Embroidered Spring Bay River rose with white smoke, snowflakes fell into it instantly silent melting. The world was peaceful, if there were people with high cultivation here, they would find that the earth's energy within dozens of miles was all converging towards the river god temple.

  The spiritual energy floating in the sky also flowed towards the River God Temple and merged into the statue of the River God inside.

  Chen Jing was always absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at all times, feeling the energy of mountains and rivers, and drawing them into his own body.

  The glacier thaws, and the green mountain rises with mist.

  It's another year when the stars are full of sky, and the stars' light falls between heaven and earth. Countless lives hide in the mountains, breathing in the power of the stars, working hard to cultivate themselves, and countless lives are born or experience important choices in their life journey.

  The Temple of the River God no longer emitted a soft white glow at night after being struck by lightning. However, if someone came to the temple at night, they would see the statue shrouded in a white light. Suddenly, a person appeared from above the statue, looking incredibly illusory.

  He looked extremely happy, turned his head to glance at the statue, and then turned around to walk out of the River God Temple. However, he only took one step before immediately retreating back. His originally insubstantial body seemed like it could dissipate at any moment. After returning to the River God Temple, he didn't go back to the statue but instead stood in front of the temple looking outward.

  The fleeting starlight sprinkles on the river waves, flowing with the waves to a distant place.

  That shadowy figure flashed by and returned to the statue, the River God Temple regained its tranquility, with only three points of incense light remaining.

  There were several days when a crescent moon hung quietly in one corner of the sky.

  Another figure emerged from the River God Temple, still ethereal in form. This time, he didn't rush out of the temple, but instead gazed at the deity statue. Suddenly, a white light burst forth from the stone sword at the statue's waist and landed in the hand of the ethereal figure - it was a sword.

  The sword was invisible, just a mass of gas. In the white mist, there was a faintly visible transparent butterfly fluttering, and if you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see it at all. Only the shadowy figure whispered: "You are still alive, I am also still alive... but who knows when we can fly freely in the world." After finishing speaking, he looked up and down, and suddenly the sword light expanded, covering the illusory human shadow, the shadow disappeared, the white light flew out, turned around in the empty space, and flashed out of the River God Temple. As soon as it left the temple, it rushed into the sky and flew towards the vast starry sky.

  This streak of white light in the sky was like a shooting star, and also like a white bird escaping from its cage, wanting to fly to the horizon. However, just as this ray of light was about to disappear, it suddenly turned back and returned to the River God Temple.

  A flash of sword light, and the River God Temple had another figure, even his five senses couldn't be seen clearly. He stood in front of the River God Temple still looking at the sky, as if thinking about something.

  Standing for a long time, finally returned to the statue again.

  Day and night alternate.

  It was evening again, and the figure walked down from the statue once more. His clothes were faintly visible, with a similarly illusory sword hanging at his waist. He stood in front of the River God Temple, gazing out at the distant mountains and nearby waters, watching as fish jumped to the surface, spitting out bubbles.

  He wants to leave here, strongly.

  Three years have passed, and Ye Qingxue has not returned. He is trapped here. Although he can now manifest his spirit, he still cannot leave, and even if the wind blows him away from the River God Temple, there is a risk of his soul dispersing. Later, although he could protect himself with his sword aura and not fear the wind, he was like a kite being pulled by the flesh god image, making it difficult for him to leave. It was a kind of spiritual restraint, and he knew it was because his spirit was not strong enough.

  During the day, Chen Jing would not reveal himself. At this time, his yin spirit could not withstand the wind, rain, and sun. Cultivators usually do not manifest their yin spirits at this time, only when the yin spirit is fearless of these things will it appear in the world. However, Chen Jing couldn't wait, nor did he want to wait. He had a sense of unease, feeling that Ye Qingxue must have encountered trouble.

  The restraint of the River God statue made it impossible for him to leave, giving him an idea to destroy the River God statue. However, this statue had become equivalent to his physical body, and destroying his physical body would mean that his soul would have nowhere to rely on, inevitably dispersing in the world.

  The grass by the riverbank turned green and withered again, and the weather gradually got colder.

  Chen Jing stood in front of the River God Temple every night, gazing at this stretch of rushing water that seemed to never tire. Occasionally, under the cover of sword light, he would walk out of the temple and come to the riverbank, sitting there quietly, watching as a butterfly fluttered around him, unable to fly more than three feet away.

  The shellfish and big red shrimp didn't dare to come forward and disturb them, they just watched from afar in the river.

  Chen Jing dipped his hand into the river and scooped up a handful of water. The water in his hand transformed, turning into a pale white water flower. A butterfly that seemed to never tire landed on the water flower, its wings carrying a hint of blue electricity.

  The shell found that butterfly very touching, every flutter of its wings seemed to be able to move its own heart, all attention was focused on it.

  The ripples condense and disperse repeatedly, the butterfly flutters up and falls down, unaware of fatigue, just like it doesn't know that the flower is actually just a fleeting moment.

  Under the starry sky, a figure without a body sat alone beside a river, holding a flower condensed from a wave of water, emitting faint wisps of smoke. Blooming, withering, blooming again, shedding layer by layer, petal by petal, the pale white petals fell and disappeared into mist. In the center of that flower, new ones blossomed, while butterflies dancing above the waves, carrying a thread of white light, seemed especially joyful, fluttering about.

  "You can't leave, and I won't leave either." Chen Jing looked at the butterfly and said softly: "It's just that you're better than me. In your heart, there is a sea of flowers, everything is so beautiful. And I... haha, maybe you are conscious, but it's just my own decadence, sinking into the world I created myself. It's good this way, maybe everyone should have their own flower world in their heart, a space that belongs to themselves."

  The moon sets in the west, and the stars disappear.

  As a ray of sunlight from the east poured down through the clouds, the figure by the river had already vanished.

  The river rushes forward, taking time away, and never brings it back.

  The sky is again covered with heavy snow, and white smoke rises from the River God Temple. The snow falls on the temple and melts into white air.

  A monk in gray robes walked along the riverbank, dragging a large iron pot with one hand and holding a nine-ring tin staff with the other. His sleeves were long and wide, hanging down below his knees. As he walked, the nine rings on the staff struck each other, making a clear and crisp sound that was not disturbing to listen to, but rather gave a sense of serenity.

  After passing by the River God Temple, Mingming had already walked past, but suddenly turned back.

  He came to the River God Temple and asked Chen Jing, who was standing at the temple gate: "Sir, may I ask where is the bridge that leads to the other side of the river?"

  Chen Jing couldn't see the monk's aura, but felt that he was unusually transparent, like looking at a piece of jade. He said, "Follow the river and you will see."

  The monk turned around and was about to leave, but stopped again, turned back and said: "Donor, please ask how to get to the white cloud on the way to heaven."

  "With diligent practice, one can soar through the void." Chen Jing said, looking into the monk's eyes. The big monk was very calm, with an expression similar to when he asked for directions earlier, as if he could really reach the clouds.

  The monk thanked him and turned to leave, but suddenly turned his head and asked: "Donor, is that River God image you?"

  "It's me."

  "Then who are you?" the monk asked.

  "I am also myself." Chen Jing replied.

  "Can one person be divided into two?"

  "No."

  "But you have already split into two, one is a god, and the other is you."

  "I'm just a yin spirit, unable to leave the dharma body, and naturally don't count as a person."

  "But you've already left your physical body, so why say you can't leave?"

  "Because I'm not strong enough to be far away."

  The monk suddenly burst out laughing and said, "I see that the donor can clearly leave, but instead chooses to be trapped. The reason you are being held back is because you have not cut off the constraints of your physical body, which has nothing to do with the level of spiritual power; it can be broken with just one thought."

  Chen Jing hastily said: "Please instruct me, Master!"

  "You can't tell what's important and what's not, so you're naturally stuck." The monk finished speaking and turned to leave.

  Chen Jing furrowed his brow, but before he could speak, the monk had already walked far away, with a mist of dust following him along the riverbank. In the wind and snow, he seemed especially clear, with a string of footprints behind him. The wind and snow swirled, gradually becoming blurry, including the monk's tall back silhouette.

  Chen Jing still stood in the River God Temple, watching the endless wind and snow, watching a string of footprints in front of the temple being gradually covered by snow. After a long time, he muttered: "I don't distinguish between primary and secondary?"

  When I came back to myself, the monk had disappeared. That vague thought in my heart could never be clarified, nor caught.

  Turning his head to look at the River God statue, he looked for a long time and thought in his heart: "Yin gods are not real objects, but spiritual concepts condensed into existence. They cannot cast spells without a formed yuan Shen, because yin gods themselves do not have the most basic magical power to communicate with heaven and earth to form spells. Is it really necessary to cultivate a yuan shen before leaving? But when will I be able to cultivate a yuan shen?"

  Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him and he thought to himself: "Originally, the yin spirit couldn't be far away, but if I use my sword aura to protect the yin spirit, it can go as far as a hundred miles outside... then what if..."

  He suddenly stopped here, turned his head to look at the snowflakes in the sky and on the ground, then turned back to look at the statue, smiling lightly.

  A hand waved in the void, and a cluster of intangible sword energy appeared. Among them, a butterfly with a thread of electric flowers on one wing fluttered about. In the void, it was like a ball of white flames, quietly burning white flames, and in the flames, a butterfly flew quietly, without any smoke or fire.

  Chen Jing stood still, her eyes closed.

  After a long time, his already quite solid dark energy suddenly turned into gray smoke and merged into the butterfly's body in the sword light. It was slow and gradual, fortunately, there was no one at the River God Temple on snowy days, if someone came, they would see a white light with a butterfly fluttering inside, surrounded by a gray mist outside.

  The snow is still falling, the gray mist in the River God Temple has disappeared, and only a butterfly wrapped in sword light is still flying. The sword light slowly shrinks and finally disappears, leaving only a pale blue butterfly fluttering in the temple.

  The butterfly danced in mid-air, after circling around the river god statue once, flew towards the wind and snow outside.

  The wind and snow are vast, a pale blue butterfly flutters by.

  Vanished in the twinkling snowflakes.