It was pretty much what Wang Jixuan expected.
Ling Tong’s mental stress had been triggered.
The young king bug had always targeted Ling Tong. Previously, the small batch of blade beasts had sporadically attacked the mining site to continually strengthen this mental stress. Once it reached a certain level, the young king bug could remotely trigger it to shatter Ling Tong’s soul.
But then, a variable appeared.
Ling Tong met a massage therapist, who helped her continuously weaken that mental stress. As a result, when the young king bug launched a remote mental attack today, it didn’t manage to shatter Ling Tong’s soul. This allowed her to survive.
Even so, Ling Tong’s condition was still very dangerous.
Her soul was weak, and her organs were failing. If her soul suffered any more damage, her body would die.
Wang Jixuan laid her flat on the bed, quickly took off his obstructive law enforcement uniform, removed the long spear from his back, and carefully approached Ling Tong. He lightly tapped her temples a few times to let out some blood.
Ling Tong’s mechanical arm reacted on its own, and Wang Jixuan immediately shouted, “Sister Wan! Pause the mechanical arm!”
Before he finished speaking, the mechanical arm slowly lowered and entered standby mode for treatment.
Wang Jixuan moved to the head of the bed, steadied his stance, and formed a sword finger with both hands, quickly drawing two complex symbols and placing them on Ling Tong’s temples.
Her body tensed, arching upwards, and she let out soft moans, beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead.
The red dot in Wang Daochang’s brow flickered continuously.
Before long, Wang Jixuan was drenched in sweat, and the spiritual energy in the air surged in, only to be consumed rapidly.
Ling Tong was not a cultivator; her soul was just an ordinary human soul. Wang Jixuan had to be extremely careful now, opening her semi-closed Niwan Palace to find her soul and grant her soul power.
It was like carving a famous painting on thin ice.
But if he succeeded, not only could he heal her, but he could also grant her soul power beyond that of an ordinary human.
Ling Tong gradually relaxed, lying flat, and a faint green light flickered through the tiny gaps in her mechanical arm.
This indicated that her physical condition was starting to improve.
Next was the most critical part.
Finding her soul!
“Yellow Court hides the Great Way, Niwan governs the divine, where the heavenly soul gathers, I return to my path.”
Wang Jixuan took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
In the next moment, he felt as if he was in a lake that was as clear as a mirror.
The edge of the lake was half sandy beach and half hills, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky. In the center of the lake, a candle flame flickered continuously.
Wang Jixuan’s shadow slowly “approached,” softly calling out Ling Tong’s name, and the candle flame seemed to respond.
Suddenly, Wang Jixuan felt weightless; the mirror-like lake shattered beneath him, and he and the candle flame fell together, then froze in place. Around them were fragments that looked like glass screens, displaying various scenes.
These were Ling Tong’s memories.
Wang Jixuan hadn’t planned to pry into Ling Tong’s privacy, but to find the candle flame, he had to search continuously.
Fighting, fighting, training, fighting, undergoing mechanical modifications, fighting…
Most of the fragmented memories were about these things.
She was equipped with various gear, active on the front lines battling blade beasts, completing tasks, and taking down blade beasts. Her constantly bouncing ponytail seemed to express all her emotions.
Some scenes showed her resting.
She would lie quietly on the sofa or bed, falling asleep. These scenes were usually brief, indicating she didn’t suffer from insomnia.
Where was the candle flame?
Wang Jixuan searched around and noticed a few fragments wrapped in black gas that caught his attention.
At first, he thought it was residual mental stress, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was the darker parts of Ling Tong’s memories.
At eight years old, after participating in the battle princess selection, she sat on the return flight, witnessing the fall of her fortress.
Endless blade beasts surged from the ground into the fortress, and shadows of people kept running out, most of whom were slaughtered and devoured by the blade beasts.
This was her nightmare.
At twelve, in the battle princess training camp, she was grouped with several girls who bullied her.
She smashed the bathroom glass in the dormitory, wielding a long shard to fight them, cutting her own hand but not making a sound.
She almost got expelled from the training camp.
At sixteen, she officially participated in battles as a reserve battle princess.
She had to pass various assessments for initial modifications, but despite ranking first in all subjects, her twelve applications were rejected, each time with the reason: “Too strong a desire for battle, prone to self-destructive tendencies.”
Her mindset nearly broke.
At seventeen, in the first year after her initial modification surgery.
While controlling a regular mech to fight blade beasts, her overly aggressive battle strategy led to severe damage to her mech.
She was scolded harshly by her instructor and felt down for a long time.
At eighteen, she killed for the first time.
The mission was to execute several low-level spiritual users who had defected from the Spiritual Energy Capital, and she executed the task perfectly.
After completing the mission, she often recalled the expression of a female spiritual user as she died.
That expression was complex, filled with pleading, despair, helplessness, and relief.
Her feelings were also very complicated.
Wang Jixuan continued to observe, initially just glancing but gradually paying more attention.
“This is beneficial for my cultivation of the heart in the mortal world.”
At that moment, Wang Jixuan spotted the candle flame; it was resting in a fragment where light and darkness intertwined.
For Ling Tong, this was akin to a shallow sleep, somewhat weak and on the verge of fainting.
She was immersed in the dream created by this fragment.
The content of the fragments was divided in half; the left side showed Wang Zheng, and the right side showed Mu Liang, two different dreamscapes.
Wang Jixuan, who had been focused on the dreams, was left puzzled.
On the left side, the scene had a slightly dark tone.
Wang Zheng, who was hammering metal, heard footsteps behind her, turned around, and took two steps back, showing a hint of panic, holding the hammer across her chest.
“Put it down,” she said a bit domineeringly.
Wang Zheng lowered the hammer, glancing aside, revealing a shy expression.
She walked slowly to Wang Zheng, her slender fingers lifting Wang Zheng’s chin.
Calmly, she said, “Not bad, you’ve been working hard. I’ll reward you with dinner later.”
Wang Zheng blushed and replied, “Okay, Commander.”
The scene on the left continued to unfold, the dream ongoing.
On the right side, the scene was bright and sunny.
At the celebration for the third anniversary of humanity’s victory, on the balcony of a fairy-tale castle, Ling Tong, wearing a short wedding dress, smiled as she looked at Mu Liang, who was sharply dressed in a suit.
“Are you leaving?” she asked.
Mu Liang nodded with a smile, gazing at her gently, saying in a deep voice, “There are other worlds suffering from blade beast invasions waiting for me to save! Thank you for accompanying me through these tough times! Together we defeated the ultimate emperor-level blade beast!”
She smiled tenderly, her eyes filled with reluctance, raising her mechanical arm with synthetic skin in a military salute.
Mu Liang returned the salute with a smile, and a beam of light shone down from the sky, but the sky also darkened with clouds.
Mu Liang opened his arms, softly saying, “Do you want to venture into the universe with me? I can take my partner along; it’s a convention of interstellar civilization.”
“Mm-hmm.”
She gently shook her head.
“The war is over, but the revival of human civilization isn’t finished. Spiritual users could still pose a threat to humanity. I need to stay and keep them in check, rebuilding our human home with my own hands.”
“Then, goodbye, my love.”
Mu Liang’s body was drawn up by the beam of light, slowly ascending, and with a whoosh, he vanished.
She rushed forward a couple of steps, extending her mechanical arm, but only grasped at air, then lowered her head in disappointment, gently touching her abdomen, softly saying, “Don’t be afraid, Mommy will take care of you. Daddy has just returned to the M8848 star system. We must continue fighting for the future of humanity.”
Outside the castle, a grand symphony played, and a sweet smile appeared on Ling Tong’s face.
Seeing this, Wang Jixuan was left speechless.
Not to mention the parts of the dream that were laughable, most of it was absurd, a fanciful take based on memories;
Just looking at Ling Tong’s feelings!
She really… was dreaming of defeating the blade beasts, rebuilding human civilization, and even gave up love to contribute to humanity.
How noble!
Such boundless love!
But why did the left side of the scene start getting hands-on… that Wang Zheng was acting so coy, hiding and being pinned down?
There should be some limits to dreaming, please!
Oh, heavens!
If such a thing were to happen, would I be so passive? I would definitely…
Cough, calm down.
Wang Jixuan collected his thoughts and focused on the task at hand, cautiously approaching the candle flame and beginning to transfer the soul power.
This soul power was extracted from the human souls tainted by demonic energy, filtered of impurities, and returned to its essence. He bore the backlash of those chaotic thoughts and sent the gentlest power into the candle flame.
In an instant, the candle flame grew to the size of a fist.
Ling Tong was immersed in the two dreamscapes, feeling a longing and hope for the future, and the process of absorbing this soul power went smoothly.
Before long, the candle flame grew to the size of a basketball.
At this point, it had reached the limit of what Ling Tong’s soul could bear; external forces couldn’t help much more.
Wang Jixuan slowly opened his eyes, withdrawing his sword finger from her temple, and sealed the tiny wound on her temple.
Feeling slightly relaxed, Wang Jixuan suddenly felt a break in his breath, drenched in sweat, and his lips turned a bit pale.
There was no time to leave this room.
Wang Jixuan quickly found a chair, sat cross-legged, and with his hands forming sword fingers, he rapidly pointed at various parts of his body. The red line on his brow began to recede, but he heard a series of mournful cries nearby.
Hundred Ghosts Consuming Hearts?
Tsk.
The Daoist’s heart is as solid as a rock; how dare a small external demon act recklessly!
Ling Tong let out a soft groan and opened her eyes from her coma.
The pain in her head that had been bothering her for the past few months was now incredibly light. Not only was her mind clear, but her hearing and vision had also improved significantly, and her breathing became more comfortable.
What happened?
Ling Tong glanced at her combat suit; the armor on her legs and waist hadn’t been removed, and her ponytail was still tied as before.
Recalling the two dreams she just had, a faint blush crossed her fair face but quickly returned to her usual calm and composed demeanor.
Just dreaming;
It had been a long time since she had dreamt.
A faint sound of breathing came from beside her.
Ling Tong turned her head and saw Wang Jixuan, who was sitting with his eyes closed.
Visible strands of black gas swirled around Wang Jixuan, constantly moving, then being expelled and evaporated by strands of blue light.
At this moment, Wang Jixuan emitted a sense of weakness from within.
What happened to him?
Ling Tong carefully turned over and got off the bed, using the scanner on her mechanical arm to check, confirming that Wang Jixuan had no injuries and his organs were functioning normally, before quietly leaving the room.
The supply station was bustling with activity, and Zheng Shiduo had already brought Wan Xiaoqi back.
A few minutes later, Ling Tong returned to the room in a nightgown, leaning against the door and tilting her head to watch Wang Jixuan’s figure.
She could hear the exaggerated recounting of the others in her ear.
Just now…
Zheng Shiduo exclaimed excitedly, “Oh my gosh! You really didn’t see it, Ling Tong! As soon as Wang Zheng heard you were unconscious, without a second thought, he rushed back!
He even ran into four roadblocks on the way!
Guess what?
Wang Zheng shouted, ‘Burn, my little heart!’ and exploded! One move, just one move! I don’t even know how he did it; three C-level spiritual users were taken out in an instant…
What did it cost him? Ah, I really don’t know, but for us spiritual users, going all out usually comes with a huge burden. Every time I use my ultimate move, the cost is enormous; I’m sore all over for half a month.”
Wan Xiaoqi, still shaken, patted her chest, “When I said the commander fainted, Wang Zheng, who was dealing with the blade beast corpses, looked terrifying, as if he wanted to eat that blade beast. His eyes were bloodshot!”
Then there was the amazed battle princess, Chi She: “How did he save you? When you came back, your organ index was rapidly dropping. This is the most feared mental attack for our half-human mechs; I was almost ready to contact the funeral committee for you. It’s simply unbelievable.”
And Zhou Zhengde’s reflection: “I think if I were injured, he would also risk everything to save me… probably.”
Ling Tong pursed her lips, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Wang Jixuan was still in a meditative state, and a large amount of black gas surrounded him.
Ling Tong’s gaze shifted from Wang Jixuan’s lips to his forehead, then to the side.
She took a deep breath to calm herself and carefully moved a chair to sit beside Wang Jixuan, opening the projection screen on her left mechanical arm to start working.
“I will also risk my life for you once… twice… or even more…”
Ling Tong whispered.
Her most important task now was to pay back evil with evil against hostile forces.
(End of Chapter)