Inside the cave dwelling, the glowstones cast clear light on the fine beads of sweat across Su Ming's pale face.

Luo Feng was still rummaging through elixirs, bottles and jars clinking together in crisp sounds. Qin Yi's palm pressed against Su Ming's back, his mellow and gentle spiritual energy slowly sorting through the tangled, chaotic qi currents inside Su Ming's body like a tangled mess of hemp rope.

Leaning against the somewhat uncomfortable stone bed, Su Ming's breathing was slightly rapid, but his gaze passed over his two busy senior brothers and landed on the defensive formation lines above the cave dwelling's ceiling, which were operating on their own.

They were the "net" he had personally engraved, now quietly circulating with a faint blue glow, guarding this small patch of space.

Only here, wrapped in layers upon layers of formations, did the suffocating pressure that always hung over his head finally loosen just a crack.

"Little Junior Brother! You... what happened to you?!"

Luo Feng turned his head and caught sight of Su Ming's bloodless face, nearly dropping the bottle of "Reviving Spring Pills" in his hand. His eyes went wide as he strode over to the stone bed in a few steps, setting down the red-lacquered food box he was carrying as he reached for Su Ming's wrist. "What the hell did those Punishment Peak people do to you? This isn't a heart-questioning session, this is skinning you alive!"

A long, powerful hand reached out from the side, pressing down on Luo Feng's restless shoulder.

Qin Yi's sharp gaze swept over Su Ming's entire body, finally pausing for an instant on Su Ming's left hand, which was unconsciously slightly curled and guarding his chest. That moment was brief—so brief it seemed like nothing more than a casual glance.

"Calm down."

Qin Yi's voice was steady, carrying a reassuring strength. He looked at Su Ming, his tone laced with concern but not overly probing. "Junior Brother Su, don't mind us. We've been keeping watch at the Cloud Bridge exit of Illusory Wave Sea this whole time, but we never saw you come out. How did you return?"

Su Ming's eyelashes trembled slightly, revealing a well-timed expression of confusion and weakness. He opened his mouth, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed a mouthful of gravel.

"I... I'm not entirely sure. Between moments of consciousness, it felt like that steward senior brother from Punishment Peak was guiding me. Everything was spinning... and when I came to again, I was standing on the platform atop Gazing Star Cliff. I didn't pass through the Cloud Bridge."

Qin Yi's eyes shifted slightly, then he nodded in understanding. He raised his hand and cast a sound-isolating barrier, completely cutting off all sound between the inside and outside of the cave dwelling.

"Just as I thought."

Qin Yi withdrew his hand and said slowly, "Earlier, I attached a 'Listening Rune' to a rock sparrow and detected some unusual spatial fluctuations near the edge of Illusory Wave Sea, but I could never find the source. It seems the Sect Leader or Peak Master Cui used a short-range 'Fixed-Point Teleportation Talisman' to send you straight back here."

He paused, looking into Su Ming's eyes, and added meaningfully, "This method is quite expensive. It's usually only used for extremely urgent matters... or to avoid prying eyes."

"Avoid prying eyes?" Luo Feng was stunned for a moment, then his brows shot up as he lowered his voice indignantly. "Who are they hiding this from? Even us? We're all fellow disciples of the same sect!"

"It's not us they're hiding from. It's people's hearts."

Qin Yi analyzed calmly, his tone as cold as if he were dissecting a demon beast. "One, Junior Brother Su's condition was extremely poor at the time, not fit to be seen, lest someone with ill intentions probe his weaknesses. Two, having just undergone a harsh heart-questioning, his soul is unstable and most vulnerable to being interrogated or having his mind disturbed. Three..."

He looked at Su Ming, a deeper meaning in his gaze. "It's likely that something happened during the heart-questioning that's inconvenient for outsiders to know. The Sect Leader's move is both protection and isolation."

Silence fell over the cave dwelling for a moment.

Su Ming lowered his gaze without responding, only gently stroking the ring on his left index finger with his fingertip.

Although Luo Feng was usually careless, he wasn't stupid. Hearing this, he caught on. He opened his mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately swallowed it back down. Instead, he pulled out several more bottles of elixirs from his robe with even more force and stuffed them all into Su Ming's arms.

"Take these! This one nourishes the soul, this one replenishes qi, and this one purges baleful energy..." Luo Feng muttered under his breath. "Especially this purging one. That Illusory Wave Sea has heavy yin energy, and your constitution is already weak. You need to drive out the cold properly."

Qin Yi, on the other hand, was succinct: "Rest for three days. Don't use any spiritual energy. There's a 'Greenwood Soup' I made in the food box—it's excellent for warming and nourishing your meridians."

Su Ming accepted the pile of warm medicine bottles, his eyes slightly hot.

"Thank you, Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother," he said softly, without elaborating on the details of his injuries, only glossing over them with, "My soul is a bit depleted. I'll recover after some meditation."

Luo Feng indignantly added a few more words about Punishment Peak's tyranny, but Qin Yi stopped him with a look.

Qin Yi looked at Su Ming and simply said, "Since it's passed, look forward. Foundation Establishment is imminent. Take care of yourself."

The timing was perfect. No further questions asked.

Seeing that Su Ming was indeed exhausted, the two gave a few more reminders about activating the cave dwelling's formations, left the medicine and spirit food, and took their leave.

The stone door rumbled shut again.

The cave dwelling fell back into silence.

Su Ming maintained his reclining posture until he was certain that both their auras had completely disappeared from Gazing Star Cliff's range. Only then did he slowly exhale a mouthful of stale air.

"That's right."

In his mind, Lin Yu's lazy voice rang out. "That's what smart people do. If they had kept pressing you, you'd have had to keep putting on a show. How tiring."

Su Ming gave a bitter smile, poured out a Soul-Nourishing Pill from one of Luo Feng's bottles, and tossed it into his mouth.

The medicinal power spread, and the stabbing pain in his Consciousness Sea eased slightly.

"Master, this time... it was really too close. Thank goodness the Sect Leader had our backs," Su Ming said in a low voice.

"Wealth is found in danger. From now on, there's nothing left to worry about," Lin Yu chuckled. "Next up, it's time to get down to business."

Su Ming nodded, forcing himself to sit upright, and took out two items from deep within his storage pouch.

One was his True Disciple identity token.

The other was an iron token with a dull, darkened color and severely worn edges—a Military Merit Order.

It was the proof he had earned by the skin of his teeth at Iron Wall Pass.

Su Ming extended his divine sense into the Military Merit Order.

A clear number emerged in his mind: sixty-eight thousand three hundred points.

Seeing this number, Su Ming's originally tense expression finally relaxed.

Exchanging for the "Earth Vein Spirit Milk," which could repair his Dao foundation, required fifty thousand points of military merit.

Su Ming's fingers lightly traced the cold engravings on the iron token as he murmured under his breath, "At least it wasn't all for nothing."