Although he had learned the Divine Walk and received one chance of help from the Divine Deer, Chu Feng was also quite happy.
But he quickly sank back into heavy emotions. He focused intently on propelling the boat, and aside from occasionally asking about the Queen's condition, or when the Queen spoke to him, Chu Feng hardly said a word.
Chu Feng had journeyed all the way from the Lower Realm, weathering every storm imaginable. In any adversity, he could always carry on with a smile and lighthearted conversation, but this time was different.
Chu Feng remained heavy-hearted the entire time. Even when he showed a smile, it was mostly a forced one.
This was the first time the Queen had ever seen Chu Feng like this—weighed down by worry, he had already lost his usual vitality.
She knew it was because Chu Feng was worrying too much about her, and this worry had brought him immense pressure, to the point where he was losing his composure.
"Chu Feng, don't push yourself too hard. I feel like I'll be fine."
"If you don't believe me, take a look—my condition has stabilized a bit compared to before," the Queen said.
Upon hearing this, Chu Feng actually took a closer look and discovered that although the Queen was still in her aura form, she had indeed stabilized somewhat.
Seeing this, the worry weighing on Chu Feng's heart did ease a little.
The reason he had been so worried was that the Queen's condition had been far too dire—as though her soul could dissipate at any moment.
"Chu Feng, stop worrying about me. This Queen wants to see the Chu Feng from before. If you keep being like this, this Queen will blame herself too."
The Queen said to Chu Feng.
"Eggie, don't blame yourself. I... *sigh*, it's my fault. I'll adjust."
Hearing the Queen say this, Chu Feng realized that his recent tense state had, without him noticing, also been putting pressure on the Queen.
"By the way, Eggie, according to what Bai Yunqing said, the power you burst out with that day was so great that even the Lord of the Qingyue Hall and the others were no match for you."
"How did you manage that?"
In an effort to relieve the pressure on Eggie, Chu Feng asked something he had been curious about but had never brought up.
"Because I'm awesome," the Queen said with a grin.
"You don't want to tell me?" Chu Feng asked.
Although the Queen was powerful, she shouldn't have been able to unleash such immense strength—the gap in their cultivation levels was far too vast.
"Look here." The Queen pointed to her forehead. Although she was in her aura form, a mark could still be faintly seen on her forehead.
"Have you forgotten that this Queen obtained a Divine Soul?" the Queen said.
"Eggie, did you… master the power of that Divine Soul?" Chu Feng asked.
"After stepping into the Half God realm, I comprehended a little bit of the power behind the Divine Soul. But my cultivation is far too weak to control it."
"And without truly mastering its power, forcibly unleashing it would inevitably come at a tremendous cost."
"That's why I never told you about it — I was afraid you'd worry that I'd act recklessly." the Queen said.
Chu Feng knew exactly what a Divine Soul was, so learning that the Queen had managed to wield such power through it came as quite a surprise.
"No wonder you said back in the Ancient Realm that you'd have my back."
Chu Feng suddenly realized — at the time, he had assumed the Queen was just making idle boasts. He never imagined she truly possessed the power to protect him.
But if he had known, he certainly would have tried to stop her. After all, the price of using that power was nothing less than one's life.
"Sigh, it's a pity this Queen still overestimated herself. The Divine Soul was far too powerful, and I was far too weak — my body simply couldn't withstand it. I collapsed before I could even finish off those bastards."
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Dying like that would have been the most infuriating and pathetic way to go."
"But thankfully, Xiao Yueya was there."
"Come to think of it, if not for Xiao Yueya, you really would never have seen me again. So don't blame Xiao Yueya."
"Whether she used me or not, she did save my life. And I could feel it — saving me took a tremendous amount of effort on her part."
"I know my own condition better than anyone. She truly pulled me back from the gates of death."
"When Martial Uncle Bai Yunqing said it was a miracle I survived, she wasn't just saying that casually."
"I know that in order to use us, she didn't help when she easily could have. But when you really think about it, she was never obligated to help us in the first place, was she?" the Queen said.
It was rare for her to speak on someone else's behalf.
In truth, she had hated Xiao Yueya at first — hated her for using her and luring Chu Feng into such a dangerous place.
But she knew her own condition all too well. She had been on the verge of being separated from Chu Feng forever, and it was Xiao Yueya who had given her a chance to live.
Thinking about it from that angle, she was grateful to Xiao Yueya.
Because on that day, when she was on the verge of dying, she finally understood just how painful it would be to be parted from Chu Feng.
"Eggie, I really don't blame her. I only blame myself — it's because I'm too weak," Chu Feng said.