Chapter 93

The night was already deep.

Only the breathing of two people could be heard in the Cultivation Room, one deep and one shallow, intertwined together.

Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged on a cushion, her eyes closed. Her complexion was far better than it had been a few months ago.

In the past, an unnatural flush had always shown beneath her skin, as though something were burning inside her veins.

Now, most of that flush had faded, replaced by a healthy rosy color.

Xue Lingyun sat opposite her, his hands lightly draped over her wrists as Soul Power slowly circulated through where they connected.

Her Evil Fire surged through his meridians, swallowed by the vortex suspended within his chest, stripped of its violent edges, then sent back into her body.

Back and forth, like a precise cycle.

She gained stability, while he gained tempering.

Each got what they needed.

Halfway through tonight's tempering, Xue Lingyun sensed something.

The barrier he had always thought was the Rank 40 bottleneck developed a tiny crack under the constant wash of Soul Power.

The crack widened, and the entire barrier shattered like thin ice into powder. Swept along by the surging Soul Power, it rushed deep into his meridians and vanished without a trace.

Rank 40.

It came naturally, without the slightest strain.

Ma Xiaotao opened her eyes almost at the same moment.

She felt the Soul Power fluctuations from across from her suddenly rise by a significant degree. The change was far too obvious, like a stream abruptly turning into a river.

She stared at Xue Lingyun for two seconds, only speaking after confirming that she had not sensed wrong. "You broke through?"

Xue Lingyun opened his eyes and nodded.

Ma Xiaotao fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor. Who