Bai Ying's knees sank deep into the snow, her broken bones piercing her flesh, blooming like blood lotuses on the ice. Her battered body leaned slightly forward, like a shield riddled with holes yet stubbornly standing tall, protecting Wang Miaomiao behind her.

"I'm sorry..." Blood gushed from the corner of her mouth, each word laced with fragments of internal organs, "I couldn't protect you anymore..."

She recalled that morning a year ago when she was heading to the Lingyin Sect, and Wang Miaomiao skipped up to her and said, "Junior Sister, come back soon! We'll cultivate together then."

As she spoke, she slipped a piece of candy into Bai Ying's palm.

The warmth of the girl's fingertips seemed to linger in his palm, yet he himself couldn't even fulfill that simple promise.

She always felt pressed for time and thought that she could cultivate faster by herself, but she neglected the people around her... Now she can no longer cultivate with them.

Wang Miaomiao struggled to raise her hand. Her body was covered in blood. But her smile remained as bright as ever, just like the little girl who happily hugged Bai Ying after she was protected and escaped from the Wang family.

"This time..." the girl's voice was as soft as a feather, "it's my turn to protect you..."

Bai Ying's trembling hand touched her cheek, but left a glaring red mark on the blood-stained skin, and tears blurred her vision.

The old patriarch Huayang's cold laugh tore through the wind and snow: "What protection? You weak ants, may you all die!"

The crimson greatsword emitted a bloodthirsty hum.

This sword strike embodied his life's cultivation; even before the blade arrived, the sharp sword energy had already torn several deep, bone-revealing gashes into Bai Ying's back.

Bai Ying opened her eyes wide in despair.

Her meridians were ruptured inch by inch, and she didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. She could only watch helplessly as death approached.

Suddenly, a strong force pushed her away!

"Buzz!"

A dazzling golden light burst forth from Wang Miaomiao's arms.

The girl moved incredibly fast, and the wrinkled animal skin that she had been rubbing day and night was finally firmly placed on Bai Ying's heart.

"This is..." Bai Ying's pupils contracted sharply.

The animal hide was covered with crooked writing, some of which had been traced many times.

Those crooked yet meticulously drawn runes, each stroke imbued with the girl's heart and soul. An ugly smiley face was drawn at the edge, next to which was written, "For my best junior sister."

This is a teleportation array that Wang Miaomiao painstakingly drew stroke by stroke with the blood of her heart, using the tip of a needle dipped in her heart's blood, after countless sleepless nights!

She always said she would surprise Bai Ying when she returned from Lingchuan Continent, but every time she would get so angry that she would throw it away and start over because she drew the wrong runes.

The moment the formation was activated, Bai Ying saw the small characters on the back of the animal hide:

"Bai Ying, keep it up, you're the best!"

The last wavy symbol was drawn particularly large, resembling Wang Miaomiao's carefree laughter.

This was the "little gift" Wang Miaomiao had given her before! A teleportation array she had made herself.

The formation activated instantly, and a dazzling golden light enveloped Bai Ying.

A strange light shone in Wang Miaomiao's eyes.

She discovered this teleportation array after Bai Ying left, when she searched through the entire library of the Lingxiao Sect.

It was a fragment of a written description.

Her cultivation level was too low. Although she wanted to protect Bai Ying, she knew that she was simply not capable of doing so with her current strength.

So during the time Bai Ying went to Lingchuan Continent, the only thing she did was to help Bai Ying create the best teleportation array so that it could protect Bai Ying's safety in the most critical moments.

However, her talent was really poor, and her research on formations was not very in-depth. But thinking that she had to make a life-saving talisman for Bai Ying, she spent day and night reading the book on making ancient formations.

She racked her brains and finally created the teleportation array.

However, the teleportation array was not very perfect, and it couldn't be used just now.

Looking at Bai Ying, who was enveloped in golden light, Wang Miaomiao smiled with a relieved expression.

At that moment, she remembered that rainy night eight months ago—

"Wrong again..." She bit her lip and wiped away the crooked lines on the drawing. A clap of thunder boomed outside the window, illuminating the mountain of discarded drafts in front of her—each page densely covered with calculations, yet always failing at the last stroke.

"Why... just won't it work...?"

She pressed her forehead against the cold tabletop, recalling how easily Bai Ying had set up the array. That person was always like that, able to effortlessly master even the most difficult techniques, just like...

It shines as brightly as the stars in the sky.

And now, the star is gradually dimming before her eyes.

Looking at Bai Ying, who was covered in blood, Wang Miaomiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

She finally understood what she was missing—the final step of the formation wasn't drawn...

Instead, one must burn one's own soul to create the formation!

"That's great..." She pressed her bloodied fingers to her chest, feeling her heart pounding wildly, "There's still time..."

Now, seeing Bai Ying in her teleportation array, Wang Miaomiao's face showed an incredibly radiant smile.

Bai Ying frantically tried to grab her hand: "Let's go together!"

The teleportation array had already started operating, but Wang Miaomiao didn't tell her that it required a sacrifice of her own soul to activate it.

"Take care..." Wang Miaomiao used her last strength to hug her, "My little sister... we promised... I would be your older sister... an older sister is meant to protect her younger sister..."

The sword light of the Huayang Ancestor arrived with a thunderous roar.

His sword energy, cleaving through the air, tore through the sky, causing space to collapse like shattered glass. Dark void currents, carrying an aura of destruction, surged forth, emitting terrifying shrieks.

The crimson giant sword that had devoured countless souls was now reflecting Wang Miaomiao's calm face.

She glanced one last time at Bai Ying, who was weeping in the golden light, and softly uttered the words she hadn't finished saying that year:

"You must live well..."

Bai Ying's scream was heart-wrenching: "No—!!!"

In the final instant of the teleportation, she watched helplessly as the crimson sword light engulfed Wang Miaomiao. The girl's bright smile shattered in the dazzling light, dissolving into countless specks of light...