Xiaoxiao.

"You said you've broken through to the Nascent Soul stage? My God! This... how is this possible? Is it true? Zheng-ge, this is simply unbelievable!"

When Ying Yue heard her beloved say this shocking news, her beautiful eyes were filled with indescribable astonishment and surprise!

Because this was so shocking, this was not just an ordinary improvement in realm, but a complete transformation!

It should be understood that cultivators are all exceptionally talented and outstanding individuals.

A true dragon among men!

Only a handful of people out of millions possess the qualifications to embark on the path of cultivation.

However, even with such unparalleled talent, only a very small number of people can truly achieve anything significant.

According to incomplete statistics, on average, only one person with the potential for spiritual cultivation will appear in every 100 million people.

Such a low percentage is enough to demonstrate the extraordinary talent of cultivators.

Although every human being is born with an innate physical body, this does not mean that everyone can successfully embark on the path of cultivation.

Because talent does not guarantee success.

It's as if everyone is a unique darling, but very few can achieve the universally defined success.

Just as not every skilled driver is a good cook, talent is just talent. Only when talent is combined with diligent perseverance and a flash of inspiration can one achieve extraordinary things.

Similarly, possessing an innate physique is merely having a ticket to enter the world of cultivation; it does not guarantee that the possessor will have a smooth and successful journey on this path.

Because entering the field does not guarantee success. Success requires both hard work and chance, and neither can be lacking.

Among cultivators, only one in ten thousand is fortunate enough to advance to the Nascent Soul realm!

"One out of ten thousand Golden Core cultivators has reached the Nascent Soul stage!" This is no exaggeration whatsoever.

For this reason, the Nascent Soul Realm is also known as "Entering Sainthood".

As the saying goes: "Extraordinary people only need perseverance, and anyone can become one; becoming a saint requires great fortune, and is one in ten thousand."

This statement perfectly illustrates the enormous gap between the Golden Core stage and the Nascent Soul stage, a gap as vast as clouds and mud.

To embark on the path of the Golden Core, one only needs to persevere. Almost every cultivator who has entered the gate of cultivation can achieve this.

Of course, this requires unwavering persistence.

Theoretically speaking, if one can consistently maintain perseverance, the Golden Core realm is an attainable goal for most people.

However, to enter the Nascent Soul realm...

Without great fortune and a certain understanding of the "Dao," relying solely on one's own efforts, even if one exhausts one's entire life, one will likely only be able to remain at the Golden Core stage.

The Foundation Establishment stage allows cultivators to step into the profound realm, while the Nascent Soul stage is the entry ticket to cultivation. The two are not even in the same league and cannot be compared at all.

Knowing how difficult it was, when Ying Yue heard that Kuang Zheng had successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, she completely lost her composure and shouted excitedly.

It took Yingyue a while to calm down.

Then, she took a deep breath and began to tell Kuang Zheng about the series of events that had happened.

Although Kuang Zheng had already anticipated this, the moment he heard with his own ears that Wu Ren had resolutely chosen to stay behind to cover their retreat in order to buy her time to escape, he was deeply moved.

An uncontrollable, excruciating pain still surged up like a tide, piercing his heart.

"What's wrong? Could it be that Wu Ren hasn't come looking for us for so long because he's not hiding somewhere, but rather... but...?"

Upon seeing Kuang Zheng's expression, his face immediately changed.

In fact, she had a premonition in her heart, but she just didn't want to believe it because she couldn't accept the fact that her beloved comrade-in-arms, who was also the only comrade-in-arms left besides her lover, had also left her.

Therefore, no matter how many times reason had told her this cruel truth, she still clung tightly to Wu Ren's original statement: "Even if we get rid of the enemy, we will want to find a place to hide so that the enemy will not discover the dragon's nest."

In fact, with her exceptional intelligence, she had already guessed it the moment she entered the dragon's nest.

However, because Kuang Zheng's situation was so critical at the time, he was unable to focus on anything else.

As time went on, Kuangzheng's situation not only did not improve, but became increasingly dangerous, which made him unable to think about anything else.

Although the situation improved somewhat later, it was always unpredictable.

This forces her to spend a lot of energy on her lover every day, which objectively consumes most of her mental energy, leaving her with no extra energy to examine her own heart.

But when she finally saw hope for a turnaround, she began to feel anxious and uncertain again.

I was afraid that this turn of events was temporary, an illusion.

Then she felt that her loved one had finally gotten through it all, and she needed to take even better care of him to prevent a relapse.

Ultimately, she placed everything on Kuang Zheng; Kuang Zheng was her life, her everything!

Otherwise, how could she have agreed to let Wu Ren stay behind to cover the retreat?

Otherwise, how could she not have considered the worst-case scenario when she still hadn't seen Wu Ren return long after arriving at the Dragon's Nest?

Otherwise, why would she rather collapse from exhaustion than stop for even a moment?

Because he knew that if he stopped, the guilt of abandoning his comrades would shatter the last glimmer of hope in her heart!

It was precisely because she was completely focused on Kuang Zheng that she compromised when Wu Ren mentioned him, thus deceiving herself and allowing herself to escape under the cover of her comrade-in-arms...

Now that the huge weight has finally been lifted from her heart, she finally has the courage to face Wu Ren's long absence...

Seeing Ying Yue heartbroken, Kuang Zheng felt very sad.

Based on his understanding of her, he knew that she had already considered the worst-case scenario.

Even more so, she had already thought of this when she rescued herself and brought her back to the dragon's lair.

It was only because his injuries were so severe that he teetered on the brink of death for a long time.

Did this cause him to focus all his energy on himself, leaving her with no extra energy to grieve?

This seemingly delicate woman has sacrificed so much for herself!

What she needs now is a lie, even one that's obvious at a glance.

But he couldn't bear to deceive this intelligent woman in front of him, because lies always come to light eventually.

On that day, grief will still descend.

Living in a glimmer of hope may temporarily make one forget the pain.

But once the truth is confronted, the grief in one's heart will be even more profound.

Because illusory hope only intensifies the pain of the truth, Kuangzheng chose not to conceal anything.

With a gentle wave of his hand, a stream of spiritual energy shot straight toward Ying Yue's body.

The moment the spiritual energy touched Ying Yue, a beam of azure light suddenly shone, emanating from her belt.

To Ying Yue's astonishment, a blue light flew straight out of her body.

The light was so bright that only a vague outline could be seen, and it was impossible to determine what it was.

Under Kuang Zheng's control, the ball of blue light slowly floated up and finally settled on the chests of the two people.

Just as Ying Yue was about to ask a question, she saw Kuang Zheng directly withdraw his spiritual energy.

As the blue light dissipated, Ying Yue finally saw the true appearance of that item!

Ying Yue's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief. Trembling, she pointed at the Azure Dragon Ring that shimmered with a faint blue light, and stammered, "This...this isn't Wu Ren's Azure Dragon Ring? How...how is it on me??"

Faced with Ying Yue's barrage of questions, Kuang Zheng's lips moved slightly, but he ultimately chose to remain silent.

He couldn't bear to see Ying Yue suffer another blow, so he could only remain silent.

Although everything was left unsaid, Ying Yue was still unwilling to give up the struggle.

She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and then carefully extended her divine sense toward the Azure Dragon Ring.

The moment her consciousness touched the ring, she felt no resistance whatsoever and entered it with ease.

As her divine sense penetrated deeper, Ying Yue "saw" the dazzling array of sights inside the Azure Dragon Ring.

She felt as if this moment was all an illusion, yet those incredibly familiar objects all pointed to the cruel truth.

The discovery in the Azure Dragon Ring caused Ying Yue's taut heartstrings to snap completely. She felt a sudden dizziness, her vision went black, and her body finally collapsed involuntarily.

The consciousness that easily intruded into the Azure Dragon Ring became the last straw that broke the camel's back, ruthlessly revealing a cruel fact—the owner of the Azure Dragon Ring was no longer alive!

This conclusion struck Ying Yue like a bolt from the blue, shattering her last psychological defenses.

Unable to bear the immense pain and blow any longer, she finally lost consciousness and collapsed.