"What exactly happened to you, senior?" Alex asked. "That may help me narrow down things a little more."
"It doesn't matter," the old man answered. "Kid, I can see your enthusiasm, but this isn't going to work. Greater men than you have tried to heal me and failed."
"But I've got to try, senior. I'm not giving it just because the situation seems impossible."
The old man looked at Alex and sighed. "You said your master is Silvermist?" he asked.
"He is," Alex said.
"Your master tried too," the man said.
"My master… tried to heal you?" Alex asked.
"Long ago. And he failed," the man said. "He wasn't the only one I went to. There were others too, but none could fix what was broken."
"Did they find out what was broken?" Alex asked.
"They did, and they still couldn't help," the man said. "Which is why you should give up.""But—"
"Kid, have you not realized it yet?" the old man asked. "I don't have any Qi. And without my Qi, I cannot even help you. Do you want my feathers? It's not happening. Even if I wanted to give them to you. It's not happening."
Alex's face fell. "Because you can't transform anymore," he said.
The man nodded. "I can't transform into my beast form anymore without my Qi. So I cannot give you the feathers."
Alex paused for a while, taking in the situation. He should have realized something like that the moment he saw the old man's body. But it didn't come to him until the old man told him by himself.
"But… that was the case beforehand too," Alex said softly. "Either way, when I heal you, I will get the feathers, isn't that right?"
"If, you mean," the old man added.
"There can be no if," Alex said. "One way or another, I will save you."
The old man looked at Alex. "You won't leave, will you?" he asked.
"I don't plan on leaving here without healing you," Alex said.
"Alright. Swear an oath then," the old man said.
"I'm sorry?"
"Swear an oath for me."
"What oath?" Alex was concerned the old man was going to force some nonsensical oath to him, or one that was too constricting.
"Swear an oath that you will only use the pills you make to heal me," the old man said. "You cannot use someone else's pill."
"Do I have to?" Alex asked.
"I won't give you my feathers if you don't, even if you heal me somehow in the end," the old man said. He seemed adamant about this weird choice of his.
After some thought, Alex nodded and swore the oath. It was a simple enough oath since who else's pill would he even use here? All of his pills were his own.
The moment he spoke the oath and it settled onto him, the old man sneaked a grin. "You did it," he said rather suspiciously.
"I did," Alex said.
"Good. Now you can leave this place knowing you will never possibly stay true to your oath if you tried to heal me," the man said.
Alex was perplexed at the man's response. "Why do you say that?" he asked.
The old man chuckled a little. "You haven't realized it yet, have you? This is what you get for not having enough experience."
"What have I not realized, senior?" Alex asked, now worried that he had missed something vital. Had the oath he made in some way restrictive to him? He didn't think it was, but the old man made it sound like he had done the worst thing in the situation he could've ever done.
"You can only make Immortal pills, can't you?" the old man asked.
"Of course," Alex said. "I can make lower pills too, but I don't think that's what you're talking about."
"Yes, and Immortal pills don't work on me," the old man said.
Alex paused for a moment, confused as to why the old man would think something like that. "You are clearly not a Divinity, so of course an Immortal pill will work on you," he told the old man.
"Can you sense my cultivation base?" the old man asked.
Alex nodded. "I can't tell what it is, but I can tell it is high in the Immortal Spirit realm," he said. Scarwolf had said the same as well.
"That's where you're mistaken," the old man said. "I am not in the Immortal Spirit realm, albeit I'm not any stronger."
"How could that be?" Alex asked. "You're clearly not in the Divini—"
His eyes slowly widened as the truth of the matter finally dawned on him.
"A False Divinity," Alex said slowly as he took in the old man in a new light. "You are someone who failed to break through into the Divine realm."
"Correct," the old man said. "So that issue of yours with your dantian, it is—"
"A side effect of my failure during breakthrough. A way for heaven to tell me they do not want me to try and break through once again."
Alex remained stunned for an extended period of time while his understanding of the situation shifted into new territory and gained permanence in his mind. He saw the old man from an entirely different perspective.
If someone were to pass the 9 tribulation lightning strikes and realized the situation was dire, they could give up on the Dao lightning and try again later.
"You failed during the Dao lightning phase, right?" Alex asked.
The old man nodded.
"So… the reason why you made me make the oath was because Immortal pills don't work on you as a False Divinity," Alex said. "You wanted to use that opportunity to get rid of me."
"Did I not say as much already?" the old man asked.
Alex smiled. "Well, I must pity your bad luck, senior, because with pills that have Pill veins, a False Divinity can be affected with my pills as well. Like it or not, you're stuck with me for now."
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