No wonder that cold man had inserted his energy into her. Was this his way of making sure that she was safe?

"Rihanna? Are you okay? Can you hear us? If you can hear us, then blink."

"Stupid Artreya.....I am already blinking so much. How much more do you want me to blink?"

Rihanna sighed. Her voice sounded like dry gravel. And her throat was very itchy and dry. This one line already threw her into a coughing fit. Artreya instantly lifted her up slightly to pout warm water down her throat.

Drinking deeply, she felt as if this water was bestowing life within her parched insides. Sighing deeply, she looked upwards with a smile. And instantly froze.

Woah! What was up with all her Uncles? And also Ye Luo? Why did they look like they were about to beat her up?!