What was going on with Xiao Luo'er?! How was she injured?! Who caused it?!
Qiu Yuanxi's mind was filled with these three questions.
When Qiu Yuanxi parted ways with Ling Luochen and then saw Ling Luoyi, she had keenly sensed the smell of medicine on Ling Luoyi, mixed with the scent of blood. As the Saintess of Medicine, she was highly sensitive to medicinal scents and recognized it as the powder for treating external wounds, which she herself had provided.
Qiu Yuanxi found it strange. Given Ling Luoyi's skills, coupled with the weak Heavenly Dao power at the time which enhanced her abilities, those extraterrestrial demons were no match for her, let alone able to injure her. The great powers' prohibitions and curses only became ineffective in areas devoid of Heavenly Dao power. This meant that the extraterrestrial demons from beyond the connecting passage could not enter, nor could they harm her. So how could she be injured?
Upon returning to the small world, Qiu Yuanxi noticed that Ling Luoyi's right hand was not quite right. Her arm was covered by her sleeve, and she lacked the ability to see clearly through the fabric. She could only see her exposed hand, which was very pale, as if from excessive blood loss.
Having known Ling Luoyi for so many years, Qiu Yuanxi naturally knew that although Ling Luoyi was ambidextrous, she was more accustomed to using her right hand. However, after dealing with the extraterrestrial demons, Ling Luoyi had barely used her right hand. This observation further fueled Qiu Yuanxi's suspicion that something was amiss.
Qiu Yuanxi had spent the entire afternoon pondering why. She knew that if she directly questioned Ling Luoyi, she wouldn't get an answer, which was why she had come at this time to probe. Qiu Yuanxi had just touched Ling Luoyi's right hand and, using her power as the Saintess of Medicine, determined that Ling Luoyi's injury was not caused by external factors. It seemed more like it was torn open from within by some force, and that force seemed to linger on her wound.
But this didn't make sense either. Qiu Yuanxi had been observing Ling Luoyi's expression and movements. Ling Luoyi had not experienced any loss of spiritual control, nor did she possess immortal energy. It was impossible for the injury to be caused by immortal energy. What exactly was going on? What else was Xiao Luo'er hiding from them? And what was that force?
Speaking of immortal energy, how had Xiao Luo'er cultivated to the Immortal realm without any immortal energy? Judging by her aura, she was at least beyond the Golden Immortal realm.
It seemed she would have to find the Domain Lord or the Fourth and Fifth Elders upon her return. They should know something.
Sensing Qiu Yuanxi's footsteps gradually receding, Ling Luoyi sighed and slowly lifted her sleeve, revealing a slightly gruesome wound. At this moment, the wound, which had stopped bleeding, began to ooze fresh blood again due to Qiu Yuanxi's earlier action.
Without using her Divine Eye, Ling Luoyi could tell the extent of the wound just from the small injury on her wrist. Since stopping the bleeding was futile, Ling Luoyi decided to let it be and allowed the blood to flow freely.
"Master, it seems Qiu Yuanxi has guessed something," Xiao Fengxi's voice suddenly echoed in Ling Luoyi's mind.
"She couldn't have kept it from her anyway," Ling Luoyi replied helplessly. Qiu Yuanxi had always been sensitive to the smell of medicine and blood. Even a slight trace could be detected, let alone such a long wound.
"Master, she came here precisely to probe your injuries."
"I know." Ling Luoyi knew that Qiu Yuanxi's stated purpose was to request the establishment of a teleportation array connecting the Ling family's small world to the Azure Continent, but her hidden agenda was to investigate her injuries. She wasn't naive enough to believe Qiu Yuanxi hadn't used her power as the Saintess of Medicine. If she hadn't consented, Qiu Yuanxi wouldn't have succeeded so easily.
"Master, are you going to tell her?"
"Xiao Fengxi, Ah Yuan didn't come to me for clarification because she knows I won't tell her the truth. Even if I did tell her the facts, she wouldn't fully believe me. Ah Yuan will likely go to the Domain Lord. Since the Domain Lord already knows, let him tell her."
"Oh."
"By the way, Xiao Fengxi, are those three little ones showing any unusual behavior?" Ling Luoyi was referring to Wei Yu, Guan Yue, and Chen Sha. After dealing with the extraterrestrial demons, Ling Luoyi had instructed Xiao Fengxi to take them back into the Fengxi Realm.
"Master, I don't know what's going on with Wei Yu, but he started cultivating frantically as soon as he returned. Guan Yue has also become much quieter, and Chen Sha is still quietly cultivating as usual."
"It's good as long as they're alright." Ling Luoyi's requirements for them were simple: as long as they were fine, she didn't care what else they did.
The next day, the Heavenly Profound Domain disseminated the news about the extraterrestrial demons. Initially, people were skeptical. However, the news came from the top experts of the continent's most powerful forces, and not just one, forcing them to believe, though some doubt lingered.
The subsequent action taken by the Myriad Ghost Hall finally convinced them. The disciples of the Myriad Ghost Hall paraded the corpses of all the extraterrestrial demons throughout the continent. Nothing was more convincing than seeing it with their own eyes.
Witnessing these never-before-seen creatures, they finally believed the accounts of the extraterrestrial demons and began to heed the Heavenly Profound Domain's call to cultivate diligently.
As the entire continent focused on cultivation, the depletion of the Continent's Heart accelerated. More and more people discovered that the spiritual energy they cultivated was becoming increasingly thin, and in the outermost regions of the continent, spiritual energy had vanished altogether.
The populace began to panic. If not for the former sect leaders of the Heavenly Profound Domain's major forces, who had been in seclusion for many years, stepping forward to announce that recovery would occur within two months, the Ancient Spirit Continent would likely have descended into complete chaos.
However, none of this concerned Ling Luoyi or the Ling family. They all knew that the time for Ling Luoyi's departure was fast approaching, so they stopped cultivating and stayed by her side.
Time would not halt for their reluctance. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of May.
On the thirtieth of May, before the sky had fully brightened, the Pavilion Master of Flowing Clouds and Li Shu arrived outside the Ling family mansion, waiting to ensure Ling Luoyi didn't leave them behind.
On this day, all the members of the Ling family were up early. They all knew that Ling Luoyi would be leaving today and were preparing things for her.
Ling Luoyi had stayed awake all night, contemplating how she would treat the Ling family in the future. She finally concluded that everything would be left to fate.
After their last lunch at the Ling family residence, Ling Luoyi left the small world. Wen Zonglin and the others had already arrived, and everyone who had been there last time was present.
"Master, you've all come. Let's skip the pleasantries and stay within the mansion. It's not very suitable outside."
"Alright." Wen Zonglin and the others sat cross-legged in the Ling family's training grounds, beginning their breathing exercises.
Ling Luoyi and the others watched from the side. Ling Luoyi cast a spell on them, assisting their breakthroughs.
Wen Zonglin had been stuck at the ninth-tier Great Spirit Master realm for quite some time. After the great battle a couple of months ago, and now with Ling Luoyi's assistance, everything proceeded smoothly.
As Ling Luoyi had temporarily deactivated the Ling family's barrier, the gathering tribulation clouds in the sky, sensing the breakthroughs of multiple individuals within the Ling mansion, began to form but did not immediately unleash their lightning.
Ling Luoyi and Qiu Yuanxi, seeing this, understood that the tribulation clouds were waiting for them to face them together.
Half an hour later, the last person reached the final stage. With a thunderous roar, the first tribulation lightning descended.
Upon witnessing the power of this lightning, Qiu Yuanxi's lips twitched. Was there such favoritism? Why wasn't the tribulation lightning faced by the Azure Continent during its breakthrough restrictions like this?
Ling Luoyan was also somewhat bewildered. She had witnessed the tribulation lightning when Ling Luofu had grown her spiritual roots, and the time Ling Luoyi had resisted it. Back then, she had worried that Ling Luoyi wouldn't be able to endure it, as each bolt of lightning carried world-destroying power. But this time...
Upon learning that Wen Zonglin and the others were about to break through their limitations, Ling Huayu and the others were extremely curious about the power of the heavenly lightning during such breakthroughs, especially with nearly a hundred people breaking through together. They expected the scene to be magnificent and had even prepared for the reconstruction of the Ling mansion. They never expected it to be like this.