So this secret technique… can be unleashed directly after all…

(This chapter has been revised)

Su Ji then returned to Su Jiu’s side.

He wanted to reach out and touch her head, but his hand halted midway and drew back.

His hands were covered in blood and mud.

He wiped them roughly on his clothes a couple of times, scrubbing off the sticky layer of dried blood, and only then did he carefully place his hand on Su Jiu's forehead.

Cold.

Bone-penetrating cold.

Even in this place just scorched by flames, her body temperature was terrifyingly low.

“Mm...”

As if sensing that trace of warmth, Su Jiu's tightly shut eyes moved with great effort, barely managing to crack open a slit.

Those fox-like eyes, usually full of mischief and fond of rolling in disdain at him, now showed no focus—dim and straining to see.

She stared at Su Ji's blood-stained face for a long time before seeming to finally recognize who he was.

“Senior Brother...”

Her voice was as faint as a silk thread, nearly drowned out by the whistling wind if one didn’t listen carefully.

“I’m here.”

Su Ji quickly leaned closer, bringing his ear near her lips. “I’m right here. Tell me.”

Su Jiu blinked, the action so slow it made his heart ache.

“Did... did we win?”

Su Ji's eyes suddenly stung, his throat choked as if by something, raw and painful.

Even at a time like this, she was still worrying about his victory or loss.

He took a deep breath through his nose, forcing down the bitterness, which pulled at the scabbed wounds on his face as he managed a smile.

“We won.”

His voice was soft, but firm.

“I’ve never lost in my life.”

Hearing this, Su Jiu’s lips barely twitched upward.

She seemed to want to smile but lacked the strength.

“Winning... is good...”

Her eyes, which had only just opened, began to droop uncontrollably again, her eyelids fighting to stay open.

“That’s good... then...”

Su Jiu murmured, her voice growing lower, more distant.

“Senior Brother... I’m so sleepy...”

“I have no strength at all... It feels warm... I want to sleep a little...”

As she spoke, the faint color that had returned to her face began to fade at a visible rate.

That was no good sign.

If she fell asleep now, she might never wake.

“Don’t sleep!”

Su Ji’s heart jolted, terror nearly making his soul flee.

Forgetting any gentleness, he grabbed her ice-cold hand and squeezed it with some force.

“Su Jiu! Open your eyes! Do you hear me?!”

His voice shifted, frantic and desperate.

“Who told you to sleep? Is this any place to sleep?”

“The ground is all dust—dirty and hard. Aren’t you afraid of messing up your fur?”

“We’re going to run away, to that place called the Chaotic Star Sea.”

“That’s a good place—just from the name, it sounds lively. We’ll find an uninhabited island, eat and drink well every day, and fatten up all those tails of yours nice and plump...”

Su Ji rambled nonsense as he frantically searched himself.

His storage ring, his waist pouch, his chest pockets...

Every possible hiding spot, he scoured thoroughly.

“Medicine... medicine...”

“I don’t believe it... How can I not have a single decent pill...”

His hands trembled.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Still, nothing.

The only two bottles of pills had already been fed to Su Jiu earlier.

Just enough to keep her breathing.

At the end of his rope.

Those four words crashed down on him like a mountain.

Su Ji stared blankly at his empty palms. The feeling of helplessness that had been building inside him finally erupted, drowning him in an instant.

He had defeated an Incarnation Realm cultivator, slain a prodigy.

And now, he couldn’t even produce a single pill to save his own junior sister?

“Senior Brother...”

As if sensing his panic, Su Jiu forced her eyelids open once more.

“It’s okay... I’m just... tired...”

“Shut up! Don’t talk! Save your strength!”

Su Ji growled, unsure whether he was yelling at Su Jiu or at his own helpless self.

He refused to accept it.

Suddenly, he remembered.

[Destiny: Beauty Like Jade, Divine Spear Breaks the Path]

[Destiny Grade: Rainbow]

[Effect 2: Enables a two-way bond. Your increase in cultivation and enlightenment of the Dao will also reflect back onto the other party, giving them a chance to break through their most urgent bottleneck (must be actively triggered, can only activate once every seven days).]

As long as his cultivation improved...

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

A pile of crystalline stones radiating dense spiritual energy spilled out before Su Ji like discarded trash.

All high-grade spirit stones. The sheer overflow of spirituality made even the withered grass around them seem as if it might sprout anew.

Su Ji pressed both hands onto the mound of spirit stones.

He drove his [Desolate Fallen Dragon Art] to its limit. The overbearing, devouring force spread like a starved taotie, opening a gaping maw to greedily inhale the pile.

“Buzz—!”

A terrifying torrent of spiritual energy surged through the meridians in his arms, violently crashing into his body.

Pain.

Too much pain.

In the past, this pure energy would flow through the meridians into his dantian, nourishing his golden core and strengthening his cultivation.

But now...

That celestial palace golden core had been shattered by his own hand, its fragments scattering across the sea of qi.

This massive influx of spiritual energy rushed in like water flooding a leaky jar.

Not only did it fail to stay, but it raced through the shattered gaps, wreaking havoc on his already crippled meridians.

“Pfft!”

Su Ji’s body convulsed violently as a mouthful of blood sprayed onto the spirit stones before him.

But he didn’t stop.

He didn’t even blink.

If he could force the energy in fast enough, with enough volume, he could create a temporary illusion of “fullness” in his body!

For that instant, the concentration of spiritual energy inside him reached a critical point.

The high-grade spirit stones turned gray and crumbled into powder before his eyes.

Buzz—

The path, once severed by the shattered golden core, was suddenly pried open a mere crack by this reckless flood of spiritual energy!

But it was only an illusion.

The next second, the energy vented through the pores all over his body, returning to the world.

It had failed...

But...

Su Ji suddenly lowered his head.

The girl in his arms, once so weak she seemed like a candle flickering in the wind, suddenly trembled slightly.

On that deathly pale face, a faint flush of color appeared abruptly.

Though subtle, against the backdrop of this devastated ruin, it was more striking than the most vibrant flower.

That was life.

But the destiny had still activated...

“Cough...”

A faint cough escaped Su Jiu’s throat. Her tightly shut eyelids fluttered and finally cracked open.

There was a blurry focus slowly returning to her dim eyes.

First, she gazed blankly at the sky above, then her vision slowly settled on Su Ji’s blood-streaked face.

“Senior... Brother...”

Her voice was hoarse and strained.

Hearing her voice, Su Ji’s hand froze.

An inexplicable warmth surged to his eyes.

She turned her head away, not wanting him to see the disarray in her eyes.

He stuffed a dark red pill into Su Jiu’s mouth, cutting her off. It was the only thing he had on him that was remotely related to “healing.”

Su Jiu swallowed the pill, feeling the sudden warmth that emerged within her body—faint yet unusually tenacious. A strange look flickered in her eyes.

No physical contact.

None of that convoluted procedure.

“So…” Su Jiu revealed a faint, weary smile laced with teasing. “This secret technique… can be cast directly after all…”

“Then all those times before… was I completely taken in by you?”