"I told you, it’s not just my face. Even if you wanted my life, I would give it to you," Lex Cross said, placing a hand on Flora Bloom’s swollen belly. It held the continuation of their life together.

"..."

"Before the apocalypse, I never imagined I’d meet you again. Flora, don’t you think it’s fate?"

"..."

As Flora Bloom listened to Lex Cross’s gentle words, she suddenly felt a cool sensation on her stomach. She yanked away the corner of the blanket hiding her face and saw that Lex Cross had gently lifted the hem of her shirt over her swollen belly.

Flora Bloom had always been slender, but now her belly was a firm, round bulge around her navel.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Flora Bloom watched nervously as Lex Cross leaned down to kiss her stomach, then pressed his ear against it, his face full of reverence.

"You can’t hear anything yet, can you?"

"Says who? Listen! That’s my daughter’s heartbeat! And she knows it’s me talking to her."

As Lex Cross was speaking, Flora Bloom suddenly felt a chill on her belly and simultaneously caught the scent of blood, which was coming from her stomach.

She sat up and looked down, only to see fresh red blood on Lex Cross’s lips. When he licked them, she could clearly see the wound was on the tip of his tongue. A smear of his blood was on her stomach, and the spot where it touched her skin burned with an unnatural heat.

"What did you do?" she asked, flustered. She immediately tried to wipe the blood off her stomach, but Lex Cross stopped her. "You... why did you bite your tongue? And why wipe the blood on my belly!" All sorts of thoughts, good and bad, raced through Flora Bloom’s mind.

Lex Cross’s handsome face was pale. He grinned, revealing white teeth also stained with blood from his tongue. He suddenly leaned down and kissed Flora Bloom, shattering any trace of the romantic atmosphere between them. Flora Bloom only felt a sharp pain on her own tongue as a thick, salty, metallic taste filled her mouth.

’Has this guy gone crazy? It wasn’t enough to bite his own tongue, he had to bite mine too?’ The pain made Flora Bloom’s brow furrow.

"Hiss! That hurts!"

The blood from their tongues mingled, filling Flora Bloom’s mouth with a salty, metallic taste and a strange, unsettling sensation.

"Shh..."

Lex Cross lifted his head slightly, one hand caressing Flora Bloom’s stomach, and began to chant. The words sounded remarkably similar to the contract oath the Golden Crow had made when it acknowledged her as its master.

"With this, my lifeblood, I forge a covenant with my wife and child. May the Cross battle spirit be my wife’s shield, and the War God’s blood be my child’s wellspring. This pact is forged, this oath shall never be broken."

After Lex Cross finished speaking, a soft, golden light suddenly enveloped them, and Flora Bloom even felt a beam of it enter her stomach.

The light lasted for half a minute before slowly receding into their bodies. As it faded, the wounds on their tongues healed completely.

Flora Bloom now felt warm all over. It wasn’t the heat of the room, but a warmth radiating from the depths of her very soul. It was a pleasant feeling, and her spirit felt as if it had become much stronger. Moreover, she seemed to share an indescribable connection with Lex Cross now; she could clearly sense that his life essence was damaged, making him very weak.

Yet her own body had a peculiar sensation, as if some unknown energy was now coursing through her, protecting her.

"What was that? Why did it feel like the master-servant contract I made with the Golden Crow?"

Lex Cross froze for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing like a fool. He rolled over and lay down beside Flora Bloom, his pale face giving him a sort of sickly, obsessive intensity.

"It’s my promise to you."

"A promise?"

"From now on, our souls are linked. I share my life with you."

Flora Bloom didn’t know how to describe what she was feeling in her heart.

This man had done so much for her without a word. And now, he lay beside her, pale-faced and silent, a faint smile on his lips and his breathing steady.

"Lex, thank you."

"..."

"But... you’ve harmed yourself so much by doing this, haven’t you?"

"I’ll recover quickly." When Lex Cross had entered the Eye of the Earth’s Core, he’d found a spatial rift. Because of this rift, a sliver of cosmic energy had leaked onto Earth. That fissure had also coincidentally allowed his original strength to slowly recover.

It was precisely because of this that he dared to use his own lifeblood to form an Eternal Life Contract with Flora Bloom.

The Eternal Life Contract didn’t grant true immortality. Instead, as long as the contract remained unbroken, their souls would be forever linked, no matter how many times they were reincarnated. This was also why Flora Bloom found the energy of the contract so similar to the one she’d formed with the Golden Crow.

Moreover, as long as he was alive, even if Flora Bloom suffered a fatal attack, she would retain a sliver of Life Force connected to him. As long as he didn’t die, she could live.

Flora Bloom pulled the blanket over Lex Cross, covering herself with the other half.

"Lex, I’m really curious about the people out there in the universe, beyond Earth. What are they like? And how is power classified? I’m a Middle Level superpower user now. How would that rank among the civilizations of the universe?"

Flora Bloom leaned against the arm Lex Cross extended to her and caressed his pale face. She took out a vial of spiritual water and handed it to him.

Lex Cross took the spiritual water and downed it in a few gulps, but his complexion didn’t improve at all, causing Flora Bloom to frown in worry.

"Even the spiritual water can’t help you recover?"

"Don’t worry about me. Even in this state, my strength is more than enough to protect my woman and my daughter! Besides, Flora, you need to understand that spiritual water isn’t a cure-all. Once you reach a certain level of power, it stops having any effect."

Flora Bloom’s heart softened, and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Then what is your power level?"

"The terms low-level, Middle Level, and High-level Superpower User on Earth don’t have a universal equivalent. They’re just the most basic classifications for a newly awakened species."

"In other words, your current Middle Level Superpower Level puts you among the lowest forms of life in the universe—you’d be completely unable to survive out there."

Lex Cross’s tone was casual, but Flora Bloom was shocked. "My level is too low to survive in the universe?"

"I’m not trying to bring you down, but that’s the reality. So, do you want to hear the rest?"

"Whew!" Flora Bloom struggled to process what Lex Cross had said. After taking a deep breath, she looked at him. "Keep going."

"The High-level Superpower Level here isn’t the final stage. Only by breaking past the High-level superpower rank do you get the entry ticket to wander and survive in the cosmos."

"After breaking through the High-level superpower rank, there are another six tiers: Nebula Level, Planet Level, Stellar Level, Cosmic Level, War God Level, and then beings who have surpassed the War God Level."

"And each of those tiers is divided into initial, middle, and high stages. The power gap between each stage is enormous. Breaking through isn’t just a matter of absorbing energy; it also requires a great deal of serendipity, combat experience, and enlightenment." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Flora Bloom’s heart tightened. "I thought being a High-level Superpower User was the pinnacle. I guess I was just a frog in a well, my perspective was too narrow."

"Flora, I need you to raise your Superpower Level as quickly as possible. Break through to Nebula Level, Planet Level... even reach the Cosmic Level!"

Flora Bloom heard the sudden, unusual seriousness in Lex Cross’s tone. Even his voice had become deeper. She gave him a strange look.

"What’s wrong? My power is considered pretty good on Earth right now. Reaching the Cosmic Level isn’t something that can happen overnight."

"I’ve told you before, the Eye of the Earth’s Core isn’t from Earth. It drifted here from a spatial rift. Every planet has a different tolerance for spatial stability, and I don’t know what this planet’s threshold is. But now that one spatial tear has opened, it’s safe to assume it isn’t the only one.