Because the incident at Sanyue City happened in full view of everyone, with Elder Mei's methods comparable to those of a demonic cultivator, and Ruan Qing'an's almost stunning sword strike at the end—in the entire cultivation world, there is no other cultivator with such sword skills besides Ruan Qing'an.

Not to mention the Wan Dao Sect members who ultimately took her away.

Although that strike was indeed stunning, news of Ruan Qing'an's fatal injury spread quickly, causing a stir.

After all, Ruan Qing'an's act of going to the sect alone with a sword was so arrogant that it disgraced those sects. Now that people heard she was injured, some of them were secretly thinking of taking advantage of the situation.

The very next day, I heard that the entire Yang family had been wiped out.

Yesterday, Ruan Qing'an was attacked at his door, and today the Yang family is gone. It's hard to say these two events are unrelated, so—

The sect that had initially shown signs of trouble: Next time, next time we will definitely take revenge!

...

Inside the guest room, Shen Changlin was quietly guarding the bedside, while Ruan Qing'an, who had been unconscious, lay on the bed. Due to the severity of her injuries, she was still unable to regain consciousness even after emergency treatment.

This morning, an elder from the Danfeng Peak of the Wandao Sect came to inspect, but he left with a rather grim expression, as if the situation was difficult to handle.

"Master, you must get better soon..."

Shen Changlin murmured softly as he carefully placed the "Meeting Again" bracelet, which he had bought in the Treasure Pavilion, on Ruan Qing'an's fair wrist. Its lustrous color complemented her smooth, creamy skin perfectly.

He looked down, his deep black eyes filled with tenderness: "Changlin has prepared a gift for you, Master, but you haven't woken up yet, so I can only put it on you first. I don't know if you like it."

“When we were in the sect, Master, you were always in seclusion to cultivate, so I could only see you occasionally. Most of the time I could only cultivate and often complete sect missions, which earned me a lot of spirit stones and some opportunities. I saved up the ones I didn’t need.”

"The bracelet I chose for you, Master, is one of the ones I bought with these. When you get better, you must praise Changlin."

The boy's clear voice was unusually sweet, like a clingy puppy.

Shen Changlin grasped the woman's slender wrist, leaned down, and pressed his cheek against Ruan Qing'an's palm, his voice growing increasingly low and hoarse.

He wanted to pull the moon down and possess it for himself—but he didn't want the moon to rush towards him, fall from its pedestal, and be left in a sorry state.

Just then, faint voices came from outside the guest room.

To prevent Shen Changlin from noticing, the elders of the Wandao Sect specially set up a soundproof array to isolate disciples below the Golden Core stage. As for others, they didn't dare to explore the place.

After a brief silence, the elder from Zhenfeng spoke first, looking at the elder from Danfeng: "How is Elder Ruan?"

"...Have you informed the sect leader about what happened in Sanyue City?"

Elder Danfeng, however, avoided the main point and asked the question in a more evasive manner.

For a moment, no one was sure what he meant. After a while, someone said, "The sect leader said that the sect will soon send several elders to oversee things, in order to prevent any villains from taking the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Sigh, the sect leader is still more composed."

"Yes, it's just as I expected. They're very confident about everything, and we definitely don't need to worry about the sect's affairs."

After the elders discussed for a few moments, Elder Danfeng finally spoke up: "Elder Ruan's situation is really a bit tricky. Her body can't withstand the impact of the powerful force, which forces her soul to fall into a deep sleep in order to reduce the pressure on her body and prevent it from collapsing."

"Her spirit is exhausted, which is easy to solve. I have pills to treat it right now. But once her spirit recovers, it will increase the burden on her body, and her body will only collapse faster!"

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhenfeng countered, "Then why not stabilize the body first instead of treating the soul?"

"no."

Elder Danfeng said decisively, "The issue of the soul is extremely sensitive. If it remains in a weak state for a long time, it will truly damage the foundation, resulting in more harm than good. The most troublesome thing now is that the body's surface is undamaged, but its interior cannot support the powerful soul."

"Moreover, the body's recovery speed is slower than that of the soul, which is a real dilemma, and I don't have any materials available."

At this point, everyone roughly understood what he meant.

Elder Danfeng bluntly stated, "The best solution I can think of right now is to help Elder Ruan break through to the Integration Stage."

"The person is still unconscious?! How is that possible?!"

"Possibly."

He explained, "It might be due to Elder Ruan's cultivation technique. I can't say for sure why, but her spiritual cultivation is clearly stronger than her physical strength. So—since one basin can't hold all the water in her spiritual body, let's change to a different bucket or a different vat. We'll be able to hold it eventually."

"We just need to improve Elder Ruan's physical strength, but we need to figure out the specifics of how to do it."

Elder Danfeng paused: "The most urgent task now is to stabilize her soul. If we can restore her soul without putting pressure on her body, there is one thing that can do it."

What is it?

"The reward for the top Nascent Soul player in the Hidden Dragon Grand Competition is a Returning Essence Stone."

When Elder Danfeng finished speaking, all the elders fell silent. It wasn't that they didn't have disciples at the Nascent Soul stage, nor that the Myriad Paths Sect lacked the ability and confidence to take the top spot on the rankings; the question was—whether they were willing to do so.

The Returning to Truth Stone is extremely precious to all cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage. It is named after the idea of ​​"returning to simplicity and truth". It can remove impurities from the Nascent Soul that a cultivator has formed, and it can also increase the possibility of breaking through to the Divine Transformation stage in the future. Since the Divine Transformation stage is about refining the soul, the Returning to Truth Stone also has the effect of nourishing the soul.

If we could obtain the Returning Stone and have Ruan Qing'an's soul reside within it, it would not only ensure that her soul remained undamaged but also prevent further pressure on her body, thus accelerating the healing process. It would be a very good method.

But after Elder Danfeng finished speaking, no one answered.

After a period of silence, Elder Wu Feng spoke first.

"This...this is, after all, an opportunity for our disciples. Although the probability is extremely low, we cannot ask them to give it up."

"Take it if you have the ability, and we'll see if we can exchange it later."

That being said, all the elders present knew that no one would joke about their path to immortality. Breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage was not something every cultivator could achieve, and no one would refuse even the slightest hope.

Seeing this, Elder Danfeng was not surprised: "Alright, since that's the case, I can only stabilize the situation for now and wait for the sect's support. We'll see if the sect leader has any materials that can help."

"Okay, then—"

'Bang!'

Just then, the tightly closed guest room door was suddenly pushed open.

The young man, holding a long sword, leaned against the door. He could already vaguely see the extraordinary demeanor of his future youth. His deep black eyes silently looked at the elders: "I will participate in the Hidden Dragon Competition."

Although it was said that the Yang family was seeking revenge, the arrival of the Wan Dao Sect's rescue team, who hadn't even finished their mission, left the elders quite embarrassed. They couldn't help but say, "But Foundation Establishment cultivators are useless—"

"You've reached the Nascent Soul stage?!"

The elder's voice changed tone in fright.

Shen Changlin didn't explain much, only saying, "His innate Dao body has recovered, so there's no need for the elders to worry."

Then, the guest room door closed again.

After turning his back, Shen Changlin's previously barely polite expression instantly fell apart, and he chuckled softly, "They really can't be relied on for anything..."

\u0005\u0005\u0005\u0005\u0005