Spirit Veins Severely Damaged! Fragments Stir, Undercurrents Surge Again

Son Gohan cradled the unconscious Ximen Qing as he shot through the atmosphere like an arrow. The power of purification carefully enveloped them both—resisting the lingering eerie chill in the air while desperately nourishing the boy's frail life force. Ximen Qing's entire body was ice-cold in his arms. The blood on his pale cheeks had yet to dry, tiny beads of blood clung to his lashes, and his breathing was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, the rise and fall of his chest barely discernible. Every slight jolt made Son Gohan's heart clench. His fingers tightened instinctively, afraid of disturbing this child who had fought with his life on the line, and even more afraid that the slightest slackening would make him lose him forever.

On the battlefield, the surviving warriors supported one another as they withdrew from the scorched earth. Everyone was wounded, exhausted to the extreme: their clothes were soaked in blood, their armor shattered into fragments, and every step they took weighed heavily upon them. Yet they still stubbornly held their backs straight. Some had broken arms; after hastily wrapping them with strips of cloth, they gritted their teeth and supported their companions onward. Others had chest wounds, every breath pulling at their injuries and making their bodies convulse in pain, yet they refused to fall even half a step behind. They had won this battle, but the cost had been agonizingly high—casualties were severe, and their fighting strength had been greatly diminished. Still, every face bore the relief of surviving a disaster, along with an unextinguished resolve.

After Gray Shadow and Nappa swiftly finished surveying the battlefield, arranged for the warriors to clear away the puppet fragments, and reinforced Earth's outer defenses, they immediately raced toward Son Gohan. Both were covered in blood, their faces smeared with dust and dried bloodstains. The exhaustion in their eyes was nearly overflowing, but what they worried about most was Ximen Qing's safety—the young man who had burned out his spiritual veins to preserve their last hope. He was everyone's pillar, Earth's protector. They could not let anything happen to him.

"Grandpa Gohan, how is Lord Ximen Qing?" Gray Shadow caught up first, his voice so hoarse it was nearly inaudible. His tone was filled with anxiety, his gaze locked tightly on Ximen Qing's pale face. It felt as if an invisible hand had seized his heart, and he barely dared to breathe. Nappa followed close behind, guilt and worry churning in his eyes. He hated himself for failing to support the perimeter sooner, for being unable to share even a fraction of Ximen Qing's burden, ultimately forcing this young man to bear everything and pay such a terrible price.

Son Gohan did not stop moving. His face was as grim as frost as he slowly shook his head, his voice thick with barely suppressed sobs. "It's very bad. His spiritual veins have been completely burned out, and his meridians have been ravaged beyond recognition. His life force is at its weakest point. Whether he can make it through tonight is still unknown. More importantly, the eerie chill of that strange energy has already invaded the source of his spiritual veins. If it isn't removed quickly, it will soon endanger his life. Even if he survives by some miracle, he will most likely never be able to wield even a trace of energy again. He'll be reduced to an ordinary person."

At those words, Gray Shadow and Nappa stiffened completely. The color drained from their faces, while disbelief and despair surged in their eyes. They had never imagined that Ximen Qing would pay such a price. Spiritual veins were the foundation of a warrior; burning them out meant that the once high-spirited, immensely powerful young man would never again don armor and fight, never again stand beside them to protect Earth, never again shine with his own light. He could only become an ordinary person, silently bearing the gap between his former glory and his present state.

"No... impossible!" Nappa's voice trembled uncontrollably, filled with unwillingness and urgency. "Lord Ximen Qing is so strong. How could he become an ordinary person? Grandpa Gohan, there must be a way, right? No matter the cost, we have to heal him and get him back on his feet!"

"I'll do everything I can." Son Gohan's voice was heavy as a boulder, his eyes filled with heartache. "I'll use every bit of my purification power to clear the chill from his body, nourish his damaged meridians, and hold on to his life force with everything I have. But his spiritual veins have been completely burned out, and their source has suffered severe damage. A full recovery is almost impossible. All we can do is save his life with all our strength. As for whether he can wield energy again, that will depend on his own fate."

Gray Shadow and Nappa fell silent. With their heads lowered, tears slid uncontrollably down their faces and fell onto the scorched ground, leaving tiny pits in the dirt. They knew that Son Gohan had already exhausted all his strength. Burned-out spiritual veins were like a tree stripped of its roots; restoring life to them was as difficult as reaching the heavens. But they could not accept it. They could not accept Ximen Qing's sacrifice being in vain, could not accept that the young man who had risked his life to protect everyone would never recover, and could not accept all their hope turning into nothing but a bubble.

Before long, they arrived at the hastily constructed treatment camp. Wounded warriors were everywhere, their groans and sighs intertwined. The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with lingering eerie cold that weighed so heavily on them they could barely breathe. Son Gohan did not dare waste a moment. He immediately carried Ximen Qing into the quietest, safest treatment tent and carefully laid him on a makeshift wooden bed. When he removed the bloodstained clothes, the boy's body was revealed to be covered in countless wounds of varying depths, a horrifying sight. Then Son Gohan immediately activated the purification power within him and cautiously sent it into Ximen Qing's body.

The golden purification power flowed gently into Ximen Qing's meridians like a tender stream, gradually washing away the lingering eerie chill inside him and attempting to nourish his ravaged meridians. But the source of Ximen Qing's spiritual veins had long since dried up, and his damaged meridians were like a torn spiderweb—fragile beyond measure. The moment the purification power entered, it was rapidly consumed. Completely expelling the chill and repairing his meridians was as difficult as reaching the heavens. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Son Gohan's forehead and slid down his cheeks. His face gradually turned paper-white, and his breathing grew increasingly erratic, yet his hands remained firmly pressed against Ximen Qing's chest without pausing for even a moment. He poured out the purification power relentlessly, doing everything he could to preserve the boy's last thread of life.

Gray Shadow and Nappa stood guard outside the tent, their expressions grim as iron. Their eyes were fixed on the entrance, and they hardly dared breathe. Their hearts were full of anxiety and hope. They did not dare enter and disturb Son Gohan. All they could do was wait silently outside and pray—pray that Ximen Qing would wake safely, pray for a miracle, pray that this young man who had fought with his life on the line could stand again and protect this planet they all cherished at one another's side.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the universe, the core fragment stained with the Black Shadow Guardian's black blood drifted alone through the void, emitting faint yet highly penetrating strange energy. At some unknown moment, the once dull and lifeless fragment began to tremble faintly. A dim black halo spread over its surface, growing wider and wider as the strange energy became increasingly dense. Quietly, it established a secret and tenacious resonance with some unknown corner of the deep universe. That resonance was as thin as a thread, yet it never broke, like an invisible bond tugging at an unknown, catastrophic disaster.

That resonance was unusually tenacious, like an invisible thread tightly connecting the core fragment to the Black Altar in the depths of the universe. The patterns on the fragment's surface gradually became clearer. Twisted, vicious marks perfectly matched the patterns on the fragment at the center of the altar that Ximen Qing had seen in his mind. Strands of black mist slowly seeped out from the fragment and drifted ghostlike toward the depths of the universe along the direction of the resonance. They were both messengers carrying word of the Black Shadow Guardian's fate and foreshadowing for a new conspiracy, silently stirring the endless darkness of the universe.

No one noticed this inconspicuous core fragment, much less detected its abnormal movement. Every tremor, every wisp of mist that leaked from it, foretold a new crisis quietly taking shape in the shadows. The Black Shadow Guardian's departure had never been the end. It was only a beginning. An even more terrifying and bizarre threat was slowly awakening in the depths of the universe, following the fragment's aura toward Earth, toward them, drawing closer step by step in utter silence, carrying a bone-piercing chill capable of destroying heaven and earth.

Back in the camp, Son Gohan was still desperately treating Ximen Qing. More than half of his purification power had already been spent. His face was paper-white, his lips dry and cracked, and his breathing so disordered that he was nearly unable to endure it. Yet his hands remained steadily pressed against the boy's chest without stopping for even an instant. Ximen Qing lay on the bed with his brows tightly furrowed, a small trace of bloody foam occasionally spilling from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he was still suffering endless pain. A faint flush sometimes appeared on his pale cheeks, only to be swallowed by pallor again moments later. His breathing alternated between strong and weak, as though he might vanish into the air the next second.

"Qing'er, hold on!" Son Gohan murmured in a voice so hoarse it was nearly out of tune, his eyes full of pain and hope. "You have to hold on. There are still so many things waiting for you to do, so many companions waiting for you to wake up. And this Earth needs you to protect it. You can't fall here like this!"

Outside the tent, Gray Shadow received an urgent report from the warriors. His expression instantly turned grave. He hurried to the tent entrance and called out in a lowered voice, "Grandpa Gohan, this is bad! While clearing the outer edge of the battlefield, we found a weak but strange energy fluctuation. It's exactly the same as the Black Shadow Guardian's aura, and it's rapidly moving toward the depths of the universe, farther and farther away. Our detectors can't pinpoint its exact location at all!"

Son Gohan's movements paused slightly, and gravity flashed through his eyes. His heart skipped a beat—he immediately thought of the core fragment left behind after the Black Shadow Guardian dispersed. That strange fluctuation must have come from it. It seemed that while the Black Shadow Guardian had been driven back, the hidden danger had not been eliminated. That core fragment was very likely the key to activating the Black Altar. Once it joined with the other fragments, it would become the greatest threat to Earth and the entire universe, and Ximen Qing's sacrifice would become utterly meaningless.

"I understand." Son Gohan slowly nodded, his voice heavy as a boulder. "Immediately arrange for a group of powerful warriors who are still in decent condition to closely monitor the movement of that strange fluctuation. Track it down to its exact location at all costs and find out its purpose. If anything unusual happens, notify everyone at once. Also, continue gathering the strange fragments scattered across all regions with all your strength. We absolutely cannot let even one enter the depths of the universe, cannot let them join with the core fragment, and cannot give them any chance to activate the Black Altar!"

"Yes, sir!" Gray Shadow nodded at once, not daring to relax in the slightest. He turned and hurried off to arrange the tasks, his eyes filled with determination. He knew this crisis was far from over. They had to remain vigilant at all times and protect Earth, Ximen Qing, and the hope of all living beings with everything they had. They could not let Ximen Qing's sacrifice be in vain, and they could not let the hard-won peace be swallowed by darkness once more.

Nappa remained outside the tent, his gaze tightly fixed on Ximen Qing's figure within. Guilt and determination churned in his eyes. He silently swore that before Ximen Qing woke up, he would give everything he had to protect Earth, the camp, and all their companions. He would never let any enemy hurt Ximen Qing again, never let this young man who had risked his life to protect everyone suffer even the slightest grievance or harm.

Night gradually fell, and the cool moonlight softly spilled over the treatment tent, dispelling some of the chill and deathly stillness in the air but unable to drive away the heaviness and worry in everyone's hearts. Son Gohan continued treating him with all his strength, pouring purification power into the boy without end and desperately guarding that faint thread of life. Gray Shadow led the warriors in two groups: one kept a close watch on the strange fluctuation, while the other gathered the fragments with all their strength, not daring to rest for even a moment. Nappa stood outside the tent, motionless as a rock, silently guarding the young man who had fought with his life on the line. In the camp, the wounded warriors leaned against one another and recovered in silence, their hearts filled with resolve and hope—hope that Ximen Qing would awaken, hope that the crisis would be completely resolved.

In his unconsciousness, Ximen Qing's brows gradually relaxed somewhat. His face remained pale, but there was now a faint hint of color in it, and his breathing became a little steadier, no longer alternating between strong and weak. It was as though, within his dreams, he felt Son Gohan's care, his companions' protection, and the hope that had not yet been extinguished on Earth. The corners of his lips lifted slightly into a faint smile. There was no regret in that smile, no remorse—only the relief that came after giving everything he had, along with a resolve that had never gone out.

But no one knew that the abnormal activity of the core fragment in the depths of the universe was becoming increasingly obvious, its strange energy denser and its resonance with the Black Altar stronger. That bone-piercing chill had already begun to spread quietly toward the solar system. No one knew that an even more terrifying and bizarre crisis was brewing in the shadows, following the fragment's aura toward Earth, toward them, drawing closer step by step. No one knew what choice Ximen Qing would make after waking up—when faced with his ruined spiritual veins, with being unable to fight again, and with the deadly crisis soon to come; what path he would take, or how he would bear the gap between his former glory and his present state.

The lights of the camp seemed especially faint amid the night, yet exceptionally steadfast, like sparks of hope illuminating the pitch-black darkness and the road ahead. They knew that the path before them remained covered in thorns, full of unknowns and danger. But they would not retreat, and they would not give up. They would continue to stand firm and give everything they had to protect this hard-won peaceful planet, the hope of all living beings, and the young man who had fought with his life on the line. They would quietly await his awakening, await the next round of conflict, and await the final victory that would be theirs.