Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 225 I remember you, that's enough.
"Don't look at him!"

Dong'er immediately stepped forward, her voice gentler than ever before, carrying a calming power that instantly attracted the girl's attention.

"Your consciousness is still very fragile; forcing yourself to recall things will hurt you."

She carefully reached out her hand, not for physical contact, but to gently guide Qing Li's divine soul light and shadow away from the residual soul pressure vortex in the core of the Ice Soul with her pure Fox Ancestor soul power.

With a light stroke of her fingertip, a warm, ancient-looking blue fox mark slowly disappeared into the girl's brow.

“You need time,” Dong’er’s voice was as soft as if she were afraid of disturbing a fragile dream. “Take it slow, find your own ‘path’ little by little. It’s okay if you can’t remember…”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Chu Ning's silent, blood-stained back, her voice softening, "We... will always be here, waiting for you."

The girl's soul stabilized slightly under the soothing touch of the Soul-Soothing Seal. She nodded gently, with the innocent obedience of a newborn being.

However, her gaze seemed to be drawn by an invisible thread, still drifting from time to time to that silent, feeble figure who inexplicably concerned her and made her feel inexplicably uneasy.

After a moment's hesitation, the ethereal voice rang out again, tinged with a hint of puzzled inquiry:

"Should I...recognize you?" Her eyes were like a lake shrouded in the morning mist, hazy yet pure. "But I...can't remember anything. My name...the past...you..."

Chu Ning, supporting himself on the edge of the Ice Soul, stood up with extreme slowness and difficulty.

The movement aggravated the cracks deep within his consciousness, causing him excruciating pain that made his vision blur and his body sway slightly.

His back was to her, his voice so soft it seemed it might dissipate in the cold wind at any moment, yet it carried a strange, rock-solid firmness:
"It doesn't matter……"

He tilted his head slightly, revealing blood-stained, yet unusually calm, lips.

"I remember you."

"...That's enough."

After saying that, he stopped looking at her, leaving that confused, uneasy, and searching gaze behind him.

At this moment, he was no longer Chu Ning, the Soul Master who shook the snowfield and led thirty-six people to safety.

He was just a stranger she saw when she woke up, his life force waning.

A starting point that she needs to "get to know" again.

And he was willing to wait. Even if it meant walking the long road from strangers to deep love all over again.

Looking at his straight but unsteady back, Dong'er's eyes surged with emotions that were too complex to describe.

"How long do you plan to keep this a secret?" Her voice was low, with a barely perceptible hoarseness.

Chu Ning did not turn around, but looked up at the cold, lingering shadow of the night sky cut out by the dark blue light from the well.

“When…” his voice was calm, yet contained an undeniable will, “the day she herself… ‘recognizes’ me.”

He raised his hand to wipe away the fresh blood that had just seeped from his lips, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"Now, what we need to do is far more than just get her to open her eyes."

"But rather, it's about letting her... truly, live on."

Outside the coffin well, the howling wind and snow of the new moon had ceased at some point, leaving only a deathly silence and extreme cold.

At the bottom of the well, a faint blue halo swirled, frost remained, and the chill was biting.

Chu Ningjing sat in a corner beside the altar, the soul mark between her brows had faded to almost disappear, and her whole body was like a shell from which her soul had been removed, with only an iron will maintaining the last bit of clarity.

He forcibly performed the Dual Soul Lock, using his own damaged natal soul imprint as a lock and his divine soul as a barrier to seal the source of Qing Li's collapsing sea of ​​consciousness.

This action is like covering a pot of boiling oil with a thin layer of ice, temporarily stabilizing the oil, but subjecting the person covering the oil to continuous and deadly burning and erosion.

Deep within his soul, a tiny yet menacing crack was quietly spreading.

It wasn't a wound that would kill instantly, but it was like a persistent carbuncle, silently eroding the foundation of his soul with time, with every use of his soul power, and even with every intense emotional fluctuation.

Where the cracks spread, the river of memory begins to swirl and branch off in strange ways. What was seen yesterday is clear, but the past may be like a dusty mirror, blurred and indistinct. If left unchecked, until the cracks pierce through to the core…

At best, one will be forever trapped in a labyrinth of memories, losing oneself.

—In severe cases, the soul will be separated from the body, leading to eternal damnation.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Dong'er's voice was like an underground river flowing beneath the ice, cold and deep.

Chu Ning closed her eyes, her breathing weak: "If another storm hits her sea of ​​consciousness, she won't even have the chance to rebuild her soul fire..."

This is both an explanation and an answer.

"I'm asking you!" Dong'er's voice suddenly carried a hint of suppressed anger. "Do you know that your natal soul imprint is continuously shattering? With each pulse, the cracks deepen!"

Chu Ning was silent.

How could he not know?

From the moment he began dreaming of overlapping, indistinguishable fragments of memory...

From the moment he gazed at Qingli's newly awakened face yesterday, a strange phantom of another "her"—completely different yet equally unforgettable—stirred up in his mind...

He already understood.

—The resonance of soul consciousness has already caused a deep backlash.

The barrier he forcibly intervened in was being assimilated and rejected by the power of Qing Li's unconsciously reorganized sea of ​​consciousness, which in turn tore him apart.

Dong'er stopped talking and took something out of her sleeve.

It was an irregularly shaped fragment of dark purple crystal, its surface shimmering with a faint yet remarkably stable light, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura.

She flicked her finger, and the shard hovered before the crack between Chu Ning's eyebrows.

A cool yet forceful cleansing power instantly soothed some of the intense pain, clearing Chu Ning's chaotic mind.

"What is this?" Chu Ning opened his eyes and looked at the fragment.

"The Fox Ancestor's legacy, the 'Sequence Stone'." Dong'er's voice was solemn like never before.

Chu Ning's gaze sharpened: "Soul Consciousness Sequencing Method?" He had heard of this legendary secret technique, which involved sorting out and reconstructing the most fundamental aspects of the soul.

“Yes.” Dong’er nodded, her fingertips guiding the power of the Sequencing Stone, carefully combing through the chaotic soul threads escaping from the edge of Chu Ning’s soul imprint. “Your soul imprint is too deeply entangled with the chaotic source of her sea of ​​consciousness, and has become a ‘lesion.’ If it is not ‘stripped’ and ‘reordered’, it’s only a matter of time before your soul fire is completely devoured by the backlash.”

Her gaze shifted to the distant Soul-Soothing Array, to the ethereal, floating, faintly breathing, and ethereal spirit of Qingli, "And she..."

Dong'er's tone turned somber:
"Although her soul has begun to take shape, the pathways in her sea of ​​consciousness remain chaotic, like shattered mirrors pieced together haphazardly. Fragments of 'emotional imprints' and 'identity recognition' are contaminating and confusing each other. If we don't use external forces to help her sort out and rebuild a clear 'map of spiritual consciousness' before her self-awareness is fully formed and solidified..."

She paused, then said, word by word:

"She will forever lose her core self as 'Qingli'. She will become a wandering soul with power but no 'past' or 'authenticity'."

Chu Ning's heart sank.

The Sequence Art... This is not merely repair, but a reshaping of the essence of the soul, a redefinition and choice of "who I am".

It's like rebuilding a new palace on ruins, according to specific blueprints.

"Which 'memory' do you intend to use as the 'foundation' for her new sea of ​​consciousness?" Chu Ning's voice was dry.

This choice is crucial, determining what kind of past the newly born "Qingli" will carry into the future.

Dong'er did not answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on Qing Li's fragile soul and light, filled with deep pity and an indescribable complexity.

"You think..." she asked softly, her voice echoing in the silent well, striking the deepest worry in Chu Ning's heart, "After experiencing all this, when you have a 'choice'..."

Will she still... choose 'you'?

Chu Ning's lips curled into a bitter smile, but he didn't answer. He dared not think of an answer.

The night was as dark as ink, only the deep blue of the well remained unchanged.

Chu Ning forced himself to stand up and walked unsteadily to Qing Li's side.

He extended his fingertip, but did not touch the fragile light and shadow. Instead, he gently drew a warm protective soul pattern in the void, just inches away from the outer layer of her soul.

Not to awaken her, but to leave a silent companionship and protection in the long, confused night of her early life.

"Qingli..." he whispered, his voice so soft it was like a dream, only he could hear it, "You once said... death is not scary, what's scariest is... forgetting me."

"now……"

He gazed at that sleeping face, pure yet unfamiliar in the light of the soul, a bitter feeling rising in his throat.

"You're alive..."

"But you forgot about me."

The faint but steady glow of the soul runes on his fingertips reflected on his pale, bloodless face.

"but me……"

A barely audible sigh dissipated into the cold air.

"...yet I'd rather be forgotten by you too."

"fair enough."

He stood there for a long time, as if guarding a fragile dream.

suddenly!

——Crack!
Deep within the soul sea, the crack that had been forcibly suppressed suddenly expanded without warning.

Like a dormant volcano suddenly erupting.

An unimaginable, excruciating pain swept over him instantly.

It felt as if millions of red-hot steel needles were simultaneously piercing my mind, stirring it wildly.

Chu Ning's vision went black, his body convulsed violently, he groaned, and fell forward like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Chu Ning!" Dong'er shouted sharply, her figure flashing like lightning.

A hand instantly pressed against his back, and the pure soul power of the Fox Ancestor, mixed with the aura of the Sequence Stone, surged in, transforming into countless tough soul threads that forcibly bound the chaotic soul tide that was surging out of control in his sea of ​​consciousness.

"...It's too late!" Dong'er felt the rapidly deteriorating collapse deep within his soul, her face ashen, the last trace of hesitation in her eyes replaced by determination. "Sequence Spell! It must begin immediately!"

Amidst excruciating pain and dizziness, Chu Ning mustered a sliver of consciousness, his bloodied fingers gripping the well's edge tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force: "I... will act as the main soul anchor point..." Only his soul imprint, with the deepest bond to the chaotic source point deep within Qing Li's sea of ​​consciousness, could guide the power of order to intervene precisely.

"Your soul imprint could shatter completely at any moment!" Dong'er's voice was icy, carrying an undeniable severity. "You will be swept into the turbulent currents of her sea of ​​consciousness and pulverized to pieces!"

“If it were someone else…” Chu Ning gasped, raising her head, her bloodshot eyes burning with an almost obsessive flame, “deep in her consciousness… she wouldn’t ‘recognize’ it!”

Dong'er stared at him for a moment, and deep within her withered yet still stubborn eyes, she saw his resolute determination.

Finally, she nodded heavily, with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"……it is good."

Three quarters of an hour later, a profound array, guided by the light of the New Moon Well, based on ancient soul bones, and centered on the Sequence Stone, lit up at the bottom of the well.

The interplay of deep blue and dark purple light exudes a powerful aura that seems to unravel the threads of time and space and pinpoint the essence of the soul.

Chu Ning and Qing Li's divine souls and images were drawn together into the center of the formation.

The radiance of the new moon projected from the wellhead, like a pillar reaching to the heavens, pierced through the sea of ​​consciousness of the two.

Dong'er stood at the center of the formation, her hands forming a complex and ancient fox ancestor hand seal. Her soul power resonated with the Sequence Stone, emitting a deep hum.

Her clear, cold voice echoed at the bottom of the well, each syllable drawing upon the immense power of the great formation:
"Using the remaining marks as a guide, let's trace the path of cause and effect!"

"Use destiny as the foundation to determine the order of consciousness!"

"My soul—"

"reset!"

As the last syllable fell, the Sequencing Array shone brightly.

An invisible force, like billions of skillful hands combing through the soul, simultaneously probed into the depths of Chu Ning and Qing Li's consciousness.

Just as this power of sorting and reconstructing touched the most core and chaotic area of ​​Qingli's divine soul.

No one knows.

Deep within those ruins, shrouded in chaos and oblivion, a faint, almost negligible trace of emotion, yet stubbornly persistent enough to transcend life, death, and oblivion, suddenly bursts forth like a dormant spark into pure oxygen.

hum!
It... lit up!
It is neither a scene from memory nor a fragment of language.

That was the last moment before the soul fire collapsed, the purest and most instinctive throbbing imprinted deep within the origin of the soul.

It was the only obsession I clung to in the abyss of despair.

A faint yet incredibly clear fluctuation of consciousness, like a fledgling bird breaking free from all constraints, pierced through the layers of the Soul Order Array's dispersing power, carrying the confusion of newborn life and a call from the heart, suddenly echoing at the core of the array:

"...Chu...?"

"Chu... Ning..."

This name is no longer a vague echo, no longer a dull ache in my heart.

It carried the chill of thunder, the solitude of ice and snow, and a tenderness bordering on despair, clearly emerging at the edge of her nascent consciousness.

Like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, it stirs up ripples called "certainty".

She got it.

The person who waited for her at the end of the snowstorm.

The one who pulled her back from the abyss of eternal night.

The man who was willing to burn his soul out just to leave a comforting word in her dream.

His name is Chu Ning.

Memories remain a desolate wasteland shrouded in thick fog, but this name, this thunder seal, shines like a bonfire burning brightly on that wasteland, clearly illuminating the way.

She slowly raised her hand, her fingertips lightly touching the edge of the lightning seal. A subtle electric current surged through her soul, bringing a slight sting, yet strangely calming the panic in her heart.

"Where are you..." she murmured softly, her voice hoarse from just waking up, but no longer confused, "Your soul... is so badly wounded..."

The extremely weak, almost collapsing fluctuations he emitted before disappearing from her soul sea felt like ice spikes piercing her senses. It was definitely not a disguise.

He can't hold on much longer.

An unprecedented sense of urgency gripped her.

Can't stop!
Soul-inducing stone!
We must find the direction indicated by the Soul-Guiding Stone immediately!

She stood up abruptly, her divine spirit trembling with the movement, yet her resolve remained exceptionally firm.

His gaze swept across the empty bottom of the well, finally settling on the wellhead—the place where Sister Dong'er had said she would leave her way home.

(End of this chapter)