On the vast and empty square, Su Cheng looked around blankly. In the distance, there seemed to be flickering flames, but he couldn't see clearly.
The golden-red mist enveloping the area was incredibly hot, making him sweat profusely in just a few moments.
The ground of the square was crisscrossed with numerous fissures, some filled with flowing magma that occasionally bubbled and sparked, creating a frightening scene.
Not far ahead, a giant statue stood proudly.
It seemed to depict a young man, carrying a long sword on his back, exuding an imposing aura.
However, the statue was headless, with a smooth and clean cut at the neck, as if sliced off by a sharp blade. This gave Su Cheng a strange sense of familiarity, and also filled him with unease.
The scene around him was bizarre, yet everything felt strangely natural.
Su Cheng felt puzzled.
Before he could think it through, a burst of white light suddenly appeared in the sky, dispersing the red mist with a pillar of light that connected heaven and earth.
Within the beam of light, an angel with six slender wings and holding a broad-bladed sword descended from the sky.
Her phoenix-like eyes, covered in white light, seemed to be staring intently at him, with a hint of killing intent.
The angel raised her sword high.
Su Cheng felt a chill in his heart.
"Wait—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the sword slashed down decisively!
"So this is what it feels like to be beheaded..."
He realized that the statue ahead was actually modeled after him...
However, there was no time to mourn his death.
In the next moment, Su Cheng found himself miraculously alive again and had escaped from the previous scene, now appearing in a dense forest.
Tall ancient trees towered into the sky, burning fiercely, while the low shrubs around looked menacing and grotesque.
Suddenly, a foul wind blew, and a terrifying shadow loomed over him, blocking out the light of the flames.
Su Cheng turned abruptly, only to vaguely see a massive tiger lowering its head, its wide-open jaws filled with sharp teeth, ready to swallow him whole...
"Damn!"
Amidst excruciating pain, he opened his eyes again.
A sea of red filled his vision, with rain of fire falling from the sky, scorching the earth.
Su Cheng turned and fled desperately.
But the fire rain covered such a vast area that he couldn't escape in time and was engulfed by the flames.
As the intense fire ignited his entire body, he frantically dodged the falling fire while running away.
Strangely, despite the dense rain of fire from the sky, he managed to avoid being hit by any of the falling flames.
At this moment, a vast ocean inexplicably appeared before him.
Feeling a sense of relief, Su Cheng dove headfirst into the boundless sea.
There seemed to be no water pressure in the ocean.
He easily dove deep into the sea, feeling a refreshing coolness spread throughout his body, finally alleviating the burning pain he couldn't escape before, bringing him such comfort that he almost moaned.
But after a moment, a giant shadow loomed over him.
One moment it was far away, the next an indescribable terrifying monster was right in front of him.
Several long tentacles wrapped around him...
"When will this end?!"
Su Cheng abruptly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.
"Bang—"
"Ouch!"
Accompanied by a cry of pain, someone seemed to have fallen beside him.
Su Cheng turned to see a graceful figure in a thin, form-fitting long dress sitting on the ground.
Her already pale and haggard face now looked even more pained.
A large red mark had appeared on her smooth forehead from the impact.
Su Cheng realized that he had been dreaming.
Seeing Bibi Dong sitting on the ground, he hurriedly got out of bed and went over to her.
"Are you okay?"
Covering her forehead, Bibi Dong looked at Su Cheng with teary eyes, complaining in a low voice, "What are you doing, are you crazy?"
She was extremely weak now.
Her soul power had significantly declined due to the damage to her soul foundation.
Moreover, she had just been using all her soul power to stabilize Su Cheng's injuries.
Being hit like this now, she almost felt her soul leaving her body.
"S-sorry..."
Su Cheng quickly apologized, then awkwardly explained, "I was having a dream just now..."
"Were you being chased in your dream? You reacted so strongly."
Bibi Dong muttered, feeling waves of dizziness and a splitting headache.
Seeing Su Cheng still in a daze, she couldn't help but angrily say, "Can't you help me up?!"
"Oh, oh." Su Cheng quickly supported her by her waist and arm, helping her onto the bed.
Once Bibi Dong was leaning against the headboard, Su Cheng's fingers inadvertently squeezed her waist.
Beneath the thin clothes, her skin felt extraordinarily smooth and tight, without a trace of excess flesh.
With his touch, Bibi Dong's body immediately trembled violently, and she visibly stiffened.
Her originally pale cheeks flushed with two patches of red.
"..."
Su Cheng quickly withdrew his hand in alarm.
Clenching and unclenching his fist, his expression turned puzzled.
First, he looked at his hand, then at the evasive-eyed Bibi Dong, hesitantly saying, "If I say my hand moved on its own, would you believe me?"
"..."
Bibi Dong remained silent.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
Su Cheng felt helpless.
He wasn't making excuses; his action was indeed instinctive.
It seemed his self-control had suddenly weakened significantly, and his body had undergone some inexplicable changes.
Recalling the strange dream earlier, it also seemed problematic.
At his level of cultivation, no matter how tired he was, he shouldn't fall into such a deep sleep or have such bizarre dreams without realizing something was wrong.
Even if he did dream, he should have reacted instantly.
In fact, after waking from the dream, he had already noticed something unusual about his body and checked his internal state, which was why he didn't immediately help Bibi Dong up.
Upon closer inspection, he found many surprising changes.
However, the situation was much better than expected.
All his meridians were now tinged with a light golden glaze. Not only the regenerated minor meridians, but even the major meridians, including the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, had transformed, appearing exceptionally transparent and flexible, with an incredibly high energy flow efficiency.
But compared to the reformed minor meridians, these major meridians were less vivid in color, as if they hadn't fully transformed yet.
Along the inner walls of his meridians, a large number of tiny golden-red flames clung and burned. Fortunately, the temperature was still within a bearable range, and the burning pain was not as intense as before.
The texture of his bones also changed, with a crystalline sheen on the outer layer, showing a significant improvement in both hardness and toughness.
The vitality in his flesh was exceptionally abundant. It seemed that the energy produced after the spirit rings shattered did not dissipate completely. Instead, a considerable amount remained due to the burning of the Solar Fire, truly integrating into his body.
However, these physical changes were not the most important. The biggest change was in his innate power.
Previously, the innate power Su Cheng had developed was a combination of essence, energy, and spirit. However, it was still just a supernormal power.
But now, it was no longer merely energy. It was more like a new organ, sprouting and vanishing within his flesh and meridians, forming a new cycle within his body.
During its operation, it was as if his consciousness dispersed throughout his body along with this energy, linking his thoughts completely with his physical self.
It felt like every limb had its own thoughts, a very peculiar sensation.
Of course, this was just a metaphor.
In reality, it was just that his thought processes had become almost instinctive.
For example, in the past, if he wanted to touch Bibi Dong's slender waist, the thought would form in his mind first, then be transmitted through his nerves, and finally be put into action.
But just now, he skipped that transmission process entirely. It was like his mind and hand had the thought simultaneously, and he acted directly.
That's why he felt incredulous and anxious.
In essence, it was still his own lack of self-control.
And this led to another hidden issue in his body: his soul's state had problems.
The burning flames did not only remain in his body; they also lingered in his soul, continuously suppressing his rationality.
The flames in his body were manageable, but the heat affecting his soul and thoughts was much more troublesome.
Although there seemed to be a sign of complete integration between his soul and body, his cultivation was evidently still far from truly reaching that realm.
What exactly was the nature of this innate power now residing in his body?
Even with his extensive knowledge, he could not fully judge the consequences of these changes.
From the beginning, Bibi Dong had been secretly observing Su Cheng, feeling uneasy.
From her perspective, after Su Cheng finished his rogue behavior, he was shaking his head, making faces, occasionally moving his fingers, then shaking his legs and feet, like a hyperactive child. He seemed very off.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Bibi Dong asked cautiously in a soft voice.
She thought to herself, could he have really gotten burnt silly? He seemed a bit different from before.
Thinking this, she couldn't care about the persistent pain in her forehead, nor the tingling sensation in her waist, and looked at Su Cheng with concern.
"Hmm? I'm fine. It's just that my body seems to have undergone some strange changes. I was just trying to feel it out."
Hearing Bibi Dong's question, Su Cheng was initially stunned, then a strong sense of guilt surged in his heart.
He had been focused on checking his own condition, but Bibi Dong was also clearly in a poor state.
The exquisite and beautiful face no longer had its usual noble aura, looking pale, haggard, and exhausted.
Even in the Hell Road, she had never been so weak.
"Have you not rested at all while I was unconscious? And you were just infusing me with soul energy again?"
As he spoke, Su Cheng looked around the room.
This was not his room. The layout and decor were very similar to Bibi Dong's residence in the Pope's Palace.
The tables, chairs, and teacups in the room were not new, showing signs of use, and the bed still faintly emitted a lingering fragrance, suggesting it was her personal bedroom.
Looking at Bibi Dong sitting beside him, Su Cheng originally wanted to ask about Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
The root cause of Bibi Dong's weakness was not the recent bump, but the fundamental injury to her foundation.
Although Su Cheng's cultivation was greatly damaged, it did not affect his senses. To be honest, even with his current weakened state, as long as he had his seventh spirit ring, he was still the strongest below god level.
He could clearly feel that Bibi Dong's cultivation had dropped to level ninety-eight, even close to level ninety-seven.
Unlike Su Cheng, whose strength was not entirely dependent on his level and spirit rings, Bibi Dong still adhered to the conventional spirit master system.
The difference between levels ninety-nine and ninety-eight was like heaven and earth. Moreover, Bibi Dong's actual strength originally far exceeded level ninety-nine. This loss was extremely severe.
But she could have been perfectly fine.
That day's incident had nothing to do with her.
In that previous conflict, Qian Renxue had her reasons, Zhu Zhuqing was mentally prepared, and Su Cheng was reaping what he sowed.
Only Bibi Dong was completely innocent, suffering grave injuries solely to save Su Cheng's life.
In fact, her cultivation was still slowly declining.
Although the speed was not fast, it seemed that if it continued, it wouldn't stop even at level ninety-seven.
Su Cheng gazed at her with a worried expression. "Do you know that doing this will severely damage your foundation? It's uncertain if you can ever fully recover."
"So what? I couldn't just watch you die. Even if it cost me my life, I had to try saving you. Right now, it's just a loss in cultivation, which is actually a gain."
As she spoke, Bibi Dong's tone was exceptionally calm, like she was talking about what she had for breakfast.
There was neither any complaint nor a sense that it wasn't worth it.
"…"
Su Cheng's eyes flickered.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice, "You shouldn't do this. Your life is your own; you can't disregard your own safety for someone else."
"That's a nice thing to say. Don't say it again next time." Bibi Dong smiled, her pale cheeks looking somewhat frail, "When you blocked the sword before, did you think about whether you could survive?"
"…Our situations were different."
"How is it different? Do you think you're so special?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then don't say things like that again. I know you have a soft heart; otherwise, you wouldn't have nearly lost your life. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you."
Su Cheng stared at her in a daze.
He couldn't help but recall the series of events that had taken place in Spirit City recently.
Then, a scene flashed in his mind of when his soul was almost burned to the point of unconsciousness, and a vast amount of cool energy entered his soul.
At this moment, Bibi Dong suddenly said softly, "Xiao Xue has left Spirit City."
"…"
"Are you going to look for her?"
"…"
After a long silence, Su Cheng finally spoke again, his voice slightly hoarse, "Did she say anything before leaving?"
"She said she would not accept Zhuqing's existence."