Xie Qing felt relieved upon hearing her soft and gentle voice. He was still worried that she wouldn''t regain consciousness.


    "Come in," said the young man in a calm voice.


    The door slightly opened, and pink hair tips peeked through the gap. The young man smiled.


    After a while, the girl opened the door and entered, closing it behind her. She looked at Zhang Mei lying on Xie Qing''s chest, and her face became strange.


    However, she was distracted by Xie Qing''s voice.


    "You seem to be alright. I''m d," he said calmly, his face unchanging. He looked her up and down and asked, "When I found you, you were unconscious and didn''t wake up for so long. What happened? Have you been checked up?"


    "A..."


    Li Yun froze and blushed. Xie Qing was puzzled by this reaction but decided not to pry further.


    The girl sat on the other side of Zhang Mei and began inquiring about his health.


    "Are you alright? I heard you were seriously injured..." Li Yun asked worriedly, tears welling up in her eyes.


    "Seriously injured? Pfft, they exaggerated. I''m fine!" Xie Qing confidently replied, flexing his muscles and ignoring the sharp pain in his chest: "See? Heh, I''m too tough!"


    "R-really? That''s good..."


    Li Yun sighed in relief. The young man was indeed seriously injured, but would he talk about it? Of course not.


    "Lu Yin will be here soon," Li Yun suddenly said and smiled: "She''ll check your health. I can''t let you go until I''m sure you''ve recovered."


    "I''m fine..." the young man replied, waving his hands. Curiously, he asked, "Does the Master know about my situation?"


    "E... e-erm... Mistress Xu Mei doesn''t know, my Master ordered not to tell her..."


    "Thank heavens. I wouldn''t want her to do something rash out of anger," Xie Qing muttered, curling his lips.


    "I can imagine..."


    Xu Mei... if she heard that Xie Qing was injured, she would undoubtedly be furious and go after those involved. It would likely end in a battle between Zhang Mei and Xu Mei.


    Xie Qing didn''t want to see that, as he had agreed to it. So, he felt relieved when he learned that his Master was unaware of the situation.


    ***


    "You always get into trouble," Lu Yin said disapprovingly, looking at Li Yun.


    "..."


    Li Yun fell silent, lowering her head – it was clear she felt awkward and embarrassed. However, Lu Yin, being kind-hearted, couldn''t scold her for long, so she changed the subject and looked at Xie Qing.


    "Hm... I heard your opponent was a Soul Integration monster? Impressive. I must say, you''re not bad yourself. I bet that monster didn''t die a sweet death."


    "Naturally," Xie Qing casually replied, but his eyes held a cold glint: "His soul was destroyed, and he''ll never enter the Wheel of Samsara."


    "Harsh, but fair. Now take off your shirt and let me see your body," Lu Yin said seriously, her face matching her tone.


    "Eh..."


    Li Yun made a strange sound, and Xie Qing just chuckled, removing his shirt. Only then did Lu Yin realize what she had said and blushed.


    "I-I-I... I just wanted to check his condition!" She cried out, her face red with embarrassment, and waved her hands: "What are you thinking?"


    "Well..." Li Yun smiled.


    "I knew right away that you wanted to examine me," Xie Qing innocently looked at Lu Yin and smiled: "What other meaning could there be?"


    "..."


    Lu Yin almost fainted from shame!


    However, when she and Li Yun saw the deep palm print on Xie Qing''s chest, their previous awkwardness vanished.


    "Such a terrible wound... I''m not surprised if your chest turned to dust after such an attack!" Lu Yin eximed in shock and gently touched the print.


    Xie Qing immediately felt a terrible pain, but his face remained unchanged.


    "The wound has already begun to heal. The bones, despite being covered in cracks, have mostly returned to their original state." Lu Yin concluded and furrowed her brow: "However, what worries me more is that there are traces of Negative Karma in the bones, which is very difficult to remove. We need to figure out how to get rid of it, or else the healing will take years."


    "Negative karma..." Li Yun muttered in fear.


    "Mhm."


    Xie Qing simply nodded. He already knew about this problem, but he couldn''t remove the Negative Karma himself.


    This was too difficult and dangerous a task, so few dared to touch Negative Karma.


    And while Lu Yin was searching for treatment methods in her notebook...


    "Liu Yang knows how to remove Negative Karma," a cold female voice suddenly said.


    The trio looked around. The speaker was Zhang Mei, who had woken up and was looking at them with an indifferent gaze.


    "I tried to contact her, but it seems she''s in secluded practice again."


    "There it is..." Xie Qing nodded with a strange expression.


    The same expression was on the faces of the two girls.


    "What''s on my face?" Zhang Mei frowned and asked.


    "Uh-huh."


    Xie Qing weakly smiled and pointed to the corner of his mouth. Zhang Mei froze and quickly wiped away the saliva.


    "You didn''t see that," she said, clearly embarrassed and annoyed.


    "Alright!"


    Despite the difficulty of the treatment, most of Xie Qing''s wounds had healed, and he could at least meditate.


    Sitting in the luxurious garden of Li Yun''s mansion, he meditated.


    Since any clothing heavily pressed on his chest, he had to walk around with his torso bare. For some, this was a feast for the eyes; for others, a misfortune.


    The obvious palm print trace had gradually faded, and now, unless one looked closely, nothing suspicious could be seen.


    A week had passed since he helped Li Yun escape from the ruins. During this time, Lu Yin had not left and stayed with him to monitor the young man''s health.


    "I wouldn''t advise you to push yourself so hard," a calm female voice sounded from behind Xie Qing.


    "I love meditation. It allows me to calm my mind," Xie Qing replied without bothering to open his eyes: "How''s Li Yun?"


    "She''s fine. She only had mental demons, but otherwise, she''s okay," Lu Yin answered and puffed her cheeks: "Why is your cultivation speed so abnormal? I was shocked to learn that you broke through to the Soul Integration stage!"


    "Talent, girl, talent."


    "Pfft!!"


    Xie Qing smiled and opened his eyes. He couldn''t tell them that the system was helping him, could he?


    "Even I find it hard to fully understand the origin of the system and what it represents," the young man thought, rolling his eyes: "And I''m toozy to answer their questions..."


    However, Lu Yin''s shock was understandable. Achieving such a cultivation level at 19 years old was far too abnormal.


    This was no longer the level of a hero or a child prodigy – this was a monster! Fortunately, Zhang Mei''s subordinates were smart enough not to spread this information carelessly.


    "I recently learned a new sword technique. I can teach you," Xie Qing said and waved his hand: "If you want, of course."


    "Really? Really? You''re not kidding?" Lu Yin''s eyes sparkled, and she immediately sat in the lotus position in front of Xie Qing, looking excited.


    "I''m not kidding." Xie Qing weakly smiled and added: "This technique is called Love of the Moon Goddess. It''s divided into three levels..."


    As soon as Xie Qing began to exin the essence of the technique, Lu Yin immediately started listening with full attention.


    She could feel that this sword technique was not simple and suited her cultivation level.


    At the same time, this made the girl admire Xie Qing''s mental abilities. After all, someone who could create techniques must have a deep understanding of the Dao.


    "The difference between us is too great. Even if I''m considered a genius,pared to him, I''m no different from a mortal," Lu Yin thought.


    However, dwelling on this for too long wouldn''t yield any results. The girl focused on learning the technique.


    Xie Qing nced at the window behind him.


    "Hmm..."


    Night. Li Yun was meditating.


    Her face looked sickly. Pale as a sheet.


    Shu-shu-shu...


    If one listened closely, a faint whisper could be heard near her ear. These were mental demons!


    "Damn it!" The girl opened her eyes, revealing irritation: "These mental demons won''t disappear even after I took the pills!"


    Ever since she entered the ruins and was exposed to Negative Karma, she had been suffering from mental demons.


    The scariest part was that they were too strong, and she had even lost herself in an illusion once.


    And recalling that illusion...


    "What a shame!" She thought with a red face, but her eyes held a dreamy look: "But at least in that illusion, I regained my sight... What a cruel illusion"


    The girl clenched her teeth.


    And while she was contemting, there was a knock on her door.


    "Hey... May Ie in, Li Yun?"


    "Eh?!"


    It was Xie Qing!