Ao Xiang, the demon dragon, fell twice in the same place, leading him to doubt his own abilities and severely damage his Dao heart.
Thus, at this moment, his mind was in a daze, filled with self-doubt.
Once the Dao heart is damaged, it is not easily repaired.
To mend the Dao heart, one either needs guidance from wise mentors and helpful friends, to find the guardian within their own heart, or to experience a sudden enlightenment and re-understand the meaning of life.
Meanwhile, Ye Lingyuan and Zi Guochang were both focused on Zi Linling, completely overlooking Ao Xiang.
Time ticked by, and Zi Guochang’s injuries were already mostly healed.
However, Zi Linling had not woken up, and she seemed to be falling into an even deeper sleep.
This filled Ye Lingyuan and Zi Guochang with anxiety.
Because of this, neither of them noticed the rapid proliferation of demonic energy around Ao Xiang, the demon dragon, not far away.
Ao Xiang’s once clear eyes were now completely covered in black, and the darkness continued to deepen.
Zi Linling, in her slumber, was also encountering a problem.
Initially, she had fallen into a moderate sleep due to exhaustion.
But as time passed, a voice suddenly appeared in her consciousness: "You've finally arrived!"
"Who are you?"
In her consciousness, Zi Linling looked around vigilantly but could not find the source of the voice.
"Heh heh! Who am I? I've almost forgotten myself."
The voice was kind and aged, tinged with self-mockery, yet devoid of resentment.
"Who exactly are you?"
Zi Linling’s vigilance in her consciousness intensified, but despite her powerful spiritual sense, she could not locate the speaker.
"I am... a long, long time ago, they called me Xiao Hei."
The voice paused for a moment before speaking slowly.
Whether it was Zi Linling's imagination or not, she felt a trace of nostalgic longing, as if it had traversed through time.
"Xiao Hei?!"
Zi Linling searched her memories but found no one named Xiao Hei.
Therefore, after her surprise, she frowned and said, "I don't know you!"
"Hahahaha..."
Xiao Hei's laughter was hearty and showed no hint of darkness.
Soon, he contained his laughter and said, "I don't know you either!"
Zi Linling: "?!" What's going on?
"Since you don't know me, please leave my consciousness."
"Well, I can't do that!"
Xiao Hei's voice was neither warm nor cold, as if he were discussing ordinary matters like eating and drinking.
"Hmm?!"
Zi Linling raised an eyebrow, displeased. "Are you playing with me?"
"No, no, no, I have no intention of toying with you. It's just... you are the one I have been waiting for for countless ages!"
A touch of bleakness and loneliness entered Xiao Hei's voice.
Zi Linling: "...What do you mean?"
Xiao Hei said, "I don't know how many years I've been here, but the moment you appeared, I knew you were the one I had been waiting for all these ages!"
Zi Linling became confused.
What was all this?
Was it possible that this Xiao Hei, like the Soul Suppressing Stele, was looking for a successor?
Xiao Hei chuckled, "You're overthinking it! I'm waiting for you simply to give myself to you, with no other intentions. As for selecting a successor, that's utter nonsense!"
Zi Linling raised an eyebrow and asked, "Then why are you waiting for me?"
Xiao Hei replied unhurriedly, "As I said, I'm waiting for you simply to give myself to you!"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Zi Linling began to cough uncontrollably.
She couldn't help but cough, as she felt blood surging upwards.
If Ye Lingyuan heard this, wouldn't he become so jealous that it would rain acid?
"Alright, alright! Don't say things like that! If my King of Vinegar hears this, who knows how sour he'll become!"
Xiao Hei said solemnly, "I'm not joking. That's why, as soon as you appeared here, I sent you a summons."
Zi Linling was greatly startled and said, "Are you saying that the summons I felt was from you?"
Xiao Hei chuckled sheepishly, "Yes! It's just that I summoned you for so long, and you've only just arrived."
Zi Linling's body trembled. "Stop, stop, stop! Tell me, why did you summon me?"
"To give myself to you!"
A trace of surprise entered Xiao Hei's voice.
The reason for his surprise was that he had already said this sentence twice, yet Zi Linling was still asking.
"Pfft!"
Zi Linling finally couldn't help but spew out a mouthful of blood.
However, as this was within her consciousness, she only performed the action of spitting, with no actual blood.
"Uh... Xiao Hei, you absolutely cannot say that sentence again. And this joke isn't funny at all, right?"
Although Xiao Hei didn't quite understand, he replied, "Okay!"
He could sense that Zi Linling truly disliked that sentence.
Zi Linling then said, "If that's the case, tell me, who exactly are you?"
Xiao Hei said, "I am Xiao Hei! That's what everyone calls me!"
Zi Linling felt more exhausted than when she had broken the Bewildering Heart Formation.
If they continued to communicate like this, she would soon be driven mad.
"I mean, what are you? Or rather, your... true form, yes, true form, what is your true form?"
Xiao Hei seemed to ponder for a moment and then said, "My true form is this!"
As his voice fell, a token appeared in Zi Linling's consciousness.
A token?!
Zi Linling felt her understanding of reality being overturned.
Since when could a token cultivate sentience?
"I didn't cultivate sentience; I am the spirit within the token!" Xiao Hei corrected her.
"Huh? You can actually know what I'm thinking?"
Zi Linling was even more surprised.
In the past year, she had encountered a lot of peculiar things.
"Mhm! I can know!" Xiao Hei replied earnestly.
Fine!
Zi Linling surrendered!
She had no choice but to surrender! If this continued, she would develop high blood pressure!
She carefully examined the token in her consciousness.
The token was completely black and felt cold to the touch. No, it wasn't just cold; it was chilling.
Huh?
The patterns on this token were very peculiar.
More importantly, she had seen them before!
Not only had she seen the patterns, but she had also seen the interlocking illusion formations and the formations within formations!
Could this be...
To confirm, she ignored the soul-piercing chill and grabbed the token, examining it closely.
That's right! The familiar patterns, the familiar illusion formations, and the layered formations within formations!
Indeed!
Zi Linling took a deep breath and said, "Xiao Hei, are you truly going to give yourself to me?"