Jacob started interacting with the deepest part of Juliet, her soul. He could feel, through his fingers, the pulse of her heart; concentrating on the beats, he was slowly trying to synchronize his own heart with hers.

He could feel her struggle while trying to do what he had told her.

“Juliet, focus on my voice, please. You will need absolute trust in me if you want this to work. I need to manipulate your energy.”

Jacob closed his eyes and re-focused on her heart, hoping that she would be able to do this. But, honestly, the chances were not too high. The synchronization process was not easy, and to manipulate her Qi, he would need quite the degree of synchronization.

When he finally managed to get his heart beating at her pace, he took her hand and placed it on his chest.

“Don’t be alarmed. This is part of the process. Just relax and let your restraints go.”

He could still feel resistance, however. Nonetheless, Jacob chose to wait and not put any more pressure on Juliet. The Sacred Queen Phoenix Constitution was wreaking havoc inside her body, and she was in an incredible amount of pain.

Juliet was an amazing woman. In his past life, Jacob had thought that wolves had killed her during the first day since she disappeared almost immediately after the change. Now, however, he knew why no one had found her. She had been going through the re-creation of Meridians because of the Sacred Queen Phoenix Constitution. As a result, she either died or had been disfigured for life. Whatever the two, it wasn’t surprising that no one had found her.

In this life, Jacob would not let her die. He would not allow any innocent person to die!

Juliet’s talent was beyond the distance between Heaven and Earth. If he could save her and bring her on his side, they would have much higher chances of saving humanity.

Come on, Juliet, come on. Show me what you got.

Jacob was counting the minutes, knowing that she did not have much time left. The process of re-creation was going to enter into its final stages soon. If Jacob did not steer it toward the right direction, she would either die or suffer through unimaginable tortures.

Suddenly, he felt a connection with her. It was feeble at first, just a thin thread to her soul. Then, however, as if Juliet had just decided to let him in all at once, he felt the thread becoming much bigger.

He could now feel everything she was going through as if it was him. He could feel her pain, but also her hopes of surviving. He had never used the Ancestral Bond with anyone, not even with Helena; so, all this experience was entirely new for him.

Jacob instantly felt like he had always known Juliet, becoming comfortable with her on every level. She felt like a sister, a lover, and a friend, all in one.

Let’s focus on the important stuff.

He took his mind away from the new sensations. He could feel her past too but decided not to linger.

Jacob took a deep breath and started looking at her Meridians. There were wounds everywhere, and many Meridians looked like torn ligaments. Connections were all over the place, with no real order nor purpose. If not guided, the Sacred Queen Phoenix Constitution would keep creating and destroying Meridians in a trial-and-error process. Unfortunately, this meant that in some cases, it could take weeks before the Sacred Queen Phoenix Constitution was done with its process.

He knew the general structure the Meridians would assume, even though he still had to guess for some part. So he guided the destroying and regenerative energies toward the right spots, eliminating the wrong Meridians and making space for the new ones. He created connections and overall lowered the intensity of the energy the constitution was outputting; in this way, Juliet would feel less pain.

In fact, her face became much rosier when Jacob got a peek at her. Then, her breath stabilized, and she started sweating less.

Out of danger.

Jacob used her Qi as his own, an intimate gesture that not even lifelong couples would typically share. Her Qi was being refined by the net of Meridians that had been destroyed and regenerated a hundred times over and more.

After around half an hour, the process was completed.

Jacob had an intense frown on his face, and he was covered in sweat from head to toe. His face was flushed with the effort needed, and his legs felt unsteady.

Useless trash body. Hell, I need to do something about this. Humanity’s greatest hero in his frail old body is just pathetic.

Juliet slowly got up in front of him.

She was wearing a crop-top, even if the temperatures were chilly in St. Peter. Her usual piercing gaze was now troubled while she looked at him.

“Juliet, I need you to keep this a secret. If you tell anyone what just happened, I’ll deny it and stop helping you even if you need to.”

“You won’t.”

Jacob felt a tug at his own heart.

“You will help me if I’m ever in danger, won’t you?” she spoke slowly, thinking carefully about the exact words she was saying.

Jacob exhaled and put both his hands on his face.

“Fu*k.”

Jacob had just felt Juliet’s intention. She knew he was bluffing. And he knew she was bluffing because she could tell if she was bluffing. Every gesture she made, every expression, even the slightest crease in her forehead told him what she was thinking.

It’s like fuc**ng telepathy.

He had heard stories, but he dismissed them as rumors and exaggerations. Apparently, he had been wrong. The Ancestral Bond was more powerful than he had thought.

“You are regretting it,” she said calmly.

“Yeah, I did not know what using this method would do exactly. But, unfortunately, it was a jump in the dark, and it looks like we both landed on our asses.”

“I won’t tell anyone, Jacob,” she said.

He knew that was true. However, it still did not make him feel better. He had just changed her life permanently. She was fifteen, a kid, and now they would be forever—

“You saved my life. Don’t feel guilty because of that. If you think that was needed, I trust your judgment.”

“It was. The other techniques were riskier, way riskier, and they would have killed me almost surely. Best case scenario, I would have been crippled for life, and maybe I would have been able to save you.”

She stepped forward silently and looked at him. She was quite taller than him. Her skin was tanned and elastic, covering a muscular and strong body.

For some reason, Jacob got a little intimidated by her. He was used to being alone and reclusive. Even in his past life, he had not interacted that much with the opposite sex. He had had partners and worked with many women, but he wasn’t…

“I need some water,” she smirked and stepped aside, going toward his house.

“Wait, Juliet, wait! I wasn’t thinking about what you think—”

“Sure you were not,” she laughed.

Jacob had just given a cocky 15-year-old girl a timeless insight into his soul.

Well, that had been one of the dumbest things he had ever done for sure.