My mother is the white moonlight of the cultivation world.

Hua Yue took out the sound transmission stone from her storage bag.

As spiritual energy was infused, the sound transmission stone emitted a gentle glow.

"Oh! Who is this beauty?"

On the other end of the communication stone, Mo Ze's familiar voice, tinged with a hint of mockery and laziness, rang out, instantly dispelling the chill of Qinglin Peak.

The gloom that had been weighing on Hua Yue's heart was dispelled considerably by this opening remark.

"Master, it's me, Hua Yue."

"Oh my! It's my precious disciple!" Mo Ze's tone immediately rose eight octaves, filled with affection. "Why did you suddenly think of me? Did someone bully you again? Tell your master, and your master will rush back to the sect to back you up!"

"No," Hua Yue's voice was somewhat dejected, "Master, I...I saw Senior Brother Xie Changli, he's awake."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication stone.

When Mo Ze's voice rang out again, all traces of jest had vanished, replaced by seriousness: "You saw him? How... is he?"

"He looks very weak and keeps coughing. Yue Qingxue said he needs to rest." Hua Yue recalled Xie Changli's pale face and those bright but powerless amber eyes. "Master, Immortal Yue... he looks very unwell, more... more worried than before. Senior Brother Xie is clearly awake, so why is he still like that?"

"Sigh..." Mo Ze sighed deeply, his voice carrying a distant helplessness as it traveled through the sound transmission stone, "Silly disciple, what you saw was nothing more than a final burst of life before death."

A final burst of energy before death?

These four words sent a chill down Hua Yue's spine.

"What do you mean?" she continued, "Didn't you say he was already awake?"

"He's awake, but the root of the problem hasn't been solved." Mo Ze's voice was heavy. "That child, Changli, had his soul and spiritual veins eroded by the demonic energy of a high-level demon. He's only been able to stay alive until now thanks to Qingxue's cultivation and the nourishment of rare and precious herbs. The herbs you sent last time did have a miraculous effect, bringing his soul back to its senses, but this is only temporary. The demonic energy is still eroding his life force. If we don't find a way to eradicate it, he... won't last much longer."

Hua Yue's heart sank little by little.

No wonder, no wonder Yue Qingxue showed no joy whatsoever.

"Then... is there any way to save him?" she asked anxiously.

"Yes," Mo Ze answered crisply, "but it's incredibly difficult. It requires three divine-grade medicinal herbs as the main ingredients to refine a ninth-grade 'Life and Death Elixir.' This elixir can reverse life and death, restore vitality, and is the only way to completely eliminate the demonic energy from his body."

"Three medicinal herbs? What are they?"

"Moreover, in the current cultivation world, probably only Liu Juexiao, the reclusive ninth-rank Pill Emperor of the Pill Sect, has the ability to refine this pill."

Hua Yue's heart tightened again. A ninth-tier Pill Emperor—that was a legendary existence. The price to ask such a person to take action was unimaginable.

"The Xuan Tianyu family previously presented Qingxue with one of the main medicinal ingredients, the 'Nine Apertures Exquisite Ginseng,'" Mo Ze said with a hint of sarcasm. "The price was that Qingxue made an exception and agreed to accept Xuan Tianyu as her personal disciple."

Hua Yue suddenly realized.

It turned out to be the case.

She thought Yue Qingxue simply didn't like her, which was why he didn't accept her as a disciple. It turned out that what Yue Qingxue said was true; he really didn't want to take on any more disciples.

She then asked

"What are the remaining two?"

On the other end of the communication stone, Mo Ze suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, he spoke again, his tone very solemn: "Disciple, are you sure you want to ask? The remaining two items are both extremely complicated, and the methods of obtaining them are... incredibly dangerous. You are just a minor cultivator; this matter shouldn't involve you."

"I want to know." Hua Yue's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear.

She recalled Yue Qingxue's slender figure as she channeled spiritual energy into Xie Changli, and the lingering weariness and sorrow between his brows.

She was grateful for Yue Qingxue's kindness in saving her life.

She kept it in her heart.

Now, how could she stand idly by?

"Alright." Mo Ze seemed convinced by her persistence. "One of the ingredients might be easier for you than for others."

"That herb is known in the Hua family as 'Shaoguang Jisui Lan' (meaning 'Orchid of the Year of the Spring')."

Hua Yue was completely stunned.

The Hua family?

Is it her mother's "flower" family?

She was somewhat incredulous and tentatively asked, "Master, how did you know...?"

"How would I know this?" Mo Ze suddenly laughed smugly on the other end of the communication stone, breaking the heavy atmosphere. "Silly disciple."

"Let me tell you, your master comes from a family of illusionists. I'm all about deception and illusion. Anyone who tries to imitate another's disguise will be completely transparent to me! I can tell the difference between you real and fake at a glance. Besides, if I can't even recognize my senior sister's own daughter, she'll probably twist my head off and use it as a football when we meet in the future!"

Mo Ze's vivid description inexplicably conjured up an image in Hua Yue's mind of her mother chasing after the jumping Mo Ze and beating him, causing her to burst out laughing.

It turns out he already knew.

They knew she wasn't some scheming imposter, but Hua Zhishuang's real daughter.

A warm feeling quietly welled up in my heart.

"The 'Farewell to the Year Orchid' is the Hua family's most treasured artifact," Mo Ze's voice came again, tinged with longing. "Legend has it that it was a spiritual object formed from the breath of the Flower Goddess at the turn of the seasons, when she sighed in the first rays of dawn. This orchid possesses a spirit and will only bloom for those chosen by the Flower Goddess's bloodline. Unfortunately, or perhaps coincidentally, the Hua family's once-in-a-century Flower Goddess Festival is just around the corner, the perfect time to bring this orchid to life."

He paused, then dropped a bombshell that made Hua Yue's heart race even faster.

"And the last person who successfully made the 'Farewell to the Year Orchid' bloom was your mother, Hua Zhishuang."

Hua Yue's heart skipped a beat.

The Hua family...

She may have other relatives in this world?

This realization made her feel somewhat elated.

She wanted to go to the Hua family to find the "Farewell to the Year Orchid".

It wasn't just to repay Yue Qingxue's kindness, but also to... see the place where my mother once lived.

Once she has finished all this, once Senior Brother Xie Changli has fully recovered, once Yue Qingxue no longer needs to worry about these things...

She should leave.

Qinglin Peak is beautiful, and Yue Qingxue is beautiful too.

But this place was ultimately not her final destination.

She was merely a passerby residing here, an observer bearing the title of someone else's disciple.

In Yue Qingxue's world, there are disciples he needs to protect, and there are responsibilities he bears as the master of a peak.

It seems that... there was never a real place reserved for her there.

For him, these seven years of companionship were perhaps just a matter of casually teaching and taking care of his junior apprentice.

But she developed inappropriate delusions.

Since that's the case, it's better to turn away cleanly and decisively after repaying the debt of gratitude.

From then on, though separated by mountains and rivers, we each lived our own lives in peace.

Having made up her mind, Hua Yue's emotions calmed down.

She spoke earnestly into the communication stone, "Master, what about the last ingredient? What is it?"

On the other end of the communication stone, Mo Ze remained silent for a long time, so long that Hua Yue thought he wouldn't answer.

Finally, he slowly and deliberately uttered a name.

"The last ingredient is called 'The Undying Demon Heart'."