Chapter 166 Soul Scattered (Unedited) "Bie Ming, the rest is up to you..."

Guardian spirits are not omnipotent gods, and their spiritual power is not infinite.

If it were just moving a light, fluttering flower, Zhu Shengqing could probably do that now.

But his target was a living, breathing person. Zhu Shengqing simply couldn't provide the spiritual power commensurate with that body weight.

Given his current situation, if he were to forcibly lift Liang Jun up, it would likely be a sure path to certain death.

Zhu Shengqing was very smart; he had already anticipated this outcome.

He couldn't succeed with just one or two simple attempts because his initial premise was to preserve his own spiritual core.

The spirit core is not only the source of all the guardian spirit's spiritual power, but also the most important part for maintaining their soul.

Once the spirit core develops a crack, the guardian spirit's power will decline exponentially; if the spirit core is completely shattered, the guardian spirit will instantly perish on the spot, never to be redeemed again.

Zhu Shengqing stopped using brute force. The moment he relaxed, the surrounding black mist immediately broke free from its already weak restraints and drifted away like clouds near his spiritual core.

He took a deep breath, took one last precious look at the unconscious Liang Jun, and made his final decision.

Using the final power of the spirit core requires immense courage, and once this process begins, it means that the guardian spirit has no chance to back out.

The moment he struggled against his physical limits, the clear sound of his spirit core shattering echoed in the bedroom. Like ripples spreading across a pond after a pebble is thrown in, the sound lingered for a long time.

On the very first strike, Zhu Shengqing felt an extremely strong backlash.

Although he had no physical body, he still felt that excruciating pain, as if all his internal organs were ruptured and his bones were being torn apart.

He gritted his teeth and used the last of his stored power to try to force Liang Jun to float up off the bed.

Perhaps due to the sheer force of the attack, just as Zhu Shengqing was about to give up, Liang Xun's body miraculously lifted off the bed, barely catching her breath.

But this seemingly insignificant distance gave Zhu Shengqing tremendous psychological encouragement.

He temporarily put aside his physical pain, then mustered his strength and reassembled the scattered mist, letting it tightly wrap around Liang Xuan's body.

Zhu Shengqing only needed to use all his strength to move the black mist into Liang Xuan's body as much as possible; he didn't need to do anything else.

Just as a person's blood vessels might burst when they exert themselves violently, Zhu Shengqing's spiritual core also shattered layer by layer when he was circulating his spiritual power.

The rate at which his functions were deteriorating was faster than he had imagined. Zhu Shengqing dared not slack off at all; he could only desperately try to make up for the original gap with double the effort.

Even with such intense pressure, the black mist only gradually increased the speed of its flow around Liang Xuan, but showed no signs of flowing into her body.

The black mist itself seemed to sense the abnormality, and the unease it felt from its swirling and rolling was even stronger.

The system was determined to kill Liang Xun, so it had already set up various barriers around her to prevent any external forces from intruding.

But Zhu Shengqing was already on the verge of breaking into pieces.

The system's blatant provocation was right in front of him, seemingly proving that everything he had done was in vain.

Zhu Shengqing refused to give up.

As a soldier charging into battle, he was determined to risk everything to protect the general's triumphant return.

The black mist flowed at an alarming rate in the blink of an eye, forming small whirlwinds that churned around Liang Jun's suspended body until the mist thickened, enveloping her entirely in darkness.

Zhu Shengqing has reached his absolute peak, and the rupture of his spiritual core could happen in the next unknown second.

He wanted to use the most primitive methods to confront the system head-on.

Perhaps the system underestimated the enemy, or perhaps Zhu Shengqing's plan really worked. After the situation had been deadlocked for nearly twenty minutes, a wisp of barely perceptible black mist quietly slipped into Liang Xun's left collarbone.

When Zhu Shengqing saw the black mist in that area lighten, his immense joy surpassed everything else.

He dared not waste any opportunity. Before the system could fully react, Zhu Shengqing disregarded the fragility of his spiritual core and concentrated all the black mist on Liang Xun's left collarbone, then recklessly poured it into her.

Everything was going perfectly, and the initial infusion of spiritual power went extremely smoothly. But the system seemed to be deliberately playing tricks on him. Just when Zhu Shengqing was gambling with all his strength and desperately pouring in the last bit of spiritual power, the system pulled down all the barriers again.

An invisible blade fell on Liang Xun's left collarbone, not only slicing through the thin wisp of black mist, but also severing Zhu Shengqing's last remaining strength.

This spiritual energy was already incredibly powerful, and after hitting a wall, it rebounded back into Zhu Shengqing's own body with its full energy.

His spiritual core was completely exposed and was struck squarely by the spiritual power originating from himself.

This was the first time he had truly felt his own power.

This feeling is definitely not pleasant.

The sound of shattering came one after another, so chaotic that even the usually meticulous Zhu Shengqing couldn't count how many pieces his spiritual core had broken into.

His vision was gradually blurring, with only a last vestige of life clinging to him. Zhu Shengqing wanted to seize this final opportunity to launch a full-scale attack on the flaw that the system had just exposed.

At the very least, it should be a life for a life.

He thought.

If we fight with all our might now, there might still be a last hope.

Since the death of the guardian spirit had no chain of negative effects on the host, Zhu Shengqing did not hesitate at all. He directly transformed all of his last remaining spirit core into spiritual power, which then turned into mist, and poured it into the spirit core with all his might.

The system had not expected that the other party would be able to hold out for so long.

After the true nature of the checkpoints was exposed and the main monitoring area was destroyed, the system's last line of defense was completely defeated by Zhu Shengqing's unwavering willpower.

The mist, brimming with the strongest spiritual power, was poured into Liang Jun's body without any obstruction.

As Zhu Shengqing watched Liang Xuan slowly fall back onto the bed, a relieved smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Before long, Liang Jun, whose body is filled with spiritual energy, will regain consciousness.

Zhu Shengqing smiled and listened quietly to the sound of his last spiritual core shattering completely.

The soul core shattered, and the soul scattered.

Once the protection ends, there is no more reincarnation.

If the timing is right, by the time Liang Xun wakes up, all traces of him will probably have disappeared.

But Zhu Shengqing forgot that the biggest variable came from his younger brother, whom he had sent away beforehand.

"elder brother!"

A loud noise suddenly came from outside the bedroom door.

"I just went to check, but I didn't see them in the real world. I guess they've all entered a new instance. Only Liang Jun was targeted by the system, so they left her in the consciousness world..."

A wisp of white mist, resembling a fluffy ball, quietly slipped in through the gap in the door.

Although Zhu Bieming had lost most of his spiritual power, his tone still sounded relaxed and cheerful, "You over here..."

Before he could even utter a greeting, the white fur ball abruptly stopped at the bedroom door.

Only the last bit of the black spirit core, about the size of a fingernail, remained, falling onto the bed surface in a tiny yet conspicuous way.

At a glance, Zhu Bieming recognized what it was. His mind went completely blank. "Brother..."

"Bie Ming, you're here..."

Zhu Shengqing chuckled softly, "I didn't expect you to come back so soon..."

At this moment, Zhu Bieming was unable to react at all; he just stood there, frozen in place.

His gaze shifted back and forth between his brother's remains and Liang Jun's body. In his current state, Zhu Shengqing knew all too well what the other party had done.

The spiritual energy had a very noticeable effect; Liang Jun's fingers twitched slightly at this moment, as if she was about to regain consciousness.

Seeing this, Zhu Bieming not only did not dissuade his brother from disintegrating, but instead did what he had done before, manipulating the remaining white mist around him, trying to infuse his spiritual power into Liang Yun again.

Without the system's barrier, Zhu Bieming's spiritual power could be fully infused in almost a matter of minutes.

Zhu Shengqing's fading consciousness sounded its final alarm, and he weakly uttered, "Bie Ming, don't do this..."

"Why?"

Although Zhu Bieming didn't understand, he still listened to Zhu Shengqing's words and obediently stopped what he was doing. "The more effort we put in, the faster Liang Jun will wake up."

He seemed to be suppressing his barely contained anger. "Brother, why can you do it, but I can't?"

"We need to leave at least one person behind..."

Zhu Shengqing replied weakly, "We are guardian spirits, our mission in life is to accompany Liang Xun to the very end... I've come this far, the rest of the journey is up to you..."

"Then why isn't this person you?!"

Despite his best efforts to suppress his anger, it still burst forth. This was probably the first time Zhu Bieming had ever truly been angry with Zhu Shengqing.

His voice trembled with anger and agitation, and the surrounding white mist almost completely disintegrated. "Your thinking, actions, and abilities are far superior to mine. You are clearly the one who should be with Liang Jun in the future, so why is it that I am the one who survived instead of you!"

"Thoughts, actions, and abilities are nothing compared to..."

The cracks in Zhu Shengqing's last spiritual core were deepening. "Among us, you are the most suitable candidate."

"What?" Zhu Bieming asked, puzzled.

"If we can successfully destroy the system, Liang Jun will be living a completely new life..."

Zhu Shengqing's voice grew weaker and weaker, "The real world doesn't have as many deadly rules as rule-based worlds. The advantages I had compared to those you just listed will actually be the least useful in the future..."

He took a breath and stopped, so long that Zhu Bieming thought he would never be able to speak again.

“You can tell from Liang Jun’s will to survive that her past life was too bitter, which led her to subconsciously want to end it all… But you, Bie Ming, you have the ability I lack most—you are naturally optimistic, lively, and cheerful, which is the complete opposite of my personality…”

"I hope you can stay quietly by her side. Even if there's no threat of death in the future, and you won't see each other all the time, perhaps your presence can make Liang Jun's future life a little bit brighter and happier. That's enough..."

Just before the last trace completely disappeared, Zhu Shengqing's voice floated from mid-air.

"Bie Ming, it's all up to you now..."

Zhu Bieming wasn't the only one to hear this advice.

Lying on the bed, Liang Jun also sensed the sound. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she slowly opened her eyes.

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Author's note: I came at the wrong time; Huangshan was shrouded in thick fog. ToT

Tomorrow I'm going to climb Jiuhua Mountain, and then head to Jiangxi!

The main story of A Qing ends here.

After the main story is completed, I will add an "what if" storyline for A-Qing, as well as a past life story for the soldier brothers and General Jin-jie. Please look forward to it!