Chapter 25
Her grip tightened slightly.
"Stay awake," she said firmly, her tone low but commanding.
She shifted, pulling him fully into her arms, supporting his upper body as she moved him deeper into the room.
"Don't you dare pass out now."
Wuming's head tilted slightly, resting against her shoulder. His breathing was shallow, uneven—but he was still conscious.
Barely.
Wei Zhi lowered him carefully, but she didn't let go. Not fully.
One hand moved to his chest.
Not pressing.
Feeling.
Sensing.
Her expression changed.
Serious.
Focused.
"…soul damage…"
She whispered it under her breath.
Wei Zhi steadied her breathing.
She had already managed to stabilize parts of his meridians, guiding her qi carefully through the broken pathways, repairing what she could—but it wasn't enough. Not yet. Her control wavered slightly, and she clenched her fingers, forcing herself to remain steady.
I've only seen that woman do this…Her gaze flickered down at Wuming's pale face.
I've never performed it on anyone else…A faint hesitation crept into her chest.
I don't know if he can take this amount of qi rushing into his soul… his and mine are different.
Experimenting on my own soul, is much different then doing on a different persons.
Wuming's body trembled faintly beneath her hands.
Cold.
Not normal cold.
A deep, internal cold that felt wrong.
Wei Zhi's eyes sharpened.
"He needs inner stillness…"
She moved immediately.
She reached toward the desk, took the candle placed beside her books, and brought it closer, setting it near the bed. The soft golden flame flickered, casting shifting shadows across the room, illuminating his face just enough.
Then she took a cloth, dipped it into water, and placed it gently on his forehead.
His skin was cold—But she didn't hesitate.
Cold will ease the cold.
Only she understood why.
Then—She sat back.
Closed her eyes.
And began.
Her hands rose slowly, fingers aligning with practiced precision she had only ever observed—not mastered.
Her lips moved.
The chant began.
Low.
Steady.
Ancient.
"Soul Formation… Soul Refinement… Healing."
The moment the last word left her lips—The air changed.
A faint glow appeared beneath Wuming's body.
At first, it was only a thin line.
Then another.
Then many.
A formation began to take shape.
Golden light spread outward in perfect symmetry, forming a large circular array beneath him. The outermost layer was not a simple ring—it was structured, geometric, forming an eight-sided frame, each edge sharp and precise, like it had been carved rather than created.
From that outer frame, extensions branched outward in four directions, forming square-like anchors at each side—each one inscribed with faint, glowing symbols that pulsed gently with energy.
Between those extensions—Four smaller circular seals formed.
Each one rotating slowly.
Each one containing intricate patterns—flowing lines that resembled elements in motion: wind curling, water rippling, flame twisting, earth grounding.
At the center—A perfect circle formed.
And within it—A symbol.
Balanced.
Complete.
Yin and Yang.
The two halves rotated slowly against each other, not opposing—but harmonizing. Around it, a dense ring of fine, needle-like lines spread outward in perfect radial symmetry, like a wheel of light, connecting the center to the outer layers.
Beyond that, another ring appeared—thicker, engraved with ancient script-like markings, each symbol glowing faintly as if alive, reacting to her qi.
The entire formation pulsed once.
Then again.
Alive.
Wei Zhi's eyes opened slightly.
And for a moment—Even she was stunned.…so this is the full formation…Her hands lowered slowly.
This is what it feels like to perform heaing on others. My whole body is feeling so light as if something is pouring out and tiring me at the same time.
Guiding it.
The golden array responded instantly.
Energy flowed inward from every layer—the outer frame stabilizing, the four elemental seals rotating, the inscriptions activating—all of it converging toward the center.
Toward him.
Then—It entered.
Her qi began to flow into Wuming's body.
Not violently.
But steadily.
Controlled.
Guided through the formation first—refined, balanced, purified—before being allowed to touch him.
The moment it did—Her body stiffened.
Different…His energy—What little remained—Felt heavy.
Dense.
Unyielding.
And beneath it—Something else.
Something deeper.
Her breath faltered for a split second.
Can he even withstand this…?
But she didn't stop.
Wuming's body reacted.
His fingers twitched.
His breathing hitched—Then deepened unevenly.
Pain spread through him again, not on the surface, but deeper—within the very structure of his being.
His soul.
Wei Zhi felt it now.
The damage wasn't just disruption.
It was intrusion.
Something had clawed into him and left behind instability.
Her eyes hardened.
"…this is worse than I thought…"
The formation beneath him pulsed again, brighter this time. The yin-yang core spun slightly faster.
The outer symbols glowed stronger.
But Wei Zhi—Was struggling.
This was her first time.
And she could feel it.
Every second.
Her control slipped in the smallest margins, her breathing growing heavier as she forced precision into something she had never fully mastered.
Atheist on others.
Still—She continued.
Because stopping now—Would break him. The candle flame flickered beside them.
The golden formation hummed softly.
The cold still lingered—But something had changed.
Very slowly—Wuming's condition began to stabilize.
Not healed.
Not safe.
But no longer collapsing.
And right now—That was all she needed.
Golden light spread in layered symmetry across the floor, each ring rotating with quiet purpose. The outer frame held its shape like a carved structure of light, firm and unyielding, while the inner circles flowed with controlled motion. Symbols etched within the formation shimmered faintly, awakening one after another as Wei Zhi guided her qi into them.
At the center—
The yin-yang rotated in perfect balance.
White and gold.
Opposing.
Harmonizing.
Breathing.
Wei Zhi's hands hovered above Wuming's chest, her fingers trembling just slightly as she controlled the flow. Sweat gathered at her temples, her breathing shallow but focused.
The energy she channeled did not rush blindly.
It passed through the formation first.
Refined.
Smoothed.
Balanced.
Only then did it enter him.
Wuming's body reacted.
A faint tremor ran through his limbs, his fingers curling slightly as the energy moved through broken meridians, stitching, stabilizing, forcing order where there had been chaos.
His breathing deepened—Uneven, but stronger.
For a moment—It worked.
Wei Zhi felt it clearly now.
The instability within him was being pushed back. The fractures were not gone, but they were no longer spreading. Her qi wrapped around the damaged areas like threads of light, holding them together, reinforcing them.
Just a little more…
Her focus sharpened.
She pushed deeper.
And then—Something shifted.
Not outside.
Not within the formation.
Within him.
It was faint at first.
So faint it could have been missed.
A subtle disturbance.
A ripple beneath still water.
Wei Zhi's fingers stilled.
Her breath paused.
"…what was that…?"
The formation did not stop.
But something inside it faltered.
The central yin-yang slowed.
Only for a heartbeat.
Then continued.
But the balance had changed.
Slightly.
Almost imperceptibly.
Then—A thin thread of darkness appeared.
It didn't burst out.
It didn't force its way through.
It seeped.
From deep within Wuming's chest, a faint black hue began to surface, weaving itself between the golden currents like ink slipping into clear water.
It didn't resist.
It didn't clash.
It blended.
Wei Zhi felt it the moment it touched her qi.
Her pupils shrank slightly.
"That's not mine…and neither his normal qi. Its different, qi is normally white in colour this is balck." She whispered to herself.
The golden light flickered.
The symbols around the formation pulsed irregularly now, their glow stuttering as if uncertain.
The outer frame vibrated faintly.
The black energy spread further.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Unstoppable.
It coiled through the refined qi, slipping past every layer of control Wei Zhi had carefully built. Wherever it passed, the golden light dimmed—not extinguished, but overshadowed.
Then—The center reacted.
The yin-yang trembled.
Its smooth rotation broke.
A faint distortion ran through it—And then—A crack.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't visible at first.
But it was there.
A thin fracture split across the perfect circle, breaking the harmony that held the entire formation together. The two halves no longer moved in unity. Their motion staggered, uneven, forced.
Wei Zhi's breath hitched.
"No…"
Her hands moved instantly, forcing more qi into the formation, trying to stabilize the break.
Golden light surged outward in response, flooding the formation with renewed intensity.
But the moment it touched that darkness—It reacted.
Violently.
The black energy did not retreat.
It expanded.
It fed.
Wei Zhi felt it.
Her qi—Being consumed.
Not absorbed.
Not redirected.
Taken.
On an absurd amount her qi was beingtaken by tha force, itself a living being, as if.
Her control slipped for a fraction of a second.
That was enough.
A sharp fracture spread along one of the outer rings.
Then another.
The geometric frame that once stood firm now trembled visibly, its edges distorting, the perfect symmetry breaking under pressure.
The elemental seals slowed—Then stuttered.
Their rotation uneven.
Unstable.
Inside Wuming—That presence grew clearer.
It wasn't just energy.
It was aware.
Wei Zhi's breath turned shallow.
Her heart pounded once.
Hard.
A pressure settled into the room.
Heavy.
Silent.
Ancient.
Her vision blurred for a moment—not from exhaustion, but from something pressing against her senses.
"…what… is this…"
The black energy gathered at the center.
Condensing.
Thickening.
The cracked yin-yang trembled violently now, unable to hold its form as something began to take shape within it.
Small.
Distorted.
Incomplete.
A figure.
Wei Zhi's eyes widened—Not fully seeing it—But feeling it.
Watching her.
The formation reacted like it had been struck.
Golden light surged in a final attempt to regain control, the outer inscriptions burning brighter than before, the entire structure pushing back against the growing darkness.
But it wasn't enough.
The cracks spread.
Across the rings.
Through the symbols.
Into the very core.
The balance was gone.
Then—Everything broke.
The formation shattered.
Not like glass—But like light being torn apart.
The outer frame collapsed into fragments, dissolving into fading particles. The elemental seals disintegrated mid-rotation, their forms unraveling into nothingness. The central yin-yang split completely, its halves fading as the black presence swallowed the last of its structure.
A wave of energy burst outward.
The candle beside them flickered violently, its flame bending sideways before stabilizing again.
The room fell still.
Silent.
Wei Zhi's hands remained where they were.
Frozen.
Her breathing uneven.
The formation—Gone.
Only faint traces of golden light lingered in the air before disappearing completely.
Slowly—Very slowly—She lowered her hands.
Her gaze moved to Wuming.
He lay there.
Unconscious.
Still.
But no longer collapsing.
His breathing, though weak, had stabilized.
His body no longer trembled.
Contained.
As if whatever had risen inside him—Had decided—That this was enough.
Wei Zhi didn't move.
Didn't speak.
But her fingers trembled.
Not from effort.
Not from exhaustion.
From what she had felt.
That presence—Was not something her formation could touch.
Not something it could refine.
Not something it could control.
Her eyes darkened slightly.
Fixed on him.
"…what are you…"
Because whatever existed within Wuming—Wasn't something meant to be healed.
And definitely not something—
That would ever allow itself to be.The room had fallen silent after the formation shattered, the last traces of golden light dissolving into the air like dying embers. Wei Zhi remained where she was, her hands still slightly raised, her breathing uneven as she stared at Wuming's unmoving form. Her heart had not yet steadied from what she had just felt—what she had just witnessed inside him.
"What lived inside him did not reject healing… it simply decided it did not need it. It took my qi and heaed wuming in a efficient way, witout using too much everywhere. It didn't healed itself: it wast even injured. It healed only him."
The thought settled heavily in her mind, not as a conclusion, but as something she had felt.
And yet—There was still something left.
A fragment.
End of 25