I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Gu Yan walked down from the city wall.

His military boots creaked dully as they trod on the gravel and ashes.

He passed the silent soldiers, the stretcher team collecting bodies, and a young man clutching his comrade's helmet tightly.

He didn't stop.

He was afraid that if he stopped, he would collapse in this silence.

When he pushed open the door to Pei Youyi's hospital room, she was leaning against the headboard.

The light outside the window was already very faint, falling on her like a thin layer of gray.

When she saw Gu Yan come in, she didn't ask anything, but simply reached out her hand to him.

Gu Yan walked over, took her hand, and sat down beside her bed.

Her fingers were cool, but her grip was tight.

"I've heard about it."

Pei Youyi's voice was very soft, as if afraid of startling something.

"Old Master Fu and Senior Zhuge...their passing was worthwhile."

"They defended the city walls for you, and they also preserved the last shred of dignity for the Great Xia Dynasty."

"You don't have to take all the blame upon yourself."

Gu Yan did not speak.

He looked down at his hands, which were clasped together with hers.

There was blood on his knuckles; it was unclear whose it was.

He heard his own voice, hoarse, as if it came from a very far place.

"If I were stronger, they wouldn't have had to die."

"If I could hold that line by myself, they'd probably still be having tea in the command post right now."

"But I'm not strong enough."

"I'm never strong enough."

Pei Youyi looked at him.

She saw that his eyes were red, but no tears fell.

She saw his fingers were trembling, but it wasn't from the cold.

She slowly straightened up, reached out and cupped his face, making him look into her eyes.

"You've done enough."

"Wei Changfeng is gone, 100,000 soldiers are gone, 200,000 soldiers are gone, Elder Fu is gone, and Senior Zhuge is gone too."

"But you're still here."

"As long as you are here, the defense line is still here, and the Great Xia Dynasty is still here."

"You cannot fall."

"If you fall, their deaths will have been in vain."

Her thumb brushed very, very lightly across the corner of his eye.

"So, do whatever you want to do."

"I'm here."

"I will always be here."

Gu Yan closed her eyes.

After a long time, he opened his eyes again, the last trace of hesitation in them now gone.

He leaned down and kissed her lips.

This time there was no probing, no hesitation.

He gripped the back of her head and pressed her into the pillow.

Her long hair was spread out, like a piece of black silk.

He could feel her breath trembling, and her hands gripping his clothes tightly.

He unbuttoned her clothes, one button at a time, his movements neither slow nor gentle.

What he needs right now is not gentleness.

He needs strength.

He needs to become stronger, strong enough that he will never again have to watch the people he knows die one after another in front of him.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened.

The lights in the ward were off; only moonlight filtered in through the cracks in the window, falling on the edge of the bed and on the floor.

Her voice was intermittent, mixed with gasps, like a wind chime appearing and disappearing in the night breeze.

He held her tightly, feeling the faint spiritual energy within her flowing into his meridians as they merged.

That power was warm, like a stream flowing into his spiritual sea.

However, after the inflow, the sea level did not rise significantly.

He silently did the math in his head.

The first time I was with Pei Youyi, the effect was the best.

That time, his mental strength surged from SS level to the threshold of SSS level, like a riverbed that had been dry for too long suddenly being filled with water.

In the subsequent attempts, the effect became weaker and weaker.

It's like a sponge that's already soaked with water; if you pour more in, only a little bit will seep out.

He needs a stronger water source.

He needs a purer form of power.

As dawn approached, Pei Youyi fell asleep.

Her complexion was much better than before, and the cracks in her spiritual core were slowly healing.

Gu Yan covered her with a blanket, put on her clothes, and quietly left the ward.

He stood in the corridor for a while, then walked toward Elena's yard.

The courtyard was very quiet.

Elena was still sitting in that wicker chair, a book spread out on her lap.

She heard footsteps, lifted her eyelids, and her golden pupils quietly gazed at him in the morning light.

"You've become stronger."

"But the growth rate is decreasing."

she says.

It's not a question.

Gu Yan sat down opposite her.

"Is there any way to make the speed of becoming stronger even faster?"

Elena closed the book and stared at him for a long while.

She could tell that the young man had changed.

The gentle hesitation in his eyes had vanished, replaced by an almost obsessive longing that she rarely saw in human eyes.

"have."

"Ideally, she should be a virgin."

"The spiritual energy has not been touched by anyone, so it has the highest purity and the greatest resonance amplification."

Her tone was flat, as if she were talking about the weather.

Gu Yan remained silent.

His gaze lingered on her, sliding from her long silver hair down her pale face to her golden eyes.

Perfect body.

The stronger the better.

There aren't many people in this world stronger than the girls around him.

And there was one sitting right in front of me.

He didn't know what his gaze had become in that instant, but he saw Elena's fingers lightly twitch across the pages.

"What?"

"In order to become stronger, he even betrayed his own savior."

Elena's voice carried a very faint hint of teasing, but Gu Yan noticed that her golden pupils contracted slightly.

It seems like he's nervous.

Gu Yan withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes.

"no."

"I was just thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about?"

Elena reopened the book, her finger tracing the names along the edges of the pages very, very slowly.

I advise you to give up that idea.

"I'm not back to my peak condition yet."

"Doing that kind of thing with you now won't significantly improve your abilities."

"Furthermore, you humans value gratitude."

"I don't want to do that kind of thing with someone who only touched me to become stronger."

Gu Yan did not answer.

He stood up and patted off non-existent dust from his uniform.

You're overthinking it.

"I just came to ask you for the method."

Nothing else.

"That would be best."

Elena didn't even look up.

"Is there anything else?"

"That's all."

Gu Yan turned and walked towards the courtyard gate.

As I reached the door, I heard Elena's voice behind me, a little softer than usual.

"Gu Yan".

Don't push yourself too hard.

"You're starting to look more and more like those corrupted humans I've read about in books."

Gu Yan paused for a moment.

He didn't turn around, but just chuckled very softly.

"So be it, let him turn evil."

"As long as we can win."

He walked out of the courtyard.

The morning light was already bright, shining on the gray rooftops of the camp.

He hadn't gone far when a soldier jogged up to him, stopped, and saluted.