After the year-end exams, the Eternal Immortal Sect returned to stability.

In late December, as the end of the year approached, the accumulated snow covered the mountains, turning them into a silver-white landscape. The swirling snow mist made the Twelve Immortal Peaks of the Eternal Immortal Sect and the massive Zhe Lan Mountain Range behind them appear even more ethereal and illusory. The cold air faintly condensed into long and slender ice crystals, which, with the gusts of mountain wind, intertwined into a bleak scenery.

After completing his morning breathing exercises, Fan Wubing left his room.

The cold wind blew by, and although his vigorous energy was unafraid, he instinctively shrank his neck, tightened his clothes, and turned his head to look at Luo Qingyao's room.

The door remained tightly closed, with a lingering obscure aura seeping out from within.

Since the year-end exams, she had unusually not pestered Fan Wubing to play. Instead, after a day of contemplation, she chose to enter seclusion.

Fan Wubing understood her thoughts the most.

She must have been thinking about how her senior brother, whom she needed "protection" from nine months ago, had gradually walked further and further down the broad and steady path. She always had a drive within her, always wanting to prove that she was worthy of the words she had spoken when she confessed to her senior brother back then.

Additionally, her sister, Luo Ling Immortal, would visit the Eternal Immortal Sect again at the end of the year.

So, something was always chasing her. She was unwilling to stop and felt that she needed to push herself harder.

To be honest, without Luo Qingyao's liveliness, Enlightenment Peak suddenly became much calmer. The ten youngsters of the current session, like most cultivators, prioritized their cultivation paths the most, coupled with Zhang Jingwei's guidance and Fan Wubing's inspiring performance in the year-end exams, they were particularly diligent.

Ai Yinian and Jiang Maodian were also stimulated by Fan Wubing. To them, in Peach Blossom Spring, Fan Wubing was still a comrade fighting alongside them, but now, he suddenly soared into the sky.

But upon closer thought, it hardly seemed "sudden," because from the moment Fan Wubing first emerged, there was already an unstoppable momentum about him.

Wei Changkong was busy making money to repay the loan from the Heaven and Earth Bank. He considered admitting to his family that he owed money outside and asking them to help repay some if things really didn't work out.

Several colleagues who had a good relationship with Fan Wubing were busy with their own paths to immortality because of various matters.

Only Gu Lan remained unchanged. Like the "Orchid" in her name, after the new rain in the empty mountains, she alone exuded a faint fragrance. She still liked to visit Enlightenment Peak.

Come winter, even though she wore more clothes, her most eye-catching figure was covered, allowing Fan Wubing to look at her face with the most genuine gaze. This senior sister with wheat-colored skin seemed to have become even more beautiful, often blushing recently, with her clear and immaculate eyes always gazing afar. She seemed to be contemplating her own path to immortality.

"Junior Brother Wubing, have you thought about what to do after graduation?" Gu Lan sat around the stove with Fan Wubing, warming tea on it, with some pastries and oranges beside her. Her hair color had changed slightly, transitioning from golden to platinum.

Fan Wubing paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Shouldn't I be asking you this? You're the one about to graduate. I still have a long way to go."

Gu Lan tilted her head, her slender eyebrows slightly arching, "I have this feeling that before you graduate, you'll have to leave."

"Why?" Fan Wubing was surprised.

"Can the Eternal Immortal Sect really keep you?"

"As long as Enlightenment Peak is here, I will always be a disciple of the Eternal Immortal Sect."

Gu Lan, usually so elegant, now had a more complex feeling—difficult to describe as either obscure or bitter. In any case, she was somewhat unnatural, "You're going to pursue the Dao, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"But the Eternal Immortal Sect doesn't have the Dao."

"Senior Sister, what about you? Don't you want to pursue the Dao?"

"I...I don't know. It's like if I left the Eternal Immortal Sect, I wouldn't have anything left." A sense of confusion rose in Gu Lan's eyes, "Perhaps I will also try to explore a broader world and witness the miracles left to the world by the Great Feng Immortal of those rural families."

"Isn't that good?"

"I also wonder, if I leave, would I have a chance to see everyone again?"

"Senior Sister, the path to immortality is long. Why cling to trivial matters and people?"

"Will you not think of me... think of all of us anymore?" Gu Lan's voice was slightly interrupted, filled with insecurity, unable to fully hide, all evident in her eyes.

"Of course, I will." In Fan Wubing's eyes appeared emotions not typically seen at his age, "I will sit in a pavilion under the moonlight one night, pour a glass of wine... and reminisce about these days at the Eternal Immortal Sect."

Gu Lan laughed.

There wasn't much charcoal left, so Fan Wubing moved the teapot slightly aside to add some new charcoal.

Gu Lan said, "I just suddenly remembered a childhood song from my hometown."

Rather than suddenly remembering, Fan Wubing was somewhat surprised why she brought it up. He blinked and asked, "Could you sing it for me?"

"Sure, sure!" Gu Lan seemed to instantly become several years younger, a touch of childhood innocence appearing between her brows.

She sang,

"The crescent moon in the sky has disappeared, I search and search;

"The stars in the sky have disappeared, I search and search;

"The fiery clouds over the mountain have disappeared, I search and search;

"The little fish in the water have disappeared, I search and search;

"The girl next door comes over and asks what I'm searching for;

"I smile and say, I found it."

...

The year's end had arrived.

The Weiri City below the mountain was filled with a strong festive atmosphere, with red decorations and colorful banners everywhere. Sometimes cultivators also enjoy mingling with the lively mortals, and many of them, who spent the year in closed cultivation, took this time to go out and take a breath, giving themselves a break after a year of hard cultivation.

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