Breakthrough!

Though the war had taken away his biological father, it had bestowed upon him the love of another family. In the past ten years, he had not addressed Yun Yan and Mu Qingyuan as mom and dad. Little did he know that, in his infancy, he was nourished by Yun Yan's milk.

Gazing at the peacefully sleeping beauty in his arms, Mu Yang's eyes revealed a hint of tenderness. For so many years, the girl in his embrace had always protected him. In these years, she had used countless methods to make him happy.

Gently stroking Mu Xue's smooth face, Mu Yang took a deep breath. He, too, had someone to protect.

"Brother Mu Yang, don't be afraid. I will protect you!" Suddenly, the sleeping beauty mumbled a sentence, though her words were unclear, Mu Yang heard them clearly.

Upon hearing this, a layer of mist appeared in Mu Yang's eyes.

Raising his head, the teardrops swirled in his eye sockets, but they didn't fall. Then, Mu Yang, with a slight smile, approached Mu Xue's side ear and whispered, "Little sister, from now on, let me protect you."

His resolute profile, bathed in the golden twilight, revealed a stubborn attitude.

Meanwhile, the icy ring on Mu Yang’s left hand emitted an extremely faint light at this moment without him noticing it.

...

Snowflakes fluttered down.

This was an endless purgatory.

White filled the field of view. The only thing that didn't match was a large fire-colored divine phoenix floating in the sky with its eyes tightly closed. The pressure from this divine beast turned the mountains below into powder!

However, the current divine phoenix was sealed by four icy chains, showing no sign of movement.

Two icy chains descended from the sky, while the other two emerged from the ground, tightly binding the unconscious divine phoenix. Not only that, upon closer inspection, one could see that these chains seemed to be merging into the body of the divine phoenix!

"Boom!"

In an instant, a clear phoenix cry echoed through the sky, and the terrifying pressure, like a tangible force, caused all the ice peaks within hundreds of miles to explode!

The divine phoenix slowly opened its eyes.

Clear eyes sparkled with captivating light.

However, no matter what she did, the icy chains showed no sign of loosening!

A clear female voice rang out, a mix of joy and worry.

"Has the knot in your heart finally been unraveled?"

...

Sunset approached.

Holding the beautiful girl, Mu Yang also felt drowsy.

It was the first time in ten years that he was relaxed like this and didn't have to think about revenge every day or search for a way to cultivate spirit energy.

Cherish the people around you, that's enough.

"Boom!"

However, just as Mu Yang was about to fall asleep, a powerful yet extremely unstable aura suddenly gushed out from his body!

A whirlwind rose, and fallen leaves fluttered!

"Hmm?!"

Mu Yang and Mu Xue opened their eyes simultaneously. The latter retreated directly several meters away. At first, she looked puzzled, but her expression quickly turned into one of great joy.

"Brother Mu Yang, you can cultivate now!" Mu Xue's excited voice came.

Mu Yang was also surprised, looking at his palms. He immediately sat cross-legged, activating the strongest suction force in his body, madly absorbing the spirit energy from the heavens and earth!

"Boom!"

The previously blocked meridians slowly opened. With the increase of spirit energy in all the limbs and hundreds of bones, these meridians seemed to be in the process of fully opening!

If all the meridians were to open, a person would be able to reach the Sixth Stage Foundation Building Realm!

"Boom!"

The terrifying suction erupted again. The spirit energy from the sky and earth within a radius of ten miles surged into Mu Yang's body like a tidal wave.

Now, Mu Yang emitted a faint golden light on the surface of his body, like a deity, exuding majesty.

Feeling the tremendous whirlwind around him, even Mu Xue was slightly surprised. Then, she muttered, "You became a cultivator like seconds ago, how can you cause such a strong energy fluctuation?"

At the same time, the surrounding spirit beasts were drawn here by the sudden change.

It seemed that Mu Yang was breaking through at this moment, and all the spirit beasts exchanged glances. Subsequently, a surprising scene unfolded. Countless spirit beasts left, and about ten minutes later, they reappeared. However, this time, each spirit beast held various shaped spiritual herbs in its mouth.

"The second-grade spiritual herb Blood Lingzhi; the second-grade spiritual herb Yuan-increasing Fruit…" Mu Xue swallowed with surprise. There were approximately fifty spirit beasts, meaning there were nearly fifty second-grade spiritual herbs!

These amount of second-grade spiritual herbs were worth up to twenty thousand coins! It seemed that attracted by the vitality of the spiritual herbs, a powerful suction suddenly erupted from Mu Yang, directly locking onto these herbs!

"Mu Yang, what is this..."

Mu Xue's beautiful eyes widened, "With so many spiritual herbs, if all absorbed, what realm will he break through to?!"

"Poof!"

Suddenly, Mu Yang's palms placed on his knees came together abruptly. His body emitted golden light, like a majestic Buddha, and the immense pressure directly crushed the spiritual herbs into powder. With a breath, all the powder was drawn into his body.

"Boom! Boom!"

Mu Yang's momentum began to surge geometrically. At this moment, Mu Xue had already moved to a safer spot a hundred meters away. The disturbance caused by the former was too great; even with Mu Xue's strength, approaching might result in being affected or even injured!

Looking at the sky, a hint of worry emerged on Mu Xue's delicate face. Now, the sky was already late, the sun was setting, and soon it would be completely dark. If time dragged on, not to mention the dangers in the Beast Forest at night, the entire Mu Family might erupt, mobilizing all available forces to search for the two of them.

After much consideration, Mu Xue chose to stay here. Mu Yang's breakthrough was crucial and couldn't be disturbed by the outside world. She had to stay by his side. He was her brother, and even if the whole world betrayed him, she wouldn't leave him!

As expected, Mu Yang still hadn't completed the breakthrough until the next morning dawned. However, the residual energy from those spiritual herbs was only one percent of what it was before. In a few minutes, Mu Yang would complete the breakthrough! And now, Mu Yang's momentum had reached the level of the Sixth Stage Foundation Building Realm.

Truly formidable!

At this point, Mu Xue looked slightly fatigued. Clearly, a night without sleep was a considerable drain on her.

"Hiss!"

Suddenly, a snake hiss sounded. Golden light flashed, heading straight for the center of Mu Xue's eyebrows. However, it wasn't until the golden light approached Mu Xue that she felt the danger!

"Damn!"

Her body's hair stood on end, and with a cry of alarm, Mu Xue felt she couldn't evade the golden light at such close range!

Just as she was about to raise her hand to defend, a breaking wind sound suddenly rang out. Mu Xue only felt a blur before her slender waist was embraced, and then, the golden light stopped at her brow!

Second-grade spirit beast, the golden snake!

Mu Xue's back was already covered in cold sweat. However, the golden snake, at this moment, had already been firmly held by a large hand and couldn't move at all.

Following the line of sight, it was still the resolute face, the young man who both cherished and moved her.

With a light toss, the golden snake was thrown dozens of meters away!

"I never kill spirit beasts. Since you haven't harmed my sister, go." Mu Yang's words were filled with an irresistible force.

The snake's pupils contracted, feeling the strength of the person who appeared, and quickly left.

"Are you okay?"

Mu Yang turned around, meeting Mu Xue's eyes.

Mu Xue's face suddenly blushed, shaking her head gently. Unaware that she was now being carried by Mu Yang, she leaned back as if about to fall.

At this moment, Mu Yang's right hand at her waist suddenly moved.

"Ah! Mu Yang, you rogue! Let go of me!"

Mu Xue exclaimed and punched Mu Yang in the face!

Mu Yang immediately let go of his hand. Mu Xue's body "thudded" to the ground, followed by a scream.

"Mu Yang, how can you treat me like this!"

Mu Xue's voice was full of dissatisfaction.

Mu Yang awkwardly smiled, "Didn't you ask me to let go?"

Mu Xue was momentarily speechless. Then, she stomped her foot in anger, turned her head away, and coquettishly said, "Now that you become powerful, you start to bully me. Hmph!"

"I cherish you more than anything else, how could I bully you?" With that, regardless of Mu Xue's agreement, Mu Yang directly picked her up and walked towards the distance, smiling, "Let's go, we haven't been home all night."

"Remember, no matter what happens in the future, I'll stand in front of you."

Hearing this, Mu Xue pouted, gently patting Mu Yang's head.

"That's more like it."

"Well then, let's go home!"