Qi Mengyao who already knew of Zhong Kui’s soul-splitting condition yet was still deeply infatuated with him, became consumed by jealousy and saw Xiao Ran as a threat, immediately developing murderous intent.

As a disciple of the demonic sect, Qi Mengyao acted without hesitation and set out to kill Xiao Ran.

The main personality and another secondary personality of Zhong Kui, who witnessed Qi Mengyao’s actions and worried about Xiao Ran’s life and death, joined forces through a shared will.

Together, they destroyed the personality that favored Qi Mengyao.

Zhong Kui successfully advanced to the late Deity Transformation stage and rushed to save Xiao Ran.

At the critical moment when Ye Ying sacrificed himself and Xiao Ran had exhausted all means and was forced to hide inside the Heavenly Orb, Zhong Kui arrived.

He personally captured Qi Mengyao, crippled her cultivation, and handed her over to Xiao Ran.

Due to fear and the death of Ye Ying, Xiao Ran brutally killed Qi Mengyao.

From this moment on, Xiao Ran developed a decisive and ruthless personality.

After returning to the Heavenly Void Sect, at age 42, the sect’s internal grand tournament began. Through the competition arc, she achieved third place in the Golden Core stage, while Yu Lin took first place.

The top three were granted the opportunity to cultivate in the sect’s inheritance sacred ground. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

After cultivating in the inheritance sacred ground for three years, Yu Lin successfully formed her Nascent Soul and came out of seclusion.

Xiao Ran, however, stayed inside the sacred ground for five years without even the slightest sign of forming a Nascent Soul opportunity.

When she was 47 years old, she received a summons from her master and had no choice but to leave seclusion.

After coming out, she went to see her master.

The relationship between them had always been ambiguous, constantly drifting between closeness and distance.

After her union with the Water Qilin and losing her virginity, and then returning from the secret realm, her master had been in seclusion and had never appeared.

This time, when she came out to meet him, her master immediately saw that she had lost her virginity.

In a rage, they naturally ended up in bed again.

After being coaxed, her master ordered Xiao Ran to accompany him to the sect grand tournament.

Xiao Ran mostly acted as an observer in the tournament.

The competition focused on the abilities of Nascent Soul disciples from various sects, but she gained a lot of experience.

During this event, the overall structure of the Heaven Origin Realm was also gradually revealed through the author’s narration.

Xiao Ran’s mentality grew significantly as a result.

After the tournament ended and they returned, she received further guidance from her master.

Only then did she realize that her cultivation breakthroughs had come from absorbing the essence energy of the three male leads.

Although this allowed her to progress quickly, it was actually a demmic path.

Even someone with a flawless body would find it difficult to break through to Nascent Soul using such a method.

If she wanted to form her Nascent Soul, she would need to find another opportunity.

Her master instructed her to spend more time in the Scripture Pavilion reading miscellaneous texts to find a solution.

Xiao Ran had originally been a high-level cultivator before her rebirth.

She had always believed her inability to advance was due to the inner demon created by Yu Lin, but she did not expect this additional reason.

Because of this, she spent several more years lingering in the Scripture Pavilion.

During this time, she faced various schemes and plots from Yu Lin, shameless pursuit from Chi Jia, and affectionate communication talismans from the three male leads.

Of course, there were also the inevitable "dual cultivation for detoxification" sessions with her master, some attractive elders of the sect, peak masters, and disciples.

Only when Xiao Ran reached the age of 50 did she discover in the Scripture Pavilion that there existed a rare heavenly treasure in the cultivation world called the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus.

It could be refined into Heavenly Essence Treasure Pills or directly consumed, with the same effect either way.

It could cleanse the user’s constitution and spiritual energy, merge different energies, and remove impurities and evil influences.

It could also break bottlenecks caused by shortcut methods such as dual cultivation or energy absorption.

The Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was a specialty of the Treasure Crane Realm and could only grow there.

It was extremely rare.

Once it bloomed, it had to be picked within twelve hours.

If not, it would take root and turn into seeds and sprout again.

Even if picked, it had to be consumed or refined into pills within twelve days, or its effects would be completely lost.

Because of these restrictions, it was extremely difficult to obtain in the outside world.

The Treasure Crane Realm was a special mystical realm derived from the Heaven Origin Realm.

It was connected to it but existed in another space.

The realm was the territory of the Treasure Crane demon race, which fed on solar fire.

Within the Treasure Crane Realm, many extreme yang-type heavenly treasures were produced, but they were all guarded by the Treasure Cranes.

Among them, the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus was second only to the Solar Tree in how much they treasured it.

Therefore, to obtain the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, one must go to the Treasure Crane Realm and defeat the Treasure Cranes guarding it.

The Treasure Crane Realm is open all year round.

As long as one is confident they can survive, anyone can enter it.

However, Xiao Ran has an ice spiritual root, which makes the Treasure Crane Realm her natural nemesis.

A difficult situation for the female lead is exactly when the male lead shines.

After hearing about this, Jian Li said that in order for his Vermilion Bird Fire to advance further, he must absorb solar fire as well, so he needed to go to the Treasure Crane Realm. Thus, the two of them set off together.