"……Quiet."
The word, uttered by Xie Chen, carried an almost fragile hoarseness, a stark contrast to his usual cold and imposing demeanor. He gripped Su Nian's bleeding wrist tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, the chaos and desire surging in his bloodshot eyes almost consuming her. It was as if he had struggled for too long in boundless turmoil, finally grasping at a sliver of light that allowed him a brief respite, even if that sliver of light came from the "blood servant" he considered his possession.
Su Nian's heart pounded wildly in her chest, almost shattering her ribs. She could feel the subtle trembling from his cold fingertips, and she could sense the vast and restless power deep within his soul, which resonated and calmed strangely because of certain "qualities" contained in her blood.
"Your Majesty..." she tried to steady her voice, the force on her wrist causing her pain, "...the blood...is going to be wasted."
Xie Chen seemed to be jolted awake by those words. The chaos in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by an even thicker layer of frost. He abruptly released his grip, taking a step back as if he had touched something scalding hot. He turned around, revealing only the taut lines of his back, his voice regaining its usual coldness, yet carrying a hint of barely perceptible embarrassment:
"Fulfill your duties."
Su Nian suppressed the turmoil in her heart, quickly dripped the blood into the cup, and handed it over. This time, Xie Chen did not take the cup, but instead turned his back to her and coldly said, "Put it down and get out."
Su Nianyi put down her cup, bowed, and silently left the palace. In the last moment before the door closed, she caught a glimpse of him still standing by the window, his shadow long and lonely in the crimson moonlight, looking...struggling.
Back in the side hall, Su Nian remained unsettled for a long time. Xie Chen's unusual reaction to his dark side confirmed the information on the black note—he was indeed being "tainted" by the properties of her blood. This "taint" seemed to alleviate some deep-seated pain or restlessness in his soul, granting him a brief period of "quiet." For her, this was both an advantage and a great danger. The advantage lay in her increased value and chances of survival; the danger lay in his growing dependence on and possessiveness towards her, until he could no longer escape, and it might even lead him to resort to more extreme control measures to monopolize this "quiet."
She must act quickly.
"When the moon begins to set in the west..." She began to pay closer attention to the subtle changes in the light within the castle. The Eternal Night Dynasty had no true sunsets, but the magically simulated daylight and the position of the eternal crimson moon still exhibited a vague cycle. Using her keen perception of energy flow within her soul, combined with the records in an ancient astronomical scroll in the library, she roughly calculated the next time the moon would set in the west—around a specific hour three days from now.
Target location: abandoned prayer room.
For the next three days, Su Nian behaved exceptionally "well-behaved" and "dutifully." She provided blood on time, and even proactively asked Xie Chen during one delivery if he needed to adjust his diet to further "optimize" the blood quality (which was coldly rejected). She tried her best to minimize her presence, making the monitors lower their guard.
Meanwhile, she was also preparing to infiltrate the prayer room again. She used her restored Ice Soul power to hone her stealth abilities, trying to minimize her aura and energy fluctuations. She repeatedly rehearsed her route, thinking about how to avoid possible patrol and surveillance arrays.
The time has finally come.
Just before the calculated moment of "the moon setting in the west" was about to arrive, Su Nian used the excuse of needing quiet meditation to keep her blood pure and returned to her room in the side hall ahead of time. She held her breath and focused her mind, feeling the light of the red moon outside the window, which was slowly shifting towards the west corridor of the castle at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
When a certain energy rhythm in the soul's perception reaches its peak—
Now!
She once again used that wisp of icy power to simulate the fluctuation frequency of the room's energy lock. With a soft "click," the door opened. Like a ghost, she slid into the dark corridor, stealthily moving towards the statue of the Moon Goddess on the west side.
This time, she felt her stealth skills had improved; her movements were smoother, and she had a clearer perception of the energy flow in her surroundings. Was it a benefit of soul repair? Or had the power of ice souls undergone some kind of adaptive change in the vampire environment?
She arrived safely at the statue of the Moon Goddess. She retrieved the silver leaf that had become invalid but which she had carefully preserved. She tried to infuse it with a wisp of Ice Soul Power, but the silver leaf showed no reaction. It seemed the one-time use key had failed.
Undeterred, she gently placed her palm on the cold metal of the portrait's frame. At the same time, she carefully, as if knocking on a door, channeled her soul, imbued with the intent of "true sincerity," into the space behind the portrait. She was gambling—gambling on the connection between this prayer room and the earth's origin, gambling that her bloodline, "recognized" by Xie Chen's dark side, could become her new "passport."
After a moment of silence, just as Su Nian was about to give up—
The image creaked slightly again, slowly rotating inward to reveal the familiar, dark entrance!
It was a success!
Su Nian swiftly slipped inside, the portrait closing behind her. The prayer room remained dark and deathly silent, but unlike last time, she could clearly sense an unusually active energy fluctuation permeating the entire space. The air seemed to tremble slightly, a tingling sensation emanated from the stone slabs beneath her feet, and the mottled carvings on the walls emitted an extremely faint, flickering light, like breathing.
As the moon began to set in the west, the earth's vein nodes indeed revealed their true form!
She strode to the dried-up pool in the center of the room. The previously broken cracks at the bottom of the pool now seemed to come alive, dark golden energy flowing within like blood, forming a complete and complex gigantic rune! At the center of the rune was the black stone that she had touched before, which had triggered fragments of memory. Now, it was no longer dull and lifeless, but translucent, with what appeared to be a slowly rotating golden nebula inside, radiating a powerful suction force!
What shocked Su Nian even more was that, through this stone, her connection with the sealed origin underground became clearer than ever before! She could even "see" the dark golden energy body bound by chains of light struggling and colliding violently within the seal. Each impact caused the floor of the prayer room to tremble slightly, and also caused the light of the black stone to flicker.
A powerful emotion surged through the link, no longer just simple pain and rage, but mixed with anxiety, urging, and a hint of... determination!
“Time…is running out…he…has noticed…” The intermittent thoughts rang directly in her mind. It was the voice of the source from the earth, clearer than last time, but also weaker.
"The key...in your...and my...connection...requires...resonance..."
Is the key in the link? Is resonance required?
Su Nian instantly understood! The so-called "key" was not a physical object, but rather the unique connection between her and Xie Chen's origin, established through the fragments of their souls and the blood of "true feelings"! To unlock the shackles, she needed to achieve a deeper level of soul resonance with the origin beneath the earth!
But doing so is extremely risky! Once the resonance begins, the resulting soul fluctuations will be almost impossible to conceal from Xie Chen's powerful dark side, which shares the same origin as the underground source! This is tantamount to dancing on the edge of a cliff!
In the instant she hesitated—
Boom!!!
A shock far more terrifying than any before suddenly erupted from the ground! The entire prayer room shook violently, and dust rained down from the ceiling! The golden nebula inside the black stone spun wildly, and even a tiny crack appeared on its surface!
"Quick! He... forcibly suppressed... I... can't hold on... next time..." The will of the primordial source became intermittent, filled with pain and resentment.
Su Nian knew there was no turning back! The source of the earth seemed to be attempting a forced breakthrough, triggering the violent suppression of Xie Chen's dark side! If they didn't try this time, who knew when the next opportunity would come, the source of the earth might truly have its intelligence completely obliterated!
She gritted her teeth and slammed her hands down on the violently trembling black stone!
"With my soul, I call your name!"
"Xie Chen—!"
She no longer hid, fully activating the power of those few golden points of light deep within her soul. At the same time, she poured all her "true feelings" and memories and emotions for every "him" in the past into the black stone through her hands, like a surging tide, and rushed towards the sealed source underground!
Buzz—!!!
The black stone burst forth with an unprecedentedly dazzling golden light! The entire prayer room was illuminated as if it were daytime! The dark golden runes on the ground swirled wildly, emitting a piercing sound like thousands of chains rubbing together!
From the depths of the earth, Xie Chen's original source let out a cry that seemed both liberating and more painful!
Su Nian felt as if her soul had been plunged into a massive vortex of energy, tightly intertwined with another enormous and tormented soul! Countless memories, emotions, pain, and obsessions washed over her consciousness like a tsunami! She saw more of the scenes before he was sealed away, his resolute determination as he faced the messenger of the Supreme God alone, and the deep-seated reluctance he felt when separating the fragments of his soul…
Resonance! A profound resonance of souls!
She could feel that the chains of light that were wrapped around the origin seemed to have loosened slightly under the intense, internal resonance impact!
However, at this crucial moment—
"presumptuous!"
A chilling shout, brimming with boundless rage, thundered like a thunderclap from the heavens, suddenly echoing in the prayer room!
An immense pressure, like a tangible mountain, crashed down! The golden light that had just appeared was instantly suppressed and devoured by an even more powerful dark red energy!
The entrance to the prayer room was blasted apart by a violent force! Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a figure carrying an aura of annihilation walked in step by step.
Thank you, Chen!
At this moment, he had completely torn off his usual lazy and indifferent mask. His handsome face was twisted with rage, and his blood-red eyes burned with flames that could incinerate everything. The dark red energy emanating from his body was like a tangible storm, filling the entire space!
His gaze, like the sharpest blade, instantly locked onto Su Nian, whose hands were still pressed against the black stone and whose face was pale.
"You really... touched something you shouldn't have." His voice was low and hoarse, each word carrying a chilling killing intent. "It seems I've been too lenient with you."
He slowly raised his hand, and dark red energy condensed in his palm into a longsword burning with black flames.
"Since shackles cannot restrain your ambition, then..."
The tip of the sword was aimed directly at Su Nian's brow.
"...Only destruction."
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