Drawing Heart's Blood

Then Ning Ke paid the price for those words he had blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Lou Yunxiao practically treated him like an enormous toy, or an utterly delicious dessert cake.

He nibbled on him endlessly.

Even when he slept, he insisted on holding Ning Ke.

His posture was just like a koala's, hugging Ning Ke tightly like a body pillow and draping himself over him.

There was none of his usual straight, orderly sleeping posture.

He did whatever felt comfortable, whatever he liked.

Once Lou Yunxiao was sound asleep, Ning Ke stared at the stone tablet.

He noticed that the runes in its lower-left corner were much dimmer. Clearly, that was why the Great Demon had escaped.

If he could reinforce the seal, he could draw the Demon back beneath the stone tablet, restore peace to this Small World within the Secret Realm, and prevent the Great Demon from escaping the Secret Realm.

With that thought, he extended a finger and traced the runes on the ground over and over, committing them more firmly to memory.

And as he did so...

His consciousness slowly entered a wondrous world.

He stood within that world, where nothing existed but him and the runes.

The runes scattered, revolved around him, then gathered into a single plane before scattering again.

Each cycle of scattering and reforming deepened Ning Ke's understanding of them.

By the end of the final cycle, Ning Ke felt as though he had become one with the runes.

An unfamiliar voice sounded beside his ear.

Steady and resonant, yet tinged with a sigh.

It said to him:

"Person from another world, I leave this to you."

Before Ning Ke could investigate where the voice had come from, he felt a poke against his cheek.

Then a second, a third, a fourth...

Then cold fingers pinched his cheeks and gently pulled them outward.

His mouth twitched. He opened his eyes to find Lou Yunxiao lying beside him, pinching his cheeks and smiling at him.

"A Ke, you've been asleep for days. You're finally awake."

He leaned in and rubbed noses with Ning Ke, saying happily, "Now that you're awake, play with me. I'm so bored on my own."

He adored the feeling of touching Ning Ke.

So soft, so warm, so fragrant.

How could Ning Ke actually spend his time playing with him? He had to help Lou Yunxiao increase his spiritual energy.

Otherwise, they would never escape this damned place.

So he got up and helped the slouching Lou Yunxiao sit properly.

He tried to reason with him.

"We're not going to play. We need to cultivate together."

"If you can reach the Nascent Soul Stage Peak using the method I give you, I'll grant you one wish."

"Cultivate together?" Lou Yunxiao asked excitedly. "Does that mean dual cultivation?"

"...???" Ning Ke had never expected that, a year later, this brat would bring up dual cultivation again. He still had the same one-track mind.

But now, instead of blushing, he looked utterly thrilled.

The sight sent a chill through Ning Ke.

"...You could think of it that way." Ning Ke did not dare discuss the subject further. Instead, he took the Remnant Scroll Lou Yunxiao had chosen from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion out of his Heaven and Earth Bag.

He said, "I'll explain this cultivation method to you. You need to remember it carefully and put it into practice. If you encounter any blockages, I'll help clear them."

This Remnant Scroll was one of Lou Yunxiao's cheats, allowing him to achieve twice the cultivation progress with half the effort.

With Ning Ke making sacrifices to assist him, reaching the Nascent Soul Stage Peak within six months should not be too difficult.

After reading through the Remnant Scroll, Ning Ke looked up to see Lou Yunxiao sitting cross-legged, his clothes hanging loosely around him. With both hands braced on his knees, he rocked back and forth and from side to side.

He seemed to be having great fun.

As though he had not listened to a single word Ning Ke had said...

It reminded Ning Ke of a kindergarten teacher dealing with a child with ADHD.

He sighed and reached out to straighten Lou Yunxiao's open robe, revealing the hideous sword wound on his chest and... the Foxfire mark he had left on him before.

His fingers brushed over it.

Lou Yunxiao suddenly caught his hand.

The youth pressed his hand against his cheek and mumbled, "So warm. Stay close."

For what seemed like the first time, a trace of sadness came over him. He asked Ning Ke, "A Ke, why can't I see anything?"

"If I could see, I'd be able to see A Ke."

"And, and..." With his other hand, he pointed at Ning Ke's chest. "I've been lying beside you these past few days. I can feel how warm you are here, A Ke, and I can hear it going thump, thump."

He pointed at his own chest. "But I'm so cold here, and there's no sound."

"Does that make me strange?"

His words made Ning Ke's heart clench.

His throat tightened, too.

In just two years, Lou Yunxiao had lost his family and his sight, then lost his life in this Secret Realm and become a walking corpse.

He did indeed have the protagonist's halo.

But thinking about it carefully, he was only a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth who should have been carefree and full of spirit.

And the two people responsible for what Lou Yunxiao had become were Ning Ke and his sister, through her thoughtless writing.

So, whether or not he was the original owner of this body...

He truly was Lou Yunxiao's enemy.

His enemy through and through.

He had to atone. Only once he had atoned could he return home with a clear conscience.

"You're not strange."

Ning Ke gently stroked Lou Yunxiao's pale, cold face as he spoke.

"I promise that once you reach the Nascent Soul Stage Peak, your eyes will be able to see clearly. And here..."

He pointed at Lou Yunxiao's chest. "You'll be warm, just like me. Your heart will beat strongly, and you won't feel cold anymore."

"The Nascent Soul Stage Peak is that amazing?" Lou Yunxiao's melancholy vanished at once. He puffed out his chest so Ning Ke could straighten his collar and said, "Then I'll cultivate seriously. Once I reach that level, you have to keep your word and grant me a wish."

Ning Ke chuckled. "I thought you weren't listening earlier, but now that it's come up, you haven't forgotten a single thing that benefits you."

Afterward, Ning Ke read the Remnant Scroll aloud to Lou Yunxiao, who sat cross-legged in meditation and formally began absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

[Host, are you really going to give him all your Heart Blood?]

Xiao Yuan's tone was conflicted.

[I have to self-destruct anyway. What does a little Heart Blood matter?]

[You need to understand that this is your real body's Heart Blood. It will damage your real body.]

[I know.]

Lou Yunxiao's heart was severely damaged. Restoring it would be extraordinarily difficult.

It required not only the sacrifice of all Ning Ke's cultivation, but also his all-important Heart Blood.

To draw Heart Blood, a specially made slender knife had to be inserted deep into the heart to extract that tiny amount of the purest blood.

It really hurt.

And it was a serious test of one's psychological endurance.

After all, who the hell enjoyed stabbing themselves for no reason?

Xiao Yuan sighed and gave Ning Ke a thumbs-up. [Host, I respect you. You're a real man.]

Then Ning Ke said, *Let me make this clear first: I'm not chickening out. I just want to ask, you damned system, do you really, truly not have a pain-blocking function?*

[...No.] ```

Ning Ke: You #@￥%&...*