Seeing the master and disciple embracing, the atmosphere was just right. The elders in the room looked at each other, especially Elder Danfeng, who seemed to want to say something but could only cough softly.
"Cough cough—"
"..."
"Cough cough cough!"
"..."
Just as Elder Danfeng was about to cough loudly enough, Shen Changlin finally reacted. Ruan Qingan raised his hand and nudged him, and the young man reluctantly let go and stood aside.
His deep black eyes were fixed on Elder Danfeng, his smile polite and gentle, much like that of a kind and good young man.
But Elder Danfeng still felt that something was off.
At this moment, Ruan Qing'an sat up and bowed slightly to Elder Danfeng: "Thank you for your help. A few days ago, a Soul Grass grew on my Yanlai Peak. I heard that Elder wanted to refine a pill and was short of this material. I will send it to you when I return to Wandao Sect."
"Elder Ruan, you're too kind."
Elder Danfeng quickly waved his hand, but the joy in his eyes did not diminish at all. He paused and then said, "Actually, it's nothing. It's not right to disturb your reunion at this time. It's just that Elder Ruan's health condition is special, so you need to take extra care."
"I originally planned to nurture your soul on the Returning to Truth Stone, but then I realized that even just getting your body to break through to the Integration Stage would be a very difficult task, consuming a lot of resources."
"Therefore, the current plan is to nurture a portion of your divine soul within it. There won't be any problems in the short term, but Elder Ruan, you still need to break through to the Integration Stage as soon as possible to stabilize and take back this portion of your divine soul, otherwise you will lose it forever."
Elder Danfeng paused: "If your soul is incomplete, you will probably never be able to reach a higher realm in this lifetime, Elder Ruan."
The atmosphere in the room was tense.
Ruan Qing'an closed his eyes and nodded solemnly—this was an enormous blow to the original owner. If he were to be unable to attain the Great Dao in this life, it would be something even more frightening than death.
After giving his instructions, Elder Danfeng left with the others.
After everyone left, Shen Changlin, who had been standing by like a wooden statue, snuggled up to Ruan Qing'an again, squatted down next to her, looked up at her, and smiled.
He regarded her as the moon, holding her on a pedestal.
Just as Shen Changlin was about to speak, his gaze fell on the jade hairpin holding Ruan Qing'an's hair up, and he paused: "Master, what is this?"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an was slightly taken aback and subconsciously raised his hand to touch it.
Her eyes suddenly darkened. This was clearly the jade hairpin Mu Cangwu had given her, but shouldn't it have disappeared? How did it come back with her? Could it be...?
"Master, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. Now that the competition is over, let's head back to the sect."
As Ruan Qing'an spoke, he took the jade hairpin off with his other hand.
Before Shen Changlin could ask, she shattered him with a burst of spiritual energy in her palm—giving Mu Cangwu no chance to make a move, after all, she was afraid that Mu Cangwu and Lou Yunqi would come knocking on her door. Because it was during the contract formation that he ran away in front of her, even Ruan Qing'an was a little scared.
037: [You'd better run, run now...]
This is a huge slap in the face for them. They prepared a ceremony and even hired people, and then they were all killed on the spot. Ancestor... For your personal safety, I think we should be more careful.
Ruan Qing'an: "It's rare that you said something that makes sense, little system. The Myriad Paths Gate is still safer; at least we can't just barge in."
037: [It's not...impossible?]
Ruan Qingan: ...No way, you'll get locked up!
To prevent any unforeseen complications, Ruan Qing'an took Shen Changlin and rushed towards the Wandao Sect that very night. Zhan Hongyuan had just received a message from the elder saying that Ruan Qing'an and the others were preparing to return, and as soon as he put down the communication jade slip, they arrived.
It didn't seem like they were returning to their sect; it looked more like they were fleeing.
...
Just as the sky was beginning to lighten and even the orange-yellow sunrise was only spreading on the distant horizon, Zhan Hongyuan was forced to leave his cave and arrive at the main hall of the Wandao Sect.
Looking at the two people standing in the main hall, Zhan Hongyuan rubbed his temples with a headache: "Elder Ruan, even if you're in a hurry to return to the sect, there's no need to be in such a rush..."
"I wasn't feeling well and was in a hurry to come back to recuperate."
Ruan Qingan remained expressionless, speaking in a cold tone.
Upon hearing this, Zhan Hongyuan sighed: "By the way, I also heard about your injuries. How are you now? Are they still affecting you?"
Ruan Qingan then gave a brief explanation.
Upon hearing that she needed to break through to the Integration Stage as soon as possible, Zhan Hongyuan's eyes, which had been carrying a gentle smile, flickered slightly as he glanced at Shen Changlin beside her, before looking away without making a sound.
He chuckled and said, "Your talent is exceptional, you'll definitely break through soon. But Shen Changlin, has your innate Dao body been repaired?"
Shen Changlin cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Sect Master."
"That's good, that's good. I didn't expect that in the face of life and death, it could really bring out a person's potential. Now that you've recovered, then cultivate diligently. The sect will give you its full support."
Zhan Hongyuan offered a few more words of encouragement and specially allocated a considerable amount of cultivation resources and healing medicines to Yanlai Peak before letting them leave.
After watching Ruan Qing'an and Shen Changlin disappear, only Zhan Hongyuan remained in the empty hall. He sat in the main seat and suddenly coughed violently, his whole body weak and listless.
As dawn broke, the golden sunlight fell on his weak and somewhat pale face, while Zhan Hongyuan's complexion was flushed with an eerie excitement, his eyes filled with greed and obsession.
"It's good that you've recovered, that's good..."
"As expected, letting the Yang family seek revenge was the real breakthrough! Hahahaha—"
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