Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 224 Resurrection
"You think that the ascension of thirty-six people... is something special?"

Dong'er forced a nearly broken smile, tears glistening in her depleted eyes, yet stubbornly refusing to fall. "You opened up the world on the snowfield, revered by thousands... while I can only guard this ice coffin, this wisp of soul that could dissipate at any moment, in this dark and sunless underground!"

Her voice suddenly rose, tinged with a sharp accusation, "They obeyed your commands to pursue that supreme path! And her? She willingly did it for you! But then what?!"

Chu Ning's Adam's apple bobbed violently, a thousand words stuck in his chest, finally turning into a sorrowful cry.

He slowly bent his knees and knelt before the Ice Soul, his trembling fingertips gently touching its cold surface.

The chill was biting, but it was nothing compared to the coldness in my heart.

“Qingli…” His voice was low and hoarse, as if it had traversed the wear and tear of endless time and space.

As Dong'er watched his hand touch Bingpo, the anger in her eyes was slowly replaced by a deeper weariness.

She gazed at the blurry figure within the icy void, the one she would protect with everything she had, her voice as soft as a sigh, yet carrying an undeniable resolve:
“She is still here… As long as this wisp of her soul has not dissipated and the Fox Ancestor’s fiefdom has not collapsed, there is still a possibility of… guiding her back.”

She paused, her body swaying almost imperceptibly, as if she were only holding on by willpower, "But... I can't hold on any longer."

Chu Ning suddenly looked up.

Dong'er met his gaze, a faint smile curving her lips, a smile devoid of its former sharpness, only the lingering warmth of ashes after the fire had burned out.

"In order to guide and maintain her remaining consciousness, I have already... separated half of my soul and merged it into this ice soul."

She raised her pale, almost transparent hand, pointing to her heart, where a faint glimmer of light seemed to be slowly dissipating. "If this continues, without external force, I myself will... utterly vanish into nothingness. I have sworn a soul oath—"

Her voice was clear and calm, yet every word was like a knife:

"If Qingli awakens, my soul... may shatter."

"Who gave you permission to sign?!" Chu Ning roared, his eyes flashing with terrifying lightning, a mixture of anger and regret.

Dong'er simply shook her head gently, a strange sense of satisfaction in her smile:

"She trusts me... and you trust me too..."

She took a deep breath of the frigid underground air, as if drawing upon her last strength, "Then... I'll trust myself, that's enough. It's a pity..."

Her gaze returned to Shuoyue Bingpo, filled with endless regret:

“The bloodline of the Fox Ancestor has long been diluted… Qing Li is ultimately not pure blood. This guiding array, in order to truly awaken her soul and reshape her form… still lacks the last crucial ‘guide’.”

Chu Ning gazed at the sleeping face within the ice crystal, then slowly stood up.

The ancient soul runes on his palm suddenly lit up, flowing endlessly, and between his brows, a lightning mark, neither soul nor spirit, containing the power of destruction and creation, appeared as a lightning bolt tearing through the darkness.

A powerful and unfamiliar aura instantly filled the bottom of the well.

"If I had arrived late..." Chu Ning's voice was low and calm, yet it contained a determination to cut off all hesitation.

He pressed his fingertips, gleaming with the mark of lightning, firmly against the core of the Crescent Moon Ice Soul. "Then I will use my soul essence to burn away this belated sin, and guide her home for you!"

Om-!
The Ice Soul of the New Moon suddenly trembled violently.

The deep blue light instantly intensified, as if a frozen lake had been cleaved open by lightning, and the deep undercurrents suddenly surged.

The once quiet and dormant remnant of the divine soul within it suddenly trembled under the guidance of the lightning patterns, and its originally weak, mist-like outline began to rapidly condense.

The blurred facial features became clear and vivid for a moment—then disappeared into the stream of light.

But that subtle change was like a seed of a divine soul that had been dormant for a thousand years, sensing the call of "the first thunder of spring" for the first time in this bone-chilling deep well.

It is no longer a stillness in death, but a sign of struggle, throbbing, and return.

Dong'er suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on Bingpo. She could feel that Qingli's consciousness was responding.

Not an illusion.

It's not a surge of lingering memories.

Rather... deep within the soul, a true "will" is striving to awaken.

In Chu Ning's palm, the Thunder Soul Imprint had completely merged into the surface of the Ice Soul, and golden-blue ripples, as if resonating with the soul veins, appeared on the crystal surface.

His body swayed slightly, and his soul trembled slightly, as if an invisible thread of soul energy was being drawn from his fingertips and slowly disappeared into the depths of the icy soul.

That was not a forced activation, nor a one-way feed, but a fusion and resonance of soul power and soul intent.

A resonance stemming from shared origins and mutual appreciation is taking shape.

Chu Ning's eyes were deep and composed, his expression unchanged. There was no surprise on his face, only a resolute profile illuminated by the lightning.

He looked down at Dong'er, and it was as if he could see through the ice and see the long-dormant Qing Li.

His voice was extremely low, yet it carried the weight of a mountain; every word struck like thunder on the chains of fate.

"You've been watching over her for two years."

"With your lingering soul as a lamp, you lit an eternally burning lamp in this well of coffins."

"This time, it's my turn."

He knelt down, slowly spreading his five fingers, and a dark gold soul array appeared in his palm, gradually connecting with the ancient seal below the Ice Soul—he wanted to use himself as a guide to reverse the one-way structure of the New Moon Soul Sealing Array, making it a "composite melting platform" that could accommodate souls.

He whispered, as if making a vow:

"I won't leave until she comes back."

"If her soul breaks down, I will hold her up for her."

"You don't need to wait any longer."

"Because I'm here."

Within the Ice Soul of the New Moon, the condensed divine soul light and shadow did not calm down. Instead, like a stone thrown into the center of a lake, the ripples became more and more violent, stirring up the dark blue halo at the bottom of the well.

Chu Ning's expression was as calm and collected as an ancient well, and the soul array in his palm completely merged with the ancient thunder seal.

A wisp of pale gold, almost ethereal, soul thread slowly emerged from his fingertips, like the finest harp string, precisely probing into the core of the Ice Soul, attempting to untangle the chaotic veins of that nascent soul.

Dong'er sat cross-legged at the foot of the formation, her plain blue fox-fur robe trembling slightly in the cold current from an unknown source.

She pressed her hands firmly against the cold array patterns, her remaining soul power transforming into an invisible anchor, desperately trying to stabilize the sacrificial well's energy field, which was on the verge of collapse due to the Ice Soul's anomaly.

Cold sweat soaked her pale forehead, her breath was erratic like a candle flickering in the wind, but her eyes were more resolute than the spirits of the well wall.

"Her...consciousness is gathering," Dong'er's voice trembled with uncertainty, a mixture of hope and deep-seated fear, "is she...waking up?"

Chu Ning did not respond.

But deep within his soul, he clearly sensed that slight tremor.

Extremely faint, extremely primitive.

It was neither thought nor memory, but more like a soul sinking into the abyss of eternal night, instinctively... groping its way home.

boom!
Suddenly, the hazy girlish figure at the core of the Ice Soul trembled violently.

A mournful cry, so piercing it defied the senses, shattered the deathly silence of the Coffin Well as if millions of crystals had exploded simultaneously.

Chu Ning's body trembled violently, as if struck by a heavy hammer. His soul seemed to be torn apart by invisible claws, and his vision went black instantly.

The silk threads in his palm seemed about to snap.

"Turbulent currents in her sea of ​​consciousness!" Dong'er exclaimed in shock, her face turning deathly pale. "The fragments are rejecting her! She...she's resisting her own existence!"

Within the Ice Soul, Qing Li's divine soul light and shadow twisted, split, and then forcibly reassembled wildly.

Countless fragments of memory, broken and sharp-edged—the light of fractured boundary patterns, the blurred yet heartbreaking face, the elusive figure that could never be grasped when the soul fire collapsed—were like blades in a storm, ravaging and cutting through her nascent consciousness.

She screamed silently and struggled in vain, as if she were sinking deeper and deeper into a vortex of self-annihilation.

She forgot her name, forgot her form, and was left only with instinct to drift and fight in the void.

"We can't wait any longer!" Chu Ning's voice was deep and muffled like thunder, suppressing the buzzing in his soul, and was exceptionally clear. He stared at the light and shadow on the verge of collapse in the ice soul, his eyes filled with resolute pain.

"The foundation of her consciousness is about to collapse. If left unchecked, she will... completely dissipate into self-disorder!"

A broken mark, yet imbued with a powerful primordial aura, suddenly appeared on his folded fingertips—his innate soul mark, which had not yet been restored after he had refined his soul and attained enlightenment.

When forcibly activated at this moment, the edge of the soul imprint shimmered with uncertain light, appearing fragile and dangerous.

Dong'er's pupils suddenly contracted:

"You want to use the Twin Souls Lock?! Your soul imprint hasn't been restored, forcibly sealing the source of chaos in her sea of ​​consciousness is tantamount to connecting your own soul core to her collapsing ground! You will be completely consumed by her chaos..."

“I know the price.” Chu Ning interrupted her, his gaze calmly fixed on Dong’er, yet seemingly piercing through the ice to fall upon the struggling soul shadow. “But at this moment, the only one who can anchor her, who can withstand the backlash from her sea of ​​consciousness…”

His fingertips, bearing the marks of time, pressed slowly and firmly onto the violently trembling surface of the ice, his voice as soft as a sigh, yet each word carrying the weight of a thousand pounds:
"Only me."

“Deep within her consciousness… there are traces left by me.”

The instant the soul imprint touched the icy soul—

Buzz—boom!
The entire coffin well shook violently, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer.

The walls of the ancient soul bone well groaned under the weight of the burden.

Chu Ning felt a sharp pain in his palm; his natal soul imprint was like a red-hot branding iron, deeply embedded in the dark blue crystal.

Crimson blood instantly seeped from between his fingers, meandering into the Ice Soul, transforming into strange yet sacred dark gold veins that resonated painfully with the chaotic soul within.

"Qingli," he called softly, his voice piercing through the ice and the howling of souls, carrying an undeniable soothing power, "It is I, Chu Ning."

"return."

"Don't be afraid."

"You're still here...and so am I."

At the core of the Ice Soul, in the center of that raging, chaotic storm, a faint yet incredibly resilient golden light suddenly shone.

Like the light of a lighthouse piercing through an endless storm, it precisely "nailed" the fragmented core of the soul, which was about to be swallowed by its own darkness.

The light and shadow of Qingli's violent struggle suddenly froze.

It stopped at the brink of complete collapse and difficult reconstruction... on the verge of life and death.

She was struck as if by a call so familiar it reached the depths of her soul, or as if a torrent of emotions that transcended the boundaries of life and death had instantly breached the dam of chaos.

A final glance back atop the Boundary Tower...

The tip of an umbrella tilted in the cold, rainy night...

Before the soul fire went out, the last thing imprinted on my eyes was... his image...

Within the icy soul, the illusory fingers belonging to the girl twitched extremely slightly...

Dong'er held her breath, her eyes filled with shock.

Chu Ning did not look up. With his eyes tightly closed, the soul mark between his brows, symbolizing his origin, was visibly dimming and covered with fine cracks.

Using his own soul as a lock and his soul intent as a bridge, he forcibly constructed a barrier to isolate the source of chaos within the ruins of Qing Li's collapsed sea of ​​consciousness.

The price was that his own soul foundation was being torn apart inch by inch by that violent backlash.

“She won’t remember this moment…” he whispered, blood seeping from the corner of his tightly pressed lips and dripping onto the cold well platform, “She won’t remember… what I did.”

"But it's okay..."

He slowly raised his blood-stained hand, still pressing it lightly on the ice, as if it were the only support.

"As long as she... can still find 'Qingli'..."

"As long as she... is alive."

"enough."

The tremors at the bottom of the well finally subsided.

The eerie light of the New Moon Ice Soul resumed its steady flow, and the chaotic storm within was forcibly suppressed.

Within the fragile barrier constructed by Chu Ning's soul imprint, the girl's divine spirit and image painstakingly and gradually re-condensed into a clear outline.

Her features were faint, youthful and fragile, and she floated quietly in the center of the ice soul.

Her delicate eyelashes trembled very slightly, like newly sprouted butterfly wings.

Then, just once more.

Dong'er almost forgot to breathe; all her senses were focused on the light and shadow.

Time seemed to freeze in the cold, blue light.

finally--

"……Um……"

A very soft, weak groan, like the first warm current quietly surging beneath the ice, timidly broke the deathly silence.

The eyelids of light and shadow slowly opened.

Those were the eyes of a newborn soul, clear as the water of a cold pool untouched by the world, yet filled with the most primal confusion and unease, warily reflecting this strange and cold world.

Her gaze moved aimlessly, finally settling on Chu Ning, who was standing close by, his face as pale as paper.

Chu Ning forced a smile, trying to give her a reassuring one, but it only brought a surge of suppressed blood to her throat.

He swallowed hard, remaining silent, but still sitting there steadily. His bloodstained hand never left the Ice Soul, silently conveying a message:
You're awake.

Just be safe.

The girl's divine light and shadow rippled slightly, like the surface of water being touched by a gentle breeze.

She blinked, her clear yet bewildered eyes fixed on Chu Ning.

It was as if she was trying hard to search for even the slightest trace of familiarity in his bloodstained brows, his dim soul markings, and his unfathomable eyes filled with emotions she couldn't understand.

The longer she looked, the deeper the confusion in her eyes became, and unease rippled through her soul.

A nameless throbbing from the depths of my soul was intertwined with a strong sense of unfamiliarity.

"You..." Her voice was ethereal and elusive, carrying the rawness and uncertainty unique to a newborn soul, softly sounding like an ice bead falling onto a jade plate, "...Who are you?"

Chu Ning's body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

It felt as if the gentlest words had gripped my heart tightly, and a dull ache instantly spread to every part of my body.

But strangely, his expression did not reveal any surprise or sadness, only a kind of weary understanding.

He turned his head very slightly, and shook his head almost imperceptibly at Dong'er, who was also looking at him with equal tension.

--really.

She lost everything. Including... him.

Qingli's eyes began to flicker with helplessness.

She raised her illusory hand and pressed it against her forehead in confusion.

Countless blurry, fragmented, and illogical images suddenly assaulted her nascent consciousness—the howling wind from the cliff, the blinding beam of light, and a resolute departing figure that caused her inexplicable heartache.

The chaotic flow of information was like a sharp cone, piercing her soul and making her illusory face appear even paler, revealing instinctive pain and resistance.

(End of this chapter)