As the Healing Elder reached up, intending to use his Dou Qi to gently lower the boy from the ceiling, Yoriichi reacted.
He felt the sudden, unfamiliar gust of wind and the shift in ambient pressure caused by the opened gate.
Yoriichi's eyes slowly opened.
The moment his eyelids parted, the entire group—including Hu Gan and Zhan Yue—stiffened instinctively.
The eyes looking down at them were not the eyes of a broken, traumatized boy. They were pools of absolute, terrifying tranquility. But more shockingly, they radiated a dense, heavy pressure that had absolutely nothing to do with Dou Qi. It was a raw, unadulterated Soul Power, forged and awakened in the absolute abyss, staring at them with the weight of an ancient predator.
Yoriichi looked at Commander Wu, then at the open iron gate.
His dry, cracked lips parted.
"So..." Yoriichi rasped, his voice a barely audible, broken whisper that carried no malice, only profound acceptance. "...the days are completed."
He did not wait for a response. Having confirmed that his sentence was over and his honor intact, the supreme willpower that had kept him tethered to consciousness finally let go.
His crimson eyes rolled back, fluttering shut, and his body went entirely limp, slipping from the iron bars.
"Catch him!" Zhan Yue shouted, her silver Dou Qi flaring as she darted forward.
She caught his falling, emaciated body before he could hit the freezing water, cradling him gently against her shoulder. The sheer lightness of his frame made her heart ache.
"Quickly, Elder!" Hu Gan commanded, all traces of his usual calm demeanor replaced by urgent authority.
The Healing Elder was already moving. He placed his glowing, green-coated hands directly over Yoriichi's chest, rapidly stabilizing the boy's failing heartbeat and injecting a surge of pure, life-saving vitality into his starved organs.
The Alchemist stepped up immediately behind him. He produced a pristine jade vial, uncorking it to reveal a small, pale-yellow pill that radiated a rich, nourishing aroma.
"A Tier-3 Vitality Restoration Pill," the Alchemist stated, gently prying Yoriichi's jaw open and sliding the pill down his throat. "It will passively rebuild his muscle tissue and seal the micro-fractures in his bones without overwhelming his weakened meridians."
"Commander Wu," Hu Gan said, his voice hard. "Release the seal on his Dantian. Now."
Wu did not hesitate. He stepped forward, placing his palm over the black, circular seal resting beneath Yoriichi's navel. With a swift retraction of his Dou Qi, the heavy, ethereal chains binding Yoriichi's cultivation instantly shattered and dissolved.
A faint, milky-white aura flickered weakly to life across Yoriichi's skin as his dormant Dou Qi finally began to circulate again, desperately rushing to aid the healing pill in repairing his broken vessel.
"He is stable, but he is in critical condition," the Healing Elder reported, wiping sweat from his brow. "He needs to be in a sterile environment immediately."
"Bring him to the Healing Pavilion," Hu Gan ordered, turning toward the exit. "Head Zhan, carry him. Carefully."
Zhan Yue nodded, wrapping her own cloak around his shivering form to ward off the chill, and followed the Deputy Headmaster out of the dark, freezing hell of the Riverlands.
The transition from the abyssal dark to the bright, sunlit surface was jarring, but the group moved with blinding speed. Within minutes, they had bypassed the bustling student sectors and arrived at the pristine, quiet halls of the Healing Pavilion.
Yoriichi was placed gently into a private, high-security recovery ward. The room was infused with passive, warming arrays and smelled strongly of medicinal incense.
For the next several hours, a rotation of the academy's best medical elders worked tirelessly. They carefully cleaned and stitched his physical wounds, realigned his dislocated shoulder, and bound his fractured ribs tightly with Qi-infused bandages.
Word of his return and his critical condition inevitably leaked out to the upper echelons of the Outer Academy.
Later that afternoon, the heavy wooden door to the private ward creaked open.
Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan stepped inside, followed closely by Xiao Yu. She had just awakened from her months-long trance-like state. The moment she opened her eyes, Hu Gan had personally intercepted her to deliver the news and bring her here.
She stopped at the foot of the bed, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.
Then the sorrow was violently and rapidly overtaken by fierce rage.
She slowly turned her head toward Hu Gan, her teeth gritted so hard her jaw trembled.
"Why?" Xiao Yu demanded furiously, her voice vibrating with a terrifying, unnatural echo. "Why is he like this? Why did this academy torture him to this extent?!"
As her anger spiked, the ambient temperature in the medicinal ward instantly plummeted below freezing. A suffocating, ancient pressure erupted from her body.
Hu Gan's ancient eyes widened in genuine, profound shock.
He stared at the silver-haired girl. He wasn't just shocked by the strange, bestial resonance hidden within her anger; he was astounded by her raw cultivation level. She had completely bypassed the upper boundaries of the Dou Shi realm during her secluded meditation. She was radiating the dense, liquid-solidified aura of a true Da Dou Shi! To make such a monumental leap in mere months was unheard of.
Taking the girl's terrifying potential and her current volatile state incredibly seriously, Hu Gan sighed, a wave of genuine guilt washing over his weathered face.
"It was a severe misjudgment, child," Hu Gan explained gently, consciously suppressing his own aura so as not to provoke her. He carefully detailed the Law Enforcement Unit's overstep, Commander Wu's subsequent suspension, and the harsh realities of the Riverlands.
"We made a mistake," Hu Gan admitted, a rare concession for a Deputy Headmaster. He looked her directly in the eyes. "But I swear to you upon my position on the council, no such injustice will ever fall upon him, or you, within these walls again. He has proven his Dao heart beyond any shadow of a doubt."
Xiao Yu stared at the Deputy Headmaster, her chest heaving as the freezing air swirled around her. After several long, tense minutes of his gentle persuasion and absolute guarantees, the feral, icy pressure slowly began to recede back into her Dantian.
She turned back to look at Yoriichi's pale face.
"Just... have him healed," she demanded, her voice finally breaking, losing its terrifying edge and returning to the desperate tone of a worried sister. "Fast and perfectly."
"It is already ongoing," Hu Gan assured her softly, stepping backward toward the door. "We are using the absolute highest-tier resources the academy possesses. I will leave you two in privacy."
As the heavy door clicked shut behind the Deputy Headmaster, Xiao Yu's legs finally gave out. She walked slowly to the side of the bed, her hands trembling.
She pulled up a wooden chair, sitting down heavily beside him. She gently reached out, terrified that even the slightest touch might break him further, and took his bandaged hand in both of hers, holding it close to her chest.
"Ning'er..." Xiao Yu whispered, her voice choking on a sob.
"You stubborn, foolish idiot," she cried softly, burying her face in the blankets near his arm. "I am here. Just... just rest now."