Exquisite Sanctuary. Guest Hall.

Qin Lingxue sat with the Abyssal Frost Sword resting across her knees, her posture as upright and unyielding as a lone pine on a cliff.

Wisps of vast, majestic Sword Intent drifted from the blade, twisting and distorting the void around her. At this moment, her expression was heavy with concentration, her eyes slightly closed. Countless invisible blades seemed to spiral around her, emitting a ceaseless, resonant hum.

She resembled a peerless divine weapon—cold, unbridled, and incomparably sharp—forming a stark, terrifying contrast with her ethereal, otherworldly beauty.

Just then, a respectful voice announced from outside the hall:

“Young Sword Master, Elder Ke requests an audience.”

Qin Lingxue slowly opened her eyes. Frost and snow seemed to swirl within her pupils, the icy chill of her meditation lingering. She remained silent for a moment, waiting for the restless agitation of her Sword Intent to subside, before responding calmly:

“Enter.”

Creak—

The door opened, and an elder carrying a longsword on his back walked in. His hair and beard were silver-white, and his aura was cold and biting—clearly a powerful Sword Cultivator at the Soul Formation realm.

Looking at the peerless beauty sitting upright before the low table, a flicker of surprise passed through Elder Ke’s eyes.

In just half a day, her Sword Intent had become visibly more refined. It felt as if she were on the verge of breaking through to the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm at any moment.

One had to realize that Qin Lingxue only began her cultivation at fourteen. Now, after a mere six years, she was approaching the mid-stage Nascent Soul. For a Sword Cultivator, this speed was nothing short of earth-shattering.

Unlike other cultivators who frequently swapped out their magical artifacts, Sword Cultivators adhered to the philosophy of “One Person, One Sword,” cultivating their life force in tandem with their Natal Flying Sword. This path required immense time and effort to nurture the blade and comprehend the Dao of the Sword.

While Sword Cultivators boasted combat power far surpassing their peers—capable of “breaking ten thousand spells with a single strike”—this power came at a cost. Their cultivation speed was notoriously slow, and the difficulty of breaking through realms was significantly higher than that of ordinary cultivators.

With such monstrous talent and the acknowledgment of the Abyssal Frost Sword, Elder Ke could easily foresee that, barring premature death, the next Sect Leader of the Abyssal Sanctuary would undoubtedly be Qin Lingxue.

Thinking this, the respect on his face deepened. He stepped forward and bowed properly.

“This subordinate pays respects to the Young Sword Master.”

Qin Lingxue raised her gaze slightly. “Elder Ke, what brings you here?”

Elder Ke hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Young Sword Master, news arrived from the Sanctuary not long ago. A young man has come to the gate seeking an audience. He… he claims to be your fiancé.”

“What?!”

Hearing this, even someone as ice-cold as Qin Lingxue couldn’t help but lose her composure. Her slender hand tightened around the sword hilt, her tone carrying a rare tension.

“What name did he give?”

Seeing her reaction, Elder Ke’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly replied, “The man said his name is Qi Yuan. He claims to be from the Qi Family of Wangchu City…”

“Qi Yuan!”

Qin Lingxue stood up abruptly, her plain white dress fluttering wildly as her Sword Intent surged. The Abyssal Frost Sword let out a clear, joyful chime in response.

“I must return to the Abyssal Sanctuary immediately to confirm this!”

“Elder Ke, you shall attend tomorrow’s celebration ceremony in my stead!”

With that, without waiting for the old man’s response, she tapped her toes lightly and transformed into a streak of blinding sword light that shot into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Watching her vanish, Elder Ke shook his head with a bitter smile, muttering to himself.

“I never thought the rumors were true. Someone of the Young Sword Master’s caliber is actually hung up on a piece of trash from a small family. I thought it was just idle gossip…”

He paused, reconsidering.

“Then again, it’s actually a good thing he’s trash with a Mixed Spiritual Root. He’ll never reach the Foundation Building stage. At most, we bring him to the Sanctuary, keep him as a pet for eighty or a hundred years, and he’ll die of old age.”

“Once he’s gone, the Young Sword Master will be free of earthly attachments, able to focus entirely on the sword. Perhaps she can reach even greater heights…”

Meanwhile, at the Exquisite Ancient Tree.

Qi Yuan calmed his agitated emotions and turned to Cheng Feihuang, who stood quietly by his side like an obedient servant.

“Senior, I heard you come from the ruins of an ancient Primordial World. Do you know the specific location of those ruins?”

Aside from completing the system tasks, the Heaven-Mending Pill was currently his top priority. This pill would determine whether he could re-embark on the path of the Heavenly Dao.

Even though becoming an immortal was still a distant dream, Qi Yuan had already tasted the sweet benefits of condensing a “Heavenly Dao Nascent Soul.”

Now, even without using the fourth layer of the Blood God Four Refinements (Blood Burning), he was confident he could suppress Ji Tianpeng—an early-stage Soul Formation genius—within a hundred moves.

One had to remember that Ji Tianpeng, the Holy Scion of Purple Sun, was a top-tier genius capable of fighting opponents two or three minor realms above him. Defeating him meant ordinary Soul Formation cultivators were no longer a threat to Qi Yuan. Crossing an entire major realm to crush an enemy was a feat that would shock the world.

If he could replenish the flaws in his Heavenly Dao Foundation and Golden Core, his already terrifying foundation would skyrocket. By then, he believed that even without burning his blood, he could sweep through anyone below the Void Refinement realm.

Furthermore, he vaguely felt that his innate talent, the [Blood God Four Refinements], had more potential than just this. If his foundation continued to grow, perhaps it could evolve into Blood God Five Refinements, Six Refinements… maybe even Nine Refinements!

Just thinking about it made his blood boil with excitement.

In the end, this world followed the law of the jungle: the strong ate, and the weak were meat. As long as one possessed sufficient strength, resources, power, beauties, and even immortality were all within easy reach.

Qi Yuan held a lofty position as the Holy Scion, but this identity represented potential, not true power. The Sect would spare no effort to protect and cultivate a genius, but a genius who hadn’t grown up was just a potential asset, not a player at the table.

For Qi Yuan, having been fortunate enough to live a second life, missing out on the view from the highest peak would be a wasted journey.

Hearing his question, Cheng Feihuang frowned slightly and spoke solemnly.

“The ancient Primordial World ruins you speak of are actually a massive spatial fragment. The periphery is ravaged by terrifying spatial storms. Without strength at or above the Dao Integration realm, going there is suicide.”

“Moreover, our Exquisite Sanctuary has been exploring that place for tens of thousands of years. We have essentially scavenged most of the treasures inside…”

Old Man Shi, fuck your ancestors!

Hearing this, Qi Yuan’s expression turned ugly.

That old ghost in the ring was nothing but a scam artist. The Command Mantra’s effect had a massive delay—if Qi Yuan hadn’t improvised, he’d be dead. And now, the “huge opportunity” he promised turned out to be a looted, dangerous scrap heap?

Even if he survived the spatial storms, the place had been picked cleaner than a bone in a dog kennel.

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan made a firm decision.

With this level of service, you still have the nerve to expect me to return the Cheng Huang beast? Do you take me for a simple-minded fool like Lin Zhen?

Return it? My ass!

I’d rather release the beast into the wild than give it back to you, you scheming old bastard!

Qi Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to scream, and asked with an expressionless face, “In that case, within those ruins, did your Exquisite Sanctuary ever discover any Heaven-Mending Pills?”

“You actually know of the Heaven-Mending Pill?”

Cheng Feihuang raised an eyebrow in surprise, then nodded. “Although we found no finished pills, we did collect quite a few ingredients required to refine them.”

“However, refining the Heaven-Mending Pill requires a Pill Saint. Currently, there is no Pill Saint within our Exquisite Sanctuary, only a few Heaven-rank Pill Masters.”

“You can take the ingredients. As long as you can find a living Pill Saint, you can have the pill refined.”

Ingredients are good enough!

Qi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the old ghost hadn’t lied about everything. At least the ruins contained the materials. Otherwise, he would have truly been played for a sucker.