Leng Yixue’s face turned a deathly shade of pale, the blood draining from her lips until they were as white as the snow her name evoked. A flicker of disbelief trembled in her usually stoic eyes.

“Forbidden Soul Grass? I… how have I never heard of such a thing?”

Li Meng glanced indifferently at the unconscious woman on the bed, Leng Yiyue. His expression was calm, that of a scholar discussing a mundane historical fact rather than a life-or-death crisis.

“Records concerning the Forbidden Soul Grass have long since vanished from the mainstream cultivation world,” Li Meng stated, his voice smooth and authoritative. “This Junior Brother only stumbled upon a description of it in a fragmented ancient travelogue. Because its medicinal effects were so peculiar—targeting the soul specifically—I made a mental note of it.”

Leng Yixue stared fixedly at Li Meng, her hands clenching into tight fists within her sleeves.

“Junior Brother… is there a cure?”

The woman lying on the bed was not merely her Master’s wife. She was her kin, her elder, the last link to her mortal family.

Li Meng looked down at the Golden Core cultivator dressed in crimson robes. He remained silent, his expression thoughtful, seemingly weighing the scales of fate.

Leng Yixue watched him unblinkingly, a chaotic mix of anticipation and panic swirling in her gaze. She had naively believed her Master’s wife was simply in a deep slumber, perhaps needing time to metabolize the alcohol. She had sought Alchemists merely for reassurance. She never expected to face a verdict of such despair.

If the spirit wine was truly brewed with Forbidden Soul Grass… why would her Master brew such a treacherous poison?

After a silence that felt like an eternity, Li Meng shook his head slowly.

“A cultivator’s Sea of Consciousness is incredibly fragile. It is a domain of ethereal mist and spirit. If you were to ask a Nascent Soul Ancestor to use their powerful Divine Sense to forcefully impact Senior’s Sea of Consciousness to wake her, the shock would be catastrophic. At best, her Sea of Consciousness would shatter, leaving her an idiot. At worst… death and the dissipation of her Dao.”

Leng Yixue’s delicate body swayed violently as if struck by an invisible hammer.

Her face lost the last traces of color. Her aura, usually sharp and cold like glacial ice, suddenly became chaotic and turbulent. The foundational state of her Emotionless Dao began to fracture, cracks spider-webbing through her mental fortitude.

Li Meng’s eyes narrowed. He sensed the dangerous fluctuation in her Qi.

She’s going to suffer Qi Deviation.

He frowned slightly and let out a low, resonant shout, infused with a trace of spiritual pressure.

“Senior Sister! It is not that there is no cure!”

The voice struck Leng Yixue like a bell tolling in a silent valley. Her expression froze, and the chaotic turbulence in her aura instantly stilled.

She looked at Li Meng, her eyes wide with lingering fear and immense gratitude. If he hadn’t noticed the instability of her Heart Realm and intervened, her Dao Heart would have shattered right then and there. Her path to the Golden Core would have been severed forever.

Leng Yixue took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil, and bowed deeply to Li Meng.

“Junior Brother… thank you.”

Li Meng waved his hand casually, adopting the air of a benevolent sage. “I could not simply stand by and watch Senior Sister’s Dao Heart shatter, cutting off your path to longevity. That would be a tragedy.”

[+50 Affection] [+250 Sub-profession Experience]

A profound gratitude flashed in Leng Yixue’s gaze. The rumors were true; despite his aloof demeanor, Junior Brother Li possessed a kind heart.

“Junior Brother, Master’s wife, she…” Leng Yixue turned her desperate gaze back to the bed.

Li Meng followed her line of sight to the red-clad beauty.

“She can be saved,” Li Meng pronounced, his tone measured. “But it will require a significant amount of time. We must use specific medicinal baths to gradually extract the toxin of the Forbidden Soul Grass from her body. Simultaneously, I must use my own Divine Sense to gently stimulate Senior’s Sea of Consciousness, bit by bit, guiding her back to wakefulness. It is a delicate process. It could take a few years… or perhaps even decades.”

Leng Yixue turned back to Li Meng, her eyes resolute. She bowed again, lower this time.

“Please, Junior Brother. Save my Master’s wife. I am willing to pay any price.”

Li Meng’s eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the breathtakingly beautiful woman before him. Leng Yixue bore a striking resemblance to the woman on the bed—about sixty percent similar. They were undoubtedly blood relatives.

She cultivates the Emotionless Dao, Li Meng mused internally, his thoughts calculating. Such a woman is like a block of thousand-year-old ice. You cannot smash it; you must melt it with persistent, long-lasting warmth. If I try to force a relationship now, occupy the ‘pit’ too early, her negative affection will never turn positive. I must play the long game.

“Senior Sister, there is no need for such talk,” Li Meng said warmly. “You and I are fellow disciples of the Joyous Union Sect, and this Senior is an Elder of our sect. It is only right that I do my part.”

He gestured to the bed. “However, the treatment is complex. I cannot come here every day. I will need to take Senior back to Moon Gaze Peak with me.”

A flicker of hesitation passed through Leng Yixue’s eyes. Taking her Master’s wife to another man’s peak? If she woke up, would she be furious?

But Moon Gaze Peak was the only place where she could receive Li Meng’s specialized treatment. She couldn’t leave her here to rot.

[+10 Affection] [+50 Sub-profession Experience]

“Junior Brother,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “I leave her to you.”

With her consent secured, Li Meng walked to the bedside.

He stopped, his gaze sweeping over the sleeping beauty. Even in her coma, Leng Yiyue was stunning—a mature, vibrant beauty that contrasted sharply with Leng Yixue’s cold elegance.

Li Meng bent at the waist, extending his hands. One arm slid beneath the Senior’s back, feeling the warmth of her body through the red silk. The other hooked under the bend of her knees.

He lifted the Golden Core cultivator effortlessly.

Immediately, a rich, mature fragrance wafted from her body, assaulting his senses. It was intoxicating.

So fragrant.

Li Meng’s eyes flashed with a hidden appreciation, but his face remained the picture of professional solemnity. Holding the Golden Core Senior securely in his arms, he turned and walked toward the door.

Click.

The door to the pavilion opened.

Leng Yixue stepped out first, her expression distraught but hopeful. Li Meng followed, the red-clad woman cradled in his arms.

Zhao Kuo, who had been waiting anxiously by the stone table, stood up immediately. When he saw Li Meng carrying his Master’s wife, his eyes widened, and a flicker of dark, barely perceptible anger flashed through them.

“Junior Sister, this is…” Zhao Kuo asked, his voice tight.

“Junior Brother Li has a method to cure Master’s wife,” Leng Yixue explained quickly. “But the treatment is intricate. She must go to Moon Gaze Peak to receive long-term care.”

She glanced at her Dao Companion. “Senior Brother, what is wrong?”

Wasn’t it a good thing that there was hope? Why did Zhao Kuo look so… unhappy? He stood there, brows furrowed, a shadow cast over his face.

“Senior Brother?”

Zhao Kuo snapped out of his daze, forcing a stiff smile onto his face. “N-nothing. That is… that is wonderful news.”

Li Meng cast a deep, knowing glance at Zhao Kuo.

Jealousy? Possessiveness? Or something else?

Whatever it was, Li Meng didn’t care. He turned his attention to Leng Yixue.

“Senior Sister, the treatment will be long. Would you like to accompany us to Moon Gaze Peak?”

“C… can I?” Leng Yixue’s eyes lit up. She looked at the woman in Li Meng’s arms. Naturally, she wanted to be there to tend to her. But Moon Gaze Peak was Li Meng’s private territory, not a public area like Embrace Moon Peak.

Li Meng flicked his free hand. A beam of light shot out from the Sword Nurturing Gourd at his waist—a Formation Token. It hovered before Leng Yixue.

“Moon Gaze Peak is vast,” Li Meng said casually. “If Senior Sister is worried, you are welcome to reside there for as long as you wish.”

Leng Yixue caught the token, clutching it tightly. “Junior Brother… won’t it be a disturbance? I heard there is also a Master Artifact Refiner residing on your peak.”

Li Meng chuckled, shaking his head. “It is no hindrance. Come.”

Without waiting for a reply, spiritual energy surged beneath his feet. Holding Leng Yiyue, he rose into the air, riding the wind straight toward the mists above.

Leng Yixue turned to Zhao Kuo. “Senior Brother, if there are important matters, come find me at Moon Gaze Peak. I… I want to accompany Master’s wife for a while.”

Zhao Kuo’s smile was strained, but he nodded gently. “Go. If anything happens, I will come find you.”

Leng Yixue nodded gratefully, then summoned her flying sword and soared into the sky, chasing after Li Meng.

Zhao Kuo did not follow.

He hovered alone outside the peak’s formation, watching the two figures—and the woman carried between them—disappear into the distance. He watched until they were nothing but specks on the horizon.

Only then did the smile vanish from his face. He looked at the empty pavilion, a flicker of profound disappointment and darkness flashing in his eyes.

High above the sea of clouds, amidst the cluster of peaks.

Two figures flew in tandem, leaving the mountains behind them.

“Senior Sister,” Li Meng asked over the rushing wind, “May I ask for Senior’s full name?”

“Leng Yiyue,” she replied softly.

A flicker of surprise touched Li Meng’s mind.

Leng Yixue. Leng Yiyue.

The names sounded like sisters.

“Does Senior Sister have a blood relationship with Senior Leng?”

Leng Yixue turned her head, looking at the sleeping woman in Li Meng’s arms with a complicated expression.

“Master’s wife is the Ancestor of my mortal family,” she explained quietly. “Of that generation of cultivators from our clan… only she remains.”

Li Meng nodded, asking no further questions.

Ahead, the mists of Moon Gaze Peak churned and parted, opening a passage as if welcoming its master home.

Li Meng and Leng Yixue flew through the gap, descending into the secluded world of the peak.