Only a few days after Lin Yun emerged from seclusion, Nangong Wan ended hers as well and appeared before him, radiant with vitality.
"It looks like you gained quite a lot, Wan'er!" Lin Yun said with a smile when he sensed the vigorous spiritual energy surrounding her.
Nangong Wan smiled beautifully. "Indeed. Helping you cultivate cost me a wisp of my essence of separation fire and depleted some of my vital energy, but while recovering in seclusion, I gained insight into the endlessly renewing nature of separation flame and advanced further in cultivating Southern Bright Lihuo Fire. Now my true meaning of Southern Bright Lihuo Fire has burned away much of the yin substance within my Nascent Soul's yin spirit!"
Lin Yun's eyes lit up. "Then that means you won't face a bottleneck before reaching the late Nascent Soul stage, Wan'er!"
"That's right!" Nangong Wan nodded with a smile.
When she formed her Nascent Soul, her yin spirit had already been fully refined, leaving her with no bottleneck before the middle stage. Now that the late-stage bottleneck was gone as well, the entire Nascent Soul realm was an open road for her. She needed only to keep accumulating true essence to advance through its stages.
The two sat on the Sea-Viewing Terrace discussing their insights into cultivation when Nangong Wan suddenly said, "Oh, right. I'm planning to visit White Jade Mountain, as I promised Fellow Daoist Bai."
Lin Yun frowned slightly. "Madam Wen?"
Nangong Wan nodded and took out a white jade tablet three inches across. Smiling, she said, "Fellow Daoist Bai even gave me a token of White Jade Mountain. We agreed that I would visit her to seek guidance in swordsmanship. It wouldn't be right not to go."
After a moment's thought, Lin Yun asked, "Would you like