Li Meirong didn't answer. She tried to rise up slowly once again, only to stumble back down.
Unfortunately, Ben Mo wasn't the only one rooted to the spot. Li Meirong had severely underestimated the extent of the damage which she had received. She felt lightheaded and could barely bring herself to make a step forward. Her condition seemed to be gradually worsening.
Li Meirong inhaled deeply as she concentrated on the spiritual essence flowing through her body, willing the blue flames into being. Yet the attempt proved to be unsuccessful. The flames emerged but were far too dim, like a fire that had burnt all night long, its last flickering embers greeting the morning sun right before perishing.
A feeling of despair washed over her as she took in the sight of Liang Rou Yan's overpowered state.
'At least Chou and Ben Mo are far away from danger…' Li Meirong silently consoled herself. She was glad for Chou's brave decision. It spared her the crucial time that might have been wasted on trying to convince him to leave her side.
She knew that for all of Chou's boastful talk, he wouldn't have mustered enough strength to take down Liang Rou Yan in her current condition, her body sizzling with raw power. Surely, the lightning would have charred him to smithereens.
The corner of Li Meirong's lips curved up into a small, heart-rending smile. If she were to die today, then at the very least, none of her precious ones would suffer the consequences with her.
"I didn't know you possessed a lightning vein attribute. You have really hidden your abilities very well." Li Meirong chided, letting out a soft, self-mocking snicker, while keeping Captain Liang's focus on herself. Her upcoming demise seemed to have been the typical, fatal mistake of underestimating one's enemy.
Liang Rou Yan's smile widened, standing tall and imposing. "Gullible. Naive. Foolish junior of mine, if the knowledge of my spiritual energy will make your passing any more tragic, then know this, you would never have been able to find out about the real level of my cultivation, and after I absorb your essence, I will truly be a force to be reckoned with."
"You've absorbed another furnace's powers and acquired lightning energy from them, didn't you?" Li Meirong asked, shaken, though there was no need for an answer.
Since Li Meirong became an inner sect disciple and was allowed access to the sect's cultivation scrolls and manuals, as well as her own dimension's library, she had made sure to research as much as possible about the conditions of what it meant to be a "furnace".
A furnace was able to bestow their powers and boost others with the use of their own spiritual essence, similar to how Li Meirong had been providing her contracted spirits with her lifeblood.
Commonly, a furnace would most likely be used as a bedding partner until they are drained to death if not properly cared for. Otherwise, they would be drained of blood by an overzealous cultivator.
It was a one-way ticket with a furnace's body. Once the spiritual essence was given away, it was impossible to replenish it.
She didn't need to be a genius to figure out how Liang Rou Ya became so incredibly powerful with a potent spiritual essence that was not her own. She wasn't sure what was worse, if Captain Liang had either drained a furnace to their last drop of blood, or had bedded them to death.
A shudder crept through Li Meirong as she recalled the first time she had encountered Zhu Zhang, the Bestiary Division's Grandmaster. She wondered if he had thought that she had stolen her powers through such despicable means.
Liang Rou Yan's shoulders trembled as she barked out, laughing maniacally, "So ironic. It happened right here… Right on this island. The cycle repeats itself!"
Following that declaration, Liang Rou Yan sent a zap of lightning towards Li Meirong, missing the target by a hair's breadth. A large, deep crater emerged on the ground where the lightning had struck.