The Guardian

Si Tingxue glanced at Rebecca. She was well acquainted with Rebecca's single-minded nature by now, and didn't bother trying to reason with her.

After the two of them put everything away, Lu Yuan smiled and said:

"With all this, you should be able to inscribe higher-rank Transcendent Genes. Train hard afterward and you should be able to make a push for the King Rankings."

Si Tingxue gave a quiet nod. "Mm. With these resources, I should be able to inscribe an Emperor Grade gene without much trouble... and might even have a chance at a Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene."

If she truly managed to inscribe a Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene at Battle King Rank, she would rank among the most prodigious talents in the entire White Cloud Star Domain.

After all, even among the very best geniuses on the King Rankings, not every generation produced a super-talent capable of inscribing a Sovereign Grade gene.

It was only on the Emperor Rankings — where cultivators had accumulated far longer training and multiple generations of talent overlapped — that monstrous prodigies with one or even two Sovereign Grade genes occasionally appeared.

And on the Emperor Rankings, not a single person had ever inscribed a Saint Grade gene.

Saint Grade genes and Sovereign Grade genes were concepts in an entirely different league. Of that, Lu Yuan was more certain than anyone.

Even so, just the prospect of inscribing a Sovereign Grade gene was enough to bring a faint smile to Si Tingxue's usually cool, composed face.

For her, this had once been something utterly beyond imagination.

Before, even inscribing an Emperor Grade gene had been a significant gamble, with considerable risk involved. But now, Sovereign Grade was within reach. The leap was staggering.

And it wasn't just Si Tingxue. Rebecca too had a real shot at it.

She laughed with obvious delight. "Since A-Yuan's given us such incredible conditions, the least we can do is give Sovereign Grade a try!"

Lu Yuan smiled. "Just don't push beyond your limits. Once you break through to Battle Sovereign, I'll bring you new treasures — at that point, inscribing Sovereign Grade genes will be no problem."

After all, if a gene inscription went catastrophically wrong, the backlash could be lethal.

Si Tingxue's smile was soft, but her eyes held quiet steel. She had no intention of becoming entirely dependent on Lu Yuan, of being some decorative ornament. She wanted to grow stronger through her own effort.

That drive was simply part of what it meant to be a truly gifted Gene Warrior — there was always something more to strive toward.

The same was true of Rebecca, not just Si Tingxue.

Seeing both of them so determined, Lu Yuan thought it over and decided not to object.

After all, with their various boosts to physical strength and Mental Power, plus Emperor Grade Gene Armaments equipped, inscribing a single Sovereign Grade gene should be within reach. The only real difficulty would be facing the gene's soul remnant.

Fortunately, a soul remnant didn't have to be defeated immediately. As long as it could be suppressed, one could gradually build up cultivation before delivering the finishing blow.

Even so, after thinking it over, Lu Yuan decided he would stand guard for them. If the backlash turned truly severe, he could deploy Life's Gift to stabilize them — at the very least, he could keep them alive and prevent their bodies from violently detonating.

"I happen to have some Sovereign Grade Transcendent Genes," Lu Yuan said. "Ice-type and fire-type. If you're truly going through with the inscription, I can provide them — but I'll need to stand guard while you do."

Both Si Tingxue and Rebecca stared at him in stunned silence.

Sovereign Grade Transcendent Genes were extraordinarily rare. Lu Yuan was only at Battle Sovereign rank — yet he could produce them? And specific types at that, ice-type and fire-type...

Both women were taken aback. Though after everything else they'd seen him produce, that familiar, growing numbness was setting in.

They had no idea where he kept finding these treasures, and since he hadn't volunteered the information, they hadn't pressed him.

Rebecca was the first to recover. "I want one!"

Si Tingxue cast a helpless glance at Lu Yuan. She had the distinct sense that her mounting debt to him was spiraling well past anything manageable.

She sighed quietly to herself. *Well... I'm already giving myself to him anyway. What's a little more?*

At that thought, a faint flush crept across her features. She lowered her head in a quiet nod.

"I'll take one as well."

"All right then," Lu Yuan said, thinking it over. "Let's start now. Tingxue first. These are all ice-type Sovereign Grade genes — pick whichever one you want."

Getting his hands on Sovereign Grade genes wasn't especially difficult for Lu Yuan — he just needed to find a few ice-type Transcendent Genes and evolve them. He'd give one to Si Tingxue and put the others up for auction to earn some Spirit Crystals.

Si Tingxue: "..."

She looked at the three Sovereign Grade Transcendent Genes Lu Yuan had produced, and a peculiar expression crossed her usually composed face.

She had thought herself immune to his surprises by now — but watching him casually produce three Sovereign Grade Transcendent Genes at once still left her feeling vaguely naive.

*Where does this man keep getting all this?*

She rubbed her temple and said nothing, accepting the three genes for inspection. After a moment of deliberation, she selected one and murmured:

"This one — 'Frost Emperor Dragon.'"

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, unsurprised. The Frost Emperor Dragon was a summon-type Transcendent Gene; the Combat Technique inscribed with it allowed one to summon a Sovereign Grade Frost Emperor Dragon Feral Beast. Formidable. For Si Tingxue, who already possessed strong survivability and crowd control, adding a summoned Feral Beast to her arsenal made for an excellent choice.

"Then let's begin," Lu Yuan said, smiling.

Si Tingxue nodded. A faint flush rose to her cheeks. "...Let's use the bathroom. Easier to clean up afterward."

Inscribing a Transcendent Gene — especially one of high rank — wreaked terrible destruction on the body. Lu Yuan understood completely, and gave a small nod of assent.

Rebecca blinked. "Can I come watch?"

Si Tingxue shot her a withering look. "No. You'll disrupt my concentration."

"But why?"

"Just — no."

With that, Si Tingxue left Rebecca behind and led Lu Yuan back to her room.

Her room was simple, sparsely furnished, with little of the typical girlish décor — a reflection of her cool, detached nature.

Lu Yuan paid it no particular mind. Si Tingxue led him into the bathroom.

The bathroom had a large soaking tub.

Si Tingxue stopped with her back to Lu Yuan. He noticed a flush creeping to the tips of her ears.

"Tingxue?"

She gave a faint tremor, then spoke, her voice carrying just the slightest waver: "...I'm fond of this outfit. Turn around."

Lu Yuan: ???

He stared at her back, wide-eyed, then cleared his throat. "Oh — alright."

He turned away. A moment later, the soft sound of rustling fabric reached him.

*Should I sneak a look? Or maybe sense her with my Mental Power?*

He was still wrestling with himself when Si Tingxue's cool voice came: "...Alright."

Lu Yuan turned back.

Si Tingxue was seated cross-legged inside the tub, her back to him, long ice-blue hair fanning across pale skin — like a beautiful sculpture carved from ice.

*...Who could hold out against this?*

*He'd come here to stand guard, and she goes and does something like this?*

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched. He drew a slow, steadying breath and forced himself to settle.

He cleared his throat. "...You're trembling, you know."

"...Stop making noise!"

Si Tingxue stiffened, the words snapping out harder than she intended.

Lu Yuan's brow twitched. "...In that state, trying to inscribe a gene will get you killed."

She went rigid. A long silence stretched out, and then: "...Give me a moment."

"Mm."

Lu Yuan was tempted to point out that she didn't actually need to do it this way — technically, an inscription could be performed otherwise. But he thought better of it. If he said that now, Si Tingxue would probably choose to take him down with her on the way out.

Silence settled between them. Gradually, the faint trembling in Si Tingxue's body stilled. When she finally spoke again, her voice had returned to its usual cool composure.

"I'm ready."

Lu Yuan had no objections — his only purpose here was to make sure she survived. He gave a small nod. "Then we can begin."

Si Tingxue produced the glowing red orb and moved to absorb it.

"—Wait." Lu Yuan cut in quickly. "What are you doing? You haven't used any of the spirit fruits or spirit liquid yet."

Si Tingxue went stock-still. Even with her back to him, the heat scorching across her face was almost palpable. Her eyes swam with pure mortification.

She'd been so nervous she had forgotten everything.

She quietly tucked the Transcendent Gene away and muttered under her breath: "...I know. I was just looking at it."

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes but held his tongue.

Si Tingxue consumed all the spirit fruits and spirit liquid Lu Yuan had given her, then began absorbing them. The process took only a few hours, after which she inscribed her Gene Armaments.

Having absorbed everything, her physical constitution and Mental Power were both in excellent shape. Her baseline had always been strong to begin with — she was Innate Lord Grade, after all.

She equipped the two Emperor Grade Gene Armaments directly — the weapon and the robe. The rest were beyond what she could equip at her current level, even with the multiple rounds of spirit fruits and liquid and her enhanced physical and mental capabilities.

These were Fifth-rank Sovereign Grade Gene Armaments, after all.

With everything in order, Si Tingxue produced the red orb once more. She bit her lip, and a sharp, unwavering resolve lit her gaze.

*He's given me every advantage he possibly could. The least I can do is fight for it.*

*I won't let him think I can't measure up.*

*And he said he'd stand guard... He must have something to back that up.*

She trusted Lu Yuan completely. With a sharp breath, she absorbed the red orb without hesitation.

The moment it entered her, Si Tingxue let out a muffled grunt. Her body shook violently. Her previously flawless pale skin split open — terrible cracks fracturing across the surface — blood pouring out as her bones groaned and snapped beneath her flesh.

The Transcendent Gene was simply too powerful. Her body could not contain it, and had begun to come apart.

The wounds kept tearing wider. The collapse showed no sign of stopping, dragging her steadily toward total disintegration.

A chill seized Si Tingxue's mind. The reality of inscribing a Sovereign Grade Transcendent Gene was far more brutal than she had imagined.

Then green radiance enveloped her.

Her body began to heal — rapidly, astonishingly so. Even amid the inscription, a jolt of shock ran through her at the speed. *How?*

She didn't have time to dwell on it. She exhaled a quiet breath of relief and poured her focus back entirely into the inscription.

Lu Yuan, too, felt a tension ease. *Good thing I stayed to stand guard. If she'd tried this alone, inscribing a Sovereign Grade gene at Battle King Rank might well have killed her.*

The thought also made him wonder: among those elite few who had inscribed Sovereign Grade genes at Battle King or Battle Sovereign rank — beyond the rare monsters who could manage it solo — most must have had powerful guardians watching over them from within great factions.

Even now, with Si Tingxue's physical constitution exceeding that of a Battle King who had inscribed two Emperor Grade genes, with exceptional Mental Power, and Emperor Grade Gene Armaments equipped — even with all of that, it had been this precarious.

For other geniuses, it would be equally brutal. Possibly worse.

Under Life's Gift, Si Tingxue's crumbling body recovered at an extraordinary rate. In moments, she was whole again — though vivid crimson traces now painted her pale skin.

Lu Yuan maintained Life's Gift steadily: the instant her body began to break apart, the healing followed, continuous and unyielding.

For Lu Yuan, keeping a pre-inscription Battle King alive was trivial. The energy drain could not even keep pace with his natural recovery.

He settled on the edge of the tub and watched Si Tingxue's back quietly, a strange expression crossing his face.

He had to admit — there was something undeniably striking about her snow-white skin, now traced with vivid lines of crimson. It left him wondering if something was wrong with him.

He shook his head and pushed the thought aside.

Time passed. Si Tingxue's muffled grunts shifted into stifled cries, and then into outright cries of pain.

Lu Yuan could heal her wounds, but the pain was hers alone to bear. There was nothing he could do about that.

He watched her — unable to hold a seated posture any longer, collapsed against the side of the tub — and felt a quiet ache of pity. But he was helpless.

For the kind of pain that arose from gene evolution working within one's own body, there was simply no intervention.

Time passed. Eventually, Si Tingxue's cries began to fade, and the rate at which new wounds appeared slowed.

The ordeal was nearly over.

Lu Yuan's brow rose slightly. A small smile touched his lips — not for himself, but for her. She had endured. She was going to make it through.

Of course, even if her body had completely collapsed, as long as her mind remained intact, Life's Gift could have brought her back. Whether the unfinished inscription would have continued afterward, he wasn't certain.

But this — this was far better.

A little while longer, and Si Tingxue's cries fell silent entirely. No new wounds appeared. Dense, swirling frost began to rise off her body, wrapping her whole form in a shell of ice. When it finally settled, her presence was noticeably stronger than before.

Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her.

The first trial was only just cleared. Ahead lay the soul remnant — a King Grade Feral Beast possessing Sovereign Grade bloodline.

Even so, he had confidence in Si Tingxue. She had inscribed two Sovereign Grade Gene Armaments, and the breakthrough itself would bring its own enhancement. Against a mindless soul remnant, she should be more than capable.

Lu Yuan settled in to wait.

Days passed. Si Tingxue remained encased in frost. Lu Yuan kept his vigil at her side throughout.

He found himself musing on the difference between other Gene Warriors and himself. When he inscribed genes, they were always so far below his actual strength that every soul remnant had simply been obliterated on the spot.

For ordinary Gene Warriors, it was an entirely different story. The soul remnant was a brutal trial that defined whether one could advance further.

To go further, they needed stronger Transcendent Genes — but stronger genes meant more dangerous soul remnants. Playing it safe meant weaker genes and slower growth. It was a trap that thinned the ranks at every level — the very reason Gene Warriors grew scarcer the higher one climbed.

He was still sitting with that thought when the frost covering Si Tingxue began to crack.

Fractures spread across the surface — and then the shell shattered, dissolving into a pale, drifting mist that filled the entire bathroom. Si Tingxue's eyes slowly opened, and in those ice-blue depths, a faint luminescence of deep blue light flickered to life.