Time rewound a few minutes. After dispatching those Exorcists, Lin Luo pursued the direction Bai Rui had flown with all possible speed. Along the way, he connected every fragmented clue, arriving at one conclusion... the host of the World Heart in the Zero Consumption Plane was Kagura Tsuchimiya!

Reaching this conclusion wasn't difficult. There were two ways the Starlight Avenue selected a destination world: one was by Lin Luo's direct command; the second occurred when he lacked a World Heart or a contractor, in which case the Book of Contracts would issue a prompt.

Therefore, the world chosen by the Starlight Avenue this time was not random but guided by Bai Rui. However, Bai Rui did not possess a World Heart and lacked the power to steer the Starlight Avenue. Thus, the only entity capable of influencing the Starlight Avenue through Bai Rui would be the World Heart host closely connected to Bai Rui... and that person could only be Kagura Tsuchimiya!

Regardless of whose body Bai Rui was inhabiting when summoned by Liu Ziwen, as long as Kagura Tsuchimiya was the World Heart host, there was no issue... an intense desire could trigger the World Heart's power to stop time or even reverse the flow of time and space, making it entirely logical to summon something that rightfully belonged to her.

Bai Rui heard her call and responded, but this summons could not be conveyed to Lin Luo through words. So, it chose the most opportune moment: as Lin Luo activated the Starlight Avenue, it forcefully broke through the seal with its own power, taking Lin Luo to the Zero Consumption Plane.

Though this was merely Lin Luo's deduction, he believed the margin of error wouldn't be significant. After all, apart from the mysterious power generated when the World Heart responds to its host's wishes, nothing else could affect his Starlight Avenue.

However, this raised a problem: without an extremely intense wish, the World Heart's power could not be drawn out, especially while sealed. Under what kind of danger did Kagura Tsuchimiya's plea reach Bai Rui through the World Heart?

It had to be more than just the danger to her own life. Neither Mikoto Misaka nor Rin Tohsaka had invoked the World Heart's power for their own sake.

Recalling the strange actions of the Exorcists earlier and the terrifying sight of the city, Lin Luo managed to piece together a rough idea. Shortly thereafter, he suddenly received a prompt from the Book of Contracts: Bai Rui intended to sever its connection with him and re-pledge allegiance—no, more accurately, return to its original master.

Receiving that notification, Lin Luo was naturally astonished, but he quickly understood... ever since he first subdued Bai Rui, he had wondered why he, lacking any beast-taming ability, could manage to bind it. He finally knew why: because Kagura Tsuchimiya was the World Heart host, creating an invisible thread connecting them. It was less that he subdued Bai Rui and more that he was keeping Bai Rui safe for her. Now that it encountered Kagura Tsuchimiya, the original owner took precedence; he was merely a caretaker.

So, Lin Luo unhesitatingly agreed to Bai Rui's request while simultaneously surging forward at maximum speed, leading to the scene that followed: he saved Kagura Tsuchimiya and Yomi Isayama from the clutches of Sanzu River at the very last second.

But the strangeness did not end there. He had assumed there was only one World Heart host, Kagura Tsuchimiya, or at most, Kagura and Yomi each possessed one. Yet, he never imagined that Kagura Tsuchimiya and Yomi Isayama would be using the same World Heart!

Such a thing had never occurred before; Lin Luo couldn't even conceive of it. After all, the World Heart replaced the host's heart—how could one heart sustain two people?

However, precedents did exist, like the Gemini in the Twelve Gold Saints. Everyone assumed there was only one Gemini Saint, but in reality, there were two, twin brothers who both wielded the power of Gemini. Moreover, if only one remained, they would cease to be Gemini.

So, rather than saying Yomi Isayama and Kagura Tsuchimiya were sharing one World Heart equally, it was more accurate to say this World Heart was inherently destined to reside within two beings; only as a unified pair were they complete, indispensable... after all, it was the Heart of Empathy!

A single thought between kindred spirits connects them instantly, heart resonates with heart for a lifetime.

In terms of affection, both regarded the other as more important than their own lives. In terms of experience, although only four years, those years surpassed the forty or even four hundred years of others. In terms of status, one was the White Maiden, the other the Black Maiden—the very foundation of this world... In this Zero Consumption Plane, or indeed across the entire Great Thousand World, which two people were more suited to the Heart of Empathy than Yomi Isayama and Kagura Tsuchimiya?

Of course, Lin Luo didn't ponder this for long, as the most crucial issue was Yomi Isayama's injuries. Rushing to her side to examine her body, even Lin Luo felt a chill of alarm. Almost eighty percent of her physical organs and tissues were destroyed; her viscera, blood vessels, and even nerves were almost entirely necrotic. The only thing still preserving normal vitality was her heart. For Yomi Isayama to survive such injuries was nothing short of a miracle!

Tear!

Completely disregarding Kagura Tsuchimiya's shocked gaze, Lin Luo knelt on the ground and directly ripped open Yomi Isayama's top, exposing her upper body to the air.

"Ah!" Kagura Tsuchimiya gasped, covering her mouth, sucking in a sharp breath—not because of Lin Luo's indecent action, but because she saw Yomi Isayama's wounds. The shocking gash nearly cleaved the young girl's body in two, and the wound had already turned completely black, oozing dark, clotted blood.

"This... this is..." Hot tears streamed from Kagura Tsuchimiya's eyes. Because there was no cure, she had dared not touch Yomi's wounds, nor had she realized they were this severe. It hadn't been this bad initially; how could simple deterioration lead to this?

Staring at the horrific wound, Kagura Tsuchimiya felt as if her heart were being cut. Enduring injuries that would kill an ordinary person multiple times over, the girl had never uttered a single complaint of pain and had even allowed the injuries to worsen, saving her life on several occasions. This filled her heart with gratitude and guilt. If possible, she wished she were the one injured instead of Yomi Isayama.

"This isn't a purely physical attack; it's imbued with the power of the Killing Stone. So, although it began as a simple stab wound, under the erosion of the Killing Stone, her body began to necrotize bit by bit. This is no longer considered an external injury; it has reached the very root of her being."

Lin Luo gently brushed his hand across Yomi Isayama's bare skin, stating in a low voice. Yomi surviving wasn't a miracle; besides her own unwavering will, the most crucial factor was the World Heart serving as her heart. Otherwise, with an ordinary heart, she simply wouldn't have lasted this long; she would have rotted away completely and died.

"Yomi-neechan... is, is there any hope for her?" Hearing Lin Luo's words, Kagura Tsuchimiya grew even more anxious. Disregarding who this man was or what his motives might be, she lunged forward, dropping to her knees, fiercely gripping Lin Luo's arm, and tearfully begged, "Please, save her! She is the person most important to me. If you save her, I will do anything you ask! Please, just save her!"

The young girl wept profusely, stopping just short of kowtowing.

"Don't worry. While this injury might be incurable for others, I absolutely can save her. In fact, this is precisely why I came," Lin Luo patted the girl's head, smiling reassuringly. "Trust me, I will give you back a lively Yomi-neechan soon enough."

"Mm." Comforted by Lin Luo's soft reassurance, the girl finally stopped crying and nodded heavily. Though she didn't know the man before her, his gentle tone provided a sense of security, a tenderness similar to what she felt from Yomi Isayama, making her exceptionally willing to trust and rely on him.

Having survived half a month of continuous battle, Kagura Tsuchimiya would not normally trust a stranger so easily. However, due to the connection between the World Heart and the Book of Contracts, she felt an instinctive goodwill toward Lin Luo. Moreover, Lin Luo was the one who had just saved them—a person capable of instantly annihilating Sanzu River. If he wished them harm, there would be no need for schemes.

And more importantly, Lin Luo said he could save Yomi Isayama. For Kagura Tsuchimiya, this outweighed everything else in the world. As long as Yomi could be saved, even her own death would not matter.

On the other side, Lin Luo had already placed both hands on Yomi Isayama's body... Divine Healing Spell, activate!

Tissue repair... Organ repair... Bone repair... Cell repair... Blood repair... Nerve repair...

Except for her heart, not a single part of Yomi Isayama's body was intact. It could be said her entire body had thoroughly necrotized. Even with Lin Luo's near-omnipotent healing art, instantly restoring her was impossible; it had to be done step by step.

Repairing the physical body was a relatively simple matter. At Yomi Isayama's current condition, it didn't consume too much of Lin Luo's life force. Soon, the horrific gash across her chest and abdomen completely healed. The girl seemed to bathe in holy light, her complexion gradually flushing pink. Moments later, not a single scar remained on her body, and even the filthy black bloodstains vanished along with the healing spell.

Seeing this, Kagura Tsuchimiya wept tears of joy, simultaneously filled with disbelief and shock. The injury that left her helpless was completely cured by this man's light touch in less than a minute. This... the girl felt like she was dreaming.