#51: Healing

The silver-white spirit beast stiffened for a moment, but quickly nudged her back with its head. Its figure darted like lightning, dodging the wind blades behind them.

Shi Luoyi realized they were fleeing for their lives and didn’t dare to cause trouble, obediently lying down on its back.

Bian Qingxuan relentlessly pursued them from behind. Seeing that she would obtain the divine pearl in just one more day, it was impossible for her to let Shi Luoyi go now.

Watching the silver-white giant beast glide through the air with no intention of turning back to fight her, coldness flickered in her eyes. She brought the divine flute to her lips, and her attack was aimed straight at Bian Lingyu—a killing move.

For ten years in the mortal realm, she hadn’t moved against Bian Lingyu, but now she had reached this point of deicide.

Unable to become the goddess empress, she had to seize the divine pearl containing supreme power.

Her clansmen had suffered this fate in ancient times due to rebelling against the gods, but if she didn’t commit deicide now, those clansmen with numb and pained eyes would be enslaved generation after generation.

The sound wave from the divine artifact rushed towards the giant beast in front. When the sound wave was released, Bian Qingxuan paused momentarily, decisively changing her target to Shi Luoyi.

Her eyes were filled with cold indifference; today, she must stop Bian Lingyu.

If delayed by another day, Shi Luoyi would fall into demonic possession.

A mass of blue flame-like energy descended from the sky, forcibly blocking Bian Qingxuan’s sound wave. It shrieked in pain, perhaps not expecting the effect of the sound wave to be so great. The mountains trembled from its roar of agony.

Bian Qingxuan coldly said, “What is this? You’re courting death!”

The Cangwu Beast didn’t expect this woman to be so terrifying. Despite its tough hide, it couldn’t withstand such an impact. It lamented inwardly, knowing it couldn’t defeat Bian Qingxuan. Seeing her bloodthirsty gaze, it tucked its tail and fled.

Bian Qingxuan ignored it. Hindered by the Cangwu Beast, when she looked back at Shi Luoyi and Bian Lingyu, she found their figures gone.

Her eyes darkened with frustration, veins nearly bursting on the back of her hand gripping the divine flute.

Shi Luoyi’s demonization had reached its final stage. Her forehead was covered with demonic patterns, resembling a field of poppies.

The demonic seed invaded her meridians, and she was almost devoid of consciousness. Earlier on the road, she had been controlled by the demonic seed again, and the Divine Falling Blade injured the giant beast beneath her.

It only paused for an instant before continuing to carry her forward.

After a long while, the girl on its back put away her blade. She lay on its back, and it felt something hot seep into its fur.

The girl hoarsely whispered, “I’m sorry. Put me down.”

The silver-white giant beast hesitated briefly before gently setting her down by the stream.

Shi Luoyi opened her eyes and saw countless small wildflowers blooming on the hillside. Winter had passed, and spring had returned to the mortal world. Further away, large patches of peach blossoms were almost withered.

By this time, night was approaching. Shi Luoyi’s fingertips touched no warmth, and the moonlight shone on her pale fingers as if they were a knife scraping her bones, causing her immense pain.

At the end of her life, she never expected to see the giant beast again, yet her hands were sticky with its blood.

The joy of seeing the giant beast faded, leaving endless sorrow and guilt in her heart. She couldn’t burden the kind-hearted people in the world anymore.

Under the moonlight, she observed the giant beast seriously for the first time.

Its face was covered with scales, and its fur was fluffy but matted with blood. In her memory, it was massive and oppressive, with rugged spines on its back. Now, she found it beautiful.

Though she didn’t know what it was, under the moonlight, its silvery-white coat was even gentler and prettier than the moon itself. It concealed its spines within its fur, and even its pair of antlers looked adorable.

Its eyes were beautiful, more stunning than the long pearl she had found in the sea. But because they were icy silver and not perfectly round, when it gazed down at her, there was a chilling sense of pressure.

Because of this, in her previous life, Shi Luoyi thought it was ferocious and terrifying. But now, she didn’t find it frightening at all—she just thought it was foolish.

Why did it keep saving her over and over again?

She had never seen it before, let alone treated it kindly. She had endured so much hardship, consuming the demonic seed without harming anyone, yet she still hurt it.

Shi Luoyi knew that it was extremely difficult for spirit beasts to gain intelligence, even more so than cultivators. They competed with the heavens, with their peers, and had to evade cultivators who hunted them. After enduring the loneliness of time, they gained a beautiful appearance and profound spiritual power. There was no need for it to repeatedly suffer for her sake.

Seeing it approach to check on her condition, she suppressed her stinging eyes, trying to appear ungrateful. She said, “Don’t come near!”

It didn’t expect her to be so cold and resistant, halting its steps.

“Go away. Don’t touch me.” Her hands were full of its blood. Strangely, despite the excruciating pain inflicted by Jiang Qi and Bian Qingxuan, she hadn’t cried. But now, seeing it, she couldn’t help but want to shed tears. She hardened her heart, “Stay away from me!”

She could no longer control her murderous intent—it would harm it again. Shi Luoyi racked her brain, trying to drive it away. If it lost hope in her, she wouldn’t be able to endure much longer. As long as it left her alone, it wouldn’t get hurt. This was the inner core of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox; even her father couldn’t do anything about it. Even if it wanted to save her, it would be futile.

She opened her mouth, her mind full of venomous words learned from her past life, but upon seeing its silver pupils looking at her with a faint sense of sadness, she found herself unable to utter them.

The silver-white beast glanced at her and then turned to leave.

Without having to utter any hurtful words, Shi Luoyi let out a sigh of relief. She watched it walk away, then raised her head to look at the moon in the sky.

Tonight was a crescent moon, its light cold and icy. All that remained by her side was a blood-stained Divine Falling Blade. She planned to seal herself away once the giant beast had moved farther away.

Shi Luoyi thought that being able to die in such tranquility wasn’t so bad.

But she never expected that not long after, the silver-white figure that had just left returned once more.

It held a leaf in its mouth, and without waiting for her to speak, one of its claws pressed on her shoulder, forcing the water from the leaf into her mouth.

Shi Luoyi tasted a faint sweetness, like morning dew, or perhaps something fragrant.

She was forced to drink it all. The silver-white beast then released her and walked to the side, curling up its body. It concealed the side with the gruesome wound, leaving only the intact half facing her.

Shi Luoyi noticed that it had become clean, no longer stained with blood. She had earlier listened closely and realized there was a small stream nearby. Had it gone to wash itself?

Did it think she was afraid of it? Or did it think she despised it?

Her eyes grew hot as she realized it had no intention of abandoning her. No matter how much she insulted or hurt it, it wouldn’t leave. Once again, she felt tears welling up, tears she couldn’t control.

Bian Lingyu, obeying her earlier request, didn’t touch her. A few days ago, after killing the Zhu Yan demon, he had realized something was wrong with Shi Luoyi. He had searched tirelessly for her, his own grievous wounds left untreated.

He knew he must look extremely terrifying now, scaring off many small animals and cultivators.

He could have reverted to his human form, but if he did, he would just be a weak mortal, incapable of saving Shi Luoyi.

He retracted his bone spines, closing his silver eyes to appear less threatening. He could have been beautiful; descendants of the Phoenix and Qilin clans always were. His true form should have been a silver-white Qilin, no less impressive than the ancient dragon clan. But twelve tail severances had prevented him from growing up like the offspring of the divine. In his youth, he couldn’t even maintain his human form.

The wings that had grown were also struck by heavenly fire, turning into ugly, horrifying skeletons.

In Shi Luoyi’s eyes, he had always been a monster.

The first time, he had felt hurt, but now he had learned to remain calm. After all, no matter how much she despised him, he still needed to help her extract the demonic seed.

Shi Luoyi’s condition was dire.

After a moment of tension, Bian Lingyu, feeling that her gaze wouldn’t hurt him anymore, was about to approach when he saw the young girl rise unsteadily, leaning on her blade.

He thought Shi Luoyi was being controlled by the demonic seed again, and his heart turned cold as he stood up. Just as he was thinking of a way to deal with it, the girl before him buried her head into his chest.

This time, she cried bitterly.

She threw down the Divine Falling Blade, tiptoed, and hugged his neck, sobbing loudly: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve been holding back this whole time. I haven’t killed anyone, nor have I harmed any commoners. I know you don’t want me to fall into demonic possession—I promise you, even if I die, I won’t turn into a demon. But I can’t hold on anymore. I didn’t mean to drive you away. You’re so good—don’t waste your cultivation on me. I’m sorry...”

Bian Lingyu had never been embraced like this in his true form, not even as a child by his mother or the maids. Only after hearing her words did he realize that Shi Luoyi didn’t find him ugly or repulsive. Instead, she was filled with fear and guilt over the wound she had inflicted on him while under the influence of the demonic seed.

His silver-white pupils gazed down at her, and he gently nudged her head with his chin.

It’s alright. It doesn’t hurt. I know you’ve tried very hard, and you’ve done well.

After she finished crying, Bian Lingyu picked her up by her clothes and brought her to the stream. Shi Luoyi asked, “What are you doing?”

Bian Lingyu couldn’t answer her, so he let her see for herself.

In the stream, Shi Luoyi saw that her eyes were still blood-red, but the demonic patterns on her forehead had faded significantly. She froze, her tear-streaked face looking somewhat comical.

Bian Lingyu observed her in his primal form under the moonlight, knowing she was resilient. If she could see hope, she wouldn’t stubbornly insist on becoming a blade spirit.

True enough, later in the night, she calmed down. Even though resisting the demonic seed was excruciating, she endured as best she could. Watching her struggle to recover, Bian Lingyu lowered his silver pupils.

In truth, Bian Lingyu wasn’t optimistic. He hadn’t expected to find the inner core of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox on the fallen Zhu Yan demon, let alone a demonic core. Not only was it an inner core, but it was also a malevolent one.

He had given Shi Luoyi his heart’s blood to temporarily suppress the demonic seed. To completely expel it, they would need to use the divine pearl to consume the seed.

Shi Luoyi wasn’t the owner of the divine pearl. It was sealed within her body by Bian Lingyu to sustain both her and Shi Huan’s lives, yet it couldn’t be fully utilized by her.

Her body couldn’t withstand the power of the divine pearl. If the seal were to be lifted, it would shatter her body.

What would happen if the divine pearl consumed the demonic seed? The consequences were unpredictable. If the divine pearl were tainted with evil...

But under the current circumstances, this was the only thing Bian Lingyu could do.

When the horizon began to show the first light of dawn, Shi Luoyi was drenched in cold sweat. She had fought against the demonic seed all night and was now exhausted, falling asleep.

Only then did Bian Lingyu approach, hovering above her, planning to use the divine pearl to consume the demonic seed while she slept.

It was a delicate task. He couldn’t unseal it but needed to establish a connection with the divine pearl to eliminate the demonic seed fused within Shi Luoyi’s body.

The process was painful, and Shi Luoyi furrowed her brows, quickly waking up.

The first thing she saw was a pair of icy silver eyes. Golden halos surrounded them.

Realizing it was helping her, she didn’t resist. The power of the divine pearl flowed through her body from morning until night, continuously working on her.

Underneath it, Shi Luoyi gradually became accustomed to the pain.

All she could see was it. After staring for a long time, she found it strangely familiar.

Suddenly, she recalled an encounter ten years ago in the Desolate Abyss. She had found a small beast. That little creature was also silver-white, but compared to the massive beast before her, it was much smaller.

Half of its skin had been peeled off, and its bones were shattered, appearing on the verge of death. Yet, it had stubbornly followed her.

Seeing the wounded little beast, she had wanted to carry it.

But despite using all her strength, she couldn’t move it. At that time, their eyes met, and she felt a bit awkward.

“You... are really heavy.”

The little beast stiffened, lowering its head to look at its blood-soaked paws, avoiding her gaze.

Helpless, Shi Luoyi could only let it walk on its own.

Now, the giant beast before her faintly overlapped with the little beast from the Delusion Sea. Though they were clearly different, the more she looked, the more they seemed alike.

Moreover, there are no coincidences in this world. It wouldn’t save her without reason.

Shi Luoyi had thought it had died in the Delusion Sea. She stared at it for a long while before hesitantly asking, “Ten years ago, did I meet you in the Delusion Sea?”