Xiao Tian's Sacrifice

"Rongrong, what... what did you say?"

Gao Yang sat bolt upright. He gripped Ning Rongrong's soft shoulders, disbelief written across his face.

"I said, Yang, give our child a name!"

Seeing how excited he was, Ning Rongrong nestled gently into his arms.

She had cut off her long hair, and her bearing had changed as completely as heaven and earth.

Years of wandering had stripped away her air of pampered elegance, leaving her spirited and bold.

Her snow-white skin had turned the color of wheat.

No one meeting her for the first time would ever guess she was a support-type Soul Master.

"A child?! Ours?!" Gao Yang's voice trembled.

"Of course!"

"How many months?"

"I haven't had my period in almost three months."

"Three months... We certainly were at it a lot back then..." Gao Yang's face turned thoughtful. "Wait. You're pregnant, and you were still that wild just now? Weren't you afraid of hurting the baby?"

By the time he said this, their clothes had long since been shredded by the Sword Qi of an impatient Gao Yang.

The whole cave bore traces of their lovemaking...

"We finally fought our way out. I wanted to relax a little..." Ning Rongrong smiled, then lay back in a seductive pose. "Besides, you're rarely in such a playful mood. It would've been such a shame not to join in, hee-hee."

Ever since Bibi Dong launched the Tiger Hunt Operation, life had grown harder and harder for her and Gao Yang.

Sometimes they went days without even finding time to eat or sleep.

But Soul Masters were human too. Ning Rongrong, burdened with a blood-deep vendetta, carried a particularly crushing weight.

Under that pressure, she craved intimacy more and more.

Sometimes Gao Yang was the one who begged for a truce, afraid she would keep going even while injured...

"Little Demoness!" Gao Yang pinched Ning Rongrong's nose, then lay down and pressed his ear to her belly. "What if we hurt the little one?"

"Silly Yang. It's only been three months. What could you possibly hear?"

Ning Rongrong gently stroked Gao Yang's short hair, her eyes soft as water.

Ever since the battle at Yellow Dragon Mountain, revenge had been all either of them could think about.

They hunted Spirit Hall's Soul Masters, fled Qian Daoliu's pursuit, nursed their wounds, and loved each other fiercely whenever they had a moment to spare.

News of the pregnancy brought a measure of warmth back to both their numb hearts.

Ning Rongrong, at least, could no longer remember the last time she had smiled.

"But I think... I really can hear the little one's heartbeat..." Gao Yang said with utter seriousness.

"Yang, this child has come at a bad time..."

Ning Rongrong's words left them both silent for a long while.

Bibi Dong was closing in step by step. They could be alive today and dead tomorrow.

Under such circumstances, a pregnancy was hardly good news.

"Yang, make it quick for the little one."

After a long while, Ning Rongrong took Gao Yang's hand and pressed it against her belly.

Her instinctive joy had faded, and calm had returned.

Letting the child grow would bring endless trouble.

One burst of Gao Yang's Sword Qi, and all those troubles would be gone.

"Yang, why are you hesitating? Once the little one grows any bigger, it'll be harder to send her away."

"Rongrong, perhaps it doesn't have to come to that."

"Yang..."

"Rongrong, trust me."

Gao Yang's words shook Ning Rongrong's resolve. How could a mother bear to let her child die?

"All right..."

"..."

"Then, Yang, what are you going to name the child?"

"Let's give the baby a nickname for now. As for a proper name, we can wait until Martial Soul Awakening."

"Why wait until Martial Soul Awakening?"

"If the child awakens the Seven Kill Sword, she'll take my surname, Gao. If she awakens the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she'll take yours, Ning."

"Yang..."

At his words, Ning Rongrong's beautiful eyes filled with tears.

[After you had a child, both your mindsets changed. Your fighting style was no longer aggressive or reckless. Your single-minded flight made Bibi Dong keenly aware that something was different about you. After several probes, that madwoman confirmed it: you and Ning Rongrong, two fugitives with nothing to lose, once again had someone to hold you back and a weakness to exploit.]

[And so, over the following months, the encirclement around you and Ning Rongrong noticeably loosened. It gave you precious room to breathe. But you knew Bibi Dong was not showing mercy. She was waiting. The day Ning Rongrong gave birth would bring the true crisis of life and death.]

[Faced with this, you and Ning Rongrong clung to hope. You thought there was still plenty of time and that you would find a way out.]

[But as time passed, Ning Rongrong's belly grew larger and larger. You still could not escape Bibi Dong's encirclement. You knew Spirit Hall's Tiger Hunt Operation might soon reach its conclusion.]

[As Ning Rongrong's due date drew near, Spirit Hall suddenly tightened its net!]

[Bibi Dong and Golden Crocodile Douluo each led four Titled Douluo, forming two squads that pursued you relentlessly. With Ning Rongrong pregnant, her support abilities were greatly diminished, and neither you nor Xiao Tian could fight without restraint!]

[Whenever you were about to kill a Titled Douluo, Bibi Dong or Golden Crocodile Douluo intervened. Once they had saved Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo, they withdrew in tacit agreement.]

[You knew Spirit Hall was doing this to wear down your Soul Power and your will. But Bibi Dong had still underestimated you. Time and again, you escaped the encirclement with Ning Rongrong.]

[In just a few days, Spirit Hall lost a hundred Soul Saints, twenty Soul Douluo, and three Titled Douluo. Yet your heart had sunk to the bottom of a valley.]

[You were gravely wounded, Xiao Tian was barely clinging to life, and Ning Rongrong could give birth at any moment. Spirit Hall seemed to have suffered heavy losses, but both Bibi Dong and Golden Crocodile Douluo remained in peak condition!

You knew what they were waiting for: the moment when neither you nor Xiao Tian had even the strength to take them down with you. Then they would strike the fatal blow.]

[Desperate to break the deadlock, you even allowed yourself to be struck by a blade to make it look as though you were dying. But Bibi Dong saw through your plan at a glance and toyed with you instead.

By then, you had fewer and fewer trump cards left.]

[A few days later, as your baby entered the world with a cry, Spirit Hall's Soul Masters completely surrounded you in a cave.

After the pointless words were done, you carried Ning Rongrong on your back, held your daughter in one arm, and gripped the Seven Kill Sword in your other hand.

Together with Xiao Tian, you carved a path through the enemy by sheer force!

That battle made Golden Crocodile Douluo admit that the Seven Kill Sword's quality and potential far surpassed the Clear Sky Hammer!

That battle forced Bibi Dong to reveal her Immortal Body. When she looked at Ning Rongrong, envy entered her eyes. Perhaps she, too, had once wished that man would carry her like this and fight his way out of the secret chamber...

That battle left Spirit Hall's surviving Soul Masters instinctively chilled at the mention of the Seven Kill Sword for the next fifty years!

But human strength had its limits.

In your eyes, Bibi Dong's Eternal Wound drew closer and closer.

To save the three of you, Xiao Tian resolutely spent the last of his strength to withstand that fatal strike.

Then, as your eyes met, your old companion chose, without a moment's hesitation, the fiercest skill a Soul Beast possessed.

**Soul Sacrifice!**]