Cain and Kali didn't immediately move from their embedded position in the mountain valley peak. It wasn't that they were choosing not to move. But rather, they were physically incapable of moving at this moment.
The injuries from the powerful Wind pressure finally caught up to them. Many of their bones were utterly cracked while their organs received considerable hammering damage.
Making the situation even worse was the fact that Wind energy still continued to mercilessly drill into their bodies.
Cain and Kali genuinely felt their breath gradually slow down. The feeling of suffocation was encroaching on them.
Slight panic began to fill the sibling duo's mind. Their minds were ready to struggle out, but their bodies just weren't at an appropriate level.
If it goes on like this….they may not even be able to escape!
As this inking suspicion slowly crept into Cain and Kali's minds, their bodies shivered, feeling as if was plunged into a frozen sea.
'Shit! We gotta find a way to get to our rings!' Cain hastily drew up one conclusion. Even with the just slightest bit of Nascent Qi, he could ignite his spatial ring and bring out their healing resources.
However, there was a critical problem there.
Stimulating their Qi Sea required his body to be able to move just a little bit. If a cultivator's body is too damaged, then the Qi would not be able to flow even in the slightest.
A person's Qi flow is its own biological system, similar to the regular functions of an internal body.
With no foundation for a Qi flow to travel throughout, then it is impossible for that cultivator to gather any energy. This was one of the massive disadvantages the early stages of cultivation have.
Cain wasn't anywhere near the level where every fiber of his being can produce Qi as naturally as breathing. And it would be a long time before he could achieve that level.
At this moment, Cain wasn't even aware of this. He felt a slowly horrifying feeling overtake him as he realized he couldn't stimulate his Qi Sea at all.
'Dammit!'
Flames of unwillingness burned within Cain's eyes.
He didn't dare to die here! Just how did they let themselves in such a pathetic situation? It was too utterly foolish!
'This is all happen because….because….oh, right….' Suddenly, a realization dawned into Cain's mind.
His previous determination morphed into deep contemplation. Indeed, the reason they are even in this position was all because of his overconfidence and Kali's hubris.
Cain liked to believe he was the less arrogant and rash one. But at that moment, he let himself get blinded by his own confidence.
And now, they were paying the ultimate price for it.
'I got to bring this up to her….but first. We need to get the hell out of here.'
Cain had to push down his deep thoughts for now. Their injuries rapidly worsen by the seconds. He needed to do something, anything.
And it was then, one desperate thought slithered his way into Cain's mind.
A slight chill shuddered through him at this thought. But Cain pushed down any worries. This was their only option.
The last resort Cain realized he has is forcefully overdrawing his Soul energy.
Because Cain couldn't use Qi energy, he assumed something similar may happen with Soul energy. But perhaps he could use Soul energy at the cost of damaging his Soul core.
He is in his most weakest state. It won't be surprising at all if something drastic like that happens.
Right then, Cain decisively made up his mind. He was only moments away from forcefully linking to his Soul's core.
However, before he could do so, a bright white light streaked out from his and Kali's fingers! Accompanying the white light was a stream of pure refreshing energy that directly transferred into Cain and Kali's bodies.
"Mn? The Dragon Charm….?"
Cain and Kali were utterly shocked. They both could feel their hands vibrate as the Dragon Charms glowed in an intensely brilliant white light.
Waves of energy pulsated out of the Dragon Charm, and it all absorbed into the sibling duo's bodies.
Before Cain and Kali even knew it, profound changes occurred within their internal bodies.
Crack bones began to gradually reform, organs stopped bleeding and flesh connected back together. Seconds passed as the Dragon Charm stabilized Cain and Kali's once broken bodies.
Afterward, Cain and Kali finally felt movement in their fingers. Then a few moments, they could fully move their hands and arms! At this time, they didn't put any thought into the mystical abilities of their Dragon Charms.
Cain and Kali promptly surged the slightest of Nascent Qi and traced their spatial rings.
They swiftly took out decently quality Mortal Healing pills and stuffed them into their mouths. The pills traveled down to the sibling duo's stomach before bursting apart into a massive wave of Healing energy.
Healing energy drilled into Cain and Kali's bones, organs, and flesh, repairing all damage done to them.
In this instance, the sibling duo shut their eyes, focusing their concentration on healing back up.
A couple of minutes swept by. Cain and Kali's bodies suddenly shook. A vigorous aura rushed out the sibling duo, crashing into the roaring thunders of the chaotic wind.
The flames of life fully returned to Cain and Kali.
And right then, the sibling duo flung their eyes wide open!
"Hah!" Cain and Kali bellowed out. Great power coursed through them, and their eyes lit with a blazing fiery spirit.
Without delaying any longer, Cain and Kali sprang out of their holes, soaring straight towards the ground.
The sibling duo split right through the Wind pressure. Their afterimages increased, making it confusing to know which one was the realm.
Then, with a loud bang equivalent to a tree smashing to the ground, Cain and Kali made a five-meter crater upon the earth.
"Tch! How shameful!" Kali's expression remained angrily gloomy as she stared off into the far distance. "All because of a little mistake, we ended up in such a grave situation! These mortals can-"
Before Kali could finish, Cain abruptly grasped her shoulder.
"Hm?"
Kali furrowed her brows and matched her gaze with Cain. She wanted to speak, asking just what was wrong now.
However, that look on Cain's face….it was a bit more serious than usual.
In an instant, Kali recognized she needed to be silent for whatever he had to say. Her gloomy expression snapped into a more serious one.
Before speaking his mind, Cain perceived their current situation. Stretching out his Spirit Senses, he detected numerous other students miles apart from them. Then, focusing his sight ahead, he couldn't see the border of the first layer anymore.
Because of this, the Wind pressure was at a more manageable level.
'Did we really get knocked this far? The Astral Energy is far less potent here. But it is enough if we want to cultivate here for a little bit.'
Cain mused to himself. He didn't have any feelings of rage or gloom. Instead, he felt a mixture of reflection and immense gratefulness.
Reflection on this situation. Gratefulness over the fact that they could keep their lives.
Of course, Cain didn't mind at all sacrificing something to save Kali and himself. But there would be more consequences he didn't think of at first from using his Chaotic emerald.
Perhaps using a strong force of Chaos Energy can alert the higher-ups who may be observing this independent space.
The Dragon Charm couldn't be seen. But if they ended up instantly teleporting without any explanation, that couldn't be explained or covered up no matter what.
Cain was truly thankful none of that came to that point. He and Kali had nowhere the strength to contend with one of the top organizations within this grand city.
Shaking his head from these chilling thoughts, Cain focused back on the now rarely serious Kali.
Truly, taking losses isn't her style at all. Lightly sighing to himself, Cain began to speak in a stern tone that felt oddly nostalgic to him.
"Do not get so riled up. This is all our fault in the first place. I didn't stop because I was confident. While you….you continued on because of your Dragon Pride, right? Come now. You're a smart girl; you need to at least lessen how much Pride you feel. Or we may end up in situations like this a lot more often."
Cain believed he had a fine grasp over Kali's personality. It's impossible for her to get rid of pride entirely. But he at least wants her to stop getting so intensely persuaded by it.
"....Tch." Kali definitely snorted. Her eyes were a bit unwilling, but she could plainly understand Cain's message.
At that moment, she calmed herself. Exhaling a light breath, she still kept her head high while saying, "Alright, fine. Maybe I am getting a little antsier. I've been suppressed for years under our damn siblings and parents that it genuinely felt pleasing to cut loose among Mortals. But….ahh~. I get your point. I will tone it down….just some."
Experiencing a crucial near death can even have some has haughty as Kali seriously reflect on her action. She truly realized their own patheticness was simply caused by none other than their own actions.
As Royal Dragons who has supreme Martial Talent, this is far too shameful!
Kali's expression split from calmness to a new determination. She then continued to speak.
"Still, you should also know that Pride is good to have brother. Pride is what will keep us intently driving to stand at the very top! No matter what, we're still Dragons. No matter the situation, be it training, fighting, or scheming, we must excel over these lowly Mortals. Something shameful like this won't ever happen again."
Kali's fiery spirit blazed with volcanic intensity. In her own way, she's using that near-death experience to push herself forward.
Seeing this kind of fire burn within Kali wasn't necessarily bad. Cain could at least admit this high fighting spirit is needed for when they experienced proper setbacks. Moreover, it seems like her rationality was gradually returning to her.
Cain also couldn't deny it was important to have Pride. He sees it as connecting with his Martial Heart.
It's all about having a firm enough Will to know when to back down and when to proceed. Something they need to continually learn at every moment of their journey.
Moving his hand away from Kali once confirming that she is indeed calmer, Cain filed this moment to the back of his mind. There was still one thing he needed to discuss with Kali.
Cain's thoughts drifted to the Dragon Charm. That was an enigma he couldn't properly wrap his head around.
Bringing this topic to attention, Cain said, "Putting this moment aside for later, let's focus on this mysterious Dragon Charm. Did grandmother or grandfather ever mention anything about the effect of it being able to heal?"
This topic finally turned Kali's attention off Stormy Wind Tunnel. She snapped her eyes towards her Dragon Charm, caressing it as curiosity danced in her eyes.
She took a moment to think and then said, "The ability heal….I don't think either of them ever mentions this. All they would yammer on about was its insane abilities in boosting our cultivation. Although….thinking about now….this kind of make sense? I mean, this Dragon Charm is comprised of the purest of Dragon God blood. And our bloodline is the same. And our innate abilities give us a higher regeneration ability than most other races. Furthermore, this was also crafted by God-level World Spirit Force Masters. There's probably even more hidden abilities we'll need to discover for ourselves."
"Putting it like that, you're most likely right."
Cain nodded in agreement. He supposes he had never been injured to a point like before, so the Dragon Charm didn't have a proper catalyst to activate.
"In any case, I think it would be better to not get to a point where the Dragon Charms needs to activate passive healing. Who knows? We might sustain an injury that's too deadly that even the Dragon Charm can't heal." Cain concluded.
"It will only be more shameful to us if we needed to get repeatedly saved like that and getting injured to a pathetic point." Kali snappily remarked.
Shaking her head, she then asked, "So what's the plan now? Clearly, we can't go to the end."
"For now, we'll spend about an hour cultivating the Astral Energy here. Then, if that Lei Li is still around, we'll go from there."
Cain said, and Kali wordlessly nodded.
Afterward, the sibling promptly plodded down to the ground, entering into a serene cultivation state.