The silence was no longer the emptiness of before, but carried the heaviness of the smoke dissipating and the stinging pain of surviving a catastrophe. The suffocating killing intent and the white light of "purification" deep within the soul link had faded, but they left behind invisible wounds, like deep furrows plowed into an ice field, silently telling the story of the perilous struggle concerning the very essence of existence that had just taken place.
Su Nian's illusory spiritual form still radiated the warm and powerful seven-colored glazed light of the fused entity, but beneath this light lay an indescribable weariness and heaviness. Her "gaze" was firmly locked on the fragments of Xie Chen's soul light in her arms—dimmed more than ever before, like a candle flame about to burn out, its light so faint it almost blended into the darkness of the background. The intense emotional resonance just now, while repelling the "purification," was also like a violent burning, almost exhausting the last vestiges of their essence.
Waves of lingering fear washed over her like icy tides. She had almost lost him forever; under that absolute order called "purification," not even a trace would have remained.
However, the crisis was only temporarily averted, not resolved. The final message from the Dark Gold Consciousness hung like a sword of Damocles—"Pre-loaded final solution," "Higher-level intervention," and "Mutual destruction option." What will come next is a destruction far more thorough and irresistible than the "purification process."
Just as this despair and sense of urgency were about to overwhelm her—
Buzz...
A faint hum, seemingly emanating directly from the very foundation of her being, rippled from the deepest recesses of her soul's icy crystal. The pale blue mark, long dormant and belonging to ancient, boundless will, reappeared on its own. Unlike the last time, when it merely pulsed and transmitted vague information, this time it emanated a stable and continuous coolness, carrying a sense of soothing reassurance and determination, like a clear spring in the sweltering summer, quietly calming the anxiety and fear churning within her consciousness.
Immediately afterwards, that faint yet clear stream of guiding intent surged forth again, more specific and more urgent than before!
It was no longer just a blurry fragment of an ice and snow map and an abstract coordinate system.
Accompanied by the flow of thoughts, more information, like an unsealed scroll, slowly unfolded within her consciousness:
She "saw" an endless, eternally frozen, azure-colored ice plain. Three moons of different colors (azure, pale, and eerie green) hung in the sky. At the center of the ice plain stood a majestic, indescribably grand ice crystal temple, entirely constructed of the pure light of laws. On the temple's gate was an imprint of a more complex and profound rune, of the same origin as the pale blue mark on the core of her soul's ice crystal.
The coordinate information became incredibly clear; it wasn't a spatial location, but rather a series of "frequency keys" and "resonance paths" leading to a specific dimension or level of law. The starting point of this path was none other than her own soul ice crystal! The endpoint, however, pointed towards that ice crystal temple!
At the same time, a realization dawned on her: that temple was one of the sources of this ancient Ice Soul inheritance, the source of life below absolute zero, an "absolute domain" capable of isolating all external detection and interference. Only there could she obtain the complete inheritance, truly control her own destiny, and only there could she possibly... safely repair and awaken Xie Chen's soul!
Hope, like a campfire burning on a dark, icy plain, instantly illuminated her path.
But what followed was an even harsher reality.
To activate this "coordinate" and perform this kind of cross-dimensional or cross-law level "travel," unimaginable energy and a stable spiritual consciousness are required as support. With her current spiritual consciousness, which has just been stabilized and is even somewhat damaged from the previous confrontation, and the power within her body, although fused, is not particularly abundant in total, the chances of success are extremely slim. Not to mention, she also has to be distracted by protecting the fragile remnants of Xie Chen in her arms.
It's like asking a toddler who has just learned to walk to push open a massive, heavy door leading to the divine realm.
She tried to carefully guide her spiritual consciousness to communicate with the pale blue mark on the ice crystal core, following the preliminary resonance method contained in the coordinate information, to simulate that "resonance path".
"Buzz..."
The Soul Ice Crystal trembled slightly, the pale gold and milky white patterns on its surface flowing faster, and a faint fluctuation, carrying a sense of spatial distortion, attempted to spread outwards from her. However, this fluctuation, barely forming a ripple, quickly subsided due to its lack of follow-through. She felt as if her spiritual consciousness had been drained, experiencing waves of exhaustion.
No, that's far from enough.
It's like trying to start a huge engine with a glass of water; you can't even get the most basic "ignition" done.
Are we just supposed to wait for the Dark Gold Consciousness to prepare the "final solution" or for that so-called "higher authority" to descend?
No! Absolutely not!
A resolute glint flashed in Su Nian's spiritual consciousness. If conventional methods wouldn't work, then unconventional methods would do! She once again turned her gaze to the remnants of Xie Chen in her arms, and to the deepest part of her own spiritual consciousness, to the pale golden primordial power originating from his shattered Dao Seal, which was closely connected to the remnants.
An extremely dangerous, almost self-destructive thought began to frantically grow in her mind.
This pale golden essence is the core of Xie Chen's power. Although broken, its fundamental level is extremely high, containing immense potential. Her own seven-colored glazed spiritual consciousness was born from extreme emotional resonance and possesses a certain "chaotic" quality that transcends the norm, capable of drawing upon and bearing extraordinary power.
If... instead of carefully nurturing these pale golden primal energies, she chose to actively burn and detonate this portion of Xie Chen's primal power, which was deeply integrated with her spiritual consciousness, in a near-sacrificial manner, in exchange for a massive torrent of energy powerful enough to activate coordinates and open channels in an instant...
The idea sent shivers down her spine.
Burning this part of her essence means she will permanently lose this imprint of Xie Chen's power, which could have an immeasurable impact on her future growth, and might even prevent her from ever reaching the pinnacle of the inheritance. What's even more terrifying is that this process is extremely violent. She must use her own spiritual consciousness as a guide and vessel. If she doesn't control it properly, the energy will get out of control, and she herself will be the first to be annihilated, along with the remnants of Xie Chen that she is desperately trying to protect, which will also be instantly reduced to ashes.
This was nothing short of a high-stakes gamble, betting everything she had, betting the hope of Xie Chen's revival, in order to fight for a slim chance of survival.
She stared for a long time at the faint shards of light in her arms.
“I’m sorry…” she murmured silently again, but this time, there was no hesitation in her voice, only a resolute determination, “If we are destined to be destroyed, I would rather choose to burn with you on the road to survival.”
She began to take action.
Instead of attempting that futile resonance, she immersed herself entirely in the deepest recesses of her consciousness, carefully yet resolutely peeling away the pale golden primordial patterns intertwined with her consciousness. This was not the gentle guidance of nourishment, but rather a painful and resolute act akin to tearing away one's own flesh and blood.
The pale golden light was forced to separate from her spiritual phantom. At first, it was like a gentle stream, but as the separation intensified, it began to become restless and unstable, emitting increasingly intense and destructive energy fluctuations.
She felt her consciousness being torn apart from within, the pain far exceeding that of when she was previously eroded by the "purifying" energy. But she gritted her teeth (if consciousness had teeth), maintaining her last vestiges of clarity and control, forcibly compressing and guiding the increasingly violent pale golden energy that had been stripped away, constructing a temporary energy core that was extremely unstable yet contained terrifying energy, according to an ancient ritual similar to "law sacrifice" contained in the coordinate information.
The moment the last trace of palloring golden essence was stripped away and injected into the temporary core—
Boom!!!
An indescribable, soul-tearing power of immense energy suddenly erupted within the temporary core! The seven-colored glazed light and the violent pale golden light intertwined, clashed, and annihilated each other, generating an even more powerful and chaotic thrust!
Now!
With her last ounce of willpower, Su Nian tightly protected the remnants of Xie Chen in her arms at the very core of her spiritual consciousness. Then, she guided this destructive torrent of energy to crash into the pale blue mark at the core of the soul ice crystal, while simultaneously imprinting the complete "coordinates" and "resonance path" onto it!
"With the icy essence as the guide, with unwavering resolve as the vessel, with sacrifice as the flame... Open!"
A beam of light, defying definition by color and distorting the space of consciousness, shot skyward from Su Nian's soul ice crystal! Wherever the beam passed, the layers of space were forcibly shattered, and a brief and unstable passage constructed of countless ice crystal runes slowly opened before her! At the end of the passage, the azure-colored ice field and three eerie moons could be vaguely seen!
It worked?!
However, the cost was enormous. After unleashing this devastating attack, the temporary energy core was completely annihilated, severely damaging Su Nian's spiritual consciousness as well. The seven-colored glazed light dimmed to its extreme, and her illusory form became almost transparent. She felt as if her existence was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to vanish completely at any moment.
With her last strength, she wrapped Xie Chen's remains in her arms and, like a moth drawn to a flame, plunged headlong into the newly opened, yet violently shaking, ice crystal passage that seemed on the verge of collapse!
Just at the last moment when her consciousness completely disappeared into the passage—
She seemed to sense that cold gaze returning from the depths of their soul connection, carrying a new, more magnificent, more indifferent power fluctuation—a power that seemed to represent the will of the universe itself. That fluctuation glanced at the closing passage, seemed to pause for a moment, and then, an invisible, intangible force of annihilation, surpassing all previous "purification" energy, as if traversing time and space, pursued her and slammed violently into the entrance of the disappearing passage!
"BOOM—!!!"
A violent explosion rang out from the dimensional rift.
Su Nian felt an irresistible destructive force surge from behind, instantly tearing through her already severely damaged spiritual defenses. Before her consciousness completely plunged into darkness, all she could do was hold Xie Chen's remains even tighter in her "arms," before being completely engulfed by the terrifying energy turbulence of the explosion...
Her last sensations were the deafening roar of her body (spiritual consciousness) being torn apart and the complete collapse of the ice crystal passage, and... the faint, lingering tremor from the tiny fragment of soul light in her arms, as if it were a final farewell.
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