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Tan Yueer's voice sounded distant, yet her tone was resolute as she replied: "Leaving aside whether I could even live to see a hundred years given the werewolf lord's savage power, even if I could survive, that is not the life I desire. Moreover... moreover, Xi Luo is now the Pope of the Holy Light Temple, and will ultimately have to face the beastmen in a battle to the death. For the sake of humanity's future, and for... Xi Luo, I do not mind sacrificing anything."

"So that's how it is." Leinster nodded, then turned and said calmly, "Then let me tell you the true secrets of the Hero's Sword, the Twelve Sages, and my rebirth."

Fontainebleau City, Azure Fortress.

Contrary to human expectations, the werewolf lord who had ascended to Sainthood did not immediately charge into the human world to reenact the legendary feats of the "White-Haired Lion King" Leimen sweeping across the continent to test his sword against all challengers. Instead, he returned directly to his own city and remained unseen for half a month. This silence sparked endless speculation, especially after the tale of this silver-maned werewolf single-handedly razing the Sacred Dragon Mountain spread far and wide, making Azure Fortress the focal point of the entire continent.

However, cowed by Chen Xuanfeng's fearsome reputation, few dared to pry forcefully. Meanwhile, human experts aware of Chen Xuanfeng's ascension to Sword Saint widely speculated that this terrifyingly powerful werewolf master was in seclusion, consolidating his Sainthood power.

Unfortunately, no one knew what Chen Xuanfeng had truly been doing during this time. Had they known, they would surely have beaten their chests in regret for their inaction.

Another half-month passed, and Chen Xuanfeng finally reappeared in public. Aside from a slightly pale complexion, he showed no other abnormalities. However, the human girl Jin Luosha, who followed him closely, frequently cast concerned and worried glances at the silver-maned werewolf she adored, unwilling to leave his side for even a moment.

Chen Xuanfeng spent an entire day receiving all his trusted subordinates and handling a backlog of administrative affairs before finally resting in the evening.

"Brother, how is your condition?" Jin Luosha rushed over to ask as soon as Chen Xuanfeng took a break.

Chen Xuanfeng smiled and replied, "There's no problem at all. You don't need to worry, Jin Luosha."

"How can there be no problem? Earlier, to save Sister Catherine, you transferred eighty percent of her injuries to yourself and then lay bedridden for a whole month. Now, barely able to move, you've worked all day..." The golden-haired girl spoke with equal parts scolding and worry.

"Haha, it's not that serious. The rest was just to speed up recovery—I retained enough strength to deter any powerful foe," Chen Xuanfeng replied with a laugh. "Besides, in another month, I'll recover another strand of the Nine-Headed Dragon combat energy's Dragon Vital Essence. By then, I can remove the major injuries and restore my combat power to sixty or seventy percent. Even if a forbidden spell were to strike then, I wouldn't fear it."

The Nine-Headed Dragon combat energy, a unique skill Chen Xuanfeng had devised, combined the mysteries of dragon combat energy, a hydra core, and a Great Devil King's soul. Beyond its combat energy intensity, which approached that of the Emperor Martial Overlord Art, and the nine-headed dragon phantom akin to dragon combat energy, it concealed another profound secret: each of the nine dragon heads contained Dragon Vital Essence, composed of life essence and dark magic, which could act as substitutes to transfer a portion of his bodily injuries. The total Dragon Vital Essence stored in the nine heads could fully replace one fatal injury to his entire body. Years ago, when he was ambushed by Tan Yueer and a group of young Sword Saints on his return from the southern elven lands and fell severely wounded into the sea, it was this secret technique that allowed him to instantly recover and counterattack for victory. Unfortunately, Tan Yueer and the others fled in panic, and none looked back—otherwise, they might have noticed the eerie transformation of the dragon heads behind Chen Xuanfeng into withered bones, revealing his trump card. Had the Ancestor of Sword Saints known this, he might have been prepared in their battle a month prior and seized the chance to finish Chen Xuanfeng off for good.

When Catherine, then pregnant, fought fiercely against the Dragon Saint and ended up grievously wounded and near death, her status as a Sword Saint made her resistant to healing magic. Despite the efforts of Fontainebleau's most skilled healers, even sacrificing her and Chen Xuanfeng's unborn child as a substitute, they could only barely stabilize her worsening condition. Awakening her, let alone full recovery, seemed a distant hope. Chen Xuanfeng had long known that the only way to fully heal his wife was to transfer her injuries to a stronger vessel. But after the deaths of the Beastman King and the Dragon Saint, the world's mightiest warrior was the "Holy War Martial Emperor" Catherine herself. Unless Chen Xuanfeng became a Sword Saint, he was powerless.

Later, after the series of battles at Sacred Dragon Mountain, Chen Xuanfeng, under the pressure of the "Ancestor of Sword Saints" and the covert aid of the "Great Devil King," narrowly achieved the status of Sword Saint. Upon returning to Fontainebleau, his first thought was not to sweep through the human world or contend for the Beastman King's throne, but to go straight to Catherine's sickroom and activate a magic array to transfer eighty percent of her injuries to himself. Had he taken any more, he would have lost the chance to heal himself. In a moment of impulse, he might have transferred all her injuries. When the chief physician, the King of the Undead, learned of this afterward, he gave a rueful smile at the rebuke, saying he should have first secluded himself for a month to recover one strand of Dragon Vital Essence before transferring the injuries. As it stood, the werewolf lord had to lie in the King of the Undead's specially crafted bone crystal coffin for a full month, relying on medicinal treatments while preserving enough strength to guard against a surprise attack from the Ancestor of Sword Saints. Though Chen Xuanfeng smiled wryly at the criticism, he did not regret his decision.

His sacrifice was richly rewarded. Half a month earlier, Catherine finally awoke. Though she would need a long recovery period, she was certain to suffer few lasting effects. Chen Xuanfeng had considered repeating the process to fully heal her, but according to the diagnoses of the King of the Undead and Jin Luosha, Catherine's prolonged injuries had caused atrophy in some tissues. Without continuous stimulation of her vitality for natural recovery, there would be severe consequences later. After much deliberation and Catherine's firm opposition, Chen Xuanfeng abandoned the idea.