"You shouldn't have.. the earlier one would have been okay even if it only lasted a few months. That would have been enough.." Yang Qing said with a bitter smile.

Blood essence was precious to a spirit beast, it was like him slicing up a bit of his soul essence from his body. Though it wouldn't affect him greatly, it would take time to replace and restore the missing soul essence.

The same applied to Gu Xing. Sacrificing that drop of her blood essence, was like sacrificing a few months of her cultivation.

"It's okay, though if you feel guilty about it, you can repay it with something similar and use it on the scarlet grove tree. I feel it would benefit from your intervention which will more than repay what I've spent.

I've made improvements over the years thanks to it.." Gu Xing said with a soft smile.

Yang Qing stared at her for a short moment before nodding his head and moving toward the tree.

Spring of resplendence

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He circulated his cultivation to its fullest and combined its force with his yin-yang jade physique to create the purest drop of spring of resplendence he could create.

A gentle flood of life aura was produced from his fingertip as the vital essence of nature itself was interwoven within the droplet. It took two minutes before the drop was fully formed. A green-blue drop with multitudinous lights actively swirling within it covered with a slight purple smoke.Gu Xing's eyes widened as she felt the energy within that drop. She had only asked for a trade-in jest. The blood essence she used wasn't much of a loss for her as she could replenish in it in a week and her helping Yang Qing was also a way of helping herself. If it could help trace the eerie figure the better it was for her, the more at peace it would be.

But the droplet in Yang Qing's hands, she could feel the energy and profundity within it was much more than the energy contained in the cosmic energy of the stars. It could replenish her blood essence instantly if she was to consume it and leave room for more.

"I hope you're not looking for me to be your dao companion. Not that I would mind, you are not bad, by human standards at least, but I would be unable to give you offspring. Our kind is unable to have children, like some natural order that prevents it.." Gu Xing hesitantly said with a low voice.

The drop in Yang Qing's hands almost collapsed with his sudden lapse in concentration and the agitation brought forth by Gu Xing's statement.

"What are you saying?! I don't want you to be my dao companion.." Yang Qing hurriedly said as he warily turned around as if afraid someone had overheard them.

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On seeing the look Gu Xing was giving him like she didn't buy it, Yang Qing said,

"It doesn't cost me much to produce this drop, if I wanted to I could produce 500 of them matching in quality and purity without breaking a sweat.

I am doing this not only to repay you but also to make up for what they did. I know you were not serious when you asked for the repayment but I intended to do this before I left. The reason you revealed yourself wasn't it because of the tree, or more specifically the crystals?" asked Yang Qing with a knowing smile which made Gu Xing look away.

"Sensing my nature, you must have guessed I could prolong their longevity, right?" he asked.

"Mmh.." Gu Xing said with a slight nod.

"I did think that and thought I could trade something with you, but your abilities went beyond what I could imagine. I realized I would have nothing of equal to trade...I don't want to take advantage..." she softly said.

"The urn is more than enough payment, trust me on that. It has enormous value to me," Yang Qing solemnly said with clear eyes.

Gu Xing stared at Yang Qing for a while trying to see any sense of falsehood and when she couldn't, she had no choice but to nod her head.

Yang Qing smiled in return as he poured the drop onto the scarlet crystal grove tree whose leaves shook in excitement the closer the drop was to its body.

Once the drop made contact, a green-blue membrane flashed on every part of its body, disappearing just as fast. The grove tree stood at 10 meters but the moment the drop entered its body, it instantly burst to a height of 50 meters with countless branches and leaves appearing over its body that it looked like 10 trees had been combined into one.

The height continued to increase until it reached 200 meters before it started shrinking back till it was finally back to the 10-

meter height it was before.

The scarlet crystal grove underwent a profound transformation as its back turned pure white, with the leaves transforming into a shade of green and blue. The leaves released a soothing and rejuvenating essence that pervaded the entire area, while the tree itself seemed to be shrouded with a harmonious aura that carried the source of nature itself which in turn affected the vegetation around it, and the crystals that were within it.

All the crystals now shone with a radiant red color that seemed to pulse with the rhythm of life.

The voices that sounded like faint whispers from before were now full of life and the qualities all matched. Each and every voice was clear, and rich in life and character.

"Thank you, Yang Qing.." Gu Xing said in a soft tone that was almost like a whisper but contained intense emotions within. The intense emotions were of gratitude.

"You're welcome.." Yang Qing said as he felt his heart lighten when he saw the radiant light within which the scarlet crystals shone.

Even though it wasn't his debt to pay, doing so made him feel like a knot in his heart and mind had been released.

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