Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

"Take Su Boyu away," he muttered to himself, his eyes vacant, his pupils gray, and black mist swirling around him, devoid of any reason. "Protect Su Boyu..."

"Xintang!"

Nie Zhao spoke sharply, and the Phoenix Sword's flames surged, its blazing edge piercing the air and pointing directly at Su Boyu.

"No—" Xie Weixing roared, vomiting a mouthful of blood as his blood surged. The backflow of blood made his voice indistinct, his fingers gripping Tan Suiting's fingertips tightly, his voice hoarse and desperate, "Don't kill him!"

The Phoenix Sword stopped abruptly just as it was about to touch the two of them.

The sword was within reach, yet it hesitated to strike.

Su Boyu was extremely careful, always keeping Yu Xintang in front of her. Their breaths intertwined, their Reverse Heart Gu meridians connected.

Shen Chunri's fingertips were covered with emerald green poison. The Jade Serpent's innate poison was chilling and piercing, but it remained frozen in mid-air, not daring to release even a trace of it.

She understands the connection between poison and poison best. If she attacks Su Boyu now, the poison will backfire along with the symbiotic poison energy. Yu Xintang's mind is already broken, and she will definitely die from the destruction of her meridians.

If they advance even half an inch further, Yu Xintang will be the first to get hurt.

"If we kill him," Shen Chunri's voice trembled, "my senior brother will also die."

Tan Suiting's body was surrounded by surging silver-blue lightning. His heart was in excruciating pain due to Xie Weixing's severe injury. His eyes were filled with unprecedented grief and panic. He recklessly channeled all his primal power into the body of the person in his arms.

The three were filled with murderous intent and burning with rage, but dared not make a move due to the Rebellious Heart Gu.

Being afraid to act rashly makes it difficult to move forward.

Even if they could only watch helplessly as the culprit tried to take their companions away, they could only restrain themselves.

Su Boyu glanced at the three men's wary and restrained expressions, and her smile grew even colder: "You see, you can never do anything to me. As long as Yu Xintang is by my side, you will never dare to make a move."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took the opportunity to put his arm around the expressionless Yu Xintang and turned to step into the dark mist passage on the side of the Sword Tomb.

Yu Xintang did not turn around.

"Xintang!" Nie Zhao shouted again, his voice trembling with coldness, filled with suppressed anxiety and helplessness, "Yu Xintang!"

But as the thick fog surged, Yu Xintang and Su Boyu's figures quickly disappeared into the deep, dark passages of the Sword Tomb. The black fog swept in, completely obscuring their tracks.

The passageway finally fell completely silent.

All that remained was the howling of the cold wind, the crimson carpet of the ground, and the suffocating silence between the four people.

Shen Chunri's fingers were stiff. Before she could grieve, she knelt down to tend to Xie Weixing's injuries.

Tan Suiting lowered his eyes and looked at the blood-stained ground in front of him. The lightning in his eyes disappeared into the depths, leaving only a trembling chill.

[Holy crap, I think I finally understand why so many people in the original book were so devoted to Su Boyu.]

[So, does what we perceive as mindless fiction actually sacrifice many people's real lives? How can someone like Su Boyu be worthy of being the protagonist? She's truly wicked.]

[I told you, our Tangtang isn't the kind of kid who would set mountains on fire or force others... Yu Xintang, you're innocent!]

[When was the Rebellious Heart Gu planted?]

[On the second level of the sword tomb, when he was about to go down, he grabbed Yu Xintang's clothes and leg; that was the most likely time.]

[Is it possible it was even earlier? Do you remember the call you heard in the Beast Forest? Maybe it wasn't asking about Long Lin at all, but about Su Boyu.]

[No wonder he, a mere Golden Core cultivator, dared to covet Senior Sister's Phoenix Essence with just a few men.]

[Wow, that's scary!]

[But why can the Dragon Palace hear it too? The Dragon Palace wasn't cursed with the Rebellious Heart Gu.]

[That's strange]

Nie Zhao sheathed the Blazing Sword, his fingers clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white, his heart filled with regret for his helplessness.

She failed to kill Su Boyu immediately, failed to stop the other party's evil Gu worms, failed to keep the collapsing Yu Xintang, and failed to protect the critically injured Xie Weixing.

She looked towards the end where Yu Xintang had disappeared.

"...Don't go too far."

A whisper so soft it was almost inaudible dissipated in the biting wind.

"Xiao Tan! Stop!" A loud shout came from behind.

Nie Zhao suddenly turned around.

"You can't use your primal power anymore, it will damage your bloodline!" Shen Chunri said sternly, gripping Tan Suiting's shoulders tightly. "Tan, wake up!"

"Let go." Tan Suiting's eyes were as cold as frost and rain, his thin lips deathly pale. "I need to save him."

"It's no use doing this!" Shen Chunri cried out, tears and sweat streaming down her face as she rapidly channeled her spiritual power into her palm, trying to heal Xie Weixing's chest wound.

Tan Suiting's blue and white clothes were soaked with blood.

Nie Zhao squatted down, but dared not channel her spiritual energy. Her Phoenix Fire bloodline was too domineering, and she might accidentally damage Xie Weixing's already precarious heart meridian.

"Kunkun was born with five spiritual roots, but his spiritual veins and roots have been forcibly modified by acquired herbs," Shen Chunri said, crying as tears streamed down his face. "His injuries are too deep, I... I'm not confident."

Even the most talented daughter of the Azure Serpent Clan said she wasn't confident.

Nie Zhao felt a chill in her heart.

Xie Weixing was breathing rapidly, feeling his spiritual power and life force rapidly draining away.

System: She's right. You were born unable to cultivate, and only after being forcibly modified were you able to reach your current level of cultivation. Just now, the sword missed your heart by half a point. It didn't kill you directly, but it pierced your spiritual meridians...

Xie Weixing raised his hand and trembled as he grasped Tan Suiting's fingertips.

"I know you're in pain, just bear with it," Tan Suiting said, his jaw clenched so tightly he refused to utter a sound of sobbing. His long, thick eyelashes trembled violently, like butterfly wings broken by a storm. "I'm here, Kunkun, I'm here."

"Dragon Palace..." Xie Weixing began, blood gushing from his throat, his chest heaving, "I..."

Tan Suiting looked down and saw that the person in his arms was breathing lighter and weaker.

He held Xie Weixing tightly, his clothes stained with blood, and waves of pain in his heart tore at his soul.

"You'll be alright, I promise," he gritted his teeth, channeling his primordial spiritual power again and again until his spiritual veins were exhausted and his divine bones felt like they were about to shatter, but he didn't stop. A mouthful of blood flowed from his lips. "Senior brother, I won't let anything happen to you."

The system was shocked: Oh no, Tan Suiting is willing to risk his dragon bones to prolong your life.

Using divine bones to extend someone's life is already shocking and suicidal, let alone the fact that this person is the Crown Prince of the East Sea Taixu Dragon Clan, whose divine bones are notoriously damaged.

If this continues, no one will survive.

Xie Weixing's originally gentle, slightly upturned eyes were now tinged with a deep crimson, tears welling up in her eyes, and her voice trembled: "Your Highness, please stop."

The system's voice trembled: "Your spiritual veins are damaged and can no longer withstand such concentrated spiritual energy. You will explode and die immediately. The power of the explosion of the five spiritual roots is enough to destroy the entire second level of the sword tomb."