Resilience

On the high mountain in the middle of the Beast Mountain Range, the young man saw his blood being absorbed by Li Yuemei. He realized that something had gone wrong as he felt the icy aura emanating from Yuemei's body.

In an instant, he appeared beside her and touched her; her skin was radiating intense cold.

He saw her contorted face, as if she were experiencing terrible and frightening pain, but he couldn't do anything.

He tried to help her by attempting to expel the blue blood from her, but the blood didn't follow his commands like the ice he controlled. The most he could do was minimize the spread of ice within her body.

He witnessed the helplessness in Yuemei's face, her eyes losing their colors and emotions while her expression of pain slowly faded, as if her entire being had been frozen.

He shouted to her several times, realizing that she was still alive because the awakening phenomenon hadn't completely disappeared yet, even though its strength was constantly diminishing.

After calling out to her, he saw that her almost completely empty eyes suddenly showed a glimmer.

He tried his best to control the cold, slightly easing the pressure Yuemei felt for a moment.

Then he shouted again.

"WAKE UP NOW!"

Then he saw the moon on her forehead lighting up with an intense red light; corrupted lunar energy traversed the skies as the moon ascended into an intense blood moon again.

He realized that the ice within her body seemed to boil as her blood self-destructed, generating immense heat that would probably roast her organs quickly if it weren't for the blue blood constantly freezing her from the inside.

So, he did his best while trying to control the ice in her body, balancing it with her corrupted blood that was burning.

After a short time that seemed like hours, the power of the blue blood greatly diminished, and Li Yuemei's blood stopped burning.

He saw the completion of her physical awakening and noticed the changes in her.

Her previously black hair was now of a dark red color, like blood, but strangely attractive. He saw the second red moon on her forehead, but he didn't notice the subtle change caused by her blue blood.

Then, in an instant, he saw her open her eyes.

Her previously red pupils became even darker, and her eyes are currently displaying an enigmatic gaze, no longer obscured by the previous pain.

He noticed that she didn't release a sigh of relief or an expression of joy or sadness, just an unexpected serenity.

On her face, he saw that below her eyes and parts of her cheeks, scars were visible. After the light of the blood moon, her internal and external wounds had healed as much as possible, but some slight marks remained.

Her face was marked by scars from her recent agony. Despite this, it didn't make her look ugly; no, he thought she still looked extremely pleasant to his eyes.

She stayed silent—a reflective silence. She didn't seem empty; she just seemed to be taking a deep pause, as if processing everything that had happened.

Then she saw the handsome young man in front of her. She saw a cut mark on his wrist that was no longer bleeding, as if it had already healed, with an almost imperceptible layer of pure ice on the cut.

Li Yuemei then realized what had happened.

The young man in front of her approached her more and placed his hand on her head while gently rubbing it.

She didn't know what to think about it, so she just let him do it.

Li Yumei then felt her new strength; she realized that her cultivation had advanced significantly and that her Corrupted Moon Physique had evolved much more than she thought it would. She felt a terrifying power within herself, but she didn't feel any sign of the icy power of the blue blood; it was as if it had disappeared completely.

She showed a slight questioning expression, contemplating whether her new strength was worth the effort and extreme pain she had endured and the price she had paid for it.

Li Yuemei understood that her awakening would have failed, and she knew that he had tried to help her use his blood.

But the consequence was the worst experience she had ever had in her life. She also felt that he had tried to help her every moment, and if it weren't for him, she would have died with her consciousness freezing. This allowed her to use the last and most dangerous trump card of her physique, discovered on the brink of death.

After a few minutes of silence, she seemed to accept and embrace the recent events and her new strength. In her mind, a silent resilience formed deeply.

Then a light sigh came out of her mouth as she looked at the beautiful, light blue eyes of the young man in front of her.

"When are you going to stop rubbing my head?" She asked, her expression returning to normal, or at least trying.

"Ah, well, my sister liked it when my mother did it when she was unwell, for some reason, and I thought you needed something like that."He replied without understanding much of why he had done it, but he still didn't remove his hand from her head.

Li Yuemei felt his cold but comforting hand on her head. She slightly lowered her head, not letting him see her expression.

'This reminds me of her... but it's different...I think I like it; it's comforting.' Li Yuemei thought while the two remained silent, a slight melancholic smile forming on her face.

But then the hand that was rubbing her head suddenly stopped, and Li Yuemei's expression suddenly changed.

After her cultivation increased greatly, her senses became much stronger, and she felt several presences flying quickly in their direction.

The young man in front of her looked in a specific direction in the sky; he didn't have a spiritual sense like the cultivators yet, but he felt the Qi at a long distance moving rapidly, as if several beings were coming quickly in their direction. His extremely profound understanding of the Law of Ice allowed him to sense the changes in Qi in the environment.

So, in a few seconds, a group of people appeared a few hundred meters in the sky in front of them.

"It looks like we have guests," Li Yuemei said calmly.