Aotian, who had been smiling brightly as he looked at his beloved, completely froze when he saw despair suddenly appear on her face.
His mind went blank for an instant, watching the joy and happiness on Rihai's expression twist into a silent scream of pain and fear.
His consciousness only returned when he saw her collapse to her knees on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, her face pale and lifeless.
"RIIHAAIII—!!!"
A loud, desperate scream echoed through the cave, kept from spreading across the mountain only by the isolation arrays.
Panicked, Aotian tried to run to her, but as soon as he felt Rihai being enveloped by spiritual energy, he came to an abrupt stop. His face filled with worry and cold sweat.
He had no idea what was happening, and in that world full of spiritual energy and mysteries, approaching and inserting his energy without understanding the situation could be dangerous for her.
'What's happening?! Rihai…' His eyes turned red, and panic began to take over his mind.
Before the woman he loved, he was losing the ability to think clearly.
He wanted help from an experienced elder, but all the elders were himself, and if even he didn't know what to do, the others wouldn't either.
In the midst of desperation, he thought of someone who might be able to help.
But before he could act, something even more bizarre happened.
Rihai's body, which had been twitching in pain and shock, suddenly began to levitate horizontally. Her blue eyes rolled back and closed as her body convulsed until she fell completely unconscious.
Then, in front of Aotian's horrified eyes, a golden half-orb, along with thousands of thin blue vessels connected to it, emerged from Rihai's body.
He immediately recognized what they were. The half-orb was one half of a Golden Core, and the thin blue vessels — seeming to exist between the real and unreal, forming the outline of a human shape like the veins of a body — were something he always saw whenever he practiced dual cultivation with Rihai.
Those were, in fact, part of her spiritual roots — the elemental affinity of water, which normally remained suppressed and almost invisible within her fire-element roots.
Both the core and the root that had emerged from her body were surrounded by divine patterns, and the most incredible thing was that these patterns didn't only circle the half-dantian and roots but also encompassed a bit of empty space — as if encircling a full dantian rather than just half of one.
In the same way, the patterns seemed to wrap around an entire network of roots, even though in reality there was only an extremely fine thread of root — something that could hardly be called a true root.
'What the hell is happening?!' Aotian's jaw dropped, his eyes wide open in complete bewilderment.
By that time, Bao Wuji had already rushed into the chamber, but just like his main body, Aotian didn't dare get too close or send energy near her, fearing it might cause harm.
Even so, with Bao Wuji's high level of cultivation, he could still perceive something astonishing.
Rihai's soul aura seemed to be split — part of it still in her body, and the other part following the half-Core and the floating roots. Her vitality was also divided, half in each portion of the Core.
If this situation continued, Rihai's body would be left with a soul weakened by half, which would be extremely harmful to her spirit, willpower, and talent. Her vitality would also be reduced, allowing her to live only half the lifespan of a cultivator at the same level.
Faced with that scene, Aotian's heart filled with dread.
'Damn heavens, haven't you made my wife suffer enough?! Why do you keep punishing her?! What did she ever do to deserve this?!' He clenched his teeth and fists, consumed by anger and helplessness.
Tormented, he tried to call upon his last resort.
'System, I beg you, please tell me what's happening to Rihai!!'
He pleaded desperately. The system rarely helped him with information about the world, but at that moment, he had no other choice but to try.
Ding!
[The Divine Physique talent of disciple Liu Rihai is currently awakening. It is recommended that the host provide energy from the Five Elements of Creation to accelerate the process.]
Aotian froze upon receiving such a useful response, but soon his mind began to calm and the confusion faded as he finally had some direction.
He didn't know if this awakening would increase Rihai's strength, but if the cost was half her soul and vitality, he would rather it not happen. Still, as long as her life wasn't in danger, any damage could be fixed later.
Now that he knew it was the awakening of her innate talent, he felt relieved — at least she wasn't in mortal danger.
Controlling Bao Wuji, he didn't hesitate.
Pulling ring after ring from his storage space, he began to pour out the perfect-grade elemental stones of the Five Elements he had previously synthesized.
As soon as they appeared, the elemental energy in the cave surged like a rising tide.
Aotian dumped mountains of those priceless stones — which didn't even exist naturally in this world — onto the ground as if they were mere pebbles.
The energy of the Five Elements of Creation represented the fundamental elements — fire, earth, water, wood, and metal — said to be the essence of all things in existence, and Aotian had these elemental stones in abundance.
He also threw out mountains of perfect-grade spirit stones, further amplifying the flow of energy in the chamber.
With the influx of energy, Rihai's body, along with the half-dantian and roots covered in divine patterns, began absorbing energy like a whale swallowing water.
Aotian's eyes shone with joy as he sensed, through Bao Wuji, that Rihai's soul and vitality were rapidly recovering.
His legs went weak, and he almost collapsed under the weight of relief.
Aotian ran his hands through his hair, feeling his head throb after the terror of only moments ago.
His breathing was still shaky, and his heart was racing, but at last his mind could think clearly again.
He quickly controlled his avatars, who were already rushing to the cave, and made them turn back.
Many disciples were left confused by the sudden movements of the elders, who had departed in unison with grim faces, all heading in the same direction. Fortunately, to their relief, it didn't seem to be anything serious, as all the elders soon returned.
Regaining control of his nerves, Aotian's eyes turned to the source of all the confusion — that half-Golden Core and the roots — but as soon as he did, his eyes widened in shock.
Because there, floating in the air, was now an almost complete Supreme Golden Core, finishing its formation and locking into the previously empty divine patterns. Along with it were the now-strong and thick water-element roots, becoming complete roots, no longer just a thin affinity torn from a real one.
And the transformation didn't stop there. Flesh, blood, bones, blood vessels, and skin began to form at high speed around them.
"What—" Aotian couldn't even form words at that moment.
Because, beside his wife, a second person was literally being constructed.
When the process finally ended, Aotian's jaw dropped for the tenth time that day.
The second person was identical to his wife in every last detail.
The only difference was that while Rihai had golden hair, this other woman had beautiful navy-blue hair.
The contrast was striking.
One seemed to have the sun molded into her hair, while the other seemed to carry the very sea in her strands.
The divided vitality and soul of the two had completely recovered, and the ocean of energy surrounding them began to calm, ceasing its flow.
The naked bodies of the two women slowly lost altitude and settled gently onto the clean floor of the cave.
Above the sect, a massive image of a blazing sun and a turbulent sea appeared. The vision radiated an aura so imposing that it caused the hearts of all present to tremble — including Aotian's avatars observing the scene.
The immense image could probably be seen even in the neighboring domains, which were fortunately also under Aotian's command.
'Divine Physique of the Sun and the Sea…' Aotian murmured inwardly with a complex look as he watched the phenomenon slowly fade.
The phantom image reminded him of what Rihai had once told him in secret during dual cultivation.
["... when I was born, a massive image of a sun and a sea began to appear in the sky. My father, a powerful Tribulation Transcendent and possessor of a divine physique, managed to hide the celestial phenomenon before it fully manifested, thus concealing my identity, which could have brought me great danger. I don't know exactly what the powerful of the world want with a divine physique, but my father always warned me never to reveal it, not even to elders or close relatives of the Liu family. And I always obeyed. You, my husband, are the first person I've ever told this to."]
["Since there are very few records of divine physiques, mine had no prior record, just like almost all the others before it. So my father himself named it the Divine Physique of the Sun and the Sea, because of the phenomenon at my birth."]
["My name also came from that. Rihai (sun and sea) isn't because of my blond hair and blue eyes, as you thought when we first met, but because of my divine physique."]
["As for that second affinity in my roots, I really don't know why it exists. All divine physiques recorded in history had affinity with only one element, and mine is the only exception so far… well, in a way. Even though that affinity exists, it's as if it doesn't."]
["I can't nurture it or use it, and even when I cultivate, I don't need to worry about it, because the divine patterns repel any energy that tries to touch it. It also doesn't steal energy from the main affinity, so it's as if I only have a root of one element, with no issues in cultivation."]
The memories of Rihai's words returned vividly to Aotian's mind, and he took a deep breath. Even with everything he knew, he still didn't understand what that second woman was, nor why Rihai's divine talent had created her.
Slowly, he approached the two women lying on the ground. At that moment, the eyelashes of both fluttered slightly, a sign they were about to wake up.
Aotian controlled Bao Wuji to hide in the void, since it would be shameful for the two to be seen by an unrelated man.
As for the blue-haired woman… well, she had the same body as Rihai, and Aotian had already seen everything. Besides, he couldn't leave his wife alone with this stranger.