A Corner in your Heart ...

"Master… is it… really… you…?"

"Yes… but first, eat this."

Zi Xia took out a pill from somewhere, forcefully opened his mouth, and placed it inside.

The pill burst the moment it touched his tongue, transforming into a special spiritual power that surged through his body, circulating rapidly.

Jiang Chen's body was already hyperactive, pushed to its utmost capacity. The pill dissolved instantly, accelerating his healing at a pace visible to the naked eye.

The white cracks across his body began to mend. His burned, charred skin started peeling away—like a snake shedding its old skin—revealing new, unblemished flesh underneath.

As the pill's essence fully integrated into him, he felt an overwhelming warmth, like being embraced by a mother's gentle touch. The divine nourishment seeped into his very being, filling the cracks in his soul.

And it didn't hurt.

Instead, he felt pure bliss.

"Ahhh…"

A moan escaped Jiang Chen's lips.

Zi Xia had already stepped away, giving him space to heal without interruption.

But as she observed him, her gaze flickered with complex emotions. She retrieved a blue, hexagram-shaped stone, infused it with spiritual energy, and began recording.

And right now…

Jiang Chen was completely naked.

Zi Xia's face flushed a deep crimson. The sight of his body, once covered in gruesome burns and cracks, now restored to its pristine state, made her heart feel at ease.

But then…

Her eyes inevitably drifted downward.

Seeing his 'proud member' standing tall toward the sky, her blush deepened.

She quickly averted her gaze, though her heartbeat betrayed her calm exterior.

Jiang Chen's transformation—from a near-death state to the refined form of a noble young master—was complete. His overwhelming burst of spiritual power finally settled.

The moment he opened his eyes, he didn't check his own body.

He didn't care about whether his wounds had healed or whether his body had been restored.

The first thing he looked at—

Was her.

Zi Xia. His master.

With a sudden burst of spiritual energy, Jiang Chen lunged toward her without hesitation.

Zi Xia barely had time to react before he crashed into her, sending them plummeting through the sky.

"Master… you… you're okay… you're alive… nothing happened to you…!"

He clung to her desperately, hugging her so tightly it was as if he wanted to merge into her very being.

Tears streamed down his face as he yelled, his voice cracking—

"Masterrr… Masterrr…!"

Zi Xia, caught off guard, could only embrace him back, holding him tightly as they fell.

A soft smile played on her lips. She gently stroked his head, consoling him like a child after a nightmare.

But deep inside…

She felt guilty.

"I shouldn't have… Sigh…"

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, remorse washing over her.

"I… I didn't know it would affect him this much…"

Her grip on him tightened slightly, as if afraid to let go.

"I just hope… he won't hate me for this…"

She let out a soft whisper, almost inaudible—

"My dear disciple…"

As they fell through the sky, Zi Xia was vaguely aware of it—but she couldn't bring herself to care.

At this moment, nothing else mattered.

Holding Jiang Chen in her arms…

Holding her dear disciple as he clung to her so desperately, his voice trembling as he cried out, Master… Master…

This ...This...was her dream.

Only she knew how much she had longed to hear those words from his lips.

Only she knew how much she had yearned to embrace him like this.

Only she knew how deeply she had wished to feel his care… to be someone important to him.

And now, she had it all.

At this moment, she felt as though she had everything she had ever desired in life.

And seeing him in this state—seeing how shattered he had been at the thought of losing her forever—

She knew.

She knew.

There was something in his heart, too.

She didn't know if it was love or something else—whether it was the deep care of a disciple for his master or something more.

But she knew one thing—she mattered to him.

Not much time had passed since their reunion. They hadn't created many new memories together.

Even before his exile, they hadn't spent enough time to form an unbreakable bond.

And yet, despite all that, she had reached this place in his heart.

She had always feared that merely accepting him as her disciple wouldn't be enough for him to truly accept her.

After all, he had once followed another master—Gu Yan.

And that experience had been a nightmare.

Gu Yan had never truly cared for him. She had never believed in him when it mattered most.

Jiang Chen had been framed, exiled, and abandoned—while his so-called master stood by and did nothing.

So maybe… maybe he had long since lost faith in the word Master.

Maybe his heart, once bright and full of trust, had dulled over time.

Maybe he could never fully accept her as his master from the bottom of his heart.

Zi Xia had always worried about that.

But now—seeing him so desperate, so broken at the thought of losing her…

Hearing his words—words filled with raw pain, love, and something deeper than devotion—

When she held him from behind, and he couldn't believe she was alive, he had spoken.

His voice was hoarse, shaking with emotion.

"I… I can't bear to lose you again…"

"I don't want to live… in a world where you don't exist…"

"I don't want to live… in a world where you were sacrificed… for my sake…"

"I don't want to breathe… in a world… where you no longer breathe…"

"I don't even want a world to exist… if you don't exist in it…"

And then—his voice, trembling yet filled with a terrifying certainty.

"Then… I'll destroy such a world."

"I'll… I'll create a world…"

"A world where you exist."

"A world where we exist."

"A world where… our story… continues."

At that moment, Zi Xia knew.

She had finally, truly, become irreplaceable in his heart.