"This is Zi Yu?" Ye Fan, bewildered, picked up the purple sphere. "What in the world is going on?"
"Little Zi Yu was fighting with that guy earlier, and when she came back, she was only half left," the Second Elder replied. "So much purple, it scared us to death!"
"Then she turned into this ball," Master Xie Yan added.
Ye Fan felt a dull ache in his jaw.
What in the blazes was this?
What did he mean by "half left"?
However, he could roughly piece things together.
It was likely that Zi Yu had been severely injured fighting the Void Spirit, and then somehow transformed into this sphere.
Based on his experience, Ye Fan came up with two possibilities.
First, this was some kind of self-preservation technique of Zi Yu, or perhaps it was Zi Yu's seed.
If he found a suitable place to plant it, it might recover.
This wasn't just Ye Fan's wild guess.
In a past life, a friend's plant-type contracted beast had been shattered.
Later, his friend planted the fragments in the soil, and it actually grew back.
However, his friend's contracted beast was a cactus. For a delicate species like the Purple Jade Ice Flame Flower, he wasn't entirely confident...
As for the second possibility...
This small purple sphere was Zi Yu's ashes...
"Ye Fan, you must find a way to save little Zi Yu!" the Second Elder pleaded. "She wouldn't have become like this if she hadn't been protecting us."
"Fortunately, little Zi Yu bought us enough time," Master Xie Yan echoed. "Otherwise, neither the Second Elder nor I would have been able to complete your treatment."
Ye Fan's heart clenched at their words.
Damn it!
He had been constantly wary of these system-created entities backstabbing him, but now they had put him in such a situation.
This was truly a wicked predicament...
Ye Fan carefully placed the purple sphere into his belt.
After all, space rings couldn't store living things.
If this thing truly was Zi Yu's seed, it would be completely ruined if put into a ring.
"We'll talk about this when we get back," Ye Fan said, pointing at the distant Void Spirit. "How did this thing die?"
"We don't know," the Second Elder shook his head. "By the time we discovered the danger had passed, it was just lying there motionless."
"I suspect it was severely injured by little Zi Yu earlier," Master Xie Yan said, a glint of wisdom in his eyes. "And then it died from its wounds!"
Seeing their expressions, Ye Fan knew it was futile to ask further...
"No matter what, let's figure out how to leave here first."
After speaking, Ye Fan walked towards the vine-like roots.
These things had fallen from Zi Yu's body, and they might be useful if taken back.
Ye Fan took a bedsheet from his ring and wrapped the 'parts' in it.
Although these vine-like roots looked rather fierce, they were surprisingly light.
As Ye Fan finished packing and turned around, he saw the two elders staring with glowing eyes at the Void Spirit's corpse nearby.
Ye Fan hadn't paid any attention to the creature because it made him uncomfortable.
After all, he had been killed by one of its kind before...
As for taking it back as food reserves like usual?
This thing, except for lacking a face and having the wrong color, looked almost exactly like a human.
He couldn't bring himself to eat it.
Besides, he still didn't know where this creature came from.
It didn't belong to the Western fantasy world, nor did it fit the Eastern cultivation system.
Combined with its inherent characteristics...
Being poisoned to death was a relatively fortunate outcome.
Who knew if eating it would turn him into one of them?
Just like being bitten by a zombie and becoming a zombie...
"Hey, you two elders, we should be going," Ye Fan said, carrying his bundle.
"Ye Fan, I'm hungry..."
"Me too..."
As the two elders spoke, they continued to stare intently at the Void Spirit's corpse.
Ye Fan felt a surge of disbelief.
Wait a minute!
Are you guys planning to...
"If you want to eat, I'll grill you some meat when we get out," Ye Fan quickly stopped them. "You can't just eat this thing, what if it's poisonous?"
"It's fine, Master and I are immune to all poisons now!"
As he spoke, the Second Elder tore off a large leg from the Void Spirit with a rip.
Then, with his other hand, he conjured a flame of true qi and began roasting the leg!
Despite how tough the Void Spirit was when alive, its entire body was essentially composed of flesh.
There were no hairs or scales, not even bones or internal organs.
Therefore, no preliminary processing was needed, it was ready to eat...
In this regard, it might have some distant relation to slimes...
Master Xie Yan brought his nose close to the leg, sniffing greedily.
"It smells so good, I've never smelled anything so fragrant before!"
Seeing their demeanor, Ye Fan wisely fell silent.
Arguing with two powerful mental cultivators was clearly unwise.
What if they dragged him into eating it later...
Soon.
A strange aroma began to fill the air!
Ye Fan involuntarily twitched his nose.
Holy cow!
It smells so good?!
He swore that this scent surpassed all the delicious food he had tasted in his hundred lifetimes!
His foodie heart began to stir uneasively...
Ye Fan had to exert great effort to suppress the urge.
After all, the thing looked too much like a human, and he couldn't overcome that mental barrier...
While the two elders were busy roasting the meat, Ye Fan, with his bundle on his back, searched for a way out.
Half an hour passed.
Ye Fan returned dejectedly.
After the Void Spirit's death, the space remained unchanged.
It was still filled with a dim, gray mist, stretching endlessly.
There were no apparent formations or mechanisms nearby, making it seem like a truly independent space.
The two elders had finished their meal and were contentedly patting their bellies.
Inside them was the entire Void Spirit...
Ye Fan sat on the ground, bored.
Damn it!
Was he going to be stuck here forever?
That would be no different from being in prison...
Suddenly!
The ground began to tremble!
Before Ye Fan could figure out what was happening, he felt a sensation of his world spinning...
When he regained his senses, he found himself back on the ground!
The location was precisely the entrance leading underground to the ruins of Purple Cloud Sect.
Zi Yun Zhenren and the others were all there, none missing.
"Good disciple, you're finally out!" Zi Yun Zhenren excitedly ran over. "What's the situation down there? What treasure are you carrying on your back?"
The others also gathered around, curiously looking at the large bundle on Ye Fan's back.
Their intuition told them that there must be something good inside!
Only one person was an exception.
"Senior Brother Ye, where is Yu'er?" Wang Yang asked anxiously, not even glancing at the bundle.
Although Zi Yu was considered his pet, her life or death was his concern.
However, Zi Yu was also Wang Yang's wife.
And now, his wife was gone while in his care...
Even though it wasn't his intention.
But seeing Wang Yang's anxious and expectant eyes, Ye Fan felt incredibly awkward.
"Junior Brother Wang, I hope you are prepared for this..."