Chapter 139: Awakening

Chapter 139: Awakening

A tempest surged within Huang Hu’s heart; he could hardly believe his own eyes. Yet, there Wu Hong lay, truly resting upon his sister’s bed.

The siblings soon composed themselves. Huang Hu frowned slightly and said, "Wu Hong, Prince Wu, his current status is extremely sensitive. He might bring endless danger upon us..."

"Brother, how can you still speak of such things now..." Huang Ling cut him off, her face flushing crimson. Her usually icy expression turned pink, as vibrant and beautiful as a rose in the snow.

"Sigh—very well! Who else but you has spent every day pining for him? But even if he wakes, it will all end in emptiness..."

Huang Hu voiced Huang Ling’s secret thoughts. Huang Ling first blushed, then, thinking of Wu Hong’s unique status, she realized that even if he were to wake, he could never live here.

"We shall deal with the future when it comes," Huang Ling said bitterly. Her years of unrequited love had caused her, a woman unaccustomed to expressing her feelings, immense inner pain. To meet again by such a twist of fate, only to have to save him once more, left her conflicted.

Yet, she could not know if she held any place in his heart at all.

Perhaps it was the residual effect of the true energy Huang Hu had used to probe Wu Hong’s body, but Wu Hong suddenly stirred.

"Brother, look! Did Wu Hong just move?" Huang Ling, who had been keeping a constant, heartfelt vigil by his side, immediately sensed the movement.

Huang Hu’s face lit up with joy, and he hurried to the bedside. But Wu Hong remained as still as before, lying flat on the bed without the slightest sign of movement.

"Sister, your longing has made you ill. Where did he move? With our keen senses, it is impossible for him to have moved without both of us noticing." Huang Hu said with a wry smile, thinking to himself, *My sister has never shown interest in any other man; her heart has always belonged to Wu Hong.*

Hearing this, Huang Ling felt she might indeed be overly sensitive, and she stared blankly at the man lying on the bed.

Huang Hu left the room with a sigh. After a while, Huang Ling prepared to vacate her room for Wu Hong. As she sat by the head of the bed, just about to leave, she suddenly felt her wrist gripped by a hand. Her face filled with ecstasy.

"Where am I?" Wu Hong murmured, slowly opening his eyes to see Huang Ling’s joyful face.

"Sister, you are so beautiful!" Wu Hong said softly, his voice appearing weak.

Huang Ling’s face turned scarlet. No longer as cold as ice, she whispered in a voice barely audible, "You lecher! Speaking nonsense the moment you wake?"

Yet, her heart was filled with wild excitement.

To her surprise, Wu Hong looked blank, his face full of confusion. He did not understand what she meant by "lecher," and then asked, "Am I a lecher? Who am I?"

Huang Ling immediately sensed that something was wrong. The man she had yearned for, the man who held her heart, now looked at her with a completely bewildered expression, as if his mind were a blank slate.

"You are Wu Hong! Don't you remember?" Huang Ling said, her voice rising slightly.

"Wu Hong? Such a familiar name... Am I Wu Hong?" Wu Hong remained utterly confused.

Huang Ling stood frozen, unable to accept the reality. One word echoed in her mind: *Amnesia.*

Wu Hong had lost his memory; he remembered absolutely nothing. Refusing to give up, Huang Ling began to recount his past, but Wu Hong only clutched his head in pain. "I am Wu Hong, but why do I have no memory of it at all!!!"

Huang Ling quickly ordered her servants to summon Huang Hu back. Before long, Huang Hu arrived with Elder Guxing, the leader of the Heavenly Evil Organization.

"Grandfather, please, take a look. What has happened to Young Master Wu? He remembers nothing of his past." Elder Guxing, understanding the gravity of the situation, reached out to take Wu Hong’s pulse, sending a gentle thread of true energy into Wu Hong’s body to investigate.

Suddenly, Elder Guxing’s body shuddered, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Grandfather!" Huang Ling and Huang Hu cried out in alarm.

Elder Guxing’s cultivation had reached the Great Completion of the Post-Heaven stage. Over the past two years, his strength had surged. If not for his constant suppression of his energy, he would have long ago triggered the Pre-Heaven lightning tribulation. However, he had attachments to the mortal world and was unwilling to depart for the Origin Realm, where Pre-Heaven experts were commonplace.

Ascending to the Origin Realm was easy, but returning was difficult. In the last two years, the Pre-Heaven stage was no longer a legend. Experts frequently ascended to the Origin Realm due to the abundant spiritual energy. People had come to understand why Pre-Heaven experts could not exist in the mortal realm: the world’s spiritual energy was scarce, and it was protected by the heavens; any excessive use of Pre-Heaven power would result in being crushed to fragments by the heavens.

Yet, Elder Guxing was far stronger than an average Post-Heaven expert—he was nearly at the half-step Pre-Heaven stage. That he could be repelled to the point of vomiting blood by Wu Hong’s body left Huang Hu and Huang Ling terrified.

Huang Hu seemed to recall something. After a long pause, he said, "Grandfather, could it be that Wu Hong reached the Pre-Heaven stage, returned from the Origin Realm, and has now sealed his Pre-Heaven power, resulting in this state?"

Elder Guxing, his face pale from the internal injury, calmed himself before saying, "I am certain that this Wu Hong has not reached the Pre-Heaven stage. He remains at the Great Completion of the Post-Heaven stage, but his power is unfathomably strong."

Elder Guxing answered with absolute certainty. Huang Hu and Huang Ling exchanged looks of shock. To not be Pre-Heaven, yet possess such heaven-defying true energy—it was truly monstrous.

"I cannot fathom why this is so. But Prince Wu was always gifted and possessed peerless divine arts. Perhaps his cultivation method is unique. I am now truly suspicious; if he is this powerful without Pre-Heaven energy, what would happen if he were to break through to the Pre-Heaven stage?"

"Grandfather, why did you suddenly vomit blood? Are you ill? Let me heal you!" Wu Hong, seeing Elder Guxing grab his wrist and then cough up blood, suddenly spoke.

His figure flickered, and in an instant, he was beside Elder Guxing. The elder looked on in terror, unable to dodge Wu Hong’s speed. Wu Hong accurately gripped the elder’s wrist.

"Wu Hong, don't!" Huang Ling cried out nervously.

Wu Hong smiled slightly at her and said, "Beautiful sister, did you save me? Then I must help Grandfather."

Wu Hong did not know why methods for circulating true energy and smoothing blood flow appeared in his mind; he only knew this would help the old man.

A faint golden light emerged from Wu Hong’s hand, seeping into Elder Guxing’s body, gentle beyond measure. Elder Guxing immediately ceased his own resistance. His efforts would have been futile anyway; Wu Hong’s golden true energy was on an entirely different level than his own cold, sinister energy. It flowed through him like a warm spring, nourishing every corner of his body.

The internal injuries to his organs were instantly repaired, and his cultivation even seemed to advance. Elder Guxing was stunned. He had suppressed his power to avoid the Pre-Heaven lightning tribulation, fearing his sinister cultivation method would draw a violent, merciless strike from the heavens. Yet, his energy had become incredibly thick over the last two years due to the surge in world spiritual energy.

To have it so easily overwhelmed by Wu Hong’s energy left him in shock. Huang Hu and Huang Ling watched as the elder’s face regained its rosy glow, their own hearts pounding.

So much had happened in the past two years. The feat Wu Hong once displayed—shattering five mountains in a single strike—could now be accomplished by many powerful experts at the Great Completion of the Post-Heaven stage. Because of the great change in the world, spiritual energy had surged, constantly cleansing all living beings on the Tianxing Continent. Even ordinary people who did not practice martial arts would possess the strength of ten thousand catties by adulthood.

This was a world-shattering change from the past era of scarcity. People’s lifespans and constitutions were constantly evolving. The spiritual energy of the entire Tianxing Continent was now ten times more abundant than it had ever been in the Heavenly Book’s small world.