"With the sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; there is no one else like me in this world!"
The moment the gray light appeared, Long Yaochen could no longer spare a thought for Ma Xiaotao's reaction. He mobilized every shred of Soul Power in his body, sending it roaring through his meridians like a surging river. Dense sacred and radiant energy burst forth in mere seconds!
He could not even remember how long it had been since he had driven his martial soul like this. Although Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire had eased things over the past few days, he would still need several days of rest after returning to recover.
But seeing that ball of gray light flying toward him, it was all worth it...
At the same time.
By a stream on the other side of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A young man lay unconscious in an open clearing nearby. Beneath his black hair was a somewhat handsome face, though it could not hide his thin, gaunt cheeks.
Before him, an Ice Silkworm glowing with a pearly white light wriggled its plump body in lingering fright.
"That scared the life out of me! I thought some monster was trying to steal my person from me!
Good thing it got scared off by my aura!
Hmph! At least it knew better!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm raised his head and danced about smugly.
Then he swiftly shrank down, condensing into a ball of pearly white light that slipped into the young man's chest before shooting into his forehead.
"Yaochen!"
Ma Xiaotao cried out, her face filled with worry as she looked at Long Yaochen, who sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
That ball of gray light had entered Long Yaochen's body before even she, a Soul Emperor, could react.
She had no idea whether this was the opportunity he had spoken of.
At that very moment, Long Yaochen stood within his Sea of Spirit, staring intently at the gray light.
If he made even one wrong move with this "opportunity," he would fall into an abyss of no return.
But for the most important opportunity of this era, for the very foundation of his life, he had to gamble!
Within Long Yaochen's Sea of Spirit stood a Tower of Heaven. "Sacred," "light," and "fire" were the three supports holding up that tower.
And because the supports representing "sacred" and "light" were too powerful, the tower had gradually begun to tilt.
After continuously absorbing Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire over the past few days, the support representing "fire" had strengthened considerably, barely pulling the leaning Tower of Heaven somewhat upright.
But the instant the gray light entered his body, that fragile balance shattered!
That pure radiance, carrying power nearly equal to that of a demigod, was like pouring oil onto flames for his martial soul.
In an instant, the entire Tower of Heaven began toppling rapidly.
The golden light representing absolute divinity surged wildly throughout Long Yaochen's Sea of Spirit!
The tower was about to fall...
"Damn it..."
Long Yaochen's gaze darkened. This was not the first time it had happened, but Long Xiaoyao was not beside him this time.
He could clearly feel the temperature leaving his body. His human emotions were being frantically crushed and ground away, like a lone boat upon the sea about to be swallowed whole by raging waves.
A cold golden glare filled his vision, and his consciousness began to blur. He could even hear murmurs echoing in his ears, chanting praises to the sun.
Did I lose the gamble...?
I worked myself to the bone in my previous life. Was I going to end up like this in this life too?!
No!
I refuse to accept this!
A nameless fire ignited in the deepest part of Long Yaochen's heart, like an invisible hand that fiercely seized him just as he was falling into the abyss!
At that very instant, the gray light that had gradually been dimming suddenly blossomed with dazzling brilliance.
"Child, let me help you!"
After the gray light let out a soft sigh, there was no trace of warmth left within its blinding glow.
Only boundless... deathly intent!
That vast, ocean-like aura of death was not inferior to the previous aura of light in the slightest. Within the Sea of Spirit, it seemed to take the form of a black-robed deity whose face could not be seen.
Rumble—!
The deity reached out and held the falling Tower of Heaven suspended in midair. Then, beneath the relentless erosion of deathly energy—
The Tower of Heaven was slowly righted bit by bit. The Sea of Spirit, which had nearly been completely overtaken by golden divine light, began compressing and erasing that golden light under the unending tide of monstrous deathly energy!
Before the Tower of Heaven could fully return upright, Electrolux's fragmented soul could no longer endure such enormous expenditure.
The deathly energy filling the sky began to recede, while the golden divine light reclaimed some territory.
Some remaining deathly energy did not completely dissipate. Instead, it transformed into a gray support at the base of the tower, faintly visible beside the support of "fire."
At that moment, the stability of the Sea of Spirit's balance far surpassed what it had been before!
Long Yaochen let out a long breath in his heart, followed by an overwhelming surge of joy.
He had won the gamble!
Just as he had anticipated.
And this was all thanks to the insight he had gained from that earlier accident.
Back then, Long Xiaoyao had searched the entire continent without finding flames suited to the quality of his martial soul.
Until he finally swallowed his pride and sought Ye Xishui's Bright Phoenix Flame. Yet the flames containing radiant energy had instead been like lethal poison to him, nearly causing him to be devoured on the spot by his surging divinity.
Fortunately, Long Xiaoyao had exhausted every effort to barely suppress it.
The silver lining was that not only did it restore much of his condition, but it also increased his spiritual power severalfold.
Afterward, master and disciple discovered that as long as they used opposing forces to suppress the "sacred" and "light" supports, the imbalance at the core of his martial soul could naturally be resolved by more than half.
At the same time, forces of the same alignment would instead worsen the problem.
That was why Long Yaochen had never let the old man seek out immortal herbs, and why he avoided the Golden Tree.
Otherwise, one careless move might supplement him straight to death.
Of course, such a method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. It could not last forever.
They could not have Long Xiaoyao remain at his side and exhaust himself just to barely suppress it every time. Moreover, as Long Yaochen's Soul Power continued to grow stronger, the suppressive force of his divinity rose at an explosive rate as well.
Thus, finding a method that could both suppress it and support the flames became the direction the two of them had been researching all along.
Long Xiaoyao's choice was naturally Ma Xiaotao. Long Yaochen believed Ma Xiaotao was certainly important: she could strengthen his flames and suppress the divine-light support.
But... it was not enough!
A single Evil Fire Phoenix simply could not compare to the quality of his quasi-god-tier martial soul.
Long Yaochen also needed someone who could remain by his side at all times and possessed an exceptionally pure dark element.
And that person—was none other than the Undead Scourge, Electrolux!
"Cough, cough! Hah—hah!"
As his consciousness returned to reality, Long Yaochen coughed violently several times and began gasping for air, like a drowning man who had finally broken the surface.
Dragged from humanity to divinity, then forcibly hauled back into humanity by deathly energy, that life-and-death roller coaster had drenched his entire body in sweat.
The moment Ma Xiaotao saw him awaken, she hurriedly knelt before him. The proud Inner Court genius now asked in a voice full of worry:
"Are... are you all right?"
As she spoke, she offered him a handkerchief she carried close to her body, still bearing her distinctive faint fragrance.
Feeling his heart pounding wildly in his chest, Long Yaochen's eyes were full of delight.
The cold gray-white desolation that had once filled the world had nearly vanished, and everything around him seemed to come alive.
That included Ma Xiaotao, who worried over him before his eyes.
A long-lost impulse surged within him. Instead of taking the handkerchief, he suddenly grabbed Ma Xiaotao by the wrist.
Before Ma Xiaotao could cry out in surprise, he gave a sharp pull. Their noses nearly touched, and their warm breaths seemed to intertwine at that moment.
"Worried about me?"
Long Yaochen stared into her faint pink eyes, slightly flustered now, and grinned. His tone was full of teasing.
"Are you afraid you'll become a widow before we even get married?"
Ma Xiaotao's cheeks instantly flushed bright red before his eyes.
Looking at the vibrant world before him, Long Yaochen threw back his head and laughed wildly.
A pearl had lain buried in dust for twelve years; today, the clouds parted, and he finally saw the light!
Before you continue