The silence in the room lasted several seconds.
Feng Yuan narrowed his eyes. His expression hardened.
"So it is..."
The words were heavy, filled with bitter understanding.
The other elders also exchanged glances, worried.
One of them, unable to contain his anxiety, asked.
"What are the chances of her recovery?"
The elder beside the bed shook his head, his voice low but firm.
"Without a soul treasure... it is truly difficult."
The room fell silent once again, each one absorbing the weight of those words.
The glow of the lamp danced across the serene yet fragile face of Long Xue.
Feng Yuan closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
"Indeed... it will be complicated. Soul treasures are absurdly rare, we only begin to perceive our own soul from the Spiritual Awakening realm onward..." His voice carried grave weight.
"These treasures only appear in the domains of greater forces, and absurdly far from us. To find even one would be... almost impossible."
At that instant, the door of the room opened.
Mei Ran entered first. Behind her, Kyrian appeared, carrying the unconscious young man on his shoulders.
All eyes immediately turned to them.
Feng Yuan straightened his posture as he asked.
"What happened?"
Mei Ran stopped in the center of the room, her voice firm and direct.
"I believe Wu Jian has already told you that we went to the city in the scarlet domain searching for the one who did this to Long Xue."
"When we arrived there, the city was in ruins. Beasts filled the streets. And a giant ape from the Core Formation realm led the massacre. I took care of him and the rest of the stronger beasts."
She continued speaking, but her eyes shifted, pointing toward the young man that Kyrian placed on the ground without much care.
"But the root of the chaos truly came from him. This boy was possessed by a strange black mass. Kyrian stayed to face him while I dealt with the beasts."
The elders exchanged glances immediately, the air growing heavier.
One of them stepped forward, his expression a little intrigued.
"If he was the one who caused this... perhaps he has a way to heal as well. Maybe he can help Long Xue."
Kyrian slightly raised his head upon hearing that, but remained silent, not being familiar with the matter.
Feng Yuan, however, only shook his head.
"Do not have hopes. This young man is only at the beginning of the Qi Liberation realm. I do not believe someone at that level would have the ability to affect another’s soul intentionally." His voice came sharp, causing the elder’s hope to cease.
He drew a deep breath, observing the unconscious boy.
"We will interrogate him for certain about absolutely everything up to this point. But do not expect miracles. I believe it is unlikely he has anything to tell us."
Silence returned to dominate the room.
Kyrian remained still, looking at the ground for a few seconds. Then, he finally spoke, his voice calm.
"I will return to my courtyard."
Feng Yuan lifted his eyes slightly in Kyrian’s direction. He noticed, for an instant, something strange.
Kyrian’s expression, usually as impassive as always, had suddenly changed slightly. As if he had remembered something or felt a concern.
The sect leader kept his gaze fixed on him for a few seconds but did not ask. He merely nodded, thinking to himself that he would question him later.
**************************************************
Kyrian walked through the silent corridors of the sect, the sun already setting at that moment, an orange light falling over the sect’s green roofs.
Everything seemed fine, but Kyrian’s mind was not calm.
Inside it, thoughts spun at a frightening speed.
Because in that instant, simply out of nowhere, he had felt something.
A faint connection had arisen in his mind, something he immediately recognized.
It was the blank book.
His heart beat a little faster. He tried to connect, closing his eyes for a moment as he walked. And then it happened.
From the depths of his mind, a translucent energy began to emerge. A gentle wave, cold but comforting.
At the same instant, Kyrian felt it.
A chill in his mind, refreshing, light, a momentary clarity. It was a new sensation, something he had never experienced before. It was extremely good.
His breathing calmed. That energy coursed through his mind as if it washed away invisible impurities, clearing every thought, every detail of his consciousness.
The sensation lasted a full minute.
Until, suddenly, it disappeared.
The connection with the book vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
Kyrian opened his eyes, standing still in the middle of the path.
The silence of the way enveloped him once more, but he knew. Something had changed.
He furrowed his brow, taking a deep breath.
Suddenly, he realized.
The limit of his eyes... seemed to have lessened.
Before, he judged that he would need eighteen to twenty days to finally return to absorbing the spiritual stones in his eyes. But now... he knew with certainty that.
At most, now only seven days remained, a week for the limit to disappear.
His eyes widened for an instant.
It was a tremendous change.
He quickened his steps, nearly running along the path until he reached the place where his courtyard and the other core disciples’ courtyards were located.
As he passed by the hall, he saw Yanyu seated, cultivating peacefully, the fox still asleep in her lap. The smooth flow of Qi blended into the environment.
Kyrian did not stop. He merely observed for a moment, then continued to his room and closed the door behind him.
He sat cross-legged in the center of the room, closing his eyes, trying to connect with the book again.
But... nothing.
Only the void answered him.
He clenched his teeth, his hands closing into fists.
He had truly thought he would discover something today.
"Seriously... what was that?" Kyrian murmured softly.
His mind began to spin in thought.
The only change, the only thing that could have caused this reaction, was... today’s battle.
The book had destroyed the black mass of hostility. That oppressive, suffocating energy. And after that, it had shared something with him.
A strange energy, unknown to him. Something that cleared his mind and made the limit of his eyes, which had never changed, decrease.
Kyrian could not conclude what this energy was, but he thought that the book had most certainly absorbed it from the darkness that came from that young man.
He drew a deep breath.
"I need to ask Feng Yuan... when the matters with Long Xue are finished."
He closed his eyes again, trying to force contact once more. But the inner silence was the only answer he received.
He relaxed slowly, but even though he could not connect with the book, something inside him had truly changed.
His mind seemed clearer, and even his eyes sharper. No, the information his eyes sent him seemed to be absorbed more easily into his brain, it was truly strange.
He did not yet understand what it meant, but he knew with absolute certainty. That book was not only a weapon against the black mass. But something much greater of which he had no idea.
But which was slowly revealing its true nature.