While following the breathing technique, Gao Zhen’s attention shifted towards her Qi Pool. She could indeed feel traces of foreign Qi inside her.

Unlike Yi Chen, who had yet to unlock his head meridians, she had already refined them.

Therefore, the next instant, she used her spiritual energy to sense what was going on inside her Qi pool.

A mental image immediately formed in her mind as she got a clear view of the situation inside her Qi pool.

Inside a spherical shell, a thin layer of fiery Qi had formed at the bottom. This Qi was continuously streaming in through a few of her meridians and going back through the others to complete the circulation.

Sensing this, it didn’t take her even a moment to realise that this was Yi Chen’s Qi.

The next second, she noticed the wisp of dark Qi that was floating on top of the fiery Qi in a completely relaxed state.

’So, it was this thing...’

She thought while getting a clear image of the thing that was the cause of her earlier suffering. A trace of anger and anxiety welled up inside her as a result.

However, she controlled her emotions and the next instant poured all her attention on her breathing technique.

Seven short inhales. Three long exhales. One short exhale....

The unrhythmic breathing continued slowly and steadily as the spirit root hovering at the centre of her Qi pool began emitting a suction force that only increased in its intensity with every passing minute.

Earlier, the moment the dark Qi had entered the Qi pool, it had gone on a rampage in order to escape this very suction force. However, now that Yi Chen’s Qi had covered the bottom of the Qi pool, the wisp of dark Qi no longer rejected it.

It calmly floated on the surface of fiery Qi as the suction force from the spirit root grew stronger and stronger, making it slowly drift towards the centre.

However, the suction force soon turned stronger, completely pulling the wisp out of the fiery Qi.

The moment it lost contact with the fiery Qi, it turned rampant once again. Sensing this, Gao Zhen’s forehead tensed.

However, she still continued on with her rhythmic breathing, deciding to place her complete trust in it.

Yi Chen, who could vaguely sense everything, glanced worriedly at her tensed face, ready to help at a moment’s notice.

Luckily, no such need arose.

Unlike before, the moment the dark Qi began to go on a rampage, it was forced to come to a stop that very instant.

The suction force that had been built up was now incomparable to the earlier one, and no matter how much the dark Qi tried to struggle, it couldn’t break free.

As a result, it was forced to come nearer and nearer to the crystal-shaped spirit root that shone in its natural light blue.

Short light blue roots matching the nature of Gao Zhen’s Qi extended out from the irregularly shaped crystal and waved in the outward direction. They were densely packed all around the crystal and numbered in thousands.

The dark Qi made contact with one of the roots, and it got completely absorbed by it. A second later, the colour of that root changed to black, resembling the dark Qi itself.

It was also this moment that Gao Zhen opened her eyes and glanced towards Yi Chen.

"Y-You did it!" Yi Chen exclaimed with a mix of happiness and relief evident on his face.

"Y-Yes," Gao Zhen smiled at those words as her teeth clattered and continued, "It’s all thanks to you."

She said with gratefulness apparent in her voice, to which Yi Chen just smiled.

The next second, she lifted her upper body from the icy floor and tried to stand up. By now, her entire back had become ice cold, causing her to shiver.

"Ah, let me help you." Yi Chen helped her up and, noticing her jaws clatter from the cold, suggested.

"Madam Gao has been through a lot today, so how about you rest a little? We’ll start over again after lunch."

"A-Alright," she answered while shivering subtly before going into her tent. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Meanwhile, Yi Chen sighed deeply when he saw this and, after placing the bottle containing Golden Firmament Pills back in his storage ring, muttered to himself, "Thankfully, things worked out..."

Nearing the end when the dark Qi was about to go on a rampage again, his heart almost leapt out of his mouth.

Letting out a long breath, he walked inside his tent. Since it was still quite early in the morning, he had a lot of time to himself.

’Since I have nothing else to do, I might as well cultivate...’ he thought while making his way towards his tent.

Sitting cross-legged, he soon began refining his meridians, something he hadn’t done in a while.

Time passed, and soon it was afternoon.

Gao Zhen still had enough food within her storage ring to last a couple of months, so Yi Chen was in no hurry to catch fish from the cold waters several miles away.

The two ate while discussing how Gao Zhen was going to absorb the dark Qi from now on.

"...so just like in the morning, you’ll be sitting in a cross-legged position, and once you’ve emptied your Qi pool, I’ll pour my innate Qi inside. As for the rest, I believe Madam Gao knows better than me."

Gao Zhen nodded at those words.

"Yes. I understand."

Since innate QI, despite not using spirit stones or pills to replenish, naturally builds up over time, she would still need to go through the process of emptying her Qi pool.

Once they were done with lunch, they once again went towards the stone tablet. Sitting cross-legged in the same spot as before, Gao Zhen soon began practising the Qi technique.

However, unlike before, Yi Chen stood alert behind her, and the moment Gao Zhen subtly nodded her head to indicate her Qi pool was completely empty, he firmly placed his hands over her back.

His innate Qi streamed through her meridians and rushed towards her Qi pool the next instant.