Ling smiled and said, "It was just a small favor, nothing to mention."

Actually, it wasn't really him who saved her just now. That protective shield was also created by the sword spirit within the space, and even he didn't have time to react.

The sword spirit, back in the space, was still somewhat dazed...

He didn't understand why he suddenly rushed over to save the woman...

But just a moment ago, a scene flashed through his mind—in a forest, the image of a girl appeared.

That's what she looked like; she was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, wearing a red gauze dress.

The red gauze dress was embroidered with a phoenix spreading its wings, so lifelike that it seemed to fly off the dress, its bright eyes looking at him.

He was stunned; this was something he had never encountered before.

However, when those red eyes looked at him, a strange emotion arose in his heart, as if... as if he were being held back by something, and he inexplicably rushed to the woman's side.

He hadn't even realized it before he had saved the woman...

Dao Ling frowned as he looked at the scene before him, for he seemed to have no information about her in his memory.

He didn't know why, but he always felt a sense of familiarity with this girl.

But he couldn't remember where it was. He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Zero's first thought was that the sword spirit knew this woman, but since the sword spirit didn't explain, he wouldn't ask.

"By the way, I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Ling walked up to Qiu Ling'er and Li Ning and nodded to them.

Qiu Ling'er seemed somewhat flattered. She bowed to Ling and said respectfully:

"Please feel free to ask me any questions, young master."

“It’s like this,” Zero said, looking at Qiu Ling’er, “How long have you been here? I’m asking about the Dimensional Capital…”

"Young Master is not from the Dimensional Capital either?"

Qiu Ling'er glanced at Ling and asked seriously.

“Uh, well, yes.” Zero scratched his head and replied. “I see. I’m not from the Dimensional Capital, young master. I came here because I was being chased…” Qiu Ling’er didn’t hide anything and told Zero about her experiences in detail. Zero didn’t suspect anything, after all, he had also met the woman’s enemies.

He was simply curious about what could possibly drive someone to hunt down this woman for three whole years…

Who is she?

As Ling was pondering this, Qiu Ling'er revealed her identity and background herself—

Originally, she lived in the Crimson Blaze Plain in the south, which was the poorest of the four major land regions (east, west, south, and north). The plain had a large population, but a severe shortage of cultivators. Therefore, those with talent like Qiu Ling'er were highly sought after by various powerful forces, including the four super powers of the Crimson Blaze Plain…

This wouldn't have been a problem in itself, since Qiu Ling'er's strength was indeed remarkable, and it was a good thing that she was being chosen for special training. However, her luck wasn't so good. As soon as she entered the four super powers, she was targeted by the elders of the four powers.

The elders of these four major powers all possessed formidable strength. They recognized Qiu Ling'er's talent and wanted to take her under their wing, but Qiu Ling'er refused. Since Qiu Ling'er was unwilling to become their disciple, the elders had no choice but to give up.

However, they valued Qiu Ling'er highly. Therefore, they remained kind and approachable towards her.

But all of this changed completely after the appearance of one woman…

That woman was an alchemist, but behind her was another fearsome profession—"bone refiner".

Bone refining, as the name suggests, involves deeply extracting the bones of a living person for cultivation.

This cultivation method is extremely cruel, but the effect is equally excellent. Most practitioners choose to refine bone pills, which can accelerate the absorption of bone marrow blood, while bone refining directly absorbs the life force of living people.

Moreover, during the bone-refining process, other bones can be fused into the bone, making them harder and more suitable for forging.

The practice of bone refining also enhances the toughness of the bones and increases their resistance to impact. This woman is the young lady of this super power, and also the head of the four major powers, "Tie Yu Linglong".

Upon first meeting Qiu Ling'er, "Tie Yu Linglong" resolved to "refine the bones" of this woman.

Because she discovered that this woman actually possessed spiritual bones!

Spirit bones are an extremely rare existence.

Spiritual bones not only allow one to cultivate spiritual power, but more importantly, they can give the cultivator strong bones.

Tie Yulinglong immediately recognized Qiu Ling'er's spiritual bone and decided to take it away. She sent someone to bring Qiu Ling'er to a valley.

This valley is very secluded and has a treacherous terrain. It is a place where the four major powers specialize in cultivating all kinds of precious spirit beasts and magical beasts.

Tie Yulinglong's goal is to refine Qiu Ling'er alive into a "Bone Marrow Pill" and then fuse her spiritual bones into it.

This is an extremely vicious method, but also a very clever one. If someone else were to be refined into a "bone marrow pill," they would probably die immediately, because this method of body refinement is so cruel that it is even more painful than having tendons pulled out and skin peeled off.

Qiu Ling'er naturally knew the power of the "Bone Marrow Pill," but she was not afraid, and she was confident that she could escape from here alive.

But things didn't go as planned. Tie Yulinglong not only captured Qiu Ling'er, but also sent many experts to protect her, making it impossible for her to escape.

After Tie Yulinglong brought Qiu Ling'er to the valley, she began to prepare materials for bone refining.

She placed some of her treasured rare medicinal materials into a large cauldron, then opened the lid and put the materials inside to be calcined.

Every bone-refining process here is extremely dangerous; the slightest mistake can result in complete annihilation.

But Tie Yulinglong didn't care; her bone-refining technique was absolutely top-notch.

Her methods were also very strange. She could control the flames in the cauldron with her mental power, and she also had a very strange method to bring her consciousness into the cauldron and then extract the materials inside.

This method is terrifying because this mental power can control other objects, can be used to attack anything, and can also make other people's objects react with her own.

Therefore, Tie Yulinglong can often refine various materials in this valley, and can even attach her soul power to it to control the various materials in the cauldron.

Just as Qiu Ling'er thought she was doomed and was about to self-destruct, a giant claw suddenly flew from afar and swallowed the cauldron in one gulp. Tie Yulinglong's spirit instantly dissipated, and her spiritual imprint also disappeared. Qiu Ling'er was immediately freed.

At this moment, Qiu Ling'er was trembling all over.

She thought she had no chance of leaving this place, but then a miracle happened and she was rescued by a giant claw!