Neural Partners

The moment the blood-red cocoon exploded, it formed a massive mushroom cloud. It surged upward, sweeping white clouds together across the sky, then spread outward, destroying buildings and swallowing every living person in New York City. The blast wave toppled the city walls and snapped every tree nearby.

"With an explosion that big, His Eminence is probably in grave danger. Zhong Hunmie certainly knew how to find help. That power is terrifying!" Lei Zhenyun said, worry and astonishment mingling in his voice.

"I believe His Eminence will be spared," Huang Tieyi said gravely, his voice full of sincerity.

"I believe my teacher won't..." Bibi Dong activated the power of her skull bone. The vertical eye on her forehead flickered as she searched the direction of New York City for signs of life amid the explosion. Pfft! Blood sprayed from her mouth. Her vertical eye shattered, her face turned white as paper, and she fainted.

Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Ling Yuan Douluo caught Bibi Dong and gently laid her to one side.

"It must be a backlash of spiritual power. There's something over in New York City we can't probe," Golden Crocodile Douluo said, staring that way with a grave expression.

The Rakshasa God's divine consciousness within Zhong Hunmie had been absorbing the fear and resentment of New York City's people as they died without warning. She held fast to the Angel God's divine consciousness, Qian Yuhan, within the massive angelic bell, preventing her from leaving Qian Xunji's body.

When the mushroom cloud dispersed, Jade Rakshasa's divine consciousness carried the resentment and fear she had absorbed into Qian Xunji's mental space. She rushed forward and wrapped Qian Yuhan tightly in her arms. The resentment and fear battered Qian Yuhan's divine consciousness, filling her with agony.

One moment Qian Yuhan's face twisted with ferocity; the next, it looked pitiful. Then came fear, then madness...

Qian Xunji's soul quietly watched Qian Yuhan's wretched state. He felt no relief, only fear. What good could come of seeing a god's most humiliating side so clearly?

Qian Yuhan soon realized she was in Qian Xunji's mental space. She could simply leave and dump the resentment and fear on him.

But when she tried, she discovered that Jade Rakshasa's vanished divine consciousness had laid a trap for her. Not all the resentment and fear of New York City's people had entered her divine consciousness. Some had become chains that wound tightly around it, trapping her inside Qian Xunji's mental space.

"Ah! Damn you, Jade Rakshasa! I'll kill you! Kill you and grind your bones to dust..." Qian Yuhan flew into a rage, her voice seething with hatred. The resentment and fear kept battering her divine consciousness, torturing her mind without letting her shatter and escape. It was torment without end.

Qian Yuhan rolled around in agony, cursing, unable to stop.

Qian Xunji desperately wanted to leave his mental space and check his body, but the Angel God's divine consciousness still held firm control. He could do nothing.

Qian Yuhan tried everything, but she could not purge the fear and resentment from her divine consciousness. She wanted to make it self-destruct so it would vanish along with them, but that would severely injure her true divine soul. She could not bring herself to do it.

After all her efforts, Qian Yuhan's divine consciousness was exhausted. She finally made up her mind to self-destruct, but then she spotted Qian Xunji hiding in a corner and crooked a finger at him.

Qian Xunji did not dare defy the Angel God. He stepped forward at once, but before he could greet her, Qian Yuhan grabbed his collar, yanked him toward her, and kissed him.

The kiss came without warning. It left Qian Xunji at a loss. Dry tinder met raging fire.

In that moment, they forgot who they were and the state they were in. Their hands roamed freely over each other, their lips pressed tightly together, and desire erupted...

Huang Tieyi and the others hurried back to Spirit City with the unconscious Qian Xunji, arriving half a month later. They immediately brought him beneath the Angel God Statue in the Offering Hall.

After hearing Golden Crocodile Douluo's account, Qian Daoliu summoned his Martial Soul, the Six-Winged Angel, and cast his Soul Skill, Angel Divine Light's Protection, over Qian Xunji. Angel Divine Light's Protection could shield the body, drive out evil influences, and even purify the soul.

Angel Divine Light shone into Qian Xunji's mental space. By then, the lust of Qian Yuhan's divine consciousness had worn him to a shadow of himself. What they did there required no recovery time for him, and Qian Yuhan had no intention of giving him any. He had become an indefatigable little motor, a perpetual-motion machine.

When negative emotions piled up, people drank, smoked, played games, smashed things, or turned to lust. There were many ways to let them out. Gods had negative emotions too, and they, too, could choose other ways to excite themselves and drive those feelings away.

Qian Yuhan chose lust, leaving Qian Xunji with the unlucky task of doing the work. As they kept making love in the mental space, the excitement gradually wore away the resentment and fear Jade Rakshasa had forced into Qian Yuhan's divine consciousness. Her mental state improved while Qian Xunji's grew worse.

By the time Angel Divine Light's Protection reached the mental space, Qian Yuhan's divine consciousness had completely shaken off the effects of the resentment and fear. She straightened her conjured clothes, followed the light out of Qian Xunji's body, and flew into the Angel God Statue, returning to the Angel God.

Bathed in the divine light, Qian Xunji recovered much of his mental strength and regained control of his body.

Qian Xunji suddenly sat up. Seeing his son's bewildered face, Qian Daoliu ended his Soul Skill and withdrew his Martial Soul.

"Son, are you all right?" Qian Daoliu asked with concern.

"Father, I'm fine. I'm just mentally exhausted. I need time to recover." Qian Xunji tried to stand as he spoke, but found he could not fully control his body and slumped back down.

"Your body has been unconscious for so long that it's stiff. Have someone massage you when you get back to your chambers..." Qian Daoliu waved toward the doorway. Two Soul Masters came in, placed Qian Xunji on a stretcher, and carried him out of the Offering Hall.

Qian Xunji lay quietly on the stretcher, his gaze fixed on the Angel God Statue. Once he was outside the Offering Hall and could no longer see the smaller statue, he turned his eyes to the largest Angel God Statue in Spirit City. His expression was calm as he stared at it, as though he meant to etch the Angel God's face deep into his heart.