"Chu Feng, hurry, give me control of your body! Otherwise, at the speed you're going now, there's no way you can outrun them!" Seeing that the situation had turned dire, Egg Egg started shouting.
"No, there's no time."
But Chu Feng's face had already gone pale as ash, because he could clearly see the two terrifying pearls closing in on him in the blink of an eye — a speed so great that even Egg Egg couldn't escape them.
"Waaah!"
"Boom!"
Just then, the two pearls smashed into Chu Feng's body. The tremendous force sent him plummeting from midair straight into the ground, carving a deep crater into the specially reinforced surface.
"Damn it — these two things are trying to get inside my body! Ughhh!"
The two pearls truly seemed to be alive. They were no bigger than eggs, yet they sliced through Chu Feng's Yuan Force shield like blades, pierced into his flesh, and were now hurtling toward his Dantian.
In that moment, Chu Feng could clearly feel two forces trying to seize his body and steal away his consciousness.
They didn't belong to Egg Egg — they obviously came from those two terrifying pearls. The pearls didn't simply want to kill Chu Feng; they wanted to control him.
These two pearls were horrifying beyond measure. One radiated a cold that could freeze everything, the other a heat that could burn all things — and both were alive. It was impossible to say what they were. They were like two identity-less but overwhelmingly powerful monsters.
Before them, Chu Feng was utterly insignificant, with no power to resist at all. All he could do was watch helplessly as they plunged into his Dantian — the sacred ground where his cultivation was concentrated.
"Woooaah!" But suddenly, inside Chu Feng's Dantian, the eight enormous Thunder Beasts that had been lying dormant roared to life, unleashing a terrifying aura that did not belong to this world. It erupted through the Dantian like a storm.
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
The moment that aura swept outward, the two pearls — which had been on the verge of penetrating his Dantian — recoiled as though startled, hastily scrambling back out. Yet even though they fled his Dantian, they did not leave his body. Cold and searing heat intertwined, ravaging every corner of his form.
In that instant, Chu Feng felt like every drop of blood in his veins was boiling — as if the golden lightning flowing through his blood was also fighting back against the power of those two pearls.
But caught between the clash of these two forces, Chu Feng was enduring excruciating pain. It tore at his heart and split his soul. He rolled across the ground, smashing his own body against the earth again and again, carving out crater after crater while wailing at the top of his lungs.
"Chu Feng, what's wrong with you?!"
Just then, two graceful figures came running from a distance — Su Rou and Su Mei, the two sisters. Each of them carried a tray of food.
Ever since Chu Feng had begun training here, the sisters came every single day to deliver him tasty meals. But now, upon seeing Chu Feng in this state, their faces went white. The trays clattered to the ground, and the two of them rushed toward him without a second thought.
"Little Rou, Little Mei, don't come closer! Run — NOW!!"
Seeing this, Chu Feng immediately shouted at them. Though he didn't know why those two pearls wanted to seize his body, he was certain they had their own reasons. And now that they had failed to take him, they would surely try to take someone else instead. If Su Rou and Su Mei got close, it would be walking straight into death's arms.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Sure enough, the moment the sisters' voices reached the pearls, the two ice-and-fire orbs shot out of Chu Feng's body and hurtled straight toward Su Rou and Su Mei. They moved so fast that only two streaks — one red, one blue — slashed across the sky before both sisters collapsed to the ground.
"Little Rou! Little Mei!" Seeing them lying on the ground, writhing and screaming in agony, Chu Feng ignored his own injuries and scrambled to his feet, rushing over.
"Little Rou! Little Mei!"
When he reached them and saw their current state, the tension in his face twisted into pure, desperate panic. His nose stung, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Su Rou's once snow-white skin had turned blue, and a thick layer of frost was crystallizing over it. The frost kept spreading, creeping along her long dress until her entire body was locked in ice.
Su Mei had undergone an equally dramatic change. Her skin, once fair as snow, had turned a blazing crimson, and waves of heat were radiating from inside her body. Both sisters' faces were twisted in agony.
Watching the two women he loved suffer such torment — and being utterly powerless to stop it — how could Chu Feng not be torn apart inside? He cried out in his heart: "Egg Egg! Egg Egg, think of something — how can I save them?! Help me!!!"
But compared to Chu Feng's panic, Egg Egg was eerily calm — unnaturally so. In a tone of bitter reluctance, Egg Egg advised:
"There's nothing to be done. Those two things are far too powerful. With your level of cultivation, you simply cannot suppress them. They want to take over Su Rou and Su Mei's bodies — using their flesh as vessels to survive."
"You need to leave, Chu Feng. Right now their consciousness is already fading and will soon disintegrate. Once their bodies are fully taken over, they'll die for good. And the two things wearing their bodies will definitely come after you."
"No — I won't leave! How could I abandon them?!" Yet instead of fleeing, Chu Feng spread his arms wide and pulled Su Rou and Su Mei off the ground, holding them tight against his chest.
In that moment, bone-piercing cold attacked from one side, searing heat from the other. Neither was bearable — both ravaged his body. But Chu Feng only held them tighter, because the physical pain was nothing compared to the anguish in his heart: the helplessness of watching the ones he loved being devoured bit by bit, while he could do nothing at all.
"Chu Feng…" It was Su Rou who spoke first. Her lips were coated in frost, and her voice sounded ancient and weary, yet she still tried to convince him: "Run… I can feel something terrible trying to take over my body. I'm… I'm afraid it will hurt you."
"Chu Feng, I'm so hot — it's like being burned alive. There's a ball of fire inside my Dantian, devouring me from the inside. Chu Feng, please let go of me — I'll burn you. Stay away from me." At the same time, Su Mei's weak voice broke through as well.
"No. I'm not leaving. Even if we die, we die together."
Chu Feng was utterly resolute. He let his clothes on the left side burn to ash and his skin scorch away layer by layer. He let the cold on the right seep deep into his body until even his bones were crystallizing with frost. But he only held the two beauties in his arms tighter still, without a single trace of regret.