The continuous, intense pain radiating from his soul was causing Su Cheng's consciousness to blur.
The innate power, which he could previously wield with ease, was also becoming sluggish and unresponsive.
At this point, some of the issues with his innate power were becoming apparent.
Although it could be perfectly utilized when merged into one, it was ultimately just a state-enhancing ability and could not be driven as instinctively as physical strength or soul power.
As his soul was being gradually burned and consumed, Su Cheng's control over his power was slipping further.
Remaining conscious was already extremely difficult, and he had no strength left to deal with the chaotic state within his body.
Just as he was sinking further into a daze, a refreshing breath of energy suddenly flowed into the depths of his soul.
It was a high-quality, exceptionally pure soul essence energy.
Unlike ordinary soul power that could regenerate, soul essence was like a soul master's level—it required slow accumulation over time, and using any of it would result in a permanent loss.
Moreover, if too much was lost, it could even endanger one's life.
At the last moment in the simulated world, Su Cheng had burned his soul essence in a similar manner to break through the final barrier.
He had also used soul essence energy to wash away a large amount of malice from the depths of Bibi Dong's second martial soul, enhancing her soul foundation, and reshaped Bo Saixi's Sea God martial soul.
However, at this moment, Su Cheng, who was on the brink of unconsciousness, had no time or energy to think about these things.
The next moment, he instinctively entangled his soul with the incoming energy.
Like a drowning person grasping at the last straw, he clung tightly to this life-saving force, trying to extinguish the flames consuming his soul.
What he didn't realize was that with this instinctive action, Bibi Dong, who was holding his body, turned as pale as paper.
Her originally alluring red lips became bloodless, and her eyes lost their focus. The pain, burning, and void sensation in her mind almost caused her to pass out.
At the same time, in the lotus pond deep within her soul, the fire blazed with renewed intensity.
The flames, initially golden-red, instantly turned blue-white, with temperatures rising several times over.
In the blink of an eye, large swathes of lotus flowers withered, the pond water evaporated layer by layer, revealing the leaves and roots below.
It wouldn't be long before this place became a desolate wasteland again.
Fortunately, Su Cheng quickly took action.
As the temperature in his soul dropped sharply, a much clearer Su Cheng immediately realized where the soul essence energy was coming from.
He was all too familiar with this aura.
A fleeting complex emotion flashed in his heart, but now was not the time for deep thought.
He quickly suppressed the instinct to entangle his soul with Bibi Dong's essence, lest she perish from soul exhaustion before he could save himself.
Then he began to endure the intense pain and think of countermeasures.
Under the continuous burning of the Solar Fire, the initially scattered molten gold-like spots in his meridians had begun to connect into a dark-colored pattern resembling glazed porcelain.
However, more of the smaller branching meridians had already charred black, with many completely severed.
This was still because his five elements were complete, his life force was strong enough, and his innate power didn't circulate solely within his meridians like soul power.
Otherwise, such injuries would have directly rendered him powerless.
"I'm totally ruined this time..."
Su Cheng sighed inwardly.
But to be alive at this point was already a huge blessing, so he couldn't ask for more.
However, the crisis was not fully resolved yet.
If he couldn't deal with the residual fire in his body promptly, it wouldn't take long before it reignited.
To escape the current predicament, the first issue was to improve his physical state.
Without the support of his body, the innate power would be like a rootless duckweed, growing weaker and eventually being completely consumed by the uncontrolled Solar Fire.
The self-martial soul fusion technique he once considered a trump card had long lost its effect.
His perfect innate power was based on the Eternal Sword and executed through his seventh soul ring.
He had deeply studied martial soul fusion techniques, and their essence was the completion of bloodline information. The first generation of the Nirvana Scripture, which he developed, partially realized martial soul fusion.
But the problem was that the bloodline of the Eternal Sword had already been sublimated.
In this state, the augmentation from his unenhanced second martial soul was almost negligible, and any carelessness could destroy this martial soul that had yet to realize its potential.
After all, the Solar Fire was overwhelmingly dominant.
Losing a second martial soul was not unacceptable to Su Cheng.
The key was that this was a critical moment, and delaying self-rescue for such a reason would be truly lamentable.
So there was only one solution left.
Soul ring shattering!
The aftereffects of using this soul skill were severe, and the lost soul rings would be gone forever.
But with his life on the line, there was no room for such concerns.
Strength could be rebuilt, potential could be replenished, but he had only one life. Once gone, it would be over.
The next moment, the Eternal Sword, embedded in the ground, began to tremble slightly.
Then, the first soul ring slowly shattered and disappeared.
As the ring of law completely broke, a powerful force of law began to flood into his body.
His meridians and flesh, like dry wood meeting spring, were infused with new vitality.
The charred surface of his body began to show some luster with his actions.
"Hu..."
Su Cheng gently exhaled, trying to gather this power within his body to minimize wastage.
At the same time, he finally felt the pain from his body again.
This was a good sign.
It meant that the completely destroyed nerve fibers were slowly rebuilding.
Immediately, the second soul ring shattered.
The third, fourth, and fifth soul rings followed...
Only after all five soul rings on the Eternal Sword disappeared did Su Cheng stop.
It wasn't because he was holding back.
His body was too severely injured, and his sixth soul ring was exceptional—a self-condensed hundred-thousand-year soul ring merged with his Moonlight Sword Intent.
The energy within was stronger than the previous five soul rings combined, and he might not be able to withstand it.
He needed to first use the qi and blood power from the previous soul ring shattering to recover some before attempting further.
After all, the first five soul rings, though at the ten-thousand-year limit, resonated with the five elements and were beneficial for restoring his state.
Once the pressure eased slightly, he would then use the sixth soul ring to completely extinguish the Solar Fire within him.
This was his last resort, and if it failed, he would have to shatter the seventh soul ring.
But the seventh soul ring was the foundation of the Eternal True Body. If it came to that, there would be no turning back—it was all or nothing.
Without the protection of the second-stage Eternal True Body's perfect innate power, he couldn't continue to resist the Solar Fire.
The terrifying Solar Fire within him could almost burn anything, and lower-level energy would only fuel its flames.
Fortunately, things hadn't deteriorated to that extent.
From the outside, the massive flames engulfing Su Cheng's body were no longer purely blinding white but had begun to show a faint blue glow.
Although the temperature was still astonishing, it had significantly decreased compared to before.
The rate at which his life force was waning had also slowed down, seemingly reaching a delicate balance with the powerful destructive energy within him.
At this moment, Bibi Dong, clad in dark green armor and in her true form as the Soul Devouring Spider Queen, finally left the core of the flames and stood before the others once more.
Her armored arms were charred black, and her ten exposed fingers resembled scorched white bones, appearing withered and grotesque.
Her aura was at an all-time low.
Even the once-impenetrable Spider Queen armor was largely melted, becoming pitted and uneven, losing its former smoothness and sharpness.
Clearly, Bibi Dong chose to leave the core of the flames not only because Su Cheng's condition had improved but also because she herself could no longer endure.
However, only Bibi Dong knew that Su Cheng's improved condition was partly because he possessed the secret technique of ring fragmentation, which could significantly enhance his own strength, ensuring his survival. Qian Renxue and the others were unaware of this.
Seeing the fierce flames still burning around Su Cheng and Bibi Dong's severely weakened state, the two Qian Renxues tried to break free from Qian Daoliu's grasp to rush into the blazing light.
"Qian Renxue! Haven't you caused enough trouble? Is your life really so worthless?!"
A sharp reprimand rang in their ears, halting both of their movements.
Bibi Dong's voice, tinged with heavy panting, rose and fell with her heaving chest, "If it weren't for your recklessness, if we didn't want to save your life, would Su Cheng be in this state given his strength?! Look at his spirit rings!"
For so many years, her feelings towards her daughter Qian Renxue had always been extremely complex.
Though she was her inseparable flesh and blood, she harbored an irrepressible disgust and hatred.
But regardless, she never wished for her daughter to lose her life.
Upon hearing Bibi Dong's reprimand, Qian Renxue surprisingly did not get angry or retort.
They all understood the underlying meaning of her words.
At this moment, everyone could see that there were only two lonely spirit rings left at Su Cheng's feet.
"How, how is he?"
Qian Renxue, clad in golden armor, couldn't help but ask, her expression slightly relaxed but still unable to hide her anxiety.
The other silver-armored figure beside her remained silent but also fixed her gaze on her.
Seeing these two, Bibi Dong had a sudden thought, and her tone became calm, "He should no longer be in danger."
Qian Renxue sighed in relief upon hearing this.
Then, with a complex look in her eyes, she glanced at the heavily damaged Bibi Dong and softly asked, "What about you... are you alright?"
It was this mother, whom she loathed and rejected, who had saved her lover's life.
"I won't die either," Bibi Dong said coldly.
After venting with those previous statements, she quickly calmed down.
Because she suddenly realized this was a perfect opportunity.
A moment ago, she only wished to save Su Cheng's life, even if it meant burning her soul's essence.
But now that Su Cheng was out of danger, she felt she should start thinking about other things.
Firstly, she couldn't save someone for nothing.
Although she was willing to risk her life to save him earlier, she had no time to think about it too deeply.
But now, she had to ensure Su Cheng knew what she had done.
As for how to show this, she could think about it in detail later.
In any case, she wouldn't be a silent martyr.
Given Su Cheng's personality, what she did today would undoubtedly be a crucial bargaining chip.
Secondly, while today's events had indeed progressed intensely, she must utilize the current situation now that it had evolved to this point.
Especially concerning Qian Renxue.
Although she had an unbreakable blood bond with Qian Renxue, she didn't really want to see her daughter, in every sense.
Thinking this, Bibi Dong looked at Qian Daoliu standing a bit further away, "Grand Elder, could you please step aside for a moment? I have something to discuss with them alone."
Qian Daoliu frowned at her words, feeling somewhat uneasy.
But recalling Bibi Dong's earlier life-risking act to save Su Cheng and prevent Qian Renxue from recklessly endangering herself, he felt there shouldn't be any major issues.
Besides, since Su Cheng was no longer in danger, he assumed the situation was under control and lightly nodded, "Alright."
With that, he moved away from the scene.
After he left, Bibi Dong turned to Zhu Zhuqing behind her, "Zhuqing, you should leave here too."
"…"
Zhu Zhuqing remained unresponsive, her eyes lifelessly staring at the pillar of flames.
The massive white flames, tinged with blue, flickered in her eyes.
Seeing this, Bibi Dong frowned, a trace of irritation flashing in her eyes.
But she quickly suppressed it, enduring the sharp pain in her head, and used her remaining soul power to infuse her voice, transmitting it deep into Zhu Zhuqing's soul.
"Zhuqing!"
"...What?"
Zhu Zhuqing finally snapped back to reality, blankly looking at her nominal teacher.
"You should go rest first," Bibi Dong said gently. "Today's events have nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself. Su Cheng is out of danger. He will come to see you once he recovers in a few days."
"…"
Hearing this, the girl who had faced Qian Renxue's terrifying might with remarkable determination suddenly had red-rimmed eyes.
She said nothing more, took one last look at the figure within the flames, and turned to leave.
Watching her retreating figure, Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then she turned her gaze back to the two identical but differently tempered tall figures before her and said coldly, "Do you see now, the gap between you and her?"
"You know about her?"
Qian Renxue bit her lip, her face darkening.
Though she knew this was not the right moment, this was a knot in her heart she had to resolve.