Guardian Across Time and Space!

"I'm sorry..."

Gu Yue's fingers trembled as she gently caressed his face, which was gradually losing its warmth.

Tears fell silently, one after another, splashing onto his pale, dry lips.

Sensing the life force completely dissipating within the young man, her heart felt as if it were being fiercely squeezed by an invisible hand.

Sharp pain spread, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

"No... don't..."

"I won't allow you to die..."

Gu Yuena's voice was hoarse as she frantically poured her pure Life Energy into the young man's broken body.

She didn't hesitate to even burn her own soul's origin, attempting to hold onto his soul, which was on the verge of crossing the boundary between life and death and completely vanishing.

Meanwhile, Su Ling's consciousness had long since sunk into a void-like sea of spirit.

All external sounds and touches had faded away from him.

Only the System's mechanical voice echoed in the Darkness, carrying a rare hint of loneliness.

"Host, Life Value is only 3%."

"Initiate Rewind Program and jump to the next timeline?"

"Warning: This simulation has failed. Forcibly rewinding will consume all remaining energy, and this System will enter indefinite dormancy."

"After this, your journey will continue alone."

"However, due to Gu Yuena's lingering obsession, her consciousness is highly likely to follow your trace and leap to the new timeline together."

Su Ling's consciousness drifted in the void, a bitter curve tugging at the corner of his lips.

"No need..."

His spiritual form slowly shook its head in the emptiness, radiating endless fatigue.

"This cycle has gone on for too long..."

"It's time... to end it."

It wasn't that he had no other way out.

But the thought of his mother, friends, and everyone connected to him by blood and emotion in this timeline, after he left.

All of them could be destroyed by Gu Yue's wrath, and his heart ached as if it were being torn apart.

"Host! Please reconsider! Rewinding can at least preserve a sliver of hope!"

The System's voice carried urgency.

It knew very well that restarting meant dormancy, and the Host's complete death would be a mutual end.

Su Ling didn't respond immediately.

The image flashed before his eyes: his mother, in this life, crying heartbrokenly over his cold body.

In an even earlier life, Ye Wanqing, torn apart by Soul Beasts, still desperately searching for him by his scent.

These fragmented memories, like the sharpest blades, repeatedly cut into his soul.

"System," a resolute fierceness flashed in Su Ling's consciousness, "tell me, is there any way to truly kill Gu Yue?"

"No matter the cost!"

He knew deeply that Gu Yue had already ascended to the Life God King at the end of the previous cycle, her soul's essence long intertwined with the universe's laws of Life.

Although her power had not yet recovered, her soul's level was extremely high, and regaining her peak was only a matter of time.

Once her injuries healed and she regained the power to crush all beings.

Humanity would inevitably repeat its mistakes, perhaps even facing a more brutal reckoning.

He believed that "monster," stripped of most emotions and left with only rationality and a mission, was absolutely capable of such a thing.

Su Ling didn't consider himself a good person, and his hands were stained with blood.

But he absolutely would not allow everything he cherished to be destroyed again because of him.

Outside, Gu Yue was unaware of Su Ling's desperate resolve.

All her focus was on her fingertips, pure Creation Power pouring into Su Ling's body without regard for the cost, attempting to repair the horrifying cracks.

The surrounding powerhouses watched the bizarre and tragic scene in silence.

"Fengzhi," Bone Douluo whispered, his tone laced with unease, "if this kid really dies here, that woman Ye Wanqing... will she hold us responsible for this bloody debt?"

Ning Fengzhi frowned deeply, his gaze complexly fixed on Su Ling, who was enveloped in dense Life Energy.

"If Su Ling perishes here... given that lady's temperament, the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might have to be buried with him."

He pondered for a moment before making a decision.

"For now, we hold our positions and do not provoke the Soul Beast further."

"Everything will wait until Madam Ye arrives."

"After all, while a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is precious, we cannot afford the consequences of provoking it."

The key was that Gu Yuena was currently using her own essence to heal Su Ling.

The longer this dragged on, the more her strength would be depleted, and the greater her chances of success when she finally made her move.

Beside them, Dugu Bo's eyes flashed with greed and ferocity.

He felt that the opportunity had arrived!

His own injuries were severe; if he waited for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the others to recover and join forces to compete, he would have no chance of winning.

It would be better to seize the moment while everyone was hesitant, snatch Gu Yuena first, and then flee a thousand miles!

Once the thought was settled, he no longer hesitated!

Dugu Bo's figure flickered like a phantom, lunging straight for the dazzling silver-white light in Su Ling's embrace!

His eyes held no trace of Su Ling, only his sole hope for curing his deadly poison—that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

In a flash of lightning—

Su Ling's consciousness was forcibly pulled back to reality by an intense sense of danger.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Dugu Bo's claws, imbued with sickly green poison light, already closing in!

No thought, no deliberation.

Instinct surpassed everything!

His broken body erupted with its last reserves of strength, and he fiercely embraced Gu Yuena, turning with all his might!

He turned his mangled, torn back, utterly exposed, to face the deadly emerald poison claws!

At the same time, he raised his other hand, pressing Gu Yuena's head tightly into the hollow of his neck.

He used everything he had left—his head, his shoulders, his broken body—to erect a final, fragile barrier for her.

His actions were faster than his thoughts, his intention pure—Block! Protect her!

Hiss!

The sickly green poison light tore through the air, carrying a soul-corroding stench, and had already touched the clothes on his back!

"Stop!"

A sharp roar suddenly exploded, as cold as polar ice, carrying boundless rage that swept across the entire scene!

Dugu Bo's movements faltered slightly, but the momentum of his claws did not diminish. Instead, being obstructed only added a sliver of ferocity, making them faster! Fiercer! He slashed down!

"I told you to stop—!!!"

An even more furious roar sounded like thunder. Before the sonic waves had even dissipated!

The space in the center of the long street was suddenly torn apart like a mirror by an invisible, immense force!

A figure appeared out of thin air. One moment there was nothing, the next, she stood proudly in the center of the scene.

She maintained Xue Qinghe's disguise, but her golden eyes held no trace of their former gentle elegance.

Only chilling killing intent that froze everything remained.

The luxurious prince's robes billowed wildly in the wind, rustling loudly.

Pure golden radiance, like liquid gold, surged outwards from her as the center!

The gravel beneath her feet silently turned to dust.

Time itself seemed to freeze at this moment.

Just as Dugu Bo's poisoned claws were about to touch Su Ling's back, a mere hair's breadth away—

A hand, encased in condensed golden light, reached out seemingly casually.

Precise, cold, merciless.

This hand grasped Dugu Bo's wrinkled, bulging-veined neck!