203: If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight.

"Smart."

Cold Moon nodded in approval.

"If you want to touch Revered Master, it's not like you can't."

Chu Weiwei screamed, "I'm brewing poison right now! I don't believe I can't corrode this broken dragon!"

"I'm in too!" Ye You, not wanting to be left out, manifested a massive phantom of a man-eating flower behind her. "Eat it! Eat it skin and flesh together!"

Seeing that another round of chaotic fighting was about to break out.

Su Lin finally couldn't watch any longer.

He knew that if he didn't divert the attention of these crazy women, not only would the Star-Plucking Tower collapse today, but blood would be shed.

"Everyone be quiet!"

Su Lin walked to Cold Moon's side.

This time, he didn't push Cold Moon away; instead, he grabbed her swaying waist.

"You only see this mark."

Su Lin's voice lowered, carrying an imperceptible trace of pity.

"But have you seen that your Senior Sister is about to die?"

These words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing all the gunpowder in the air.

"Die... die?"

Su Hongling's raised fist froze in mid-air, the fire in her red pupils instantly turning into bewilderment.

"Old Man, what nonsense are you talking? This Old Hag was so arrogant just now, how could she..."

"She's forcing herself to hold on."

Su Lin interrupted her.

He pressed his palm against Cold Moon's back, sending a steady stream of Star Power into her to maintain her nearly exhausted heart vessels.

"Look closely at her Origin."

Hearing this, Luo Ximei's platinum heterochromatic eye widened, her gaze piercing through Cold Moon's Physical Body to look directly into the depths of her Soul.

In the next second, Luo Ximei's expression changed.

"This... this is..."

She gasped.

"Her Divine Soul... why is it full of cracks? It looks like broken porcelain that's been forcibly glued back together!"

"And..."

Chu Weiwei also rushed over, grabbing Cold Moon's wrist and placing her fingers on the pulse.

After just one breath, she pulled her hand back as if she had been burned.

"Empty... all empty..."

Chu Weiwei turned pale, looking at Cold Moon in disbelief.

"Senior Sister, your Essence Blood, your Lifespan... how are they all dried up? You're just an empty shell now!"

"Did you... sacrifice yourself?!"

Facing the shock and questioning of her Junior Sisters, Cold Moon did not deny it.

She merely leaned weakly in Su Lin's arms, her face, which had been so majestic just moments ago, finally revealing an unmaskable exhaustion and pallor.

"Making a fuss over nothing."

She coughed lightly, a trace of black blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

"I am the Empress."

"To wear the crown, one must bear its weight."

"What does this small price matter?"

Even at this point, she still maintained her pride, still wanting to keep the dignity of the Senior Sister before the Junior Sisters she had always suppressed.

"Price?"

Su Hongling looked at her blankly, her giant sword slipping from her hand and hitting her foot without her even reacting.

"Was it for... that thing down there?"

"The scar of heaven."

Su Lin answered for her.

"The Southern Yu Continent is able to float because there is a hole leading to the void suppressed beneath it."

Now that hole has cracked open, and your Senior Sister... she has turned herself into a Sky-Mending Stone."

Su Lin looked at the weak Cold Moon in his arms, his eyes full of heartache.

"She made such a big scene, even insisting on forcing me to marry her, just because she wanted to transfer all this Imperial Dao Luck to me before she died, and then drive me away to make me hate her, so I wouldn't be sad."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The entire room fell silent.

Even the always cold Mu Qingxue's icy gaze dissipated, replaced by a complex, indescribable emotion.

"Fool."

Mu Qingxue cursed in a low voice.

"Was it worth making yourself like this for a bunch of Mortals?"

"It was worth it."

Cold Moon smiled weakly.

"And..."

She looked up at Su Lin, her eyes full of attachment.

"I didn't want Revered Master to see a wasteland when he returned."

Hearing this, even the most heartless Ye You was somewhat moved.

"Senior Sister..."

Ye You leaned in, reaching out a tentacle-like finger to gently poke Cold Moon's cheek.

"Even though you're usually very annoying, always nagging me not to eat people..."

"But if you die... who will scold me in the future?"

"I haven't even beaten you down yet, you're not allowed to die."

Su Hongling rubbed her stinging nose and said in a gruff voice.

"If you dare to die, I'll bury you next to a latrine and dance on your grave every day!"

"You guys..."

Cold Moon looked at the circle of Junior Sisters surrounding her; although none of them had anything nice to say, the concern in their eyes could not be hidden.

Her heart warmed, and she was just about to say something touching.

Suddenly.

"Since Senior Sister is about to die..."

Luo Ximei's faint voice broke the warmth.

She stroked her chin, her gaze scanning back and forth between Cold Moon and Su Lin, finally settling on the golden dragon mark on Su Lin's neck.

"Then will this mark lose its effect very soon?"

"As soon as Senior Sister dies and the Imperial Dao Luck dissipates, this lock will open."

"When that time comes..."

Luo Ximei's lips curled into a 'kindly' smile as she looked at Chu Weiwei and Ye You.

"Can we re-distribute... the territory?"

"That makes sense!"

Chu Weiwei's eyes lit up, her previous sadness instantly thrown to the dogs.

"Senior Sister, then you can go in peace. We'll take good care of Revered Master."

"We don't care about your throne, but the ownership of Revered Master... once you're dead, he becomes ownerless property!"

"I claim the left side of his neck!" Su Hongling raised her hand.

"I want his thighs!" Ye You drooled.

"I want..."

"You bunch of ungrateful wolves!!"

Cold Moon was so angry she almost had a surge of vitality and jumped up to hit them.

"I'm not dead yet! And you're already starting to divide the inheritance?!"

"And Revered Master is a person! Not an inheritance!"

She clutched Su Lin's clothes tightly, and a burst of final strength actually surged from her withered body due to anger.

"Want to steal Revered Master? In your dreams!"

"Even if I die, I'll turn into a vengeful ghost and haunt Revered Master every day, so none of you can have your way!"

"Enough!"

Su Lin felt like his head was about to explode.

These wicked disciple were being sentimental one second and dividing assets the next.

This plastic sisterhood was even more fragile than the collapsing scar of heaven.

"All of you, shut up."

Su Lin's cold shout suppressed the room.

He helped Cold Moon sit up, letting her lean against the headboard, then stood up and swept his gaze across the five disciple before him.

"Cold Moon won't die."

"And I won't let her die."

"Revered Master, you have a way?"

"Yes."

Su Lin pointed at the floor.

"That scar of heaven is a problem, but it's also an Opportunity."

"An Opportunity?"

"An Opportunity?"

"Revered Master, that scar of heaven connects to the void and devours all Spiritual Qi and life force."

To suppress it, the Southern Yu imperial family has exhausted its foundation. How could this be an Opportunity?"

"If it were before, it would indeed be a dead end."

Su Lin opened his hand, and in his palm, a crystalline key formed by the Fusion of three world core fragments slowly emerged.

It floated in mid-air, emitting a soft light, actually creating a strange resonance with the destructive fluctuations coming from deep below.

"But now, we have the key."

Su Lin looked at the key in his hand, a confident curve touching the corner of his mouth.

"That hole was caused by the collapse of the Upper Realm."

Since it's a fragment of the Upper Realm, it means... it contains higher Rank Laws than this realm."

"In other words—Immortal Qi."

As soon as these two words were spoken, everyone's breathing stopped for a moment.

"Immortal Qi?!"

Luo Ximei's platinum right eye instantly lit up, and the True Immortal Origin within her began to stir.

"Is Revered Master saying... we can use that hole to fleece the Upper Realm?"

"It's not just fleecing."

Su Lin pointed down.

"I'm going to... turn that hole into a faucet."

"Originally it was sucking our blood, but now, I will reverse the Formation, letting it leak the Upper Realm's Immortal Qi down to nourish this continent, and also to nourish... you."

He looked at Cold Moon.

"If we succeed, not only will you not have to die, but you can also use this Immortal Qi to reshape your Imperial Dao Golden Body, and even let the entire Nanyu Divine Dynasty undergo a nationwide Ascension, becoming a true heavenly palace."

"Nationwide... Ascension?"

Cold Moon was completely stunned.

This promise was too big, so big that even she, the Empress, felt it was a bit hard to digest.

But looking at Su Lin's certain eyes, her heart, which had long been withered, actually began to beat again.

"However..."

Su Lin's tone shifted as he looked at Cold Moon's paper-pale face.

"The prerequisite is that you have to be alive."

"You are the core of that Formation; only your Imperial Dao Dragon Qi can act as a filter to sift out the void turbulence, leaving only pure Immortal Qi."

"The current you..."

Su Lin shook his head and commented bluntly:

"Is too weak."

"You can't even stand steadily, how can you suppress the eye of the Formation?"

"So, the top priority is to patch up this leaking body of yours."

"Patch up my body?"

Hearing this, the eyes of the four Junior Sisters beside her instantly lit up.

It was the look of hungry wolves seeing meat, or children seeing toys.

"Revered Master is right!"

Chu Weiwei was the first to jump out, a row of colorful long needles appearing in her hand, each tip flashing with a strange cold light.

"Senior Sister's Meridians are exhausted, we must use potent medicine!"

"We also need to use golden needles on her acupoints to stimulate her potential! Don't worry, Revered Master, Weiwei's technique is very fast, it'll only... hurt a little bit."

She licked her lips, smiling like a twisted doctor holding a scalpel.

"Hurt a little bit?" Cold Moon's eyelids jumped as she looked at the long needles that were thicker than a finger.

"I'll help too!"

Luo Ximei was not to be outdone; she walked to the bedside, her long black and white hair moving without wind.

"Senior Sister's Divine Soul is severely damaged. Coincidentally, I've recently developed a 'Demonic Soul Reshaping Method'."

She held out her hands, her ten fingertips igniting with black and white Demonic Fire.

"We break the Divine Soul and then piece it back together. Though the process will be a bit like being fried in oil, the results are guaranteed!"

"It will ensure Senior Sister's Divine Soul is stronger than ever!"

"Break it... then piece it back?" Cold Moon clutched the quilt and shrank back.

"And me!"

Su Hongling threw her giant sword to the ground and rolled up her sleeves, revealing firm arm muscles.

"The fancy stuff from the third and fifth sisters won't do; patching up the body requires a massage!"

"Senior Sister's Qi and blood are blocked, I'll loosen her bones!"

"With my Great Vajra Bone-Crushing Hand, one slap is guaranteed to clear all Meridians!"

"..."

"If you want me dead, just say it, no need to go through all this trouble."

Cold Moon seemed to have integrated with her Junior Sisters again; she no longer used the imperial 'I'.

How was this medical treatment?

This was clearly an execution!

"Mas... Revered Master..."

She looked to Su Lin for help, her eyes full of pleading.

"Can we... change the method? Or... can you do it personally?"

If it were Revered Master, even if she were treated like that... she would accept it.

"Me?"

Su Lin glanced at the four disciple who were like vicious dogs guarding their food and shook his head with self-awareness.

"If I step in now, they'll tear this Star-Plucking Tower down."

"Besides, everyone has their specialty."

Su Lin took a step back and made a gesture of invitation, his face showing that unquestionable expression unique to a strict teacher.

"Although their methods are... a bit radical, they are indeed doing it for your own good."

"Endure it, it'll be over soon."

"Do it."

Following Su Lin's command.

"Hehehe..."

The three Junior Sisters let out blood-curdling laughs as they approached the Empress on the bed step by step.

"You... don't come over!"

"Insolence! I am the Empress! I will execute your nine generations!!"

"Ah—!!! Chu Weiwei, where are you stabbing?! That's a death point!!"

"Luo Ximei! Take your fire away! My hair is scorched!!"

"Su Hongling! Is that a massage?! Are you trying to snap my ribs?!"

"Help—Revered Master, help!!!"

Shrill screams echoed within the Star-Plucking Tower, unceasing.

Standing to the side, Mu Qingxue watched this scene quietly.

She didn't participate in the 'treatment,' but merely waved her hand silently.

A thick layer of ice sealed the doors and windows.

"Soundproofing."

She explained flatly.

"Don't let outsiders hear; it would damage Senior Sister's majesty."

Su Lin: "..."

That's really... thoughtful... This rescue operation, named 'treatment' but actually 'torture,' lasted for a full two hours.

When Chu Weiwei put away her last needle, Luo Ximei extinguished her Demonic Fire, and Su Hongling wiped away her sweat.

Cold Moon on the bed could no longer move even a finger.

She was slumped on the bed like a pile of mud, her gaze unfocused, saliva leaking from the corner of her mouth (from Su Hongling's pressing), and her whole body was twitching.

But it was undeniable.

Her face had indeed become much more ruddy, and the life force that was originally exhausted in her body had actually been forcibly activated by this group of lunatics.

"The effect is not bad."

After checking the pulse, Chu Weiwei nodded in satisfaction.

"..."

Su Lin stepped forward, looked at his wretched eldest disciple, and sighed.

He reached out, his Star Power slowly injecting into Cold Moon's body, repairing the hidden injuries left by the 'violent treatment'.

As the warm power flowed through her body, Cold Moon finally caught her breath.

"Revered Master..."