Chapter 1548: Chapter 1548: Restoration of Inner Strength

"Where am I?" Ye Shikai slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was bright white. He shielded his eyes with his hand, taking a long time to adapt to the strong light before he slowly got up from the ground.

"What is this?" Ye Shikai looked down, startled in his heart. Even this "ground" was a vast white, as if he were walking on clouds, ready to "fall through" at any moment.

Ye Shikai walked back and forth, but everything around seemed endless. Perhaps he was not in the human world at all.

"Could it be that I’m dead?" Ye Shikai thought, shocked.

"Of course, you’re not dead." Suddenly, a voice came from behind. Ye Shikai turned his head abruptly, and saw a man in a robe akin to a wizard’s standing before him. A hood covered his forehead and eyes; Ye Shikai could only see his mouth, but from the contours of his face, he could tell the man was likely middle-aged.

"Who are you?" Ye Shikai asked.

"It’s been so long you can’t even recognize my voice?" The hooded man chuckled coldly. Ye Shikai rifled through his memory, certain he didn’t know this man—but this voice... it was...

"Sword Soul."

"Seems you haven’t forgotten me. Having crossed into this era, your past memories will quickly fade. Two more months, you might have forgotten me; in a year, you may forget where you came from entirely." Sword Soul spoke indifferently.

"It really is you." Ye Shikai was so excited he almost cried out. After so long, he finally made contact with Sword Soul again.

"But how come you look like this?" Ye Shikai asked curiously. It was his first time seeing Sword Soul’s "appearance"; before, Sword Soul merely existed in his mind.

"This is what I naturally look like; previously, I was in your mind as a spiritual body. Now that you’ve entered, we can meet face-to-face."

"What, entered... entered here, could it be I’m also..."

"That’s right, you’re now a spiritual body too. In Huaxia’s terms, a soul."

Hearing this, Ye Shikai almost blacked out in a faint. He was now a "soul"? Could it be that he truly had died?

"What?" Bowing his head, Ye Shikai looked at his body. Sure enough, all the injuries from the previous battle had vanished. He couldn’t even find a wound, with not a trace of blood, and even his broken armor was intact.

It’s over.

Ye Shikai immediately collapsed on the ground, eyes vacant.

"Don’t worry. You fought until you were gravely injured and fell into the meteorite crater. You’re merely in a coma with faint breath left."

"Why didn’t you say so earlier?" Ye Shikai lifted his head furiously, almost swinging a punch. So, he wasn’t dead after all.

"Wait, if I haven’t died, why am I here?" Ye Shikai asked.

"Why aren’t you curious why you can meet me?" Sword Soul didn’t answer his question but shifted to a different topic.

"Why?" Ye Shikai murmured. He had lost contact with Sword Soul because Chen Yuxin destroyed his Dantian, causing him to lose his Inner Strength. Sword Soul could communicate with him due to the Inner Strength.

Now that he was speaking with Sword Soul again, it meant...

The Inner Strength was back.

Ye Shikai circulated the energy within him. Indeed, Inner Strength surged from his Dantian, filling him with strength. This feeling was so familiar.

A broken Dantian equated to being crippled to a cultivator. Although Dugu Tianke had mentioned a method to repair the Dantian, conditions were insufficient. Ye Shikai did not know why his Dantian was "mysteriously" repaired.

"Sword Soul, what’s going on here?"

"You had an intense battle and fell into this meteorite crater heavily injured. Without Inner Strength, you surely would’ve died. But this meteor contains vast energy. Fortunately, you were saved by it."

"So it means the energy from this meteor repaired his Dantian?" Ye Shikai was deeply shocked. It was unbelievable. He hadn’t felt any energy when approaching the meteor.

"That’s about right. Strange as it may be, it seems you have a destiny with this meteor." Sword Soul jested.

"If I hadn’t saved those people, I wouldn’t have encountered this meteor, meaning my Dantian wouldn’t have been repaired." Thinking of this filled Ye Shikai with mixed emotions. This was not just a strange twist of fate but a blessing in disguise. However... his comrades who perished did not share this fortune.

"Exactly."

"But since I survived, how did I become a spiritual body?"

"You’re still in a coma. But now that your Inner Strength is restored, no matter how severe the physical injuries, you can recover quickly. I believe you’ll wake up soon." Sword Soul said, walking up to Ye Shikai.

Ye Shikai looked up at the hooded man before him, exuding an aura of mystery. Unconsciously, he reached out, wanting to remove Sword Soul’s hood to see his face.

Clap.

Sword Soul suddenly grabbed Ye Shikai’s wrist. Before he could react, a wave of dizziness spread through his body. Ye Shikai collapsed to the ground, vision blacking out.

...............

Opening his eyes again, Ye Shikai was faced with dozens of Qin soldiers. His head hurt slightly, but he quickly realized he was awake. Glancing to the side, the meteor was behind him, with the words "The Emperor’s death divided the land" clearly visible.

"Gen... General Ye is not dead." A startled shout echoed, as a soldier, as if seeing a ghost, stepped back several steps. Ye Shikai wasn’t dazed, promptly picking up his sword and swinging it.

Boom.

Powerful Inner Strength transformed into Sword Qi, sending several soldiers flying.

"Ghost!"

"Run!"

The soldiers nearby were so frightened by Ye Shikai’s sudden "resurrection" and the sheer force of his power that they were terrified out of their wits.

Indeed, how could a normal person casually "throw" several robust men away?

Ye Shikai’s formidable reputation was known among the armies of the two counties. Now, surrounded by his sudden revival, none dared to approach, fearing that in the eyes of the ancient people unaware of modern science, Ye Shikai was possessed by an "evil spirit" or a vengeful soul returning for revenge.

"What are you standing around for? Get moving!" Sword Soul’s voice echoed in Ye Shikai’s mind, snapping him back to reality. He glanced at the Storage Ring, channeling Inner Strength, and pulled out the Fire Element.

"Look, General Ye’s hand... it’s burning."

"It’s a ghost, definitely a ghost."