He had just been reborn when he was imprisoned by his nemesis, the Empress?

Jiang Xuange suddenly snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

"I don't know...I don't know..."

The Soul-Suppressing Cauldron is powerful, but she's only at the ninth level of the Supreme Realm... Logically speaking, her soul shouldn't be this fragile...

Meanwhile, Xu Yi was holding Su Qingluan, feeling her body temperature getting lower and lower. He shook her vigorously, trying to wake her up.

Just then, the system's voice suddenly sounded in my mind:

[Ding! Host's emotions have been detected to be fluctuating excessively, triggering a hidden quest: Save your Dao Companion—Su Qingluan.]

[Quest Hint: She appears to have a damaged soul. You might be able to use the previous quest reward: the Tier 10 Supreme Treasure, the Nine-Turn Soul Lamp, to nourish her soul.]

[Mission Reward: One Master Key.]

Nine-Turn Soul Lamp? If the system hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about this tenth-tier treasure that was given to me earlier.

Before Xu Yi could think any further, with a thought, the ancient lamp in the system space appeared in his palm.

The lamp was entirely blue-gold in color, and as soon as it appeared, it emitted a warm glow.

Xu Yi carefully held the Nine-Turn Soul Lamp, took a deep breath, and tried to infuse his spiritual power into the lamp.

Pale golden spiritual energy flowed continuously into the lamp, and the originally dim wick lit up with a soft light.

Xu Yi quickly and slowly moved the lit soul lamp closer to Su Qingluan.

In just a moment, Xu Yi felt Su Qingluan's originally weak breathing gradually become steady.

Jiang Xuange felt very complicated watching this scene. She didn't know what to do and felt dizzy and uncomfortable.

It turns out, she was the outsider.

My head was getting dizzier and dizzier, the world was spinning in front of me, and the tightness and pain in my chest was getting more and more intense.

Jiang Xuange swayed, her vision went black, and she collapsed straight down.

"Sister Jiang!"

Siyun reacted quickly and rushed over to support her limp body.

Xu Yi was intently watching Su Qingluan's face when he heard the exclamation and suddenly turned around.

When he saw Jiang Xuange slumped in Si Yun's arms, his face ashen, he was completely stunned.

"ah???"

......

Three days later.

Inside an elegantly decorated inn, Su Qingluan lay on the bed, her curled eyelashes fluttering slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

Her consciousness was still somewhat hazy, and her head was still throbbing.

After her eyes adjusted to the light for a moment, she slowly turned her neck, her gaze sweeping aimlessly across the room.

Her movements abruptly stopped when her gaze fell on the bed next to her.

Su Qingluan and Jiang Xuange locked eyes.

Neither of them spoke first; they simply looked at each other in silence.

Their gazes clashed silently in the air, a mixture of scrutiny, wariness, and awkwardness.

After a while, Su Qingluan broke the silence first.

Too lazy to waste words, she slowly raised her slender, fair hand, gathered her spiritual power, and prepared to strike Jiang Xuange.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Just then, Xu Yi pushed open the door, rushed over, and firmly grabbed Su Qingluan's hand.

Seeing Su Qingluan, who was about to take action as soon as she woke up, Xu Yi sighed helplessly.

At first, he really wanted to book two rooms, so that Siyun could take care of Jiang Xuange, while he could stay and take care of Su Qingluan.

Upon hearing this, Siyun immediately rolled her eyes, clutched her chest, and pretended to faint.

His face was as white as paper, he looked like he was about to faint at any moment, and his voice was weak.

"I...I feel so dizzy, my legs are so weak, I'm afraid I won't even be able to take care of myself..."

Xu Yi had no choice but to arrange for the two to share a room and manage them himself.

"Xu Yi!"

Unable to move, Su Qingluan was pinned to the bed by him. She immediately turned her head and coughed violently at him, her pale face flushed red from the coughing, her voice hoarse and aggrieved.

"You...cough cough cough...you actually let me live with this woman who almost killed me?"

"You...cough cough cough! Kick her out!"

Xu Yi looked at her, so weak that she could barely speak, and gently patted her.

"You just woke up, don't get so excited, okay?"

But Su Qingluan wouldn't give up, reaching out to hug his waist, burying her head in his chest, her voice muffled.

"Living with her is worse than death for me. I only want you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xuange clenched her hands tightly on the blanket, and her brows furrowed.

But she quickly released her grip, her face returning to its usual aloof expression, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes.

After a long pause, Jiang Xuange finally spoke, her voice choked with emotion and tinged with self-mockery.

"Xu Yi, I'm sorry, I disturbed you."

"Maybe I shouldn't have come to find you. I was too pathetic. I... I'm leaving now."

As she spoke, she pretended to stand up with difficulty, her steps unsteady, looking like she had just recovered from a serious illness and was extremely weak, and she walked unsteadily towards the outside.

"Stop right there! Don't..."

Seeing this, Xu Yi hurriedly tried to call out to her, but before he could finish speaking, a smooth and soft jade hand covered his mouth.

Su Qingluan sneered, lifting her head from Xu Yi's embrace. Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, filled with mockery.

"Tsk tsk tsk, keep acting, keep acting. It's such a waste that you don't learn to sing opera."

Jiang Xuange paused, slowly turned around, and a hint of anger finally appeared in her usually cold eyes.

She looked at Su Qingluan and retorted without any politeness.

"I'm not like you, who can be weak and dying one second and then be so sarcastic and mocking the next."

"Ha, same to you, you wicked woman."

Su Qingluan curled her lips into a smile, her tone full of disdain.

Xu Yi couldn't bear to watch any longer. He raised his hand and removed Su Qingluan's hand from his mouth, then rubbed his temples.

"You're both so badly injured, why are you still arguing?!"

As soon as Xu Yi finished speaking, Su Qingluan seemed to have been turned on, clutching her chest again and coughing violently.

"Cough cough cough cough! Cough cough cough..."

She coughed violently, her slender shoulders trembled slightly, and her face paled even more, making her look extremely weak.

Seeing this, Xu Yi quickly reached out and patted her back to help her catch her breath.

"What's wrong with you?"

Su Qingluan leaned against his chest, breathing weakly twice, and looked up at him with teary eyes, her voice barely audible.

"I'm fine. Go get out of bed and coax that wicked woman. Don't stay here with me."

That's what she said, but Xu Yi felt like her waist was about to be broken.

He couldn't even move his body, let alone get out of bed.

Seeing this, Jiang Xuange stopped pretending to be weak and quickly stepped forward to pull Xu Yi away.

"Make him come down and keep me company, but don't use your spiritual power to suppress him!"