87: guard

“Hoo… hoo… hoo…”

A series of uncontrollable, gasping breaths, like those of survivors, rose and fell within the group.

The Disciples of Qingyun Sect, who had fallen into despair and believed they were doomed to die, now lay sprawled on the ground, limp as if just pulled from water, gasping for the hard-won fresh air.

Their faces still bore the twisted expressions of extreme fear that had not yet faded.

They survived?

We… actually survived?!

Everyone felt as if they were in an absurd dream, their minds blank, unable to comprehend the scene that had just overturned their understanding of cultivation.

A Dharma Body Realm Demonic Path Devil Head… that supreme Divine Might capable of destroying heaven and earth… was actually… instantly killed with one strike?!

Everyone’s gaze, as if by prior agreement, instinctively swept towards the thin figure who had created this miracle.

However, at this very moment—

“Thud.”

A very faint, muffled sound of a body falling to the ground clearly entered everyone's ears.

Lin Ye, the young man who had stood silently between heaven and earth like a pillar supporting the sky, suddenly went limp in his upright posture.

He simply fell straight backward.

“Lin Ye!”

A clear cry, filled with endless panic and worry, abruptly tore through the tranquility of this post-disaster calm!

It was Su Qingyue!

She didn't even have time to wonder why she was so flustered.

Her graceful figure transformed into a white lightning bolt, flashing, and like a teleportation, appeared behind Lin Ye's falling body, extending her slender jade hands to steadily catch his cold, yet incredibly heavy body in her arms.

Warm, rust-smelling fresh blood instantly stained her snow-white robes.

But she was completely oblivious.

She lowered her head, looking at the young man in her arms whose eyes were tightly closed, whose breath was so faint it was almost imperceptible, and who had already fallen into a deep coma. Her heart, which had been frozen for countless years, trembled fiercely for no reason!

An indescribable complex emotion, mixed with “lingering fear,” “worry,” and a hint of “heartache” that even she hadn't noticed, instantly broke through all her calm and indifference like a bursting dam!

“Lin Ye! Wake up! Lin Ye!”

Her clear voice, for the first time, carried a distinct tremor.

She extended her jade hand, trembling slightly from tension, and placed it on Lin Ye's wrist. A surge of pure spiritual energy instantly probed into his body.

The next moment, her beautiful face, already slightly pale with worry, instantly became even more bloodless!

Empty!

Lin Ye's body was completely empty!

His Qi and blood, which should have been as vast as mountains, were now as parched as cracked earth!

His Heaven Burning True Fire, which should have surged like rivers, was now extinguished, not even a single spark could be detected!

The most terrifying thing was… his Divine Soul!

Su Qingyue could clearly feel that Lin Ye's Divine Soul fire was now like a candle in the wind, extremely weak, as if it could be completely… blown out by any insignificant breeze at any moment!

Mental Energy… completely overdrawn!

This was a fatal injury a hundred times more dangerous than spiritual energy depletion or Qi and blood exhaustion!

Once the Divine Soul fire was completely extinguished, it would be a true… Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering! Beyond salvation even by immortals!

“No…”

Su Qingyue's body swayed, a helpless blankness appearing on her face.

However, she was not an ordinary woman after all.

After a brief moment of distraction, an unprecedented determination suddenly erupted from the depths of her clear eyes!

Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately took out an exquisite jade bottle from her storage bracelet, made entirely of thousand-year warm jade, exuding rich vitality and medicinal fragrance!

Soul Nurturing Pill!

This was a priceless treasure, personally bestowed upon her by her father, the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect, when she came of age, capable of saving her life when her Divine Soul was injured!

She unhesitatingly poured out one pill, dissolved it with her pure spiritual energy, and then carefully administered it into Lin Ye's already parched lips.

After doing all this, she finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She slowly raised her head, her clear eyes scanning the surrounding fellow Disciples who were still in a daze, her voice once again regaining its undeniable coldness and authority.

“What are you all still standing around for?!”

“Do you want to die here?!”

This sharp shout, like a basin of ice water, instantly woke everyone up!

“Senior Brother Lin… Senior Brother Lin he…”

“Brother Lin!”

Fatty Wang was the first to rush over, scrambling. When he saw Lin Ye, bleeding from seven orifices and on his last breath, lying in Su Qingyue's arms, his already small eyes instantly turned red!

“Don't come any closer!” Su Qingyue coldly stopped everyone, “His Divine Soul is overdrawn, he cannot withstand any disturbance!”

She slowly stood up, a pure, yet chilling spiritual energy erupting from her graceful body!

That spiritual energy transformed into crystal-clear ice lotus petals, gently lifting her and Lin Ye's bodies, suspending them in mid-air.

“Wang Defa!” Her clear voice was filled with an undeniable commanding tone.

“Disciple… Disciple is here!”

“From now on, you are responsible for clearing the path!”

“The rest of you, line up on both sides, form a defensive formation!”

“We have only one goal—to return to the Sect at the fastest possible speed!”

“Whoever dares to block our path…”

A cold, heart-pounding murderous intent suddenly flashed in her clear eyes!

“Kill—without—mercy!”

…The journey back, in an atmosphere filled with solemnity and tragedy, resumed.

Su Qingyue, like a true Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, condensed her vast spiritual energy into a giant ice crystal snow lotus, carrying herself and Lin Ye, who was already in a deep coma, like a streak of light, rapidly flying towards Qingyun Sect.

Her beautiful face had long lost all color, becoming as pale as paper.

To maintain the operation of the ice lotus and to continuously supply Lin Ye with the purest spiritual energy to sustain his life, the spiritual energy within her body was being consumed at an alarming rate.

But she gritted her teeth, without a moment's rest.

Below her, Fatty Wang and the more than twenty surviving Inner Sect Disciples spontaneously formed the strongest protective formation!

They fiercely guarded the ice lotus floating in mid-air, keeping it at the very center!

Fatty Wang, as if injected with a stimulant, pushed his clumsy Earth element Spell, which he had learned from who knows where, to its limit!

“Earth Dragon Overturn!”

“Giant Boulders and Rolling Logs!”

He transformed his corpulent body into a tireless bulldozer, clearing away all thorns and rocks that might obstruct the path ahead!

The other Disciples also had red eyes, using all their hidden skills!

They might be foolish, or greedy, or timid. But they were not ungrateful people!

They knew very well that if it weren't for the young man currently lying on the ice lotus, whose life or death was unknown, all of them would have already turned into a pool of blood on the Devil Head's altar!

Lin Ye was everyone's… savior!

…Night fell again.

The group stopped in a relatively hidden valley.

Su Qingyue slowly lowered the ice lotus.

Her graceful figure swayed, nearly falling on the spot.

One day and one night of sleepless, extreme exertion had pushed even her, a Spirit Body Realm Genius, to her limit.

She didn't rest, instead taking out another precious Soul Nurturing Pill from her embrace, carefully administering it to Lin Ye.

She reached out and gently brushed away the messy strand of hair on Lin Ye's forehead, soaked with cold sweat. Looking at his pale, yet still peaceful sleeping face, a hint of tenderness and complexity, which even she hadn't noticed, flashed in her clear eyes.

“Idiot…”

She murmured softly, her voice so light that only the wind could hear it.

“Who told you… to play the hero…”