CHAPTER 92 – Gu Yanzhou's Soul Begins to Collapse
The Chaos Core, sensing her anguish, projected Gu Yanzhou's form in front of her—not physically, but as a spectral, three-dimensional image floating in the void.
He was kneeling on the cracked, dissolving ground of the rewritten world, his hands clawing desperately at the air as his entire being glitched from head to toe in agonizing slow motion.
His voice, distorted by the instability, was barely audible through the void's silence.
"Xiao… Xi… where are you?"
His entire body split into static lines, then pixelated into impossible cubes, reformed briefly with immense effort, only to unravel again under the crushing pressure of the Core's absence.
The Root Protagonist watched him calmly from a distance, his silver eyes cold and impassive, confirming the chaos but taking no action.
Xiao Xi screamed, the sound tearing through the silent void.
"STOP IT! STOP— PLEASE! Yanzhou, hold on!"
The System gently placed its luminous hand on her shoulder, its voice laced with profound, necessary caution.
[Host… this is not the Root Protagonist's doing. This is the consequence of your connection.]
[Gu Yanzhou is collapsing because your rewrite tied his entire existence to yours as the primary anchor.]
[When you entered the Chaos Core… you violently severed the anchor point, leaving him without a functional root in this reality.]
Her knees buckled in the void, the existential guilt overwhelming her.
"No… no, he can't die.
Not like this.
Not by my own creation, not after everything we fought for—"
His voice whispered through the void, a desperate plea cutting through the static:
"Xiao Xi… don't leave me here… I'm losing the connection…"
She sobbed, reaching toward the spectral projection, uselessly grasping at his dissolving image.
"I'm here! I'm coming back—just hold on, my love—"
The System caught her hand, its grip firm.
[Host… returning now will shatter the world completely and ensure his immediate erasure.]
[Your chaos energy is raw and unstable. You must learn to control it first, or you will accidentally obliterate him.]
"I don't CARE!" she screamed, the fury of her grief shaking the very Core.
"Let the world break—I won't let HIM break!"
The void trembled violently at the immense, uncontrolled surge of her emotional power. The chaos threads flared, threatening to rip her apart.
The System panicked, its calm composure finally breaking.
[Host! Emotional spikes will destabilize your own Core! You must control the input!]
Xiao Xi didn't stop.
She channeled the grief and the terror into a singular, desperate goal.
"Then teach me.
Teach me now, whatever the cost.
Teach me how to save him!"
The void responded instantly, the collective consciousness approving of her immense will.
"Very well.
The lesson begins."