That it was a spirit-primal, no less—one willing to risk being subdued by Sun Baimei, to risk being savaged to death by the blood spirit cats, all to shield her without a thought for himself. Recalling every little thing of the past half month, that soft place in Leng Leng's heart was stirred for the very first time.

"What do I do? What do I do..." Tears streamed without cease from Leng Leng's clear, bright eyes as she desperately tried to wring a cure from Wei Zhao's lips. She knew nothing of such arts herself, but she believed that Wei Zhao, a spirit-primal, must surely know. So long as there was a way, she would save him—though it meant scaling a mountain of blades or crossing a sea of fire.

"It's all right. Don't cry." Wei Zhao smiled and reached up to wipe her tears. This was no time for romance, yet he could not help but be struck by how stunning she was, tears falling like rain on pear blossoms. Some say a woman's tears are when she is most achingly lovely—especially a woman as strong and breathtaking as Leng Leng. Even Wei Zhao could not withstand her devastating charm in that moment.

"How can it be all right?" Leng Leng clutched Wei Zhao's hand, tears still falling without end. She truly did not know what to do, and could only wait for Wei Zhao to toss her a final lifeline.

"It really is all right. Listen to me. This spirit-body of mine is nearly spent. Sun Baimei and Fei Yangsheng are gravely wounded, but they won't give up—they'll surely return with more men. With your injuries as they are, you can't hold out long, nor can you get far. Let me heal you first." As he spoke, Wei Zhao forced himself to sit up.

It had come to this. Wei Zhao knew there was no salvaging the situation. To spend such effort projecting his spirit-primal into the mortal realm, only to be finished off before he had even laid eyes on Qiu Lingshan and the others—such an outcome was utterly beyond his expectations. Yet he felt not the slightest regret. He had never been one to regret.

At worst, he would go back and cultivate for a time, then ask Ao Tianzhou to help him project once more. Wei Zhao's advantage had always been a spiritual consciousness far mightier than others of his level. Even with heavy losses this time, a brief recovery would make another spirit-primal projection nothing unthinkable.

What he could not set his mind at ease about now was Leng Leng. In his present state, fully healing her injuries was impossible—after all, even his spirit-body had begun to blur and grow insubstantial. It might well collapse in the very midst of the treatment. All he could do now was heal as much as he could, and at least restore enough of her strength that she might defend herself.

"No!" Leng Leng refused outright through her sobs. Her injuries were grave, but at least her life was not in danger. Yet if Wei Zhao healed her in this state, it would only hasten his death.

"Be good. I don't have much time left," Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile.

"You mustn't die! If you die, what becomes of me? We haven't even gone to a room together yet!" Leng Leng had cast aside all maidenly reserve now. She would use any means to revive Wei Zhao's will to live—even if the chance were one in ten thousand, she would fight for it with all her strength. But if Wei Zhao himself had given up, then everything was truly finished.

"A room..." Wei Zhao was somewhat taken aback, and at the same time gratified. To hear her speak so plainly, Leng Leng's heart was already wholly bound to him. Moved, he said, "It's all right. Tell me where you are, and I will surely come find you. Even if this spirit-body collapses now, I can cultivate a while longer and condense another. I won't die."

He spoke the truth, but to Leng Leng's ears it sounded like a fairy tale. She scarcely understood spirit-primals at all, let alone such things as spirit-bodies and spirit-primal projection. To her, these words of Wei Zhao's were empty comfort. To make him hold on a while longer, she simply would not, for any reason, let him heal her.

Wei Zhao had no recourse either. After a moment's thought, a fourth-rank Great Return Pill appeared in his hand out of thin air. After a brief hesitation, he produced a fifth-rank Great Return Pill as well. Pressing them into Leng Leng's hand, he said, "The fifth-rank Great Return Pill is too potent—in your present condition it may be more than you can bear. Take the fourth-rank Great Return Pill first to nurse yourself, then take the fifth-rank one. That should heal your injuries completely. Listen to me and run, quickly. Sun Baimei may return with men at any moment."

Sun Baimei and Fei Yangsheng, gravely wounded as they were, were not to be feared—they posed no threat for the time being. What he feared was that, backed into a corner, they might seek help from other experts of the Heaven Dao stage. In such a case, even a single cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage arriving would leave him and Leng Leng utterly helpless.

Leng Leng stared at the pills in her hand, stunned. What sort of man was this, to carry fifth-rank pills on his person—and to hand them over to her without a second thought?

One had to know that even fourth-rank pills were exceedingly rare. As far as she knew, they existed only in the ancient small jianghu; in the ordinary mortal realm they simply could not exist!

Of course, then again, under ordinary circumstances the mortal realm could not possibly produce a freak like Wei Zhao either—a spirit-primal capable of materializing a form to rival a Foundation Establishment expert. Such a thing was utterly unprecedented, unheard of!

"Just who are you, really?" Leng Leng could not resist asking again. No matter what Wei Zhao's origins or identity might be, she had already accepted his existence in her heart—but this question had to be settled in the end.

"I told you long ago. I went from the mortal realm to an island to study the arts. Those things weren't idle talk—everything I said was true..." Wei Zhao shook his head with a bitter smile. There was no time left for Leng Leng to digest it all slowly, so he could only say, "All right, stop fretting over these things for now. Take them, quickly."

"No, you take them. Once you take them you'll be fine. I won't!" Leng Leng shook her head firmly. Only at this moment did she finally believe what Wei Zhao had said last time—that true lovers could indeed think of each other with all their heart, and could hand over even their most precious possessions without hesitation, because that was exactly how she felt now.

"It's no use. I'm a spirit-primal—these things do nothing for me. Besides, I won't die." With that, Wei Zhao forced both pills into Leng Leng's mouth; otherwise, if they kept arguing like this, something might truly go wrong.

Caught off guard, Leng Leng's eyes flew wide. Only after she swallowed with a gulp did she recover her senses, and she cried in shock, "What a waste! How could you make me take two at once!"

She knew her own injuries well; in truth, a single fourth-rank Great Return Pill was all she needed, and with a month of proper rest afterward she would surely have recovered completely. Yet now she had been made to take an extra fifth-rank Great Return Pill—was that not a wanton waste of heaven's bounty? (To be continued.)