Pain. Agonizing pain. Agonizing pain beyond words.
The agony spread into every corner of her body, inside and out, from head to toe, not sparing even her toenails. Even the teeth in her mouth seemed unable to endure such pain; though beyond her control, they, too, began to tremble.
Winter Melon felt herself buried in darkness.
Endless, oppressive seawater drowned her completely.
She could not struggle, could not be saved.
The searing pain seemed endless.
Only one thought remained in Winter Melon's mind-Death... so this was how terrifying it was.
That was why she had always wanted to live.
Anyone could die, so long as... it wasn't her.
She really... didn't want to die.
Outside Winter Melon's body.
Xu Linglong watched calmly as Flowers of the Venerable bloomed all over Winter Melon, who hovered between unconsciousness and death.
Crimson-black energy bloomed from the Flowers of the Venerable. Their stems twisted and spread as though sucking Winter Melon's blood, the blossoms growing ever more ravishing.
Baibo stood beside Xu Linglong now as well. Looking down at Winter Melon, he could not help asking:
"She might not survive this. I've hardly seen anyone make it through."
Xu Linglong's expression was calm, her tone indifferent:
"Then she dies. If she wants power, she has to pay the price. As she is now, she's so weak I can hardly bear to look at her."
Baibo said nothing more at that. Death itself was a perfectly normal thing.
But then he remembered something and asked:
"What about the Buddhist Sect?"
"What we heard might not all be true. They're just a few words. Without concrete evidence, saying more is useless." Xu Linglong looked toward the Western Ox-He Continent and said coldly,
"Even if it's true, now isn't the time to tear away all pretense."
Baibo