"Ugh... This is embarrassing..." Yuelan mumbled, hugging him back.

"Why?" Xuan chuckled. "It’s not like we haven’t hugged before."

Yuelan pouted, turning her head away and not commenting further.

The brief moment of warmth was genuine, and it was just what Xuan needed after so long had passed. Two months of not seeing each other was by far the longest time they had been away from each other.

We’ve always done stuff together... I’ll make sure we’re not going to get separated like that again, Xuan thought with determination, and then, to Yuelan’s surprise, he patted her head gently, transferring a few skills.

Or that was the intention, but he soon realized he had no skills to give. After all, his Qi had been sealed for so long, and his alchemy knowledge didn’t translate to skills.

Therefore...

"Jeez... You just wanted an excuse to pat my head, didn’t you? Alright then, you’re in for a surprise... I picked out a few skills you might like," Yuelan said, her smile widening as she placed her hand over his head.

In an instant, four skills were transferred, all of which made Xuan’s jaw drop.

<Xiao Yuelan has shared the skills: Time Ripple, Spatial Devour, Beginner Array Arts, Black Sun Body Tempering.>

—

<Time Ripple>

<Rank: Heaven+>

<Mastery Level: 1>

<Description: Consumes 100,000,000 Spiritual Qi. Creates a ripple in time that slows enemies within 30 meters by 10% for 5 seconds.>

—

<Spatial Devour>

<Rank: Heaven+>

<Mastery Level: 1>

<Description: Consumes 50,000,000 Spiritual Qi. Generates a small collapsing vortex that pulls in Qi, projectiles, and weaker techniques, converting part of the energy into a defensive barrier around you.>

—

<Beginner Array Arts>

<Rank: Mortal>

<Mastery Level: 1>

<Description: The introductory knowledge of array formation. Allows the inscription of simple Spirit Gathering and Defensive Arrays using basic Spiritual Qi and materials.>

<Currently learned Formations: 10 [Press to View]>

—

<Black Sun Body Tempering>

<Rank: Divine>

<Mastery Level: 1>

<Description: A body refinement method that channels the oppressive heat of the void’s black sun. Permanently increases durability and resistance to fire and spatial distortions.>

—

"This is...?" Xuan stammered. "How did you get all this?"

Yuelan puffed out her chest. "Well, I figured out a way to get others to transfer skills to me. Basically, you just give them an empty book, and they write down every detail of their skill, then infuse all their Qi into the book. It becomes a skill book that I can just open and instantly learn the skill."

But it seemed like that wasn’t all, as she soon continued:

"Usually, the skill book only has 1/10th of the actual skill’s strength, but for some reason, I can utilize 100%, and so can you. Though it’s still really good."

Xuan was amazed at her actions, so much so that he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

"And yet I have nothing to give you..."

"Heh, at the start you were the one to give me everything, and I couldn’t give you anything in return. So don’t worry about it, it’s my turn to take care of you, ’kay?" Yuelan giggled. "Oh, and that last skill I gave you... I got it by sheer accident. I’m not sure how to use it, but it looks really good."

Xuan smiled. "Thank you, Yuelan. But we should probably step in now, don’t you think?"

He looked past her at the ruined Grand Jade Temple. Fires spread out from every corner, and charred corpses were scattered across the ground. It was a total bloodbath no matter how one would look at it.

He thought of helping her comrades, but it seemed like he didn’t need to.

The Spirit Grandmasters ganged up on Lin Fei, dealing with him effectively. As for the Spirit Masters, they were shooting Qi blasts from the air and killing most monks present.

There were also some cultivators who were dressed in similar black coats as Yuelan. To his surprise, all of those cultivators were women wielding swords, and coincidentally performing swordsmanship similar to the one Yuelan had used.

Upon closer look, he also realized every single one of them wore black wigs, which made Xuan raise a brow.

"Are they your special maid harem or something? Did you share your skills with them?"

"N-Nah, not a harem. Though they are very talented girls. I picked them up out of the many camps I’ve raided." Yuelan grinned. "And nope~ You could say that when I set my mind to it, I’m a pretty good teacher. I also forgot to mention, but this skill book sharing only works on skills that are Heaven ranked or below."

"Noted." Xuan patted her head again.

Silence hung in the air for a few short moments, until he spoke again:

"I like your hair. Bangs suit you."

"Yeah?" Yuelan puffed out her chest proudly. "I was in a rush, so I wasn’t able to style it much. I’m glad you like it."

Noticing the faint blush on her face, Xuan couldn’t help but pinch her cheek, and then return to the matter at hand.

"Come with me. We’ll check up on those people I told you I wanted to save."

"Mm... You don’t have to worry about them, my shadows will take care of them," Yuelan assured.

Xuan shook his head. "I don’t doubt that, but who knows what might happen in all this chaos. Anyways, you can use Void Step, right? Follow me."

Before she could reply, Xuan vanished from sight, swiftly Void Stepping through the fallen Grand Jade Temple, and eventually arriving at the disciples’ quarters.

It was nothing but a pile of rubble, but at the far end of the quarters, there was a Spiritual Qi barrier holding up a room by the mountain edge, and it was none other than the infirmary.

Xuan walked toward it steadily, passing by a few of Yuelan’s cultivators that seemed to recognize him perfectly. Some even gave him nods or a thumbs up. A few even wanted to have a chat, but were dragged away to fight the corrupted monks.

Right as he was about to enter the infirmary, Yuelan’s voice rang out from the side:

"You know, I half expected you to go bald."

"..."

Yuelan crossed her arms playfully. "Come on... I kind of wanted to see you with a bald cut. I’ve been meaning to train my Moonlight Qi, so I could use your head as a mirror."

"There’s something in your teeth," Xuan shot back.

Yuelan froze up and began picking at her teeth with her nail, trying to get something out. She only realized he was lying when he had finally stepped into the infirmary, leaving her behind.

Right away, he spotted two of Yuelan’s so-called ’shadows,’ who stood beside Hanbi’s bed.

There were a few corpses beside the bed, and it was clear the shadows had defended Hanbi, which was why Xuan gave them an appreciative bow.

Yet in the corner of his vision, he spotted an old man, Yinuo Heng, sitting in a chair with his gaze lowered.

He was about to call out to him, but with one quick glance, Xuan saw there was no Qi in the old man’s body.

He was dead.

Xuan’s chest tightened, his eyes narrowing as he turned back toward the shadows, and especially Yuelan.

"What did I tell you?"