Elder Xue Lian’s sudden attack was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake. Though it stirred up towering waves, once the stone sank, the surface would eventually return to peace.

Lin Xi blocked the stone door of the cave dwelling with a massive boulder. Crude though it was, it still shut out the mountain winds from outside.

In the days that followed, Luo Bingning’s dependence on Lin Xi reached a whole new level.

She followed Lin Xi almost everywhere, hardly leaving her side.

When Lin Xi meditated on the stone bed, Luo Bingning sat quietly next to her. Even if all she did was look at Lin Xi’s profile, she could stare for an entire day.

When Lin Xi studied spiritual herbs, Luo Bingning would move a small stone stool to sit across from her, propping her chin in her hands, her gaze never leaving Lin Xi’s fingers.

Sometimes, when Lin Xi raised her head, she would meet those ice-blue eyes brimming with tenderness and feel a little embarrassed.

Lin Xi herself was also quietly changing in this tranquil companionship.

That day when Elder Xue Lian attacked, Luo Bingning’s injuries had already recovered by fifty percent and the vast flood of spiritual energy granted by the system had helped her break through the barrier of the Foundation Establishment Stage to Core Formation.

At this moment, in her dantian, a golden core spun rapidly, emanating energy many times more powerful than her previous gaseous spiritual power.

Early Core Formation Stage!

Her cultivation had now fully stabilized.

This golden core not only vastly increased her spiritual power reserves but also brought about a qualitative leap.

Her perception of the world’s spiritual energy and her control over her own power both reached an entirely new level.

The Supreme Queen Body within her also seemed to grow more active with this breakthrough, causing her to radiate a gentle aura that made others unconsciously want to draw close.

Of course, the one who benefited most from this aura was none other than Luo Bingning herself.

That day, Lin Xi was sorting the herbs she had gathered in recent days, preparing to make new medicinal meals for Luo Bingning.

As usual, Luo Bingning sat quietly by her side.

Suddenly, she leaned over gently and rested her head on Lin Xi’s shoulder.

Her soft hair brushed against Lin Xi’s neck, causing a ticklish sensation.

Like a lazy, contented cat, she closed her eyes and rubbed lightly against Lin Xi’s shoulder, a faint hum of satisfaction sounding in her throat.

Lin Xi’s hands froze and when she turned her head, all she could see was Luo Bingning’s smooth forehead and long eyelashes.

Deep within, the steel straight man’s soul inside her was ranting wildly.

‘This doesn’t match the style at all! Where’s the decisive, ruthless Frost Empress who could freeze the heavens and earth? This is obviously just raising a big cat! And one that’s clingy to the extreme!’

Yet ranting aside, Lin Xi’s body was being honest.

She put down the herbs, reached out and gently wrapped her arm around Luo Bingning’s shoulder, letting her rest more comfortably.

Luo Bingning seemed to feel her response. The corners of her lips curved slightly into the faintest smile, enough to melt ice and snow.

At that very moment, the system’s notification chimed in Lin Xi’s mind at just the right time.

[System Prompt: Luo Bingning’s heart is tranquil. She feels extreme dependence and trust toward the host. Affection +5!]

[Current Affection: 90/100 (Bound by Life and Death)]

[Current Loyalty: 95/100 (Absolute Obedience)]

[Cultivation Mission Survival Against All Odds progress increased to 98%!]

Lin Xi looked at the panel’s data, ripples stirring in her heart.

Affection at ninety, loyalty at ninety-five.

Such absurdly high values.

It meant that with just a single word from her, the Empress before her might truly do anything for her.

This sense of control was intoxicating, but it also brought a heavy weight of responsibility.

“Bingning-jie.”

Lin Xi spoke softly.

“Mm?”

Luo Bingning gave a lazy nasal sound without opening her eyes.

“Was your cultivation life always so monotonous?”

Lin Xi asked tentatively.

Luo Bingning was silent for a moment, as if remembering.

“Cultivation was my everything.”

Her voice was very light.

“From the time I could remember, I cultivated in the forbidden grounds of the Tianshuang Divine Palace. I had only my master and ice by my side. Becoming stronger was my only thought.”

Lin Xi’s heart ached.

She could imagine what a lonely childhood that must have been.

No friends, no laughter, only day after day of bitter cultivation, bearing the crushing expectations of an entire palace.

“Let me tell you a story.”

Lin Xi’s voice was gentle.

“A story?”

Luo Bingning finally opened her eyes, a trace of curiosity glimmering in those ice-blue pupils.

“Yes, a story passed down in a distant place.”

Lin Xi cleared her throat and began retelling fairy tales from her past life, reworking them into the language and backdrop of this world.

She told of a princess imprisoned by an evil dragon, awaiting the rescue of a knight.

Only in her version, the dragon became a cruel Demon Sovereign, the princess a goddess skilled in the Law of Light and the knight a sword immortal riding rainbow-colored clouds.

Luo Bingning listened intently.

Her world had only ever been survival of the fittest, only the struggle for the great Dao.

No one had ever told her such novel, wondrous stories filled with imagination.

When the sword immortal endured countless trials to finally slay the Demon Sovereign and rescue the goddess, Luo Bingning’s eyes shone with bright light.

“And then? Did they end up together?”

She pressed eagerly, a trace of urgency even she hadn’t realized slipping into her tone.

Lin Xi smiled.

“Of course. They returned together to the celestial palace in the clouds and from then on lived happily ever after.”

On Luo Bingning’s face, an extremely faint smile bloomed.

That smile was like the first snow lotus blooming quietly on a ten-thousand-year glacier, pure and captivating.

Lin Xi was momentarily entranced.

* * *

In the days that followed, storytelling became a new routine in the cave dwelling.

Lin Xi scraped her meager stockpile clean, turning Snow White, Cinderella, even the tale of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl into cultivation-world adaptations.

Luo Bingning became her most faithful listener.

She would frown at the evil stepmother queen, then brighten when the kind-hearted fairies gained happiness.

On her face, frozen for millennia, more and more lively expressions began to surface.

Sometimes, at amusing parts, she would even let out a few irrepressible chuckles.

That laughter was crisp and pleasant, echoing through the empty cave dwelling, as if softening even the stone walls.

Watching Luo Bingning like this, Lin Xi felt the selfish intent she’d once had—merely to complete tasks—melt away without her noticing.

In its place was a genuine compassion and tenderness.

She understood now that this exalted Empress was, deep down, just a woman yearning for warmth and companionship.

She had borne too much betrayal and coldness, which was why she cherished and craved even the smallest fragments of warmth.

Being able to let her relax and reveal her truest self gave Lin Xi a sense of accomplishment surpassing any system reward of cultivation or treasures.

While Lin Xi was immersed in this warmth, the system’s voice rang out once more.

[Ding! Host’s bond with Luo Bingning has deepened. A new path of cultivation has emerged.]

[New Mission Issued: Deep Cultivation: Melting the Ice Mountain!]

[Mission Description: Luo Bingning’s reliance on the host has reached its peak, but her Ice Phoenix Bloodline and mastery of the Cold Laws, suppressed for years, still hold immense untapped potential. The host must continue guiding her, helping her balance her heart and unlock more innate divine abilities, so the true Ice Phoenix may be reborn through warmth!]

[Mission Rewards: Depending on progress unlocked, including but not limited to Law Fragments, Bloodline Awakening and host’s cultivation.]

Lin Xi pulled herself back from her thoughts, her gaze growing profound.

She looked toward the cave entrance blocked by the boulder, where sunlight streamed through cracks, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the air.

The crisis from the Blood Shadow Sect had only been temporarily driven off.

Just one late Core Formation elder had already left them in such a sorry state.

If the sect master himself came, or worse, a Nascent Soul monster, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The true storm was still brewing in the distance, ready to descend at any time.

She had to become stronger.

Luo Bingning too had to recover quickly, even stronger than before.

Lowering her head, Lin Xi looked at Luo Bingning still leaning against her shoulder, eyes closed and savoring the story.

No longer did she feel any trace of loneliness in facing the path ahead.

With her by her side, no matter how many perils lay ahead, they no longer seemed so frightening.