Kong Xiang and the others had ultimately underestimated Su Yan's affection for Gu Yang and Zhou Ye; moreover, they simply did not dare to use spiritual power to harm her.
Therefore, when Su Yan broke through the crowd, they could only chase after her from behind.
Gu Yang, who had already reached the final stage, lost focus for the first time, looking toward Su Yan as she moved rapidly toward them.
As his heart surged with emotion, a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
"Focus!"
Zhou Ye's cold reminder rang out.
Gu Yang forced himself to withdraw his gaze, his entire being falling into a bone-chilling coldness due to excessive blood loss.
"Just a little more!" Zhou Ye's face was equally pale, but his gaze remained incredibly resolute.
"Fine." Gu Yang let out a roar and continued to circulate his cultivation technique, forcing the remaining blood in his body to flow rapidly.
Streams of blood flowed out from his body, and as far as the eye could see, there were traces of the formation being repaired.
Su Yan's eyes turned bloodshot. "Gu Yang! Teacher, don't!!"
She wanted to stop them, but the distance between them felt like millions of kilometers; no matter how hard she tried, she could not reach them.
When she was blocked by a barrier, an expression of utter despair appeared on her face.
Zhou Ye had anticipated everything and had set up a barrier here long ago.
Unless he were to perish and his cultivation be extinguished, no one would absolutely be able to break in.
Su Yan exerted all her strength to try and break the barrier, but Zhou Ye knew her strength too well. This barrier was specifically designed to target her; there was no way she could break it.
Kong Xiang and Kong Ling watched Su Yan charging inward as if she had no regard for her own life, and both worked hard to restrain her.
"Patriarch, please calm down! Even if you go in now, it will be useless! Do you want to destroy their life's work and cause the formation to shatter completely? Think of your father, your relatives, and the ordinary people outside!"
Kong Xiang shouted incessantly, attempting to make Su Yan calm down.
But how could Su Yan hear anything at all? She did not want her teacher and Gu Yang to leave her as well—was there something wrong with that?!
However, she had already exhausted too much spiritual power and energy; in the end, she could only collapse on the ground in total exhaustion, watching helplessly as Gu Yang and Zhou Ye continuously consumed themselves.
Gu Yang's vision began to blur, and the blood flowing from his body grew less and less.
In a trance, he saw Su Yan crying.
Her face was covered in tear tracks, as if she were pouring her heart out to him.
But he could not hear her.
If he could, he wanted to hold her one last time.
He used to think they had a very, very long time ahead of them; it turned out his entire life was only this brief.
To finally be able to say he had loved a girl for his whole life—that was his greatest happiness.
"Gu Yang! Hold on, just a little more left." Zhou Ye exerted every ounce of his strength to try and call Gu Yang back to consciousness.
Gu Yang felt his entire body becoming heavier and heavier, as if something were constantly pulling him down.
Zhou Ye looked at the cultivation technique that was no longer producing any blood, and the formation that had just been repaired, which was already beginning to stir again because the repair had stopped!
He, too, was in the same position; having reached the most critical moment, he would absolutely not allow failure.
With a wave of his hand, he allowed the voices shielded outside the barrier to enter.
Su Yan's grief-stricken screams finally caused Gu Yang to open his eyes once more.
"Brother Gu, stop, please stop, I beg you, stop..."
Gu Yang's last shred of sanity allowed him to experience a miraculous resurgence of strength, like a terminal glow.
But his body was already empty, without a single drop of blood left.
So what? As long as he had conviction.
"With my flesh and blood, I seal... the Evil Charm!"
As the incantation was completed, Gu Yang's hands fell weakly at his sides, waiting for that moment to arrive.
He looked at the suffering Su Yan outside the barrier; he had never imagined he would die in front of her in such a manner.
"Forget me."
He could no longer make any sound; he could only silently repeat those three words over and over again.
Forget me.
Forget me.
Zhou Ye gave a bitter smile; it had finally come to this step.
At the same time, he also exhausted all of his spiritual power.
"No! Brother Gu!!"
Su Yan roared like a trapped beast, reaching out her hands wanting to touch Gu Yang one last time, even if it was only for the very last time.
But the heavens refused; they were determined to be this cruel to her, forcing her to watch Gu Yang dissipate before her very eyes.
And his flesh and blood were scattered around the perimeter of the barrier.
At this moment, she felt that nothing remained before her but darkness—endless darkness, a darkness that drove her to madness.
Her mind was filled entirely with Gu Yang, her Brother Gu. She hadn't even had the chance to tell him that she had recovered all her memories, that she was willing to be with him forever.
In the end, it was all too late; they were destined to be separated by the realms of the living and the dead.
For her sake, separated by life and death...
The formation emitted a blinding light.
Everyone held their breath as they saw all the fractures being instantly repaired.
Once the area fell silent, the Kong, Zhou, and Ma families, located thousands of miles away, also instantly returned to normal from the terrifying aura, leaving behind only corpses scattered everywhere and a scene of devastation.
A moment later, only Zhou Ye remained, drifting down from the sky.
The barrier shattered.
Su Yan rushed forward like a madwoman, stumbling to his side.
"Teacher, Teacher, don't..."
Her hands trembled as she pulled him up from the ground, her entire being swallowed by a profound sense of powerlessness.
The breath-thin Zhou Ye already had a head full of white hair. He managed to lift his hand to try and wipe the tears from Su Yan's face, but he could not wipe them clean.
"Silly girl, teacher knows you blame me for pulling Gu Yang in as well. This time, consider it a debt I owe him. In the next life..."
At the moment Zhou Ye died, a smile still lingered on the corners of his mouth.
His responsibility had been entirely fulfilled.
To owe nothing to the common people, and only to one person—that was already the best possible ending.
"No, Teacher, I don't hate you, Teacher..."
Su Yan let out one final roar, sprayed a mouthful of blood, and fell completely into darkness.
Kong Xiang was quick to catch her, then let out a heavy sigh.
Having endured successive waves of pain and despair, the fact that she could still hold on until now meant she had exhausted all her mental strength.
"Is it over? Is it really all over?"
The survivors of the catastrophe still could not believe it, fearing that something might go wrong again.
They did not dare to relax, nor did they feel joy; they simply stood there, dazed, just standing there.
Kong Xiang picked up Su Yan and instructed Kong Ling and the others: "Transport Master Zhou Ye's body back along with us."
As for Gu Yang, whose body was not intact in death, there was nothing they could do.
This battle ended under such tragic circumstances.
They had won, but such a victory carved a wound into everyone's heart that would never heal.
Every person who left their life here was a hero.
(End of Chapter)