Until she swallowed the Heavenly Elixir of Marrow Cleansing, her entire body wracked with unbearable pain, as if every muscle and bone had been shattered and reforged countless times, Ding Xiang (her original body) realized that the string of incredible encounters had made her lose her composure and act rashly.
She hadn't even investigated how the elixir worked.
Whether it was poisonous, or had lost its efficacy.
She had simply swallowed it down recklessly.
But by then, there was no room for regret. The elixir she had ingested could not be spat out.
The torment lasted for nearly ten minutes. After ten minutes, the physical pain began to subside, and Ding Xiang finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she would survive. She no longer had to worry about dying like this.
But in the next second, the Heavenly Elixir of Marrow Cleansing’s effects spread to her soul. Then she felt a pain a hundred, a thousand times more terrifying than the previous one, as if her entire soul was being torn apart countless times. She only lasted for less than ten seconds before her soul collapsed from extreme agony.
Her soul had collapsed.
Naturally, she lost consciousness.
Years later, only when Ding Yun personally helped her repair her soul and promote its recovery did Ding Xiang's consciousness gradually clear. Through her exchanges with Ding Yun, she learned that her current body was occupied by Ding Yun.
She also learned that Ding Yun had said she would return the body to her after some time.
However, this time, she was far more cautious than when she had directly swallowed the Heavenly Elixir of Marrow Cleansing. She barely believed Ding Yun’s words, her only concern being that Ding Yun might directly devour her soul or harm her family.
So, she pretended to be grateful all along.
In secret, she trained day and night. Although she didn't know if it would be effective, she wanted to try resisting, to avoid being helpless.
To not be at the mercy of others' charity for her life.
As it turned out, her efforts were largely in vain because she had overthought and worried too much. Ding Yun had no intention of occupying her body indefinitely, nor of seizing her portable space.
While she thought she was hiding well, and despite her soul having recovered, she continued to feign weakness and train diligently to improve her soul realm. Ding Yun had already keenly sensed her soul’s recovery and immediately acted, drawing her soul out and returning the Yin Soul Wood to her own soul space.
And she fully returned the physical body to her.
The Little World Pearl was also returned to her.
At that moment, the instant Ding Xiang's soul was dragged out of the Yin Soul Wood by Ding Yun, Ding Xiang was somewhat devastated. She thought she had been exposed, that she might face imminent doom, and that Ding Yun had been waiting for her soul to fully recover before devouring her.
Especially when she couldn't break free no matter how hard she struggled, she felt a sense of despair.
It was only when her soul and body reintegrated, and she sensed the Little World Pearl was bound to her soul, a pearl that had evolved from her previous portable space, that Ding Xiang grudgingly began to believe that what Ding Yun had said was true.
Her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Someone treated her sincerely, yet she was constantly wary.
After she calmed down a bit, she realized her body felt different. She noticed a masterless Nascent Soul in her dantian. It was then that the benefits of her diligent soul cultivation came into play. She could directly inhabit that Nascent Soul and barely control her body.
If she hadn’t cultivated her soul diligently and maintained her original quality and realm, she wouldn't even have the ability to control her own body now, let alone her cultivation. After all, even if Ding Yun hadn't continued to cultivate, he had left her a body at the Nascent Soul realm.
How could someone with such a low soul realm control this body?
Although her soul realm still couldn't perfectly match her body, she could manage to use it for now. With more effort and more soul cultivation, she would eventually be able to perfectly control her body.
After fully familiarizing herself with her body, the memories Ding Yun had deliberately left for her seamlessly integrated into her soul, informing her of what had happened during her decades of absence, and the state of her relationships with her parents and brother, making it easier for her to interact normally with her family.
This was to avoid the awkwardness of lacking over a decade of memories.
Making her feel too much like a stranger.
After reading this information, Ding Xiang felt a moment of daze, even questioning if she hadn't had a soul collapse and slept for over a decade, but rather transmigrated. Otherwise, how could the changes over these ten years be so drastic? Not only her family and her brother, but the entire world made her feel as if she were dreaming, as if a lifetime had passed.
During the years she was asleep,
Their family had become financially free. Her brother, like a business prodigy, had embarked on his entrepreneurial journey before graduating and, in just ten years, became the world's richest man, building a vast commercial empire.
Most outrageously, she owned half the shares.
She would never have to struggle again.
Compared to the near-dreamlike transformation of her family, the entire world, including their country, had also changed greatly. Universal martial arts cultivation had been on the agenda more than a decade ago. Now, there were even specialized martial arts technology academies. Two years ago, the state directly announced to the public that they had opened up a martial world and successfully brought it under China's rule.
Simultaneously, an immigration program was launched. Chinese citizens could immigrate to the martial world, and people from the martial world could immigrate to China. However, currently, it was primarily Chinese citizens immigrating to the martial world because the martial world was vast and sparsely populated, rich in resources, akin to an unexplored fertile land. Opportunities for development there were almost akin to the Age of Discovery.
Naturally, people flocked to apply.
And this year, the state announced another bombshell: spiritual energy had been recovering for over a decade, and now the concentration of spiritual energy in the world was sufficient for normal cultivation. Basic cultivation techniques and tutorials were available for everyone to claim directly from a website.
As long as they achieved initial mastery within the specified time,
They could join the national cultivation management organization.
Various exotic beasts and plants that emerged due to the spiritual energy recovery were unable to cause significant trouble within China. Many innate martial artists could easily suppress them, while many weaker countries had to request China's help to suppress the disturbances they caused.
Exotic beasts that, in large numbers, could destroy cities.
It could be said that the entire world had undergone earth-shattering changes. This was merely the beginning of a grand era. With the Little World Pearl she now possessed and her cultivation at the Nascent Soul realm, as long as she could smoothly master her own strength, her future was boundless.
She could easily become a revered master. If she could deeply explore the Little World Pearl and obtain the methods Ding Yun had left within it, she might even have a chance to refine the Heavenly Dao of the martial world, becoming a Heavenly Dao Sage like Hongjun Laozu, the lord of the martial world.
Although Ding Xiang was unaware of these secrets at the time, she was very clear that she had to cultivate diligently. She was already several steps ahead of everyone else in this world. This advantage must not be lost.
Only by grasping this advantage,
Could she control her own destiny in the future.
And even protect her family and the enormous fortune she and her brother possessed, preventing it from attracting covetous eyes.