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"I'll go," Gu Yuena suddenly said.
Xuan Ming paused slightly, looking at her.
"Bo Saixi can't defeat me. Besides, as fellow women, perhaps it would be easier for her to accept if I were the one to speak," Gu Yuena said.
With her presence, she could not only ensure the situation wouldn't spiral out of control due to her absolute strength but also communicate from a female perspective, which might better soothe Bo Saixi's emotions.
Xuan Ming was somewhat moved. Gu Yuena's suggestion was indeed the most stable choice. With her strength and identity, even if Bo Saixi was furious, she wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.
Moreover, recently, Gu Yuena's relationship with Hu Liena, Ning Rongrong, and others seemed to have softened considerably, and the atmosphere was much more harmonious than before. Her intervention could indeed minimize the impact on others.
But... he reconsidered, and a hint of apprehension arose in his heart.
Bo Saixi was, after all, the Great Priestess of Sea God Island, the Sea God Poseidon's spokesperson in the mortal world. If Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon King, were to handle this matter in an almost "threatening" manner, would it anger the Sea God?
After all, the Sea God had always been quite good to him, even secretly helping him multiple times. Antagonizing the Sea God over this matter would be a loss.
More importantly... Xuan Ming shook his head, his eyes once again firm.
"No, I'll still go. This matter began because of me, and it should be concluded by me personally. Evasion and shirking responsibility won't solve the problem."
He took a deep breath, his gaze once again fixed on Sea God Island in the distance: "What must be faced, must be faced. Regardless of the outcome, I should personally give her an explanation."
This was the choice he made; he personally ended Tang Chen's life.
This responsibility rightfully belonged to him... Sea God Island, Sea God Mountain.
Xuan Ming and Gu Yuena landed on the mountaintop and walked directly towards the magnificent Sea God Temple. However, the temple doors, usually open, were now tightly shut, enveloped by a soft yet resilient golden halo, isolating inside from out.
A maid in white respectfully guarded the temple entrance. Upon seeing Xuan Ming, she immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Lord Xuan Ming, the Great Priestess has instructed that she is currently in seclusion for cultivation and is not receiving visitors."
Seclusion?
Xuan Ming frowned slightly. He had just returned, and Bo Saixi happened to be in seclusion? This was too much of a coincidence. A bad premonition arose in his heart.
He said no more, only nodded, but his powerful mental force, like an invisible tide, silently spread out, directly penetrating the thick doors of the Sea God Temple and probing towards the direction of Bo Saixi's usual sleeping quarters.
His mental force was fused with the Sea God's Heart. Although he couldn't actively control the Seagod's Light, the Seagod's Light held no repulsion towards him, allowing his mental perception to move almost unimpeded on Sea God Island.
However, just as his mental force was about to touch the core area of Bo Saixi's sleeping quarters—
Buzz!
A gentle yet undeniable golden divine light suddenly flared, like a barrier, gently blocking his mental force. At the same time, a voice, with a hint of playfulness and helplessness, directly sounded in his mind:
"Kid, that habit of yours isn't very good. Probing a girl's room with your mental force without permission?"
It was the Sea God Poseidon's divine thought!
Xuan Ming's mouth twitched slightly, and he responded in his mind: "Cut the nonsense. Are you behind this?"
He suspected that Poseidon had informed Bo Saixi of Tang Chen's death in advance, causing her to avoid him.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you dare accuse a good person!" Poseidon's divine thought immediately retorted, his tone carrying a hint of grievance, "This god always keeps his word! I said I'd wait for you to handle it yourself, and I would never speak out of turn in advance!"
After Xuan Ming left Sea God Island, he merely "coincidentally" shared his own "exciting" experiences, including the destruction of Slaughter City, Tang Chen's fall, and the final battle, which he and several other God Kings had witnessed through a light screen, with Bo Saixi in an "objective record" format.
He hadn't said a single extra word, merely let her watch the "live recording" herself.
Xuan Ming naturally didn't believe his lies, but at this moment, he had no mind to argue with him. He was more concerned about Bo Saixi's state... Deep within the Sea God Temple, in Bo Saixi's sleeping quarters.
The light in the sleeping quarters was soft, permeated with a faint scent of the ocean. Bo Saixi was not in seclusion as the maid had said, but was sitting alone, quietly on the edge of the bed.
She was still wearing her solemn red priestess robe, but her usually calm and gentle sea-blue eyes were now filled with confusion, struggle, and a hint of... release that she herself found hard to comprehend.
In front of her, a crystal ball emitting a soft glow floated. Inside the crystal ball, the thrilling battle that had taken place above the ruins of Slaughter City not long ago was clearly replaying.
In the scene, the fallen and crazed Tang Chen, burning his remnant soul and the Parasite's origin, condensed a dark red Clear Sky Avatar, smashing towards Xuan Ming with world-destroying power. Xuan Ming, in turn, transformed into a hundred-meter Slaughter Dragon Emperor Battle Soul, wielding the Blood Spear, and met him head-on!
Ultimately, the Blood Spear pierced Tang Chen's chest, devouring his everything... The scene froze at the moment Tang Chen turned to dust and dissipated.
Bo Saixi's gaze lingered for a long time on the empty screen.
She thought she would burst into tears, that her heart would be like a knife twisting, that she would feel an ingrained hatred for Xuan Ming.
But... there was nothing.
The anticipated heartbreak did not arrive. Her heart, as if shrouded in a thick mist, felt more like a sense of... emptiness after the dust settled, and a kind of... unspeakable... release?
Yes, release.
This realization filled her with fear and shame.
Tang Chen, the man who had once captivated her for countless years, for whom she had waited bitterly for decades, the one she had once believed would be her lifelong bond... at the moment of his true death, what she felt was not grief, but a sigh of relief.
As if a heavy, long-borne shackles had been lifted.
Decades of waiting did not bring the joy of reunion, but endless torment and repeated disappointments. She hated his obtuseness, his lack of romantic understanding, and how he had made her gradually exhaust her youth and passion in endless waiting.
Especially after Xuan Ming's arrival, watching this young man repeatedly challenge his limits for his goals, even risking his life, and feeling her long-dormant heart ripple because of him... her inner struggle and pain grew even stronger.
On one side were the constraints of morality and the past, on the other, an uncontrollable stirring and longing deep within her heart.
This quietly burgeoning, inappropriate affection, intertwined with the "responsibility" and "obsession" for Tang Chen, which had long been smoothed by time, made her feel immense pain and entanglement.
And Tang Chen's death was like a swift blade, cutting the most stubborn thread in this tangled mess.
She no longer had to agonize over whether her waiting for Tang Chen was worth it, nor feel guilt and unease over the subtle changes in her heart.
But... this feeling of release due to someone's death made her feel incredibly vile and cold!
She didn't know how to face Xuan Ming anymore.
Should she question him like an elder who had lost a close friend, asking why he was so ruthless? Or should she, like a... woman with ulterior motives, secretly rejoice because his actions indirectly freed her from mental shackles?
These two utterly conflicting emotions clashed fiercely in her heart, leaving her at a loss.
She could only choose to hide temporarily, seeing no one, especially Xuan Ming. She needed time to sort out her chaotic feelings.
"What... has happened to me..." Bo Saixi murmured, her sea-blue eyes filled with confusion and pain. She reached out, gently touching the cold crystal ball, as if she could feel the destructive aura lingering from that battle, and... the resolute figure of that young man.