Heavenly Veil Sect, Inner Mountain.

Everything was exactly as usual. The Revered Sect Leader had been in secluded cultivation for half a month, so sect affairs were temporarily overseen by several elders. The disciples focused on their own cultivation, and the days passed in a peaceful, albeit dull, routine.

Suddenly, the sound of urgent, hurried footsteps echoed from the direction of the front hall.

“Terrible news! Honored Master! Terrible news—”

The disciple scrambled into the side council hall, practically tumbling over himself. Inside, a white-haired elder sat in a grand armchair, holding a teacup, while a stick of calming incense burned in the censer beside him.

He gave the disciple a glance, unhurriedly blew away the foam floating on his tea, took a sip, and then slowly spoke.

“What is it? Why are you panicking like this?”

“Eldest Senior Brother… Eldest Senior Brother, he…” The disciple lay prostrate on the floor, panting heavily, entirely unable to force the rest of his words out.

A flash of impatience crossed the elder’s eyes. “Did you find out where he went to fool around?”

“N-no… that’s not it…” The disciple looked up. His lips trembled several times before his voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. “Eldest Senior Brother’s Soul Lamp… has shattered.”

The side hall fell silent for a moment. The elder set his teacup down on the table, making a faint clink.

“Nonsense.” He rebuked, “How can you make such a joke? Han Yuan is at the Late Golden Core cultivation base, and he carries a protection magic tool personally refined by me. Even if an Early Nascent Soul cultivator were to strike, he could still withstand it for a moment. How could his soul lamp possibly shatter?”

His voice was very calm, but the hand resting on the desk gripped it with slight force.

“It’s true… the soul lamp really shattered.” The disciple was almost sprawled on the ground. “And… and Senior Sister Zhou’s soul lamp… also…”

The old man slowly stood up from his grand armchair. He did not speak; he merely turned and walked out of the hall, his footsteps a bit faster than usual.

The Soul Lamp Hall in the Back Mountain was the quietest place in the Heavenly Veil Sect. Dozens of soul lamps were densely arranged on the wooden shelves, each one a wisp of a divine soul imprint left within the sect by an inner disciple.

If the lamp was lit, the person lived; if the lamp went out, the person died.

The old man’s gaze fell upon those two soul lamps placed high up in the rear. They had gone out, and a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of blue smoke still lingered on the lampstands.

The old man’s expression darkened bit by bit. His wrinkled face looked exceptionally grim in the spectral light of the soul lamps.

The old servant guarding the hall stood far away in the corner, not even daring to breathe too loudly. The disciple following behind him dared not make a sound, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

“Who did this?” The old man’s voice was extremely low.

“R-reporting to Honored Master, we do not know yet… but the last place Eldest Senior Brother stayed should be Yunze Market.” The disciple buried his head so low it almost touched the ground. “Before Eldest Senior Brother left, he mentioned to this disciple that he was going to accompany Senior Sister Zhou to Yunze Market to purchase a batch of alchemy equipment, and also to look for a few spiritual herbs for Honored Master along the way…”

“Yunze Market.” The old man repeated the name, his eyes brimming with cold intent.

Although the Heavenly Veil Sect could not be considered a top-tier faction in the Cangwu Realm, their Late Golden Core eldest personal disciple being murdered was no longer just a personal vendetta; it was a provocation.

He remained silent for a long time before slowly turning around.

“You may step down. This matter must not be spread to outsiders, do you understand?”

“This disciple understands!” The disciple scrambled out of the Soul Lamp Hall. The muffled thud of the wooden doors closing echoed through the spacious hall for a few breaths before everything returned to a dead silence.

Only the old man remained in the hall. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, quietly gazing at the two shattered soul lamps, his eyes gloomy and chilling.

“No matter who you are… you had better not let this seat find your trail.”

The indifferent whisper sounded, devoid of the slightest trace of warmth.

At this moment, Lai Li’an was sprinting wildly down the street with Su Wan’er in his arms; he had to find someone who could heal Wan’er.

Su Wan’er rested in his embrace. Her body was as light as a handful of withered flowers, and her every breath became weaker and weaker.

“Senior, come this way.”

Lai Li’an slammed to a halt and looked up. A person stood at the entrance of the alley ahead, wrapped from head to toe in a dark gray cloak. Their face was completely hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to tell who it was.

The System Panel popped up:

It was her, the woman in cyan who had just been standing next to Su Wan’er.

Lai Li’an had no time to think about why she was here or why she had changed her clothes.

He looked at Su Wan’er in his arms, whose vitality was constantly slipping away. At this moment, grasping at straws in his desperation, he ran towards Ruan Se.

Ruan Se didn’t say another word. She turned and walked into the depths of the alley. Lai Li’an followed closely behind her. After taking thirty four turns and passing through an inconspicuous courtyard gate, the view suddenly opened up before his eyes.

Before their eyes was a rather spacious courtyard paved with bluestone. Right in the center of the courtyard stood a white crane. The crane was snow-white all over with a slender neck, currently lowering its head to drink water from a stone trough.

Lai Li’an’s gaze paused on it for a moment, feeling as though he had seen it somewhere before, but now was not the time to think about such things.

Ruan Se pushed open the door to the main room, and a faint scent of medicine wafted over. The room was kept extremely clean, with a low couch placed by the window.

“Senior, place her on the couch,” Ruan Se said, pointing toward the low couch as she untied her cloak and casually draped it over the back of a chair.

Lai Li’an carefully placed Su Wan’er on the low couch. The young girl’s lips were deathly pale, and her breathing was weak.

Looking back, Lai Li’an exclaimed in his heart.

His gaze lingered on Ruan Se’s face for a moment. After she had taken off her cloak, her face could be seen exceptionally clearly in the light.

Her beauty was different from Su Wan’er’s youthful elegance, and also different from any kind of vulgar glamour he had seen on screens before he transmigrated.

However, now was not the time to admire beauties. He pinched himself hard to pull his thoughts back.

Ruan Se slowly walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. Her long, pale fingers gently rested on Su Wan’er’s pulse. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she sent her pure, gentle Spiritual Power flowing through the meridians, slowly probing the young girl’s body to examine her injuries.

A moment later, she slowly opened her eyes. Her delicate brows knitted tightly together, and a very soft sigh escaped her lips.

“Alas.”

This soft sigh fell upon Lai Li’an’s ears like a heavy hammer, instantly gripping his heartstrings.

A healer’s sigh was never a good sign.

“How is it?” Lai Li’an asked, emboldening himself. The composure on his face could no longer be maintained.

Ruan Se turned around, a rare trace of hesitation in her eyes as she seemed to weigh her words.

“According to my judgment, fellow Daoist Su might not make it through the night.”

Lai Li’an suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body, his heart instantly sinking into a bottomless icy abyss.

Surging anger and unwillingness violently welled up, clogging his chest with nowhere to vent.

He had transmigrated here all alone, struggling every step of the way, enduring endless hardships. He had finally met Su Wan’er, finally found a trace of warmth in this cruel Cultivation World, and finally figured out a way to establish a stable foothold.

But now, someone was forcefully taking away the only tenderness he had.

He absolutely would not accept this.

He absolutely would not allow it.