The Valley Lay Silent, the Stars and Moon Wordless
But that's not enough.
Xiao Wu's First Soul Ring was only a hundred-year-old one, too fragile to withstand such a violent marrow-cleansing medicine. The backlash from the Soul Beast's origin was concentrated at the finest part of her meridians, her wrist meridian, and the absorption power of the Hundred-Year Soul Ring was simply too much for her to handle.
Lin Chen took a breath without the slightest hesitation.
The second purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring beneath his feet slowly rose up.
He has already sacrificed his third ring of ten thousand years, greatly damaging his cultivation. If he were to peel off his second ring of a thousand years, the consequences would be even more severe.
But seeing Xiao Wu's furrowed brows, he knew he had no way out.
He spat out another mouthful of blood essence, and the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring detached from his body.
Lin Chen swayed and almost fell over. He braced himself on Xiao Wu's shoulder with his hand and, with the last bit of his Soul Power, guided the Thousand-Year Soul Ring toward Xiao Wu's First Soul Ring.
Bang--
The Hundred-Year Soul Ring couldn't withstand the pressure of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring and shattered instantly.
The purple, Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly descended, replacing the original First Soul Ring.
Purple, purple, purple, and black—four Soul Ring slowly rotated beneath Xiao Wu's feet.
With each layer of powerful absorption, the raging medicinal power within the meridians was finally stabilized.
The icy and fiery spiritual energy flowed into the Soul Ring, working in conjunction with the medicinal power of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red and the Crystal Snow Dragon Ginseng, to slowly cleanse the bone marrow and meridians of the entire body, gradually erasing the last traces of the Soul Beast.
Xiao Wu's expression gradually relaxed, her breathing became steady, and the pink halo around her grew stronger, indicating that her transformation was slowly taking place.
Lin Chen finally couldn't hold on any longer.
Only a solitary purple First Soul Ring in a thousand years, remained beneath his feet, its aura faint.
His cultivation level plummeted from the thirty-seventh level Soul Elder to a stable fifteenth level Soul Master. His meridians were empty, his Soul Power was completely depleted, and even his physical body was experiencing waves of exhaustion and sharp pain.
He watched Xiao Wu's steady back as a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Thankfully... everything's alright now.
Everything went black before my eyes, and I could no longer hold on.
Lin Chen's body swayed, leaning against the cold rock wall, and he slowly slid to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
The night was deep, and the only sound in the valley was the gurgling of the Ice and Fire Spring.
Xiao Wu sat cross-legged on the rock, her body shimmering with light, still undergoing her final transformation.
Behind her, the boy leaned quietly against the rock wall, his face pale and his breathing weak, as if he were asleep.
A mist of ice and fire slowly swirled around, gently enveloping the two figures.
The valley was silent, and the stars and moon were speechless.
The late autumn morning mist, shrouded in frost, drifted over the springs that Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The crimson hot springs and pale blue icy springs gurgle and surge, and the rising mist refracts into tiny rainbows in the morning light, falling on the rocks like a layer of scattered diamonds.
Xiao Wu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The first sensation that flooded my senses was an unprecedented lightness. The Soul Power in my meridians flowed like thawing spring water, surging and circulating, carrying a gentle force that washed over my limbs and bones.
She subconsciously looked inward and felt that her meridians were clear and transparent. The original aura of the Soul Beast that had previously lingered deep in her bone marrow had completely disappeared.
She looked down at her feet.
Purple, purple, purple, and black—four Soul Ring rotated silently, their light warm and gentle, indistinguishable from Soul Ring of human Soul Master.
The fluctuations of Soul Power spread out steadily, solidly establishing the level 45 Soul Ancestor realm, without the slightest hint of superficiality. From level 34 to 45, a leap of eleven levels.
Xiao Wu was stunned for a moment, and a surge of overwhelming joy made her heart tremble.
She succeeded? Has she truly become completely human?
She turned her head sharply, about to call out to Lin Chen, when out of the corner of her eye she unexpectedly caught sight of the figure leaning against the rock wall.
With a loud bang, it was like a thunderclap exploding in my mind.
All the ecstasy and joy were instantly frozen into ice shards, which pierced my heart through my veins.
Lin Chen leaned against the cold rock wall, his head tilted slightly to one side, his face as pale as a sheet of paper soaked in frost, his lips cracked and peeling, and even the rise and fall of his chest was so faint as to be almost invisible.
"Brother Lin Chen!" Xiao Wu's voice cracked instantly. She scrambled over to him, knelt beside him, and reached out to touch his cheek. Her hand was met with an icy chill that made her fingertips tremble.
She gently shook his shoulders, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "Brother Lin Chen... wake up... don't scare me... wake up..."
Tears welled up instantly, large drops landing on the back of his pale hand, leaving small wet marks.
She grasped his icy hand and desperately pulled it into her arms. She then bent down and gently hugged his head, trying to warm him with her own body heat, but the chill seemed to seep into his bones, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't warm him up.
"Brother Lin Chen... don't scare me... say something..."
She cried so hard her whole body trembled, her voice choked and broken, tears streaming down her face, even her breathing was shaky.
She dared not shake him forcefully, and could only hold him tightly, calling his name over and over again. Her chest felt as if it were being squeezed hard by something, and the pain made it hard to breathe.
She had just successfully transformed herself, and was just about to share her joy with him, how could it have turned out like this?
"Stop crying, it's giving me a headache."
A hoarse voice came from behind the rocks beside her, carrying a hint of its usual arrogance, yet it struck Xiao Wu's heart like a thunderbolt.
Xiao Wu suddenly looked up, her eyes blurry with tears.
Dugu Bo emerged from behind the rock, his hands clasped behind his back. His green robe was covered in morning dew and bits of grass, and he clutched a white jade medicine bottle in his hand.
He walked closer, glanced at Lin Chen, who was lying on the ground barely breathing, and snorted, "He's not dead yet, what are you wailing about?"
"Senior!"
Xiao Wu, as if grasping at a last straw, tightened her grip on Lin Chen's arms, tears still streaming down her face, choking back sobs as she pleaded, "Senior, please save him... You must have a way, right? I beg you, please save Brother Lin Chen..."
"His Soul Power was overdrawn, his foundation damaged, and two Soul Ring were forcibly stripped away." Dugu Bo squatted down, his fingertips resting on Lin Chen's wrist, his brows slightly furrowed. "Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and Thousand-Year Soul Ring, stripped away just like that. It's a miracle the kid didn't explode on the spot."
He opened the white jade medicine bottle, poured out a lustrous pill, pried open Lin Chen's mouth, and fed it to him.
"This is already the third Soul Gathering Pill. Whether he can recover and when he will wake up depends on his own fate."
After taking the pill, Lin Chen's weak breathing indeed became more stable, and a bit of color returned to his face.
Xiao Wu Wu's heart eased slightly, but she still couldn't stop crying, "Removing the Soul Ring... Why did he remove the Soul Ring...?"
"What else could it be?" Dugu Bo glanced at her, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible admiration.
"Your medicinal effects were out of control back then, causing your cultivation to surge dramatically, but you didn't have Soul Ring to support it. If you had continued, your meridians would have exploded. Without saying a word, this kid Soul Ring and transferred it to you. He transferred the third ring, which was ten thousand years old, to you first. When he saw that he couldn't control it, he also stripped off the second ring, which was a thousand years old, and replaced it with your first ring, which was a hundred years old."