Chapter 5337: Perception Confluence

The chamber quickly emptied except for the three of them.

Laphria moved first as she caught Fairy Qiyra under the arms before the wobble became a fall, guided her back to the bed, and made her sit gently in the center without causing agitation in her. Davis already cleared the space with a wave of his hand.

He cast a gaze at Fairy Qiyra and saw that she was dull and listless, entering a weakened state again.

He really wanted to berate her, wondering what he had pulled now, but he quickly used his senses upon her, the White Saint Perception Art that allowed him to perceive the internal condition of the patient. His soul sense transformed into a wave of life-attributed soul force that entered through her wrist pulse and swept inside her body. All he could see were countless veins, organs, bones, blood vessels, and other kinds of anatomy, including blood and flesh that seemed to be bleeding from internal injuries.

He quickly arrived at a diagnosis, finding that she had tried to seal her physique, only for it to fail and end up harming herself as a backlash.

Instantly, life-attributed needles formed between the web of his fingers.

His hands danced like he was sewing nothing in mid-air, yet countless needles appeared on Fairy Qiyra’s body one after another. With him coordinating with his senses, he knew exactly where to pin the needle.

Fairy Qiyra’s eyes stirred with a bit of vitality as she felt a bit of relief.

Bad blood dripped out of the needle, and uncontrollable berserk energy from her astral and immortal cultivations dispersed like smoke.

Then he signaled Laphria to connect Lydia and Fairy Qiyra Darkstar’s palms, make them hold hands together, and connect their meridian pathways.

While Laphria did that, Davis quickly drew something in the air.

[IMPOSE]

[PERCEPTION CONFLUENCE]

Three runes mixed together in the inscription art, namely, IMPOSE, while PERCEPTION and CONFLUENCE were fused together within. It formed in mid-air and glowed with a brilliant light before descending upon Lydia and sinking into her.

Lydia’s breath nearly got caught in her throat as the world suddenly opened to her in a new light.

She was left breathless as she could sense Fairy Qiyra Darkstar’s emotions.

’This is... what helplessness feels like from others...? No... I-"

"...!"

Lydia nearly jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder and firmly shake her.

She turned to look up and saw her father smiling fondly at her.

"Don’t worry. Don’t focus on sensing the emotions of others. Let Heart Intent remain like mist, merely floating around you. I’ll carry all the burdens of the shared senses. You just focus on your task."

"..."

Lydia wordlessly gazed at him before nodding.

At that moment, she closed her eyes and started chanting, "Grand Divine Phoenix Constellation of the First Astral Sea, whose astral flames once crowned the Astral Phoenix Peak, whose light does not ask the name of the vessel that still remembers it. With the remnant carried through death with your grace, I, Lydia Davis, call what remains of Alicia Starshroud to restore my astral essence to its fullest state."

A thin gold current flew in her soul sea.

It was not the full ocean she had commanded in her last life, but a tiny part of it. The Reincarnation Cycle had shaved it down to a surviving core, phoenix-bright and stubborn, that allowed her the opportunity to attain a nirvanic rebirth. The moment it moved, Davis felt it through the Perception Confluence. He could not sense nor taste astral essence on his own, but through Lydia, he had become able to.

His surprise lasted only a moment at finding this new type of essence. It was like a golden flaming mist that sparkled and shimmered like the stars in the skies.

He had come across astral energy and was able to sense it and break it when unleashed by other cultivators, but he hadn’t been able to find astral energy from the vast Astral Sea. Now, he was able to sense it. It was far less than the pure heaven and earth energy that was now pouring from the Golden Era, but considering that there were not many astral cultivators, this kind of sparse astral energy was more than enough for them to thrive.

Through Lydia, he also felt Fairy Qiyra’s meridians as starved dark rivers, the replica ring sitting on her like a lid, and the far pull of the Divergent Star still drinking in reverse.

Davis activated his karmic eyes, intending to take a look at the karmic thread that she shared with the Divergent Star, but at this moment, he had a vague premonition that it would not only be useless but also get him marked by it.

He couldn’t afford that right now, especially when Lydia was also joined in this endeavor.

Davis raised his hands to summon needles again as he used the Yin-Yang Reversal Needle Technique to stop the reverse flow of astral energy. With a flick of his hands, he removed the earlier needles and then inserted new ones like he was a heavenly physician with innumerable hands.

He never doubted his ability to pierce people, whether it be with a sword or a needle.

These needles acted as guides and conduits to anchor the astral essence from leaking outside, each needle finding a junction in the Starlight Devouring Veins while pinning a path enough for foreign astral essence to enter without leaking its own.

Fairy Qiyra’s lashes trembled. She did not open her eyes. Her hands stayed locked with Lydia’s because Laphria had already aligned their meridian gates at the palms to the point of maximum accuracy. If she broke the position now, the essence would spray, and the backlash would be worse than the failed self-seal.

"I’ll start the grafting now."

Fairy Qiyra Darkstar only heaved a cold breath.

Davis summoned another set of needles that struck Lydia’s forehead, pinning her soul.

She shivered, but Davis continued while she continued to believe.

More life-attributed needles appeared over her shoulders, elbow, and wrists, connecting a pathway to the Fairy Qiyra’s meridians. Because there was the danger of the Divergent Star stealing the astral essence or it being rejected as foreign astral essence, Davis had to graft and allow circulation to occur in Fairy Qiyra’s body by himself until she could confidently take over.

Davis took a moment to take a deep breath.

Anything that happened after now would determine Fairy Qiyra’s fate, either forcing her to use the replica ring to free herself of this accursed siphoning but get kicked out into the great void, or causing her to turn unconscious forever as the physique teeters on the brink of collapse.