Shun Long's heart was beating rapidly as he looked at the weak Liu Mei, but he knew, that there was nothing he could do right now, but hope that Liu Mei would get through this.
However, the scene in front of his eyes wasn't improving in the slightest, as the aura of death coming from Liu Mei's body was getting thicker and thicker with every second that passed.
The black dragon and the silver-winged panther both stayed silent as they watched their master's wife, whose condition was only worsening.
At the same time, inside her mind, Liu Mei felt extreme pain, as if her soul was being hammered relentlessly.
At first, she could still endure the intense pain, but as time went on, the intensity of the attack gradually increased.
It was like an ever-rising crescendo, that would only stop once it had completely wiped out her soul.
The luster that her soul gradually dimmed under the 'Spellsinger bird's' unstoppable attacks, while Liu Mei could feel the clarity of her mind slowly seeping away from her consciousness.
Countless scenes replayed in her mind, as death creeped ever so closer to her soul.
She once again saw her austere father, who always had a serious look on his face whenever he talked to her.
The scenes of her childhood flashed through her eyes, but no matter how hard she was training, or how much effort she put in, it was never good enough for her father.
Liu Mei could always feel the look of disappointment that was etched in Liu Jian's eyes, since his second wife didn't give him a son as well. No matter how talented a daughter was, he would never allow her to become the sect master.
The scenes soon changed, and Liu Mei saw her beautiful mother who was dressed in white.
Even though her husband didn't seem to care about their daughter, Liu Mei's mother had always showered her little girl with love and attention.
This was Liu Mei's only regret once she had chosen to leave the 'Floating cloud sect'... her mother.
She had always planned to visit her in the future once she became strong enough...
'Mother...'
The scene that depicted the white-dressed mature woman soon faded out, and was replaced with a handsome young man dressed in green robes.
The greatest genius of the 'Floating cloud sect', her cold and proud brother, Liu Changpun.
She could still remember how much she idolized her elder brother when she was younger, while everyone around her preached about this greatest genius of the 'Floating cloud sect'.
She could still remember the envy that she had felt as well, every time that she saw the proud smile on her father's face whenever he was facing Liu Changpun.
After all, she was just a little girl. How could she not feel envy, when her own father was shunning her, but he was praising her own brother instead.
Her life kept flashing through her mind, as she once again saw her only close friend in the sect, Lan Jinjing.
She was the only one who had stood by her side when she had rejected the proposal of the third young master from the 'Flying sword sect', which had made her brother furious.
She also remembered the young master of the Meng family, Meng Shengyi, along with all the other people from the inner city who had tried to court her, until the scene changed once again.
'Long-ge..'
Scenes of a handsome, proud young man flashed through her eyes.
From the 'Alchemists' Guild' in the 'Floating cloud sect', to the 'Treasure Pavilion' and finally, inside the 'Vermilion realm'.
From that moment, the 2 of them were always together, as they spent the next 4 months next to each other.
Ever since then, she had completely placed the 'Floating Cloud sect's' matters to the back of her mind, as her heart finally found love.
She remembered Shun Long's gentle smile every time that he held her in his hands, as well as his sturdy back whenever she sat behind him on the black panther's back, and unknowingly... tears welled up in her eyes.
A bright light once again lit up inside her, giving some luster back to Liu Mei's soul, but under the unceasing attacks of the 'Spellsinger bird', the light soon dimmed, and was on the verge of being extinguished.
''Long-ge... is this death?''
Liu Mei could feel a black energy surrounding her soul, trying to drag her to the depths of the abyss.
Once a soul died, it would be brought into the abyss of souls, and would either become food for other souls, or it would be sent to reincarnate.
This was death!
Liu Mei felt as if an illusionary, powerful hand, that reeked of some kind of dark energy had gripped her soul tightly, slowly dragging her downwards towards the abyss.
A large spatial hole had opened below Liu Mei's soul, which only people who were gripped by the hand of Death could see.
This was the Death abyss.
Liu Mei instinctively tried to struggle, but the strength of her soul had been completely sapped out.
She had no power to struggle as she was dragged downwards.
However, before the hand of death had managed to pull her inside the abyss, a magical thing happened.
A pink-colored vibrant energy had abruptly appeared in Liu Mei's spiritual space, as it completely encapsulated her soul.
Liu Mei's soul seemed like it had suddenly found a powerful tonic and started to absorb the vibrant energy around her, as her soul started to slowly regain its luster.
With every passing moment, Liu Mei could feel the hand of death that was tightly gripping her slowly loosening up.
Shun Long's eyes lit up when he saw Liu Mei's breathing that had started to stabilize itself.
Soon, her breathing started to grow stronger, while her face was slowly regaining its color.
However, what had left Shun Long completely baffled, was that the aura of death around Liu Mei wasn't getting weaker, but instead, it was growing stronger with every breath of time that passed!