Inside a mountain cave, Ye Yu dispersed the sword qi gathered at his fingertips and finally let out a breath.

He had done everything he could. Whether Heng Xuanzhen could live would depend on her.

Half an hour earlier—

—when the domain collapsed, Heng Xuanzhen and Tushang had both fallen.

Ye Yu blinked, then understood.

They must have fought a life-and-death duel.

In the end, one died and one was wounded.

Tushang’s body was intact, but his divine soul was utterly gone—an empty shell remained.

Even so, to be safe, Ye Yu ground the corpse to dust and scattered it to make sure no trace of revival remained. Only then did he relax.

As for Heng Xuanzhen, a faint breath still lingered.

There was no way Ye Yu could ignore that.

After all, she had just saved his life, and she was now gravely wounded because she killed Tushang.

That favor was far too great.

Ye Yu of course wasn’t going to leave her. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He took out a divine healing pill and fed it to her himself.

He thought that would be that.

But right after she swallowed the pill, Heng Xuanzhen coughed up a mouthful of blood.

There was black in the blood—clearly wrong.

He looked down at the wound over her heart; it was visibly darkened.

Poison.

The toxin was spreading at a speed visible to the eye.

At this rate, she wouldn’t last long.

Ye Yu rushed her into a cave and used sword qi to cut away every part touched by the poison.

The whole process was grueling.

Killing gods—Ye Yu knew how to do that. Playing surgeon—this was his first time.

Fortunately, he finished.

From here on, it would come down to her own will to live.

Day turned to night and back again; two days passed quickly.

Heng Xuanzhen still didn’t wake, but her breathing had evened out. Her life should no longer be in danger.

Ye Yu, however, sat at the cave mouth wearing a very odd look.

Because while Heng Xuanzhen was unconscious, she had called out several names.

She called her master thirty-seven times, her junior sister eight times, the Ancient Sword Gorge Divine Alliance’s lord twice, and Ye Yu one hundred and sixty times.

It was...hard to parse.

When a woman, not in her right mind, calls a man’s name, there are usually only two reasons:

Either she hates him to the bone—or loves him to the bone.

Hand on heart, even counting this time, Ye Yu had seen Heng Xuanzhen all of three times.

The first two meetings combined didn’t even total half an hour.

Some deep blood feud? Hardly.

Liking him? Even less so.

Every time we meet, it’s either you getting slashed or me getting slashed.

We’re both so busy—who has time for romance?

If Heng Xuanzhen could still fall for him like this, Ye Yu would have to question his lineage.

He wasn’t some black bear monster—he must have succubus blood.

Mm. Aside from that, Ye Yu truly couldn’t think of any other reason.

On the third day, Heng Xuanzhen woke.

Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, she tensed at once.

She tried to sit up, but the wound at her heart made her brow knit.

Ye Yu spoke softly. “Tushang’s last strike carried poison. I cut away everything the toxin soaked into, but there’s still a little residue, so recovery is slow.”

Heng Xuanzhen turned her head. The sunlight outside was so bright that Ye Yu’s outline blurred.

“You...saved me again?”

Ye Yu lifted a brow. “Again? Well, counting Ancient Sword Gorge, that makes twice. But back then I saved you to save myself.”

“Do you hate me?”

At that, Heng Xuanzhen shook her head without thinking.

How could she hate someone who had saved her twice?

“Then you...”

Ye Yu trailed off, the words dying in his throat.

Mistaking someone’s feelings hurts. And asking a woman you’ve met three times, “Do you like me?”—that was a bit much.

Forget it.

Maybe her calling his name was just the slurred mumbling of someone not fully conscious.

After all, right before she blacked out, they had fought Tushang side by side as allies.

Heng Xuanzhen pressed a hand to her chest and slowly sat up.

“You saved me once in Ancient Sword Gorge. I came here planning to save you once and settle it. I didn’t expect I’d end up owing you my life again.”

“I’ll repay it.”

“But...how much did you see?”

Her cheeks colored as she turned her face away.

Ye Yu’s heart snagged.

He had considered that, treating her wounds.

Given where the injury was...less than ideal.

But he couldn’t let her die, could he?

So Ye Yu brought the sword down—decisive, without hesitation, without trembling.

Still, inspecting the wound carefully had been unavoidable.

“Ahem.”

Ye Yu cleared his throat twice and forced himself to sound calm. “There are priorities. I was saving you, that’s all. My eyes saw only the wound—nothing else. Don’t overthink it. And as for owing a life—there’s no need.”

“I’ve got things to do. I’ll head out.”

“Wait.”

As Ye Yu prepared to slip away, Heng Xuanzhen stopped him at once.

Her eyes reddened slightly as she spoke, very serious. “Can you let me see my master again?”

“Just once. Please.”

By the last two words, her voice was faintly trembling.

Seeing this, Ye Yu’s mind flashed back to a few days ago—to Heng Xuanzhen hauling him out of the sea of blood.

Almost against his own will, he agreed.

The two returned together to Ancient Sword Gorge.

The Divine Alliance, now a ruin, looked even more ravaged after Heng Xuanzhen’s battle with her senior brother Wei Tongbei.

There was scarcely anywhere left to step.

Heng Xuanzhen went to the place where her master had fallen and looked to Ye Yu with hope all over her face.

He answered, expression complicated. “Your master has fallen a second time. As for whether I can summon him again this time—I can’t promise.”

It was the plain truth.

Demonic Conversion could indeed call a fallen god-blooded being back again.

But Heng Xuanzhen’s master, Lyu Nian, had already fallen twice.

Who knew if a second conversion would even work?