"Sob… sob…" Xiaorong couldn’t accept the truth—his dantian and spirit core were destroyed, and he couldn't feel his cultivation realm. He fell into despair, ignoring the pitiful looks from others. In his mind, his cultivation path was already over.
Even though there were ways to restore a destroyed dantian—like a Tier 7 pill, Foundation Restoration Pill, or a Tier 8 Divine Grade Treasure, Reversed Lotus—such things were rare even in the Five Pillar Realm. Let alone in a backwater middle realm like the Seventh Heaven, they were unlikely to be available here.
The only hope he had was Hengsheng!
When he thought of this, he quickly crawled toward Hengsheng's leg, grabbed, and begged.
"Please, I beg you! You have to help me!" Xiaorong said, his eyes teary, his nose leaking secretions.
Other people at the side watched this scene unfold with various reactions.
Baixing, seeing his proud and respectful brother reduced to this state, could not help but shake his head in disappointment.
Wang Dalong had a similar reaction to Baixing. He felt not only disappointment but also anger, thinking that if his rival—his equal—had fallen this low, then did that mean, if he were in the same situation, he was also as low as this pathetic man!?
On the other hand, Xuanyan, who stood at the front, pretended to be sad, but inside his mind, he was already thinking about replacing Xiaorong’s status in their faction.
Others who know alchemy, like Muyang and Meiyu, continued examining Xiaorong’s body, only to find it difficult to save his cultivation realm, which continued to regress every second due to the absence of the spirit core and dantian.
They exchanged glances and shook their heads; their alchemy skills weren’t sufficient to refine a medicinal pill that could help him with this.
"Please, Big Brother Hengsheng, please help Brother Xiaorong!" Yueli cried while clinging to Xiaorong’s side.
Hengsheng stood with a frown, thinking about the exchange between him and the Sea Lord regarding the peace terms, only to be interrupted by these two annoyingly begging for help.
Then Hengsheng snapped.
"SHUT UP!" Hengsheng yelled at them.
They quickly fell silent, afraid that Hengsheng would not help Xiaorong.
Hengsheng felt annoyed by their overreaction—they were already back at the Endless Wealth Peak, the safest place in this realm!
'With me here, what can’t be done?!' Hengsheng thought, feeling annoyed.
Besides his annoyance toward their reaction, he was already frustrated that he had to compromise with someone who had just given an order to kill him and his people.
However, after weighing the pros and cons, being an enemy of the Azure Palace would offer little benefit to him or his people, only adding pressure on them. It might benefit their growth through conflict, but he saw it as unnecessary to do it this way and with this faction.
He found it more beneficial to accept peace and open the trade routes to the Great Sea and the many big and small islands within the vast sea. The range of resources, especially the water-related ones, that his company could access would increase severalfold.
Even though he was internally against this decision, as his emotions were still filled with anger whenever he recalled the scene where the Sea Lord ordered his subordinate to kill him.
'How dare you want to kill me!' Hengsheng thought, gritting his teeth. He swore to himself that if he became strong enough to act against everyone without consequences, he would go to the Azure Palace and slap the Sea Lord’s face!
He looked at the space ring in his hand before squeezing it, crushing it to dust.
'Peace, my ass,' Hengsheng thought.
Hengsheng's frustration could not be more obvious; others could sense it, which made them uneasy. They didn’t know what had happened on the other side of the dimensional vortex besides what Hengsheng had told them about Xiaorong’s situation.
Hengsheng calmed himself down and reminded himself to focus on the present. Then he turned toward Xiaorong and said,
"You will be healed when you wake up."
Without waiting for Xiaorong to respond, he immediately deployed the method that he and Blue had prepared to fix Xiaorong's problem.
Hengsheng pushed Yueli aside with his gesture and then pointed his finger at Xiaorong as a white color energy surged from the floor and enveloped him entirely in a transparent sphere bubble made of Origin Energy.
Xiaorong, inside the bubble, wasn't sure what was going on, but he felt his consciousness fading again.
As Xiaorong fell asleep, the transparent sphere bubble emitted a light and gradually transformed into a glowing green, with Xiaorong's shape inside hard to observe.
From the outside, if one extended their Divine Sense to examine Xiaorong's condition, they would find that nothing seemed to be happening or changing—his condition remained the same.
However, in truth, there was a change occurring, but the change happening to Xiaorong was hardly noticeable, as it involved a high-level Law.
The sphere bubble was filled with the power of the Law of Time—it was slowly regressing Xiaorong’s body back to its condition before his dantian and spirit core had been destroyed.
"He will need to stay inside this sphere for another one or two months. You take care of him," Hengsheng said as he pushed the floating, glowing green sphere bubble toward Yueli.
"Thank you, big brother Hengsheng!" Yeuli said as she bowed with gratitude.
Hengsheng nodded. What happened to Xiaorong would be a big problem for most people—fortunately, this bastard had Hengsheng as his big brother.
He had several methods to fix Xiaorong's problem. He chose to utilize the power of Time, as it was the best and most direct way to return him to his original state.
He could immediately use the Law of Time with Origin Energy to regress Xiaorong’s body to its perfect state, without making him stay inside that stupid green bubble.
However, if he did that, Xiaorong would be touched by the power of Time too much at once and would likely be affected by its unpredictable effects. A slow regression was the better option, as it would limit the side effects if they occurred.
After dealing with Xiaorong's problem, Hengsheng turned toward the others who were already waiting for him in the Maker Mansion's Reception Hall.
There were more than a dozen figures in the hall: Lan Baixing, Yueli, Xuanyan, Muyang, Meiyu, Ruochen, Wang Dalong, and so on. They were all members of the Lan and Wang Clans—the core figures of the Endless Wealth Company.
Hengsheng could see their confusion; only those close to Xiaorong knew about his kidnapping. Even they—and Xiaorong himself—didn’t know who was behind it. It was time for him to clarify why they were all gathered here.
"Before we talk, let's change the place," Hengsheng said. As he spoke, everyone in the hall sensed a shift in spacetime.
Before they knew it, in the blink, they all appeared in the Throne Hall.
Hengsheng was already seated on the throne and gestured for everyone to sit and relax.
They lay on the seats behind him, filled with awe at the power Hengsheng wielded; they could not believe these mysterious methods or techniques belonged to someone in the same cultivation realm as them.
They had a hard time comprehending what was happening around them whenever or whatever Hengsheng was involved.
Even someone as proud as Wang Dalong could only accept that he should not think about comparing himself to Hengsheng; it was pointless. It was not even a matter of weak or strong, but something unexplainable.
There were already rumors circulating early on since they arrived in this realm, suggesting that Hengsheng might be the reincarnation of a True Immortal. It was never confirmed, but everyone thought it was possible. Thinking this way, all the mysterious things began to make sense.
"Ahem, may I have your attention, please?" Hengsheng raised an alarm when he saw some were absent-minded.
As everyone’s attention was on him, he didn’t waste any more time and began recounting the events that had taken place, starting with Xiaorong’s kidnapping a month ago and ending with the peace deal he had made with the Sea Lord.
"I warn you, this deal means nothing. It's just a facade. Don't send our priority members into the Great Sea's territory since it is too dangerous. Send those who are not important first…" Hengsheng explained about the peace deal.
It was nothing special but a normal trade agreement with a condition—the Azure Palace would allow his faction to do business in their territory in exchange for the Endless Wealth Company's discounts and priority on both buying and selling.
The point of this agreement is not the business part, but the condition to nullify all their past deeds, both known and unknown. It means that if he later discovers something the Azure Palace did to his faction before this agreement was formed, he cannot use it as an excuse to act against them.
The peace deal seems to be good, but Hengsheng recognizes, there is no government or powerful entity in this world to uphold the law between men. The agreement means nothing if Hengsheng disappears or appears weak.
"Lastly, the Azure Palace has already learned about us and what we possess. It's only a matter of time before the other top powerhouses in this realm do as well," Hengsheng said in an emotionless voice.
"If the Gu Dynasty finds out, the tranquility we enjoy will crumble—after all, nobody wants a hidden viper within their home, right?" Hengsheng said, his gaze sweeping across everyone.
When his eyes landed on them, they startled and began nodding rapidly in agreement.
Hengsheng smiled and continued.
"So, I've decided to change our plans. The Great Northern Empire Reclamation Project will begin immediately!" Hengsheng declared with authority.