"You're hurt?"
Seeing Yang Ziling's disheveled state and weak aura, Yang Xiao felt a strange pang in his heart, along with a trace of guilt.
'I was the one who brought this foolish woman into the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion, yet I failed to protect her.'
"Mm."
In contrast, Yang Ziling's voice was very soft.
Her head was lowered.
She fiddled restlessly with the corner of her clothes.
She had just recovered from the embarrassment of Yang Lin calling her "sister-in-law" when she saw Yang Xiao looking directly at her, and her face couldn't help but turn red again.
"Looks like you really are badly hurt."
But Yang Xiao had misunderstood.
Normally, with his Spiritual Power, he could have easily sensed Yang Ziling's thoughts. However, Yang Xiao didn't do so. In his mind, prying into another's thoughts was something one should only do to an enemy.
He would certainly never do it to a friend.
After a moment's thought, he gestured with his hand, and the blood mist scattered between heaven and earth gathered once more.
Finally, it formed a Blood Qi Pearl.
Yang Xiao grabbed the hand of the still-bowed Yang Ziling, examined her for a moment, then took out several medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring and began to prepare them.
He was so focused that he didn't notice Yang Ziling had frozen solid the moment he grabbed her hand.
Her heart pounded relentlessly, yet she couldn't help but lift her head and stare blankly at Yang Xiao.
She watched him as he carefully prepared the medicine for her.
"So handsome."
The words slipped out of Yang Ziling's mouth before she could stop them.
"What?"
Yang Xiao didn't quite hear her.
But Yang Lin, who was beside him, was already grinning mischievously.
"Big Brother, sister-in-law said you're really handsome, haha."
Hearing this, Yang Ziling's face turned crimson once again. She wasn't normally one to get embarrassed easily, but when it came to Yang Xiao, she found herself blushing time and time again over such things.
It was clear that no matter how straightforward, bold, or thick-skinned a woman was, when she met the man she liked, she was no different from any other.
But Yang Xiao, who was focused on preparing the medicine, frowned and snapped, "What 'sister-in-law'? Don't just say whatever you want. What will people think if word gets out?"
"Huh? Big Brother, you two aren't...?"
Yang Lin was a bit baffled.
Yang Xiao, thinking his brother was still trying to cause trouble, shot him a look and said, "What about us? We're friends. What's wrong with that?"
The moment he said it,
a tremor ran through Yang Ziling's entire body.
She subconsciously clutched at her chest.
Right there,
her heart felt as if it were being torn apart.
Her head hung low.
Large teardrops fell one after another.
But soon,
she forced them to stop.
When she looked up again, she was smiling.
It was just a rather forced smile. "Yang Lin, you heard him. Don't call me sister-in-law anymore."
"But..."
Yang Lin sensed that something was wrong.
Only Yang Xiao, completely absorbed in preparing the medicine, noticed nothing. Instead, he casually cut Yang Lin off, saying, "You hear that? Don't go around calling people things you shouldn't. You'll offend someone before you even realize it."
"But Big Brother!"
"It's alright. Your big brother and I are just good friends. Let's not let people get the wrong idea."
Yang Ziling spoke up.
Seeing her expression, Yang Lin felt a little indignant and angry.
He felt his big brother wasn't handling this well at all.
'It's so obvious they have feelings for each other, so why is he acting like this?'
'Could it be that Big Brother prefers that woman, Bing Xin?'
"I think Sister Ziling is better than Bing Xin."
Yang Lin huffed in a fit of pique.
"What does Bing Xin have to do with this?"
Yang Xiao was confused.
At that moment, he finally finished preparing the healing medicine for Yang Ziling and handed it to her.
At this very moment,
Yang Ziling had already returned to her normal self.
It was as if nothing had happened.
One had to admit, her true personality had re-emerged at this moment.
"Thank you,"
Yang Ziling said.
She took the medicine from Yang Xiao and swallowed it without the slightest hesitation.
The moment she swallowed it,
its potent medicinal properties began to spread through her.
"This medicine is fused with a large amount of Barbaric Beast Essence Blood. It will be very beneficial for your cultivation. Sit down and focus on refining it. Oh, and memorize this Technique. It will be very good for tempering your physical body. The path of the Sword Body you're cultivating is very dangerous without a proper Body Refining Technique."
As he spoke, Yang Xiao transmitted a Body Refining Technique from his previous life's memoriesâone that was suitable for Yang Zilingâdirectly into her mind.
In that instant,
Yang Ziling felt Yang Xiao's immense and terrifying Spiritual Power.
As shock filled her heart, she also felt the distance between herself and Yang Xiao growing ever wider.
'No wonder he doesn't want to be involved with me. He's too powerful, and I'm too weak. As I am now, how could I possibly become his Dao companion and walk the path alongside him?'
At this thought, besides the heartache, Yang Ziling felt a flicker of defiance.
She was a woman of tenacious character. Otherwise, she never would have started cultivating a Sword Body just to bring glory to the Pure Yang Sword Sect at the Nine Sects Grand Competition.
Now, she wanted to become stronger tooâno longer for the Pure Yang Sword Sect, but for her own happiness.
In the Martial Arts World,
strength reigned supreme.
Few would become Dao companions without comparable strength, as it could hinder their own cultivation.
Yang Ziling knew this well.
Therefore, she wanted to grow stronger. Even if she could never catch up to Yang Xiao in the future, she had to try.
As long as there was a sliver of hope!
'I have to fight for it.'
Having made her decision,
Yang Ziling's eyes seemed to shine with a new light.
She looked dazzling and full of charm.
Even Yang Xiao couldn't help but take a second look.
Though he didn't quite understand why, he sensed it was a good thing.
So he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Yang Ziling focused on her cultivation.
Whether it was the medicine Yang Xiao had prepared,
or the Cultivation Technique he had taught her, both were of the highest quality.
Once Yang Ziling fully assimilated them, her strength would undergo a qualitative change.
While she might not ascend to the heavens in a single step like Yang Lin,
her foundation would be far more stable.
This was much more to Yang Ziling's liking.
Her potential was immense.
ăIn the days that followed,ă
Yang Xiao began treating the others.
Zhang Mengfei was the most grievously injured, on the verge of death.
The Celestial Cyan Snake had overexerted itself and fallen into a coma.
Yang Tian, having used a Secret Technique, had damaged his own foundation. Though his life wasn't in danger, his condition was the most difficult to treat.
Bing Xin, on the other hand, was the least of his worries. She was uninjured and was in fact growing stronger as she slowly digested her inheritance. Yang Xiao simply gave her a few pointers, causing her strength to advance by leaps and bounds.
As for Lu Fangliang,
that guy was probably the luckiest of them all.
Although he had also been besieged by Barbaric Beasts, he possessed an Innate Treasure Skill and had comprehended the Greater Yang Secret Patterns from the Golden Crow Corpse Bone, so his strength had greatly increased.
He had only suffered some superficial wounds.
On the contrary, he had killed quite a few Barbaric Beasts.
Yang Xiao naturally wasn't worried about him.
As for the Golden Crow Corpse Bone, while it was good, it wasn't of much use to him, as he had already obtained the First Six Layers of Greater Yang Secret Pattern Seeds.
Therefore, Yang Xiao planned to spend some time refining it and integrating it into Lu Fangliang's body. This would strengthen his Treasure Body and might even allow him to advance directly to a Greater Yang Dao Body.
At that point, Lu Fangliang would truly step into the ranks of top-tier geniuses.
With the entire Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion backing them, plus the guidance and conditioning from Yang Xiaoâa former Peak Divine King and the Human Race Medicine Ancestorâeveryone except Yang Tian, who was recuperating and unable to cultivate, made remarkable progress.
They all began to show their own unique brilliance.
Yang Xiao hadn't been idle either. He had previously rushed through the 7th Layer to become the master of the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion, so he hadn't gained a deep understanding of the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Layers of the Time Secret Pattern.
But now, he had plenty of time to comprehend them.
However, before that, there were two other fellows that he needed to deal with.
'The Northern Wilderness Divine King's task can't be completed by one person alone, and I don't have time to stand guard here forever. If I can subdue these two, it will at least lighten my burden a little.'
With that thought,
a golden light flashed from between his brows.
Instantly, a blood-red figure was released...