As Wang Ping's words fell, Yulian's Primordial Spirit suddenly sank, perfectly merging with the physical body coiled at the bottom of the river.
In an instant, the water throughout the entire river channel stalled. Then, centered on her, it formed a massive whirlpool. Countless green specks of light seeped from between her scales, only to be drawn back in the next moment.
The Sanhua cat had no mind left to absorb Spirit Qi. It stared wide-eyed at the increasingly bright "ribbon of light" at the riverbed. Suddenly, dazzling green light erupted from the center of the whirlpool, and a column of water shot into the heavens. At the top of that water column, Yulian's slender figure finally emerged in full.
Her serpent body was a full circle thicker than when she had been asleep. Her scales were no longer simply snow-white, but shimmered with mother-of-pearl rainbow luster. Mysterious, profound runes seemed to appear within her pair of golden Vertical Pupils.
"Wang Ping!" Yulian's voice rang directly within the Spirit Sea of Wang Ping's avatar, carrying long-missed excitement. She twisted her body and swam out from the water column, and wherever she passed, the river water automatically parted to form a passage.
The avatar smiled. "It seems you gained quite a lot from this period of Secluded Cultivation?"
The tip of Yulian's tail lifted smugly. As her Primordial Spirit Consciousness spread out, she asked Wang Ping, "Isn't your true body at Nine Profound Mountain?"
Wang Ping immediately used their connected Primordial Spirits to synchronize everything that had happened since Yulian entered Secluded Cultivation with her Spirit Sea consciousness. In but an instant, Yulian understood what had happened. Yet what concerned her most was, "Is Xiao Zhu really giving up on advancing to the Fourth Realm?"
"Her mindset is very steady. She