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"Mmm~"
Gu Yuena awoke from her dazed state. As she tried to move her body, a sudden wave of soreness washed over her. Memories of the past few days flooded back, and her cheeks flushed pink once more. She glanced at Bai Xu, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, and shot him a fierce glare.
Over the course of three days, Bai Xu had taken her countless times. Even though her Silver Dragon body was far more resilient than that of a human soul master and her stamina was superior, she still felt utterly exhausted. Despite having already reached the Soul Sage rank and manifesting her Silver Dragon form, her physical endurance still couldn't compare to Bai Xu's.
Fortunately, by the end, even Bai Xu had shown signs of exhaustion, finally bringing their passionate escapade to a close as they both collapsed into sleep.
"Hiss—" She attempted to lift her leg, only to wince at the sharp pain. Hurriedly, she circulated her soul power to soothe the discomfort.
The movement roused Bai Xu from his rest. He slowly approached and sat on the edge of the bed. "Do you want something to eat?"
"No, I just want to lie here," Gu Yuena muttered, pulling the blanket up to her chest as she eyed him warily. She truly couldn't take any more.
Bai Xu gazed at the beautiful woman before him. Though his heart stirred, he suppressed the urge to act on it. Seeing her guarded expression, he sighed. "Now I understand the meaning of the phrase 'death by exhaustion.'"
These past few days had taken a toll on him as well. Logically, with his Five Elements Immortality, his body should have been unaffected. Yet, he had grown noticeably weaker. It was as if the essence of the Five Elements had flowed into Gu Yuena's body, leaving him unable to recover in time. Only after meditating for a while had he managed to restore himself.
"You scoundrel," Gu Yuena chided, her face burning with embarrassment. "You don't know the meaning of gentleness at all."
Bai Xu suddenly recalled how many times she had begged for mercy, but by then, his rationality had long since snapped. He hadn't been in any state to hold back. With a helpless smile, he said, "That's the price you pay. Let me help you recover."
As he reached out to support her, she shrank back under the covers.
"N-No need!" Gu Yuena was even more flustered now, hiding deeper beneath the blanket.
Upon waking, she had noticed that her soul power had risen by two levels. Moreover, there seemed to be other chemical reactions occurring within her body—perhaps due to Bai Xu's extraordinarily high-tier constitution, or the differences in their cultivation paths. Whatever the case, subtle changes were taking place inside her.
Bai Xu remained unaware of this, attributing her reaction to mere shyness. Instead, he simply sat beside her, keeping her company. Their holiday had been spent entirely in this room, immersed in their own little world.
"You're going to find Yuanen Yehui?" Gu Yuena asked in surprise.
"Yes. I've also reached rank 70. The Plane's Will granted me a spatial attribute for my seventh soul ring. Moreover, through the demon seed within Yuanen Yehui, it can pinpoint the exact location of the Demon Plane. I may need to visit the Demon Plane in the future," Bai Xu explained.
"To absorb the Demon Plane? If Douluo Continent assimilates both the Abyss and Demon Planes, wouldn't it undergo an evolution?"
"Exactly. The future will be a grand world. You'll need to carefully plan the role of soul beasts to ensure they secure a place in this new era," Bai Xu added. "The Dragon Tomb likely hasn't drifted too far. Once everything is settled, I'll seek it out and merge it with Douluo. The dragon race may yet rise again."
Gu Yuena froze, stunned by his words.
"But the dream of allowing soul beasts to ascend to godhood—that's something only you can achieve. Otherwise, in the glorious age to come, they'll only perish beneath heavenly tribulations. Remember the Yin-Yang Rebirth Secret Art I told you about?"
"Isn't that your personal technique?"
"It is. Right now, I can't fully comprehend it—not until I forge my Five Elements Body. But I already understand its general purpose. As I've said before, all things in existence possess yin and yang—male and female, heaven and earth, darkness and light, and so on. Extreme yang gives birth to yin, and extreme yin gives birth to yang. Just like you and the Golden Dragon—one embodies creation, the other destruction. If cultivated properly, you could theoretically derive the Golden Dragon's origin power and ascend as the Dragon God yourself."
The true strength of the Yin-Yang Rebirth Secret Art lay in its unparalleled duality. When one reached the pinnacle of a certain path, this art allowed them to manifest a completely opposing path. By colliding these two extremes, one could ascend to the apex.
Gu Yuena's eyes flickered before dimming. Bai Xu had planned far ahead, yet she felt she had nothing to offer him in return. All she could do was recover her strength and support him in the future.
Now, she realized how naïve she had been. Her original plan had merely involved manipulating all soul masters on Douluo Continent. But the fate of these soul masters wasn't even in her hands—the Plane's Will could dictate their lives and deaths at will. After the Abyss War, nearly all of them had been resurrected.
The true architects of a planet's destiny were the gods.
Her strategies, vision, and understanding were far from sufficient. Even if she did nothing and simply recuperated, restoring her strength to that of a second-class god would be enough to dominate Douluo. Why bother integrating with humanity? Technology had its merits, but it was still no match for divine power.
Her voice softened, tinged with melancholy. "It seems I've unknowingly owed you so much. Since meeting you, I've felt powerless for the first time in my life. Perhaps you celestial demons truly transcend everything, far beyond Douluo's limits. You've made me, a Silver Dragon who should reign supreme, feel insignificant. What lies beyond the universe? What are parallel worlds? And the myriad realms—no one has ever pondered these things. Even the Dragon God was but a speck of dust in the cosmos of Douluo. He couldn't break free."
"Want to repay me? We can continue… After a few more rounds, I'll tell you everything. How about it?" Bai Xu teased.
"Continue your head! You haven't even fulfilled your promises yet. I'll repay you later," Gu Yuena retorted, lifting her leg slightly before wincing. Her lower abdomen still ached—she really couldn't handle any more.
"I want something to eat."
"Here." Bai Xu passed her the food from the table.
Gu Yuena sat up and accepted it. Bai Xu rose and drew open the curtains, allowing a beam of sunlight to spill into the room, enveloping her entire figure. At this moment, she truly felt as though the man before her was a ray of light itself.
Now that the mental imprint in her mind had been destroyed, she was free of all constraints. She could choose to involve herself with Tang Wulin—or not. But she had no intention of interfering anymore. The final battle would mark the end of everything. She absolutely had to recover her divine strength to stand by Bai Xu's side in that battle.
Of course, now that the imprint was gone, she could also devour the Golden Dragon and become the Dragon God, ushering in a new era of glory for soul beasts and relegating humanity back to the bottom of the food chain. But… she chose not to.
If she did that, it would mean betraying Bai Xu—stabbing him in the back and casting him down from the heights of triumph into the abyss.
As Bai Xu had once said, life was already bitter enough. There was no need for a tragic ending. Let us strive together toward a brighter future.
"Why are you crying while eating?" Bai Xu chuckled, amused.
"None of your business."
"Ahem, though we've seen each other bare, we haven't reached the point of such unrestrained joy. Have you really not noticed?"
At his teasing words, Gu Yuena realized the blanket had slipped from her chest, revealing her full, snow-white peaks. But this time, she didn't blush. With an impassive expression, she pulled the covers back up, glared at Bai Xu, and continued eating.