His gaze pierced through layers of obstacles, through the long-dried-up Primordial Soul Spring, and looked towards the dark bottom that represented absolute nothingness.
There was nothing there.
No...
Wrong!
In the final moment before Xiao Han's Divine Eye power was about to collapse, he finally "saw" it!
In that endless void and darkness, an ancient rune, more minute than dust, smaller than a mustard seed, and almost imperceptible to any divine sense, sensed his probing and quietly lit up a faint light that seemed to be extinguished at any moment.
The shape of the runes...
Xiao Han's breathing stopped completely at that moment.
That was... a miniature World Tree!
The existence of that World Tree Rune was like a red-hot branding iron, searing into Xiao Han's fading consciousness.
Vitality!
"That's it!" Mei'er's voice was sharp and urgent, trembling with a hint of relief after surviving a catastrophe. "The ultimate balance of the ancient times! It can sever the forced link between you and the Shura Yin Heart! But... but activating it requires a sacrifice, a massive amount of the purest life essence!"
Sacrifice... the source of life...
Xiao Han's gaze involuntarily fell on the figure lying quietly beside him, whose breath was so weak as to be almost non-existent.
Lin Qingxia.
The only key.
Let him awaken her with his own hands, and then let her burn out her last breath for him?
This is a billion times more painful than being consumed by the Asura Will.
"Wishful thinking." The jailer seemed to sense the intense fluctuations in Xiao Han's mental state. Although he was unaware of the existence of the rune, a subtle resistance from his prey displeased him.
He intensified the assimilation efforts.
"Crack... crack!"
The dark red Asura crystal had completely devoured Xiao Han's right shoulder and was spreading towards his heart at a visible speed. Waves of violent, bloodthirsty killing desires, like a flood bursting its banks, were frantically assaulting the last line of defense in his sea of consciousness. His vision began to blur, and the figures of the jailers overlapped with the corpses of countless gods and demons. He even felt an impulse to kneel down and submit, to welcome this supreme power.
Consciousness is being replaced.
At this critical moment, Xiao Han made a decision that astonished even the jailers.
He gave up all resistance.
As the assimilating force continued its relentless advance, at the same time, it condensed its remaining, soon-to-be-crushed divine soul power into an invisible bridge spanning life and death!
"Qingxia! Linglong! Trust me!"
A roar originating from the deepest part of the soul reverberated through the void!
One end of the soul bridge gently connected with Lin Qingxia's nearly frozen consciousness; the other end forcefully pierced through the barrier of the Soul-Weaving Cocoon, touching the soul essence of Su Linglong that was being reshaped in chaos!
A gamble of three souls! Their fates are intertwined—one prospers, all prosper; one suffer
"Ah, the lament of ants."
Seeing this, the jailer let out a disdainful sneer. He regarded it as a futile struggle in despair, a ridiculous act of a dying man trying to awaken his companion. In order to complete the shaping of this perfect vessel as soon as possible, he instead increased the pouring of energy.
However, he didn't know.
Within the soul bridge constructed by Xiao Han, there were no demands, no commands.
Only a series of images, like the gentlest imprints, flowed slowly. From their first encounter at the Imperial Capital Academy to their life-and-death bond at the Dragon-Locking Well, from their side-by-side battles at the Star Sea Graveyard to their selfless protection on Soul-Weeping Island... and, of course, the promise he had yet to utter about the future.
"Live on..."
Lin Qingxia did not open her eyes.
But her dying embers seemed to hear the deepest call, and with unprecedented resolve, they burst into flame!
The last wisp, the purest essence of life, was poured into the Soul Bridge without reservation! Guided by Xiao Han's divine soul, it transformed into a stream of emerald light, shooting with unparalleled precision towards the bottom of the Soul Spring, towards the World Tree Rune that had been dormant for countless ages!
Almost at the same instant!
Within the Soul-Weaving Cocoon, the newly born, pure and translucent soul sensed the crisis in the outside world and the determination of its companions. It was a bond that transcended words, a trust engraved in the very essence of the soul.
Su Linglong instinctively transformed the purest soul power, born from the rebirth of the Extreme Ice Phoenix during her self-reconstruction process, into an icy blue torrent that fiercely merged into the Soul Bridge!
Life and soul!
Two supreme forces, representing creation and purity, converged perfectly through Xiao Han's mad "bridge," and were simultaneously poured into that dust-like rune!
Buzz--!
In an instant, the earth shook!
At the bottom of the Soul Spring, the miniature World Tree Rune burst forth with a soaring emerald divine light!
That light was sacred, vast, and full of endless vitality! It was like the first ray of light at the beginning of the universe, instantly overwhelming the suffocating blood-red aura of the Shura Yin Heart! The black mist of the entire Soul-Weeping Island was swept away, and all the withered, dark blue light flowers bloomed again at this moment, more splendid than ever before.
"The power of the nascent root! This... this is impossible!"
For the first time, the jailer's face, usually composed of rigid rules, revealed utter horror. His usually calm and collected tone was now filled with a trembling disbelief.
He was outmaneuvered! Outmaneuvered by an ancient being he had never taken seriously, across endless time and space!
"Smash it!"
The jailer roared, finally revealing his true power as a guardian. A pitch-black chain imbued with the dark laws of the jailer, like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, tore through space and shot towards the bottom of the Soul Spring, attempting to destroy it before the runes were fully activated!
However, that emerald light had already formed an indestructible barrier.
The black chains struck the barrier, melting away like ice and snow, instantly repelled and purified, leaving not even a ripple.
Under the divine light, the hideous Asura crystals on Xiao Han's right arm let out a mournful cry of unbearable burden, and then shattered inch by inch, turning into dust and scattering in the wind.
That forced assimilation from blood and soul was forcibly interrupted!
"Snap!"
Almost simultaneously, the purple Soul-Weaving Cocoon in mid-air cracked open.
A completely new, cold, and noble figure slowly walked out.
She was dressed in white, her black hair flowing like a waterfall. Her skin seemed to be sculpted from ancient ice, without a single flaw. Between the opening and closing of her eyes was an endless chill that seemed to have frozen for eternity, and a sharp edge that could pierce the soul. Her aura was vast and pure, and she had already firmly stepped into the High-Rank Martial Grandmaster!
Su Linglong, reborn from the ashes!
"Jailer," her voice was icy, devoid of any emotion, yet seemingly containing the most chilling law of the universe, "The contract has been broken; you have crossed the line."
As soon as she finished speaking, she pointed.
The temperature on the entire island plummeted to freezing point, even the laws governing the flow of air were frozen.
The tide has turned!
A thousand years of planning, ruined in an instant!
The jailer looked at the reborn Su Linglong, at Xiao Han whose Asura power had been purified, and at the World Tree Rune were still continuously releasing life energy, and let out a roar of extreme unwillingness.
Since I can't have it...
He suddenly ripped open his own chest!
There was no flesh or bones there, only a wildly spinning, all-consuming dark vortex!
"Then let's all perish together!"
"I no longer want the job of a jailer!"