Chapter 7: Impossible!
"Ast, can you move?" Layla asked, noticing his hovering body.
Ast assured her with the most hopeful looks he could muster as the feeling in his legs finally returned. Strength filled them, gushing through his veins, meridians and lastly his muscles. With each gulp of energy, his body sucked, and his control over it increased. Until he felt strong enough to open both his eyes and sit up.
"Ast! You did it," She shouted, jumping up and down the room. "I thought you'd never wake up. Let me go get one of the Physicists."
The first thing he saw through his murky vision was the rest of his body wrapped in sparkling white bandages. He wondered how injured he must have been. For some reason, he couldn't feel the pain. That meant that his entire body was most likely healed. He tried clenching his fist. His fingers discovered and shook as they worked to form a fist. He gave up midway and rested his back on the backrest.
The room was empty. He missed Layla's voice. It was great that he could finally hear her once more. The painful throb in his head came to a complete halt. He felt refreshed.
The door cracked open. Layla walked in with a silver-haired man beyond his prime. The man walked to his side. He looked at Ast, stood up and paced around the room before getting down to Ast's side. This time he took Ast's arm and thought of removing the bandages before he set it down on Ast's stomach.
"Look at how impolite I am," the man said. "I am Xu Changying, my name means flourishing and lustrous. My parents must have been diviners for I can truly claim that my life has been lustrous."
"And I'm Ast," Ast said with a bit of a struggle.
"I know that young man," the man smiled. "Your friend speaks highly of you."
"Do you think I can make it to the Exam tomorrow," Ast brought forth his greatest concern. The battle with Jotire earlier had thrown him under the carriage. The injuries he sustained must have been serious. By the looks of it, he must have been given a Blooming Rose pill. Those were pretty expensive but their effects were godly. A single pill could save a person on the brink of death. Layla must have used down her savings for that. He was grateful to her for that.
He smiled at her. Layla returned the smile with apprehension, understanding where his thoughts went. Unfortunately, things weren't so simple for his case.
Xu Changying went quiet. He didn't know how he could break it to the young man by sending him into a whirlwind of rage and anger. Nonetheless, he still had to break it to him. So he pulled out a little scroll, went over the contents and gazed into Ast's eyes.
"Unfortunately young man, you won't make it to the Exam," Xu Changying started. Ast didn't let him finish his thoughts before striking a question.
"Why?"
"Here it goes," thought Xu Changying.
Layla's nerves skyrocketed. Her light brown hair stuck to her forehead. Her eyes darted everywhere but Ast. She had a brief idea of how Ast would receive the news. She didn't want to be here, but she had to. She was the one that fed him the elixir after all.
Ast didn't pay attention to Layla. Rather he focused on the old man. His body felt pretty good. Qi was slowly gathering into his dantian. And at the speed at which he was gathering it, he would have enough by the end of the day to take part in the exam tomorrow.
"Well, the exam happened more than a few months ago-"
"What! How is that possible? Based on normal procedures I couldn't have been unconscious for more than a day," Ast shouted.
"Well, you are wrong young man," Xu Changying sighed." It seems you don't remember what happened. Layla found you mutilated beyond recognition in a trash hip somewhere in the slums.``
"That's impossible. I fought Jotire in the alley after I witnessed him breaking the law," Ast defended himself."What do you mean mutilated? The city has far too much security for something like that to happen under their noses."
Layla and Xu Changying were a little confused. The words coming from Ast contraindicated with what they knew. The evidence linked Ast to the murder of the City Lord's son, Kutsal Kaptan.
"Regardless, the truth of the matter is that you have been in a coma for more than four months. The sect entry exams were held more than four months ago. So you'd have to wait another year. Or get a recommendation. None of the-"
"What do you mean I've been in a coma for more than four months and why am I here instead of an actual hospital?" Ast couldn't wrap his head around the figure. He felt like it was only yesterday that he fell unconscious.
Then it hit him. Why was he here instead of a hospital? This room was far too damaged to be in a hospital. Both he and Layla had enough money to get him to a hospital. And he'd most likely need to state his case at the Ministry of Public Security and Defense after the fiasco with Jotire. So it didn't add up that he was here in this dying old building.
"It seems you don't remember," Xu Changying frowned. "The word in the city at the moment is that you murdered the Kustal in a hidden corner in the Economic District. The murder was premeditated as you knew the exact time guards would change shifts and that Kustal would be there, " Xu Changying said.
"That's impossible." Ast laughed. "Let me go to the MPSD, I can explain it to them. Jotire can be my witness. We fought after all."
"Who is this Jotire?" Xu Changying asked.
"A student at Myriad Star Academy. Practically as strong as me. I saw him bullying a small kid in the alleys near the market a few hundred metres left of Tainted Rose Pavilion. A deep-seated rage came over me and I took matters into my own hands. I don't remember it clearly but I know we fought and I was heavily injured. I knocked him out and he knocked me out. "
"Hmm, now that I think of it," Xu Changying said. "Myriad Star Academy let out a statement to the public. Jotire died shortly after they took him into their care. His injuries were far too severe. The killer is unknown at the moment. Most of the evidence was tampered with by someone above the Absolution Realm. All the high-level diviners only got blanks when they tried to recreate the battle. All the blood samples found on the crime scene belonged to Jotire alone. Which was impossible."
Ast couldn't believe this. What happened that day? He knew he wasn't in his right mind when he fought Jotire. There were simply tons of things he did wrong. His gut told him that. He simply couldn't recall the play-by-play details of what he did then.
"Your Myriad Academy identity token was found at Kustal's crime scene and so was your blood and when the diviners reconstructed the battle between Kustal and his killer, you showed up as his killer," Xu Changying said. "So you are the most wanted kid in Votlu at the moment. Your friend, Layla, didn't believe the allegations against you so she brought you here when she realised that she couldn't trust anyone other than me, to not hand you over to the authorities. You've been here since then. The bounty on your head is rather lucrative. I'm tempted to hand you over myself."
"Uncle Xu," Layla growled.
"Of Course I'm only joking," Xu Changying laughed, waving off her concerns.
"That is not the worst news though," Xu said."You can no longer cultivate. Your body was destroyed beyond recognition. She fed you an elixir that would help you recover but it couldn't save your potential as well. Somebody harvested your Source before they dumped you in the trash."
Ast went into a daze the moment he heard those words. Something shattered within him. A few seconds ago he had a few ideas of how he could solve his current predicament. But now he had none. He was finished. His mind went blank for who knew how long. A single tear dropped from his eye.
Layla's heart lurched the moment she saw his blank expression. She quietly left the room. Xu Changying followed after her. This news was far more devastating than anything else. Especially to a young man like him. Xu simply hoped that Ast would pull through and get himself together. There was always a chance he could find something to propel himself. He shook his head as he closed the door behind him.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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stone