Chapter 206: Chapter 206: Then... Live Well
With the people of the Gold and Silver Gate all having retreated, and Master Wuliang and Yuwei Zhenren needing to combine their efforts to maintain the Mirror Water Prison, only Lu Sangjiu was left to channel Spiritual Energy to Xie Ningyuan.
Besides, as a practitioner of Immortal Demon Dual Cultivation, she wouldn’t be truly harmed by the Demonic Qi.
However, while her expanded meridians allowed her to store Spiritual Energy comparable to a Golden Core cultivator, Xie Ningyuan was in the Body Integration Realm. To him, her reserves were but a drop in the ocean.
Lu Sangjiu could only frantically pull Spirit Stones from her storage bag, using her own body as a conduit. She simultaneously absorbed Spiritual Energy from the stones while channeling it into Xie Ningyuan.
This process placed immense pressure on her body, causing excruciating pain.
Yet she never made a sound. Her arms holding Xie Ningyuan tight didn’t slacken in the slightest as she mechanically repeated the action.
Witnessing this, both Master Wuliang and Yuwei Zhenren fell silent.
They knew all too well the immense pain Lu Sangjiu was enduring, and a deep sense of shock resonated within them.
’This young woman’s willpower is beyond that of any ordinary person. If she survives this, her future will be truly limitless!’
At the same time, of course, they were also filled with shame.
Even Master Wuliang, who had felt he was being extremely lenient with them earlier, understood deep down that everything that had transpired today was incredibly unfair to this young woman.
Yet in the end, it was this very person—the one they had oppressed with their authority—who had turned around and saved the Gold and Silver Gate, and the lives of two Body Integration Realm cultivators!
An unknown amount of time passed. Lu Sangjiu’s body had grown so numb she could barely feel the pain anymore when she finally heard Xie Ningyuan’s hoarse voice whisper in her ear.
"...Why did you come back?"
Light suddenly flooded Lu Sangjiu’s numb eyes, and her death grip on him finally loosened slightly.
Without stopping the flow of Spiritual Energy, she placed her hands on his shoulders to look into his eyes. "You’re lucid?"
Xie Ningyuan looked incredibly weak, but his eyes had returned to their normal black.
He looked at Lu Sangjiu and asked again, "...Why did you still come back?"
Seeing that he had regained his senses, a relieved smile finally broke across Lu Sangjiu’s face. "Because... I don’t like watching my friends die in front of me. Xie Ningyuan, you’d better stay alive!"
Her greatest pain had always been watching Bai Sheng die before her very eyes.
She hadn’t been in time to save her then, but today... she was finally in time to save him!
Xie Ningyuan gazed at Lu Sangjiu. She was a complete mess, yet the image seemed to freeze in his mind as the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
’I will never forget this,’ he thought. ’She was smiling, yet she commanded me with such overwhelming dominance: Stay alive!’
Now that Xie Ningyuan was lucid, the crisis was essentially over. He gently pushed back the Spiritual Energy Lu Sangjiu was channeling, severing their connection.
Then, he began circulating his own Spiritual Energy, striving to suppress the Heart Demon.
He had just seen the ground littered with the dust of spent Spirit Stones—a truly shocking amount.
’She’s always been so frugal,’ he thought, ’yet for my sake, she nearly exhausted her entire fortune.’
’She... really does want me to live, doesn’t she?’
’In that case... I’ll do my best to live.’
Seeing the Demonic Qi around Xie Ningyuan gradually dissipate, Master Wuliang and Yuwei Zhenren finally let out a sigh of relief, slumping to the ground and panting heavily.
They exchanged a look, both sharing a sense of profound relief at having survived the ordeal.
Lu Sangjiu, for her part, was holding on through sheer force of will, refusing to collapse.
She gripped the Domination Map tightly, stood guard by Xie Ningyuan’s side, and glanced back at Master Wuliang and Yuwei Zhenren.
’If these two old fossils decide to take advantage of the situation and attack,’ she wondered, ’can I get Xie Ningyuan out of here safely?’
Sensing her wary gaze, Master Wuliang and Yuwei Zhenren immediately understood what she was thinking.
Master Wuliang gave a bitter smile. "Lu, there’s no need to be so wary of us. The way events have unfolded today... it’s a complex situation, and it’s difficult to assign blame."
"But it is an indisputable fact that you saved the Gold and Silver Gate from ruin. We are not so ungrateful as to attack you at a time like this."
"As for Jichen..."
Master Wuliang sighed, uncertain how to proceed.
Although Jichen nearly destroyed the Gold and Silver Gate, he ultimately didn’t kill a single member of the sect. In fact, it was his effort to save our disciples that caused him to expend so much Spiritual Energy that he lost control and became completely Fallen into Demon.
But with the Gold and Silver Gate sect buildings destroyed to this extent, if no one is held accountable, we will lose face entirely and become the laughingstock of all the Cultivators in the world!
For a moment, Master Wuliang didn’t know how to handle the situation and couldn’t help but glance at Yuwei Zhenren.
Having gone through this ordeal, Yuwei Zhenren could no longer act as imperiously as before, so she remained silent.
Seeing their attitude, Lu Sangjiu breathed a small sigh of relief. ’At least for now, they probably won’t take advantage of the situation.’
’Truly, shameless people like Bai Heng are a rarity in this world.’
Speaking of Bai Heng, he had sensed trouble early on and had Ye Zhiyao help him sneak away. By the time Yuwei Zhenren came to her senses and wanted to settle the score, he was long gone.
But she was certain this matter wasn’t over. In the future, even if she had to go to them herself, she would make the Seven Emotions Sect give her an explanation!
Just as the four of them were locked in a delicate standoff, a spatial rift suddenly tore open above the Gold and Silver Gate’s main plaza.
Two bald, old monks stepped out of it, landing on the plaza.
Seeing the newcomers, Master Wuliang gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Master Ting Chan, you’ve finally decided to grace us with your presence!"
’He shows up right after everything’s over. A little later and he’d be collecting our corpses!’
Ting Chan glanced at Xie Ningyuan in the distance, a flicker of impatience and loathing in his eyes, but he refrained from showing too much emotion in front of others.
He then simply nodded to Master Wuliang and his companion. "My apologies. I was in seclusion. It was only when Ming Jue came to find me that I saw your Communication Talisman and learned Jichen was in trouble."
Ming Jue was the other old monk beside Ting Chan. Although he only had a Divinity Transformation Cultivation, he was Xie Ningyuan’s master.
He held Xie Ningyuan’s Life Token, so he knew his disciple was in danger but not where he was. He had no choice but to seek help from Ting Chan, who was in the Body Integration Realm.
Coincidentally, Master Wuliang had also sent a Communication Talisman to Ting Chan, which allowed the two monks to pinpoint their location.
Unlike Ting Chan’s detached attitude, Ming Jue rushed over anxiously the moment he saw Xie Ningyuan.
"Disciple, how are you?"
Lu Sangjiu stopped him. "He’s doing his utmost to suppress his Heart Demon. Don’t disturb him right now."
The moment he heard the words "Heart Demon," a look of anguish and heartache flashed across Ming Jue’s face.
"...It’s all my fault. If I, your master, had watched over you properly back then and not let you be captured by that demoness from the Moon Palace, you never would have ended up like this."
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