No cultivator would willingly give up pursuit of martial dao when there was even a sliver of hope. Gan Ning was no exception. Xiahou Zong had completely destroyed his dantian, completely sucking him dry of all future and driving him to despair.

Jiang Chen’s words were made believable by his unparalleled talent in pill dao. Gan Ning’s eyes lit up, clinging to the chance of recovery.

Jiang Chen nodded earnestly. “I never lie. Take the pill and rest well. After the sword competition, I’ll find ways to restore you to peak condition. Everything Xiahou Zong has done to you, I’ll pay him back in spades!”

Gan Ning cut in urgently, “You mustn’t! Don’t lose your calm and go toe-to-toe with him! He hates you much more than he does us. He was merely taking out his anger on me, but you? You’ll be subjected to all his fury. He wants nothing more than to mince you into meat...