Lin Muchen was bound to Ling Qianhe by chains.
She traveled with him through the mortal realm, witnessing the suffering of its inhabitants, while Ling Qianhe watched with cold indifference. She had tried to save people—
But as Ling Qianhe had said, in this hellish human world, people’s malice was amplified infinitely. Although she had tried to rescue others, she had also been pushed forward to shield them from blades countless times.
Lin Muchen felt helpless.
However, she couldn't do anything about it. If she encountered others in danger again, she would still save them. But that damnable Ling Qianhe always whispered in her ear.
"Your body belongs to me—every inch of your body is mine..."
"Do you hear me? Every night, every moment, I want you..."
His voice was like a low, guttural whisper from hell.
"You mustn't get hurt, because this body belongs to me..."
Lin Muchen was powerless against him.
As demonic energy gradually encroached upon the mortal realm, even if she saved these people temporarily, she couldn't save the entire world. But at this moment, a new turning point appeared.
...
Several days later.
Lin Muchen silently observed the formation before her, then questioned the small system in her mind.
"Are you sure that if I sacrifice myself here, by leaping into this formation, I can temporarily stop the demonic energy from flooding back into the mortal realm?"
The small system replied.
"Of course!"
"You sacrifice yourself, and that's all there is to it."
"We will handle everything else. Fortunately, Helian Lanyuan and Xuanyuan Yuting have managed to stall Ling Qianhe. If you don't jump now, by the time Ling Qianhe catches up, you won't have another chance!"
"If I were you, I would jump immediately!"
The plot was nearing its end. Lin Muchen’s face was pale. She knew that every night, Ling Qianhe, despite claiming he wished for her death, would secretly give her his blood as she slept.
He used this method to maintain the stability of her body.
He would do everything in his power to keep her by his side. If Ling Qianhe knew that she had ultimately made such a choice, he would be deeply disappointed.
But the small system said.
"Don't worry about Ling Qianhe… this has already happened once!"
"Host, your most important task now is to jump!"
"Jump in, and the world will be at peace."
"If you don't jump soon, it will be too late!"
The small system was clearly anxious. Hearing its words, Lin Muchen finally made up her mind. She took a deep breath and then plunged downwards.
Like a butterfly with broken wings.
The moment she fell.
She vaguely saw a shadow formed by black energy appear behind her, but it didn't catch her. She was falling too fast, and her body was instantly swallowed by the grand formation.
And in her ears, she heard a heart-wrenching scream!
"No!"
"Xiao Ci! Don't!"
...
She lost consciousness after jumping, but the small system kept her soul from departing, allowing her to see the boy standing above. He gritted his teeth, frantically forming seals, trying to destroy the formation and rush in to find her.
His eyes were crimson, but unlike the moments of his earlier anger, his previously frenzied and sharp gaze had transformed into profound pain and sorrow. His eyes were crimson, and tears of blood flowed from them.
How much pain must he have endured?
Lin Muchen couldn't comprehend it.
She could no longer share his pain.
Her body had been reshaped once, and then she had become the core of the formation. Now that the system had kept a wisp of her consciousness to witness Ling Qianhe’s suffering, she could only watch him in agony. Her heart felt as if it were consumed by a raging wildfire, clouding her consciousness and leaving her in a daze.
He continued to form seals with his crimson eyes.
But before him, another figure appeared. This figure was covered in blood, their white robes stained with crimson marks. Yet, he seemed utterly indifferent. He looked up at Ling Qianhe before him and sensed a familiar aura within the formation.
His expression suddenly changed!
"Xiao Ci..."
He immediately turned his gaze to the formation, his face becoming extremely grim.
"She jumped in?"
"It's all because of you! If you hadn't been so aggressive, so relentless… using the world to retaliate against her, why would she have to sacrifice herself to reverse the heavenly dao..."
"You demonic entity—why aren't you the one dead?"
Ling Qianhe could have annihilated him, but he was now overcome with grief and had no such intentions. He continued to frantically form seals, but his hand gestures repeatedly failed.
Helian Lanyuan's words were filled with sorrow.
"Do you know that once this formation is complete, if she has made up her mind to throw herself in and become the core driving force of the formation, she will likely be instantly annihilated? Do you still want to open the formation to save her?"
"There is no hope!"
"She might not even leave a wisp of her soul behind!"
Every word he spoke seemed to be slicing the boy before him into a thousand pieces. He reached out and touched his chest.
He had no heart, yet it ached so intensely.
That pain was even greater than if she had personally dug out his heart.
His breathing grew rapid, and tears of blood trickled down his cheeks.
Despite his exquisitely handsome face, the blood and tears adorning it gave him an appearance of ultimate despair, a tragic beauty.
He spoke, his voice so hoarse that he himself could barely recognize it.
"No..."
"She won't die."
"She is a phoenix—she's not supposed to die..."
Upon hearing the boy's murmured words, Helian Lanyuan gritted his teeth and finally revealed the truth he had long concealed.
"You think being a phoenix means she's immortal?"
"But—"
Helian Lanyuan himself was consumed by extreme grief!
He couldn't understand why Xiao Ci had to sacrifice herself to this extent for the demonic entity before him.
Was it worth it? She was a phoenix, soaring in the highest heavens, so why sacrifice everything, even her own life?
Was she atoning for him?
What was this world worth her sacrifice? The demonic entity before him was not worth it at all!
Helian Lanyuan's voice was as deep and cold as an icy blade, savagely cutting through his body.
"She is not immortal at all—when she first met you, she already used a secret technique known only to the royal phoenix clan. She shared half of your pain, and from then on, all your suffering was borne by her."
"In the entire world, only Xiao Ci could do such a thing!"
"You always thought Xiao Ci was heartless towards you, cruel to you, but you also had to bear half the pain she did. When she killed you herself, she was prepared to die with you!"
"She truly died once—if you hadn't awakened your demonic body, she wouldn't have woken up."
"All the pain you suffered back then, she endured it all."
"She shared all your pain with you. Do you understand now?"
"Are you satisfied?"
As Helian Lanyuan spoke the truth, he felt the boy before him suddenly look up. His blood-red eyes instantly turned terrifying, the immense emotions contained within them almost crushing one's body.
Then, the boy reached out and tightly gripped his neck, and demonic energy exploded everywhere. Helian Lanyuan's eyes widened as he heard the boy's voice, a low murmur that sounded like a volcano about to erupt, its lava about to consume everything.
"What did you say?"
"What phoenix clan secret technique..."
Helian Lanyuan looked at him dazedly. His expression became vacant.
"Xiao Ci, for you, used a secret technique to share your pain..."
"From the very beginning, she knew all your suffering..."
"She just never told you..."
"Didn't you realize—"
Helian Lanyuan's words utterly shattered the boy before him! He reached out and pressed his chest, and it felt as if, in that instant, flesh and blood had regrown, forming a soft heart.
But that soft, flesh-and-blood heart was once again torn to shreds.
The softer the heart,
The more agonizing the pain.
He continued to form hand seals, but facing the grand formation of heaven and earth, his body trembled, and he spat out a mouthful of dark blood. Helian Lanyuan gasped for air, the dispersed demonic energy causing his body to nearly collapse.
Even as Helian Lanyuan’s true form was a five-clawed golden dragon, he could not withstand such terrifying demonic energy.
But this was only the beginning.
He watched as the demonic entity before him involuntarily fell, kneeling before the grand formation of heaven and earth. He reached out and cupped his chest—and in the next second, something shocking happened!
This demonic entity—
He personally reached into his own chest and dug out his heart!
The scene was utterly shocking, but his body was born from the entanglement of demonic energy and malevolent thoughts, so the heart remained intact, even beating, appearing exceptionally bizarre. His eyes slightly closed.
As if he were catching his breath.
A moment later, his voice, tinged with extreme pain, spoke.
"It's true..."
"So she really did share my pain..."
Only by taking out his own heart did he realize—the pain he felt back then, that young girl had indeed shared it with him. But he could no longer feel that pain, for he was completely overwhelmed by an even greater agony.
That pain was boundless.
It made every breath painful. He stared blankly at the formation before him and reached out, intending to leap in, but he was repelled by a golden light. Heaven’s will was preventing him.
And behind him, the figures of several Demon Lords appeared.
They directly blocked him.
"Lord Demon God… you cannot!"
"The world will collapse, Demon God!"
"Lord Demon God!"
But he could no longer hear their cries. Only one thought occupied his mind: his girl must have been in so much pain.
When she was in such pain, he hadn't known; he was immersed in his hatred for her, unable to extricate himself. He hated her for being heartless, for never having him in her heart.
It was his fault, his grave mistake.
He thought he saw through people's hearts, but he never understood her. How she hid her feelings and watched him with a blank expression as she pierced his heart. Da Feng Xiao Shu Wang.
He hurt so much, and she hurt just as much as him, her face pale from the pain, yet why couldn't he see it?
She didn't even let him feel her pain.
She didn't even let him see her pain.
He thought she hated him, thought she disliked him. He believed too much in his own demonic intuition, but he was wrong, terribly wrong. He thought she didn't love him; he was too foolish. He was indeed the most shameless scoundrel in the world.
He thought he no longer had a heart, but it turned out that demons could also grow flesh and blood from chaotic demonic energy. And now, this newly grown, soft heart was once again being torn to shreds, hurting him so much that he felt he was dying.
But no one could share his pain anymore.
His pain could never be shared by anyone else. His girl would never hurt again.
The newly formed heart in his chest was already a bloody mess. He gasped for air, and in that moment of extreme pain, his eyes blurred with tears, but he seemed to hear her say.
"After I leave, you must love this world."
"Ling Qianhe, grant me this selfishness, I beg you, never become a demon."
His tears mixed with blood, dripping into the dust, drop by drop.
His voice was choked with emotion.
Like a child.
"I promise you everything—please, please come back, okay?"
"I’ll agree to anything… I will never become a demon… If you like me as a mortal, I’ll be a mortal for all eternity, alright?"
"I can give up everything, I can give up eternal life—as long as you come back, okay?"
He was crying as if he were dying.
The newborn heart was again a bloody mess, but he no longer cared. He crawled on the ground, blood flowing from his eyes. His back was hunched, and although demonic energy swirled around him, he looked withered, like an abandoned stray dog curled into a ball.
The boy, in extreme pain, only had his Xiao Ci sister in his mind.
Her smiling, crying, expressionless, watching him—every expression was now like a knife piercing his body, but he clung to this pain.
"I promise you everything..."
He wanted to beg for her back with such heartbreaking desperation.
He humbly wished for heaven and earth to return his Xiao Ci to him.
She must have been in pain too.
Sharing his pain, but saying nothing.
When she was in so much pain—
Was she afraid? Would she blame him?
Thinking about it made him wish he could die in the next second, but he couldn't. He possessed a long life, an enduring existence. Without her, it was punishment, torture.
It was every day of agonizing pain, every year, every month, a fierce torment.
His heart, repeatedly born and torn apart, cherished this lingering tenderness. His tears fell deeply into the earth. His whole body trembled, and he kept repeating her name.
She wouldn't truly be annihilated, would she?
He could still find her, right?
So, this was true pain.
Losing her.
He was close to death.