"Bang!..."
Just as Gu Qingcheng stood in a daze, Zhai Mo swept into the Stone Fortress like a gust of wind, his arm around Xu Taiping.
"Miss Qingcheng, bring down the rocks and seal the entrance!"
Gongshu Nanxing, who had been guarding the entrance all along, immediately turned and shouted to Gu Qingcheng.
"All right!" Gu Qingcheng nodded.
In fact, even before Nanxing gave the instruction, she had already pressed her hand against the wall and begun controlling the thick vines wrapped around the Stone Fortress.
"Bang!"
Then, under Gu Qingcheng's control, the thick vines all coiled around the boulders prepared beforehand, completely blocking the Stone Fortress's entrance.
Yet even this simple action consumed more than half of Gu Qingcheng's true essence and qi and blood.
Extremely weak, she staggered and nearly fell.
Fortunately, Yuzhu beside her noticed in time, first protecting her with a golden light, then enveloping her in a pale green curtain of light and steadily transferring true essence into her.
"Thank you... thank you, Miss Yuzhu."
Having steadied herself, Gu Qingcheng smiled and thanked Yuzhu.
"Y-you're welcome."
It was only an ordinary smile, but when it appeared on Gu Qingcheng's face, even Yuzhu, a fellow woman, felt her heart tremble at the sight.
"There's no need to give me any more true essence. The Rusty Lion Young Master needs it more than I do."
Gu Qingcheng reached out and dispersed the pale green radiance surrounding her, then pointed at Xu Taiping, who stood a short distance away, surrounded by the others.
Although Xu Taiping could stand now, his face was deathly pale, and his aura was so weak that it could no longer be sensed.
"Young Master, please sit down and focus your mind. I'll help restore your true essence and qi and blood."
Seeing this,