The valley was deathly silent.
Only the faint sobbing of the wind threading through the trees remained.
Everyone stared at the immortal herb in Zhu Zhuqing's hand.
It was clutched tight in her pale, slender fingers…
The crimson petals blazed as if congealed from blood shed straight from the heart.
"Yearning Heartbroken Red?!" Dugu Bo's aged eyes burst with sharp light.
"In the scrolls young friend Zhexian gifted me, he mentioned this Yearning Heartbroken Red!"
"Its effect—reviving the dead, regrowing flesh on bones!"
"It is one of the supreme immortal herbs in existence!"
For a moment, the air was quickened with hope.
But then—
Dugu Bo's voice turned dry and harsh:
"This Yearning Heartbroken Red is nourished by your heart's blood. In all its life, it only recognizes one master."
"Once separated from you, its medicinal power cannot be released, and no one else can use it."
Each word struck like an icicle.
Extinguishing the fragile spark that had just been lit.
Somewhere, a muffled sob broke the silence.
Yet Zhu Zhuqing smiled faintly, her gaze fixed with a dreamy daze on the boy lying broken like shattered porcelain. She murmured as though in a dream:
"As long as it works… that's enough."
She raised her hand.
Plucked a single petal from the Yearning Heartbroken Red.
Placed it between her lips.
And under the bewildered, shaken stares of all—
Zhu Zhuqing leaned down.
The lips that bore the petal pressed against Li Zhexian's cracked lips.
"You promised to kiss me when we met again…"
"Didn't think it would take this long…"
Her eyes closed.
Tears splashed on Li Zhexian's ashen face.
A muffled groan squeezed from her throat as warm blood welled up, soaking into the petal and flowing into Li Zhexian's mouth.
The scene left everyone utterly stunned.
"Cough… cough… Li Zhexian…"
"When I first met you in Star Dou Forest… I called you a lecher…"
A thread of bright scarlet trickled from the corner of Zhu Zhuqing's lips, yet her pale face still wore a faint smile. Her gaze blurred, lost in memory.
She took a second petal.
Lowered her lips again.
Another mouthful of heart blood, wrapped around the petal, was pressed into Li Zhexian's mouth.
"I still don't know why… I agreed to help you lure away those Spirit Beasts…"
"Maybe it was that line of yours—'If I hear the Dao in the morning, I can die content by night'… That wine you poured into a bamboo tube… was the best I've ever had in my life…"
"Was I… the first to drink from your Wine Martial Soul?"
The valley was deathly quiet.
Only Zhu Zhuqing's broken, gentle whispers echoed.
Everyone trembled as they watched her. With each drop of heart's blood, Zhu Zhuqing's lustrous hair dulled, withering like autumn grass.
"That day…"
"I wore the purple dress you liked, and went to see you…"
Her breath hitched, her bloodstained lips curved in a fragile smile.
"When you saw me… your eyes lit up… I loved that look…"
"Cough… cough, cough…"
No one knew how many petals she had given.
Her frail body convulsed with coughs, blood staining Li Zhexian's lips and soaking her own garments.
"That night… in Heaven Dou City, walking under the lanterns…"
"The spirit cat lantern you bought me… I've kept it all this time…"
Zhu Zhuqing half-collapsed on Li Zhexian's chest.
Her trembling lips, with immense effort, placed another petal at her mouth.
"That night… Li Zhexian…"
Her lips brushed his again, tears mingling with her heart blood and the Yearning Heartbroken Red, flowing into him.
"I've been waiting… for you to hold me…"
"Why won't you… hold me…"
"Do you really want a girl… to be the one to take the first step…"
In the valley—
The dam of grief finally burst.
Ye Lingling collapsed weeping into Dugu Yan's sobbing embrace.
Yu Tianheng, Feng Xiaotian and the others stared with bloodshot eyes, nails digging deep into their palms.
Xiao Wu, always silent till now, gazed blankly at Zhu Zhuqing and Li Zhexian.
Huo Wu and Shui Bing'er's eyes blurred with tears, their breathing ragged.
Ning Rongrong bit her lip until blood ran, unaware of the pain.
The jealousy and estrangement she once held toward Zhu Zhuqing dissolved into nothing before this sight.
Compared with Zhu Zhuqing's sacrifice—
Her own awakening, her own feelings… felt cheap, unworthy.
Qian Renxue's golden eyes overflowed with tears, swallowed by grief and an emotion even fiercer.
Dugu Bo, Feng Bailong, and Yu Yuanzhen all frowned in silence.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin tilted his head slightly upward, closing his sharp eyes.
Only the sound of the Heaven Dou City Spirit Master's brush scratching against rough paper broke the silence.
A lifetime's heart's blood, how many drops could there be?
All poured into the Yearning Heartbroken Red.
Zhu Zhuqing's hair, withered like autumn grass, spilled across Li Zhexian's chest.
Her heart's blood was exhausted.
Her face had turned so pale it was nearly transparent.
Even her lips bore the dull color of death.
Summoning the last shred of her strength, she plucked the final petal of the Yearning Heartbroken Red.
This time—
Zhu Zhuqing could not even hold it in her mouth.
She merely pressed the blood-stained petal against Li Zhexian's lips with trembling fingers.
Then—
She turned her head.
Her fading gaze found Qian Renxue's tear-stained face, and with extreme effort, she forced out a fragile smile.
She spoke no words.
The last spark of light in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes flickered out.
Silently, she collapsed, her forehead resting gently against Li Zhexian's chest.
"Zhuqing—!"
The heart-rending cry finally tore through the deathly stillness of the valley.
Dugu Bo darted forward.
A gleaming green pill shot into Zhu Zhuqing's mouth.
"Alas…" His aged face was bleak, and he could only shake his head with a sigh.
The heart's blood was a person's very essence.
Where in the world could there be a second Yearning Heartbroken Red to save her?
Ye Lingling, heedless of her own exhaustion, drove her Nine-Hearted Begonia to release healing light over Zhu Zhuqing's body.
Amid this chaos and sorrow—
Suddenly, Li Zhexian's cracked and broken body radiated a gentle red glow.
Like parched earth meeting blessed rain—
His withered flesh miraculously regained vitality.
His shattered organs and severed meridians, guided by Zhu Zhuqing's heart's blood and longing, were reborn as if by divine miracle.
Everyone watched, torn between grief and joy, as Li Zhexian's life force surged back.
Until at last, his tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.
"Zhexian!"
Cries of excitement rang out, unable to be contained.
But Li Zhexian paid them no mind.
His gaze darted in panic.
And when his eyes found Zhu Zhuqing beside him—her hair lifeless, her breath faint as gossamer—
It was as if lightning had struck him.
Those closest to Li Zhexian had never seen him so undone.
Not even when he fought Bibi Dong to mutual destruction, unleashing his final sword, had he shown such grief.
But now—
Li Zhexian's lips trembled.
The taste of blood still lingered in his mouth.
He opened his mouth—
A choking sob rising faintly in his throat.
The ache in everyone's hearts deepened, and they wanted to console him—
But then they saw a sudden light of hope ignite in Li Zhexian's eyes.
"Yes… yes!"
"There must be a way to save Zhuqing!"
Ignoring their bewildered stares, Li Zhexian sat cross-legged, closing his eyes.
Within his consciousness, darkness stretched endless as an abyss.
Suddenly—
A spark of light burst forth, spreading like wildfire.
Hundreds of spirit-wine gourds appeared, glowing with radiant mist, tumbling like a river of stars, like meteors reversing their fall, circling him in a dazzling dance.
The sight painted his inner world in surreal beauty.
But Li Zhexian had no time to marvel.
"Ordinary spirit wines… only borrow the essence of grass and wood."
"But the brews of the Brewing Records… can detoxify, temper the body, lighten the body!"
"So then…"
"In the Brewing Records, there must be an immortal brew that can mend the heart and restore life!"