"So, while I was using my causality technique to resist the hypothermia, you were also maintaining your body temperature along with me?"
Ye Ling couldn't help but be startled by Xin's words.
He had speculated about Xin's causality techniques many times, but he never expected that Xin's causality technique would be self-sacrifice, and that Xin alone could not complete her causality technique!
This time, Ye Ling had truly served as a stepping stone for the other party.
However, even if he had to do it again, Ye Ling would still use Custom Future to offset the annihilation heart.
After all, the hypothermia was real. If Ye Ling had truly allowed the annihilation heart to lower his temperature, the only outcome would have been his thoughts freezing and slowly leading to death.
After a moment of shock, Ye Ling quickly calmed down and asked Xin, "Since your causality technique is complete, and considering how much I helped you, can you tell me what the effects of your annihilation heart are?"
At this moment, Xin's body was becoming increasingly ethereal, her pupils starting to scatter. She said to Ye Ling intermittently, "You'll know soon... or perhaps, you'll never know."
As Xin finished speaking, she floated in front of Ye Ling and hugged him.
However, Ye Ling could not feel any weight from Xin, nor did he have any tactile sensation of contact with her.
At this moment, Xin was merely a lingering spirit.
Xin pressed her head against Ye Ling's chest and murmured, "Is this the sound of a real heartbeat... This is the first time I've heard it so close. How peaceful, how serene."
"A Ling, you're truly not afraid at all right now. I don't hear any fear or panic in your heartbeat."
"But soon, you should feel fear. Oh no... you probably won't feel fear."
"Savor it... the realm of annihilation, which I have created for you."
As Xin's voice fell, her body rapidly faded and finally disappeared in Ye Ling's embrace.
Xin's aura completely dissipated.
However, after Xin's demise, Ye Ling did not relax. Instead, all his muscles tensed up, and an overwhelming sense of crisis surged into his heart.
The annihilation heart was a causality technique that even Xin couldn't fully activate by sacrificing her own life. Now that the causality technique was activated, it would be a lie for Ye Ling to say he wasn't nervous.
As Xin faded, Ye Ling tensed his spirit to the extreme, while also instructing Vivian to stay by Karma's side and be ready to hand over Karma immediately if anything unexpected happened, in order to seize Xin's causality technique!
Under these circumstances, Ye Ling couldn't afford to worry about Karma's ongoing awakening.
If he lost his life, it wouldn't matter whether Karma awakened or not.
In the heavens and earth... the blizzard stopped.
The decaying heart also gradually became illusory and finally disappeared from Ye Ling's sight.
Not only the wind and snow in the heavens and earth and the decaying heart, but everything in this world was also turning gray and finally disappearing.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Ye Ling felt that not only the things in the world but even his own body was becoming gray.
Within his own body, parts of him were disappearing.
But Ye Ling only had this feeling; he didn't know what was disappearing from his body.
"What exactly does the annihilation heart refer to?"
Ye Ling frowned slightly as he witnessed everything in the world turning gray.
Even with Hand's ten-second kill, Ye Ling could avoid it with his precognition.
But with Xin's causality technique, even though Ye Ling was in control and his precognition had been greatly enhanced, he still couldn't see what was happening in the future!
The future Ye Ling foresaw was entirely gray.
"No, I can't be so passive. I need to head further north!"
Ye Ling didn't want to remain passively in place. He began to fly north, but as soon as Ye Ling set off, everything around him turned completely gray.
Ye Ling lost his sense of direction.
"The situation seems to be getting worse and worse. Everything around me is turning gray, and I can't discern the direction. If this continues, I'll be trapped here to die!"
Seeing his own hands also turning gray, Ye Ling immediately realized that he, like the surrounding world, would eventually face annihilation.
"Should I... should I have a way to break this situation?"
Ye Ling frowned slightly, reviewed his abilities, and murmured, "The power of the Seven Kings is not suitable for stopping this. Then, what I can rely on now should be the Source Text and the power of creation."
"Yes, since everything around is disappearing, then I should be able to use creation..."
A flash of inspiration struck Ye Ling's mind, but soon, he frowned again and said, "Xin's causality technique seems to be leading everything to annihilation. To resist this annihilation, the Seven Kings' power and Source Text that I currently possess can only rely on my causality technique to customize the future."
Ye Ling felt as if he had lost something, but after recalling all his abilities, he couldn't figure out what he had lost.
"Forget it, thinking too much is useless. Let's customize the future first!"
Ye Ling glanced at the gray world around him, immediately condensed Source Text around himself, and prepared to write an article with Source Text to customize his future.
Boom!!!
Ye Ling's spiritual power began to be consumed frantically, but as the surrounding world grew darker, the confusion in Ye Ling's eyes increased.
Gradually, the Source Text in front of Ye Ling dissipated, and Ye Ling stood dazed on the barren land.
After a moment, Ye Ling suddenly jolted, then shook his head vigorously and said, "That was close! This causality technique of Xin is too terrifying. I was almost swallowed by the darkness."
Ye Ling gathered his spirits, looked at the increasingly dark world around him, and his mind began to race: "Under the influence of the annihilation heart, I must have lost something, but I can't detect it..."
"As far as I can see, among the Seven Kings' powers I possess, the power of the Primordial Underworld King can control life and death. If Xin's causality technique is to return everything to annihilation, then perhaps using the energy of life and death... can delay the effect of this causality technique. I need to find a way to break it within this time."
Ye Ling murmured and began to try to revive the gray world around him with the energy of life and death, but before he could use the energy of life and death, he frowned again.
"Xin dragged me into this dark place with her annihilation heart. There's nothing around here..."
Ye Ling muttered to himself, glanced at his completely disappeared hand, and then said, "It seems that this place will devour everything in me with darkness. I need to find a way to escape this place and find Xin to break the deadlock."
"I... seem to have lost something."
Ye Ling always felt like he had lost something, but after carefully recalling, all the abilities he possessed were still there, and he didn't know what he had lost.
"Never mind... Since I can't detect what I've lost, what I've lost now should not be important. I need to find a way to break the deadlock before I lose everything completely."
Ye Ling cast aside the sense of unease in his heart and began to grope in the dark, empty land.
A moment later...
"Huh? Why am I here?"
Ye Ling scanned the dark environment around him, his brow furrowed: "I should be in the spatial passage from the Eastern Xuan Continent back to Earth. Could there have been a problem with the spatial teleportation?"
"Heavenly Punishment!"
Ye Ling pondered for a moment and called out his divine weapon, but there was no response from around him.
"It seems I've lost contact with my divine weapons. To leave this cursed place, I'll have to figure it out myself and figure out where I am..."