With a wave of Di Xiao's hand, the three of them returned to the Divine Palace. It was still the same medicinal field, filled with the rich fragrance of spirit herbs. That coffin remained lying there in silence.
Perhaps because she knew her remaining time was short, Di Ying held onto Di Xiao's hand and carefully gave her instructions.
"Brother, I will soon fall into slumber again. Xiao Jin is the first friend I've ever made, and I don't want you to harm her." Di Ying's voice was earnest.
After all, Yun Jin had once mentioned wanting the Xuan Yin Crystal and Tian Zhao Stone. Di Ying didn't want Di Xiao to bear grudges over this.
Di Xiao snorted, his voice sour: "You've only met her twice, exchanged a few words, and she is already your 'friend'? What, does she hold a place in your heart higher than me now?"
Di Ying couldn't help but laugh. A smile blossomed across her flawless face: "Brother, I would give you even my life. How could you speak such nonsense?"
Di Xiao's expression visibly sank into sorrow. If anyone else had said this, he would have doubted them. But this was Di Ying.
She was his sister, the one who had shared his life-and-death bond, the one who had already given her life to him once.
Truthfully, with his cultivation now, even Ji Wusi might not be able to best him with certainty. This vast world was his to roam. Yet he remained trapped within this Divine Palace, never leaving for thousands of years.
Within, he searched endlessly for ways to control the palace.
Without, he dispatched spirit beasts across the lands in search of the palace's pearl.
The palace was indeed mysterious, but what he truly cared for was the faint belief that if he could gain full control of it, he might find a way to bring his sister back.
For thousands of years, this was the goal he labored toward.
And yet…
He had gained nothing.
Still, so long as he lived, he would never give up on bringing his sister truly back to life.
"Di Ying," Di Xiao said with utmost seriousness, "this palace holds unfathomable mysteries. Even with the tiny fragment I command, I can use it to preserve your final breath. If I find the palace pearl and truly master this place, then with its power, I will certainly restore you! You once told me you longed for the endless sea. When you truly live again, we siblings will venture together into those boundless waters!"
Di Ying's eyes turned red as she whispered, "Brother, don't worry about me anymore. To save me, you've confined yourself here for millennia. But we both know this is futile. Let me go. Perhaps that would be the best ending for us both."
"I will never accept that ending!" Di Xiao's fists clenched tight.
"Brother," Di Ying said softly, "don't trap yourself this way. Even if I cannot go, you can go in my place. See whether that endless sea has a boundary. If you see it, then it will be the same as if I had seen it myself."
"How could that ever be the same?" Di Xiao ground his teeth. "Di Ying, don't speak such despairing words! Rest assured, I will keep searching for the pearl. As long as it exists in this world, one day I will find it! The palace is so miraculous, it must be able to restore you."
In truth, Di Xiao didn't know if fully mastering the palace would really save her.
But he needed a goal to cling to.
Otherwise, he feared he might not resist the urge to follow her into slumber, never to wake.
For if the Yin's gentle glow were gone, what reason would the blazing sun have to burn alone in the heavens?
Di Ying knew she could not persuade him, and only sighed softly.
Yun Jin, hearing this conversation, shrank her presence as much as possible. She had the intention to tell Di Xiao where the palace pearl was, but not in front of Di Ying. If said now, it would only mar the siblings' final moments together.
"Xiao Jin." Di Ying turned back to Yun Jin, her gaze earnest. "I only have a little time left. May I… feel that aura one more time?"
Her eyes glimmered with longing.
Yun Jin did not refuse.
She nodded and released her bloodline purification energy once more.
Nestled in her brother's arms, Di Ying clung tightly to that aura, satisfaction flickering deep in her eyes.
In this last moment, even Di Xiao had no thought to be jealous. His eyes reddened as the siblings leaned against one another in silence.
This time, when Di Ying fell into slumber, who knew when she would awaken again?
Perhaps when he gathered the ingredients for the Shangqing Revival Pill once more. Perhaps when he mastered the palace pearl, gaining ultimate power.
Time slipped away.
The life force within Di Ying's body dwindled, and her eyelids grew heavier.
"Brother… I feel a little sleepy." She murmured softly, her eyes closing.
Yun Jin sighed.
The time had come.
Di Ying was about to fall into slumber again.
The tears long brewing in Di Xiao's eyes finally spilled down his cheeks.
Just as one was about to drop upon Di Ying's face, she suddenly struggled up.
"Sister?" Di Xiao froze.
Di Ying's gaze burned with hunger as she looked at the energy flickering in Yun Jin's palm. She licked her lips, then with her last strength, transformed into her beast form and leapt before Yun Jin.
And then—
Before Yun Jin's stunned eyes—
She opened her mouth and swallowed the energy whole.
!!!
Yun Jin's eyes widened in shock.
A Beastmaster's ability was only for their own contracted beasts.
Yet Di Ying had swallowed it?!
How could she do that?
"It tastes just as good as I imagined." Di Ying smiled in contentment.
The next instant, her expression changed.
Clutching her belly, she rolled frantically on the ground, writhing in pain and crying out miserably.
Di Xiao's face changed at once. He seized Yun Jin by the collar. "What did you do to her!"
Yun Jin could only stare back. "Are you sure it was me who did something to her?"
"It's your ability, your skill that is faulty!" Di Xiao roared, rage boiling. "Undo it, now!"
On the ground, Di Ying's wails tore at the air.
Di Xiao's fury shook his very breath.
"This skill was never something I actively used! And once it is triggered, it cannot be reversed!" Yun Jin answered quickly.
In her mind, she called out: "System, what is happening to Di Ying?"
At once, the reply came.
[She has forcibly devoured an energy that does not belong to her. Her bloodline is in turmoil. Within one incense stick's time, she will perish.]
Yun Jin's face paled.
She had grown fond of Di Ying and did not want to see her harmed.
"How can this be resolved?" Yun Jin asked urgently.
[She took the energy without her master's consent. That is why her bloodline fell into chaos. But if the master permits it, then there will be no problem.]
Yun Jin froze.
This energy was hers.
She was the master.
But… how was she supposed to give "consent"?
Suddenly, realization dawned, and Yun Jin's expression turned wonderfully complicated.