Elsewhere.
Dugu Bo had just suppressed the burning pain in his soul when he anxiously searched for Su Ling's presence.
He absolutely couldn't lose track of this one and only lifeline.
When Gu Yue's aura erupted, his whole body shuddered. It was a tremor that came from the instinct to survive.
"W-what level of life force is this?"
His Martial Soul was trembling, submitting.
He was horrified, but when he saw Su Ling fleeing, his desire to survive overwhelmed everything else.
Without hesitation, he transformed into a green poisonous shadow and raced after Su Ling!
He had to catch Su Ling! This was his last hope of lifting the family curse!
"Stop! Old man says stop!"
Seeing how fast Su Ling was and realizing he couldn't catch up, Dugu Bo's eyes flashed with malice.
He couldn't afford to hold back if he wanted to survive!
"Seventh Soul Skill: Jade Phosphorous True Body!"
"Eighth Soul Skill: Time Freeze!"
"Ninth Soul Skill: Jade Phosphorous Divine Light—!!!"
A terrifying black-green beam, radiating an aura of death that corroded all things and extinguished life,
blasted toward Su Ling's back as he fled ahead.
Dugu Bo held nothing back in this attack!
He only wanted to cripple Su Ling and take him back to force the prescription out of him!
But if Su Ling died, that would prove he had no way to counter the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison either.
Wherever the beam passed, the air hissed and corroded, and even space seemed to warp under the deadly poison.
Feeling the fatal threat behind him, Su Ling's Destruction God Armor instinctively erupted in one last burst of defensive light.
But he knew that in his current state, he'd be crippled even if he survived a direct hit.
He was about to dodge to the side at any cost—
At the corner of the street below, a dazed figure happened to emerge.
It was Ning Rongrong!
Xiao Wu's vicious curse had left her in a mental stupor, and now she was wandering aimlessly through the streets.
As the green poisonous light tore through the night sky, she looked up blankly, the oncoming light of death reflected in her eyes.
"Rongrong! Get out of the way!"
Ning Fengzhi's anguished shout came from afar.
"Is this retribution?"
Ning Rongrong suddenly felt that she was utterly inhuman. She'd coveted her best friend's Soul Rings and Soul Bones, and had even tacitly approved of her father sending people to hunt her down.
Now, facing death, she actually felt a sense of relief. She slowly closed her eyes.
Su Ling's pupils contracted!
Damn it! The protagonist of destiny!
The system's shrill alarm sounded again: She couldn't die! If she died, the timeline would collapse!
Gu Yuena would be waiting at your resurrection point! Then it would all be over.
In that split second, Su Ling barely had time to think! His body reacted faster than his mind.
He gritted his teeth and forcibly twisted around, converting all the strength he'd meant to use to dodge into a defense.
"BOOM—!!!"
The green poisonous divine light slammed into the defensive barrier Su Ling had hurriedly formed!
The Destruction God Armor was worthy of being a divine artifact; its defense was astonishing! It blocked most of the poisonous divine light.
But the terrifying impact that remained, along with the poison that seeped into every crack, still struck Su Ling's already battered body like a heavy hammer.
"Pfft—!"
A mouthful of black blood, mixed with fragments of his organs, sprayed from Su Ling's mouth!
His vision went black. It felt as though every bone in his body was about to come apart.
His body was flung away like a broken kite, but he still clung tightly to the one in his arms... air?
No. At the moment of impact, he'd used his last ounce of strength to yank Ning Rongrong, who stood frozen below, into his arms and shield her beneath him!
The two of them slammed into the wall of a nearby building under the tremendous force!
"Bam!"
Dust billowed everywhere.
The pain blurred Su Ling's consciousness.
He could feel Ning Rongrong trembling in his arms.
Ning Rongrong was completely stunned.
The tremendous force had yanked her off her feet, and she'd thought she was done for.
But the pain she'd expected never came. Instead, an icy embrace, thick with the smell of blood, held her tightly.
At the moment of impact, she'd seen the face beneath his hood, so close to hers. It was pale as paper, yet exceptionally handsome—it was Su Ling!
The very Su Ling she'd despised and looked down on, the one she'd thought was coveting her!
"Wh-why...?"
Ning Rongrong's voice trembled uncontrollably, full of disbelief.
She looked at Su Ling's tightly shut eyes and the black blood continually spilling from the corner of his mouth. An immense, complicated feeling she'd never experienced before crashed over her, almost making her forget to breathe.
"Why... why did you save me?"
She couldn't understand why this boy, whom she'd regarded as a nuisance and an enemy, had used his own body to shield her from a fatal blow at the moment of life and death.
Could it be... that everything he'd done before... really had been because he liked her?
That he'd only seemed so awkward and irritating because he didn't know how to express himself?
Ning Rongrong's trembling fingers gently touched Su Ling's bloodstained face. Tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
She suddenly remembered something her father had once told her: "Some people seem cold on the surface, but their hearts burn hotter than anyone else's."
Su Ling didn't answer. He didn't have the strength to. He could feel his life force rapidly draining away.
He shoved Ning Rongrong into the relatively safe corner of a nearby room, then rasped with the last of his strength, "Hide... don't come out..."
Then, without even looking at Ning Rongrong's shocked and conflicted expression, he struggled to his feet and once again became a staggering shadow, fleeing toward the woods beyond the city!
He had to get away from the crowds! He had to lure Gu Yue away!
Ning Rongrong leaned against the cold corner, watching Su Ling's bloodstained, stumbling figure vanish into the night. Then she looked down at her unharmed body, and an indescribable ache swept over her.
Tears slid down her cheeks without warning.
Dugu Bo watched as Su Ling withstood his full-force attack and even saved Ning Rongrong. Shocked and furious, he was about to pursue him again—
A cold gaze, devoid of any emotion, instantly locked onto him!
Gu Yue appeared in midair not far in front of Dugu Bo, as if she were a ghost.
She glanced toward the room where Ning Rongrong was hiding. A flicker of confusion passed through her eyes.
Why had Su Ling saved her?
But then her killing intent toward Dugu Bo swept the thought away.
"You... attacked him just now?"
Gu Yue's voice was ethereal and cold.
She slowly raised her hand. The temperature around them plummeted, and countless tiny ice crystals instantly formed in the air!
"He... can only be killed by me."
Her words carried a twisted possessiveness and unquestionable dominance.
Dugu Bo's expression changed drastically. As he felt the terrifying pressure, far surpassing that of a Limit Douluo, and the bone-deep killing intent bearing down on him, alarm bells rang in his mind!
Without hesitation, he released his Soul Power once more. "Ninth Soul Skill..."
But before the Soul Skill could fully form—
"Freeze."
Gu Yue parted her red lips and uttered the two icy words.
No Soul Rings flashed. There was no prelude to a Soul Skill.
Just two simple words, as if her command alone could shape reality!
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Centered on Gu Yue, a terrifying chill like absolute zero erupted instantly!
It was as if space itself had frozen!
The green poisonous light, Dugu Bo's body, even the Soul Power he'd just gathered—all of it was completely encased in a single instant by crystal-clear ice that radiated the chill of eternity!
Before you continue