The display of power in the valley gave Lin Xi a completely new understanding of Luo Bingning’s strength and made the sense of urgency in her heart grow even stronger.

Back at the cave dwelling, Luo Bingning could hardly wait before entering cultivation once more.

Cultivating while wearing the Cold Jade Heart was an experience unlike anything she had ever known.

Pure cold spiritual energy poured into her body without end, refined flawlessly by the Nine Heavens Cold Soul Art, while the Cold Jade Heart constantly nourished her bloodline, soothing every trace of restless power.

Everything felt so smooth, so perfect.

Lin Xi sat cross-legged not far away, protecting her.

She could clearly sense the aura around Luo Bingning steadily rising at a terrifying pace.

In the air of the cave dwelling, ice-blue motes of spiritual light could be seen with the naked eye, dancing joyfully around Luo Bingning like countless fireflies.

Yet in that very moment, this harmonious scene was broken by a discordant tremor.

Luo Bingning’s calm and tranquil aura suddenly showed subtle signs of disorder.

Beads of sweat seeped onto her smooth forehead, her dark brows tightening unconsciously.

She seemed to be attacking a barrier.

The Nine Heavens Cold Soul Art circulated rapidly in her body, her comprehension of the Cold Laws reaching a bottleneck.

It was an invisible wall.

So long as she broke through, a brand new world awaited.

Luo Bingning focused her mind, gathering her vast Ice Phoenix power and striking at the barrier.

Once.

Twice.

The barrier remained as solid as ever, completely unmoved.

A vague irritation sprouted quietly from the depths of her heart.

‘Why?’

It clearly felt like she was only a hair’s breadth away.

Why could she not break through?

Uncontrollably, scenes flashed in her mind.

Her helplessness when besieged by the Blood Shadow Sect.

The despair of being imprisoned in a dark cave.

Her cultivation lost, unable even to protect herself.

These negative emotions she had deliberately suppressed erupted in this moment of failure, finding a breach to pour through.

Her heartstate wavered violently.

‘No! I can’t become like that again! I must become stronger! I must protect Xi’er!’

That thought, laden with fierce obsession, consumed her mind completely.

She staked everything, madly channeling all the Ice Phoenix power she could muster toward the barrier.

Yet on the path of cultivation, nothing is more dangerous than impatience.

This wild force, tainted with fear and obsession, failed to shatter the bottleneck. Instead, it was like a heavy hammer smashing brutally against her own meridians.

“Pu—”

Luo Bingning’s eyes flew open, a mouthful of blood spraying forth, congealing mid-air into crimson ice crystals radiating ominous chill.

The cold spiritual power in her body completely lost control.

Boom!

A storm far more violent, more frigid, more destructive than the one in the valley erupted from her at the center.

The temperature in the cave dwelling plunged instantly to an unthinkable low.

Moisture in the air did not merely frost, but transformed into billions of icy needles finer than ox hair, shooting indiscriminately in every direction.

The thick layer of ice on the stone walls groaned under the strain, hideous cracks spreading rapidly.

Boulders swept by the icy needles crumbled into powder without a sound.

The cave dwelling became a deathtrap of howling blizzards.

Naturally, this freezing aura enveloped Lin Xi who stood guard nearby.

At the very instant Luo Bingning’s power rampaged, a chill capable of freezing the soul locked onto Lin Xi.

Lin Xi’s heart skipped sharply.

The spiritual power within her body sluggishly resisted beneath the oppressive cold.

A stabbing pain prickled across her skin, the icy needles in the air slicing at her protective aura.

This force could, in a single instant, freeze a mid-Core Formation cultivator like her into shattered ice.

Her body reacted faster than her mind, feet pushing off as she darted backwards.

At the same time, she shouted frantically within.

‘System! Hurry!’

[Warning! Luo Bingning’s heartstate is in disarray, Ice Phoenix bloodline power rampaging!]

[Host is within lethal threat range! Vital signs rapidly declining!]

The cold mechanical voice tolled like a death knell in Lin Xi’s head.

Amidst the chaotic blizzard, Luo Bingning’s frenzied ice-blue eyes seemed to catch Lin Xi’s retreating figure.

She saw the panic plain on Lin Xi’s face.

Saw her protective aura flicker and falter in the storm, on the verge of collapse.

“Xi’er…”

Pain and struggle flickered deep within her gaze.

She wanted to control this power, to divert it away from Lin Xi.

But the runaway bloodline force was like an unbridled beast, heedless of her commands.

Worse, driven by her turbulent emotions, the destructive power grew even wilder.

A wind blade forged of profound ice tore the air, shrieking as it slashed toward Lin Xi’s retreat.

Lin Xi’s pupils shrank.

She knew this strike, she could neither dodge nor block.

‘No more waiting!’

At that razor’s edge of life and death, Lin Xi suddenly felt something deep within her dantian stir—something long dormant, roused by the mortal peril and the aura flooding from Luo Bingning.

The Supreme Queen Body.

An indescribable tremor awakened from the depths of her being.

It was not some overwhelming spiritual power.

It was something more fundamental, softer, a strange resonance that seemed to commune with all things under heaven.

Unaware herself, a gentle, intangible aura spread from her body.

The profound ice wind blade, about to cleave her, met this aura—and the impossible occurred.

The wild destructive power upon it vanished as if it had met its nemesis.

The icy spiritual force that composed it became docile, like a tamed beast and with a soft “pa,” it disintegrated into a handful of purest ice crystal dust, drifting down.

At the storm’s core, Luo Bingning clutched her head in pain, her rampaging power still raging inside, yet she already felt the calming aura beyond.

It was Xi’er.

Lin Xi looked upon the weak and self-loathing Luo Bingning, fear giving way to exasperation.

‘Making such a huge commotion, even a demolition crew couldn’t match your skill!’

Though her thoughts raged, her steps never faltered.

She walked forward step by step, treading on glittering ice crystals, ignoring the lingering chill.

That strange aura of harmony spread from her like a warm domain, soothing and dissolving every remnant of ferocity.

Luo Bingning instinctively shrank back at her approach, pale face full of fear and rejection.

She was afraid.

Not of Lin Xi, but of hurting the only light in her world.

“Don’t come…” her hoarse voice broke with sobs.

Lin Xi paid her no mind.

She reached her, knelt and without hesitation, wrapped the trembling figure tightly in her arms.

“Shut up, don’t move.”

Her tone was domineering, yet brimming with suppressed concern.

The body in her embrace stiffened.

A heartbeat later, that supremely gentle aura surged through the closeness of their contact, flowing into Luo Bingning without reserve.

If before it had been like spring rain, now it was like rivers returning to the sea.

The Ice Phoenix power that had raged like wild horses instantly grew meek as lambs upon contact. They no longer battered her meridians, but shrank back, settling slowly into her dantian.

The negative emotions birthed of heartstate turmoil—fear, paranoia, impatience—were gently washed away.

Luo Bingning felt like a lone skiff in raging seas finally reaching the warmest harbor.

Her taut nerves fully relaxed, her whole being going soft in Lin Xi’s arms, burying her face into her neck and greedily drawing in that calming aura.

“Xi’er… I… I nearly…” her voice choked with guilt and fear.

“Nearly demolished the house.” Lin Xi patted her back, not hard but soothing. “Do this again and I’ll throw you out to cool off outside.”

Her words belied the tightening embrace.

Luo Bingning knew she would never truly be cast away.

She only shook her head hard, like a wronged kitten, rubbing against Lin Xi’s neck as though to melt entirely into her.

Just then, system prompts erupted in Lin Xi’s mind, celebratory like survival after calamity.

[Ding! Host has for the first time actively invoked the ‘Affinity’ ability of the Supreme Queen Body, successfully resolving Luo Bingning’s rampage!]

[Luo Bingning’s reliance and trust in host have reached new heights, recognizing host as her sole ‘Heartstate Stabilizer’!]

[Nurturing task has made major progress! Reward distribution commencing…]

[Congratulations, host has received a rare pill formula—Seven Treasure Tranquil Lotus Pill!]

[Congratulations, host has received 1000 system shop points! Current total: 3000 points.]

Lin Xi felt the docile “human-shaped feline” in her arms, then glanced at the priceless formula on her system panel. Only one thought filled her heart.

‘Worth it! This risk was so worth it! Truly, fortune favors danger—rewards come from ‘accidents’!’