"Host! Please...make a decision immediately!!"
The sharp, urgent alarm from System 088, sounding as if it were being torn apart by electricity, struck Su Nian's eardrums like a final death knell, completely jolting her awake from the lingering fear of her near-death experience.
A choice?
What other choice do we have?
Huddled in this cage he built himself, called "washing" but actually "annihilation," he could only watch helplessly as the terrifying aura of the outside world, which seemed to be tearing the entire Qingyun Peak to pieces, waited for him to either survive his inner demons (the possibility of which was extremely slim) or completely fall into demonic ways and destroy the world along with them.
No! She can't!
It wasn't because of the so-called "risk of world collapse," nor was it simply for that vague "mission." Rather, after personally "experiencing" the horrific death of Yun Zhi and feeling the overwhelming guilt and despair, something deeper, almost instinctive, was driving her—she couldn't stand by and watch him succumb, devoured by his inner demons, and head towards destruction! Whether he was the obsessive and domineering CEO Xie Chen or the Qingxu Immortal Lord on the verge of demonic possession!
That connection, born from a resonance of souls, that pursuit and confirmation that transcends the world, made it impossible for her to remain uninvolved!
High risk? High reward?
At this moment, she had no time to weigh the pros and cons!
"What should I do?!" Su Nian screamed at the system in her mind, her eyes fixed on the tightly closed palace door that seemed to separate two worlds. She could feel the violent aura of Immortal Lord Qingxu outside the door constantly rising, the pain, violence, and destructive desire mixed within it making her soul tremble.
"Using... the 'Ice Soul Condensation Technique'... to establish... a soul connection with the target..."
“Guide…the power of ice…attempt…to soothe…its raging mind…”
"Warning: This action will... completely expose the host's... anomaly..."
"Success rate...incalculable...consequences of failure...utter annihilation..."
The system's intermittent responses carried an almost tragic sense of resolve.
Establish a soul connection? Using this barely rudimentary "Ice Soul Condensation Technique," which can barely even protect oneself, to connect with the raging soul of a celestial lord on the verge of demonic possession? This is akin to a firefly trying to quell a storm sweeping across the heavens and earth!
But this is the only way to intervene in his inner demons and try to do something!
Su Nian took a deep breath; the icy air, carrying a biting chill, instantly cleared her confused mind. She glanced at the ancient jade slip in her hand, which still emitted a faint blue light, and a resolute glint flashed in her eyes.
She sat cross-legged on the cold jade bed again, no longer trying to suppress the trembling in her body and the fear in her heart, but instead immersing all her mind in the operation of the "Ice Soul Condensing Heart Technique".
This time, her goal was no longer to temper her own soul, but... to carefully extend her soul perception, like tentacles, towards the center of the storm outside the hall, towards the violent and painful soul aura belonging to Immortal Lord Qingxu!
(Continue)
The process was more difficult and dangerous than imagined.
The moment her spiritual tendrils reached out of the main hall, they were like a small boat in a storm, instantly overwhelmed and torn apart by the terrifying pressure filled with the aura of destruction and chaos! Countless negative emotions—overwhelming anger, bone-deep guilt, and the madness to destroy everything—were like countless red-hot steel needles, piercing her consciousness through that invisible connection!
"Ugh!" Su Nian groaned, her face instantly turning deathly pale, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth. Mere initial contact had already damaged her soul!
But she did not back down!
She gritted her teeth and frantically circulated the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique," transforming the pure cold energy emanating from the Ice Soul Jade Bed beneath her into a thin, solid "ice armor" to envelop her fragile spiritual tendrils. At the same time, she also transmitted a trace of the "coldness" and "tranquility" inherent in this technique, like a faint signal, towards the eye of the storm.
It was like lighting a tiny, cold lamp in an endless purgatory.
Faint, yet resolute.
Her soul swayed in intense pain, as if it might be extinguished at any moment. She "saw"—at the eye of the storm, Immortal Lord Qingxu (Xie Chen) stood suspended above his cave, his moon-white Daoist robes fluttering wildly as his raging immortal energy and scarlet demonic aura tore at him, his black hair dancing wildly. His eyes were bloodshot, and deep within them, golden Daoist patterns and black demonic patterns intertwined and devoured each other madly, his face filled with extreme pain and contortion.
The space around him was distorted, and countless shattered illusions appeared—the resolute look in Yun Zhi's eyes when she shielded him from the arrow, the battlefield filled with demonic energy, the disappointed sighs of the sect elders, and the tempting whispers of countless inner demons...
He is being completely consumed by these nightmares of the past and the darkness in his heart!
Su Nian tried his best to guide the faint, calming essence of the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique" like a trickle into his turbulent and chaotic ocean of soul.
At first, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no reaction whatsoever, but instead it brought about an even more ferocious backlash!
But gradually, as she relentlessly and continuously channeled that meager "Ice Soul" power, and as she completely immersed her mind in the incantation's essence of "seeing the origin, focusing the mind and calming the soul"—
An anomaly has occurred!
The chaotic consciousness belonging to Immortal Lord Qingxu, which had been violently assaulting her soul, actually showed a very subtle, almost imperceptible... stagnation after coming into contact with the continuous, weak but pure calming intent of "Ice Soul".
It's like dropping a drop of ice water into a boiling oil pan.
Although it was instantly submerged by a greater boiling, that moment of "difference" truly existed!
At the same time, the Qingxu Immortal Lord, who was suspended in the center of the storm, blinked his blood-red eyes, which were filled with pain and madness!
He seemed to... sense something.
A faint yet strangely familiar...coolness and tranquility? Like long, long ago, before he bore such heavy guilt and despair, sitting quietly atop a snow-capped mountain, feeling the purest chill of the world bring that...peace of mind?
This feeling... comes from below? From... that bedchamber that imprisons the "illusion of inner demons"?
Why... does the aura emanating from this "inner demon" carry... the true meaning of the "Ice Soul Condensing Heart Technique" passed down by his master? Moreover, within this true meaning, there seems to be a trace... an incredibly familiar fluctuation that makes his soul tremble deep within...?
Is it an illusion? Is it a hallucination caused by inner demons?
His chaotic thoughts experienced a moment of clarity and struggle.
However, at this crucial moment—
"puff--!"
Inside the bedchamber, Su Nian could no longer hold on and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. She collapsed from the cold jade bed like a kite with a broken string, and the connection between her soul and the violent consciousness outside was instantly severed!
She overexerted herself! With her current spiritual strength and cultivation level of the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique," forcibly connecting with the consciousness of a Celestial Lord on the verge of demonic possession was tantamount to a mantis trying to stop a chariot! It was already a miracle that she could do this!
Outside, the terrifying storm that had just begun to subtly stagnate erupted again in a more violent and out-of-control manner because of the sudden interruption of the connection with Su Nian and the loss of the continuous soothing power of the faint "Ice Soul"!
"roar--!!!"
Immortal Lord Qingxu let out a roar that was inhuman, filled with pain and violence. The last glimmer of clarity in his eyes was completely engulfed by crimson! The demonic energy around him soared into the sky like smoke from a wolf's beacon, dyeing half the sky an ominous dark red!
He turned his head sharply, his blood-red eyes, completely consumed by madness, pierced through the distance of space and locked onto the sleeping quarters below!
It pinpointed the source of the only abnormality in his perception, the one that dared to "interfere" with his inner demons!
"BOOM—!!!"
A massive palm print, a mixture of boundless immortal energy and terrifying demonic power, descended like a meteor, carrying the will to destroy everything, and slammed fiercely into the bedroom where Su Nian was!
The palace's defensive lights instantly illuminated, but shattered like paper the moment they touched the palm print! The heavy, cold iron palace doors twisted and deformed, then exploded into countless fragments with a teeth-grinding roar!
A fierce wind, carrying cold gravel and destructive energy, instantly poured into the hall!
Su Nian was violently thrown away by the huge shockwave and crashed heavily into the jade frame behind her. She spat out another mouthful of blood and her vision went black.
She struggled to lift her head, and through the billowing smoke and raging energy currents, she saw—
The figure, pale in color yet entwined with thick, almost tangible, scarlet demonic energy, stepped through the shattered palace gates, like a demon returning from hell.
The chilling killing intent, mixed with the madness of inner demons, acted like tangible shackles, instantly imprisoning Su Nian, who was limp on the ground!
He's here.
With a ruthless, unquestionable...destructive will.
The suspense in the story reaches its peak at this moment—the female protagonist's risky intervention fails, instead thoroughly enraging the male protagonist who is on the verge of falling into demonic possession. At this critical juncture of life and death, will the male protagonist's step, which carries destruction, be the end, or... the beginning of another story? Everything awaits to be revealed in the next chapter.
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