A fragile voice rose, making the others stop their movements and turn to look at the source of the noise.
Ling Xian’s eyebrows were tightly knit together, and his face was chalky white. Sitting up straight with some difficulty, he checked out his surroundings, feeling at a loss. Then, his eyes fixated on the five people beside him.
"You have awakened. Seems like your physique isn’t bad or else you wouldn’t be able to wake up so quickly with those injuries of yours." Yun Yan flashed a smile.
"What is this place?"
Ling Xian asked again, impatiently wanting to figure out his whereabouts. He remembered clearly that he fell into space turbulence when Deputy Xiao Yao smashed the portal. It was thanks to the aid of the Keeper of the Land and Sea did he escape his fate of being cut into several different pieces.
"Shi Ao Island." Yu Yan looked at Ling Xian, deep in thoughts.
"Shi Ao Island?"
Ling Xian froze. Remembering the book "Geography of the Taoism Community", he couldn’t help it but to out squeeze a bitter smile. "I see. So I was transported to one of the 36 islands."
"I assume you are not a Shi Ao Island local."
Yun Yan was naturally intelligent. From Ling Xian’s blank stare and that bitter smile, she figured out that he was not one born and raised on this island.
"Yes, I have only come to this land by accident." Ling Xian nodded. Though he didn’t have a full grasp on the conditions of these 36 islands, he has read enough to know that these islands are not linked with the nine continents. That meant this place would not have a spatial portal.
If he attempted to fly back to land, it would take him at least 30 years.
This made Ling Xian feel rather helpless. Though, he wasn’t very troubled by it. To have salvaged his life from space turbulence and to not be in the middle the ocean was already super fortunate of him.
Once space turbulence occurred, even those in the original level could not avoid it. The lucky ones were not shredded to pieces but were rather transported to a random place in the Taoism world.
For Ling Xian to have been transported to Shi Ao Island was an expected and reasonable result. As to whether or not he could get himself back to the continents would depend on luck and he would simply have to go with the flow.
"I see." Yun Yan nodded. She could tell that Ling Xian wasn’t willing to disclose much about himself, so she didn’t press on further.
Looking at the beautiful lady before him, Ling Xian understood what happened while he was unconscious. Smiling, he said, "It seems like you saved me. I am Ling Xian, and I thank you for saving my life."
Then, he subconsciously tried to stand up to bow. However, the moment he used his muscles, he felt a heart-piercing pain, making him frown and sweat.
"Don’t move. Your injuries are grave. It is best if you lie down and rest." Yun Yan raised an eyebrow. Seeing through Ling Xian’s intentions, she waved her hand as a way to tell him there was no need for grand gestures.
"I can’t believe I am so badly hurt that I can barely stand." Ling Xian smiled wryly. He noticed that more than half of his bones broke, and much of his meridians were cracked. Luckily, his dantian was unhurt. Therefore, as long as he rested and took some medicinal Dan, he would recover.
"There is no need to be so polite with me. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do," Yun Yan softly grinned and walked towards Ling Xian. She pushed a piece of wolf meat towards his lips and said, "Eat some. This is the meat of a beast. It will help reenergize you."
Looking at the steam given off by the wolf meat, Ling Xian shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want it.
With his training, he no longer needed food to replenish his spiritual energy. If it were dragon meat before him, it would’ve been helpful. But to eat a Ninth-Realm beast’s meat was useless and may even drag his body down.
Cultivators’ bodies were like a bright mirror. It needed to be clean in order to reflect the pure heaven and earth spirits one feeds their body. Only with purity could cultivators reach a high level of training.
Of course, once one reaches a high enough level, none of this matters. Even if they eat raw meat and drink blood, their training wouldn’t be affected.
However, Ling Xian has yet to reach that level, therefore he must reject her niceness.
Seeing this, the younger sister Yun Meng scorned, "Who do you think you are? My sister kindly feeds you food and you say no?"
"Meng, no need to be rude."
Yun Yan waved her hand as she continued to stare at the handsome youth. "Since you do not need it. Then it’s fine."
"Thank you." Ling Xian faintly smiled. "I wonder, what is your name?"
"I am Yun Yan, and this is my little sister. Her name is Yun Meng," Yun Yan pointed at her sister and introduced with a bright beam.
"I will remember your names and what you did for me today. I will repay you greatly." Ling Xian nodded respectively.
"Just take a good rest."
Yun Yan laughed carelessly. In her eyes, Ling Xian was simply a lost traveler or someone who was being chased. She helped him out not in the hope of getting something in return. On top of that, she didn’t think Ling Xian would have anything he could return.
When she used her spiritual energy just now to help Ling Xian digest the medicinal Dan, she felt the lack of spiritual energy in his body. In other words, she thought Ling Xian was a mere mortal not on the cultivation journey.
What could a mere mortal possibly have that can act as a repayment to her?
As the eldest daughter of the Yun Clan and a cultivator with a level seven Qi, she was considered to be a genius where she was from. There was no reason for her to take what Ling Xian said seriously.
Of course, this was all in her head.
Though Ling Xian’s was badly hurt, he still had spiritual energy in him. It was because Yun Yan’s training was too low and because his unconscious body hid his spiritual energy, Yun Yan could not detect it in his body.
Seeing the indifferent reaction from Yun Yan, Ling Xian understood. He did not try any harder at convincing her of his capabilities nor did he say "thank you" any more. The repayment for gratitude should be made with actions, not words. Saying it once was enough, saying it multiple times would just bring annoyance.
"Miss, you can continue with what you are doing, there is no need to pay attention to me."
After a faint smile, Ling Xian slowly closed his eyes, and his soul entered the Painting of the Nine Immortals.
Under a normal circumstance, he would not have an out of body experience because this meant his physical body would not be able to move. If someone attacks him right now, Ling Xian would have no means of defending.
Since these people beside him have saved his life, he trusted that they would not hurt him.
Seeing Ling Xian closing his eyes, Yun Yan softly walked back and sat beside the fire, continuing to enjoy the delicious wolf meat.
"Hmmph, he doesn’t even appreciate those who are nice to him," Yun Yan ridiculed.
"Maybe he is a foundational cultivator who’s body cannot take any tainted meat, which is why he didn’t eat the wolf meat." Yun Yan brightly smiled. However, her tone was mostly sarcastic. It was obvious that she really didn’t believe Ling Xian would be a foundational cultivator.
"Elder sis you sure are funny. His age is even younger than mine. Plus he was covered in blood. What a mess! How could he a foundational cultivator?" Yun Meng laughed.
The others, too, chuckled. It was apparent that none of them believed Ling Xian would be a strong foundational cultivator.
Their laughter was not malicious nor sarcastic. They simply did not believe.
To these people, foundational cultivators were like undefeatable Immortals. They only existed in legends. In the entire Yun clan, there was only one foundational cultivator. Compared to this flustered youth before them, how could he be on the same level as the Yun Clan’s protector?
"Alright, let’s eat quickly and take a good night of rest. Tomorrow we must continue our journey."
Yun Yan grinned lightly, ending the topic.