In his past life as William, Liu Xing knew a man named Ujang. Ujang was Mamat's biological father and a source of Mamat's difficult life. Not only was he unemployed, he was also a gambler. He sold his parents' house and land and took out so many loans that he tore apart his own family. He did all this because he was addicted to the thrill of winning big. Ultimately, he was beaten to death for trying to steal a car. Liu Xing remembered the expression on that man's face as he gambled on his phone. It was the face of someone who knew he would never win but clung to the foolish hope that a miracle would suddenly make everything in his life better.

  A similar expression was now on Yu Heng's face. Of course, the situation was wildly different, but his desperate and hopeful expression was so similar that Liu Xing could not help but think about Ujang.

  Yu Heng failed to separate Mi Lian and his whale, but instead of stopping and reviewing what was wrong, Yu Heng tried the same thing again, and again, and again. Mi Lian's scream, akin to a butchered animal's, reverberated through the deepest chamber of the upside-down temple. Her voice was so pitiful and grating that Liu Xing felt he needed to stop Yu Heng, and he did so, several times, only for Yu Heng to dismiss him and ask him to shut up. At first angrily, then politely, and then pleadingly.

  Liu Xing hoped that Yu Heng knew what he was doing, but as time ticked by and nothing changed, it was evident that what Yu Heng was currently doing did not work.

  "Come on, come on!" Yu Heng murmured as he pressed his palms together. The blue light alternating between Mi Lian and the whale became stronger and faster, but Mi Lian's shouts also became louder, as if she were being branded on her stomach with a hot iron.

  Liu Xing pursed his lips, trying to discern what Yu Heng was doing. The ambient qi swirled around the temple's winding structure, merging right below Mi Lian and the little whale. The blue gem was doing all the work. Yu Heng was merely activating the gem with specific hand signs. The gem emitted a type of qi that Liu Xing didn't recognize, and it resonated with the whale and Mi Lian. Liu Xing knew the ambient qi was affecting Mi Lian and the whale's consciousnesses. Their consciousnesses had become intertwined, and the gem was attempting to separate them. However, its efforts were unsuccessful.

  When the ambient qi stopped churning into the blue gem and the alternating light that emitted from Mi Lian and the whale began to die down, Mi Lian's shouts lessened like a woman finally relieved of her pain. Liu Xing took several steps forward and yanked Yu Heng's left hand, spinning him around. The difference in power was so vast that Yu Heng could not fight him; he merely turned and glared.

  "Release my hand!" he said.

  Liu Xing squeezed his wrist, making Yu Heng shout in pain and curse. His eyes showed fear for a moment before it was replaced by anger.

  Liu Xing squeezed harder, turning Yu Heng's anger to a grimace of pain once again, and Liu Xing said, "What you were doing didn't work."

  "I'm already close!" Yu Heng said. "I can feel it!"

  "Feel what? That your sister's consciousness is about to be torn apart?" Liu Xing said. "Tell me, Yu Heng, did you truly know how to separate your sister from your whale?"

  "I know how they fused! I know how to separate them!"

  "Then why did you fail?"

  "I just need to concentrate more! I just lacked the fine control to separate them, but with the ambient qi around, sooner or later, I will succeed."

  "But at what cost?" Liu Xing asked, glancing at Mi Lian and the whale. "If you continue like this, even if you succeed, your sister's consciousness will be scarred beyond belief."

  Their forms were overlapping, and while he knew from the start that it was not something ordinary, he now realized just how complex their condition was. They were fused not only in their physical forms but perhaps in their souls too. Yu Heng growled, as if he were angry with Liu Xing's words. However, Liu Xing could see that his eyes were shaded with fear and anxiety, and the anger he showed was merely a show.

  "Listen carefully. Do you truly believe that your method is working? That you truly can separate them and are merely lacking control of your qi?"

  "Yes!" he said. "So release my hand!"

  Liu Xing looked into his eyes for a moment. He remembered how Yu Heng had looked while telling the story about his childhood with Mi Lian. Yu Heng had smiled brightly, clearly loving his sister wholeheartedly. Although Liu Xing was still hesitant about love between stepsiblings, it was clear that Yu Heng was sincere. He couldn't dictate which love was right and which was wrong. This guy truly loved Mi Lian, and it was hard to believe that he would purposely try to hurt her. The problem was that he thought the only way to fix the situation was to force his solution.

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  Liu Xing released his grip on Yu Heng's wrist. Yu Heng rubbed the spot with his other hand while glaring at Liu Xing.

  "You cannot continue what you were doing," Liu Xing stated. "It clearly didn't work. It's madness to do the same thing again and again, hoping the result will be different."

  "I am the sole heir of my ancestor's technique. In this whole world, there's no one who knows her situation better than me! It is arrogant of you to think you know better just because you're from a great sect and have a higher cultivation than me!"

  Liu Xing was about to retort. Due to his higher cultivation, he had a better sense of and control over his qi. There were many things he could sense that Yu Heng could not. However, he didn't want to win an argument. He wanted to solve this problem. So, he asked, "What can I do to help you?"

  "You cannot. As I said, only I know the method to separate her, and while we are not enemies, we're not close enough for me to share my secrets."

  Indeed, since Yu Heng lacked control over his qi, Liu Xing was about to suggest he perform the separation himself. However, it was clear that Yu Heng would not want that. His love for Mi Lian seemed to conflict with his desire to protect his inheritance. After a moment of thought, an idea came to Liu Xing.

  "You said that you're merely lacking the qi control to separate her from the whale, right? If you had better control of your qi, would you succeed?"

  "Yes," he said, and his eyes began to search Liu Xing's. "Also, more ambient qi would help. What's your idea? Are you going to help me break through?"

  Helping Yu Heng break through to the next realm would indeed help. However, Liu Xing thought that merely helping him break through one or two stages would not be enough.

  "No," he said, shaking his head. "But if what you need is just more control of your qi, I think I can help you."

  Of course, Liu Xing's idea was potent qi. The potent qi produced by his gun was not only of the highest quality, but also easy to control. He knew he could transfer this potent qi to others, as he had done in the Twelve Sun Empire. As for ambient qi, he was quite sure the gem could work using his potent qi. After all, this qi seemed so special that it could even help regenerate flesh.

  Liu Xing needed some time to convince Yu Heng, but in the end, he agreed to his proposal. So, Yu Heng once again stood in front of the altar, but this time, Liu Xing stood behind him, his right hand on Yu Heng's shoulder. When Yu Heng began to chain his hand signs, Liu Xing converted some of his qi into a bullet with his gun, absorbed the bullet, then sent the qi to Yu Heng. He did this three more times before he felt Yu Heng's body begin to tremble, as if he were about to explode from within, and he stopped sending him potent qi.

  From behind, Liu Xing could not see Yu Heng's expression, but he was sure the man was surprised. If he had not needed to concentrate, he would have whirled around and asked what this qi was.

  When Yu Heng finished his hand signs, instead of willing the ambient qi to be absorbed by the blue gem, he projected the potent qi from his body. The process was quite crude, but it seemed the gem helped him, because while he could not send the potent qi toward the gem, the gem instead pulled it in and consumed it.

  When the gem activated, the whale and Mi Lian once again began to shine alternately, and then Mi Lian began to shout painfully, as if her hair were being yanked forcefully. Seeing that, Liu Xing could sense that Yu Heng was trembling more, as if he were afraid too, but he kept projecting more potent qi that the blue gem absorbed.

  The light flashing between the whale and Mi Lian became faster and faster, to the point that both of them looked as if they were shining together. This was different. The intensity of the light, the guttural sound that the whale began to emit, and the blood-curdling shout that Mi Lian let out were more intense than before. Liu Xing's heart beat so fast that he wondered whether trusting Yu Heng was a good idea. Yu Heng did not stop, though. He gritted his teeth, as if he too felt the pain Mi Lian was enduring.

  Then, as Mi Lian shouted, she snapped her eyes open and looked toward Yu Heng. Liu Xing knew that Yu Heng's words about them loving each other were not false. He had seen them kissing, after all. But the gaze Mi Lian shot at Yu Heng this time was not love; it was pure rage and hatred.

  "Stop it! Stop it, you fiend! It hurts!"

  "Come back to me, please! I promise you that I will not hurt you again!" Yu Heng pleaded.

  Mi Lian snarled. "Say that again once you've revived my family. I hate you, Yu Heng! You ungrateful bastard!"

  Liu Xing could feel that Mi Lian's and the whale's consciousness connected, and then, both of them combined their will to fight against the blue gem and Yu Heng, trying to sever his influence. Blood began to run from Yu Heng's nose, and then, as if he had been punched in the gut, his body folded before he was thrown back.

  Liu Xing could have caught him, but he did not. Instead, he stepped to the side and allowed Yu Heng's back to hit the wall. Dust fell all around him as the gem lost its light, and the overlapping sight of the whale and Mi Lian vanished. Instead, what remained was the body of a white whale the size of a human. Its eyes were closed, though an intense fury radiated from within it.

  Liu Xing looked back at Yu Heng and said, "There are things you haven't told me, Yu Heng. I think it's time for you to explain how she could have fused with a whale. And why she refused your efforts to separate her from it."

  From the start, it seems Yu Heng's method could have worked. The problem wasn't a lack of control of qi or the amount of ambient qi. Mi Lian simply refused to be separated from the whale.

  Yu Heng wiped the blood from below his nose, then sighed. "So be it, then," he said, rising from his position.

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