A Grueling Hour

Li Zha looked like a man drenched in blood.

His meridians had been stretched taut not long after the process began.

As the Soul Power from the soul ring above his head passed through them, their inner walls kept tearing apart.

The Undying Lotus Root immediately repaired them!

Torn!

Repaired!

Torn again!

The enhancement brought by the Whale Rubber merging into his body showed its effects at this moment.

Without that piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, the first wave of impact alone would have ruptured his meridians over a large area.

But the soul ring's power was still far too abundant.

Every part of Li Zha's body capable of holding Soul Power was rapidly being filled.

The excess Soul Power began battering his muscles and bones.

Crack!

The middle finger of Li Zha's right hand bent backward.

The bone was dislocated on the spot.

Just as the Undying Lotus Root pushed the bone back into place, his ring finger made another cracking sound.

Then came his wrist.

His elbow.

His entire right arm trembled.

Hearing those piercing sounds, Hu Liena could no longer remain standing still.

She turned and moved before Li Zha. Just as she was about to approach him, she remembered what he had told her.

Her hand hovered in midair.

Besides, she understood perfectly well.

Li Zha could only rely on himself during the absorption of a soul ring.

If he was disturbed by outside forces while absorbing a soul ring, the mild outcome would be Soul Power flowing in reverse; the severe outcome would be death on the spot.

She could not help him!

"Li Zha, can you hear me?"

Hu Liena lowered her voice.

Li Zha did not respond.

He could not respond now, either.

The Soul Power accumulated over more than thirteen thousand years was rampaging through every meridian in his body.

As the soul ring continued to contract, the pressure continued to rise.

Crack!

His left wrist dislocated.

Immediately afterward, a muscle in Li Zha's back suddenly tore apart.

His body lost balance and tilted slightly to the left.

The Flaming-tipped Spear lying across his legs rolled along with him.

Li Zha pressed down on the shaft with his injured right hand and steadied himself again.

That simple movement caused several wounds on his right arm, which had only just been repaired, to split open once more.

White lotus fibers emerged from deep within his flesh, connecting muscles and repairing bones.

The Undying Lotus Root's recovery speed was already incredibly fast.

Yet the destruction caused by the ten-thousand-year soul ring was even faster.

Hu Liena watched blood drip continuously from Li Zha's body.

She stretched her hand forward a little farther.

"Li Zha..."

Li Zha knew Hu Liena was worried about him.

But he would not respond, and he could not respond.

He was devoting all his focus to controlling his Soul Power and absorbing the terrifying black ten-thousand-year soul ring above his head.

Besides, more than half of the soul ring had already been absorbed.

It was no longer possible to stop.

Buzz!

The black soul ring contracted once again.

This wave of Soul Power entering his body charged straight into Li Zha's chest.

His internal organs were squeezed at the same time.

Li Zha bent forward, and a bloody sweetness surged up his throat.

He forcibly swallowed the blood back down.

His breathing rhythm changed at that moment as well.

His previously steady breathing began to grow rapid.

Every breath he drew tore open the wounds on his chest.

Every breath he exhaled sent bloody foam spilling from his nostrils.

Hu Liena anxiously paced back and forth twice.

"Grandpa Gui, what should I do...?"

She was extremely anxious.

Though she was supposed to stand guard for him,

she had always been the one others stood guard for.

When had she ever guarded someone else?

All she could do was drive away a few low-level soul beasts for Li Zha.

At this moment,

the sounds of battle from Gui Mei's side had weakened.

The occasional tremors proved that Gui Mei was still fighting.

Hu Liena desperately wanted to go take a look, yet she could not leave Li Zha here alone.

She could only remain at the cave entrance.

At this moment, the phantom of the lotus root connected to Li Zha's body quietly appeared behind him.

The Black Iron-grade strength his martial soul had long possessed was being pushed to its limit!

Fine cracks continuously appeared across the lotus root's surface.

Whenever a crack formed, white light would flow out from within and smooth the fissures over again.

The process repeated itself over and over.

Hu Liena noticed the changes in the Undying Lotus Root as well.

"Even his martial soul is about to fail?"

She raised her hand, gathering Soul Power in her palm, but she did not dare send it over.

Healing medicines were useless.

And foreign Soul Power would be rejected by the Undying Lotus Root.

As a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, it was the first time she realized her soul skills were completely useless.

She could only stand there and watch.

The feeling made her chest tighten.

The black soul ring descended another half foot and dimmed slightly at the same time.

Just a final little bit remained before the entire soul ring could completely settle over Li Zha's body.

But the strength of this final portion of Soul Power had also reached its peak.

Li Zha's body was already close to saturation.

If he continued absorbing it, he would inevitably exceed the limits of what his body could currently endure.

Yet Li Zha did not slow the speed of his pulling.

Since there was no chance to retreat, he could only finish this final stretch.

Soul Power poured into his body through the top of his head.

A tear first appeared along Li Zha's neck.

Then his shoulders.

Both arms.

His chest.

Wounds appeared one after another everywhere the Soul Power passed!

Buzz!

The phantom behind the Undying Lotus Root began shaking violently!

The light within its lotus joints flickered between bright and dim, and its recovery speed visibly slowed.

Hu Liena had just wiped the sweat from her face when she witnessed a scene that terrified her even more.

The uppermost segment of the lotus root phantom behind Li Zha burst apart.

A large number of light particles scattered outward.

"Li Zha!"

Hu Liena took half a step forward.

"Your martial soul is about to shatter!"

Li Zha simply could not answer her.

At this moment, all his attention was focused on the final section of meridian.

As long as the Soul Power passed through here, the soul ring would fully merge with his Flaming-tipped Spear martial soul!

But this meridian had already suffered more than a dozen tears.

Each inch it advanced caused the damage to spread.

The soul ring could not understand Li Zha's physical condition.

It would only follow the pull and send all its remaining power in at once.

Li Zha mobilized the Undying Lotus Root's restorative power and focused it on repairing the meridians in his chest.

The recovery of the other parts of his body slowed accordingly.

Bones in both arms dislocated in several places.

The muscles in his legs tore one after another as well.

Yet he did not move even half an inch.

The Flaming-tipped Spear was still pinned against his legs.

Its shaft had already been stained red with blood.

The red tassel had absorbed a large amount of the Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf's blood and was drifting on its own.

The final five percent!

Li Zha screamed inwardly and forcibly accelerated the circulation of his Soul Power.

The black soul ring suddenly descended.

At that moment, an abrupt change occurred!

Bang!

A dull bursting sound came from Li Zha's chest.

A large section of muscle across his chest completely tore apart.

It spread to both shoulders!

Both shoulder joints instantly dislocated!

His arms dropped limp at the same time!

"Humph!"

Li Zha let out a muffled groan.

He clenched his teeth hard enough to bite through the tip of his tongue.

Blood flowed down from the corner of his lips.

Hu Liena stood where she was, her mind completely blank.

Li Zha's arms could no longer move.

His chest no longer rose and fell normally either.

She could not hold back any longer.

Tears rapidly welled up in her eyes.

"Li Zha, don't die!"

Hu Liena rushed before him, yet did not dare embrace Li Zha!

Because his earlier warning had remained firmly pressed in her heart!

As long as the soul ring had not disappeared, she could not disturb him!

Even if he looked as though he were already dead!

"Li Zha! Can you hear me?!"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't die?"

"I told you not to absorb it, but you insisted on doing it!"

"If you dare die, then I... I..."

Hu Liena could not continue speaking.

Li Zha's life force had weakened to the extreme.

The meridians in his chest had completely ruptured.

His last strand of Soul Power was trapped there, spreading in all directions.

If this continued, in no more than three breaths, his internal organs would be burst apart by the Soul Power.

At that moment, the Undying Lotus Root stopped repairing him.

All the lotus fibers simultaneously retracted into Li Zha's body.

When Hu Liena noticed this, her limbs went cold.

"Why did it stop?"

"Keep repairing him!"

"Can't you regrow severed limbs?!"

"Why did you stop?!"

The Undying Lotus Root did not respond.

The phantom of the martial soul behind her also froze.

Yet just as despair rose within Hu Liena and she could no longer sense Li Zha's presence,

Boom!

The lowest lotus node suddenly shone with an intense white light.

It grew brighter and brighter!

And the lotus fibers that had originally been scattered throughout Li Zha's body rapidly gathered in his chest once more!