Bei Qingtang pressed against his chest, carrying piercing coldness and endless exhaustion.
Xu Changqing's whole body stiffened. Instinctively, he raised a hand and stroked her white hair.
Yet what his fingertips felt was the roughness and decay of withered wood.
He activated Creation Force, sending a thread of pure vitality through his palm and into Bei Qingtang's body, hoping to nourish her ruined frame.
But no matter how much he sent, once that vitality entered Bei Qingtang's body, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, swallowed clean in an instant without raising even a ripple.
It was as though her body was a bottomless pit that could never be filled.
Xu Changqing frowned tightly and circulated the Eternal Everlasting Spring Art, pushing the power of vitality to its limit and continuously transferring it into Bei Qingtang's body, but it was still to no avail.
"It's useless..."
A trace of helplessness flashed through Bei Qingtang's clouded eyes. Her voice was hoarse yet calm. "This is a curse in my bloodline, the backlash of the Nether River Shackles.
"No matter how high one's cultivation is, this curse that has seeped into my soul and bloodline cannot be undone."
She raised her hand and stroked the black markings on her face, a hint of relief in her tone. "All these years, I exhausted every effort trying to break the shackles, trying to restore the Bei Clan.
"But in the end, not only did I fail to get what I wanted, I even dragged down the Blackwater Dark Serpent and brought misery upon myself.
"Junior Brother, I'm tired.
"I don't want to struggle anymore. I don't want to keep running about.
"I only want to rest here quietly."
Seeing her desolate appearance, Xu Changqing felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.