After her martial soul evolved, Ling Luocheng seemed as though she had been polished anew.
That cold aloofness remained, but it was no longer the indifference that kept others at arm's length. Instead, it was a purity cleansed of all worldly dust.
Her skin had become fairer and more delicate than before, carrying a faint sheen. Her features had not changed noticeably, yet her overall bearing had undergone a qualitative leap, like a dust-covered ice crystal that had been wiped clean to reveal its original radiance.
The rule of meeting once every two days was naturally broken after she proposed, "Every day."
From then on, every afternoon, Huo Chen would appear punctually at the door of the Frost Cultivation Room.
Sometimes, he guided her in consolidating her control over Primordial Ice. Other times, he simply sat quietly to one side and watched her cultivate.
And she no longer remained tense at every moment as she had in the beginning. Before him, she began to reveal little moments of unguarded relaxation. Sometimes, during breaks in cultivation, she would lift that cup of ginger tea long gone cold and sip it bit by bit.
At times, while listening to his explanations, she would unconsciously tilt her head, the ice-crystal cat-ear crown atop her head swaying gently along with it.
The change happened quietly. Like ice thinning little by little beneath an unceasing spring breeze, until one day, it could no longer sustain its feigned hardness and revealed the shimmering water flowing beneath.
That evening, just as Huo Chen was preparing to leave, it began to rain outside.
The late-autumn rain came suddenly, carrying a chill. It struck the stone pavement outside the cultivation room, producing a dense, crisp patter.
Huo Chen stood at the doorway, looking at the blurred scenery beyond the