The feeling of spiritual energy depletion was terrible, but compared to losing her life, it was insignificant.
As Su Luowei watched the fire dragons lose their power due to her depleted spiritual sea, she could no longer hold on. Her eyes closed, and after swaying slightly, she collapsed backward, utterly exhausted.
When Meng Shuying emerged, the water in the cave had nearly reached the altar.
She immediately spotted the figure lying on the altar.
Meng Shuying's pupils contracted, and she quickly ran to Su Luowei's side. Seeing her condition up close made her heart ache even more.
Su Luowei had been caught in the crossfire of the battle, leaving her disheveled and her robes covered in dirt. Her eyes were tightly shut, her brows slightly furrowed, as if even in unconsciousness, she was not at peace.
Meng Shuying's legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the ground. Yet, she still forced herself to crawl to Su Luowei's side.
But the bitterness in her heart was beyond her control, and tears streamed down her face.
Su Luowei lay there for a long time until the pain in her spiritual sea subsided slightly. Weakly, she murmured, "Stop crying… find a way to untie me."
Hearing her speak, Meng Shuying realized she was still alive.
She scrambled up from Su Luowei's side, wiped her tears, and searched the area for a sword, using it to cut through the ropes.
With Ning Laoxian gone, the ropes were no longer under anyone's control, so they were relatively easy to cut through.
Meng Shuying helped Su Luowei sit up and, by chance, saw the wound on her wrist. Her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall again.
Su Luowei raised her wrist to inspect the injury closely.
The wound was deep, with skin torn open and fresh blood oozing out, but fortunately, it appeared to be just a cut with no other complications.
The dagger Ning Laoxian had used was black, like it had been dipped in poison, and Su Luowei had feared it might be laced with something sinister.
The water in the cave was rising rapidly, soon reaching Meng Shuying's waist.
Su Luowei directed Meng Shuying to first rescue Xie Hanzhu, then instructed them both to help move the other girls that Ning Laoxian had captured.
Just as they finished securing the girls, a thunderous crash echoed from beneath the pond. The cave, unable to withstand the strain, finally collapsed completely.
By the time they had dealt with everything, the sky was beginning to lighten.
The girls remained unconscious, and with just the three of them, there was no way to properly care for them.
Xie Hanzhu looked around, sighed in resignation, and after instructing Meng Shuying to take good care of Su Luowei, she left to return to the city for reinforcements.
Su Luowei sat in a pavilion, leaning against one of its columns.
She gazed out at the dawn breaking on the horizon, reflecting on all that had happened in the past few days. Out of nowhere, she asked Meng Shuying, "Meng Shuying, do you want to cultivate?"
She asked without much thought.
If she had to explain it, it was probably because of how sincerely Meng Shuying had cried when she thought Su Luowei was dead.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Su Luowei realized her mistake.
The system had warned her repeatedly not to break character. The original Su Luowei would never have asked Meng Shuying this question, given how much she disliked her.
"Cultivate?" Meng Shuying echoed in confusion.
Cultivating required a spiritual root, and those who awakened spiritual roots were one in ten thousand. Of the many servant disciples in the Qingxu Sect, only a handful ever made it to outer disciples through the Wenxiantai.
"…Forget it." Su Luowei turned her face away, no longer looking at Meng Shuying.
"You don't seem to have a spiritual root, so you'd better not get your hopes up."
After saying that, she quickly turned her head back to continue watching the dawn, as if she had only asked to mock her.
Meng Shuying didn't take her ridicule to heart; such remarks hardly fazed her.
She raised her head, following Su Luowei's gaze to the horizon, where the rays of dawn broke through the darkness, gently but resolutely spreading through the cracks in the clouds.
All was silent.
She lowered her gaze, her eyes falling on Su Luowei.
Yes.
She silently answered in her heart.
They didn't have to wait long before Xie Hanzhu returned, accompanied by a large group.
Among those leading the charge with Xie Hanzhu was Manager Qian. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he immediately spotted his daughter among the unconscious girls.
He checked her pulse, and finding it steady, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"No need to worry. Their lives are not in danger. They're just unconscious from the drugs and will wake up soon," Xie Hanzhu declared to everyone, arms folded behind her back, trying to maintain a composed and confident demeanor.
Despite her youthful appearance, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she managed to project an air of authority that was somewhat convincing.
Once the situation was handled, Su Luowei requested that Manager Zhao arrange for a carriage to take them back to Qingxu Mountain.
They had left with four, but now they were returning with only three. As Su Luowei gazed at the towering peak of Qingxu Mountain, she reflected on the unpredictability of life.
When the fight with Ning Laoxian broke out, Han Yi had disappeared without a trace. Later, Xie Hanzhu searched the entire cave but couldn't find him.
After returning to the Qingxu Sect, Su Luowei had originally intended to wash up before reporting to Zhan Xuehan about the mission. However, she was surprised to find Zhan Xuehan waiting at the door of her room.
Seeing Su Luowei's disheveled and weakened state, the concern in Zhan Xuehan's eyes was almost palpable.
But even as she felt a deep concern for her younger relative, she knew that the path of cultivation was long and fraught with challenges. Since Su Luowei had chosen this path, she couldn't shelter her under her wing forever.
She stepped forward, taking Su Luowei's wrist and channeling a small stream of spiritual energy into her to assess her condition. Once she was satisfied that Su Luowei's injuries were limited to spiritual depletion and some minor wounds, she felt relieved.
"Auntie, why are you here? I was just about to freshen up and come see you," Su Luowei said as she linked her arm with Zhan Xuehan's and walked into the room with her.
"I was worried about you, of course," Zhan Xuehan replied, shaking her head in mock exasperation as she led Su Luowei to sit down, then asked her to recount the details of her mission.
Su Luowei carefully recounted everything that had happened. When she mentioned Ning Laoxian, Zhan Xuehan frowned. "Did you see his face?"
"No, he kept it covered the entire time. But he seemed to recognize you, and he knew about my Immortal-Binding Rope. There's something else that's strange: the first time we fought, he was at the Foundation Establishment stage, but later he used some secret technique to suddenly reach the Golden Core stage."
Zhan Xuehan pondered for a moment before speaking, "Based on what you've said, he reminds me of a demonic cultivator named Ning Feng who was obsessed with studying forbidden arts and strange formations. The Ning Laoxian you encountered sounds similar. But as far as I know, Ning Feng died over twenty years ago."
He had perished while trying to transcend the tribulation, struck down by heavenly lightning, leaving no chance for survival.
Su Luowei said, "I'm not worried about anything else, but Ning Laoxian escaped this time. There's a chance he'll continue to harm others. And then there's the altar at the bottom of the pond…"
Xiao Ba had told her that it was an altar for summoning the Demon Lord, but Su Luowei refrained from mentioning that, not wanting to arouse Zhan Xuehan's suspicions. She simply described it as an eerie underground altar that Ning Laoxian had intended to use to sacrifice the girls.
"There's no need to worry about the altar. I'll assign others in the sect to handle it. In the meantime, you should focus on your recovery."
Su Luowei blinked and glanced at the wound on her wrist, then seized the opportunity to voice something that had been on her mind during the journey back. "Auntie, I have a favor to ask."
"What is it, child?" Zhan Xuehan asked with a gentle smile. "You can speak to me directly; there's no need for formalities."
Su Luowei hesitated for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm injured now and can't move around easily. Auntie, could you assign a servant disciple to take care of my daily needs?"
The Qingxu Sect was strict with its rules, prohibiting disciples from bringing personal servants into the sect and emphasizing self-reliance.
Although the sect had servant disciples, they primarily handled chores and were not assigned to serve other disciples personally.
This rule applied even to the sect leader, and even though Su Luowei was the sect leader's niece, she did not have a personal servant.
Hearing her request, Zhan Xuehan wasn't surprised. She chuckled, "You've asked me several times before about assigning someone to handle your daily tasks. I thought you had given up since you hadn't mentioned it in so long."
Su Luowei tugged on Zhan Xuehan's sleeve and pleaded playfully, "Please, Auntie, just this once, because I'm injured."
Zhan Xuehan reflected on how Su Luowei had indeed been hurt during the mission. She reasoned that assigning someone to help her wouldn't be too controversial among the other disciples. With that in mind, she smiled indulgently, patting Su Luowei's head. "Alright, I'll allow it this time. Do you have anyone in mind?"
"Yes," Su Luowei nodded. "I'd like Meng Shuying, who accompanied me on this mission."