A thousand zhang beneath Thousand Illusion Peak, beside the Yin Pool that spanned three zhang across, Yang Kai sat cross-legged with furrowed brows and a contemplative expression, turning a dull, unremarkable bead over in his hand.
The process of purging the poison from Dai Yuan was complete. She had been blessed with good fortune and had managed to hold on through the final moment, successfully expelling all of the Glazed Art poison from her body. Just before slipping into deep unconsciousness, she had suddenly opened her mouth and spat out this bead. She barely managed to tell Yang Kai it was a Glazed Bead before collapsing.
Yang Kai had pulled her out of the Yin Pool, circulated his Holy Yuan to evaporate the yin-cold energy clinging to her body, removed his robe to drape over her, and then kept watch at her side.
If it were possible, Yang Kai would have liked to carry her back to his own room to rest, but she was currently wearing nothing but her intimate undergarments, and carrying her like that would have been rather awkward.
The bead in his hand showed nothing remarkable about it—even if he tossed it aside, no one would spare it a second glance. But when Yang Kai focused his attention to examine it more closely, he was shocked to discover that this dull, unremarkable bead actually radiated thousands of rays of multicolored light within. That radiance was identical to the Glazed Divine Light—it possessed the same ability to bind the body and restrain the soul, easily piercing through his Sea of Consciousness defenses and shaking his Divine Soul.
Yang Kai immediately understood that such a bead was likely an extraordinarily valuable treasure.
Although Yang Kai had never personally seen the Thousand Illusion Glaze material, he had a vague notion that the formation of this bead was probably related to the Thousand Illusion Glaze Dai Yuan had consumed and the Thousand Illusion Glaze Art she cultivated. However, after examining it countless times, he found something peculiar—the bead bore some resemblance to a medicinal pill, yet also looked like a material for artifact refinement, falling somewhere between the two. It was truly difficult to classify.
As he toyed with it, Yang Kai's expression shifted. He closed his palm around the Glazed Bead and looked toward Dai Yuan lying on the ground nearby.
Over there, Dai Yuan's long eyelashes were trembling softly. Her ten delicate fingers also seemed to make faint movements—clearly the signs of someone about to awaken.
Gazing upon her face, so utterly different from before, Yang Kai felt a surge of emotion. Before the Glazed Art poison had been purged, Dai Yuan's appearance had been hard to look upon. But now, she was a woman of breathtaking, transcendent beauty—even slightly surpassing Yin Sudie.
Yang Kai wondered whether, if she had entered the Yin Pool's waters looking like this from the very start, he would have been able to keep his heart as still as calm water. After a moment's thought, he figured he probably would have been somewhat distracted. He was still a man, after all, and no man could remain entirely unmoved when faced with such a stunning woman who was practically unclothed.
After a short wait, Dai Yuan finally opened her eyes. She shifted her body slightly, felt how utterly weak she was, and let out a soft moan.
"If you're awake, circulate your Qi gently. Your current condition isn't too optimistic." Yang Kai's calm voice drifted over.
Hearing this, Dai Yuan lowered her gaze and immediately spotted Yang Kai sitting not far from her side, watching her with a gentle smile. Her expression shifted slightly; she tried to open her mouth to say something, but couldn't produce a single word.
When she noticed that Yang Kai's outer robe was not on his body, and that something had been draped over her, a look of security and gratitude flickered through her beautiful eyes. Then she closed them once more and silently began circulating her cultivation technique.
Two hours later, Dai Yuan finally managed to sit up. After dressing properly, she took out a large quantity of restorative medicines she had prepared in advance from her Space Ring, swallowed them, and continued meditating.
Another full day passed before Dai Yuan let out a long, deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, they sparkled with renewed vitality—as if her cultivation had even advanced slightly. Her complexion was still somewhat pale, but there was no longer any cause for concern. With quiet rest and recuperation, full recovery was only a matter of time.
She rose gracefully, walked up to Yang Kai, and bowed deeply. "Dai Yuan thanks Junior Brother Yang. If not for your help this time, I fear I would have perished long ago. Your great kindness—Dai Yuan will keep it in her heart and never forget it for the rest of my life."
Yang Kai stood as well. Hearing her words, he waved his hand with a smile and said lightly, "Getting through that gate of death was your own doing. I didn't have much to do with it."
Dai Yuan slowly shook her head. "Junior Brother Yang gives Dai Yuan too much credit. I know full well that if the person I had called upon this time had been Master Xiao or one of the seniors from the Medicine Pill Sect, I certainly wouldn't be standing here now. Setting aside everything else, that vial of medicinal liquid you gave me—must have required a great deal of precious ingredients, didn't it? Without that liquid, I wouldn't have survived those final few hours."
She had clearly felt it—when she consumed the Blood Lingzhi mushroom and that vial of liquid, her depleted life source had suddenly recovered substantially, and continued to slowly increase with time.
That was precisely why she had been able to hold on until the end. Otherwise, she would have perished long before.
Directly consuming the Blood Lingzhi mushroom alone wouldn't have produced such a dramatic effect. A Blood Lingzhi Pill might have caused such a change, but an unrefined Blood Lingzhi mushroom certainly could not have. So the only source had to be that unidentified vial of liquid!
Although she didn't know how much effort Yang Kai had invested in creating that vial, it was clearly no ordinary substance. That Yang Kai hadn't mentioned it—that was his generosity. But how could Dai Yuan not keep such a debt close to her heart?