Gu Linyuan slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within those eyes, the dark golden light receded like a tide, leaving behind a tranquil, profound blackness.
He softly exhaled, his breath condensing into a cloud of white mist in the frigid air before slowly dispersing.
Ah Yin was the first to notice that he had awakened.
She had been crouching not far from his side, her gaze never leaving his face.
The moment Gu Linyuan's eyelashes fluttered, she leaned forward slightly. Only when his eyes fully opened did her shoulders finally relax, as though a stone that had been hanging in her heart for a long time had finally fallen to the ground.
"Master," Ah Yin said softly. "How do you feel?"
Gu Linyuan flexed his wrist, and several faint cracks came from between his knuckles. He lowered his head to look at his palm, then clenched his fist, as if sensing the changes that had already taken place within his body.
"...Much lighter than before," he said slowly. "It feels like my meridians have been sorted out all over again. There's no obstruction at all when my Soul Power circulates."
Before he had even finished speaking, Ice Empress had already leaped down from the ice boulder and practically pounced in front of Gu Linyuan.
She did not speak in a rush. Instead, she first scrutinized him several times with her emerald-green eyes, as though conducting a thorough examination.
After confirming that there was nothing abnormal about his complexion, breathing, or gaze, she still was not reassured. She reached out and poked his arm with a finger, tilted her head and sensed him for a while, then finally showed a relieved expression.
"Brother Linyuan, your cultivation..." She paused, and her emerald pupils suddenly contracted. "...You broke through to level fifty-five?"
Gu Linyuan