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

Gu Yan felt as if something soft had bumped into her heart.

He lowered his head, about to say something, when the body beneath him suddenly stiffened.

Then Shen Youyao's expression changed.

The timidity and gentleness receded like the tide, replaced by a languid yet resolute light.

Her pupils turned blood red in an instant.

"You need my body, right?"

Shen Youwei's voice flowed from that mouth, languid in tone, with a slight upward slant at the end, as if she had seen through everything long ago.

Gu Yan paused for a moment, then nodded very slightly.

Shen Youwei looked at him, her blood-red pupils showing no mockery or blame, only a deep, profound calm.

She raised her hand, her fingers gently pressing on the back of his tense hand, without moving away.

"I know."

"I knew it the moment you looked at me."

"Your eyes look different than they did three years ago in the private cinema."

"Back then, you wanted Shen Youyao."

"What you want now is power."

"But it's okay."

"I'm the older sister, I know better than anyone how hard it is for you."

"Youyao understands too."

"What she just said was her answer."

"She is willing."

"I'm willing too."

Gu Yan looked at her.

His throat tightened, and it took him a long time to squeeze out two words through his teeth.

"Thanks."

Shen You smiled.

That smile wasn't her usual lazy and flamboyant one; it was extremely faint and gentle, carrying a tenderness that she only revealed when facing him.

"You're welcome."

"You saved her first."

"Now it's our turn."

She hooked her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

Her lips pressed against mine, carrying a very faint scent of jasmine.

Outside the window, searchlights swept across the sky, their bright beams brushing past the curtains and casting the shadows of two people onto the wall, overlapping into one.

The wind lifted a corner of the curtain, letting in the moonlight.

Gu Yan didn't say anything more.

He closed his eyes, his forehead touching hers, feeling the surging energy within another life.

A spiritual force of astonishing purity flowed into his meridians little by little, following her breath, her heartbeat, and their clasped fingers.

That force was like an undercurrent in the deep sea, calm on the surface but turbulent beneath.

He could feel his mental strength rising, stabilizing, and rising again.

It's like a riverbed that has been dry for three years, finally getting water again.

In his arms, she was sometimes called Youyao, curled up softly, and timidly called him Brother Gu Yan.

One moment it was Youwei, who looked up at him with her bloodshot eyes, staring intently at him as if she wouldn't allow him to back away for even a moment.

Two souls, one body, alternately appearing and disappearing in his world.

It's like loving two people at the same time, and also like being loved by two people at the same time.

As dawn approached, Shen Youyao fell asleep nestled in his arms.

Her face was still streaked with tears, but the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

Gu Yan looked down at her and kissed her forehead very lightly.

He closed his eyes, feeling the even more vast spiritual sea within his body.

He became stronger.

But he knew that was far from enough.

There is still one month until the final battle.

He must become stronger.

For the next month, Gu Yan's cultivation did not stop.

There's just one more person.

Shen Youyao moved into the room next to his dormitory.

Pei Yuran, Lin Jinyu, and Chiyomiya Yusheng all seemed to have tacitly accepted this matter.

No one made a fuss, no one questioned.

The situation is too tense; everyone understands that now is not the time for jealousy and rivalry.

They would only occasionally exchange a knowing glance when Gu Yan and Shen Youyao appeared together.

Lin Jinyu couldn't hold back one time and tapped her bowl with her chopsticks while eating, saying, "It's more lively with more people."

Pei Yuran gave her a cold look and said, "Don't talk while you're eating."

Yuzuru didn't say a word from beginning to end, but he put an extra piece of food on Gu Yan's plate.

Shen Youyao lowered her head, shoveling rice into her mouth in small bites, her ears burning red.

Looking at the people at the table, Gu Yan suddenly thought, how wonderful it would be if things could continue like this forever.

But the decisive battle will take place in a month.

He cannot lose.

He couldn't lose for the sake of everyone at this table.

For a month, Gu Yan locked herself in the underground training ground deep inside the camp.

He only sleeps three hours a day, spending the rest of his time refining his mental strength.

The Demon-Slaying Blade was re-sharpened, and the runes on its blade were repeatedly washed away by his spiritual power, shining with a cold light purer than ever before.

He could feel the power within him growing wildly, like a volcano that had been suppressed for too long, with magma churning in his chest, ready to erupt at any moment.

At night, Shen Youyao would sometimes stand at the entrance of the training ground for a while, without going in, just listening to the sound of swords whistling through the crack in the door.

The next morning, there would always be a still-warm breakfast at his door.

He knew he had become stronger.

Strong enough to keep the appointment.

The day of the decisive battle has arrived.

The global live stream started simultaneously early that morning.

All the public screens in every city, all the terminals that were still powered on, and all the dilapidated televisions in the refugee camps all switched to the same image at the same time.

The scene shows Shanglu.

That once-prosperous Pearl of the Orient has now completely fallen into the hands of disaster.

The dilapidated high-rise buildings, like skeletons that have been gnawed away, stand against the gray-black sky.

The streets were covered with black, vine-like substances, and various forms of calamity roamed the former commercial street.

In the center of the image, a huge circular battlefield has been cleared out.

The People's Square in the center of Shanglu City has now become an open-air arena.

The global forum was in complete chaos.

"We really have to fight."

"Gu Yan really went."

"That's Shanglu, now it's full of disasters. What's the difference between him going there and going to his death?"

"He is the jewel of the empire."

"He was dead for three years and then came back to life."

"Number one in global combat power rankings".

"If he doesn't go, what face will humanity have left?"

"Do you think Gu Yan might have already defected to the Black Tide?"

"Otherwise, why would he not appear for three years, and then suddenly become the world's number one?"

"Maybe he's already a member of the Kuroshio clan, and this whole thing is just a show for us."

"fart."

"If he were a member of the Kuroshio clan, what would he be saving at the Nagoya Pass, or guarding the Shanglu Beach?"

"Are you blind to how many calamities he has slain?"

"But Xu also said that he obtained incredibly powerful strength."

"Can Gu Yan beat him?"

"What if Gu Yan loses?"

"Should we really consider surrendering?"

"surrender?"

"Your city has been completely devoured, your family has been eaten, what do you have left to surrender with?"

"Are you going to feed those monsters with yourself?"

"Stop arguing."

"Watch the live stream."

"here we go."

In the video, Gu Yan's figure appears at the southern end of People's Square.

He was wearing a black combat uniform with a faded old military uniform over it.

He held the demon-slaying sword in his right hand, the tip of which was pressed against the ground.