Restless Heart

Tang Wulin looked at her.

From three steps away, he could see his reflection in her pupils. The face in that reflection showed no anger, no fear, and not even the resentment one would expect from someone who had been deceived.

There was only a deep, long-strided calm that had been maintained through great effort.

"Then tell me,"

Tang Wulin spoke softly, but everyone in the deathly silent valley heard him clearly. "How are you going to take away the Golden Dragon King Bloodline?"

Gu Yuena did not answer immediately.

"Kill me?" Tang Wulin asked on her behalf.

"Uncertain."

What does "not necessarily" mean?

Gu Yuena's eyelashes twitched.

That was the most subtle change on her face, but Tang Wulin had known her long enough to discern what was behind that micro-expression. She was making an assumption that even she herself wasn't sure if it was valid.

"The Golden Dragon King Bloodline is too deeply fused with your body. If we forcibly separate it, you will die."

Gu Yuena said that her tone was more like stating a fact than discussing someone's life or death.

"But if we try a different approach—if you actively cooperate and resonate with my Silver Golden Dragon King Bloodline Silver Dragon King Bloodline within you—it might be possible to transfer power without tearing apart your very essence."

She paused for a moment.

"This is just theory; I'm not sure."

Tang Wulin listened and remained silent for two seconds.

Then he suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, so faint as to be negligible, but Gu Yuena saw it.

There was no sarcasm or resentment in that smile; it was simply a relaxed expression, as if someone had suddenly come to a realization.

"So you never intended to kill me in the first place," he said.

Gu Yuena did not deny it.

Her expression remained cold, calm, and befitting a Silver Dragon King seated atop a frosty sky.

But deep within those pupils, something was gently touched by Tang Wulin's words, rippling out in a wave that only she could feel.

Di Tian stood beside Gu Yuena, his golden eyes coldly observing everything.

He didn't interrupt, but his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Of course he could see what was happening.

The Lord's wavering was more severe than he had anticipated.

She was even discussing with this human "how not to kill him," which was no longer carrying out a plan, but rather finding a theoretical justification for her soft heart.

She was worried about what Yun Jingheng would think of her afterward.

Above the Sea of Spirit, the abnormally large Full Moon still hangs silently high.

The Moon Palace Frostfiend of the moon poured down from the cracks in its surface; the almost transparent cold air carried a faint blue tinge, like shattered starlight.

The moment they came into contact with Yun Jingheng's spiritual body, they seeped into his meridians and then spread along his limbs and bones, peeling away the traces of human life from his physical body inch by inch.

cold.

It's not the cold of the skin and flesh, but the coldness deep in the bone marrow as if it were being soaked in ice water, the coldness as if every nerve ending were being pierced by a fine needle.

Yun Jingheng sat cross-legged under the Moon Laurel Tree, his face calm and his breathing even, though a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

The icy energy swept through his body three times, each time penetrating deeper than the last, from his meridians to his bones, from his bones to his internal organs, and from his internal organs to the very core of his spiritual body.

Logically, his mind should have been completely absorbed in the God Trial, without the slightest distraction.

The condition for passing the Fourth Trial is that the cold energy must be washed away from the whole body and all mortal bones must be shed. This requires him to concentrate all his attention on guiding the flow of the cold energy, and not to waste a single wisp of cold energy or miss a single meridian.

But he couldn't do it.

In a corner of the Sea of Spirit, Zi JI huddled together with Xiao Jiu in her arms, her aura much dimmer than usual.

This wasn't the first time she had been affected by the God Trial.

During the last wave of icy attack, the temperature of the entire Sea of Spirit plummeted to a level that even the Soul Spirit could hardly bear. She had to use her own Soul Power to protect Xiao Jiu, while also diverting some of her power to help Yun Jingheng stabilize his meridians.

Zi JI raised her head and glanced at Yun Jingheng's back.

His spirit remained unmoved under the onslaught of the icy chill; his back was straight, and his breathing was steady. From the outside, he appeared more focused than in any previous God Trial.

But Zi JI knew something was wrong.

She had been immersed in this man's Sea of Spirit for some time, long enough to discern the different weights of his silences.

His true composure is like a deep pool, calm on the surface, yet powerful undercurrents beneath.

Now, this seated figure, though the pool is still, is turbulent beneath the surface.

He was thinking about something else.

As the fourth wave of the cold began, the leaves of the Moon Laurel Tree suddenly trembled.

The silvery-white leaves moved without wind, making a very faint rustling sound, like a very soft sigh.

Then, a clear, ethereal female voice descended from the Full Moon.

Your mind is not at peace.

The moment the words left his mouth, the flow of Moon Palace Frostfiend abruptly ceased.

The cold energy that had already entered Yun Jingheng's meridians was drawn out by a gentle but irresistible force, turning into wisps of silvery-white mist that slowly drifted back into the cracks on the moon's surface.

Yun Jingheng's spiritual body trembled slightly, and he opened his eyes.

His breathing was a beat heavier than usual; it wasn't a lingering effect of the cold, but rather a reaction of alertness when interrupted.

A person truly immersed in God Trial should be bewildered when forcibly interrupted.

He immediately looked toward the source of the sound, his pupils not showing confusion, but rather a brief silence as if someone had guessed something.

"The Fourth Trial was interrupted,"

The voice of Lunar Primordial Sovereign came from the depths of the moon, devoid of any extra emotion, "If you continue in this state, your body will only be frozen and you will surely die."

Yun Jingheng remained silent for a moment.

"... Feel sorry."

Lunar Primordial Sovereign did not respond.

The full Full Moon hung quietly in the center of the sky, its crater patterns clearly etched, like eyes made of some ancient script, scrutinizing him.

The moonlight is waiting.

Yun Jingheng knew he couldn't hide it from her.

Lunar Primordial Sovereign is an ancient deity. Even when her divine consciousness is in a dormant state, she can still sense the fluctuations of every thought in his Sea of Spirit.

The so-called "restlessness" doesn't mean he was caught secretly thinking about other things, but rather that he was never truly able to suppress those thoughts from the beginning.

He rested his hands on his knees and tilted his head slightly upward to look at the Full Moon.

"I don't know if I'll just sit here and wait for the God Trial to be over, and then everything over there will be settled."

"It's Di Tian."

Lunar Primordial Sovereign did not respond; she was listening.

"He fulfilled a condition he had with my father, keeping me trapped on Sea God Island."

Yun Jingheng spoke these words with a restrained tone that was almost flat.

"It wouldn't have been a big deal. I'm trapped because my father owes him a debt, and I accept that."

He paused.

"But he trapped me so he could harm my friends."

"I'm meditating here, while they're fighting desperately over there."

"It's not a question of whether it can be done."

He lowered his eyes. "I'm not worthy."

Lunar Primordial Sovereign did not judge whether his words were right or wrong.

She paused for a moment, then calmly uttered her next sentence.

"I have a method."