54: Yunyun

Deep within the Monster Mountain Range, far from the persistent pursuit of Jia Lie Bi, the cave where Mo Yuhan resided had become a rare sanctuary.

Several moonstones embedded in the cave wall emitted a soft, cool glow, barely dispelling the deep darkness within.

The air was filled with a mixed herbal scent—Mo Yuhan had meticulously sprinkled a layer of pale yellow powder at the cave entrance and in nearby rock crevices.

This was a concoction he had refined based on the Little Fairy Doctor’s notes, using several irritating medicinal herbs that Dou Beasts intensely disliked, and its effect was significant; for the past month, almost no low-level Dou Beasts had dared to approach and disturb him.

In one corner of the cave, beside a crude bed made of dry moss and soft animal hides, lay several jade bottles of various sizes and a few herbs still bearing the fresh scent of earth.

Mo Yuhan sat cross-legged, a faint but extremely condensed Xuan Huang Flame flickering on his fingertips, carefully calcining the essence of a “Blood Coagulation Grass” in his hand.

His face was still pale from his recent severe injuries, but his eyes were focused, and his aura was much more stable and solid than when he was fleeing half a month ago.

Dou Qi slowly flowed through his meridians, nourishing his damaged muscles and bones, and the wound on his back, fractured by Jia Liejie’s “Wave Overlap” Dou Skills, had already scabbed over and closed with the help of his own medicinal pills.

He felt that after this battle, he had vaguely reached the edge of a Dou Zhe Seven Star, estimating that he would be able to break through soon.

Just as he was fully concentrated, controlling the subtle temperature of the Xuan Huang Flame, attempting to further purify a semi-solidified, pale red medicinal liquid—

“Roar—!!!”

A lion’s roar, imbued with unparalleled ferocity and majesty, like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploded without warning in the distant sky.

This roar penetrated the barriers of numerous mountains and dense forests, carrying a soul-shaking pressure that directly poured into Mo Yuhan’s eardrums.

The Xuan Huang Flame on his fingertips trembled violently, almost losing control and incinerating the painstakingly refined medicinal liquid.

He forcefully stabilized his mind, abruptly looked up, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate the thick mountain wall, directed towards the source of that terrifying energy fluctuation.

In the distant sky, the winds and clouds changed color.

Turbulent energy currents, like a boiling ocean, shattered the clouds in that area.

Dazzling Purple Flames and sharp azure gales violently collided and tore at each other; each clash erupted in deafening roars, and energy ripples spread out in circles like tangible waves.

Even from such a distance, Mo Yuhan could feel the immense power capable of destroying heaven and earth.

A graceful and lithe figure in plain white, holding a long azure sword, moved like a startled swan amidst the strangling Purple Flames and gales.

Her posture was elegant, her sword light exuded an unyielding majesty, her dark hair was styled into a noble phoenix bun, and her face remained captivatingly calm and serene even in the fierce battle—it was Yun Yun, the Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect.

Opposing her was a terrifying Dou Beast of suffocating size.

It was seven or eight meters long, its entire body covered in clear, purple crystal, reflecting a cold, hard luster under the violent energy of the sky.

A pair of blood-red beast eyes on its ferocious lion head glowed with an eerie purple light, and its fanged maw seemed capable of swallowing space with every opening and closing.

Most striking was the spiraling crimson horn on its lion head, with Purple Flames swirling around its tip; every flap of its purple wings unleashed large torrents of pale Purple Flames like a lava waterfall.

Its four thick, pillar-like claws were also encased in hard purple crystals—it was the Rank Six Dou Beast, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.

“Lion King, if you give me the purple spirit crystal, I will leave this place immediately.”

Yun Yun’s cool voice cut through the roar, carrying an unquestionable resolve.

“Human! Delusional! Unless you offer a Rank Seven Pill, the Form Transformation Pill, as a trade!”

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King’s roar rumbled like muffled thunder, filled with brutality and greed.

The negotiation instantly broke down, and an even more intense energy storm swept across the world.

Mo Yuhan held his breath, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

He had unknowingly arrived at the edge of the battlefield and recognized this classic scene.

In the original novel, it was in this battle that Yun Yun was severely injured by the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King’s innate divine ability, “Purple Crystal Seal,” her cultivation sealed, causing her to fall into the waterfall, and then she was rescued by Xiao Yan… and the waterfall.

He abruptly turned his head, his gaze fixed on a spot a hundred meters outside the cave.

There, the roar of massive water flow was incessant day and night; a silvery waterfall, like a bolt of silk, cascaded down a hundred-zhang cliff, plunging into the bottomless cold pool below, stirring up a mist of water.

The waterfall from the original novel.

A strong premonition seized him.

Almost at the instant this thought flashed, a blinding purple light suddenly erupted in the distant sky.

The spiraling horn on the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King’s head shone brightly, and a strange beam of light, as deep as solidified purple crystal, instantly tore through Yun Yun’s protective azure light, precisely striking her chest.

“Puff—!”

Even from a great distance, Mo Yuhan seemed to hear that muffled groan.

Yun Yun’s graceful and lithe figure suddenly stiffened, her surging Dou Qi receding like a tide; her pretty face instantly lost all color, becoming as pale as paper.

Like a bird with broken wings, she could no longer maintain flight, her body tilted, and she fell with a tragic, beautiful arc towards the vast, green mountain range below.

And the direction of her fall was precisely towards the area near Mo Yuhan’s location.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mo Yuhan sprang up from the ground, disregarding the lingering pain from his not fully healed injuries, and pushed his speed to the limit.

The subtlety of Phoenix Flight Step was displayed to its fullest, his figure transforming into a blurred azure shadow as he rushed out of the cave and sped towards the waterfall!

Only one thought remained in his mind: Faster! Even faster! He had to find her before the Dou Beasts in the mountains discovered her.

The roar of the waterfall grew louder and louder, and the air was filled with cold mist.

Mo Yuhan’s heart pounded like a drum, his sharp gaze searching the turbulent water and pervasive mist below.

Found her!

Near the edge of the deep pool impacted by the waterfall, on a smooth, black boulder scoured by the water, a dazzling patch of plain white lay limply.

The water fiercely washed over her body, her dark hair clinging haphazardly to her pale cheeks and neck; her originally noble and elegant dress was thoroughly soaked, clinging tightly to her exquisitely curved body, outlining breathtaking contours.

It was Yun Yun.

Mo Yuhan did not hesitate; he took a deep breath, his toes pushing off the slippery rock, and like an arrow released from a bowstring, he rushed without hesitation into the bone-chillingly cold, turbulent edge of the waterfall.

“Splash!”

The icy pool water instantly submerged him, the immense impact making his chest ache.

He gritted his teeth, vigorously paddling, resisting the pull of the current, and quickly approached the large rock.

Closer.

He extended both hands, one carefully passing beneath Yun Yun’s bent knees, the other supporting her neck and beneath her shoulder blades.

At his touch, her delicate body, soaked in the icy water, still conveyed an indescribably warm and smooth sensation through her wet clothes, as if touching the finest warm jade in the world, incredibly delicate, with a breathtaking elasticity.

That marvelous sensation, even for the nine-year-old Mo Yuhan, caused his mind to waver, but it was immediately replaced by deeper worry.

The unconscious Yun Yun was completely unresponsive, her body as soft as if it had no bones.

Mo Yuhan dared not delay; he used his arms to carefully lift her from the cold rock.