Song Yan cupped his hands around the large porcelain bowl, closed his eyes, and inhaled the aroma of the noodle soup and its toppings, including poached eggs. He felt an overwhelming sense of disbelief in his heart.

It was as if a wandering vagabond who roamed mountains and rivers suddenly found a home; a heart that had endured loneliness and pain for countless years suddenly found a chance for peace.

This feeling was particularly wondrous, especially for someone like him, who had long been deceitful and stopped speaking the truth to anyone.

He still couldn't believe that someone would actually cry out of concern for him.

Song Yan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He indulged himself because there wasn't any deeper affection. Now that he had it, he refrained from indulgence because this affection already provided him with joy far beyond any indulgence.

Killing can be deep, cunning can be deep, indulgence can be deep, and so too... can love be deep.

He decided to dive deep into this because it made him feel happy, a kind of happiness from "seeking and obtaining."

He wasn't a man with a heavy disposition for killing, but if anyone were to destroy his happiness, he would make them regret being born.

To make this happiness perfect, he had already invested his true feelings and had removed the Blood Slave Ancient Talisman.

Soon, An Li sat down across from Song Yan, cupping her hands around her noodle bowl, and glanced up at the man in the dark opposite her. That man was neither White Senior Brother's face nor his character, but none of it seemed to matter anymore.

She quietly gazed at him, feeling an indescribable sweetness in her heart, but also a peculiar fear.

"I..."

She began hoarsely.

Then she coughed and cleared her throat, looking seriously at the man who was earnestly looking at her, and said frankly, "I... want to have a snowball fight."

Song Yan was momentarily stunned, then couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Over the past year or so, he had come to understand what kind of woman An Li had become.

Stern, rigid, with the demeanor of an old professor in a private school, or an old nun in a chapel.

Can you imagine a strict old professor or an old nun having a snowball fight?

An Li watched him motionlessly, listening to him laugh, her expression growing more serious.

Song Yan grabbed his chopsticks, scooped a large mouthful of noodles, and slurped them while saying, "Then hurry up, it's getting dark."

An Li replied earnestly, "When it's dark, we can use lanterns."

Song Yan said, "Whether we want to or not, we're having a snowball fight today, right?"

An Li said, "That's not what I meant."

Song Yan smiled and said, "Neither did I."

Seeing him smile, An Li finally chuckled lightly and then lowered her head to quickly eat her noodles.

Her culinary skills had improved considerably.

After the meal, the two stood in the snow, having promised to have a snowball fight but only threw a few casual shots. Once both of their clothes were snow-covered, they stopped. An Li sighed with frustration and said, "I don't know why, but I can never find a relaxed feeling. I always... want to take everything seriously, even having a snowball fight is no exception."

Suddenly, Song Yan said, "Then stop doing Alchemy."

An Li unhesitatingly and immediately said, "No way!!"

Song Yan placed his hands over her shoulders and said softly, "Alchemy has already become your obsession, but this obsession might not be the pursuit of something higher, but rather a form of escape.

You do Alchemy when you're upset, you do Alchemy when you're lonely, and you convince yourself you're doing something important, but in reality, it's an escape that pulls you deeper and deeper. Your Alchemy isn't much different from a drunk drowning his sorrows in alcohol."

"There's a difference!"

An Li's face flushed with anger. She could hardly control her temper.

How could she let someone belittle her nearly two hundred years of hard work?

But soon, she realized who was in front of her, and a deep sense of uncertainty and pain suddenly surfaced.

She sighed softly, with an expression like "Did I mess up?" and "This is completely beyond my comprehension," looking down at her toes.

She stood there motionless, rigidly planted in the snow.

Until she was embraced, and a not-angry voice came to her ears.

"Try to live a different life, a different kind of cultivation."

An Li hesitated and asked, "Then... what else can I do?"

Song Yan said, "Focus on Sword Cultivation, with Alchemy as a secondary. Go out and train more. You practice Alchemy with Demon Beasts killed by others for you, why not try it yourself?"

Soon, he felt the chin on his shoulder nod gently.

...

...

In the dead of night.

The two did not huddle together in the same bed.

An Li lay down to sleep.

Song Yan sat in the courtyard, raised his hand, and activated a Jade Scroll.

The Jade Scroll suddenly burst with resplendent light, a golden giant stake that tore through all techniques.

If you wish to cultivate your Lifebound Secret Technique, you must see this Lifebound Secret Technique.

Old Ancestor Ningxin, in hopes that he could quickly grasp the entry-level, even directly handed him the Primordial Ancestor's original of the "Hundred Forms Life and Death Stake," allowing him to observe it day and night in hopes of an early comprehension.

The Formless Ancient Race evidently had high expectations of him.

Song Yan diligently practiced and comprehended.

Suddenly, he felt someone watching him from above. He neither hid nor fled, transforming into a rainbow light, ascending to a high point. Upon reaching the mountain peak, he saw the Divine Maiden in green attentively observing him.

Since Song Yan's return a year ago, his relationship with Old Ancestor Ningxin had been somewhat strange.

Previously, Old Ancestor Ningxin had proposed, "If you attain the Early Stage of Divine Infant in five hundred years, why shouldn't I extend your lineage?" This was based on her belief that Song Yan was the reincarnation of the clan's Primordial Ancestor, but now... the person before her was just a young man.

Normally, any old ancestor would think, "Why should one allow such a great enterprise to be pulled by a little horse? Isn't this absurd?" But Old Ancestor Ningxin felt this young man had endless potential.

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