The Great Doctor Girl

The alarm was the final roar of a dying beast, sharp enough to pierce the brain, echoing wildly beneath the oppressive dome. I looked up and, through the specially designed transparent observation wall, saw the massive Four Symbols star chart above the city—a giant net woven from countless points of light, symbolizing the order of heaven and earth—now violently twisting and flickering. The pillars of light representing the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise were dim as candles in the wind, struggling to stay afloat under the filthy, distorted energy released by Sotulun, like a deep-sea fog. And the southern direction, where the Vermilion Bird should have soared, was instead a… suffocatingly dark void. It was over. Without the support of the Vermilion Bird's power, this crumbling Three Stars array was like a spine that had been removed.

The city trembled subtly, not from the earth itself, but from something deeper within. A strange hissing sound emanated from the solid floor beneath my feet, as if something cold and slippery was greedily devouring and melting the very foundation that sustained the life of this land—its "Qi veins"! The stellar marrow mist from those damned ruins was not only destroying the formations, but also eroding the city's vital energy!

pain.

A sharp pain didn't come from an alarm, but rather exploded from deep within my chest, piercing straight to my soul! My fingers instinctively and tightly gripped the cold silver needle hanging around my neck—"Star Tear." The sensation at my fingertips wasn't the tender warmth it carried in its past life, but rather the other end—the lifeline of the man named Huang Junze, whose life was already inextricably linked to mine… was rapidly breaking!

My gaze swept past the bustling, chaotic crowd, landing on the blinding red below the control panel. He lay there, his human form barely tangible, his massive dragon body riddled with wounds, the most fatal being the gruesome piercing wound across his chest and abdomen. Blood, and something more important—the golden light that sustained his dragon soul and primordial essence—gushed from that gaping gash, like the final struggle of a setting sun. With each flicker of dimming light, it felt as if an invisible hand was clenching tightly over my own heart!

He was my anchor. Memories flashed by, frame by frame: from when I descended the mountain to find my husband, to...

A heart full of love and compassion, a life radiant with time.

Your heart is as calm as water, while mine burns like fire.

Life is renewed, and a happy marriage is set.

We must join forces to fight the evil spirits; my life hangs by a thread.

By cleverly borrowing the Chaos Pearl, he was able to seize the wind and marsh.

Your letter expresses deep affection, and my writing reflects your profound sentiments.

Deeply in love, my heart is bound; my mind is in turmoil, my soul is captivated.

Passionate and intense, my mind is in turmoil...

My divine healing power originates from heaven and earth, yet it shares the same river of life with him.

If he... sheds his last drop of dragon blood and returns to dust, my power of divine healing will dry up instantly, like a river that has run dry! At that time, let alone saving this city, I won't even be able to sustain my own life...

"Warning! The spiritual power of the Southern Vermilion Bird Array Eye is less than 0.2%! The damage rate of the main channel of the Qi Meridian Network is 49.7%! The countdown to the collapse of the city's total energy barrier is 1 minute and 13 seconds!" The voice of the synthesized AI was as cold as an echo from the depths of a glacier. It clearly struck everyone's heart amidst the clamor of the alarm, and it felt more like a heavy hammer hitting my spine.

“Sister Luo Shu!” Bi Xuan’s tearful voice came from behind. She almost scrambled to the control panel, followed closely by Qing Yao, whose face was ashen. Both of them were covered in glaring bloodstains and scorch marks from energy burns. “Qi Meridian Synchronizer… The synchronizer shows that the core node has begun a chain reaction of collapse! The ‘Earth Gate’ position in the west of the city… the spiritual energy is completely depleted!” Bi Xuan’s voice trembled as she pointed to a rapidly spreading black area on the screen, which represented the complete severance of life force.

Qingyao's voice was filled with barely suppressed panic as she spoke rapidly: "President Huang... his dragon breath... is dissipating! The life link index... has fallen below the warning line!" She pointed to the waveform on another monitor screen, where the curve representing Huang Junze's vitality had become so weak that it was almost a straight line, and the life link index connected to me was issuing a shrill red alarm—it was about to break!

The excruciating pain surged from the depths of my soul once more, even more intense than before! I groaned, forcibly suppressing the metallic taste in my throat, my fingers almost digging the silver needles of the Star Tear into the flesh of my palms. He couldn't hold on any longer, the formation couldn't hold on any longer, and the city... couldn't hold on any longer either.

My gaze abruptly shifted to the control panel. At the heart of that device—the fragment of the Vermilion Bird Feather, shimmering with a fiery red light and containing the final legacy of my mother, Zhiyue! It dimmed, the once-burning flames seeming about to be extinguished. My mother's voice and smile flashed through my mind.

"Book... Phoenix rebirth... The fire in your heart never dies..."

The mother's whisper suddenly rang out, like a faint lightning bolt cleaving through the chaos of despair!

The fire in my heart never goes out...

My gaze was fixed on the nearly burnt-out Vermilion Bird Feather core, then on Huang Junze whose vital signs had plummeted, and finally on the Life Link Index on my wrist, which was constantly issuing red alerts. A near-mad thought, carrying the heat of hellfire, burst forth from my shattered consciousness!

"Bixuan! Qingyao!" My voice was hoarse and distorted from the excruciating pain and determination, but every word was uttered with all my might and was crystal clear. "Hold on! Prepare to take over my Life Link Synchronization Matrix! Target—Huang Junze!"

"What?!" Bixuan and Qingyao stared in horror, screaming almost simultaneously.

"Sister Luo Shu! No! That would be equivalent to completely synchronizing your life with that of the dying Jun Ze! Don't you know how serious his injuries are? Sharing life will cause you to suffer the same backlash instantly!" Qing Yao tried to rush over to stop me, but his wounds made him stumble.

"Synchronize? That's suicide, sister!" Bixuan cried out, her voice trembling with sobs. "Your body can't take it! Disconnecting now is your only way to save yourself..."

"Shut up!" I shouted, interrupting them with an unwavering resolve. "The city stands! He lives! I live! If the city falls, he dies, and I die! Do you understand?!" My eyes were fixed on the nearly extinguished fragments of the Vermilion Bird Feather. "We don't have the Vermilion Bird Array Eye! The only spark... is here!"

I suddenly pointed to the location of my heart! Not metaphorically, but physically!

"The Vermilion Bird inheritance power left to me by my mother is the last and only 'fuel' for this great formation!" My gaze swept across their pale faces, finally settling on the darkness representing the Vermilion Bird's location. "But fuel needs a flame to ignite it! Junze... his dragon soul blood is the final 'catalyst'! I will use the Vermilion Bird inheritance power... to ignite myself! Then, using myself as fuel, I will connect with Junze's dragon soul blood and 'ignite' his extinguished flame of life!"

Looking at the immense shock and fear in their eyes, I said, word by word, "This is 'Nirvana Induction'! It draws his life away, and burns mine! What you need to do is use the synchronization matrix to forcibly stabilize this 'fire' that is enough to consume me, and let it be precisely 'conducted' into the Vermilion Bird Formation Eye!"

Ignoring what they were about to say, my gaze abruptly fell upon the unconscious Huang Junze. His shattered dragon body twitched slightly in the pool of blood, his dragon breath as faint as a dying gasp. That was my husband. He had protected us with his life. And at this moment, the responsibility of protecting him overwhelmed all fear!

My resolve was as firm as iron! Deep within my consciousness, the long-dormant Vermilion Bird spirituality inherited from my mother, Lady Lingyan, was like a volcano that had been dormant for millions of years, which I resolutely ignited!

"唳——!!"

A heart-wrenching phoenix cry, seemingly emanating from an ancient wasteland, exploded directly in the deepest recesses of my soul! Endless pain! It wasn't physical pain, but the extreme torture of having my soul thrown into blazing flames, ignited, torn apart, and destroyed inch by inch!

"puff!"

Suddenly, everything went black, then my vision was completely stained red! Hot blood gushed uncontrollably from my mouth, instantly turning the control panel before me crimson. My body swayed violently, every bone and tendon feeling like it was screaming in agony. The power of the Vermilion Bird surged and crashed through my meridians like molten lava, each flow accompanied by excruciating pain that burned my bones and shattered my muscles. My consciousness, like a small boat in a storm, was instantly tossed to the crest of a wave!

Link! Sync!

With my last remaining consciousness, I roared and issued the command! The life ring on my wrist groaned under the strain, and Huang Junze's life force, connected to the depths of my soul, slammed down on my consciousness like a thousand-pound weight! It was the heaviness of impending death, the endless darkness and cold!

"Ugh—!" An uncontrollable scream of pain erupted from his throat, mingled with blood and foam. His vision was completely robbed by the excruciating pain, his consciousness rapidly sinking, as if plummeting into an abyss. This pain… far exceeded his imagination! So this is what it means to be consumed by fire!

"Sister Luo Shu!"

"Luo Shu!" Bi Xuan and Qing Yao's heart-wrenching roars seemed to come from the distant other side.

With my last ounce of strength, I sank my consciousness deep into the sea of ​​my mind to the faint point of light that represented the life link between us, now cracked like a spiderweb. I felt the chilling impending severance of that connection. Then, without reservation, and with unwavering resolve, I poured the Vermilion Bird inheritance power I had just unleashed—power powerful enough to consume myself—through this sole lifeline into him!

The prelude is complete! Dragon Soul—reignite!

Consciousness plunged completely into an excruciating hell of boundless darkness and raging flames.

……

I don't know how much time passed—perhaps just a moment, perhaps eternity. On the verge of complete annihilation, a faint yet incredibly familiar, burning life force miraculously flowed back from that dark other side, along the life link I had forcibly widened and reinforced! Like a spark in a frozen world, it suddenly brought a faint but incredibly real warmth!

Meanwhile, on the console—

The core fragment of the Vermilion Bird Feather, which had been completely dimmed, suddenly burst forth with an unprecedented, dazzling red light, like a supernova explosion!

Om-!

The entire base trembled violently! Above, the vast dark void symbolizing the Vermilion Bird's location shattered with a deafening roar! A colossal phantom of the Vermilion Bird, drawn from pure flames, carrying the power to incinerate the entire world, and with a resounding, fiery cry that echoed through the heavens, suddenly pierced through the filthy energy tide and soared into the night sky!

The Vermilion Bird's throne—it's lit up!

However, just as the phantom of the Vermilion Bird soared into the sky, in the instant before my consciousness completely sank into darkness, a grander, more ancient thought, seemingly transcending countless ages, like a resounding bell, actually used the power of the Vermilion Bird's rebirth and the star array's reconnection of the four elements of heaven and earth to transmit to the deepest part of my and Huang Junze's souls along the life link I had forcibly ignited!

"The... Sage of Medicine..."

Two ancient and difficult characters, carrying a kind of sacred destiny and a huge torrent of cause and effect, were deeply imprinted on the surface.

Darkness completely engulfed me. Only boundless pain and that ancient mark etched deep within my soul remained, like a shadow.

Did I succeed? Or... did it trigger an even more unknowable future? Mother... your daughter borrowed your light... this path... is it ultimately right... or wrong?