The scent of blood was very strong inside the secret chamber. Huo Yao did not stop because of Sheng Ying's interruption. Just as she was about to apply the silver needle to an acupuncture point on Shangguan Wei's chest, Shangguan Wei stopped her.

"He's right. You should leave now…" Shangguan Wei shook his head. He was growing so weak that it felt as though it was a struggle just to talk.

Shangguan Wei knew his condition best. He also knew that the moment the mechanism behind him got activated, it would not stop until it was done.

In order to activate the time travel portal, they had to pay with life.

Huo Yao squatted in front of Shangguan Wei holding her silver needle so tightly that her fingers were white. She paused for a couple of seconds and continued to swiftly apply the silver needle to the acupuncture point on his chest as though she heard nothing.

Sure enough, after applying the silver needles, Shangguan Wei's condition failed to improve.

Shangguan Wei's stats were dropping swiftly. If not for his strong willpower, he would have already… Huo Yao's eyes were slightly closed, so it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. However, her fingers trembled slightly.

"Just give up, Yu." Shangguan Wei said sadly, "It's no use anymore."

Huo Yao inhaled deeply. She veered her head and looked at Sheng Ying standing there.

He had an unfamiliar face. It did not resemble the genial man with a great love for humanity in her memory at all. However, in a daze, something overlapped in her mind.

Lots of things that got washed away with time gradually became clearer. People were surprisingly able to act genially in a flawless manner and, at the same time, behave ruthlessly.

"Why?" Huo Yao repeated her question.

Sheng Ying looked into Huo Yao's eyes and said instead, "I thought you would ask what it would take to save them."

Hearing this, something finally changed in the look on Huo Yao's face. "What do you want?"

Sheng Ying's eyes landed on the stone table. At this moment, all the engravings were red. He pursed his lips looking at Huo Yao. "You know what your master wants."

The word "master" was as good as confirming his identity. Huo Yao laughed in self-deprecation. The last ray of hope in her heart disappeared.

From the looks of it, he was the one who had led her to the meteorite inside the underground palace.

After all, her master was second to none when it came to ancient-style mechanisms.

If she could come back to life, why not her master?

She should have already guessed sooner.

Huo Yao stood up and retrieved a box from her pocket.

She naturally knew what Sheng Ying wanted from her.

The moment she took out the box, Sheng Ying could not suppress his joy.

He had waited for this day to come for far too long.

"Give it to me." Sheng Ying sounded excited as he reached his hand out to Huo Yao. "No, don't do it." Shangguan Wei unexpectedly found the strength to lunge forward. Sadly, he was unable to hold himself steady and fell to the ground miserably. His back could be seen and it was very wet. His long gray robe was already deep red in color.

Shangguan Wei struggled to raise his head and looked at Huo Yao. "… Once the time travel portal is activated, it can't be stopped. Even if you give them to him, it's useless."

Sheng Ying glared at Shangguan Wei, but he did not argue with Shangguan Wei.

He knew Huo Yao's temperament well. Even if there was only a slight chance of saving those people, she would never give up.

"How do we save them?"

Sure enough, Huo Yao's deep voice could be heard.

Sheng Ying's lips curved upwards as he said, "Once the time travel portal is activated, their fates can be changed."

He paused briefly and added in a tempting tone, "Just like you back in the day."

Huo Yao's eyes constricted. His last sentence had undoubtedly gotten to her.

Before she was able to speak, Shangguan Wei interrupted him. "If destiny can really be changed, you won't look like this now, right?"

Shangguan Wei's mind was in chaos. He never expected Yu's master to be still alive.

After her master finally found a piece of meteorite to save Yu back in the day, he used his life to activate the time travel portal. How could he still be alive?

Also, he had reappeared with this unknown face. It was impossible to disguise the ambition in his heart and it was startling. He was poles apart from the man Shangguan Wei once knew.

Shangguan Wei went into a daze. Perhaps they never genuinely knew him previously.

"You simply don't understand." Hearing Shangguan Wei's question, Sheng Ying simply smiled mysteriously and looked at Huo Yao. "Two pieces of stone in exchange for four lives. This is considered a good deal."

Despite his calm tone sounding as though it was an inconsequential trade, Huo Yao could detect the callousness.

They had known each other for half a lifetime. In the end, this was what she got. Huo Yao felt inexplicably sad. I think you should take a look at

After some time, she looked into Sheng Ying's eyes and said coldly, "My master is already dead."

The knowledgeable, refined, and genial man had already died when he gave her a new life. No one could replace him.

"It's true that he's dead." Sheng Ying nodded as though he were not talking about himself. Something changed in his eyes before he continued, "Aren't you curious about the meaning of your life? Don't you want to know?"

"Shut up. Just stop it…" Shangguan Wei lay prone on the ground with his eyes bloodshot. He wanted to stop Sheng Ying from talking. "If you have any conscience, you should stop ruining the girl's life."

After learning that he was Yu's master, a scary notion emerged in Shangguan Wei's mind.

The time travel portal was handed down through the family for generations. He did not know how long it existed in the family. However, he knew his ancestors were able to travel to the past and future using the portal.

Time travel went against nature, so they had to pay a high price. In the end, everyone from the clan would come to no good end. Hence, the secret chamber became completely sealed off and restricted from the family.

A few years ago when Shangguan Yu met with a mishap, her master suggested opening the secret chamber to use the only meteorite in the clan to activate time travel.

After he came out of the secret chamber, he was on his last breath. He handed them the white jade and died.

No one knew what he had done in the secret chamber back in the day. No one in the clan suspected his actions either. In hindsight, could he have single-handedly orchestrated Yu's death?action

Shangguan Wei did not dare to continue thinking about it. In that case, it would be very cruel for Yu to hear of it.

No one could accept getting stabbed in the back by someone they respected, especially the kid. She was always very loyal by nature.

Sheng Ying glanced at Shangguan Wei looking completely unmoved. Instead, he laughed coldly and said, "She should feel lucky that I gave her a second chance at life."

Stop ruining her life?

He had single-handedly groomed her. Her only reason for existence was to fulfill his orders and get what he wanted.

Hearing this, Shangguan Wei felt so cold that he could not help trembling from Sheng Ying's utter ruthlessness. He struggled to reach his hand out and raised it in a desperate attempt to console Huo Yao. Since his time was up, his wrinkled hand could not keep this up and fell to the ground.

Huo Yao's mind buzzed. A second before his hand fell, she held it and spoke in a trembling tone, "Wei…"

Shangguan Wei's eyes were unable to focus as he went into a daze. He said softly, "Don't be sad. Everyone dies one day, but I want you to live…"

Huo Yao sensed a twinge in her heart. She wanted to save him but realized she could not do it. Even though she had medical skills, they seemed completely useless now.

Sheng Ying looked at the dead Shangguan Wei. He was completely unaffected by Shangguan Wei's state and seemed like a cold-blooded machine.

From the beginning, he had only one objective. He wanted his disciple's jade.

As for everyone else's life, he did not care the slightest.

When Huo Yao did not notice, Sheng Ying moved. Before he could approach her, Min Yu who had said nothing after entering the secret chamber stopped him.

Sheng Ying looked at Min Yu coldly. He had already lost patience. "Don't you care about your father?"

Min Yu stood in front of Huo Yao with determination. He was unaffected by Sheng Ying's threats. "You can just try touching him."

They looked straight at each other's faces without backing down.

At this moment, Zhuo Yun entered the secret chamber from the door with injuries. "Boss, we found Prof Min and the others. They are fine."

As he spoke, he glanced at Huo Yao nearly kneeling on the ground, and the deceased old man in front of her. He could not help feeling shocked.

"Uh huh," acknowledged Min Yu before saying, "Bring them out."

Zhuo Yun quickly veered his eyes and nodded knowingly before he turned to leave.

"How do I activate the time travel portal?" Huo Yao put down Shangguan Wei's hand gently. She stood up and looked straight into Sheng Ying's eyes as she took out the jade. "By using them?"

Sheng Ying looked at the two pieces of jade excitedly. "That's right. They are the keys. Once the time travel portal is activated, we can return to save them before they die and change their fates.

"Did Lu Xia get reborn because of you?" asked Huo Yao.

"What Lu Xia?" After some time, Sheng Ying finally remembered Lu Xia. He pursed his lips. "Oh her. She was just a minor mistake."

No one expected the two of them to be swapped at birth. After he first activated the time travel portal, his experiment nearly ended in failure owing to their mistaken identities.

Fortunately, this did not affect his plans much. In reality, it was proof that people could come back to life and even attain eternal life.

Sheng Ying turned to look at the stone table with all its engravings now red. It was the launcher for the time travel portal. He suddenly was no longer in a hurry to get his hands on both pieces of jade.

After all, his disciple was probably more anxious about it.

Huo Yao finally looked over. She looked at the dents at the center of the stone table. She squeezed the objects in her hands before she walked over with determination.

"It's a part of nature for people to die." Min Yu pulled Huo Yao hard and did not want her to approach the stone table. "Huo Yao, wake up."