Hard to Be a Good Person

Lei Qiqi gradually calmed her emotions. The instant she touched the Battle Token Pillar, she had already adjusted herself to her best state. Dense spiritual qi slowly flowed from her palm into the Battle Token Pillar.

She had watched Zhou Pinghua's earlier attempt to draw it out, and had vaguely grasped a trace of the Battle Token Pillar's characteristics.

Brute force would not do, nor could one rush it.

Only by guiding it with calm, unbroken spiritual qi could there be a sliver of hope.

Had Lu Feng known Lei Qiqi's thoughts, he would certainly have praised her. This method was fundamentally consistent with what he had concluded after his repeated observations.

The formation on this Battle Token Pillar was called the Ephemeral Spirit Abundant Array. It was a Heavenly-grade late-stage formation. Without the vast reserves of spiritual qi possessed by someone at the Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage, there was absolutely no possibility of breaking it head-on.

Fortunately, this formation did not possess offensive properties. It was an auxiliary Entrapment Array.

Its purpose was to make the spiritual qi of anyone who entered it dense and tangled, unable to circulate. The more they resisted, the stronger the formation became.

Only by responding with gentle, peaceful force could one possibly seize a thread of survival after entering the formation.

By touching the pillar with one's hand, the person themselves did not enter the formation, but the spiritual qi flowing inside would still be affected by the formation to a certain extent. The slightest carelessness would lead to the same fate as Zhou Pinghua.

Although Lei Qiqi had made preparations, once she truly reached the space within the pillar, she discovered that her spiritual qi was simply too weak and thin. Perhaps with clever force, she could achieve a slightly better result than Zhou Pinghua had in the end, but drawing out the Convex Battle Token would likely still be difficult.

Whoosh—

After a difficult bout of probing, Lei Qiqi's spiritual qi successfully touched that protrusion and drew the Convex Battle Token to the center of the pillar.

"How could this be..."

Lei Qiqi's face turned pale, her eyes filled with shock. She suddenly sensed a peculiar force emanating from the Convex Battle Token. To draw it out further, she not only had to control her own spiritual qi well, but also split her attention to control the force coming from the Convex Battle Token and avoid being affected by it.

These two forces were one swift and one slow, one fierce and one gentle...

It would not be excessive to call them four different kinds of force!

Even in a normal state, she might not be able to control them properly while dividing her attention, much less when her spiritual qi was being affected by the formation.

The reason Zhou Pinghua had collapsed instantly earlier was likely that this terrifying force had entered his body along the spiritual qi he was guiding, then detonated the spiritual qi that had been condensed and stagnated under the formation's influence.

Gongsun Zhe sensed Lei Qiqi's predicament. Seeing her body tremble slightly and the difficulty on her face, he knew she was already nearing her limit.

"Qiqi, try a little harder. For me, and for our future, you must obtain the Convex Battle Token."

"With it, we'll have a chance to enter the Grand Illusionary Realm. It will also fulfill my family's graduation requirement for me."

"Once we return home, my standing will surely rise because of this. Then I'll introduce you to my father. In his delight, the old man certainly won't object."

Lei Qiqi's expression tightened. Influenced by Gongsun Zhe's words, all those beautiful expectations surged up within her heart. Gritting her teeth, she secretly activated a forbidden art.

Already just one step away from the Five Elements Realm, with the forbidden art's support, she actually reached the critical point of breakthrough beneath this immense pressure.

Gongsun Zhe sensed the change in Lei Qiqi's aura as well, and his eyes immediately filled with delight.

"Quick, Qiqi, quick! Don't suppress it. As long as you break through to the Five Elements Realm, with the sudden increase in strength, you'll definitely be able to draw out the Convex Battle Token."

Lei Qiqi's face changed at his words. She understood her current situation very clearly. If she forcibly broke through, she might indeed have a chance to borrow that force and draw out the Convex Battle Token, but she would be unable to avoid injury no matter what. Worse still, if the breakthrough failed and she suffered backlash, she might be injured even more severely than Zhou Pinghua.

The risk was simply too great!

"Quick!" A trace of Wrathful Intent rose in Gongsun Zhe. Seeing Lei Qiqi still hesitating without making any move, he could not help wanting to beat her to death.

Yet the circumstances forced him to put on a smiling, hypocritical front. Knowing Lei Qiqi's temperament well, he also knew that at a time like this, he absolutely could not threaten her harshly.

Lei Qiqi was the typical sort who yielded to softness but not hardness.

"Qiqi..." Gongsun Zhe's voice grew heavier as he solemnly said, "Since we met, I've never asked anything of you. But this time, I'm asking you to help me no matter what."

Considering what Lei Qiqi was worried about, Gongsun Zhe added, "No matter how this ends, my feelings for you will not change in the slightest. Everything I promised you will be fulfilled as agreed."

Seeing Lei Qiqi waver, a glint of delight flashed through Gongsun Zhe's eyes, and he pressed harder. "Even if you suffer grave injuries this time, I will remain by your side. I will never abandon you through life or death. If my father disapproves of your family background in the future, I... even if I have to leave my family, I will never abandon you."

By the time he finished, Lei Qiqi's eyes were already wet.

When the words "never abandon you through life or death" and "leave my family" left his lips, Lei Qiqi finally chose to believe Gongsun Zhe.

With a ruthless resolve, her aura abruptly surged. A powerful yet soft force swiftly wound itself around the Convex Battle Token from her palm. No longer caring about restraining that other force, she desperately pulled outward.

Pfft—

Affected by the formation, Lei Qiqi violently spat out a mouthful of blood, but her expression remained resolute. Her raised hand was forced into a bend by the pressure, yet she did not waver in the slightest.

This sight filled Shao Yang with anguish and reluctance. He could no longer tell whether Lei Qiqi was clinging to wealth and power out of vanity, or whether she had truly given Gongsun Zhe her heart.

Seeing what was happening inside the Battle Token Pillar, the joy on Gongsun Zhe's face became increasingly obvious.

The Convex Battle Token, which had originally floated in the center of the pillar, had now sunk and dropped. It was only an inch away from Lei Qiqi's palm. With just a little more force, it could be drawn out.

Success hinged on this one effort.

But Lei Qiqi seemed to have gone limp. There was not a trace of color left on her face, and she looked as though she might collapse to the ground at any moment.

"Qiqi..."

"Just a little more..."

Hearing Gongsun Zhe's voice, Lei Qiqi regained a trace of clarity. Thinking of all she had endured along the way, her heart filled with unwillingness.

They had already come this far. How could she accept letting go now?

Turning back, Lei Qiqi looked at Gongsun Zhe, her eyes full of complicated emotions.

"If you betray me in this life, I won't let you go even as a ghost!"

As soon as she spoke, Lei Qiqi suddenly wept blood and let out a pained roar.

She had actually burned her own essence blood, willing to deplete her lifespan for nothing more than a brief increase in strength.

Pop—

A sound like pulling up a radish came from the pillar's surface, and an utterly black Convex Battle Token landed in Lei Qiqi's hand.

She had finally succeeded!

Bang—

Before she could even rejoice, the formation that had not yet been stopped burst forth all at once.

Lei Qiqi was sent flying backward, hurled nearly ten meters away. The Convex Battle Token also slipped from her hand in midair.

Gongsun Zhe reacted swiftly. He leaped up and chased after her, but just as he was about to catch her, he saw the Convex Battle Token fall loose. He immediately twisted around and reached for it instead.

As Lei Qiqi flew backward and witnessed this scene, her eyes filled with desolation, and she could not help coldly mocking herself in her heart.

By sheer coincidence, Lei Qiqi was flying toward Shao Yang.

Shao Yang had not wanted to interfere, but seeing this, he raised his hand and sent out a stream of spiritual qi, steadily catching Lei Qiqi.

At that moment, Gongsun Zhe caught the Convex Battle Token. When he turned his head, he happened to see Shao Yang supporting Lei Qiqi.

Filthy!

The word burst into Gongsun Zhe's mind instinctively. It felt as though his woman had been sullied, and his favorable impression of Lei Qiqi plummeted once more.

Watching the heavily injured and weakened Lei Qiqi from afar, Gongsun Zhe was utterly unwilling to take her back. Yet given the present circumstances, if he left her alone, it would surely damage the Gongsun Family's reputation.

Helpless, Gongsun Zhe could only put on that hypocritical expression again and rush anxiously toward Lei Qiqi, looking deeply distressed.

But the first person he looked at was not Lei Qiqi, but Shao Yang. Even in such a situation, what Gongsun Zhe thought of first was still provoking Shao Yang.

Gongsun Zhe yanked Lei Qiqi over, snorted at Shao Yang as though showing her off, then scooped Lei Qiqi into his arms right before Shao Yang's eyes.

The scene seemed to say: Even if something is rotten beyond measure, as long as I refuse to let go, you will never have it!

Shao Yang sighed inwardly. From Lei Qiqi's eyes, he sensed a trace of resistance and blame toward him, as though helping her up just now had been a mistake.

He could not help reflecting that it was hard to be a good person.

At the same time, he secretly made up his mind that if there was a next time, he absolutely would not be so softhearted again.

Holding Lei Qiqi, Gongsun Zhe said with doting "affection," "You've worked hard. Rest well and try to recover as soon as possible."

Lei Qiqi tightly gripped Gongsun Zhe's arm. Biting her lip in grievance, she said dejectedly, "This time, my Five Elements Qi Source has already scattered, and my meridians have been severely injured. Without a pharmacist of the Heaven Soul Realm stepping in, I'm afraid I will never reach the Five Elements Realm again in this life. Even if I recover from my injuries, my strength will likely be far inferior to what it was before."

"It's fine," Gongsun Zhe replied flatly. "Now that we have the Convex Battle Token, you no longer need to use your strength. Once I return from the Grand Illusionary Realm, we'll set out for home."

That was what he said, but his thoughts painted an entirely different picture.

The exit of the Grand Illusionary Realm was not within the Eastern Ping Spirit Prison. When the time came, he had no intention of returning here at all.

As for Lei Qiqi, she was merely a woman. Gongsun Zhe had never taken her seriously from beginning to end. She was only a tool for humiliating Shao Yang.

Lei Qiqi was also a woman with deep thoughts. Under these circumstances, she could not help being more guarded. After settling her injuries somewhat, she said, "I'll enter the Battle Realm with you."

In Lei Qiqi's view, even with the Convex Battle Token, Gongsun Zhe's strength might not necessarily be enough to enter the Grand Illusionary Realm. At that point, he would have no excuse to evade the matter and would surely take her back to the Gongsun Family as promised.

Gongsun Zhe hesitated for a moment. On further thought, perhaps keeping Lei Qiqi around might still have some use at a crucial moment—for instance, luring Shao Yang into some trap...

And if nothing else... she could ease his physical loneliness when he was bored.

He had never properly played with a woman in such a heavily injured state.

"Fine!" Gongsun Zhe gently lifted Lei Qiqi's chin and said dotingly, "Then enter the Battle Realm with me. I will certainly keep you safe."