The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

When Su Zinong woke up, he found himself entangled by a giant snake. He quickly drew his Thunder Sword and slashed at the snake's vital spot.

Although the giant snake was struck, Su Zinong's arm was too weak, and the sharp sword failed to cut it in half; instead, the snake slithered away.

What a pity! Su Zinong sighed inwardly.

Su Zinong checked his entire body and found no signs of being bitten. The large snake did not look like a venomous snake, which put him at ease.

He slowly walked in the direction the giant snake had gone, and after walking more than ten zhang, he found the giant snake lying there on the verge of death. He then killed the giant snake with several sword strokes.

Having eaten wild fruits for several days without any meat, it was too difficult for Su Zinong to regain his strength. He wanted to drink snake blood to speed up the recovery.

After several sword strikes, he finally managed to cut the snake in half on the seventh strike. He lifted it up and sucked the snake's blood with his mouth. He swallowed a large mouthful, and the stench was so foul that he felt nauseous and vomited up. He even vomited up the wild fruit he had eaten earlier. It smelled terrible!

But Su Zinong knew that if he didn't eat, he would eventually lose his strength. So he carried the large snake to the pool and drank only a small sip of snake blood each time, followed by a large gulp of water. He drank until his stomach was bloated before finally swallowing all the snake blood.

But eating snake meat is too difficult; I'm afraid of getting pricked by the snake bones. There's no fire here to cook the snake, so I have to give up.

Time flies, and as the saying goes, there is no day or night in the cave. In the blink of an eye, three months have passed. Su Zinong's ribs have healed by eight or nine-tenths. He even devoured all three red wild fruits and had to eat the sour and astringent wild fruits from the big tree.

Although it was early winter, Su Zinong did not feel as cold as when he first arrived, probably because he had gotten used to it. However, his strength had not recovered much.

One day, a sound like the wind whistling through the air suddenly rang out, and a person descended from the sky.

From a distance, he appeared to be an old man with a sage-like demeanor, holding a whisk, dressed as a Taoist.

Su Zinong hurriedly went over, bowed deeply, and said, "Immortal, please save me!"

The old man glanced at Su Zinong, smiled slightly, and said, "Your meridians are injured and your true energy is completely dissipated. I cannot help you recover. Besides, you are not in any danger of death right now, so why should I save you?"

"This place is like a large well, surrounded by cliffs. I am weak and unable to get out. Please, old immortal, save me," Su Zinong said.

"How could a young man have fallen into such a state?" the old man asked, stroking his beard.

"It's a long story..." Su Zinong sighed and slowly recounted how he was a rogue cultivator, how the method of the locked-room murder was leaked by the victim, leading to the real culprit chasing him and draining his true energy, causing him to fall off a cliff. He did not hide anything.

"Do you know why you've fallen to this state?" the old man asked.

"I was shot off a cliff by the enemy, which is why I am in this situation," Su Zinong replied.

“No, no,” the old man shook his head and said, “You pushed yourself step by step into the abyss, which is why you ended up like this.”

"Rogue cultivators are inherently vulnerable to bullying and suppression. Even though you've reached the fifth-level cultivation, you should still maintain a low profile and detachment. You shouldn't be greedy for vanity, blindly following those aristocratic disciples to investigate murder cases, breaking into beautiful women's mansions at night, and attending a high-profile cross-age wedding. In the end, you even revealed your true identity and got drunk while in danger. All these actions have pushed you step by step into the abyss..."

"The old immortal's insight is indeed sharp. When my cultivation was low, I was bullied for many years, and I secretly worked hard to improve my skills. At that time, I always kept a low profile, but after reaching the fifth star, my mindset changed, and I became complacent and arrogant. Later, a series of events happened, which led me to my current situation. But I am unwilling to accept this. Should rogue cultivators remain unknown for their entire lives?" Su Zinong sighed and said.

"It's not about living a life of obscurity, but about doing what you're capable of. For example, hone your skills to a higher level, become more ruthless, have more backup plans, and stay vigilant. The things you do aren't necessarily bad, and are mostly good, but you have to be ruthless to be a bad person, and even more so to be a good person. Do you understand what I mean?"

Su Zinong thought for a moment and understood, then slowly nodded: "Thank you for your guidance, old immortal!"

"Huang Chenghe has returned to Yellow River Manor, and Qin Xiangxue has returned to Qin Tian Manor. Both of them are fine, so you can rest assured. Although I am an old man from another world, I still know everything about the affairs of this world." Laozi stroked his beard again, seemingly seeing through everything.

"Thank you for informing me, venerable immortal." Su Zinong bowed respectfully.

"It is precisely because of your actions that you are destined for this tribulation. If you can overcome this difficulty in the future, you will achieve great things. Since that is the case, I cannot simply rescue you directly, because your tribulation is not yet over and you still need further tempering. I happened to come here to gather immortal herbs, and our meeting is also a matter of fate. Moreover, it is our first time meeting, and you have not hidden anything from me. I have a great liking for you, so I will give you three pills to help you accelerate the repair of your damaged meridians. As for whether you can recover your cultivation or whether you can go out, that depends on your fate." As the old man spoke, he took out three brown pills and handed them to Su Zinong.

"Thank you for the medicine, old immortal!" Without thinking, Su Zinong swallowed three pills in one gulp.

The old man laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the valley, and then vanished in a flash. Su Zinong was left standing there, stunned and lost.

An hour later, Su Zinong felt a warm sensation in his abdomen, which gradually spread to his limbs and bones. A warm current flowed through all the meridians of his body. He figured the elixir was beginning to take effect; it was indeed a miraculous medicine, incredibly effective.

Since the old immortal wouldn't take me out, there must be a reason. However, even if I take the pills to repair my meridians and start cultivating again, I won't be able to leave this place without reaching the peak of the Seven Stars realm.

But wouldn't it take decades to train from scratch to the peak of the Seven Stars?

Over the past three months, Su Zinong has carefully examined every inch of the cliff, and there is indeed no passage or exit.

He had fallen into despair.

In the evening, Su Zinong felt a burning sensation in his abdomen and quickly sat down to try circulating his inner energy.

In the past, three months of practicing true qi yielded no results, but now a wisp of true qi was flowing out of his abdomen, slowly circulating with his will.

However, unlike the previous five-star cultivation level where the energy circulated rapidly, after practicing for an entire night, the true energy only circulated once.

We can only take it slowly.

After practicing like this for a month, Su Zinong was able to complete three cycles of cultivation in one night. He then discovered that he could finally move like an ordinary person. Although his cultivation level was extremely low, he could lift a heavy object weighing twenty or thirty kilograms with one hand without any problem.

There's only one place we haven't checked yet, and that's the pool.

Su Zinong walked into the pool and dived down. However, due to insufficient strength, he did not reach the bottom of the pool.

He went ashore, found a large rock weighing over thirty pounds, took a deep breath, and then jumped into the pool while holding the rock.

Upon reaching the bottom of the pool, it was pitch black, but after turning around, a soft sliver of light shone through from the other side.

He quickly surfaced to catch his breath, then found a large rock and dove headfirst into the pool where light was shining through. At the bottom, he discovered a small opening, just large enough for one person to pass through, where the light was coming from.

Ignoring the danger, he quickly swam across the cave entrance. After swimming for about 30 feet, he noticed a light above his head, immediately floated to the surface, and exhaled a deep breath.

Looking around, I found myself in a completely new world...