Inside the empty room, the woman in white collapsed wearily to the ground.
As the door shut tightly behind her, her mood plunged to the depths, as if she had just been sentenced to death with a reprieve, delayed until next month’s forced execution.
From then on, each day became a torment before farewell.
She was a failed teacher, and an even colder foster mother—this Yan Bingling knew all too well.
“I know I’ll never be a good teacher, nor deserve to be a good mother. I only heap pressure on you, forcing you to carry the unfulfilled wishes I couldn’t realize myself. I didn’t want you to walk the crooked path I took. I even left the whole sect’s burden on you alone, never once considering your feelings…”
Tiring?
Indeed, it was tiring to be around someone like her.
After this incident, Gelan scolded Yan Bingling harshly, venting many words long held inside her heart.
Didn’t she have any sense why the Tianxiang Peak lineage was dying out?
So when Liuer returned this time, she hadn’t once mentioned the usual heavy burden, nor did she speak about the sword way examination.
“Teacher… I know I was wrong…”
Yan Bingling’s lips moved, mumbling softly.
Back when the child was entrusted to her care, she had been reluctant to take on the extra burden—accustomed to being solitary and carefree—but still unwilling to refuse.
After all, that girl was the only Shenhua Inner Disciple brave enough to approach her and the Ice Peak Tianxiang.
Her sunny smile had countless times dispelled the eternal frozen cold, becoming a little sun amid the demonic haze.
“Let him take care of Junior Sister Xun Ran in my place!”
“Who’s taking care of whom? I’m not responsible if he ends up spoiled…”
Yan Bingling snorted.
But slowly, as she watched the helpless little life grow in her arms, she gradually felt a warmth long absent from her being.
Her cold heart quietly melted.
In a place where nothing mattered but the sword way, she now carried responsibility and obligation, becoming more and more humane—at least willing to exchange childcare experiences with Gelan and take turns on duty.
Liuer was well-behaved, neither crying nor throwing tantrums.
When hungry, he found his own food; when it rained, he held his own umbrella. Smart and capable from a young age.
He never disturbed her cultivation, nor caused trouble.
His eyes only shone brightly, looking at her with utter adoration—absolutely adorable.
While others feared the frost, snow, and bleak moon, Yunliu always reached out to touch it, never caring about frostbite.
Every time the Sword Qi Long River danced atop Tianxiang Peak, he clapped and laughed joyfully.
At some unknown point, the woman sword immortal—once indifferent to others’ opinions—began to enjoy those admiring gazes.
She even broke tradition to open the mountain gate and accept disciples, all to give the boy a true home.
The child grew day by day, executing perfectly according to her plan, bringing Yan Bingling unparalleled pride and even a strange affection—seeing Liuer as her most beloved possession.
More beloved than any soulmate-like principal flying sword, refusing to let anyone touch him.
Including that nominal fiancée!
Before Yunliu’s arrival, this place had always been the Shenhua Forbidden Land—void of any living breath, trespassers at their own peril.
“Is it… going to be just me left again?”
Recalling the Ice Peak of the Cloud Sea a hundred years ago, cold and desolate, empty and silent, no youth practicing swordsmanship in the mountains.
Suddenly, Yan Bingling realized she was the one who couldn’t let go of Yunliu.
Just as his mother had said, it was he who had been taking care of her all along…
Yan Bingling smiled bitterly, regretting her past.
Outside, a group of foolish girls remained unaware that someone had already laid the groundwork, officially severing ties with the past.
Qin Xing naively believed that once her junior brother was healed, he could abandon certain depressing thoughts.
Little did they know, at the moment of Qi Sea’s dissolution, Yunliu had ended the countdown himself, personally severing the Retrospective Anomaly.
Night fell over Tianxiang, the moon cold and snow piercing.
That night, the snow and frost made the cold all the more biting.
Outside the illusion pavilion, an old man’s gaze grew grave as he watched Tianxiang Peak freeze over, the desolate sword qi cloaked like moonlight, sealing every entrance and exit—just as it was centuries ago at the beginning.
Not a blade of grass grew; life was cut off.
“This is bad!”
Though he didn’t know what had provoked Bingling, if this continued, all would be lost.
Inside Tianxiang Peak, only the teacher and disciple remained.
One was still plotting a passive retreat, and thanks to Extreme Destiny, his spirit flame blazed intensely, completely oblivious to the plummeting temperature—lost in wild fantasies, unaware of the strange happenings outside.
The woman in white inside the loft clutched her head, throbbing painfully, breath ragged, her spiritual aura fluctuating wildly.
Her long-standing spiritual pillar had suddenly vanished.
Yan Bingling’s resolute heart faltered, and her Sea of Consciousness’ Sword Heart wavered.
The cold demonic energy inside her body had never melted over the years, bone-chilling and sharp, granting immense power but bearing a heavy curse.
Without her beloved son and first disciple by her side, she would never have endured so long.
The child was grown now, bound to establish his own family, no longer belonging to her.
Like those reckless parents—either deceived away by a man or a woman.
Yan Bingling knew clearly that even without Xiao Xinran’s turmoil, Yunliu would not remain on Tianxiang Peak forever.
She had just long ignored, unwilling to face the vague feelings inside her heart—until now, when someone mercilessly tore away her cold mask and forced her to confront reality.
The thought of Liuer leaving pierced her heart with unbearable pain, leaving her powerless against the backlash of demonic energy.
Visions flashed through her mind, cutting like sword qi, a thousand blades drilling into her heart.
[Auntie loves me, and I love Auntie too. We’re a perfect match made in heaven!]
“Liar…”
[When I grow up, I’ll marry Auntie and take care of you forever!]
“All lies… just lies!”
The next second, the woman in white opened her eyes.
Silver hair flying, icy blue pupils, the pain faded away, replaced by a mocking madness.
Demonic energy flooded her body; her Sword Heart was lost.
“Want to leave? Do you think you can leave!”
She then sought out a warm embrace to “quench her thirst.”
The white-clad youth in the luxurious palace yawned, calculating how much money was left in his pocket—enough to buy a mountain or not.
So many geniuses delayed their return; with less than two weeks until this year’s promotion, that meant next month he would be free.
Rumor had it not only was Senior Sister Jing Tan’er ambitious about taking over Tianxiang, but Ji Shiyu and Xiao Xinran had also been exceptionally permitted by the Grand Elder to sign up and compete in the trial, refining alongside senior disciples.
He never intended to participate, but if anyone blind enough wanted to challenge a waste for a duel, he wouldn’t mind teaching them a proper lesson.
Creak!
The door suddenly opened, cold wind rushing in, making Liuer’s hair stand on end as he sat up.
In the dim moonlight, he saw a tall woman staggering, cheeks flushed, icy blue eyes slightly vacant—drunk, muttering like in a dream.
“Liuer, can’t sleep again? Come, let Mommy hold you.”
Clad in snow-white robes, stunningly beautiful, she spread her arms and tried to climb onto the boy’s bed.
What’s going on?
You’re trying this too?
“Uh, Master, please show some restraint. I’m already grown up.”
Liuer was startled and scrambled backward, this was not part of the script—was Junior Sister Xun Ran sending signals now?
Second Aunt’s specialty was face-washing lotion, but Junior Sister’s slender figure was more like a model’s.
Holding her might even be less pleasant than holding the little yellow-haired kid.
Liuer shook his head, clearing the strange thoughts.
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