During the past year that Yi Ling disappeared, Mu Xin never stopped searching for a way to make her soul return to her body. After finally finding clues on how to summon her soul back, he instructed Linyu and Tefei to find rare spiritual herbs located in the depths of the Spiritual Beast's Territories. Although they weren't human, the beasts wouldn't easily give in, sometimes taking months to get back after fighting their way through.
Yi Ling was all alone in the Abyss except for Mu Xin, who was guarding her from inside the Ring. The only thing protecting her was the formation that Mu Xin had set up, which took a significant amount of his energy to maintain and locate the herbs. He could only do so much.
He worried that if Yi Ling's soul stayed out of her body much longer, it would disappear. All his sacrifices from before would be for naught, and being stuck in this punishment would have been useless as well.
Mu Xin had to keep going for her, even if he could never return to the real world or regain his powers. It didn't matter anymore. What mattered was Yi Ling. She alone was his whole world. He was meant for her.
Most of the spiritual herbs Mu Xin needed were located at the highest mountain of the spiritual beasts' territory in Huaxia. A lot of Emergent and Sainthood Spiritual Beasts roamed that area. Linyu and Tefei had been gone for five months already. Mu Xin was getting anxious. It had been a year, and she had to return to her body, or it would be too late, he thought.
He looked at Yi Ling's body from the Ring. She looked like she was just sleeping. If only I was beside her. Why do I still keep myself away from her? But he knew the reason. He was afraid Yi Ling would find out the truth about their past and the reason why he was punished.
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The next day, after they had been gone for five months, Linyu and Tefei came back to the Abyss. They had a lot of wounds on their bodies. Linyu's robe was torn up, and Tefei's fur had spots where it was burned.
They made their sacrifices as well, Mu Xin thought. Both of them went back inside the Ring. Tefei drank a lot of spiritual water and rested. Linyu gave all the herbs Mu Xin needed and left to enter the Eternal Oak. Neither of them said a word.
Upon receiving the herbs, Mu Xin went to work. He cleaned, chopped, and ground all the herbs, then boiled them along with some of the Eternal Oak's leaves. He needed the most effective results. He couldn't afford to fail; her life depended on it. After a day of working, he successfully made a pill containing not only the herbs they gathered but also some of his spiritual energy. He didn't have much left and might need to sleep for a while after ensuring she returned. His silver hair turned white, his blue eyes lightened to pale blue, and his skin became paler.
He would sacrifice everything for her. He got out of his courtyard and summoned Linyu. Since he couldn't leave, he could only ask Linyu to do it for him. Yi Ling had to return to him.
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Yi Ling didn't return to her courtyard after leaving the main hall. She went towards town to vent her frustration and see if there was something she could buy. Yu Ran gave her some pocket money before she left. Rabbit and Eagle followed her in the dark.
They never understood why the King liked this woman. She didn't socialize, she wasn't strong, and she was too ordinary. She didn't even mind talking back to the King. But they had orders to follow.
Yi Ling looked around the shops and bought some trinkets. When she was done, she felt hungry as she passed some food stalls. Her mouth watered. There's always room for dessert, she thought. When she was about to buy some, she felt a tug in her heart again.
The same pain she felt yesterday. She got weak and dizzy. This time, the pain was too much. Someone summoned her soul out from the body. She fainted in the middle of the street. By the time Eagle and Rabbit reacted, she had already fallen to the ground.
"Young miss!!!!" Both of their hearts stopped.