The battle had concluded by sunset.

In the end, the Sand Race contingent had been completely routed.

The Sand Race group hadn’t been able to gain an advantage with their peak-strength cultivators, and they had lost horrifically in regards to their Yang Opening Realm cultivators. One of the reasons for this was that the Zhu Clan’s Demonic Emperor Bloodline was truly something special. Zhao Jingwen and Ba Lieyuan were elites that had been chosen out of thousands of contenders. Iron Cliff had also displayed his shockingly overbearing combat strength. The other reason was that Su Chen’s medicine was quite effective and not only increased their strength but also made them unafraid of receiving wounds. Their endurance in battle was even greatly increased.

In the end, the Sand Race’s entire army had been wiped out, while the Zhu Clan and Immortal Temple had only paid a very small price.

One more of the three Light Shaking Realm cultivators had died.

And that one had actually died at the hands of Su Chen.

The Sand Race individual that Su Chen faced off against was the one that he had blasted far away during their last battle. He was still alive, but he had been seriously wounded and hadn’t yet recovered completely. It was by relying on this small advantage that Su Chen was able to pull even and overwhelm this Sand Race soldier, though unfortunately he was unable to capture him alive.

During the bitter battle, the opponent had used their killing technique, and in order to preserve his own life, Su Chen didn’t dare hold back in the slightest. In the end, he won the fight, but was unable to capture his opponent alive. On the other hand, both Shi Mingfeng and Zhu Baiyu successfully captured their targets, making Su Chen feel somewhat depressed.

Through the course of this battle, Su Chen was also able to clearly see that the gap between him and the Light Shaking Realm was closing ever so slightly.

Perhaps he would soon be able to openly fight against a Light Shaking Realm cultivator.

After Pall died, the Zhu Clan and Immortal Temple no longer had any reason to remain allied with each other.

However, after being comrades in arms for two different battles and sharing the burdens and joys of travelling, people on both sides had begun to build up a relationship with one another, with some even becoming friends. There was no desire on either side to continue fighting with one another. The most important reason was that the Zhu Clan now knew that the Immortal Temple was just shouldering the blame for Su Chen.

But as for getting revenge on Su Chen......

When they saw their Young Miss’s behavior, the Zhu Clan’s members all automatically gave up on this idea.

What kind of feeling was it to fall for the same person twice?

It was impossible to resist.

Even if Zhu Xianyao had been able to resist her feelings for Su Chen, even through the seed of affection that she had planted in him, recovering her memories had caused her hidden feelings to surge forward like an unstoppable flood. Zhu Xianyao was no longer able to control her feelings.

Even Zhu Xianyao hadn’t expected that the only difference between the truth and her memories was a thin veil of emotion. The instant she remembered, she was submerged beneath a flood of emotions. Actually, she regretted everything in that moment.

Didn’t I already understand the truth? Why did I still insist on recovering my memories?

However, it was too late to regret things. The flames of desire burned uncontrollably in her heart. If before this her feelings were like a piece of rope entangling her heart, then now they were like a web of robes that her heart had no way of escaping from.

Zhu Xianyao knew that her emotions were in complete freefall.

Su Chen was totally oblivious to this.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed Zhu Xianyao’s sudden change in attitude around him, but that his experiment had reached a critical moment.

Apart from the two Light Shaking Realm subjects, Su Chen had also began to use Darkness Origin Substance that he had obtained from the Projection Void. This Darkness Origin Substance helped Su Chen discover a way of extracting Origin Substances by borrowing a kind of summoning skill to call forth creatures from a different kind of realm. Apart from this, Su Chen’s understanding of the black stones had also reached another level, and he was now using and experimenting with another completely new Origin Substance.

In other words, Su Chen would soon be able to create new Hemolytic Totems and Origin Conducting Tools like the Shadow Flame Glove.

With so many important matters at hand, how could Su Chen have the time or energy to pay any attention to Zhu Xianyao?

He completely ignored the sorrowful expressions constantly written all over Zhu Xianyao’s face.

That evening, Su Chen continued his research just like normal.

A black stone was soaking within a reaction flask, giving off bubbles from time to time.

This was the Origin Substance that Su Chen was trying to extract.

He had finally found a way to do so and would probably finish today at last.

At that moment, someone knocked on his door.

“My great aunt, can you give me a break?” Su Chen helplessly opened the door, only to find that it was Zhu Xianyao standing at the door.

“It’s you?” Su Chen was taken aback.

“What? You thought I was Night Demon?” Zhu Xianyao asked.

Su Chen shrugged. “That girl loves to come and mess around, but I’ve been extremely busy with my research lately and haven’t had time to pay her any mind.”

“Then can you let me in? I just have a few things I want to say. I promise I won’t make any trouble for you,” Zhu Xianyao said in a soft voice.

“Well......” Su Chen hesitated for a moment, then agreed in the end.

Zhu Xianyao walked into the room. The stone room didn’t have much space, and most of it was taken up by Su Chen’s research station. Zhu Xianyao had a hard time finding a place to sit.

Su Chen said, “You can sit on the bed. It’s a little messy in here.”

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Zhu Xianyao walked over to the bed and sat down, staring intently at Su Chen. “Sixth Uncle said that we’ll reach Mountain Overlook City by tomorrow. Once we reach Mountain Overlook City, everyone will probably split up and do their own things.”

“Oh.”

Zhu Xianyao was upset by his coldness, but she still tried her best to gracefully smooth out her long hair as she said, “Did I ever tell you that I recovered my memories?”

Su Chen could no longer maintain his cold indifference as his mind returned to reality from his contemplations. He looked at Zhu Xianyao and said, “Is that so? Then congratulations. You should know then that we didn’t lie to you and had told you the truth that time.”

“Yes, but there were also a few things that you didn’t tell me.”

Su Chen frowned. “Unless it was a few unimportant details, then I don’t think that Yue Longsha would purposefully try to hide them from you.”

“That’s a different matter entirely. You guys wouldn’t have known either,” Zhu Xianyao replied.

She hesitated for a moment, then continued, “I’m in love with you. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking these past few days. I’ve always been hesitant and indecisive; my eleventh uncle was killed by you, as well as Zhu Chen, Yanniang, and the others. The Zhu Clan was also thrown into a conflict with the Immortal Temple because of you, causing even more people to die. I shouldn’t be with you, but I can’t control myself......”

As she spoke, Zhu Xianyao began to tremble as tears began to fall from her eyes. Su Chen was totally stunned.

Actually, it wasn’t that he was unaware of Zhu Xianyao’s feelings. He had just never expected her to be so direct and bold as to say it out loud.

After a long pause, he responded, “You know that I have someone that I love.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to take multiple wives,” Zhu Xianyao said as she wiped her eyes, then tilted her chin upwards in an attempt to seem dignified. “I’m not here to ask you to love me.”

Su Chen froze. “Then, you mean......”

“I want you to wipe away all of the memories I’ve had during this period of time so that I can forget it all,” Zhu Xianyao replied.

So that’s how it was going to be.

Su Chen was still a bit stunned. “But if that’s the case, we might become enemies again.”

“We won’t. I’ve already written down a letter for myself with everything that I need to and can know. I even told myself that I voluntarily chose to have my memories wiped. I won’t lie to myself and say that I didn’t fall for you. Without my memories, there won’t be any foundation for my feelings to build upon, so even if I know that I loved you it won’t affect me anymore. That way it would only be a mental recognition, not an actual emotion.”

Zhu Xianyao’s words were completely logical.

Actually, what she said wasn’t wrong at all. If she lost her memories, and then learned of what had happened through purely second-hand sources, her feelings towards Su Chen would greatly decrease. At that time, her rational side would be able to triumph over her emotional side, and Zhu Xianyao would no longer be in a state where she couldn’t control herself.

For some reason, however, Su Chen felt a bit unhappy about Zhu Xianyao’s decision.

But in the end, he still nodded his agreement. “Alright. Wait just a moment; we can do it once this experiment of mine is finished.”

Su Chen turned his attention back to the medicinal vial in his hand.

The black stone continued to bubble.

“What is that?” Zhu Xianyao asked.

“A stone that contains all kinds of strange Origin Substances. Oh, Origin Substances are the particles that fundamentally allow us to control Origin Energy. If you control them, you can skip the requirement of having a bloodline and directly use Origin Skills.”

“It sounds very powerful. How did you manage to get your hands on all of these techniques?” Zhu Xianyao’s heart was a bit drawn towards him, and she almost unconsciously leaned in to get a better look.

Within the vial, the black stone was already bubbling at a furious rate, causing a light pink smoke to hover above the surface of the solution. However, the stopper on the bottle prevented it from leaking out.

“I’ve succeeded.” A delighted smile appeared on Su Chen’s face when he saw this.

This was the special Origin Substance that Su Chen wanted to extract.

“What is that?” Zhu Xianyao was curious and took the vial to inspect it, then popped it open.

“No, don’t open that!” Su Chen yelled.

However, it was already too late.

A pink smoke began to waft out of the opening.

In that instant, Su Chen’s perception of Zhu Xianyao changed dramatically.

Zhu Xianyao felt like her vision had suddenly grown hazy.

She raised her hands. Her muslin robe dropped to the ground, revealing jade shoulders and pink undergarments.

When he saw this, Su Chen lost all control. He instinctually grabbed Zhu Xianyao and pushed her down onto the bed.