The halo around the Star Gate had yet to fully fade when the sea breeze of Sea God Island swept in, carrying a salty, bitter sorrow. When Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the others saw the frost-white strands at Bo Saixi's temples and the deep lines at the corners of her eyes, even the ever-composed Tang San unconsciously clenched his fists. His voice trembled with undisguised shock. "Senior, your appearance..."
Bo Saixi gazed at the rolling waves in the distance. Her voice was so soft it seemed ready to scatter in the wind as she recounted Tang Chen's ordeal from beginning to end—the deadly poison from being Parasitized by the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King, the demigod body he had attained through the Asura God's first eight trials, the backlash of Asura divine power after he regained consciousness, and the mere three days of life he had left. Every word struck their hearts like a heavy hammer, until even the briny scent in the air seemed tainted with bitterness.
No one interrupted this belated confession. Only when Bo Saixi raised her hand, revealing the blood-red star in her palm glimmering with a mournful beauty beneath the daylight, did they learn that it was a promise Tang Chen had carved with the last of his divine power—to build a wooden cottage together in the Star Dou Great Forest after she sacrificed herself to the Sea God. Yet that promise had ultimately become a mirage. When Tang Chen turned into motes of light and vanished three days later, Bo Saixi's dark hair had turned snow-white overnight. The sight made Oscar instinctively turn his head away, unable to bear looking any longer.
Bo Saixi's gaze fell upon Lin Zhixia. Her lips moved, but before she could speak, Lin Zhixia gently shook her head.