Sword Clan, Jian Realm
Liuli lay quietly on a bed fashioned from Ten Thousand Year Warm Jade. Her face was still pale, but her breathing had grown much steadier. Gongsun Sanbu remained by the bedside, his fingertips resting on the Young Girl's fair wrist as his Soul Power, fine as needles, swept through her meridians, Qi Sea, and Soul Origin.
Xiao Yan stood nearby, equally troubled, his gaze shifting between Liuli's sleeping face and Gongsun Sanbu's grave profile. Gongsun Lin sat farther away with his eyes closed in meditation, though his mind was clearly focused on this matter as well.
"For now, everything in Liuli's body appears normal. She has merely fallen unconscious due to excessive Soul Power consumption." Gongsun Sanbu withdrew his hand and spoke to the others behind him.
Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but then asked in confusion, "Then what exactly was that mysterious person doing within the Yao Realm?"
"I do not know. But as long as this girl is safe now, that is what matters most." Gongsun Sanbu sighed.
Gongsun Lin opened his eyes and fixed a blazing gaze on the Black-robed Old Man beside him. His voice carried a trace of barely perceptible weariness and confusion. "Sword Head, was that White-robed Woman the Natural Realm Realm Master?"
Everyone's eyes turned to the Old Man. This elder, whose profound eyes held the weight of ten thousand years, was the true pillar of the Sword Clan.
He slowly walked to the window. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in an unhurried tone. "The Natural Realm is an organization far older and more mysterious than you imagine."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over Gongsun Lin, Xiao Yan, and Gongsun Sanbu. "No one knows its origins. It was as though it had appeared