Gazing at the battered Xiao Yan cradled in her arms, Yun Zhi's delicate features subtly changed. At the same time, within the mountain cave, the young purple-crystal lion king surged forth in fury. Yet, as its gaze landed upon the woman hovering mid-air, it swiftly scraped its claws and forepaws across the ground, a clear instinctive response to danger—this woman was no creature it could afford to challenge. Just as the lion king prepared to retreat, Yun Zhi, her face now cold and composed, swept her long sword forward. A massive blade of jade-green wind surged from the tip of the sword, slicing across the lion king's body with lightning speed, sending sparks flying. "Ahh!" The lion king emitted a sharp, piercing cry under the impact. On its back, the layer of purple-crystal defense had been split open by Yun Zhi's strike, revealing a jagged crack. "By the gods! How dare you injure my son! Today, I shall not spare you!" "At the very instant Yun Zhi launched her attack, a violent surge of purple flames erupted from the sky, the roar of the crystal-winged lion king filling the heavens with fury. "Hmph," she coldly exhaled, her jade hands rotating gently before her. A sudden, powerful whirlwind of jade-green hue surged unexpectedly across her body, spinning fiercely and sweeping the vast wave of purple flames away. Her back wings fluttered slightly as she single-handedly cradled the unconscious Xiao Yan, retreating swiftly through the air. As she retreated, her strange long sword danced out in an odd arc. In an instant, the sword trembled sharply, and a clear, cool command issued from her rosy lips: "Wind's Apex, Skyfall!" Upon hearing Yun Zhi's delicate cry, the crystal-winged lion king in the sky roared with serious intensity, plunging his massive body downward. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the young crystal-winged lion king, his great head swaying gently, and the radiance of purple light once again spreading across the heavens. Yet, as the Purple Crystal-Winged Lion King prepared to unleash his strongest power to counter Yunzhi's devastating attack that had once shattered his horn, Yunzhi suddenly fluttered his wings, swiftly sheathing his long sword within his talisman, then spun around and, with a series of swift leaps, vanished toward the horizon. "Skilful human! I, the Purple Crystal-Winged Lion King, shall not rest until I settle this matter with you!" Only upon seeing Yunzhi's sudden retreat did the lion king realize he had been outwitted, his purple radiance gradually retracting from his body as he roared in fury, his voice echoing through the mountains. Set amidst a hidden grove, Yun Zhi hurriedly set Xiao Yan down in her arms, gently touching his body. She was astonished, exclaiming, "Such a powerful energy—what has this person done?" Lying on the cool ground, his entire body tinged black, Xiao Yan, unconscious, continuously tore at his garments, and from his open mouth, warm, steaming breaths steadily escaped. Observing Xiao Yan in such painful distress, curling up tightly, Yun Zhi felt a growing sense of anxiety. After a moment's thoughtful pause, she clenched her silver teeth and suddenly stepped to Xiao Yan's back, her jade hands gently extending to press against his back, which shimmered like a furnace. With a soft, steady exhalation, Yun Zhi slowly closed her beautiful eyes, and the surge of qi within her—flowing like the tides of an ocean—swiftly poured into Xiao Yan's body through her arms. Yunzhi's Qi was, of course, far beyond the mere Qi of a Battle Rank cultivator within Xiao Yan's body—under her control, the Wind-type Qi that had just entered Xiao Yan's body swiftly occupied all the meridians, while Xiao Yan's original pale yellow Qi was forcibly driven into the spiraling Qi cluster in his abdomen. Only after carefully arranging Xiao Yan's fundamental Qi did Yunzhi shift her focus to the mysterious, powerful purple energy seeping out from all directions within Xiao Yan's body. Facing this unfamiliar and dominant energy, the strong Wind-type Qi showed no hesitation, relentlessly pushing the purple energy out of the meridians. Though the purple energy was formidable, it could not withstand the continuous, overwhelming tide of Wind-type Qi, and thus was driven into a state of desperate retreat, fleeing in disarray. As it fled, streams of purple energy continuously seeped into its flesh and bones. Each time such energy merged with the body, a faint lavender hue would subtly emerge, like distinct markers. With relentless pressure from all directions, within moments, every strand of purple energy not yet absorbed into flesh and bone was completely driven to the brink, forced to coalesce into compact, fist-sized clusters of purple energy, trembling as they gazed helplessly at the surrounding gusts of wind-based combat aura. "You've done it, fellows," Cloud Zhi, who had been quietly closed-eyed, suddenly murmured. As her words fell, the wind-based aura that had tightly encircled the purple energy surged suddenly, rushing directly toward it. Sensing imminent peril, the cluster of purple energy shuddered violently, and purple flames rose gently across its surface, burning away some of the incoming wind-based energies. Indeed, it was rather peculiar. The change in the purple energy did not surprise Yunzhi much. After a light sigh, the wind-type qi that had surged into Xiao Yan suddenly materialized into a scroll of green storm. The storm spun rapidly, and in a short while, it drew the cluster of purple flames into its core, transforming the green storm into a swirling vortex alternating between green and purple. As the storm rotated swiftly, Yunzhi controlled its strength, continuously extracting the turbulent essence embedded within the purple energy. The turbulent factors thus removed were flung outward and immediately engulfed by the surrounding army of wind-type qi, swiftly annihilated into nothingness. As the storm's rotation accelerated, the purple hue within the green-purple vortex gradually faded. Once the purple energy had faded to a point where it no longer posed any threat, the storm suddenly halted and then slowly dissipated. After the storm vanished, a slightly pale purple flame gently emerged within Xiao Yan's body. This current shade of purple flame is noticeably more temperate than before, with its intense, turbulent nature having softened considerably. Now, it may truly be the pure, absorbable and refineable energy suitable for human consumption. Gazing at the delicate purple flame, Yun Zhi exhaled in relief. With a gentle flick of her jade onion finger against Xiao Yan's back, an intangible gust of wind swept through Xiao Yan's body, instantly guiding the purple flame toward the spiraling qi vortex rotating steadily at his abdomen. Under Yun Zhi's watchful eyes, the purple flame swiftly traversed several meridians before directly entering the vortex. As soon as the flame touched the vortex, a significant commotion ensued—its rotational speed surged dramatically, and the vortex, originally no larger than two palms, began expanding rapidly. Within the pale yellow vortex, a continuous stream of delicate purple flames rotated along with the vortex's own motion. As it spun, slender tendrils of the purple flame branched off, eventually transforming into the most fundamental energy and merging into the vortex. The vortex expanded steadily until it reached the size of a basketball—this expansion was still being restrained by Yun Zhi's presence. Without Yun Zhi's containment, the vortex would likely continue to grow. While such expansion signified an advancement in strength, Yun Zhi, with her seasoned experience, recognized that allowing Xiao Yan to rise too significantly would, in the long run, prove detrimental. Once the vortex stabilized and ceased its expansion, Yun Zhi began to withdraw her own qi. As her qi receded, more robust streams of fire-based qi flowed out from Xiao Yan's vortex, then began to circulate systematically throughout his entire meridians. The disruptive energy within was expelled, and Xiang Yin's body, once pale with suffering, gradually regained its natural hue. His face, once etched with pain, slowly settled into tranquility, and his curled form relaxed, stretching out comfortably. With her jade hands supporting Xiang Yin, she gently laid him upon the grass. Yunzhi wiped away a sheen of sweat, sat beside him, catching her breath, then turned her gaze steadily toward the sleeping boy's serene face. After a while, she sighed softly, shook her head, and reached out to remove Xiang Yin's naga ring, extracting the purple spirit stone from within. Gently caressing the smooth, warm purple stone, Yunzhi murmured softly, "Thank you." Standing up, she lightly bit her lower lip, her eyes scanning the surroundings with care. A delicate blush rose to her cheeks. With a graceful movement of her jade fingers, she slowly unfastened her plain skirt, revealing, like a jade sculpture freshly carved, the flawless, radiant form of her body, fully unveiled beneath the dense forest canopy. With graceful ease, Yun Zhi removed her garments and gently took off the pale blue metallic under-armor, which shimmered with an unusual glow. Then, slightly bashful, she hurriedly dressed herself in her robe. Holding the metal armor in both hands, she carefully folded it and placed it gently beside the sleeping Xiao Yan, softly murmuring, "This Sea Heart Armor is crafted from a rare metal found within the belly of a six-stage Sea Beast—the three-tailed blue whale. Its defensive strength depends entirely on the power of its wearer. Though your current strength is only that of a Battle-User, ordinary attacks from a Battle-Teacher will easily miss you. For all the times you've helped me, this is my small repayment." After placing the armor, Yun Zhi tilted her head and pondered for a moment, then withdrew two scrolls from her storage amulet and laid them atop the armor, speaking softly, "These are a high-level Fire-type technique at the Xuanyuan stage and a mid-level Battle Technique at the Xuanyuan stage. I hope they will prove useful to you in the future." "After these things were settled, Yun Zhi stood beside Xiao Yan, her beautiful eyes filled with an enigmatic expression, gazing steadily at the refined young face. A touch of helpless bitterness gently surfaced on her delicate features: 'Having practiced alone for so many years, I never expected to develop feelings for a young man like this...' 'Well, we'll meet again someday, little one,' she sighed softly, bending down to lightly kiss Xiao Yan's forehead. With a gentle flutter of her green wings, she gracefully ascended into the sky."