As Adepts, Lan Jue and Zhou Qianlin's bodies were many times tougher than a normal human's. Even a Paragon's poison had to penetrate their bodies before it could kill them.
Zhou Qianlin had shielded Lan Jue from the attack, but it had traveled through space and had lost its aim. It hadn't struck Lan Jue's heart, otherwise she would have been dead.
Even so, her internal organs had been severely damaged and corroded by the poison.
Now that she and Lan Jue were one, both of them were suffering from the poison. If she died, they would die together.
A cold, numb sensation spread through Lan Jue's body. She gritted her teeth.
Thanks to his fusion with Zhou Qianlin, Lan Jue's Core had risen to the peak of ninth rank.
The increase in power allowed him to temporarily suppress the poison's destructive effects.
The energy stored within the Energy Core was released without reservation, flowing into every corner of his meridians. Only by doing so could he temporarily protect his meridians and prevent them from being corroded by the poison.
Biting down on the tip of her tongue, Lan Jue's body began to glow with golden light. She forced herself into her Ascension. If she wanted to deal with a poison weaker than a Paragon, she needed the power of protogenia.
Of course Lan Jue could guess who had attacked him. After all, other than the reclusive Paragons, the rest of the Paragons were well known.
There was only one Paragon who was adept at both poison and speed. That was the Astral Phantom, the last of the Ten Paragons.
Of course, from the looks of it, he was ahead of the Bookworm and the Infernal Vanguard.
A Paragon of assassination was a frightening existence.
It had attacked Lan Qing more than once, but Lan Qing had used various methods to bring it back to life.
Lan Qing was the only person the Astral Phantom had failed to kill.
It was under the pressure of the Astral Phantom that Lan Qing had risen so quickly.
Today, another person had survived the Astral Phantom's attack: Lan Jue.
Paragons were already incredibly powerful. If they focused on assassination, it was easy to imagine how terrifying they would be.
It was all too sudden. Lan Jue was quick to react, but her opponent was a Paragon!
Only a Paragon could stand up to him.
Only then would they know how strong they were.
Circulating the energy in her body, what Lan Jue needed to do now was to use her ability to force the toxins out of her body.
"I'll tell you.
Stop! "Lan Jue bellowed.
Suddenly, his entire body turned bright gold, as if he was cast from gold.
Under the effect of the Divine King's words, he forcefully stopped the flow of blood in his body.
But this obviously couldn't be maintained for a long time.
If a person's blood stopped flowing for too long, they would definitely die.
But that was the only way.
That was the best way to force the toxins out of his system.
However, Lan Jue quickly discovered that his efforts were futile. The toxins were too terrifying.
So terrifying that they had penetrated deep into his body. It felt like it was in his cells. Forcing them out was easier said than done.
The Divine King's words could only keep him alive for a while, and stop the spread of the toxins. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force them out.
He couldn't force the toxins out of his body.
The Phylactery Stone's energy allowed him to stay in this state for a while longer, but only for a while!
Too long, he would still be finished.
Despair crept into Lan Jue's heart. It was over, there was nothing he could do.
Qian Lin, I don't know if you can hear me.
I just want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left your side. I shouldn't have let you suffer so much to save me.
I love you, Qian Lin.
Whether you accept me or not.
I always love you.
No, I shouldn't have said such silly things. You've done so much for me. How can I doubt your feelings for me?
It's my fault.
It's all my fault.
Lan Jue's heart was filled with regret. But it seemed to be too late. Too late!
Zhou Qian Lin didn't respond. Her soul seemed to have fallen into a deep slumber due to the toxins' invasion.
Despair, unwillingness, and all sorts of negative emotions lingered in Lan Jue's heart.
He really couldn't accept it!
He never thought that he would die like this.
At this moment.
A beam of silver light split open behind Lan Jue, and a lithe figure emerged from within.
"Focus!" A cold voice rang out, causing Lan Jue's despair to pause.
Although he couldn't see, he could still determine who was behind him based on the voice.
Godmother. Godmother was here!
It was the cameraman, Roxanne.
Roxanne raised her hands and pressed them on Lan Jue's back. In an instant, Lan Jue's Spirit of the God King's Voice was removed. Then, a strange aura appeared in Lan Jue's body.
Lan Jue felt as though his entire body was frozen. It was different from the freezing caused by the Spirit of the God King's Voice. This time, even his thoughts seemed to be frozen.
However, he could clearly sense what had happened.
The silver light drilled into Lan Jue's body. The strands of light were abnormally dazzling.
Roxanne's face didn't have her usual smile. Instead, there was only a dense coldness. Her beautiful eyes were dancing with flames of anger.
After the silver light pierced into Lan Jue's body, Lan Jue's body started to tremble slightly.
Roxanne retracted her hand. With a flash of pink light, her camera appeared in her palm.
"Click!"
Lan Jue instantly turned into a photo and floated into her palm.
Roxanne pulled and the photo expanded rapidly.
In the photo, Lan Jue's entire body was flashing with silver light. But in this silver light, there were countless gray light spots flashing.
Roxanne's hands moved. Her fingers moved nimbly and kept tapping on the photo.
With every tap, a gray light spot floated out. Like a shadow, it floated above Lan Jue's head.
In just a short while, a gray Lan Jue appeared. It was like a double image of the photo.
Roxanne raised her hand and pulled. The silver Lan Jue was forcibly pulled out of the photo and landed beside her. The gray Lan Jue remained in the photo.
Roxanne waved her hand, and the photo shrunk to a small size. Then it fell into her palm.
Lan Jue felt as though he had been reborn. When he'd become a photo, he'd felt as though he'd been sliced into a million pieces. The pain, both physical and spiritual, was brief, but it was seared into his memory.
Now, the numbness in his body had disappeared. But in its place, the agony was intense.
It was as though he'd been torn apart.
Clearly, Roxanne's treatment had its side effects.
Just then, there was another flash of silver, and two more figures appeared. This time it was the Wine Master and the Doctor.
"How is he?" The Wine Master nervously asked Roxanne.
Roxanne's face was cold. "He won't die yet.
You're really something. You sent someone to assassinate one of your own.
If he hadn't used some special method to escape, he'd already be dead.
Did you catch him? "
The Wine Master's eyes were cold as well. He silently shook his head. "He's very cunning. He always retreats after a single strike. He's too fast. I couldn't catch him."
Roxanne's eyes narrowed. "What's the name of their assassin organization?"
The Wine Master's heart skipped a beat. "Aunt, you're …"
Roxanne's eyes flashed with fury. "They dared to touch my son. Do you think I'm going to let this slide? I'm not done with them.
Assassins work for money, right? I want to see who their employer is.
If they don't tell me who they are, I'll wipe them from this world.
I'll turn them into pictures! "
It was the first time he'd seen Luo Xianni, and the Wine Master had spoken to her through telepathy. He couldn't hear what the Doctor had said, as it was the first time he'd seen her.
But from the Wine Master's expression, he could see that this woman was no ordinary person.
"Their organization is called Gorefiend. They were founded by the Astral Phantom.
We have some information on them, we'll share it with you when we get back. "The Wine Master replied.
The Doctor hurried to Lan Jue's side. He placed a hand on Lan Jue's shoulder, and a gentle green aura flowed into his body.
Lan Jue endured the excruciating pain. His vision grew blurry, and then he didn't know what was happening.
After what seemed like an eternity, Lan Jue slowly regained consciousness.
"Ahhh!"
He screamed. The pain he'd felt before he'd passed out was too deeply etched in his memory.
He sat up abruptly, and found himself in the bedroom of Zeus Jewelry Shop.
Everything around him was familiar.
The pain was gone, and everything was back to normal. The wound on his chest was gone.
He checked his Discipline. Ninth level, fifth rank. Just like before the attack.
Wait!
Where's Qian Lin?
Lan Jue's eyes narrowed. His Discipline had returned to normal, which meant he wasn't in a state of fusion with Zhou Qianlin.
So where was Zhou Qianlin?
Immediately, panic appeared in his heart.
Zhou Qianlin was gone. Was she still alive?
"Boss, are you alright?" Xiu Xiu rushed in.
When she saw the half-naked Lan Jue sitting on the bed, she hurried over and asked with concern.
"I'm fine?" Lan Jue took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
Everything that had happened before he'd passed out had been too sudden. Even now it felt like a dream.
But the pain he'd endured, especially the trauma to his soul, was clear as day.
(To be continued.)