"I'm going to begin curing Kulas now. It might get a little dangerous, so you should leave us and wait outside," Yuan said to Xie Mey.
However, she frowned and said, "No, I am going to stay here."
"You don't trust that I will cure him?" Yuan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's not it. I just want to be here when he wakes up with a clear head," she replied as she slightly shook her head.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Yuan muttered as he approached Kulas, "Don't blame me if anything happens."
"I won't."
Upon reaching the bed, which was large enough to fit tens of thousands of people with ease, Yuan sat down and pressed his hands against Kulas' massive body.
"I should also warn you… This process will require me to destroy his body, leaving nothing but his soul."
"What?!" Xie Mey exclaimed. "You should've said that before we even entered this room!"
"So do you want me to stop?" Yuan asked without even looking at her.
"No…" Xie Mey responded after a moment of hesitation.
"As long as his soul is unharmed, we can just make another body for him," Yuan continued.
"Creating another body…?" Xie Mey echoed, looking utterly confused. The concept of crafting new vessels simply didn't exist in the early years of the Primordial Era. In fact, it wasn't known at all until much later—near the era's end—when more cultivators reached the God Ascension realm and realized they could survive without a physical body as long as their soul was unharmed.
"I'm starting now," Yuan spoke again before Xie Mey could ask him any questions, and as curious as she was, Xie Mey didn't dare to disturb him and silently watched from afar.
A few minutes later, an otherworldly aura started surging from Yuan's body, and the temperature in the room drastically dropped in the blink of an eye.
'W-What is this coldness?!' Xie Mey cried inwardly as she shivered nonstop. As a giant, her body was naturally more robust and resilient than ordinary cultivators, allowing them to endure harsh climates without training.
Xie Mey, who had never experienced such cold before, trembled uncontrollably, her teeth clattering together.
<Shiva's Eternal Frost>
Since whatever was affecting Kulas was weak to yin energy, Yuan enveloped Kulas' body with Shiva's Eternal Frost, the most extreme yin energy he knew. In the blink of an eye, the entire room froze over with every inch of it encased in ice.
Xie Mey enveloped herself with Celestial Qi, but it was useless against the power of an Eternal.
'Even my Celestial Qi cannot block the cold?! I'll freeze to death at this rate!' Xie Mey, despite her earlier words and boldness, left the room after realizing that she could not endure the cold.
Once Xie Mey left the room, Yuan's aura abruptly surged even more, almost as if he'd purposefully held back for Xie Mey.
Now that he didn't have to worry about her, Yuan focused entirely on curing Kulas.
Although Yuan had increased his Eternal Essence drastically after refining the essence of the void, he was still only able to maintain Shiva's Eternal Frost for a few minutes before becoming exhausted.
Once he was exhausted, Yuan immediately started absorbing the illness that clung to Kulas' soul, refining it into his own essence.
Time flew, and in an instant, a whole month had passed with Yuan focused solely on curing Kulas. Yet, to Yuan, who was constantly exhausting himself, the month felt like an eternity.
After a month, Yuan had managed to completely absorb whatever was affecting Kulas. However, as a result, Kulas' body was destroyed, leaving behind a weakened soul, just as Yuan had predicted.
Shiva's Eternal Frost had not only weakened the sickness but also caused irreparable damage to Kulas' body, and if Yuan hadn't extracted Kulas' soul, his soul would've likely shattered.
Yuan collapsed on the bed, his body soaked in sweat despite the freezing temperature in the room.
Although Xie Mey left the room, she never truly left and had waited outside for an entire month. When she noticed Yuan's otherworldly aura had disappeared, she immediately opened the door.
"Senior Tian! What happened with the treatment?!" she cried as she entered the room.
"Don't worry, he's fine. I have removed whatever was affecting him," he responded in a weak voice.
"Thank you… truly…" Xie Mey said, bawling her eyes out, but her tears froze instantly due to the cold.
Ding!
<You have cleared the first trial>
After clearing the trial, the scenery around Yuan dissolved, and he returned to the Stairway to Heaven. However, while everything from the trial should have vanished, something remained with him.
Yuan, still lying on the ground from exhaustion, stared at Kulas' soul that was hovering above him with a calm gaze.
"Sorry it took so long, but now, you're free…" Yuan muttered with a smile on his face. "You can finally reincarnate properly."
Since the unknown sickness prevented Kulas' soul from reincarnating, Tian Yang had kept Kulas' soul with him, waiting until he found a way to cure it. Although he had discovered a method long ago, he lacked one crucial component—a yin energy strong enough to weaken the sickness so it wouldn't destroy Kulas' soul when trying to remove it.
Then, after many reincarnations, Yuan acquired Shiva's Eternal Essence, the power that was needed to cure Kulas.
"What are you waiting for?" Yuan spoke again when Kulas' soul remained unmoving. "You're no longer bound, so go reincarnate and live a new life."
Kulas' soul, which had been slumbering since the Primordial Era, began to wake up, indicated by the faint aura it emitted.
Moments later, a familiar voice echoed softly, "Tian Yang, my friend… my sworn brother…"
"Though it may seem as if I've been slumbering ever since the day you killed me and sealed my soul, I was awake and fully conscious. The journeys you took, the hardships you lived through while carrying me… I was there with you, watching over you like some sort of spiritual guardian."
"Kulas…? What are you…"
"I don't want to reincarnate and forget everything," he quickly answered. "I want to continue going on adventures with you—not as a soul like some luggage, but by your side, just like when we journeyed through Han Zexian's Tomb together. Moreover, I still haven't properly thanked you for saving me."
Yuan's eyes widened, but before he could respond, Kulas suddenly bellowed, his tone resolute.
"Forge me a new body, Tian Yang!"