As they grew apart, Yun Jingfei struggled to catch her breath while Qin Yun fell into the lull of sleep. The prior night's events had taken a toll on his mind, and coupled with their activities during the day, he needed a good night's sleep.

Surprisingly, Yun Jingfei felt a new wave of energy flow through her body, and she felt wide awake despite the strenuous burden Qin Yun had placed on her body. She looked at the man to her side, watching him close his eyes and drift to the realm of dream, but she felt conflicted.

She felt the events had moved too fast like they had left her behind. Not so long ago, she was a hideous, disfigured monster shunned by everyone she had cared for, but now she had found someone who seemed to care about her, even when she was at her lowest. Still, she knew Qin Yun must have his own plans and wasn't that altruistic. Yet, she couldn't help but trust him. In fact, she had no choice but to trust him.

She rose from the large bed, wrapping a set of sheets around her naked body, letting her man get some much-needed rest. While she didn't know how he had achieved this miraculous regeneration, she knew it mustn't have been easy to do so, as no expert she had visited had achieved anything close. Even if her Qi Channels were still crippled, she still found herself lucky; she didn't despise herself anymore.

As the large sheet trailed slightly on the floor, she walked outside their pavilion just in time to see the sun descend toward the horizon, tinting the sky a shade of red. While she had been witness to such a sight countless times before, it had never felt as wonderful. Simply being alive was a blessing.

She sat outside as the soft, warm breeze caressed her face; how she had missed its touch. She basked in the glow of nature, feeling a new appreciation for the world. Somehow, she felt her Dao Heart resonate with the world around her.

Once, her life had been monochrome, filled with nothing but the expectations placed upon her for her talent and the allure of strength cultivation provided. All that ever filled her mind was to go further and beyond on the path, not even knowing why she strove for it, only going through the motions as this was what everyone did. Besides, she had the talent for it, and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste.

Then, the accident happened, and she lost everything that once mattered in her life: the beauty her peers envied, the strength she had painstakingly cultivated, and her family that had supported her thus far. Even the hope she once had to find a reason to strive forward was lost. More than once, she asked herself why she should continue to suffer.

She had given up on everything. There was only one hope remaining for her. Even if she was to be used as a pawn, her family still had expectations of her. This was the only thing sustaining her mind, so she let herself be used and agreed to this marriage. Still, she couldn’t help but have cold feet at the last moment. She almost even made a mistake she would have regretted.

Yet, this man had overturned her world as easily as raising his palm while all others had been unable to help her leave this pit of despair. Still, it frightened her to be so dependent on someone else. It scared her how easily she had given her body to this man, even if they were supposedly husband and wife. She feared how quickly he had wormed his way into her heart. None had managed such a thing but him; not even her own master was that capable.

What shook her more than anything was how deep that man had hidden himself. His family viewed him as nothing more than a waste, unable to reach the Qi Refinement Realm, yet she knew better. How could an ordinary man do what he did? She had many questions in her heart, but somehow, she was afraid of voicing them and the answers she might receive.

While all those thoughts swirled in her mind, Yun Jingfei looked toward the horizon and witnessed the world's beauty. Somehow, all her worries seemed insignificant before it. Her life, up to this point, had been fraught with nothing but days of endless, gruelling cultivation. She had never taken the time to appreciate the world around her.

Her worries slowly disappeared as she immersed herself in the sights before her, slowly appreciating the Dao of all things. While her comprehension was still shallow, she somehow felt that the path she had once walked was nothing more than a dead-end and that her accident was destiny, allowing her to right her wrongs and seek ever-increasing heights.

While such a thought was hard to swallow, she had already begun to see the new path she wished to follow slowly appear before her. Still, without a working Qi Centre, no matter how sturdy her Dao Heart was, she couldn't recover her cultivation. Yet, she had no intention of letting this epiphany slip from her grasp.

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She sat in a lotus position before the sunset, gazing at the horizon as a sheet lightly draped over her body. She let the world wash over her as she emptied her mind of all negative thoughts. She didn’t bother to try and circulate any Qi and just opened her Dao Heart to the outside, assimilating what she could comprehend.

If someone could see her now, they would be shocked beyond belief. At present, she was nothing more than a mortal, unable to produce the slightest bit of Qi, yet her body shone with a rainbow hue, radiating some sort of unknown strength.

While the uninitiated would be unable to understand her current state, some of the old monsters, far on the path, would stare, stunned and unable to comprehend how she could achieve this at her young age. This was the initial step needed for a cultivator to reach the Soul Formation Realm, the embryo of a Dao Domain.

Unfortunately, her cultivation was non-existent at the moment, and she couldn't give her Dao form, no matter how hard she tried. Still, her gains were substantial as her Dao Heart grew stronger with every moment.

So, she remained immobile as time passed. She remained oblivious to exterior changes as her heart absorbed the intricacies of nature's flow. For now, everything she experienced was subconscious, as she didn't possess the means to analyze it all. Only when she could consciously understand this phenomenon would she finally reach the Soul Formation Realm.

Obviously, her current realm was much too lacking. She would first need to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and sublimate her soul to understand such mysteries. Besides, an unfathomable amount of Qi would be required to even consider materializing a Dao Domain, something she was much too far away from to even consider.

Even her own master hadn't mentioned anything past the Void Core Realm, as knowing too much would sometimes only lead to disappointment. Few could reach such a realm as the gap between the Nascent Soul Realm and the Soul Formation Realm was a chasm most would never overcome in their lifetime.

As the night gave way to dawn, Yun Jingfei awoke from her epiphany to the scent of a glorious meal wafting in the wind. As she was but a mortal at the moment, her body could scarcely sustain what her Dao Heart required, leading to her famished state.

She opened her eyes, yet her pupils still glowed with a golden hue momentarily before returning to their natural colour once all her insights were tightly locked away within her Dao Heart. Her perfect visage glowed with a radiant smile, knowing that what she experienced was too valuable to put into words.

She looked in the direction where the succulent scent came from, only to see her husband looking at her gently. Still, something seemed amiss. She followed his gaze, only to be directed to her exposed bust. She quickly covered herself as embarrassment crept over her, only to see him shrug.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he said, half-jokingly, before motioning for her to join him at the table. With a slight frown on her lovely face, she rose and approached him, only to see a magnificent blue dress laid out on the bed. She looked at him only to see him smile lightly.

This dress was gorgeous and much to her taste. The material was soft and light, feeling pleasant on her skin, and most of all offered just the right amount of skin exposure. While she was never one for this tantalizing style of dress, she must admit that recovering from her accident gave her the urge to show off her beauty.

In addition to the dress, she noticed a pair of knee-high slender boots, long-sleeve gloves, and, most of all, a mask that hid most of her face. While she found this attire peculiar, she didn't question it and chose to put it on.

While slipping into the dress, she found that it fitted her perfectly, as if it was designed solely for her. The same could be said for all its accessories. Once fully dressed, Yun Jingfei emerged from behind the partition, intending to show off before her husband. Yet, his gaze didn't waver, only showing the calm expression he always did, as if he was wholly in control of her actions.

She couldn't help but pout slightly, which made him smile. While Qin Yun knew that his bride used to be cold and detached from the world, she was also just a young girl who had experienced much hardship. To see such a range of emotions from her was what he intended from the start.

Qin Yun had never understood how stifling one’s emotions could lead one to the peak. This wasn’t his Dao. While he knew that detachment was a path as good as any other, this wasn’t what he chose, and he hoped that those willing to follow him would not consider it either. How dull would eternity be without any enjoyment?

The couple ate silently, slowly savouring the dishes before them. Yun Jingfei had never considered food enjoyable, yet she stood corrected. Somehow, she couldn't imagine her life without it anymore. It helped that her husband was a masterful cook and that she had never been immersed in the world of taste.

Still, a part of her couldn’t help but lament that this seemed like a waste of time. Why learn to cook if one can simply cultivate? While she had a new outlook on life, some things were deeply ingrained into her being. As if knowing her thoughts from the look on her face, Qin Yun couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"You think of cultivation as something too rigid," he said, which brought his wife to ponder the implications. "There are countless paths to tread, and none could be deemed right. You have already experienced a new one not long ago. The world is Dao, and so is the entirety of existence. So, why can't cooking be one? Food can only be acquired through the death of others, whether it be animals or plants. It is then used to sustain new life, forming an unending cycle. Cooking is a way to empower this cycle with intent and purpose, further strengthening it. Since life itself is Dao, why can't its intermediary be, too?"

While Yun Jingfei thought he was only spewing bullshit, she couldn't help but appreciate his eloquence. Still, she had many questions needing answers. She gathered her courage and asked what was on her mind, what had gnawed at her heart since she woke to find her body restored.

"Can I regain my cultivation?" she asked as she stared him straight in the eyes. "Can I still seek to reach the peak?"