On Silvia’s lower abdomen, the exotic petal mark, which should have been vibrant, now flickered weakly, almost extinguished by the mental energy. It was on the verge of fading entirely.
“I’m here, Silvia.”
Immediately after, Xia Naxin rose, sweeping Silvia into a princess carry. He stood upon the bed.
As he did, an invisible barrier of mental energy spread outwards, enveloping and protecting the two women on the bed.
Concurrently, Ling Qinghe’s magical phantoms shifted in unison.
Wielding warhammers, they roared and charged, only to be intercepted by the mental energy barrier.
Like moths striking a transparent fish tank, they could only hammer futilely against the invisible shield.
Xia Naxin’s gaze flickered across the room.
Ling Qinghe knelt on one knee, her palm glowing green as she pressed it against Ling Cheyin’s shoulder, staunching her sister’s blood.
Though the wound was deep, exposing bone and mangled flesh, it visibly healed under the restorative power of the magic.
“Xia Naxin, stop struggling. You can’t take her with you,” Ling Qinghe stated. “I know you; you can’t bring living beings into the Mental Realm.”
As she spoke, Ling Qinghe lifted her head, confronting Xia Naxin once more.
Their eyes locked.
Clutching Silvia, Xia Naxin glared fiercely at Ling Qinghe, this vile woman who still coveted his beloved.
****
At the same time, Ling Qinghe was sensing the Seed of Desire within Silvia, intending to fully accelerate its ‘heat’.
After all, Xia Naxin was still channeling mental energy into Silvia, suppressing the magic of desire.
Moreover, beneath the mental energy barrier, the magical phantoms were powerless against Xia Naxin.
Thus, Xia Naxin and Ling Qinghe were locked in a ‘tug-of-war’, both vying for the same woman: Silvia.
Suddenly, Silvia’s body convulsed violently.
Xia Naxin felt the girl in his arms grow feverish, broken moans escaping her throat.
“Ah… Naxin, it’s so hot.”
Hearing Silvia’s whisper, Xia Naxin gritted his teeth.
He could distinctly sense Ling Qinghe remotely transmitting aphrodisiac magic to Silvia through the mark of lust.
****
And so, Silvia’s expression became remarkably varied, shifting under the ‘tug-of-war’ between the two forces.
One moment, she would breathe calmly, suppressed by mental energy; the next, she would arch her back from the surge of pink magic, emitting delicate moans.
Silvia’s heartbeat grew increasingly rapid, at one point soaring to three hundred beats per minute.
It was simply too intense! This ‘pleasure’ of oscillating between desire and denial was overwhelming.
Moreover, Silvia now lacked the magic to protect her heart. Her heart, caught between the two clashing forces, was buckling under the strain.
Her red lips parted, flecks of white foam at the corners, as she let out a tortured, helpless cry of unbearable suffering.
“Silvia! Stay conscious, hold on!”
Xia Naxin reached to grasp Silvia’s wrist, only for Silvia to seize his hand in return, her scorching palm pressing against his skin.
It sent an unexpected shiver through Xia Naxin.
Only then did Xia Naxin realize: Silvia’s body was unconsciously seeking stability, her instincts driving her closer even amidst the intense pain.
This continued for several minutes.
Silvia’s body suddenly stiffened, her heartbeat thrumming like a broken drum before a loud ‘thump’ echoed. Then, she went limp in Xia Naxin’s arms, falling still.
Silvia’s head lolled weakly to one side, her pupils unfocused, and the mark on her lower abdomen began to fade.
Her heart had overloaded; the immense strain had caused it to seize.
At this sight, Xia Naxin was instantly stunned.
“Silvia? Silvia!”
Xia Naxin panicked, shaking the girl’s body in his arms, only to feel a faint pulse at her neck.
This was terrible. He belatedly realized that his ‘tug-of-war’ with Ling Qinghe had long surpassed Silvia’s physical limits!
A heart unprotected by magic simply could not withstand the ‘tearing’ of two conflicting magical forces.
As for the pink magic generated by the Seed of Desire, it offered Silvia no protection; it merely stoked her arousal.
Simultaneously, Ling Qinghe stared at Silvia’s increasingly pale face, a flicker of unfamiliar panic stirring within her.
‘This is bad,’ she thought. ‘I was so focused on ‘pulling’ at Silvia’s desires that I neglected her physical condition.’
‘Now, I’ve truly ‘broken’ Silvia.’
After all, Silvia had endured so much: from her self-destructive tendency to over-exert her magic circuits to the point of collapse, to waking in the bath only to have her first kiss stolen by Ling Qinghe.
Then, waking in the master bedroom and almost losing her innocence, followed by the current ‘tug-of-war’ with Xia Naxin.
Furthermore, she hadn’t rested or recovered after her gender transformation, leaving her body incredibly weak.
Her system was already running on overload, even during prolonged periods of ‘coma’.
Her body, already like stagnant water, had been subjected to a magic-blocking environment for an extended time. All these accumulated ‘ailments’ erupted completely at this very moment!
Should Silvia’s heart meridians be too severely damaged, this perfect vessel, so suited to her, would become irreparable.
“Stabilize yourself…” she roared into the air, commanding the gradually wilting seed.
****
However, it was too late.
Silvia let out a faint, reedy groan, blood trickling from her seven orifices as her heartbeat grew weaker and weaker.
Silvia felt her consciousness drift in chaos, hearing Xia Huangxin’s distant call but unable to respond.
Memory fragments flashed like a revolving lantern: their first meeting at Qinghe High, the disgusted figure who walked away during her imprisonment, Ice City where she became Ling Qinghe’s plaything and nearly lost her innocence.
Ultimately, her memories settled on Xia Huangxin’s eyes after she had transformed back into her female form—the brightest starlight Silvia had ever seen.
“Huangxin…” Silvia whispered in her heart, a smile of relief gracing her lips.
Even if she died now, at least she knew she wasn’t alone.
Then, her body… completely ceased to respond.
“No… no…”
“Silvia!”
Xia Huangxin’s cry shattered the ice flowers on the window.
She looked up, her gaze clashing with Ling Qinghe’s horrified eyes.
In both their eyes, the same terrible truth was reflected: Silvia’s life was rapidly fading, and if they continued this stalemate, Silvia would die!
Ling Qinghe realized the profound stupidity of her mistake.
“Shall we talk?”
She surged towards the mental energy barrier, only to be halted by Xia Huangxin’s blade-sharp gaze.
As a token of sincerity, Ling Qinghe raised her hand, dismissing countless magical phantoms, and cried out with rare urgency.
“Do you want her to die?!”
“No, you killed her! If it weren’t for you…”
As she spoke, Xia Huangxin’s tears fell onto Silvia’s face. In that moment, her emotional turmoil, influenced by her mental state, instinctively slowed her mental energy output.
Did the girl in her arms feel lighter for a fleeting second?
“Don’t withdraw your mental energy! That will only backfire and accelerate the damage to her heart meridians…”
Hearing this, Xia Huangxin snapped back to reality and hastily resumed her mental energy output.
Yet, it changed nothing; the delicate balance had already collapsed.
She could only feel Silvia’s heartbeat slowing further, like the fluttering wings of a dying butterfly.
‘It’s happening,’ she thought. ‘Her heart meridians are damaged. Your suppression and my magic are the only remaining support…’
“Now, there’s only one way—” Ling Qinghe took a half-step forward, but before she could finish, Xia Huangxin angrily cut her off.
“You think I’ll believe you?”
After all, in Xia Huangxin’s heart, Ling Qinghe’s credibility was utterly ruined.
This was the woman who had backstabbed and plotted against her; she had no idea what schemes Ling Qinghe might be concocting.
What if she feigned a truce and negotiation, only to catch Xia Huangxin off guard? What then?
Immediately, Ling Qinghe’s face turned ashen. She recognized Xia Huangxin’s hesitation.
She also understood that her own credibility was completely gone.
However, as she gazed at Silvia’s progressively paler lips, she suddenly grabbed Ling Jiyin, who stood dumbfounded nearby.
She actually pushed the young girl forward.
Ling Jiyin let out a startled cry, the not-yet-fully-healed, scabbed wound on her shoulder throbbing faintly.
“Sister?!”
“I’ll use her as collateral,” Ling Qinghe declared, her voice laced with ruthlessness, having thrown caution to the wind.
“I’m giving her to you. If you think I’m lying, or fear I’ll go back on my word, then you can… kill her.”
‘Ling Qinghe couldn’t bear for Silvia to die… After all, she hadn’t even taken Silvia’s first experience yet.’
‘However, Ling Jiyin had her own ‘backup plan’ within her. Should she be on the verge of death, it would naturally activate, a life-saving spell embedded deep within her.’
Meanwhile, Ling Jiyin’s body trembled slightly. Just as she considered retreating, her eyes met her sister’s, and her composure returned.
‘After all, Sister never does anything she isn’t confident about,’ she thought. ‘It’s not like Sister hasn’t ‘gambled’ with me before.’
‘On the last occasion, Ling Qinghe had placed her beside a bloodthirsty girl and sent her to the southern border, where she was captured alive.’
‘But in the end, didn’t her sister arrive just in time to turn the tide?’
****
Xia Huangxin’s pupils constricted at the sight.
‘To think Ling Qinghe would go to such ruthless lengths for her own woman… Is this a ‘good thing’ or a ‘misfortune’?’ she mused.
But time was running out. Silvia’s heartbeat was already barely perceptible.
Xia Huangxin finally withdrew the mental energy barrier and spoke through gritted teeth.
“Don’t play any tricks with me, or I’ll crush your sister’s skull!”