The Beloved Guide Was Forced in a Love-Rival Shura Field - Chapter 42

“Mm…”

A muffled groan of pain.

Without warning, sharp, tearing agony exploded from the deepest part of Ning Ning’s spiritual sea, as if a bomb had gone off inside his skull—countless shards of glass grinding in his brain!

His brows instantly knotted tight. Hugging his head, his body curled up uncontrollably.

【Help! My head’s going to explode! These two S-rank spiritual powers are fighting right next to my brain—how is this any different from shoving two nuclear reactors into my ears?!】

His consciousness spun wildly, like being thrown into a washing machine.

At the edge of awareness, he could hear Xie Lin and Gu Qingfeng’s anxious voices, but they were muffled, as if coming from underwater, far and unclear.

Just when the pain was about to devour him whole, system 89’s shrill alarm cut through his mind.

【Alert! Alert! Violent and unstable energy fluctuations detected in host’s spiritual sea! Seal integrity has dropped to 73%!】
【Warning! Multiple high-intensity malicious forces converging rapidly on host’s coordinates! Threat level: Extreme! Host must evade immediately!】

Malicious forces? What malicious forces?

Ning Ning wanted to ask, but another wave of excruciating pain slammed into him, sweeping away all thought, leaving only raw, instinctive moans.

“Ning Ning!”

“What’s happening?!”

Xie Lin and Gu Qingfeng both turned pale. The clash of their auras shattered in an instant, leaving only panic.

“Don’t be afraid, Ning Ning. Relax.” Xie Lin strode forward in one step, gathering the trembling boy into his arms, shielding him with both body and spiritual power.

Behind him, his dark-gold wolf spirit appeared with a resounding roar, massive body curling protectively around the sofa. Its molten-gold eyes brimmed with fear and desperation.

Xie Lin immediately released his spiritual power, casting it out like a heavy, warm net, trying to contain Ning Ning’s chaotic spiritual sea.

But it didn’t work.

The storm inside Ning Ning showed no sign of calming. His spiritual sea was like a black hurricane eye gone out of control. Xie Lin could steady the outer edges, but he couldn’t reach deeper. Each attempt to approach was violently repelled.

“No! Alone, your power is too domineering—it’ll only agitate him further!” For the first time, Gu Qingfeng’s calm façade broke, urgency roughening his voice. “It has to be guided like a Sentinel-Guide bond. We’ll do it together!”

Xie Lin stared at Ning Ning’s pale face, his lips drained of all color. For once, he didn’t argue.

He knew—this wasn’t the time for jealousy.

Gu Qingfeng’s nine-tailed fox spirit appeared silently, elegant and luminous. The white fox circled to the other side of the sofa, nine fluffy tails shedding gentle moonlit glow.

The two men exchanged a glance. Not a word wasted. For the first time in history, they reached consensus.

At the same moment, they placed their hands on Ning Ning’s temples—one left, one right—like devout supplicants.

Two completely different S-rank spiritual powers—one heavy and steady as bedrock, the other intricate and fluid as water—entered Ning Ning’s chaotic world together.

In Ning Ning’s fragmented senses, he was a boat about to be torn apart by storm.

But suddenly, a towering dam rose behind him, shielding him from the fiercest waves. The aura was warm and domineering—Xie Lin’s—and it gave him instant anchor.

Then, cool streams surged in from every side, wrapping him gently, soothing the raging turbulence inside. Gu Qingfeng’s touch, weaving calm into every nerve.

Hard and soft. Heat and cool. Together, the two forces formed a fragile balance.

And in the process, their spiritual powers inevitably brushed against each other’s cores.

In that instant—

Xie Lin froze.

He saw.

Beneath Gu Qingfeng’s jade-like gentleness yawned an abyss—calculations cold enough to chill marrow. This wasn’t simple affection. It was a meticulous plan—to raise Ning Ning to godhood, then imprison him in a golden temple where only he could enter. A god, caged for Gu Qingfeng alone.

At the same time, Gu Qingfeng’s smile faltered.

He felt.

Beneath Xie Lin’s steady exterior raged molten lava—an obsession so consuming it would burn down the world itself if Ning Ning ever tried to leave. From hair to heartbeat, every part of Ning Ning must belong to him alone.

With words stripped away, it was raw, naked confrontation of souls.

They saw in each other the same madness—
the same single, burning name: Ning Ning.

Shock and fury, equal parts “so you too” and “you don’t deserve to”, detonated between them.

And then—

The command room doors slammed open.

A flustered adjutant rushed in, tripping over words. “Marshal! T-the researcher you urgently summoned—Doctor Huo Ze—he’s here!”

Even before he finished, a tall figure stepped past him.

The newcomer wore spotless white research robes, gold-rimmed glasses glinting, refined yet distant. It was the Empire’s foremost pharmacologist, Doctor Huo Ze.

He ignored the suffocating aura of two nearly materialized S-rank spirit beasts, walking straight to the sofa. Adjusting his glasses, his voice was calm yet commanding:

“Move aside.”

“You’re just slapping bandages on a dam that’s about to burst.” His glance at their hands carried clinical disdain. “This doesn’t cure—it worsens the instability.”

Xie Lin and Gu Qingfeng exchanged looks, then slowly withdrew.

Without their support, Ning Ning’s brows twitched again, but his breathing steadied. He sank into deeper unconsciousness.

Huo Ze crouched down, lifting Ning Ning’s eyelids with two slender fingers, then placed his palm over the boy’s chest, closing his eyes.

His own guiding power entered—sharp, precise, like a surgeon’s scalpel probing every fault.

Moments later, his eyes snapped open, more serious than ever.

He stood, addressing the two men in a voice meant only for them.

“His power isn’t losing control.”

“It’s awakening.”

Xie Lin’s spine stiffened, golden wolf eyes locked onto Huo Ze.

Without pause, Huo Ze gave the verdict:

“There’s an ancient seal in him. A shackle. And it’s loosening.”

The room’s air seemed sucked dry.

“Seal?” Gu Qingfeng reacted swiftly, eyes flickering as pieces fell together. “So his B-rank evaluation at the Empire’s center—that was because of it?”

“Correct.” Huo Ze nodded, even approving his deduction. “It’s an old bloodline safeguard. The Ning family—the so-called Moon God’s Guardians—knew exactly how tempting, and how dangerous, the Moon God’s power is. So with every generation’s birth, they locked away most of it deep in the spiritual sea.”

He swiped the holographic map, pulling up near-forgotten archives.

“To shield them from discovery and coveting. But now, the situation has changed.”

“Shielding?” Xie Lin’s voice dropped to a deadly rasp, every word ground out like steel. “You call that protection—making him writhe in agony like moments ago?!”

The memory of Ning Ning curled pale and trembling on the sofa filled him with searing rage.

Damn family. Damn protection.

Huo Ze pushed up his glasses, eyes glinting like scalpels. “The battles at the front, his repeated overuse of spiritual power—they’ve been battering that seal. It’s gone from protective shell to unstable explosive. Each fluctuation worsens the cracks. His pain just now was backlash from its collapse.”

“How do we fix it?” Xie Lin’s words struck like hammer blows—demanding the universe itself.

Huo Ze shook his head, voice cold as judgment.

“You don’t. Once a seal begins to loosen, it can’t be reversed.”

“What we can do is not reinforce it—but guide him to adapt, before the awakening swallows him whole. The power inside him is enough… to overturn the entire Empire.”

Overturn the Empire.

Gu Qingfeng’s gaze darkened on Ning Ning’s sleeping form. This power was both calamity and crown. It must, it could only, belong to the Royal Family.

But Xie Lin’s thoughts were simpler—and more deranged.

He only wanted Ning Ning safe. Free of pain.

Empire, war, power—meaningless beside Ning Ning’s suffering.

If this force harmed him, then Xie Lin would bury it with his own hands.

Three of the Empire’s greatest men stood, each with his own design, staring at the storm’s fragile eye.

They all understood: from this moment on, around this silver-haired boy, a war capable of engulfing star systems had silently begun.

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