The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Liu Mengli's voice abruptly snapped Shen Yifei out of his reverie.

"What woman's scent? You must have misheard." Shen Yifei casually brushed it off; he had no interest in arguing with Liu Mengli about such things.

Princess Zhaoyue, that will be his secret.

He looked at the millennia-old cold marrow he held in his arms and began to look forward to the next full moon...

Two days later, Shen Yifei returned to Black Reef City.

He found a secluded spot outside the city and landed, then entered the cauldron with his divine sense.

Inside the cauldron, apart from Liu Mengli lying on a recliner in front of the pavilion, eating spiritual fruit, everyone else was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as Liu Mengli saw Shen Yifei come in, she jumped up from the recliner, darted to his side, and sniffed him like a puppy.

"Hmm? Master, why can't I smell your fragrance? Has it been dried out by the wind these past two days?"

"Go away, get out of here! Where's Xinghe? Where did everyone go?"

"Master, tell me secretly, did you encounter a woman inside that icy marrow? Or perhaps a fairy?"

"Don't make wild guesses, I just broke a formation..."

"Master, don't lie to me. Have you forgotten that I can read your mind...?"

"You...you mustn't be talking nonsense, where did they all go?"

"They've all gone to study Ao Ling'er."

"Study Ao Ling'er? What's the point of studying her?"

Liu Mengli took a bite of the spirit fruit and said leisurely, "It's nothing, it's just that Xinghe said the restriction in Ao Ling'er's body is very special, a bit like the restriction that trapped her in Huangquan Valley. Sister Hongxiu said, could it be the same group of people who did it? Then Mo Ran also chimed in, and Hai Xue'er was watching from the side. The women circled around Ao Ling'er like they were watching a monkey show."

"They didn't do anything to Ao Ling'er, did they?" Shen Yifei asked with some concern.

"Don't worry, Master. Although Xinghe is very curious, she knows her limits. She's just comparing it with her medical book. She just said that there's a familiar aura in the restriction and she's trying to find a way to break it."

Where are they?

Liu Mengli pointed to a mountain peak, "Ao Ling'er chose the place herself."

Shen Yifei flew in the direction Liu Mengli pointed and landed on a mountain peak that wasn't too high.

Halfway up the mountain, there was a flat boulder with a snow-white animal skin spread on it. Ao Ling'er was sitting cross-legged on the boulder.

Hongxiu, Mo Ran, and Hai Xue'er sat around her, while Xing He squatted in front of Ao Ling'er, placing her two small hands on Ao Ling'er's forehead, closing her eyes, and looking focused.

When the women saw Shen Yifei approaching, they all looked up at him.

Xinghe stopped what she was doing, stood up from the ground, and said, "Brother, you're back?"

"Yes, I'm back." Shen Yifei walked up to Ao Ling'er, squatted down, and asked, "Sister Ling'er, how are you feeling?"

Ao Ling'er smiled slightly. Although her smile was still a little weak, it was much better than when she was first rescued from the ice cave. "Miss Xinghe helped me recover, and I feel much better. It's just that the restrictions in my body are still there, and I still feel cold from time to time."

"Don't rush the restriction, take your time. Your spirit is weak, but I have a way..."

Hai Xue'er looked up at Shen Yifei, and she naturally thought of that dual cultivation technique of spirit and soul.

"Xinghe, I've obtained the Soul-Cleansing Grass. See how to use it."

Shen Yifei took out the Soul Cleansing Grass from his storage ring and handed it to Xinghe.

The Soul-Cleansing Grass was no longer as translucent as before; its leaves were slightly wilted, and its baby-like head drooped.

"Xinghe, is this grass... still usable?"

Xinghe took the Soul-Cleansing Grass, held it in her hands and examined it carefully. Her little brows furrowed. "Brother, you were too violent. You almost tore the roots off."

"That thing almost drained my soul. I'm lucky I survived to pull it out alive." Shen Yifei still felt lingering fear when he recalled the scene.

"Xinghe, just tell me if it's still usable? If not, I'll go pick another one."

"Pick another one?" Xinghe rolled her eyes. "Brother, do you think the Soul-Cleansing Grass is like a roadside wildflower, something you can just pick whenever you want? There's only this one in the entire Cold Ruins. If you kill it, it's truly gone. It's just a little weak now; we can revive it and use it!"

"This little blade of grass is quite dramatic!"

"Brother, it has actually developed sentience. Now it's like a baby. It's sucking your soul because it's so hungry!"

"Tell me, how do you plan to feed it? If it really doesn't work, I'll find it a wet nurse!"

"No need for breastfeeding, it needs nourishment of the soul!"

"What the hell? Soul nourishment? Do you know how much this thing can absorb? I almost let it drain me into an idiot!"

Shen Yifei looked at the women around him. Hongxiu's cultivation was completely destroyed, Mo Ran's cultivation was not high, Hai Xue'er was in the mid-stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, but her cultivation was now sealed, not to mention Ao Ling'er.

"Ah Bao! Ah Bao..."

Since it's a spirit, absorbing a little shouldn't be a problem.

However, no matter how much Shen Yifei called out, that guy had disappeared!

Shen Yifei sighed helplessly, "It seems I'll have to handle this."

Shen Yifei found a place with abundant spiritual energy and planted the Soul-Purifying Grass there.

When the Soul-Purifying Grass was first planted, it was listless. Shen Yifei placed his hands on the grass and slowly transferred a wisp of his soul into it.

The Soul-Cleansing Grass, which had been drooping, suddenly unfurled its leaves the moment that wisp of divine soul power entered it, like a sapling that had been parched for a long time receiving rain.

Shen Yifei was overjoyed and was about to increase his spiritual output when the little head of the Soul Cleansing Grass suddenly lifted up and cracked open.

Seeing that things were going badly, Shen Yifei immediately leaped back several feet!

"Brother, she's just starving. She'll be fine once she's fed!"

"I know it's starving, but I can't keep feeding it my spirit, can I? My spirit isn't very abundant to begin with, and if I keep feeding it, I'll become an idiot."

The little head of the Soul-Cleansing Grass stretched out in his direction, but couldn't reach it, and drooped down listlessly again.

"Damn it, is this thing really treating me like a wet nurse?" Shen Yifei cursed and patted his chest. Just a moment ago, he felt his soul being pulled by that thing again.

Xinghe squatted down next to the Soul-Purifying Grass, reached out her finger and poked the baby-like little head. The Soul-Purifying Grass actually rubbed against her finger, as if it was being affectionate.

"Brother, look, it's quite well-behaved."

"Xinghe, why...why isn't it absorbing your soul?"

Xinghe shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe I don't have a divine soul?"

Shen Yifei suddenly felt that Xinghe was a bit strange. When he found her in Huangquan Valley, she was surrounded by a ghostly aura.

Later, it was discovered that she possessed neither ghostly nor human aura, and her body temperature was neither that of a living person nor that of a dead person, but rather somewhere in between.

Now, she says she has no soul.

Could she really be the legendary immortal doctor?

Just as Shen Yifei was pondering this, Hai Xue'er led Mo Ran and Hong Xiu over.

When Hai Xue'er saw Shen Yifei, she adopted a "go through fire and water" stance, saying, "Young Master Shen, we've discussed it and decided that your spiritual energy is insufficient, so we'll replenish it for you!"