Inside the barrier of the arrays, the world dissolved into light.

  Lin Xia took a deep breath to steady herself. She reached out and grabbed a handful of Essence Condensing Pills and began swallowing them without hesitation.

  The effect was instantaneous. Inside her dantian, her core began to crack.

  Usually, this was the moment of terror. If the Core cracked and the soul wasn't ready to emerge, the cultivator would die.

  But Lin Xia didn't feel terror. She felt the warmth of the pills flooding her meridians. She felt the soothing aroma of the Soul-Nourishing Grass stabilizing her mind. And most importantly, she felt the memory of Jian Xuan’s arms around her. She felt his aura right next to her as he himself was also breaking through. The knot was gone. The fear was gone.

  CRACK.

  Her Core shattered. But instead of dissipating, the energy swirled inward, imploding into a singularity. And then, it bloomed.

  A glowing ball of light began to form in the center of the chaos. It was hungry. It screamed for additional energy.

  Sometimes this was where cultivators failed. They ran out of fuel. They didn’t have the resources needed to reach this next level.

  But Lin Xia was sitting in a bath of treasure. Even if Li Yu hadn’t placed all these treasures around her, she would have had her own. She and her master had long prepared for her breakthrough. The resources that were gathered did not match up to what Li Yu had shared but it was more than enough to see her through this stage.

  He had made it easier and had given her a deeper foundation once broken through. The Spirit Ginseng beside her dissolved into pure light and was rushing into her pores. The Spirit Jade hummed, feeding her cooling energy to balance the heat of the breakthrough.

  Her soul drank greedily. It grew at a speed that did not match her realm. It grew strong. It wasn't a struggle anymore. It was an evolution.

  Across from her, Jian Xuan was undergoing his own transformation.

  He roared internally to pump himself up. He would have roared loudly externally as well but he was afraid he might disturb Lin Xia.

  The Amber Earth Crystals Li Yu had provided were liquefying, their essence being drawn into Jian Xuan’s pores. He was refining his body and his soul simultaneously. Jian Xuan visualized his soul. Even though it was only a ball of light, it became even more real.

  He grabbed a vial of Golden Body Elixir and downed it in one gulp. His aura spiked. The 4th Stage barrier was being battered down by a ram made of unlimited resources and the power of his new confessed love.

  Li Yu watched from the outside and was leaning on his staff. Tekton, still wrapped around Li Yu’s wrist in the form of a metallic band, hummed with interest.

  "That is a lot of wealth laying out there, Li Yu," Tekton observed. "You sure are caring to your friends. Though that is good news for me. Haha."

  ‘Wealth is meant to be used when needed,’ Li Yu replied mentally. ‘What good is it sitting in a ring when we need it now? Besides, they are family.’

  Li Yu gestured to the glowing couple.

  ‘This is the beginning of the future for them. I hope their feelings for each other remain until the heavens decide to fall.’

  Minutes stretched into hours. The sun fully set and the moon rose high above the valley. The fire burned down to embers but the clearing was lit by the blinding light of the two cultivators.

  Then, the crescendo hit.

  A pillar of blue light shot up from Lin Xia, piercing the top of the array but Li Yu was able to react fast enough and created a void barrier to contain it.. Her martial spirit which was a crane materialized and a phantom image of a river flowed around her. The crane danced on top of the water as if congratulating her..

  Simultaneously, a golden mountain erupted from Jian Xuan. His martial spirit, the winged sword underwent an evolution. It now had 6 white wings that came out from the hilt of the sword. It flew around the golden mountain.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Then something amazing happened. The energies from the two of them swirled and then began to mix together. The river that was flowing around Lin Xia found a path through the golden mountain and settled there.

  The river created a beautiful waterfall at the end of its path. The crane flew over and settled on a high perch on the mountain. The winged sword flew over to where the crane was and embedded itself into the ground in front of the crane.

  The lights then slowly faded away.

  Lin Xia opened her eyes. They were deeper now, holding a light that hadn't been there before. Her skin was now nearly flawless and radiating a faint luminescence. The aura of a Soul Formation expert rolled off her in waves.

  She hadn't just broken through to the 1st Stage.

  Because of her hundred-year accumulation, her exceptionally strong soul and the mountain of high-quality resources Li Yu had provided, she had blasted straight past the instability of the 1st Stage.

  She was firmly at the 2nd stage of Soul Formation. Not only was she at the 2nd stage, her foundation was as solid as bedrock.

  Jian Xuan opened his eyes a second later. He exhaled a breath of white steam and couldn’t help but smile to himself. His muscles seemed denser. His presence felt heavier, like a planet had just decided to sit in the grass.

  5th Stage of Soul Formation.

  They looked at each other across the pile of now-empty jade boxes and drained spirit stones.

  "We made it," Lin Xia whispered, looking at her hands and feeling her newfound power. She clenched a fist, feeling the terrifying power coursing through her. "I... I really made it. After all these years… I was stuck because I was afraid and I was afraid because I was stuck… How ironic."

  "You did it eventually," Jian Xuan said while smiling at her. "We did. I am not sure what happened but I feel even closer to you. Not in the sense that we had confessed to each other but something more. I don’t know what it is though."

  They both turned to look at Li Yu who had been watching. He explained to them what had happened at the end of their breakthrough, surprising the two of them. It would seem that their bond further increased. Perhaps there were additional benefits to their cultivation as well.

  Jian Xuan scrambled to his feet and bowed deeply to Li Yu. An act that he had never done before to this person that first semi-enslaved him and afterwards became one of his close friends. Now like a family member.

  Jian Xuan’s forehead nearly touched the ground. Lin Xia followed suit and joined Jian Xuan. Her bow filled with grace and gratitude. Li Yu accepted their bow with a smile and gestured for them to quickly get up.

  "Brother Li," Jian Xuan said, his voice thick with emotion. "I... I do not know what to say. The resources you used... the help you gave... It will take a long time to repay this."

  "Fellow Daoist Li," Lin Xia added. "You have given me a new life. You saved me from a slow death of stagnation. This debt is mountain-high and ocean-deep."

  Li Yu waved his hand dismissively. He knew they would have been fine without him. They wouldn’t have made the same kind of progress and have the same kind of foundation they had now. They would have been safe and sound however.

  "Stop bowing, you'll make me dizzy," Li Yu said with a smile and chuckle. "And there's no debt to be paid. I told you, Jian is my brother. That makes you family. Family helps family."

  He stood up and stretched.

  "Besides, I stole all that stuff from people I really didn't like. Using it to help you guys feels like poetic justice. Consider it a wedding gift if you insist on feeling burdened by it. An early one."

  Lin Xia and Jian Xuan both blushed but neither of them denied it. They both looked at each other and smiled. Jian was looking at Lin Xia with a warmth that lit up the night and she did the same.

  "Congratulations. Truly," Li Yu said sincerely. "To both of you."

  Suddenly, Li Yu looked up at the sky and shouted.

  "You can come down now, Krell. Show's over."

  The air shimmered and Krell materialized. He was hovering about fifty meters up, his body wrapped in shadows. He dropped down lightly, landing next to Li Yu.

  He looked a bit sheepish.

  "I... was keeping watch," Krell muttered as he was rubbing the back of his neck. "Just in case the energy fluctuations attracted any beasts or wandering cultivators. I didn't want to disturb the moment."

  "I know," Li Yu said, clapping Krell on the back. "And thanks. It let me focus on making sure they were okay."

  Krell blinked. "You knew I was there? I was using my best stealth technique. It's supposed to be undetectable. Are you already that much stronger than me, boy?"

  "Your technique is good," Li Yu said with a grin. "But you can’t fool me with such things anymore."

  "You're a sentimental guy for a demon, Krell," Li Yu teased. "Thank you to you as well, truly." Li Yu said with a serious face at the end. Krell had shown that he cared for those around him, even if he would never admit to it. Li Yu had taken quite a liking to this old forging demon.

  Krell coughed, trying to regain his composure and his air of a demon. He looked at Jian Xuan and Lin Xia and a genuine smile broke through his embarrassment.

  "Congratulations," Krell said. "Your auras are stable. We are all peers now. It is a good night!"

  "Thank you, Brother Krell," Jian Xuan said, beaming. He walked over and slapped Krell on the shoulder. "It is a magnificent night! We have powered up! We have love! And I was finally able to muster up the courage to confess!" Jian Xuan’s laughter echoed into the night.