"Qin."
Chu Lingguang found himself in an extremely tricky situation.
Qin Yu’s merger with the uncanny entity was now an irreversible fact.
When he lifted Qin Yu’s feet off the ground, the vine-like roots that tore loose from within them were like blood vessels being ripped straight from his flesh.
The Blood Pool beneath the stone monument, and the heart within it, all seemed to have formed a connection with Qin Yu.
"I can help you sever them. If you want me to, just blink."
Chu Lingguang said.
Although Qin Yu couldn’t speak, he was clearly hesitating. As the vines had entered his body and he’d begun to hear the heartbeat from the Blood Pool, it was as if he had also witnessed the entire process: the three hundred and sixty-three responses beneath the fourth layer of his Mental Realm awakening all at once.
In fact, it was only with the help of the heart beneath the stone monument that his Mental Realm’s power had managed to evolve and step into the fourth layer.
But in the end, Qin Yu blinked.
He clearly knew that merging with the uncanny entity meant forfeiting any chance with Yuanchu Mountain. Like Yan Zhen, he was ambitious. He didn’t want his journey to end at the Qi Refining realm—and certainly not as someone fused with an uncanny entity.
Chu Lingguang knew Qin Yu was struggling.
The Qi Refining Realm was simply too tempting.
Even he would have hesitated.
So he hoisted Qin Yu onto his shoulders. Looking at the vine-like roots sprouting from the soles of his feet, Chu Lingguang unleashed a searing heat from his palms and incinerated them all.
"HUMMM!"
The Blood Pool boiled.
The beating of the heart in the center grew stronger and stronger. Blood even began to well up from beneath the stone monument, threatening to push it up like magma.
That strange pulling force also seemed to ease at this moment.
"AHH!"
Qin Yu let out a miserable scream. He could finally move.
"Let’s go!"
Carrying him, Chu Lingguang ran toward the exit of Blood Wolf Cave.
"SPLOOSH!"
A torrent of blood plasma erupted, overwhelming the magma-like flow.
Bloody, vine-like roots shot out from the plasma, darting toward the soles of Qin Yu’s feet.
Chu Lingguang waved his hand and sent out a palm strike.
He channeled his Divine Power, forming a vortex in his palm, intending to swallow all the bloody roots.
"Don’t!"
But a hand slapped against his wrist.
It was Qin Yu.
Qin Yu’s face was pale.
Bloody roots surged from his feet once more, merging with the ones spreading toward him.
He looked as if he were being enveloped by endless blood vessels.
He was turning into a bloody mummy.
"Chu Lingguang, I’m not like you. You’re one of the strong. You can give up first place in the Imperial Examination, and you can challenge the True Martial Realm with your Qi Sea Perfection cultivation in the Palace Examination."
"But I can’t."
"I’m so tired."
"Yuanchu Mountain has blocked every path for me."
"Let me do this!"
"This is why I asked you to come here."
In the end, Qin Yu couldn’t resist the temptation.
He wanted to merge with the uncanny entity, to use its power to step into the Qi Refining Realm.
"Qin..."
Chu Lingguang stared blankly as he was enveloped by the uncanny entity’s bloody roots.
He then saw the enormous heart emerge from the Blood Pool, its deafening heartbeat sending the Demon Suppression Bureau disciples outside Blood Wolf Cave fleeing in terror.
"RRRIP!"
The heart tore open.
Two thick roots shot out from within like a pair of arms, pulling Qin Yu, wrapped in countless slender, bloody roots, toward the heart.
The heart closed.
A vine-covered heart, shaped like a giant cherry, now throbbed within Blood Wolf Cave.
Qin Yu’s voice came from inside it again. "Chu Lingguang, don’t let anyone near Blood Wolf Cave. I’m begging you."
"Qin!"
At that moment, Chu Lingguang had more than enough power to pull Qin Yu out from the uncanny entity’s body.
But he didn’t.
This was Qin Yu’s choice.
’He didn’t think there was anything wrong with merging with an uncanny entity. Yuanchu Mountain controlled all the Cultivation Techniques, preventing people from stepping into the Qi Refining Realm. So, if others chose to merge with uncanny entities, to borrow their power and awaken every response within their bodies, there was nothing wrong with that. On the contrary, branding them as demons was the most outrageous thing of all.’
Chu Lingguang respected Qin Yu’s choice.
"Qin, cultivate well."
Finally, he turned and left Blood Wolf Cave.
’Perhaps this is fate.’
After coming out, he saw that the Demon Suppression Bureau disciples had all run far away.
’I should have been the first to discover the heart inside Blood Wolf Cave, but Qin Yu found it before me. I can’t help but wonder: if I had discovered that heart after the youth from Yuanchu Mountain had left, would I have merged with it too?’
’This heart is fundamentally different from the vine on Xie Xiaohuan. The vine on Xie Xiaohuan was like a highly possessive demonic entity that brought all sorts of unpredictable factors. This heart, on the other hand, is more like a complete embryo, capable of evolving alongside Qin Yu.’
Chu Lingguang didn’t yet know what would become of Qin Yu after the fusion.
But since it was Qin Yu’s choice, he would respect it.
He would stand guard over Blood Wolf Cave for him.
And wait for him to emerge from his seclusion.
"Commander Chu, how is Lord Qin?"
Gan Zhining asked.
’The man is a True Martial Realm cultivator, yet he was that terrified by a mere heartbeat. It’s a good thing he didn’t go inside and couldn’t see the situation clearly. Otherwise, if they learned that Qin Yu had merged with the uncanny entity, it would only bring him all sorts of trouble.’
"He’s fine for now."
"It seems he can overcome the mysterious power inside. He wants us to stand guard out here and not let anyone go in to disturb him."
Chu Lingguang said.