The mountains and valleys are cold and desolate, the trees are bare and cold, and the snow falls silently. A red figure stands silently in the pavilion, like a painting. She seems to have been waiting for a long time, her sleeves dusting off the snow, her eyes fixed on the mountain mist. Qin Yu steps into the cold mist, his steps steady. He doesn't say much, only gazing at that beautiful figure that has left a deep impression in his memory. Outside the pavilion, snow falls like threads, and the wind dares not enter the pavilion.
"Miss Ling," he said, his voice low but penetrating to the very soul.
"Not a young lady." She tilted her head slightly, her gaze indifferent. "You should know why I summoned you."
Qin Yu did not answer, but only nodded slightly. He already had a guess in his heart—something had happened to the Realm Emanation Flower.
Ling Jingxi raised her hand, and a wisp of pale light appeared in her palm. It was a crystallized fragment of flower breath, with mottled divine patterns in its dark blue color, and it seemed to be struggling silently.
"I have been trying to refine it for three days and three nights," she said slowly, her voice as calm and still as snow falling on a still lake at night. "At first it went smoothly; my divine energy entered my body, and my sea of consciousness stabilized. But on the third night, it refused to let me enter its soul platform."
Her tone remained calm, but the wisp of dark blue divine rune suddenly trembled slightly in her palm, as if some kind of will was slightly resisting. Qin Yu stared intently at it and actually felt a strange "sense of retrospection" in the divine rune—as if time, memory, and existence had all been torn open by the flower's origin.
"A power you've never seen before has emerged from within the Realm Emanation Flower." She looked up at him, her voice pausing slightly, "It's a wisp of the Realm-Returning Seal Aura."
Qin Yu's brows twitched slightly, and his heart trembled. He had heard of "Realm-Returning Seal Aura," a special divine breath that only existed in "Primordial Realm Spirit" or "Incomplete Soul Consciousness Structures," representing the origin of life that returns to its original state and is not yet imprinted by destiny.
"In other words—" he began in a low voice.
"This flower refuses to be refined by a complete soul." Ling Jingxi finished speaking for him, gently withdrawing the flower's essence into her sleeve. "My life consciousness is too complete, my Dao soul too stable. It... needs a consciousness that can be reshaped, a consciousness that is not yet complete."
Qin Yu's expression shifted slightly. "What if you force the fusion?"
Ling Jingxi remained silent for a moment, then calmly spoke, "My soul will be forced back to the Chaos Origin possession, but rather being imprinted with new cause and effect and logic, becoming its parasite."
A moment of silence fell over the pavilion.
Qin Yu stared at her, remaining silent for a long time.
"You still want to refine it?"
"I'm asking you," she suddenly countered, her tone devoid of emotion, "If you were me, would you stop?"
Qin Yu did not answer immediately.
He knew this wasn't a choice between flowers and power. It was a trial of fate—and for her, an irreversible decision.
"If I cannot refine it, I will ultimately be devoured by it," Ling Jingxi whispered, her tone devoid of any sorrow. "But I will not ask you for anything. I am only telling you today that it does not belong to me."
Her gaze fell on Qin Yu, her eyes calm and restrained, yet carrying a distant familiarity.
"You brought this flower back," she whispered. "You may not be so unlucky."
"If I ever lose control, don't destroy it," she whispered. "Take it away, take it where it belongs."
"Not for me, but for you."
Qin Yu was about to speak when, just as she finished speaking, he suddenly felt something in his sleeve tremble very slightly. It was a wisp of "Primordial Realm Pattern Aura" that had remained deep within his consciousness when he retrieved the flower seed. At that moment, an almost imperceptible resonance came, as if some kind of aura within the flower had gently... awakened in his presence.
At the same instant, Ling Jingxi paused almost imperceptibly, a strange look appearing in her eyes.
She looked at him, but didn't say anything, only smiled faintly, "Perhaps... it wasn't opened for me."
The world was silent, yet the essence of the flower still lingered within Qin Yu's body, subtly fluctuating as if awaiting the arrival of his true home.
The wind and snow continued to fall in the pavilion. Ling Jingxi was about to leave, her figure brushing against the snow, her pale red silhouette seemingly untouched by the mortal world. But at that moment, a voice rang out calmly, carrying an undeniable composure:
"Perhaps I have a way."
She paused slightly, turned around a little, and without saying a word, a complex look appeared in her eyes.
Qin Yu slowly walked into the pavilion, looked down at the Realm Emanation Flower in her sleeve that had not yet fully awakened, and said, "You said it refuses to have a complete life consciousness and must be refined by the 'Realm-Returning Factor'... Then I will guide it for you."
"You?" She stared at him, her tone devoid of emotion, but deep within her voice was a barely perceptible ripple of emotion.
Qin Yu nodded, offering no explanation of the underlying principles, only saying, "When you gifted me ten billion Realm Spirit, it wasn't a simple matter of cause and effect, but rather a matter of trust."
"It's not about trust either." Ling Jingxi interrupted him, her gaze clear, her tone still calm and aloof, "It's about placing a bet."
But you repay it now.
The pavilion remained quiet for several breaths.
Ling Jingxi finally approached slowly, her sleeves billowing slightly. A half-condensed, yet still unawakened, Realm Emanation Flower rose from her fingertips, transforming into a flower shadow that hovered behind her. At that moment, her eyes softened, but not with weakness; instead, they held an Ultimate clarity and composure. Qin Yu said, "But I need your full cooperation."
"Okay, I'll cooperate fully."
Ling Jingxi whispered
Qin Yu sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing. Without relying on the Azure Ring or any external force, he summoned an extremely ancient "Soul-Revolving Guidance Formation" from the deepest part of his consciousness. This was a technique he had obtained from a fragment of a broken bone in an ancient abyss.
The Soul Crosses the Four Symbols, Transforming Consciousness into Boundaries.
This method can temporarily borrow "external recognition patterns" to guide others to transfer their souls, which is equivalent to exchanging half a soul for a cause.
However, the price is that his own soul will undergo a "resonance and re-reflection of consciousness". If Ling Jingxi hesitates even slightly during this process, their Soul Seal will devour each other, resulting in mutual destruction.
You must let go of all Consciousness Realm and defenses.
"I'm defenseless." Ling Jingxi closed her eyes, her voice calm, "But can you bear the consequences of my entire soul being transferred?"
Qin Yu did not answer, but simply placed his palm on hers. At that moment, their consciousnesses intertwined, and the Realm Emanation Flower floated in the air.
At this moment, dozens of soul rings extended from the pillars of the entire Floating Mountain Pavilion, and the world fell silent.
As darkness fell, the petals parted slightly, and a wisp of divine consciousness emerged from Qin Yu's body, carrying no azure light or moving energy. Using only his unique "incomplete soul structure" as a guide, it caused the Realm Emanation Flower "misjudge" a "potentially undetermined soul platform to which it could attach."
At that moment, a sudden tremor ran through the depths of Ling Jingxi's sea of consciousness—she sensed that the flower's core had actively seeped in, breaking free from its resistance to her soul!
She opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise, only to see Qin Yu with a slight frown, his face as pale as snow, and blood slowly seeping from the corner of his lips.
He was forcibly absorbing the "dimensional pressure difference" within her projected consciousness.
That was the kind of pressure that only a soul at the Realm Lord Realm Fifth Stage Perfection could possess; anyone else would have had their soul platform crushed long ago.
And yet, he managed to hold on with the power of his own True Soul...
Ling Jingxi tried to interrupt, but he raised his hand to stop her.
"No, if you stop, the flowers will turn against you."
"And you--"
"Close your eyes and focus all your energy on refining it. Don't worry about me."
Ling Jingxi looked at him, her gaze finally no longer as calm as ice, but for the first time revealing a complex and turbulent emotion.
She finally closed her eyes, and the flower's soul completely merged into her life consciousness.
In an instant, above the void, flowers bloomed silently, the light of the realm reversed, and the Consciousness Realm was reconstructed!
A ring of "consciousness sea Rending Domain" invisible to the naked eye appeared around the entire floating mountain. At this moment, the Realm Emanation Flower finally sank slowly into Ling Jingxi's brow. A wisp of light swept across the corner of her eye. No tears fell, but it was as if the years had reversed.
The flowers finally bloomed for her.
She slowly opened her eyes, while Qin Yu was already kneeling on the ground, his soul platform trembling slightly, his blood surging.
Ling Jingxi stepped forward, pointed her jade finger, and a gentle divine sense stabilized his soul breath, but ultimately did not touch him again.
He only spoke in a low voice:
"Thank you."
This was the first time she had ever said those three words to anyone.