Chapter 175: Treating Qing Shuang

After a moment, she opened her eyes, withdrew her Divine Thought, and turned to Chu Yuan, her tone calm. "Master, this lady's injury is not in her body, but in her Divine Soul. Her Divine Soul is almost completely shattered, leaving only a wisp of a remnant soul in her body. My Divine Ability can fully restore her body, but as for her Divine Soul, that trace of soul is too fragile. Even if I do my utmost, it will be difficult to restore it completely."

Chu Yuan nodded; this was within his expectations.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "To what extent can she be restored?"

Qiyao thought for a moment. "She can be awakened, but her Divine Soul is too fragile, so she will need to sleep at regular intervals to stabilize it. If she is to recover completely, her Divine Soul must be fully reshaped."

Listening to their conversation, Senior Zhou Yi's heart had originally sunk when he heard "her Divine Soul is almost completely shattered," but when he heard "she can be awakened," a spark of light was rekindled in his eyes.

His voice carried a hint of urgency. "Good, that works too! Any recovery is better than none!"

He turned to look at Chu Yuan.

"Little friend Chu Yuan, great kindness cannot be expressed in words! In the future, I, Zhou Yi, shall be at your beck and call!"

Chu Yuan shook his head. "Senior, you speak too heavily."

Chu Qiyao said no more and began to act.

She raised her hand and lightly tapped with her fingertip. A pale white light flew from her fingertip, silently landing on Qing Shuang's body.

The moment the light entered, Qing Shuang's body trembled slightly. Endless vitality surged from her body, like the first warm breeze after the spring snow melts, dispersing the deathly aura that had lingered for countless years, inch by inch.

The power of the Zhousheng Huiyuan Seal was displayed to its absolute limit at this moment.

Visibly to the naked eye, Qing Shuang's paper-pale skin gradually regained its warmth and luster, and her originally withered aura became soft once more, as if a sleeping person was slowly waking up.

Senior Zhou Yi stared blankly at all this, his hands trembling slightly.

The thick deathly aura, which he had failed to disperse despite nurturing it with immortal jade for countless years, actually dissipated completely in just a few short breaths.

Looking at Qing Shuang's face, which had regained its luster, his lips twitched a few times, but he could not utter a single word.

Chu Qiyao did not stop. She formed another hand seal and tapped her fingertip on her brow.

A stream of pure Divine Soul power surged in along her fingertip, turning into fine threads of light that wrapped, nourished, and strengthened that wisp of remnant soul, which was so weak it was almost invisible. The speed was extremely slow, like a stream flowing into a dried-up riverbed.

It lasted for a full fifteen minutes before Chu Qiyao slowly withdrew her hand. She gently exhaled a breath of turbid Qi and said to Chu Yuan, "Master, I have done my best to restore and stabilize her Divine Soul. Her body's vitality has been fully restored, and her Divine Soul has grown significantly stronger. However, because it was too fragile before, she still needs to sleep for a while longer before she can awaken."

Chu Yuan smiled. "Thank you for your hard work."

Chu Qiyao shook her head, her tone flat yet sincere. "To be of help to Master is Qiyao's honor."

Still maintaining her gentle and graceful demeanor, she quietly retreated to Chu Yuan's side.

Senior Zhou Yi stood before the jade bed, his gaze resting on Qing Shuang's face. In those eyes, which always carried a hint of time-worn weariness, there was now only an indescribable softness.

He reached out and gently held Qing Shuang's hand. It was slightly cool, but it was no longer the deathly coldness from before.

He did not speak, but just stood there quietly, as if fearing that if he spoke, all of this would vanish.

After a moment.

He stood in silence for a long time, so long that even Chu Yuan thought he would not speak.

Then, he let go of her hand, turned around, walked step by step to Chu Yuan, and respectfully bowed deeply.

His movements were very slow, yet very solemn.

Bending his waist extremely low, Chu Yuan stepped aside to avoid it and reached out to support him. "Senior, there is no need for this."

Senior Zhou Yi, however, was unwilling to stand up.

He raised his head.

"Chu Yuan, this great kindness has fulfilled my, Zhou Yi's, lifelong wish. You are well worthy of this bow."

Chu Yuan looked at him for a moment and did not dodge again, fully accepting his bow.

He reached out to help Senior Zhou Yi up. "Senior Qing Shuang's body has recovered, but her Divine Soul is not yet fully stabilized. She still needs to be nurtured for a period of time before she can awaken."

Senior Zhou Yi nodded, his gaze falling upon the figure on the jade bed, his eyes filled with softness. "Alright. I will wait for her to wake up. I have waited for so many years; how could I be impatient for this brief moment?"

Chu Yuan said nothing more.

He turned and left the Immortal Cave. Standing before the mountain gate, Chu Yuan glanced at the familiar sky, and several names floated into his mind.

Luohe Sect, Ancestor Lan Ruo, and those even earlier old friends.

It was time to pay them a visit.

He gave a few instructions, and without lingering, moved his body and left the Soul Refining Sect.

Xuanwu Country, the territory of the Luohe Sect.

Chu Yuan stood above the clouds, looking down.

The Luohe Sect was still the same as before. The mountain gate remained, the spiritual fields remained, and those cottages still sat quietly nestled in the mountain valleys, as if time moved slower here than elsewhere.

His Divine Sense swept over gently. With a slight curl of his lips, his figure flashed, and he landed deep within the Sect.

He arrived before an Immortal Cave and spoke softly, "An old friend has returned. Would the Ancestor care to come out for a meeting?"

Just as his voice fell, the Restriction of the Immortal Cave rippled slightly, and a figure swept out from within.

Ancestor Lan Ruo was still the same as ever, dressed in snow-white clothes with hair cascading like a waterfall. Several hundred years of time seemed to have left little trace on her, except that her eyes held a bit more composure and a bit less sharpness than in the past.

Looking at Chu Yuan, surprise first flashed in her eyes, which then turned into a faint sense of relief. "Chu Yuan, you're back!"

Chu Yuan smiled. "Ancestor Lan Ruo's grace is as outstanding as ever. You have actually reached the Peak of the Late Stage of Soul Transformation. It seems that your Breakthrough to the Infant Transformation Stage is also just around the corner."

Ancestor Lan Ruo smiled and shook her head. "How could a Breakthrough to the Infant Transformation Stage be so easy? Without a few hundred years, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reach. As for you, I'm afraid I can't even look up to you now, can I?"

Her tone carried a bit of playfulness, but also a hint of earnest exclamation.

Chu Yuan did not deny it, nor did he reply.

He merely smiled, raised his hand to take out three items, and handed them to her.

The first item was a token, translucent purple all over, with an ancient character "Chu" engraved on the front.

The second item was a Storage Pouch, and so was the third.

Ancestor Lan Ruo took them, and as her Divine Sense probed inside, her gaze paused slightly.

The immortal jade in that Storage Pouch was piled up like a mountain, its translucent white glow almost dyeing her Sea of Consciousness into a sheet of silver-white.

Her fingers lingered at the opening of the pouch for a moment before she raised her head to look at Chu Yuan, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness. "You're just giving it away like this?"

Chu Yuan smiled. "In any case, I am still considered a member of the Luohe Sect, and currently an Ancestor, right? Although I am away all year round, I cannot simply ignore the Sect."

Ancestor Lan Ruo looked at him for a moment, did not refuse, and put away both the token and the Storage Pouches.

Closing the Storage Pouches, she looked up at Chu Yuan, a trace of gentle warmth in her eyes. "How long will you stay this time?"

Chu Yuan fell silent for a moment. "Not long. Returning to Suzaku Planet is also just to see some old friends."

Ancestor Lan Ruo nodded and did not pry further.

She had long known that his footsteps would not stop on this planet.