Lu Chen lay back against the frozen altar, his chest heaving. The backlash from shattering Fang Yuan's seed was eating away at his meridians like acid. But Yue Xiao did not hesitate. Now possessing the memories of a love that spanned across timelines, she placed her crystalline hands over his heart.
"You gave everything to save me in that nightmare, Chen," she whispered, her eyes glowing with a fierce, divine blue. "In this life, I am the one who will hold the frost. I will not let you fall before the war even begins."
She didn't just transfer Qi; she activated the Nine Frost Resonance. The pure, primordial energy of the Northern Peaks began to flow through her and into Lu Chen. Because their souls were now synchronized by the "World Will," there was no rejection.
The black rot on Lu Chen's finger began to freeze and crack, falling away like dead scales to reveal new, glowing skin. His shattered Rank 4 core didn't just mend; it began to spin with the velocity of a hurricane, absorbing the sheer density of the Arctic essence.
BOOM!
A pillar of blue and gold light erupted from the altar, piercing the dark clouds above. Lu Chen's aura surged. Rank 3... Rank 4... and then, with a violent crack of energy, he broke the bottleneck.
[System Alert: Target 'Lu Chen' has achieved Rank 5 (Spirit Sovereign). Resonance with 'Yue Xiao' has created a 'Dual-Fate' bond. Current power levels are exceeding original timeline projections by 200%.]
Lu Chen stood up, his body radiating a calm, terrifying pressure. He felt stronger than he ever was at this age in the previous life. Beside him, Yue Xiao stood as a Rank 7 Ice Saintess, her silver hair flowing with power.
"He's watching us," Lu Chen said, looking up at the void between the stars. "He saw us succeed. He's smiling."
"Let him smile," Yue Xiao replied, her voice cold enough to freeze the wind. "The thicker the ice, the harder it is to break."