Bai Lan looked at her.
At the anticipation and uncertainty in her eyes.
He smiled.
"Of course."
Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
Bai Lan nodded.
"Really."
Ma Xiaotao smiled.
It was the happiest she had looked in a long time.
"Thank you, Bai Lan, my junior."
From that day on, Ma Xiaotao came every day.
She arrived in the morning and left in the evening.
Sometimes she stayed the whole day.
She never disturbed Bai Lan while he cultivated. She simply sat beside him and cultivated on her own.
Whenever she got tired, she would stare absently at Bai Lan.
At his youthful yet serious face.
At Yinye and the Ice Empress guarding him on either side.
At the Soul Power surging toward him from every direction.
Every time she saw it, she couldn't help thinking:
This junior really was different from everyone else.
On the tenth day.
At dusk.
Bai Lan sat cross-legged on the bed, cultivating with his eyes closed.
Ma Xiaotao sat in a chair beside him, her eyes closed as she cultivated, too.
Yinye and the Ice Empress guarded Bai Lan.
The room was quiet.
Only the soft sound of breathing could be heard.
Suddenly—
Bai Lan's body trembled slightly.
Yinye's eyes snapped open at once.
The Ice Empress lifted her head, too.
Sensing something was wrong, Ma Xiaotao opened her eyes and looked at Bai Lan.
"What's wrong?"
Yinye didn't answer.
She only stared at Bai Lan, her eyes full of nervous anticipation.
The Soul Power within Bai Lan was surging wildly!
The peak of level thirty-nine!
He was breaking through the threshold of level forty!
If he made it, he would become a Soul Ancestor.
If he failed, he would remain stuck where he was.
Bai Lan's brow furrowed slightly.
He