Inside a residence within the Baicao Garden, at the Listening Fragrance Pavilion, wind chimes tinkled softly as red gauze curtains fluttered in the breeze.
Inside the room, Yao Xiaoxiao lay quietly on a soft couch, surrounded by a group of people with solemn expressions.
Outside, Xu Xian sat alone in the courtyard, his eyes closed as he nurtured his spirit.
His essence and blood were depleted, leaving his face tinged with weariness. After a while, the courtyard gate opened. The youth's ears twitched, and he squinted through a sliver of an opening to see a man in white rushing across the small yard and into the room.
Soon after, the sounds of respectful greetings drifted out from the room.
"Ancestor!"
"Elder Yao!"
"How is Xiaoxiao?"
"She's asleep. Her life isn't in immediate danger for now."
"What exactly happened?"
"We're not sure. Little Martial Uncle was the one who brought her back."
"Xu Xian?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"In the courtyard..."
After a brief silence, figures began to emerge from the room. Leading them was a man in white with a head of silver hair. He looked like a youth with a tall, upright stature—a refined and elegant gentleman.
Only his eyes, deep as an abyss, made him seem inscrutable.
He waved his sleeve and said calmly, "All of you, leave first."
The crowd bowed and performed their salutations, first to the man, then to Xu Xian as they paced through the courtyard. They exited the yard with sighs and whispered conversations...
Once the crowd had dispersed, the silver-haired man approached Xu Xian and scrutinized him.
"Xu Xian!"
Though he appeared to be a youth, his voice carried the weight of age and twilight, deep as the horn of passing years.
Xu Xian opened his eyes. He did not stand up, only nodding slightly in response.
The silver-haired man came straight to the point, asking in a heavy voice, "What medicine did you give Xiaoxiao?"
Xu Xian answered frankly, "My blood."
Hearing this, the man fell silent for a few breaths, his voice softening slightly. "You saved Xiaoxiao. My Yao family owes you a life."
Xu Xian gave a forced smile. "You can save someone for a moment, but not for a lifetime. It's too early to say that."
The silver-haired man frowned upon hearing this, remaining silent as he sat down dejectedly opposite Xu Xian.
Xu Xian asked bluntly, "What exactly is Xiaoxiao's illness?"
The silver-haired man lowered his gaze and uttered eight words.
"Innate cold poison, an incurable affliction beyond medicine."
Xu Xian was taken aback and pressed further, "You are Elder Yao, and even you can't cure it?"
A bitter smile touched the silver-haired man's lips as he laughed at himself. "Even Elder Yao is but a man, not a god."
Xu Xian tentatively asked again, "Is there no way at all?"
The silver-haired man looked at Xu Xian and pondered before saying, "Unless... there is a god in the mortal realm."
The implication was that while man could not cure it, perhaps a god could.
But where in this mortal realm were there any gods?
The youth fell silent.
The silver-haired man poured a cup of water for Xu Xian and slowly recounted:
"Xiaoxiao is a child of bitter fate. When she was born, cold qi leaked out and baleful aura surged to the heavens. At that time, this small courtyard saw ice forming in the peak of summer. Her mother was swept up by this cold qi; her dantian froze and her sea of qi solidified, killing her instantly."
"To save her mother, her father forcibly broke into the room and was likewise scorched by the cold qi. His meridians were completely shattered, and both of them turned into ice sculptures, drained of all blood and essence."
"I wasn't on the mountain at the time. By the time I rushed back, the tragedy was already complete."
"It was several of your Martial Uncles who came out of seclusion just in time. Using great supernatural arts, they forcibly sealed that strand of innate cold qi within her qi manors, barely preserving her life."
"But what can be suppressed for a moment cannot be sealed for a lifetime."
"Back then, they said Xiaoxiao wouldn't live past thirty. I refused to believe in fate and exhausted every means just to extend her life. Xiaoxiao is only twenty-five this year, yet I didn't expect this cold qi to break through her qi manor ahead of time."
"It truly has come to pass. This is fate."
"In my life, I have treated and saved countless people, yet I have never seen cold qi as wicked as what is inside her body. In the end, my heart is willing, but my strength is insufficient..."
Xu Xian listened patiently, his cheek twitching slightly.
Strange phenomena at birth.
Both parents dead.
Born with a wisp of cold qi that required the combined power of tribulation transcendence stage experts to suppress.
It was the template of a protagonist.
Unfortunately, it seemed destined for a tragic end.
Cold qi?
No.
It was yin qi.
Yin was cold; the people of Fanzhou did not recognize it, so they called it cold.
According to the Little Book spirit's explanation...
Yao Xiaoxiao should have died the day she was born. It was the people of the Wendao Sect who had extended her life for twenty-five years.
There was only one explanation for this situation.
When Yao Xiaoxiao was undergoing reincarnation, her soul did not pass through the normal channel. Instead, she had fallen directly out of a crack in the River of Reincarnation.
She was born into Fanzhou.
That strand of yin qi was something her soul had carried over from the River of Reincarnation from her previous life.
At the same time, it existed to correct the error.
To use an analogy, if the entire world was a person, Yao Xiaoxiao was a diseased cell—a loophole that the immune system would not allow to exist.
This yin qi was there to obliterate her.
However...
Someone had forcibly protected her.
Yet how could the strength of man contend against the Dao of Heaven and Earth?
Even with tribulation transcendence experts forcibly extending her life, it was merely a fleeting twenty-five years.
That yin qi was still there. It would not rest until it killed Yao Xiaoxiao.
The only way to eradicate it was for Yao Xiaoxiao to die, her soul entering the Netherworld, and the yin qi returning to reincarnation.
There was no other way.
Even if an immortal descended, they wouldn't have the ability to forcibly remove this yin qi that did not belong to the mortal plane.
At most, they could do what Xu Xian did: use their own blood to suppress it.
It wasn't even truly suppressing it.
It was putting it into a brief slumber.
A clash of yin and yang, a temporary balance.
It would eventually wake up, and when it did, it would be even more violent.
Unless...
Yao Xiaoxiao could reach the peak of the ultimate dao in this universe before it awakened.
She would need to control the void, travel freely between the realms of yin and yang, and ignore the cycle of life and death.
Otherwise, it was a dead end.
However...
Reaching the peak of the ultimate dao was easier said than done. In Fanzhou, it was absolutely impossible.
Furthermore, the backlash from the Laws of the Great Dao would never allow her to live until that time.
But...
Elder Yao hadn't recounted Yao Xiaoxiao's tragic life to Xu Xian for no reason. It wasn't just a whim; he definitely wanted something.
Pulling his thoughts back, Xu Xian said directly, "Elder Yao, if you have something to say, feel free to speak plainly."
Hearing this, the silver-haired man stopped beating around the bush and asked straight out, "This old man wishes to know how young friend Xu knew that his blood could suppress the cold poison in Xiaoxiao's body?"
Elder Yao was neither a disciple of the Sword Ancestor's lineage in the Wendao Sect nor a Guest Elder.
When the Sword Ancestor founded the Wendao Sect, four or five close friends had joined the sect. Among them was a confidante surnamed Yao, and Elder Yao was her only descendant.
Therefore, in terms of seniority, Elder Yao and Xu Xian were of the same generation. Calling him "young friend" was perfectly appropriate.
Xu Xian pondered for a moment before uttering a few enigmatic words.
"One Yin and one Yang, that is the Dao!"
Elder Yao was puzzled, his suspicion growing. He asked humbly for guidance,
"Could young friend please explain further?"
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