When the guards saw their young mistress returning safely from afar, they were overjoyed. Though she looked somewhat disheveled, she had not sustained any major injuries.
The leading guard quickly hurried forward to meet her, his tone a mix of excitement and lingering fear.
“Young Mistress, you are finally back!”
“When the City Lord discovered you had entered the mountains alone and lost contact, he was frantic with worry. He ordered all of us to enter the mountains on a search and rescue mission; we were almost ready to sweep through the entire range. It is truly a blessing that you are unharmed.”
The other guards also breathed sighs of relief, the tense anxiety on their faces melting away.
Qin Fuyue said gently, “I've made everyone worry. I am fine. However, during this trip into the mountains, my two guards unfortunately perished in order to protect me and help me escape.”
“Take some men into the mountains immediately. Go to the location I describe, retrieve their remains properly, and bring them back to the city for burial.”
Keeping her promise to Ye Ling firmly in mind, she did not say a single word about the rogue cultivators' ambush or the young girl saving her life. She only gave instructions regarding the aftermath of her two guards.
The guards quickly accepted their orders. While carefully escorting Qin Fuyue, they also arranged a group to head into the mountains to retrieve the bodies.
Just before she was completely surrounded by the crowd, Qin Fuyue instinctively turned her head to look back at the shadows of the forest where they had just stood, hoping to catch one last glimpse of that cold, ethereal girl.
But the woods were empty. The evening breeze gently swayed the shadows of the trees, and that slender figure had long since vanished.
Ye Ling had already slipped away quietly, retracing her steps back to the Water Curtain Cave.
Feeling a touch of melancholy in her heart, Qin Fuyue kept the secret locked tight and returned safely to Baiyun City under the escort of the guards.
Night fell heavily as the stars and moon rose into the sky. The Baiyun Mountain Range plunged into complete silence.
Inside the Water Curtain Cave, moonlight filtered through the crevices in the rock, casting a serene, silver glow across the ground.
Ye Ling sat cross-legged on the stone bed, clearing her mind of distracting thoughts as she quietly circulated her cultivation method. A breakthrough to the Houtian Eighth Layer was close at hand.
She planned to break through to the Houtian Eighth Layer first, and then use the Spirit Gathering Grass to leap straight into the late-stage Houtian Realm in one go.
The transition from the mid stage to the late stage was a significant hurdle. For martial artists with ordinary talent, it was a barrier they might never cross in their entire lives.
Late-stage Houtian martial artists were already considered powerhouses in Baiyun City. Even in the entire Ye family, there were only a few dozen of them.
In the dead of night, several soft footsteps echoed in the forest. It was the guards from the City Lord's estate, arriving under orders.
Following the location Qin Fuyue had given them earlier that evening, they successfully located the remains of the two guards.
The guards looked solemn as they carefully prepared the bodies. The entire process was quiet and orderly, as they dared not disturb the peace of the mountain forest.
Once everything was handled, they slowly withdrew with the remains and headed back to the city to report.
Ye Ling sensed all of this but remained completely unmoved. She kept her eyes closed and her mind focused, continuing her deep cultivation.
Within the cold cave dwelling, only the sound of her long, steady breathing and the gentle flow of spiritual energy remained.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Water Curtain Cave was quiet and peaceful. The spiritual energy of the mountain stream slowly flowed into the cave, swirling around the stone bed.
Ye Ling spent three days without sleep or rest, sitting cross-legged the entire time. She steadily absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, filling her dantian bit by bit.
Her cultivation required no breaking of bottlenecks or comprehension of realms; it relied entirely on pure accumulation. Once her spiritual energy was fully amassed, her cultivation would naturally progress.
After an unknown amount of time, the spiritual energy within her dantian reached complete and utter fullness, unable to hold even a single drop more.
With a soft hum, the spiritual energy around her body vibrated slightly, and her aura rose steadily.
She had successfully reached the Houtian Eighth Layer.
After her breakthrough, Ye Ling did not rush to continue cultivating. She sat quietly for a long time, repeatedly circulating her spiritual energy to wash through her meridians and solidify her foundation.
She completely stabilized her newly reached Houtian Eighth Layer, ensuring her foundation was rock-solid and stable, without the slightest hint of instability.
Once her realm was completely stable, Ye Ling reached into her robe and pulled out her storage bag.
Over the past few days, she had already organized all her resources and stored them safely inside.
Confirming everything was ready, Ye Ling reached in and retrieved the Spirit Gathering Grass.
The stalk of grass was a vibrant, translucent green, containing a rich and mellow spiritual energy. The moment she brought it out, the concentration of spiritual energy within the entire cave surged dramatically.
Without any hesitation, Ye Ling placed the Spirit Gathering Grass directly into her mouth.
The spirit herb melted the instant it entered her mouth, turning into a warm, majestic torrent of pure spiritual energy that surged into her meridians and dantian like a rising tide.
It was both gentle and vast, continuously replenishing her reserves of spiritual energy.
A massive amount of spiritual energy rapidly accumulated, filled, and rose. Her newly stabilized Houtian Eighth Layer was instantly filled to the brim and overflowed under the infusion of the Spirit Gathering Grass's medicinal power.
The moment her dantian reached its absolute limit, her cultivation naturally advanced once more.
Her aura climbed rapidly, her meridians widened, the purity of her spiritual energy increased, and her overall presence became steady and powerful.
In an instant, Ye Ling made a smooth breakthrough from the Houtian Eighth Layer directly to the Houtian Ninth Layer, her realm solid and her spiritual energy incredibly dense.
The majestic spiritual energy coursed through her body, washing over her limbs and bones.
Every inch of her meridians was thoroughly nourished and widened, and her physical body and bones underwent another pure baptism.
Ye Ling slowed down the circulation of her cultivation method, patiently guiding the spiritual energy within her body. She sealed all the medicinal power and spiritual energy into her dantian, repeatedly circulating it through her meridians to refine her realm.
A few hours later, the fluctuating spiritual energy returned to calm, and her aura was completely reined in.
Ye Ling thoroughly balanced the spiritual energy in her body, firmly stabilizing her cultivation at the Houtian Ninth Layer.
After a brief moment of breath adjustment, she tapped her toes and executed her movement technique to soar into the air. Her figure was as light as a shadow. With a few quick leaps, she scaled the steep cliff face and reached the top of the waterfall in the blink of an eye.
The rushing water surged and poured down the cliff face, kicking up layers of mist as it crashed into the deep valley with a thunderous roar.
The cool mist drifted with the wind, dampening the tips of her hair and the hem of her clothes.
Standing atop the cliff, her gaze swept over the endless layers of mountain forests, looking far off in the direction of the Ye family in Baiyun City. A wave of warmth rose in her heart as she thought of her parents back home.
Today happened to be Ye Ling's fifteenth birthday.
She wondered if her parents would be sad because she wasn't home.
Her mother had probably cooked her favorite dishes again, murmuring her name at the dining table. Her father wouldn't say it aloud, but he was surely thinking of her in his heart.
It had been a full three years since she devoted herself to cultivation at the age of twelve.
Looking back on these three years, she had practiced her swordplay at the martial arts arena every morning, moved to a quiet grove in the afternoon to temper her fist techniques, and sat alone in her room at night to circulate her cultivation method and condense her spiritual energy.
Through winter's cold and summer's heat, she had never missed a single day.
While others played and relaxed, she had always buried herself in bitter cultivation. Day after day, she shed her youthful impetuousness, and her temperament grew increasingly serene.
Sometimes she also thought that if she hadn't come to this world, her past self would probably still be that ordinary girl huddled in a rented room, binge-watching shows and ordering takeout.
She wouldn't know how to hold a sword, she wouldn't know how to kill, and she wouldn't be spending her fifteenth birthday alone in a mountain cave.
But she was here now.
She had her own sword, her own path, the Dao imprint bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, and a brand new life.
Ye Ling stood there for a moment, sheathed her sword, and turned to walk back.
“It is but a bit of wind and frost.”
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