Half a month later.
"Whew..."
On the snowy plains along the border of Qi Province.
Bitter winds howled and blizzards raged. Heaven and earth were a vast, murky blur, and the bone-piercing cold seemed capable of freezing the soul.
At that moment, beneath the endless ice fields, inside a cave deep in the mountains.
A campfire crackled in the center of the cave. Its dancing orange flames drove away the bitter cold, casting flickering light and shadows across the walls and filling the cave with warmth.
Gu Chenfeng sat cross-legged beside the campfire, holding a Spirit Crystal, his body shrouded in a faint glow.
His once-pale complexion had regained its healthy color, and his aura had steadied.
The tremendous energy surrounding him pulsed rhythmically, each rise and fall seeming a little stronger than the last.
"Twanging..."
In a corner of the cave, Xuan Bing sat quietly cross-legged, clad in robes as white as snow.
An Ancient Zither lay across her knees, her slender, delicate fingers plucking its strings as lightly as ice butterflies.
Clear, ethereal zither notes rang out melodiously, lingering within the warm cave.
This music was far from ordinary. Its sound waves contained a special energy, pure and tranquil.
It could easily soothe the distracting thoughts and restlessness in people's minds.
Wherever the music reached, even the air seemed to grow clearer.
It greatly aided the circulation of Gu Chenfeng's cultivation technique, working wonders in speeding the recovery of his injuries.
As she played, Xuan Bing could not help looking toward the center of the cave, at Gu Chenfeng's silhouette as he cultivated quietly in the firelight.
Her gaze alternated between haziness and clarity, just like the dancing campfire.
From time to time, blurry images that seemed long forgotten flashed through her mind again.
She struggled to make