Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

Late at night, the candles in the Chu family's old house remained lit all night.

Shen Qingqiu stood in the center of the third courtyard, with a huge sheet of Xuan paper spread out at his feet, on which every corner of the Chu residence was marked with cinnabar.

She held a compass in her left hand and a pen in her right, occasionally squatting down to measure the ground with her fingers.

"If the water in the Kan position is filled with Yin energy, a 'Cold Spring Guiding Evil Formation' can be set up to guide the underground Yin energy to this position."

She muttered to herself, her pen tracing intricate runes on the paper, "To remove the position, one needs to plant forty-nine Yang Flame Grasses, using their pure Yang medicinal power to counteract the negative effects..."

"Sister Shen." Chu Ling'er came over carrying a bowl of medicinal food. Her complexion was better than before, but the dark circles under her eyes were still obvious.

"Have something to eat first. You haven't rested since evening."

Shen Qingqiu took the bowl, her gaze remaining fixed on the blueprints: "Thank you. How old is that locust tree in the northeast corner?"

"It's at least three hundred years old; it was planted by my great-grandfather."

"A three-hundred-year-old locust tree is inherently a yin tree." Shen Qingqiu quickly finished his medicinal meal and handed the bowl back. "Ghost Face killed people and refined souls here. The locust tree absorbed too much resentment and has become a 'yin evil pivot'."

"Ordinary formations cannot affect it; on the contrary, they may trigger a backlash."

Chu Ling'er's face paled: "Then what should we do? Cut it off?"

"Don't cut it down. The roots are already entangled with the underground yin veins. Forcibly cutting it down may cause the earth's energy to go berserk." Shen Qingqiu took out a packet of pale golden powder from his medicine box. "This is 'Sun Gold Powder,' mixed with rooster's comb blood and three drops of my fingertip blood. It can be used to inscribe the 'Blazing Sun Sealing Yin Curse' on the tree trunk."

She looked at Chu Ling'er: "But this requires your spiritual power to cooperate—when inscribing the incantation, you need to soothe the vengeful spirits trapped in the locust tree and guide them to temporarily leave the tree, otherwise the incantation will not take effect."

Chu Ling'er clenched her fist: "I can try. But... what if I fail to appease them?"

"When vengeful spirits retaliate, we will both be invaded by yin energy. At best, our souls will be damaged; at worst, we will become vegetative."

"So you only have one chance. It's your decision."

Under the moonlight, Chu Ling'er looked at the old locust tree rustling in the night wind, its shadow swaying like a ghost. She thought of her second uncle's little cousin, who loved to swing under the locust tree, her laughter as clear and melodious as silver bells.

"I'll do it." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was firm.

Meanwhile, inside the temporary prison converted from the woodshed in the west wing.

Ghost Face was chained to a specially made ice pillar. After his cultivation was completely destroyed, his emaciated body was like a candle flickering in the wind, but his eyes were still sinister.

Ling Feng sat opposite him, and on the table were three things: a set of silver needles as fine as cow hair, a glass bottle containing a transparent liquid, and an ancient bamboo scroll.

"Ghost Face, your time is running out." Ling Feng's voice was flat. "The Netherworld Old Ghost will arrive tomorrow night. Before that, we need to know everything."

The demon grinned, revealing broken black teeth: "Little brat, I've cultivated evil arts for 130 years. What kind of torture methods haven't I seen?"

"Ice Soul Searching Technique from the Free and Unfettered Valley? Or the Heart-Eating Powder from the Medicine King Valley?"

"Go ahead and try, let's see if I won't even utter a sound."

Ling Feng was not angry; he simply picked up the scroll and slowly unrolled it:

"This was found in the hidden compartment of your White Bone Staff. It's the 'List of Disciples of the Netherworld Sect - Jiangnan Volume,' which contains thirty-seven names, nineteen of whom have already been controlled by my people."

Ghost Face's eyelid twitched.

"Guess what," Ling Feng continued, "if I, in the name of the Free and Unfettered Valley, made a thousand copies of this register and distributed them to every cultivation family and every market in Jiangnan, along with some details of the Netherworld Sect's 'Seven Yin Gathering' plan..."

"What do you think those righteous cultivators whose relatives and friends you harmed, and those sects that fear the growing power of the Netherworld Sect, will do?"

Ghost Face's breathing became rapid.

Ling Feng put down the bamboo scroll and picked up the glass bottle: "This contains 'Truth-Revealing Dew,' the formula of which comes from Miss Shen Qingqiu."

"It won't cause you pain, it will only undermine your will and make you ramble on like a drunkard."

"But after using it, your soul will be permanently damaged, your memories shattered, and you'll become an idiot." He looked at the masked man. "Want to try it?"

"Or," Ling Feng leaned forward, lowering his voice, "are you willing to make a deal? To exchange information for a less ugly ending?"

The woodshed was deathly silent, save for the occasional clicking of the ice chains.

After a long silence, Ghost Face finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "...What deal?"

The secret chamber in the backyard is where the heads of the Chu family have secluded themselves for generations. The walls are made of lapis lazuli and engraved with soundproofing and spirit-gathering runes.

Ye Qingcheng sat cross-legged on the cold jade bed in the center of the secret room, wearing only a single garment, her body shrouded in a faint layer of icy blue mist.

Her brows were furrowed, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her body trembled slightly.

Lin Chen sat opposite her, his right index finger touching her brow. The Nine Yang True Qi flowed like silk threads, guiding the rampant Frosty Yin Qi within her body.

"Concentrate and guide your Qi back to your Dantian." Lin Chen's voice was steady. "The key to the first level of the Frost Yin Chapter is to condense the 'Frost Yin Origin Pearl' in your Dantian."

"Your coldness is too scattered; it must be compressed."

"I... am trying..." Ye Qingcheng gritted her teeth. She could feel the icy blue energy in her dantian spinning wildly, but it could not solidify.

Each attempt at compression felt like countless ice needles piercing her body from the inside out.

"Your will is resisting," Lin Chen suddenly said. "Subconsciously, you are still afraid of this power—because it has brought you pain, because the Heart-Locking Curse has tormented you with it."

Ye Qingcheng's body trembled.

"Listen," Lin Chen's voice rarely carried a hint of warmth, "Power has no inherent good or evil, only human beings. The Frost Yin Body is not a curse, it is a talent."

"Now, accept it, take control of it, instead of being controlled by it."

The Nine Yang True Qi at his fingertips suddenly became extremely gentle, like warm sunshine melting snow, gently enveloping the raging aura in Ye Qingcheng's dantian.

"Follow my guidance and imagine it gathering, like a snowball that grows bigger and bigger, and more and more solid."

Ye Qingcheng closed her eyes tightly, and the image of rolling snowballs on the snowfield appeared in her mind.

It started as a small ball in the palm of your hand, but as it rolled, it absorbed more snowflakes and gradually became a solid snowball...

Within her dantian, the icy blue aura seemed to sense her intention, its rotation speed began to slow down, and its edges gradually became clearer and more solid.

One drop, two drops... The icy blue aura liquefied, turning into drops of pure Frosty Yin True Liquid, which fell to the bottom of the dantian and gradually gathered into a small puddle.

"Keep going, don't stop." Lin Chen's forehead also began to sweat, and guiding the two people's true energy at the same time was a considerable burden for him.

Time passed by, second by second.

Outside the secret room, the sky in the east was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

As the first rays of morning light pierced through the cracks in the stone window, the last drop of true essence fell from Ye Qingcheng's dantian.