43: Chapter 43 The Fated Heroine? Ask Me First If I Agree

Upon hearing this, Shen Xiao instead curled his lips into a smile, his arm around her waist tightening suddenly, the force so great it almost seemed to embed into her flesh and bone.

"A very good suggestion."

His voice was low, carrying the hoarseness of one who had just experienced the Lightning Tribulation, yet there was not a hint of panic.

His palm pressed fiercely against Xia Lengbai's lower abdomen, instantly triggering the energy of the [Guiyuan Dao Seed] that had not yet been fully refined within his body. It was not an attack, but rather, following their point of contact, it forcibly constructed an energy circulation loop visible to the naked eye.

Golden currents of light wove beneath their skin like two entangled snakes, devouring and nourishing each other simultaneously.

"Do you see that?" Shen Xiao pointed to the cluster of light, his tone as cold as if he were explaining a math problem. "Now we are like grasshoppers tied to the same rope. If you kill me, the symbiotic link will collapse instantly, and this Dao Seed energy will surge backward into your Meridians like high-voltage electricity. The oracle the Heavenly Dao gave you is correct; you can indeed become a Child of Destiny, but the prerequisite is—you must first endure the pleasure of exploding yourself into a mist of blood."

The hollowness in Xia Lengbai's eyes fluctuated slightly; the morbid excitement did not fade due to the threat, but instead, like a flame doused with oil, burned even brighter.

"Really?" she asked softly. Her free left hand's fingers closed together, a cold light flashed at her fingertips, and an ice needle as thin as a hair condensed out of thin air.

Without any hesitation, the ice needle stabbed fiercely into the back of her left hand, which was gripping Shen Xiao's jaw.

"Pfft."

Fresh blood surged out instantly, winding its way down her fair wrist.

At the same time, Shen Xiao's brows knit together sharply, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, as if the needle had also pierced his own body.

Pain sharing.

Xia Lengbai watched that smear of scarlet, a twisted sense of satisfaction welling up in her eyes, as if she had confirmed some crucial contract.

She slowly withdrew the ice needle, her fingertips stained with her own blood, and gently wiped it onto Shen Xiao's lips.

"Since it is symbiosis, then when Brother Shen hurts, I will hurt too." She chuckled softly, momentarily abandoning the thought of snapping his neck immediately. "This is good too; neither of us can even think of leaving the other."

Just as the two were deadlocked, the System panel on Shen Xiao's retina suddenly flickered violently, and a line of blood-red text popped out.

[Ding! Host detected in deep binding with Child of Destiny candidate, hidden function activated: Symbiotic Shackles.]

[Function Description: Consume destiny value to temporarily disguise yourself as the target's Luck subordinate, evading targeted strikes from the Heavenly Dao.]

[Current cost: 10 points of destiny value. Do you wish to activate?]

"Activate." Shen Xiao thought silently to himself.

The 10 points of destiny value he had just plundered were instantly cleared to zero, and a strange fluctuation spread out from the depths of his Soul.

The pungent aura on his body that originally belonged to an otherworldly Soul was instantly masked by Xia Lengbai's unstable yet dense aura of a Child of Destiny candidate.

Above his head, the remaining lightning of the Heaven-Slaying Formation, which had still been searching for and locking onto its target, faltered slightly. Like a radar that had lost its target, it swept aimlessly in the air twice before gradually dissipating.

"Even the Heavenly Dao has moments of disconnection." Shen Xiao sneered, and taking advantage of the moment Xia Lengbai was immersed in the pleasure of symbiosis, his gaze shot toward Lin Yun, who was unconscious in the center of the altar.

Since he could not kill Xia Lengbai, he would solve the main target first.

Just as he moved, before he could exert force under his feet, the Sect teleportation Formation Plate that had been hovering above the altar suddenly activated on its own.

A humming sound erupted, and a gentle yet irresistible golden light fell like a waterfall, precisely enveloping Lin Yun's charred body.

Within the golden light, an illusory lotus flower slowly bloomed, its petals closing to lift Lin Yun's entire body up.

"Want to leave?" Shen Xiao grabbed at the Void Realm with his palm, his power of plundering erupting instantly, attempting to forcibly sever the teleportation channel.

But the lotus phantom seemed to come with an invincibility attribute; his spiritual energy grabbed onto it like a clay ox entering the sea, not even stirring up a ripple.

The lotus quickly submerged into the beam of light from the teleportation formation, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

[Warning! Child of Destiny Lin Yun has been transferred to the "Cave of Ten Thousand Demons".]

[The Heavenly Dao is forcibly catalyzing his next Opportunity, the "heart of the demon emperor", to compensate for the deficit in Luck.]

[Child of Destiny candidate Xia Lengbai, activation conditions changed to: Lin Yun's death or the Host's death.]

The System's notification sounded in his mind like a funeral bell.

Shen Xiao withdrew his hand, his palm empty.

The situation instantly turned into a dead end: if he did not kill Lin Yun, this guy would make a comeback from the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons and become even stronger; if he killed Lin Yun, Xia Lengbai would immediately become a Child of Destiny in a state of Perfection, becoming a more direct threat to him.

The Heavenly Dao was forcing him to choose one of two options; no matter which path he chose, he was merely adding pieces to the board.

Xia Lengbai seemed to have sensed Lin Yun's disappearance, and the golden light spot at her heart dimmed accordingly.

She raised her head, those deep eyes refocusing on Shen Xiao's face, her fingertips gently tracing across his Adam's apple.

"Brother Shen, there is no one to disturb us now."

Shen Xiao lowered his eyes, looking at this crazy woman who might explode into violence at any moment, and then looked at the surrounding space that was beginning to tremble slightly.

The runes on the altar, having lost their core formation eye, were emitting sounds of shattering under the unbearable strain, with dense cracks spreading through the Void Realm like a spiderweb.

He suddenly reached out and tidied the messy hair at Xia Lengbai's temples, his movements as gentle as if he were treating a fragile piece of porcelain.

"Then don't die yet; keep that life of yours and accompany me to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons to slaughter that imposter."

The ice layer under his feet emitted a dull groan, and the first crack quietly crept onto the tip of Shen Xiao's shoe.