Chapter 199: Remember This Won't Happen Again!
Cai Lin stood not far from the black fog area, her eyes curiously gazing at Xiao Bai.
Ever since she regained consciousness, she'd lost touch with her other self, and she was perplexed, wondering what had happened since she was suppressed.
With a slight sigh, Xiao Bai approached her, extending a hand.
"Come with me!"
Seeing Xiao Bai's expression suddenly darken, and the large hand before her, Cai Lin hesitated for a moment before placing her hand in his, allowing him to lead her forward.
Suddenly, Xiao Bai stopped and whispered, "Hold still. Hold your hand out!"
Cai Lin raised her head slightly, glancing forward, only to find the area was no different from anywhere else.
She was filled with doubts, unsure of what had suddenly become so uneasy, but out of trust, she slowly extended a fair hand.
Xiao Bai watched quietly as the hand reached into the black fog area. In the blink of an eye, the black fog, as if smelling something delicious, swarmed into the hand.
A moment later, Xiao Bai saw the hand swirling with black mist, its claws bared.
"Hmm."
Cai Lin suddenly frowned slightly, groaning, a flicker of shock in her eyes.
"Does this feeling sound familiar?" Seeing her expression, Xiao Bai pulled her hand back.
Her beautiful eyes shot a look of surprise at Xiao Bai, leaving Cai Lin bewildered as to how he knew so much.
After a moment, she nodded her head gently, her voice trembling, "Hmm! It's like the very beginning, when she was about to be born!"
"When did it happen?" Xiao Bai's gaze softened, reaching out and gently smoothing the frown on her face with his thumb.
Feeling his tenderness, Cai Lin's cheeks flushed slightly, a hint of shyness flickered across her brow as she softly recounted the story. "I started to feel this way not long after you left. At first, I thought it was just the aftereffects of absorbing the Seven-Colored Sky-Swallowing Python's remnant soul during my breakthrough. I figured once all the soul fragments were absorbed, everything would be fine. But I didn't expect it to get worse, did you?"
Xiao Bai slowly withdrew his hand, then took over. "Hmm!" Cai Lin looked at the withdrawn hand, pursed her red lips, and nodded softly.
"I didn't expect it either." Xiao Bai withdrew the hand he had been holding and placed it behind his back. He stared at the raging black mist before him, a flicker of guilt in his eyes, and slowly spoke: "It was me who harmed you!"
"Hmm? You... harmed me?" Cai Lin asked, her eyes filled with doubt. "What does this have to do with you?"
"Soul, don't resist. I'll show you something!" Xiao Bai tilted his head slightly, speaking calmly.
"Hmm!" Cai Lin gazed into those deep, starry black eyes, biting her red lips lightly with her silver teeth. For some reason, a flicker of panic rose within her.
Xiao Bai's mind moved, and a flash of golden lightning flashed across the sky above her sea of consciousness, appearing on his finger.
"Tsk tsk. You and it are truly mortal enemies!" Xiao Bai looked at the slowly pulsating Gengjin Tribulation Thunder on his hand. It seemed to sense the black energy, and the arc of lightning was struggling to extend forward. He retracted his gaze from his fingers and looked up at Cai Lin: "It hurts a little, bear with it!"
As he spoke, he put his two fingers together, made a sword-like shape, and suddenly slashed it in front of her eyes.
It hurts!
A flash of golden light passed before her eyes, and Cai Lin's eyes went black. There was nothing visible in her eyes anymore, and she couldn't help but be shocked.
Then, a burning and severe pain suddenly spread from her eyes. This kind of intense pain from the soul was several times more severe than that of the flesh.
She covered her eyes with both hands and took a few steps back.
Is this what he meant by a little pain?
She clenched her fists, wishing she could beat him to death right now. If she didn't know that he wouldn't hurt her, she would have thought she was blind!
This hateful bastard!
"Are you alright?"
The bastard's concerned voice reached her ears, but she now felt deeply annoyed. She angrily shouted, "You bastard! I don't need your concern, you bastard!"
Pushed back a few steps by her, Xiao Bai looked at the slightly twitching, charming face and shook his head with a wry smile.
Without this step, the subsequent explanations and actions would be difficult, so he had no choice but to resort to this method.
After a moment, the pain on Cai Lin's face gradually faded. Her eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. A flash of golden light flashed in her pupils.
"What is this?"
Blinking, Cai Lin adjusted to the light again, her expression startled. She stared ahead, aghast, and took a few steps back, bumping into a warm embrace.
"Is this the reason for your personality change?" Xiao Bai held the trembling body in his arms, whispering softly beside her delicate earlobe.
"So, everything that happened to me was due to this strange black energy?" Cai Lin was stunned, tilting her head slightly to avoid Xiao Bai's burning breath on her ear.
"Hmm! You couldn't see it before, and you were unconsciously influenced by it, which is why you have the illusion of having two minds!" Xiao Bai whispered, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"What did you say? Illusion?" Cai Lin's face suddenly changed, and her voice rose high, her beautiful eyes looking at Xiao Bai beside her cheek in disbelief.
"That's right! Someone was scolding me back then, and he was having a great time!" Xiao Bai suddenly said with a teasing smile.
Cai Lin's mind raced, and she instantly understood why he had such an expression.
Thinking back to the time she'd called him "trash," her face paled, then slowly darkened. Her eyes darkened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Xiao Bai! You'd better forget those images in your mind. Don't tell anyone, or I will kill you and tear you to pieces!"
"Kukuku!"
Cai Lin's face darkened completely, sensing the suppressed laughter over her shoulder. She bent her arm and delivered a fierce elbow behind her.
"Kuku. Ugh...!"
"Did you... hear... anything?"
A voice as cold and sharp as the biting wind uttered word by word. Xiao Bai shuddered immediately and nodded repeatedly to assure: "Your Majesty, don't worry. What happened today is known only to you and me, and no one else will know about it!"
"Humph!"
Upon hearing this, Cai Lin rolled her eyes at him lightly, snorted coldly, and turned to look at the black fog in front of her that occupied half of her sea of consciousness.
After a moment of stunned silence, she sighed softly, her delicate body softening as she leaned gently into the warm embrace behind her, as if finding support. She closed her eyes and murmured, "Tell me what's going on?"
Looking at Cai Lin, who had suddenly become a little weak, a hint of fatigue now etched in her once proud and majestic features, Xiao Bai immediately understood that she must have been tormented by the matter of her soul, and a trace of heartache rose in his eyes.
Even the strongest woman sometimes needs a shoulder to lean on, and he was her only support!
"During your last evolution and tribulation, the sealing formation merged into your soul due to the thunder tribulation. Do you remember that?"
Hearing the whispered words, Cai Lin was transported back to that day. Thinking of that scene, a soft smile played on her alluring red lips. If it hadn't been for the guy behind her, she might have failed.
With a heavy nasal tone, Cai Lin nodded her head lazily. "Yeah!"
"Actually, I'm the one who implicated you. It was me that the black fog first came after you!"
"What?" Cai Lin suddenly opened her eyes, a hint of anxiety flashing in her eyes as she tilted her head to look at Xiao Bai.
"I'm fine!" Xiao Bai shook his head slightly. Seeing the disbelief in her eyes, he felt amused and quite touched. He smiled and said, "See for yourself!"
As he spoke, he thrust a hand into the black mist ahead. Instantly, the mist surged upward, hovering only a foot from his arm, never moving forward.
"Huh?" Cai Lin exclaimed in surprise. Watching this scene, then observing the reaction of the black mist at the dividing line, she suddenly understood what was happening and asked in astonishment, "Could it be that this sea of consciousness is split in two because I've fused your soul power with it, resisting the encroachment of this black mist?"
"Indeed!" Xiao Bai withdrew his arm, tightened his embrace around the delicate figure, and nodded with a smile.
At this point, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Fu Zhao was truly remarkable!
Just by being tainted by a tiny bit of his aura, he managed to resist this black energy.
Thinking back to the black mist that had appeared in his own sea of consciousness before, he suddenly understood. It must have been Fu Zhao's doing; otherwise, it wouldn't have appeared in his sea of consciousness.
"Then where did this black mist come from?" Cai Lin asked, blinking curiously.
Xiao Bai was silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "It might be related to the technique I'm practicing, or it might be related to the world we live in. I don't know the specific reason!"
"Forget it! If you don't know, then don't know!" Cai Lin smiled and waved her hand, feigning a casual reassurance, "With these eyes that can see the black fog, I'll be more careful in the future to prevent it from invading me again!"
"Uh," Xiao Bai said awkwardly, rubbing his nose with a strange look in his eyes. "Your eyes are temporary. In a few days at most, you'll be blind!"
"What?" Cai Lin looked stunned. She suddenly broke free from Xiao Bai's arms and angrily shouted, "Xiao Bai! You bastard! I've endured so much pain, and now you're telling me it's only temporary?"
Cai Lin wanted to beat the bastard to death. It was a shame that she had felt a little touched when she first learned the reason.
Enduring inhuman pain, in exchange for a pair of eyes that could see the strange black fog, it was worth it!
But she hadn't expected this to be a trial version, only valid for a few days. Would she have to top up if she wanted to use it again?
Recharging was fine, but the method of doing so was simply unbearable. Thinking of the intense soul pain she'd felt before, her face paled slightly.
"Hehe... calm down!" Seeing Cai Lin's beautiful eyes wide open, her chest heaving as if trying to break free, Xiao Bai soothed her with a distant gaze.
"Once I've dealt with the black fog, you won't need it anymore. It'll be fine for now!"
"Huh? You can deal with the black fog? Don't you know that?" Cai Lin asked, frowning, her anger stagnating.
"Ah," Xiao Bai sighed deeply, his tone sympathetic. "Cai Lin! When you have time, read more. Don't just go about fighting and killing all day. Not knowing the reason and not being able to solve the problem are two completely different things!"
"You're calling me a reckless man!" Cai Lin nearly exploded with rage, gritting her teeth.
She'd almost forgotten how that bastard had repeatedly called her a fool last time!
"Aha. I didn't say that, you said it yourself!" Xiao Bai laughed, looking up to the sky. He turned and walked to the edge of the black fog. The smile on his face faded, and he became more serious.
With a slight thought, a seal appeared in his outer body's sea of consciousness. It circled the talisman several times before flying out of the sea of consciousness.
Cai Lin, watching him from the side, knew that he was about to begin to eliminate the black energy for her. She also calmed down, holding her breath, and watched quietly.
Xiao Bai waved his hand, and a bright, dazzling ball of light appeared out of thin air in the sea of consciousness. Wherever the light passed, the black energy retreated as if it had found its nemesis.
"It's a seal. It seems to have a different aura!" Cai Lin's eyes twitched slightly when she saw the familiar mark.
This thing was the beginning of her connection with that wicked man.
"Command!"
Xiao Bai stretched out his hand and touched the ball of light. The mark instantly transformed into a curtain of light, gradually expanding and extending along the gray and black border.
In an instant, it was like a huge curtain that stretched to the sky, dividing the entire sea of consciousness in two.
"Are you trying to split this black fog area?"
Cai Lin watched Xiao Bai's actions, a thoughtful expression on her face. She instantly understood Xiao Bai's intention, but she wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the black fog.
"Seal!"
With a gentle shout, Xiao Bai formed seals with his hands, sealing half of Cai Lin's sea of consciousness within. Instantly, a vast light barrier quickly enveloped the entire black fog area, leaving no trace of it outside.
"Retract!"
Xiao Bai's hand seals shifted, and the vast light barrier slowly closed in. The black fog within, as if fearing the aura within, avoided contact with the barrier, rolling back towards the center like a giant dark cloud.
"Success!" Cai Lin's red lips parted slightly, her eyes gazing at the scene with surprise.
She shifted her gaze to the straight black-robed figure, a softness flickering across her eyes. She didn't know when she'd begun to enjoy seeing that expression on his face, as if nothing in the world could faze him.
Although his cultivation level currently fell short of hers, she believed it wouldn't be long before this man rose to prominence, becoming renowned across the continent!
Suddenly, seeing his brow furrow, Cai Lin grew nervous, unsure of what was happening.
Xiao Bai suddenly looked up, his eyes gleaming, as if piercing the void, peering into the unknown.
Just moments after he sealed the black fog, a wisp of black mist suddenly seeped out from the void within Cai Lin's sea of consciousness.
It was faint, not much different from the gray mist within Cai Lin's sea of consciousness, but it was distinct in his spiritual perception.
He sensed a familiar scent, the aura of that void.
"Looks like the next time my soul breaks through to the spiritual realm, I'll have to actively explore!" After a moment, Xiao Bai slowly withdrew his gaze, his eyes flickering.
"Are you alright?" Cai Lin approached him, asking with a hint of concern.
"It's okay!" Xiao Bai put his thoughts aside, smiled, and shook his head, teasing, "Not angry anymore?"
"Hmph! Since you helped me resolve the hidden danger, I'll forgive you for now!"
Cai Lin raised her head, glanced at Xiao Bai, and said with a stern look: "Remember this won't happen again!"
"Haha." Xiao Bai couldn't help but laugh at her hypocritical and arrogant expression. "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for your grace!"
Then he waved his hand, and a palm-sized pitch-black bead flew from a place in her sea of consciousness and landed in his hand.
"What are you going to do with this thing?" Cai Lin asked softly, gazing fearfully at the black mist swirling within the bead.
"Don't worry! This is a good thing!" Xiao Bai weighed the bead in his hand and smiled slightly.
His chance to break through to the Spirit Realm might lie with this thing, but the three-year deadline was approaching. Once that point passed, he could begin his ascension.
"You've lost half your soul power this time. I'm afraid it'll take quite some time to recover!" Xiao Bai surveyed the empty soul mist surrounding him, his mind racing, pondering how to resolve the situation.
Because of the black mist's infiltration into the void, he couldn't teach Cai Lin the Heavenly Heart Induction Chapter like Xian'er had.
But this kind of loss couldn't be recovered by a few days of sleep at a lower level. Without the aid of soul cultivation techniques, recovery would take a long time.
"Compared to the previous situation, this loss is nothing!" Cai Lin shook her head slightly, sighing deeply in relief. Finally, she no longer had to worry about her soul.
Seeing the relief in her eyes, Xiao Bai sighed softly, not sharing what he had just witnessed.
Cai Lin shouldn't face any more problems in the short term. As for the black energy, he'd better wait until he reached the Spirit Realm and explored the void.
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(End of Chapter)