Consciousness slowly struggled free from deep unconsciousness. The first thing he felt was the aching pain and weakness throughout his body—the aftermath of forcibly suppressing the backlash of Blazing Love Powder.
Mo Lin painfully opened his eyes. The familiar ceiling of the cave came into view. The campfire had long since gone out, leaving only cold ashes.
Sunlight slanted in through the crack at the cave entrance, casting mottled patches of light across the ground.
The cave was unusually quiet. Other than his own breathing, there was no sound at all.
"Miss Yun Zhi?" Mo Lin called tentatively, his voice hoarse and dry.
Only a hollow echo answered him.
Had she left? The thought inexplicably tightened Mo Lin's chest. Struggling, he propped up his weakened body on his elbows and leaned against the stone wall.
Looking around, Yun Yun was indeed nowhere to be seen. Even the stone table where she usually sorted her medicinal herbs was completely empty.
An indescribable sense of loss welled up inside him. After last night, had she chosen to leave without even saying goodbye?
Taking a deep breath, Mo Lin suppressed the churning blood and complicated emotions within him. He tried circulating his Dou Qi and found that although his meridians were sluggish, he could move without much trouble.
Supporting himself against the cold stone wall, he slowly rose to his feet, intending to check the cave entrance.
However, just as he had straightened up and unsteadily taken a step toward the entrance—
Whoosh!
A cold flash of light silently struck from beside his neck like a venomous snake!
In the next instant, a long sword radiating a faint azure glow, incomparably sharp, was steadily pressed against his throat.
The blade lay against his skin, and the piercing chill it gave off instantly raised goosebumps across his body.
Mo Lin's body abruptly stiffened, his heart nearly stopping.
Slowly—exceedingly slowly—he turned his head and followed the strange-looking sword upward.
Yun Yun had somehow appeared silently a short distance from his side.
She still wore that plain dress, but her bearing was utterly different from before.
Her beautiful face was icy cold. Those clear eyes, once like autumn water, were now sharp as blades as they fixed tightly on him. They contained exceedingly complicated emotions—unfaded shame and anger, lingering killing intent, but above all, struggle and bewilderment that she could not resolve.
Her sword hand was incomparably steady, but Mo Lin keenly noticed that although her aura was much stronger than it had been days ago, it still fluctuated somewhat. Clearly, the Purple Crystal Seal had not been completely broken.
They stood very close, close enough for Mo Lin to clearly see her trembling eyelashes and tightly pursed, bloodless lips.
The air was filled with deadly danger and suffocating tension.
The silence lasted several breaths, yet it felt as long as a century.
Mo Lin could feel the coldness of the blade against his neck, as well as the faint, almost imperceptible pressure behind it.
He knew that if Yun Yun merely pushed her wrist forward, his head would immediately be severed from his body.
At the brink of life and death, Mo Lin's mind raced faster than ever before.
Beg? Explain? Resist? No, none of those seemed capable of easing the shame, anger, and inner conflict in the heart of this complicated yet still powerful woman.
Suddenly, an incomparably classic scene from memories of his previous life flashed through his mind. It was risky, but perhaps it was the only way to break the deadlock.
He drew a deep breath. Forcing a seemingly relaxed smile onto his face—a smile actually filled with endless loneliness and bitterness—he met Yun Yun's cold gaze without fear, carrying instead an unusual gentleness.
In a low, hoarse tone, as though weathered by countless years, he slowly spoke.
"Miss Yun Zhi... before you strike, I want to tell a story... or rather, share something from my heart."
Yun Yun's sword hand paused slightly. A trace of barely perceptible surprise flashed through her cold eyes, as though she had not expected such a reaction from him.
She said nothing, but neither did she strike at once. It was as though she had permitted him these final "last words."
Mo Lin's heart settled slightly. Continuing in that storytelling tone, he said, "Once, there was a girl I liked very much... no, I should say she was the first girl who ever made my heart stir, and someone I could never forget."
His tone carried just the right measure of sincerity and nostalgia.
"Unfortunately, I was too weak back then. I was like a speck of dust, without even the right to stand by her side." He laughed self-mockingly, his eyes dimming slightly.
"Later, I desperately wanted to grow stronger. I endured countless hardships, with only one thought in my heart: that one day, I could be worthy of her and tell her my feelings openly and honestly." His gaze became distant, as though he were truly recalling an unforgettable past.
"But... fate always loved playing jokes." He gave a bitter laugh, his smile full of helplessness and deep regret. "Just when I thought I had finally made the slightest bit of insignificant progress, when I gathered the courage to approach her... because of a damned, completely uncontrollable accident... I did something terribly, terribly excessive and unforgivable to her."
He deliberately emphasized those words, staring intently at Yun Yun as though he wanted to see the shadow of that "her" through her eyes.
He saw Yun Yun's eyelashes tremble violently, while the sword at his throat loosened by an almost imperceptible fraction.
Even the fluctuations of Dou Qi around her became somewhat disordered. Clearly, his words had touched her.
"At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to kill myself." Mo Lin's tone was thick with self-reproach and pain, and he even forced a trace of physical moisture into his eyes. "I felt that I had destroyed every possibility. She must hate me utterly. She would never forgive me again."
His voice dropped, filled with despair.
"But," he suddenly raised his head, a nearly obsessive light gleaming in his eyes as he looked directly at Yun Yun, "even so, I still... still couldn't control myself from liking her. I liked her even more than before. If... if Heaven could give me another chance..."
He took a deep breath and, using every ounce of strength in his body, said each word clearly and slowly, "I would tell her three words... 'I love you.'"
"If I had to put a time limit on this love..." He paused, then under Yun Yun's suddenly constricted gaze, firmly said, "I hope it would be ten thousand years."
As his words fell, the cave sank into deathly silence. Even the air seemed to freeze.
Yun Yun completely froze.
With a clang, the long sword in her hand slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground, ringing crisply.
She stood there as though immobilized, staring blankly at Mo Lin.
Disbelief first appeared on that icy beautiful face, followed by enormous shock. Then an uncontrollable blush rapidly spread from her neck to the tips of her ears, until her entire face turned crimson!
She... what had she just heard? He... he was... confessing to her? After what had just happened? In such an... absurd yet heart-shaking manner?
Her heart began pounding uncontrollably, and an unprecedented fluster and inexplicable flutter swept over her.
The defenses around her heart, once hardened by shame and anger, instantly crumbled beneath this utterly unexpected yet strangely sincere declaration.
Killing intent? It had long vanished without a trace.
In its place was an extremely complicated emotion, one that even she herself could not distinguish.
Was he... serious? Or was he teasing her again? But that look in his eyes... that pain and struggle did not seem false.
The words "I love you" and "ten thousand years" were like a thunderclap, setting off monstrous waves in the lake of her heart.
Seeing Yun Yun react so dramatically, Mo Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that this risky move of his seemed to have been the right one.
He immediately struck while the iron was hot, his tone turning concerned as he tilted his head and asked, "Though it may just be pointless talk, I should still ask—your seal has not been fully broken. What are you planning to do next? Is there anything I can help with?"
His tone was sincere, his concern undisguised, steering the conversation toward something serious.
Hearing Mo Lin's words, Yun Yun abruptly came back to herself. Realizing how much she had lost her composure, she hurriedly took several deep breaths and forcibly suppressed the storm in her heart. She bent down to pick up the sword and sheathed it, using the motion to conceal the blush and panic on her face.
After pondering briefly, she actually nodded slightly, as though she needed something concrete to steady her mind.
Her gaze swept over Mo Lin's concerned and slightly "bewildered" expression. Trying to make her voice calm again, she softly said, "I need Purple Spirit Crystal. It is usually kept deep within the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's cave.
"The last time, I intended to sneak in, but it detected me beforehand... Once I fully recover my strength, I will lure the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King away again. As for you..."
She paused, her beautiful eyes looking directly into Mo Lin's with a sense of entrustment. "I would like to ask you to enter the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's cave while that happens and help me find the Purple Spirit Crystal."
"I don't mind helping you," Mo Lin said with a helpless smile, spreading his hands. "But I am merely a Dou Shi. Deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, any random fourth- or fifth-tier magical beast could easily deal with me. Sneaking into the lair of a Sixth-tier Magical Beast would be..."
He wore a helpless expression, handing the choice back to Yun Yun.
"You need not worry about that." Yun Yun spoke absentmindedly. "Once I completely break the seal, I will use a secret technique to temporarily infuse part of my strength into you, allowing you to possess enough power for a short time to protect yourself and even contend with ordinary fourth-tier magical beasts.
"With that power, you should be able to enter the cave. After all, few other magical beasts would dare enter the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's lair."
Hearing that, Mo Lin nodded slightly.
It was indeed a feasible method. It would also allow him to experience higher-level strength in advance, which would benefit his cultivation.
"Here." Yun Yun took a small, crystalline diamond-shaped crystal from her storage ring and handed it to him. "Wear this Crystal Seeking Stone on you. Once you approach Purple Spirit Crystal, it will heat up. You can use the intensity of the heat to locate it."
Mo Lin took the cool diamond-shaped crystal and solemnly hung it around his neck. Raising his face, he gave her a reassuring smile. "All right. I'll do my best."
As their conversation shifted to serious matters, the awkward, tense atmosphere between them finally eased.
That earth-shattering "confession" and the fallen sword seemed to become an unspoken secret, temporarily sealed away.
Over the following days, Yun Yun devoted herself to breaking the remaining seal within her body.
Meanwhile, Mo Lin stood guard while also processing the subtle changes brought about by that "confession."
Yun Yun's attitude toward him had clearly changed. Although she still did not speak much, that cold sense of distance was gone. Whenever their gazes occasionally met, she would quickly look away, her cheeks faintly red and her expression carrying a maiden's shyness and fluster. The contrast with her status as a Dou Emperor made Mo Lin secretly laugh.
Several days later, an aura far more vast and majestic than before finally erupted from Yun Yun's body like a volcanic explosion, soaring into the sky!
The Purple Crystal Seal completely vanished into thin air.
The powerful pressure of a Dou Emperor filled the entire cave, inspiring awe.
Yun Yun slowly opened her eyes, brilliant light flashing within them as her bearing became grand and imposing.
She looked at Mo Lin, her gaze mixed with a trace of indescribable complicated emotion.
She softly asked, "Are you ready?"
Feeling the faint resonance of Dou Qi within his body caused by Yun Yun's breakthrough, Mo Lin took a deep breath and nodded.
The two exchanged a glance. In tacit understanding, neither mentioned what had happened before, focusing instead on the coming operation against the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.
Their days of living together in the cave were about to end, but their story had clearly only just entered a new chapter.
Before you continue