122: here it is……

Su Ming's consciousness slowly rose from the boundless darkness and cold.

The first sense to recover was his sense of smell.

A fresh scent of bamboo, carrying the fragrance of damp soil, drifted into his nostrils.

Next came his sense of touch.

Below him was a soft bed, and he was covered by warm bedding, no longer immersed in the bone-chilling river water.

He slowly opened his eyes.

What greeted his eyes was a pale green bamboo roof, and sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled light and shadows on the floor.

The air was filled with an extremely dense and pure Spiritual Qi; merely breathing it made his ruined body feel a wave of comfort.

“Where... where is this place?”

Su Ming struggled to sit up, but a tearing pain immediately erupted in his chest, causing him to groan and fall back down.

He inspected his body internally and found that his condition was still utterly terrible.

Most of his Meridians were fractured, his internal organs were damaged, and that palm strike, powerful enough to shatter stone tablets, had nearly destroyed all his vitality.

If not for that miraculous Medicinal Pill sustaining his life, coupled with the tenacious self-repair of the Green Wood Longevity Art, he would have long since been a corpse.

Even so, it would likely take at least a year and a half to fully recover from these injuries.

“Master!”

He immediately called out anxiously in his heart.

“Master, how are you?”

His Sea of Consciousness was silent; there was no response.

Su Ming's heart tightened, and he quickly extended a trace of weak Divine Sense into the xuantian ring.

Inside the ring space, Lin Yu's soul body quietly floated in the center of the Spirit Gathering Array.

His soul body had become incredibly faint and transparent.

A layer of faint light emanated from the core of the Spirit Gathering Array, enveloping Lin Yu's soul body like a warm cocoon.

Su Ming could sense that Master's soul body Origin had not dissipated; it was merely over-exhausted and had entered the deepest state of self-repair.

Only then did he let out a long sigh of relief, but this was immediately followed by endless guilt and lingering fear.

If Master hadn't exhausted his Origin at the last moment, using Soul Power to shock Zhao Qianshan, and then used his remaining strength to block the Flying Sword for him, he would never have survived.

“Master...”

Su Ming's eyes felt hot. He clenched his fists and swore a blood oath in his heart.

“Rest assured, Disciple will certainly find Heaven And Earth Treasure to restore your soul body completely!”

Just then, the door of the bamboo hut creaked open.

Qingfeng and Mingyue walked in, one after the other.

“You're awake?”

Qingfeng's voice carried a hint of scrutiny, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Su Ming.

Mingyue, meanwhile, was carrying a bowl of steaming medicinal porridge, a joyful smile on her face.

“How do you feel? I made you some Spiritual Rice Porridge; it will help with your recovery.”

Su Ming struggled to get up and thank her, but Mingyue gently pressed him back down.

“Don't move, your injuries are very severe.”

Su Ming looked at the boy and girl before him, who were as exquisite as carved jade and resembled immortal children, his heart filled with both gratitude and vigilance.

“Thank you both for saving my life.” His voice was somewhat hoarse due to weakness.

“Where is this...?”

“This is the Cloud Hidden Sect.” Qingfeng got straight to the point, his tone still carrying the precociousness of a small adult.

“We Senior Brother and Junior Sister were gaining experience down the mountain and happened to save you. Now, it's your turn to answer my questions.”

He pulled over a bamboo chair and sat down, his eyes fixed intently on Su Ming.

“What is your name? Who was that Foundation Establishment Cultivator who died with you? How did he die?”

As soon as the questions were asked, the air inside the bamboo hut instantly became somewhat heavy.

Su Ming's heart rose into his throat.

He knew this was the moment that would determine his fate.

The secrets concerning Master and that Baleful Artifact Broken Sword absolutely could not be exposed.

His mind raced, reviewing the prepared explanation he had rehearsed.

He raised his head, displaying a suitable mix of grief and lingering fear on his face.

“My name is Su Ming. I am originally from the secular Daxing Kingdom, a Second Class Scholar from the Jinghe Nineteenth Year, and served as a Hanlin Academy Compiler.”

This opening statement stunned both Qingfeng and Mingyue; secular achievements were distant and novel to them.

Su Ming continued, his tone low and clear: “I had no personal grudge against that Foundation Establishment Cultivator. He was commissioned by the Daxing Kingdom's Marquis Yongchangs Estate to come and kill me to silence me.”

“Marquis Yongchangs Estate?” Qingfeng caught the name of this unfamiliar mortal power.

“Yes.” Su Ming nodded. “Because I angered the Marquis Yongchang in court, he fabricated charges against me, stripped me of my official status, and exiled me to the Northern Frontier. This Zhao Qianshan was the assassin sent by the Estate to completely eliminate me and the entire escort team during the journey of exile.”

He briefly and clearly recounted his experiences in court, the crime of “dereliction of military duty” he was framed for, and the background of the ambush he encountered during his exile.

He even mentioned his friend Xu Qing and his teacher Zhou Wenhai, making it clear that this was essentially court factional strife and that he was merely a discarded pawn.

“I do not know the exact connection between that Foundation Establishment Cultivator and the Marquis Yongchang, but I heard him mention before his death that he seemed to be repaying an old favor. My struggle for life against him was not due to personal enmity, but purely for survival.”

He concealed all details about Lin Yu's guidance in desperation and the final Soul Power strike, and he never mentioned the strange Baleful Artifact Broken Sword, describing the final counter-kill merely as a stroke of luck in a desperate situation: “I was severely wounded by him. On the verge of death, I dragged him with me as we fell off the cliff and into the river. Perhaps it was the manifestation of the Heavenly Dao, but his injuries were more severe, and he ultimately drowned, while I was fortunate enough to be saved by the two of you.”

This statement almost completely revealed his true background and experiences—nine parts truth, one part fabrication (hiding Lin Yu and the Baleful Artifact). The logic was clear, the details were authentic, and it sounded reasonable, vividly painting the picture of a youth caught in a power struggle, desperately fighting for survival.

Qingfeng finished listening, his brow slightly furrowed, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest of the bamboo chair as he seemed to process the complexities of the mortal court and judge the veracity of the story. Su Ming's experience was both unfamiliar and possessed a sense of genuine cruelty to him, having lived in the Sect for so long.

Mingyue, however, believed him completely, her eyes full of sympathy and indignation: “That Marquis Yongchang is truly wicked! And that Foundation Establishment Cultivator, aiding the tyrant! You... you are so pitiful...”

Su Ming lowered his head, displaying timely grief and lingering fear on his face. He said nothing more, simply accepting the bowl of Spiritual Rice Porridge and drinking it in small sips.

What he needed to do now was play the role of a distressed scholar who had been persecuted by the powerful, could not return home, and had luckily survived. This very display of candor was intended to minimize the wariness of these two Sect Disciples with mysterious backgrounds and gain their sympathy.