The Vampire Empress: Blood Queen & Her Kings

Jiang Ying Yue struggled to control the massive amount of spiritual qi that she had somehow succeeded in absorbing from the surrounding area.

At first, it was merely a feeling of discomfort but then it quickly escalated into a more piercing pain as she failed to develop a qi gathering ocean inside her body as per Qing Shan's guidance.

Her mates also quickly realized that something was wrong because soon enough she found their presence surrounding her. Through the haze of the terrible pain that had taken over her body, she felt the warmth of their hands as they held her. Their touches brought comfort to her but it wasn't enough to pull her out of the discomfort that was threatening to burst her into tiny particles just like the blue sparkles that she had seen in Qing Shan's projection of spiritual essence.

"Let's channel our energies in her together. Silver, hold her firmly." Qing Shan guided the other three men who immediately nodded their heads in agreement. Silver moved to sit behind Jiang Ying Yue as he wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her back to rest against his chest.

It was not until his chest was in contact with her back did he realize that her body was freezing but at the same time, it was burning like lava. He felt his chest tightening in discomfort as he watched her writhe in pain. He could do nothing but hold her in his arms as he waited for the Princes to help her.

"Ah Shu, try entering her subconscious mind to guide her to create a qi gathering ocean." Qing Shan spoke to his second brother who nodded his head in understanding before he closed his eyes and followed his brother's instruction.

While Wang Shu went to help Jiang Ying Yue to create a qi gathering ocean, Qing Shan and Wu Xie channeled their spiritual energy in her body to stabilize the spiritual energy overflowing in her body.

According to Wu Xie, the two of them could only hold back the spiritual energy in her body for half an hour or so. If Wang Shu failed in helping her create a qi gathering ocean within that half an hour, the consequences would be dire.

"She will be alright, right?" Silver asked as he looked at two Princes with hopeful eyes. The mere thought of something bad happening to the girl in his arms filled him with a pain that was ready to shred his heart into millions of pieces.

Qing Shan and Wu Xie shared a look as if they were communicating through their eyes and a few seconds later, they both returned their attention to Silver before giving him an assuring look. They would do their best to protect her, no matter the cost that they would need to pay in return. 

- - - - -

"It's too much pain. I c-can't take this... a-anymore..." Jiang Ying Yue whispered through gritted teeth as she tried to not lose to the horrible pain that had taken over her body.

This pain was a hundred times more powerful than what she experienced during her fall from the mountain cliff when Wu Xie took her out for a visit to the secluded tavern outside the capital city. It felt like every cell in her body was being torn apart by a force that was too powerful for her weak body to control.

"Yue'er, hold on there..." 

The soft voice of Wang Shu entered her ears and despite the pain that was killing her, she heard the worry in his voice and felt the tremors in his body as he moved to hold her in his arms.

She didn't know how she did it but somehow, she succeeded in opening her eyes after some struggle to look at her mate who had gone pale after seeing the amount of spiritual qi that was flowing inside her body without any break.

"Why are you here?" She asked him in a barely audible tone but somehow, the Prince still heard her. His fingers softly grazed her cheek as he cupped one side of her face with his palm.

The two of them were inside her subconscious mind and surrounding them was the 'too much spiritual qi' that she had ended up absorbing. It was like her body was an empty vessel that the spiritual energy in the outside world had been looking for and as soon as it found the vessel, it did its best to fill it up to the brim.

"I'm here to help you." She heard Ah Shu whispering next to her ear as he adjusted her body to make sure that she was comfortably resting in his arms and that was when Jiang Ying Yue realized that her pain had lessened ever since Wang Shu pulled her in his arms. 

"What are we going to do?" She asked the Prince as she relaxed in his arms and tried to pay as much attention to handling the situation as she wanted to give up and just take a rest.

"Let me show you how I created my own qi gathering ocean when I first started cultivating. Try and learn from it, alright?" Wang Shu suggested and found the woman nodding her head in agreement as she took in a deep breath as if preparing herself for the task.

He took hold of her hands between both his palms before he channeled his powers into her, linking her with a specific memory of his past as he brought her back to the day when he finally succeeded in creating a qi gathering ocean for himself after constantly failing for weeks, unlike his brothers who succeeded within a few days.

Jiang Ying Yue watched as a child of around six, or seven-year-old stood inside the depth of a volcano. His feet were lingering just a few centimeters up from the lava that was silent for the time being.

Seeing the sad and discouraged look on the face of the younger version of Wang Shu, she felt her heart clenching as a strong urge to go closer to the boy to console him grew stronger in her.

However, even her subconscious self didn't have the energy to move her limbs. Though she no longer was feeling the extreme pain, her body still was devoid of any power. Besides, a part of her brain was aware that they were inside a memory, nothing that she would do was going to change anything.

She and Wang Shu stood next to a huge rock as they watched the younger version of the Second Prince struggling to cope with the heat of the burning lava. It was a test for him to control the essence of fire while at the same time creating a qi gathering ocean to gather all the spiritual qi before cultivating it.

"Watch closely..." Wang Shu whispered next to her ear as he tightened his arms around her shoulder, pulling her back to rest against his chest as they both watched the scene unfolding in front of them.

Jiang Ying Yue did as she was told, her eyes remained fixed on the young prince as she watched him create his qi gathering ocean with the essence of the spiritual energy of fire element.

"Your main element is fire?" She asked in a low voice even though the answer was pretty clear.

The qi gathering ocean was created with the essence of the spiritual energy of one of the elements and that particular element that was used in the creation of the qi gathering ocean becomes the main element of that person.

A Cultivator could yield all the elements as long as they were powerful enough and considering the fact that all the three Princes were already going through their tribulation to get the title of Gods, they were clearly as powerful as an Immortal could ever become. Meaning that they could yield all the elements equally. It's almost impossible to guess the main element of a God or Goddess unless one continuously made use of their main element to make it obvious.

Jiang Ying Yue had tried to create her qi gathering ocean with the essence of the spiritual energy of water but for some reason, she didn't succeed.

"It is..." She heard Wang Shu's reply to her question about fire being his main element. She lightly nodded her head in acknowledgment before becoming silent as she observed the young boy.

For the next twenty twelve minutes or so, her eyes never left the young boy as she observed every step and technique that he used to create his qi gathering ocean.

"Do you now know what to do?" Wang Shu asked as the memory came to an end. They only had fifteen minutes left before the time limit of half an hour would be over.

There was a smile on Jiang Ying Yue's lips as she nodded her head in reply. "I know.. Let me head to the bottom of the river."