The muffled toll of bells echoed faintly, and despite the searing pain coursing through his body, Xue Chenjing paid it no mind. He felt an almost desperate urge to assert his possession before Xue Mingyuan.
Like a man who had nothing and finally obtained his treasure, he needed to plant all his flags upon her, marking every spot, raising all his defenses like thorns to drive away anyone who dared to covet her.
Yet even this wasn't enough to put his heart at ease.
Yu Yi had chosen him - she had chosen him over his brother. To Xue Chenjing, this felt like a dream. Overwhelming joy surged through his heart, making him dizzy, as if fireworks were continuously exploding in his mind, feeling as though his soul might melt.
If melting was possible, that would be wonderful - to melt together with her, never to be separated.
"Yi'er, why is there so much electricity in your body? Just touching you makes my whole body tingle," Xue Chenjing began speaking deliriously.
Yu Yi finally gained a moment to breathe from his kisses. The stimulation of their closely connected consciousness made her tremble uncontrollably, her body coursing with electricity. "Let go of me, let go first."
Her sword spirit was outside. Had she known she'd be dragged in here to encounter such a clingy octopus, she would have brought her sword spirit in with her and electrocuted him.
Xue Chenjing wore an intoxicated expression, his pupils dispersed like mist, eyes rolling slightly upward, completely deaf to her words.
His heart sea was far from calm. His uncontrolled emotions affected the demon shadows in his heart sea, further agitated by the bell tolls outside. At this moment, his heart sea was as turbulent as a storm at sea, even more chaotic than fireworks.
His heartbeat amplified into thunder, joy bloomed like wild flowers in his heart sea, while occasional self-doubt and anxiety generated storms that sent the demons in his heart sea scattering in chaos.
Yu Yi had never experienced such unpredictable scenes even when cultivating on the reef island. Frightened by the surrounding demonic chaos, she tried to struggle.
Just a slight movement caused Xue Chenjing to hold her even tighter. "Yi'er, do you regret it? Do you regret choosing me? No, no, no."
Xue Chenjing's tears burned against her chest, as if they would sear through her soul and seep into her heart sea. Though it was just their consciousness, under such heart-wrenching invasion, she felt physically suffocated.
Yu Yi cupped his face, forcing him to look at her, compelling him to listen: "I told you to let go of me a little."
Xue Chenjing blinked, squeezing out the tears in his eyes, finally hearing her words and obediently loosening his grip - but only slightly.
Still anxious, he kept confirming with her repeatedly: "Yi'er, Yi'er, is it really you? Yi'er, did you really come to find me? Would you call my name? My name."
When Yu Yi didn't respond, he would tirelessly continue calling her name, crying with joy while anxiously pressing his lips against her, inhaling her scent, feeling every tremor of her soul.
If he hadn't promised before that he wouldn't hurt her with his teeth, Yu Yi would have suspected he wanted to devour her whole before being satisfied.
The direct contact of their consciousness allowed her to fully receive the thirst and adoration emanating from Xue Chenjing, clearer and more distinct than ever before.
She really couldn't handle it anymore.
Yu Yi kept trying to retreat, only to be caught, grabbed, and pulled back by him.
Finally yielding, she called out: "A'Qiu, A'Qiu, Xue Chenjing!"
Xue Chenjing became overjoyed, so much that his soul seemed ready to ascend, completely masking the intense physical pain he was experiencing, making him increasingly unable to control himself. Soon he tasted Yu Yi's tears, hearing her sob in distress: "Let me go, you're scaring me."
These words immediately jolted Xue Chenjing from his passionate daze. He awkwardly released her, carefully wiping her tears while repeatedly apologizing: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was too happy, I'm sorry."
By the end, he was crying himself.
Yu Yi finally recovered from the storm and wanted to scold him, but seeing his tear-stricken face, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Having learned her lesson, she didn't dare wipe his tears this time, knowing Xue Chenjing would surely take advantage and go crazy again.
Maintaining some distance from Xue Chenjing, she asked irritably: "Do you know what you were doing just now?"
Xue Chenjing fixed his black pupils on her, tears still clinging to his lashes, his gaze sincere and burning, as he said: "Courtship. Yi'er, I want you, want our souls to merge as one."
Yu Yi's heart skipped a beat, scorched by his gaze. She hadn't expected him to admit it so frankly, so directly that it made her heart race, leaving her unsure how to respond.
They sat together, facing each other, momentarily silent.
[System: Ding - Main quest initiated. Please complete Phase Three main quest "Undying Love" by raising the target's affection to 80%. Success is just one step away, please continue your efforts.]
The system's voice emerged from the chaotic demon shadows, completely ruining the mood.
Xue Chenjing was startled - if Yu Yi's consciousness hadn't been present, he would have jumped up to curse at the system. Couldn't it hold back? Did it have to pop up at this moment?
But that damned system apparently didn't think it was enough, and after a brief silence, it "dinged" again.
[System: Ding - Target's affection has exceeded 80%. Congratulations on completing Phase Three main quest: Undying Love. Under the host's sincere and pure emotional nurturing, the seed of love in the target's heart has finally taken root, grown strong, and will remain evergreen.]
Xue Chenjing froze, his anger dissipating as his eyes slowly widened. He had never encountered such a situation before, completely forgetting to hide his shocked expression as he stared at Yu Yi in disbelief, uncontrollable joy spilling from the depths of his pupils.
Her affection had risen so high? This was affection for him, right? Only for him?
She likes me too!
[System: Preparing to initiate the final story arc: Path of Wild Demons.]
In the midst of the system's voice, Yu Yi's chaotic heart gradually settled, and her consciousness withdrew from Xue Chenjing's heart sea.
Still overwhelmed with joy, Xue Chenjing didn't react in time and failed to hold onto her this time.
After Yu Yi's consciousness left Xue Chenjing's heart sea, it returned directly to her body. She sat dazed on the reef island, raising her hand to cover her burning cheeks, feeling the wetness on her face.
The sea breeze lifted her skirt and long hair, her body still trembling beneath her clothes, the sensations lingering.
This feeling was truly terrifying, even more so than physical touch or kisses. Yu Yi's limbs felt weak, truly experiencing a sense of exhaustion. After a long while, she finally recovered somewhat, pressing her hand against her gradually steadying heartbeat, thinking in confusion.
It had been so long since she'd heard the system's voice, and suddenly hearing it announce that the affection had soared to 80%. Was she really that in love? How did she not know?
Yu Yi had always felt that she had been keeping her heart in check. Even though there were times when she couldn't control her emotions, she would try her best to rein them in, rationally retreating to a safe range. How could it have gotten so out of control?
She didn't deny that she liked Xue Chenjing, but liking wasn't the same as love, let alone reaching the point of undying devotion.
Yu Yi took a deep breath, suppressing her chaotic thoughts, remembering the system's final announcement, "Initiating the final story arc: Path of Wild Demons."
These words gave her an ominous feeling.
Yu Yi rose from the reef island, forming a cleansing spell with her fingers and pressing it to her body. Spiritual energy poured in from her collar, washing over her entire body.
The thunderstorm here had dispersed, the dark clouds cleared, and a bright moon hung in the sky, casting down clear silver light. The moon reflected on the sea surface, making it seem as if two moons illuminated the mortal realm from above and below.
The green bamboo sword hung above the reef island, its newly born sword spirit coiled around the blade. Its body was outlined in lightning, dragon claws sharply gripping the sword body, scales clear on its form, with a broad nose and deep whiskers, its eyes gleaming like precious jewels.
Wandering lightning arcs spread from its body, protecting this reef island beneath it, and sheltering Yu Yi as well.
Yu Yi reached out her hand, and the green bamboo sword flew toward her. The lightning dragon slithered down from the sword and obediently placed its head in her palm. She stroked the dragon's head and, thinking of the crimson crane in the sword, worried aloud, "You two won't fight, will you?"
No sooner had she spoken than the crimson crane poked its head out from the green bamboo sword. Electric arcs from the sword jumped onto its head, causing its feathers to instantly puff up into a ball.
Unhappily, it let out a long cry and turned to peck at the lightning dragon. The dragon shrank its neck at the peck, letting out an angry roar like rolling thunder.
Yu Yi quickly grabbed one in each hand to separate them.
The crimson crane was originally her master's sword spirit. During her cultivation at Great Green Mountain, Yu Yi had finally claimed it as her own. Now, she had also birthed her own lightning dragon sword spirit. The two sword spirits competing for space within the green bamboo sword was indeed rather cramped.
Yu Yi closed her eyes to sense the lightning and fire spiritual powers circling within her Golden Core, then resolutely declared, "Alright, bear with it for now. I will create separate sword domains for you both."
Only then did the dragon and crane settle down.
However, though she said this, creating a sword domain was no easy task, let alone creating two. It would require thorough preparation. At the very least, it couldn't be done on this reef island.
Though the lightning storm had stopped, some cultivators who had come to practice in this lightning field hadn't left yet. There were five in total, three men and two women, each standing on a reef rock, seemingly waiting for her.
With the lightning dragon's electric barrier covering the reef island, they couldn't intrude, so they had been waiting outside. From this behavior, they likely harbored no ill intentions - otherwise, they could have easily forced their way in while her consciousness was separated from her body.
Yu Yi retrieved her green bamboo sword and jumped down from the reef island, stepping on the night tide's waves as she flew out. She landed on a small reef rock not far from the five cultivators, but her legs were weak, and she stumbled, nearly falling off the rock.
The female cultivator closest to her quickly flew over and reached out to steady her, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"
Yu Yi's ears grew hot with embarrassment, but she maintained her composure, "I'm fine, just slipped. Thank you, miss."
The female cultivator smiled, her bright eyes fixed unwavering on Yu Yi, and said, "You're welcome. I'm Ling Rou, a cultivator from the Wuji Tower. What's your name?"
Yu Yi, accustomed to being alone in this world, felt somewhat uncomfortable being approached so warmly by strangers, but replied, "Yu Yi."
"Yu Yi." Ling Rou repeated her name, continuing to stare at her while praising, "You're really beautiful, and your sword spirit is so magnificent. Waiting here in the sea breeze half the night for you to emerge was completely worth it."
Yu Yi asked puzzledly, "Were you all waiting for me?"
The cultivators opposite her offered friendly bows and introduced themselves in turn. Some had traveled thousands of miles specifically for this lightning field, others had chased the lightning here. Most were cultivators from nearby immortal sects, and one was from the Carefree Sect.
Liang Province was under the jurisdiction of the Carefree Sect. Such places for tempering spiritual roots should typically be controlled by major immortal sects, but the Carefree Sect was quite magnanimous and didn't prevent other cultivators from practicing here.
They then inquired whether she had been fortunate enough to see the heavenly gate's wondrous sight.
Yu Yi had indeed seen the scene beyond the heavenly gate, but the collapse of the immortal realm wasn't something good to speak of, and it would needlessly disturb others' dao hearts. She hesitated briefly before shaking her head.
The group didn't press further, as according to legend, only those destined for ascension had the fortune to glimpse the heavenly gate opening a crack. No one had ascended in this world for a very long time - how could the heavenly gate be so easily seen?
They had remained here mainly to get acquainted with each other.
After introductions, someone suggested, "The lightning storm has ended, and Liang Province's city gates should be open now. We've all been here getting struck by lightning together for so many days - that makes us fate-bound friends. Why don't we go into the city together for a meal? It'll be a good way to relax."
Everyone looked at her expectantly, and Yu Yi naturally wouldn't dampen their spirits, so she nodded with a smile.
A thousand miles away at the Carefree Sect, the full moon hung high, illuminating a solitary peak.
A great bell toll rang out from the peak's summit, startling everyone within the Carefree Sect.
Madam Lian hovered above a pavilion, her expression cold as she stared at the fluctuating rune markings on the Demon Suppressing Bell. The bell's toll indicated the activation of its demon-slaying runes, showing that the person inside had once again been defeated by their inner demon.
This Demon Suppressing Bell was a divine-level artifact. It would toll nine times, and under these nine tolls, no demon could escape death.
Not just the person inside the bell, but any demon within a hundred miles would be captured by the bell's sound and have both body and soul destroyed.
This Demon Suppressing Bell was considered the Carefree Sect's guardian treasure. Of course, not every demon required the bell's deployment. According to sect rules, activating the bell for demon suppression required the rune keys of at least three sect elders.
However, the Supreme Elder possessed an independent key to activate the Demon Suppressing Bell.
Inside the bell, Xue Chenjing sat amidst dense rotating rune markings, his head pounding from the thunderous tolls.
The reverberating waves tore at his physical body, causing demonic energy to leak uncontrollably from his entire body. When demon shadows howled and crashed into the suspended runes, they sizzled like water droplets hitting hot iron, completely dissolved by the demon-slaying marks.
Xue Chenjing bent forward in pain, grabbing onto something that felt like bones. Opening his eyes to look, he saw it was some demon creature's skull, thoroughly dead and crumbling at his touch.
Now, his own bones felt close to shattering under the bell's vibrations.
Xue Chenjing coldly laughed, "Thinking a mere Demon Suppressing Bell can kill me, heh heh."
He absolutely could not die here, not at this time.
The system worriedly said, "Master, perhaps you should stop laughing first - you're bleeding."
If the host died here, its mission would be completely ruined! The system now clearly understood that compared to Xue Mingyuan, it was actually Xue Chenjing who had more hope of completing the romance mission. It had misjudged before.
As expected of someone who could achieve a happy ending with the villain, its female protagonist was truly extraordinary.
Xue Chenjing raised his sleeve to wipe the blood from his mouth, but the blood only flowed more heavily. Not just from his mouth and nose - his entire body was bleeding. He looked up at the rotating rune markings above his head and asked, "How many tolls so far?"
The system replied, "Master, it's been five tolls."
