The Witch of the Scarlet Snow smiled as she suddenly felt lightheaded and carefree. After knowing that Forus and Ocelia would accept her deal, she had already done her best with everything she had. In the end, she decided to lift the mountain of stress off her back and placed her little, sparkling hope onto the mystical couple in front of her.
Although her thoughts process seemed stupid and shallow, letting the wills of the others decided the fate of her fellow members of the Icy Scorpion Sect, she felt that what she did was the correct way. As if something was subtly reassuring her, the faint familiar air around the couple almost dragged her into her memory, when she first met that man.
Forus and Ocelia before her were like the younger, more energetic version of herself and him. When she and he were the first-ranked sorcerers, they would travel together with carefree heart and tranquil soul, exploring ancient ruins and braving through dangers to get the excitement and treasures.
With the Icy Scorpion Bloodline running through her veins, she had naturally developed a cold look and sharp eyes, deterring other men away while attracting the animosity of other females. Fortunately, with her pure bloodline, her power soared above others, gaining her rightful position as a powerful first-ranked sorcerer, roaming the land without any care for danger.
Only when she got trapped inside an unnamed ruin would she meet him. His blurry figure had already become a distant silhouette in her mind, forever losing his appearance due to the unending corrosion of time. His tattered clothes on him reminded her of any ordinary mortal, fooling around with their life without any goal, living in vain and dying a shallow death.
Although mortal, he had a wise and unique mind, successfully answering the riddle and, with her cooperation, could get both of them out alive, escaping the hidden trap and getting the inheritance of the owner of the ruin. While they braved through danger, the Witch began to ponder about the motive of this mortal, whose life was treading on a thin line where one wrong step would lead to death.
Only when they reached the tomb where the legacy located in was the man told her about his motivation to brave through the danger beyond mortality. He wished to learn the way of the sorcery, hoping to become one of the exalted sorcerers and roaming unhindered under heaven and above the earth.
Unfortunately, his body wasn't suitable for sorcery cultivation, having no talent and a cripple body that could not absorb any Elements. Many mortals also suffered this fate, having no chance to grasp at the opportunity to change their destiny.
Because of his dream, he set out to enter the ruins of the sorcerers in the hope to find a way to change his talent and let him absorb Elements. Without any Elements, he could not produce sorcery energy, and without sorcery energy, he could not do anything.
Listening to his hope and dream, the Witch felt emotional, having a seed of feeling planted inside her mind. His nonchalant yet determined personality resonated with her, causing her to feel closer and more intimate to him than any others. Naturally, she gave him a chance to take the inheritance.
To change one's talent was to change one's soul, which was very difficult and nigh-impossible for any ordinary sorcerers. Without any extraordinary luck, the man did not manage to gain anything about the soul or a way to create potential out of thin air. Only the legacy of the third-ranked sorcerer might have such heavenly method.
Nevertheless, his smile remained within his face, letting only a sigh before thanking the Witch for her kindness and walked away. However, how could the bearer of the Ice Scorpion Bloodline, whose heart had already left herself, allow such a wonderful person to move out of her life?
With the excuse of wanting to make use of his wisdom, she managed to force him to move from ruin to ruin with her, slowly developing their relationship under the constant threats of death. Under various struggles, their mutual feeling started to intertwine, forming an unbreakable bond that would last for the rest of their life.
Gradually, the two started influencing the other, and her goal changed from enjoying the exploration to savouring his company, and his goal also changed from finding a way to master sorcery to gaining her love and trust.
Time was merciless and cold, showing no love or hate. Years passed by, going from an instance to tens of years. With his soul and mind, he started to age, becoming old and weak, having no energy to leave with his wife to explore the ruins, and without his company, she also lost her interest in the emotionless journey.
In the end, she accompanied the last year of his life, sitting next to his deathbed as she still looked no older than when she first met him. Although she tried every way to prolong his life, her first-ranked sorcery mastery could not do anything regarding the subject of the soul and longevity. Any methods she knew could not help him as he was just a mortal, having a weak mind and body.
By watching his soul drifted out of his body and disappeared into the void, she had experienced a lifetime worth of emotions, having myriad profounds feeling rushing through her body, enhancing her soul and mind, achieving a grief-filled breakthrough that advanced her towards the second-ranked sorcery mastery.
Left alone and emotionless, the Witch could only treasure what she had left, keeping them to remind her of her love. In the end, she returned to her Icy Scorpion Sect to become an elder and to keep guard his cold body.
After an instant of remembrance, the Witch shook her head lightly before raising her hand, pointing her finger at her chest. With her sharp nail cutting downward, a soft noise echoed out as dark-blue blood began seeping out of the wound.
Using the same hand, she inserted her slender fingers into the wound and widened it, peering into her inside with them and tightly grabbed at a beating heart, feeling its pulse as she exerted herself, pulling it out of her chest, causing her face to turn even paler than before.
A water-splashing sound occurred when she pulled her heart out, followed by many cracking noises as her body increasingly trembled as she began to drop in her sorcery mastery, losing her most important foundation, the essence of Icy Scorpion Bloodline.
"My life, my sweat, my effort. They all came into fruition for this moment." A sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she held her heart in her hand, caressing it as if it was her lover's heart.
Before long, she coughed again and experienced another drop in sorcery mastery. Only until then did she reluctantly extend her hand outwards, showing the heart to Ocelia and Forus, beckoning them to accept her offer and free her of her burden.
Knowing her lover's intention, Ocelia weakly stood up and released her hand that had been tightly gripping at Forus'. She took her soft steps forwards, heading towards the Witch. The suffocating atmosphere that pressured her body and mind had already ceased to exist. With only the strange tranquil remained, Ocelia could easily drag her weakened body towards the Witch.
However, as she walked past Forus, he abruptly grasped her hand, pulling her back to him. Because of his unexpected action, as well as her dependence on him, Ocelia let her body crumble onto him, landing softly on his muscular body, submerging herself on his manly scent as the comfort sensation of security warped around her mind.
With his hand roping around Ocelia's frail body, Forus smiled as he fearlessly moved forward, holding Ocelia on his arm as he quickly appeared in front of the Witch.
"What a lovely couple." The Witch complimented. However, it was not clear if she was saying to the two or the projection of her and him, or both.
Although Forus could not see, he could still feel the condensed aura that the heart was radiating, sharing its location with its power. In the absolute void that was the lack of vision, the said heart was like a brightly-lit lamp in the middle of the night.
Without any hesitation, Forus extended his other hand and held the heart, feeling its extreme cold seeping into his bloodstream and skin, causing them to turn pale as everything in the area froze into a halt.
Observing his action, the Witch frowned but decided not to do anything. Although she thought that Forus would let Ocelia take the heart, it was not her business anymore. She only needed to make sure that one of them took her power and fulfilled their agreement.
"Close your eyes and concentrate. This opportunity would be very uncommon to come by again." Feeling the immense power within the heart, Forus spoke to Ocelia softly. Although she would not complain if Forus decided to take it for himself, Forus did not intend to do so.
As she closed her eyes, Ocelia saw Forus moving the heart closer to himself, letting it connect with his flesh and skin, absorbing the bloodline of the Icy Scorpion as well as the essence of the Witch of the Scarlet Snow. With that information in her mind, she became confused about Forus' earlier words.
Suddenly, she thought of a possibility that caused her face to turn pinkish-red, having her heart rapidly beating while blood rushing all over her body. With her breathing quickened, she tightly closed her eyes in anticipant, feeling hot and eager for Forus to do it. After closing her eyes, her body turned weak from emotions as she subconsciously leaned forward, tilting her head towards Forus' lip.
As the pain continued to assault him, Forus commanded with his mind, skillfully controlled a thin thread of whiteness that extended out of his grey soul, moving outwards as it exited his realm of consciousness. Like a magnet, after entering the physical world, it sensed another one of its kind and shot towards it.
Piecing through the barrier between the realm of consciousness and the physical world, the String of Fate intertwined with each other as the connection established itself under the will and command of Forus as well as the approval of Ocelia.
Within that instant, the couple became one and shared their sensation, both having controlled over two bodies as well as knowing the thought process of the other. With their shared mind, Forus became aware of Ocelia's wishful thinking, and his male body faintly smiled as the female body blushed in embarrassment. However, Ocelia did not give up and wait patiently for Forus.
Sensing his wife's cute action, Forus did not wait and placed his lip on top of her, letting both of them savouring the sweet taste of the saliva as well as the warmness of their body, exchanging comfort and happiness as they experienced both ends of the process at once.
However, before Ocelia's mind became cloudly and tried to do anything inappropriate, the Witch coughed softly to remind her and him. Although she did not know what had happened to Ocelia and Forus, she did not want to see the two started making out in front of her as it reminded her of him whom she could never meet again.
After getting forced out of her heaven, Ocelia began to absorb the unique information that rushed into her mind posthaste. The String of Fate allowed Forus and Ocelia to share consciousness, letting Ocelia having the benefits as well as enabling Forus to be the one who endured the pain of assimilating a vigorous heart of a second-ranked sorcerer.
With Forus' grey soul, he used its control over Death Aura to reject the Icy Scorpion Bloodline and direct its flow towards Ocelia. Fearing the destruction caused by Death Aura, the bloodline gladly moved along the path to escape to Ocelia, and with Ocelia's inheritance, the Mask of Sun and Moon, she could easily accept the Icy Scorpion Bloodline as well as the essence of the Witch's sorcery mastery.
Without any pause, Ocelia's power soared, and with the accumulation from the essence of the Witch, her sorcery mastery directly broke through the barrier of cultivation and advanced into the realm of the middle-stage first-ranked sorcery mastery.
