While his consciousness was clouded, Murong Yan seemed to feel a heat on his cheek, and a soft touch fell on him, leaving him as soon as he touched her.

The faint, sweet fragrance that lingered around my nose suddenly disappeared...

He instinctively wanted to stop it, but the surging, immense spiritual power forced him to focus his mind and concentrate on absorbing and integrating the spiritual power within his body.

Time slips away quietly...

When Murong Yan's cultivation broke through again, he successfully advanced to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

At only twenty-five years old, in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, even 100,000 years ago when the spiritual energy in the cultivation world was extremely abundant, such a person would be one in ten thousand.

With his cultivation breakthrough and Qin Wan's absence, Murong Yan finally got a temporary respite as no one guided the surging spiritual energy into his body.

Upon exiting his meditation, Murong Yan immediately sensed something was wrong.

No!

My junior sister's aura has vanished!

Murong Yan's expression changed drastically, and he made a hand seal to illuminate the surroundings.

Yes, after absorbing the spiritual power containing the laws of space, he comprehended a portion of the laws of space, knowing how to have light here, and how to leave and enter this place.

Suddenly, the spatial rift was brightly lit.

After looking around and not finding Qin Wan, Murong Yan's expression turned solemn. He immediately closed his eyes and unleashed his divine sense, spreading it throughout the entire spatial rift...

No!

No!

Still no!

Without hesitation, Murong Yan left the spatial rift and appeared in the Inheritance Hall.

By then, Feng Yi and the others had already left. Murong Yan searched the entire Inheritance Hall but couldn't find Qin Wan. Instead, he ran into Jiang Liufeng and Nie Xiao, the two fellow disciples.

"Junior brother...?"

Jiang Liufeng was about to greet Murong Yan, but when he saw that Murong Yan was all alone, his expression immediately changed.

"Where is Junior Sister?"

“…It’s lost.” Murong Yan pursed his thin lips, his face grim.

"Lost???" Nie Xiao suddenly raised his voice, his face full of disbelief.

"How can a perfectly healthy person just disappear like that?"

"Junior brother, didn't you promise to protect junior sister?"

Nie Xiao has a fiery temper, is impatient, and is a stubborn, straightforward man, so he often speaks without thinking.

He was clearly only worried about Qin Wan, but his words sounded like he was questioning Murong Yan.

Almost as soon as Nie Xiao finished speaking, Jiang Liufeng quickly kicked him.

"Senior Brother, why did you kick me?" Nie Xiao glared at Jiang Liufeng, annoyed.

"If you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all." Jiang Liufeng glared at him with exasperation.

"Even if Master came, he couldn't protect Junior Sister completely in the Abyss Secret Realm."

"Let alone my junior brother?"

Nie Xiao looked at Murong Yan with guilt. "I didn't mean to blame my junior brother, I was just worried about my junior sister..."

"This was indeed my fault," Murong Yan said.

"But the most urgent task is not to find out who is right and who is wrong, we need to find a way to find our junior sister first."

Seeing the anxious and worried look in Murong Yan's eyes, Jiang Liufeng mysteriously took out the talisman from his pocket.

"I'm good at finding people."

The talisman spontaneously combusted without being lit.

A wisp of smoke drifted eastward on the wind...

"Junior sister is over there!"

Murong Yan immediately chased after Qingyan, with Jiang Liufeng and Nie Xiao close behind.

Inside the cave, beneath the stalactites.

In the icy pool, the girl, her face pale, was soaking in the freezing water.

Centered on her, a surge of spiritual energy swept towards her.

Upon seeing Qin Wan's current appearance, Murong Yan immediately turned around...

Seeing Jiang Liufeng and Nie Xiao approaching, Murong Yan raised his hand and struck out with a palm strike without the slightest hesitation.

"Wow!"

"Junior brother, you're killing him to cover your tracks!!"

Jiang Liufeng and Nie Xiao both screamed in pain as they were blasted out of the cave.

Before they could turn back, a transparent barrier appeared at the entrance of the cave, ruthlessly isolating them from the outside.

Having witnessed Murong Yan's actions, Qin Wan's lips curled slightly.

At the cave entrance, a look of struggle appeared in Murong Yan's eyes.

Qin Wan encountered her destiny and is currently undergoing a cleansing and marrow-refining process in the cave. If nothing unexpected happens, she will be able to embark on the path of cultivation in the future.

The problem is that undergoing a marrow cleansing ritual is extremely dangerous, with a high chance of survival.

If left unattended, one careless move could cause one to faint, as the excess spiritual energy within the body cannot be absorbed and integrated, posing a risk of exploding and dying at any moment.

In such a critical situation, he should have gone to check on Qin Wan.

But……

But in that fleeting glimpse just now... if he wasn't mistaken, Qin Wan's clothes seemed to have melted away in the icy spring water.

she……

Qin Wan's fair and rounded shoulders uncontrollably appeared in my mind.

With her snow-white skin and jet-black hair, she was breathtakingly beautiful, which was also why he was unable to move an inch at this moment.

He... dared not approach.

"Hmm..."

Murong Yan was in a state of utter confusion when suddenly a faint, rustling sound came from nearby...

His brain hadn't even processed what was happening before his body had already reacted.

"Splash!"

A tall figure suddenly appeared in the icy pool.

A large, warm hand was placed on Qin Wan's back, and rich spiritual energy flowed into Qin Wan's body through their touching skin.

Under the guidance of Murong Yan's spiritual power, the chaotic and violent spiritual power within Qin Wan's body was soothed and cleared.

The body in his palm was icy cold, yet Murong Yan felt it was burning hot...

He stared straight ahead, expressionless, not daring to look down an inch.

Even so...

"pain……"

A faint cracking sound escaped from Qin Wan's mouth.

Murong Yan's heart trembled. "Junior sister, bear with it. As long as you endure the pain of cleansing your meridians and marrow, you will be able to cultivate and become a true cultivator!"

Murong Yan tried to slow down his tone and keep his voice steady.

"Senior brother..."

"It hurts so much..."

"It really hurts..."

Qin Wan's helpless murmurs continued to drift over.

Her body trembled slightly, gradually curling up into a ball.

As she changed her posture, Murong Yan's hand, which was pressed against her back, was forced to move as well...

Just as Murong Yan hesitated whether he should withdraw his hand, a cold, delicate body suddenly snuggled into his arms...

Murong Yan: "!!!"

!!

!!

!!

This time, Murong Yan froze completely in place, not daring to move an inch.

His hands were frozen in mid-air, with nowhere to go.

While he was distracted, a pair of soft, boneless hands silently wrapped around his neck and waist, and a small face, carrying a chill, pressed against his chest.

"cold……"

"Senior brother..."

"I'm so cold..."

Murong Yan: "..."

After a long while, Murong Yan finally suppressed the trembling in his heart, closed his eyes, and silently held Qin Wan in his arms, his large hand once again landing on her fair and cold back.

A massive amount of spiritual energy entered her body once more, helping to unblock the spiritual energy within her body and open up the second-generation Ren and Du meridians...

Her body was forged inch by inch.

Her meridians were destroyed and then repaired.

Time slipped away silently, and Qin Wan's broken cries of struggle gradually faded away...

Finally, when everything calmed down, Qin Wan had already closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

Murong Yan took out an outer robe and wrapped it around her, then carried her out of the icy pool and spring, using hand seals to dry each other off.

Only at this moment did he dare to look down at the "weak" Qin Wan in his arms...