.

Inside the cocoon, the sleeping female figure finally began to show signs of life.

Her expressionless face, still and serene until a moment ago, started to frown slightly, as if she were experiencing something unpleasant.

It wasn't a physical sensation, it was mental.

At some point, her mind had started to wander through a void, a completely white space.

She didn't know who she was, what she was doing, nor where she was.

Yet she kept walking forward even though there was nothing ahead of her, no destination, nothing distinguishable in that white, empty space.

Nothing at all.

She had no idea how much time had passed. The very concept of space and time seemed to not exist there.

So she wandered on and on, until a faint glimmer of consciousness appeared in her eyes, and as that happened, the world around her began to distort.

The pure white void shifted into complete darkness.

She didn't know how long that lasted before fragments of images started appearing around her.

She didn't know what they were, memories, maybe? Or something else?

She wasn't sure.

But as her consciousness slowly returned, so did her awareness of what she was seeing.

They were scenes, memories, perhaps.

From when? She didn't know.

But she could tell they were hers.

In one of those memories, she saw a young silver haired girl, furious at someone, another girl, slightly shorter than her, with golden hair and green eyes.

She had no idea who that second girl was, but she immediately noticed the resemblance to the first one.

It almost looked like a younger version of herself… and yet, not quite.

Because that girl, despite having features similar to hers, also possessed others that she did not.

Her ears, like the second girl's, were slightly longer and pointed.

Her violet eyes, similar in color to hers, had slit pupils, reptilian, as if she were not human, but a beastman.

She didn't have much time to dwell on that thought before the memories changed again.

She saw herself traveling with that girl, ending up in various dangerous situations.

All these fragmented images, these broken memories, were too chaotic to form any coherent meaning.

She didn't recognize any of the people in them, even if one of them resembled her, nor any of the places they visited.

She was sure she had never seen them before, and yet it all felt strangely familiar, as if she had lived those moments herself.

That only made her mind more confused, more chaotic.

After a while, another image caught her attention.

This time, it wasn't just the two of them, a third person had appeared.

A boy, roughly their age.

His expression was cold, and though he was young, his eyes looked like those of someone who had experienced far more than his age should have allowed.

When she saw him, the light of consciousness that had been growing stronger in her eyes suddenly became complete, and she recognized him, with absolute certainty.

It was without a doubt that annoying boy she had dealt with countless times,

the one she had hated for so long but had begun to accept, even appreciate, in recent months.

What was his name again?

Why couldn't she remember?

And more importantly, why did his image bring her such pain?

As those feelings surged within her, the world around her began to crack, but she ignored it, clutching her head in her hands, teeth gritted as a wave of searing pain flooded her mind.

Who was he? A stranger?

No!

No, he wasn't. He couldn't be!

What was his name? His name...

He... he's Zhu Rong.

The moment she managed to recall his name, the world around her shattered completely, and at once, her eyes finally opened after what felt like an eternity.

As that happened, the glow emanating from within the cocoon exploded outward, and a powerful tremor swept through the entire secret realm.

Cracks began spreading across the vast plain below.

The tremor was so intense that the whole realm seemed to tremble for a moment.

But it didn't last long, for after it, the realm began to repair itself rapidly.

The wide fissures across the plains sealed up one after another, until everything returned to its former state.

Everything, except for one thing.

The very cause of all that commotion in the first place.

A cloud of dust hovered in the air, scattering swiftly with the winds that blew across the area, and as it cleared, a feminine silhouette slowly became visible.

Zhu Rong, who had been there the whole time, fixed his gaze on that silhouette.

He could tell that the process had gone well.

The dust dispersed, and there she stood, Liang Yuexin, radiant and luminous.

The glow surrounding her gradually faded, revealing her slender figure, completely bare.

It was clear that everything she'd been wearing had been obliterated during the process.

Zhu Rong, no matter how much he might have wanted to enjoy the view, was too preoccupied making sure she was stable.

As he did, Liang Yuexin, now fully awake, opened her eyes, looking around as she took in her surroundings.

Her expression was slightly dazed as she examined the area, until her gaze finally landed on someone standing a bit further away.

Her eyes immediately focused on him, and the moment they did, every feature, every small detail came into view.

And she recognized him instantly.

It was him.

He had changed, older, his features sharper, more defined, but it was undoubtedly him.

When Zhu Rong saw that she had noticed him and seemed to recognize him, he let out a small sigh of relief, as if confirming something to himself, before smiling slightly and saying:

"You know, not that I mind the view, but just so you're aware, you're-"

He was about to point out that she was completely exposed, but stopped when she suddenly lunged at him.

He braced himself, expecting another beating like the last time, but instead of attacking, she… hugged him?

Hm?

He felt warmth spreading from his chest, and when he looked down, he saw her head buried there, her body trembling as she hugged him tightly.

Seeing that, he sighed softly and returned the embrace, one arm wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her closer, the other gently resting on the back of her head.

He could feel her bare body pressed against his, the warmth spreading through the contact, but he didn't paid attention to it.

He said nothing, and simply let her release everything she'd been holding in.

Minutes passed in silence before she finally calmed down, regaining control of her emotions. Then she lifted her head and looked up at him.

He was clearly taller now, if before they had been the same height, he now stood several centimeters above her, enough that her head barely reached his chin.

Instinctively, she raised a hand to touch his face, as if to confirm he was real, before whispering,

"You… how are you alive? I saw you die…"

Zhu Rong met her gaze, then smiled and replied,

"Die? Me? Tch. Woman, it would be a terrible loss for the world if this handsome face were to per-"

He didn't finish, because she punched him in the stomach.

"Hmph. Seems you're still just as full of yourself as ever," she said, stepping back slightly, her old tone returning.

Seeing her act like that again, so naturally, Zhu Rong let out an inward sigh of relief.

The transplant process had been risky, not only physically but also spiritually.

He knew many things could've gone wrong, and no matter how hard he tried to make everything perfect, there were still variables beyond his control, not in his current state.

But now, seeing her personality intact, he could say with confidence that everything had gone as well as it possibly could.

As he thought that, Liang Yuexin, who had finally regained her composure, noticed something,

the complete absence of clothing.

The moment she realized it, her face turned red, remembering what Zhu Rong had been looking at earlier.

She quickly tried to circulate her Qi to form something to cover herself, but when she did, nothing happened.

Eh?

Something was wrong.

She tried to sense her cultivation base to see what was happening, and that's when she noticed it.

It was gone.

Her cultivation base… was completely gone.

It had vanished, as if it had never been there.

Her dantian was still intact, though a bit different from before, but her cultivation base had entirely disappeared.

Zhu Rong, seeing her realization, could only sigh softly as he prepared to explain.

She had indeed lost her cultivation… but that wasn't the only change.

She couldn't feel it yet, but the natural aura she was releasing at that very moment, though it did nothing to him, would have made nearly every cultivator in the mortal realm tremble.

It was the aura of a superior being, something unique, belonging solely to her.

Her cultivation might have been reset to zero, but it didn't mean she had gained nothing.

On the contrary, what she had gained surpassed anything she could've ever imagined.

And soon enough, once she began cultivating again… she would discover just how much she had truly changed.

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