Understanding Life
Time lost its meaning in that strange state.
I don't know how much time has passed, maybe a few days, maybe several dozen days.
Tang San could sense that his consciousness was undergoing some subtle change.
Those roots were no longer just connecting him, but began to merge with him.
He could feel his heartbeat synchronized with the pulse of those roots, and his breathing synchronized with the contraction of those roots.
His body seemed to have become part of the forest.
Ye Lingling went through the same process.
This is a process of profound integration with the Life Force, during which there is an extraordinary tranquility.
When the two opened their eyes again, the slow merging had quietly been completed.
Tang San felt that his affinity with the Life Force had reached an unprecedented level, and he could sense all the life force around him.
"Third Brother, I can feel that my healing abilities have greatly improved."
After assessing her own condition, Ye Lingling exclaimed in surprise.
Tang San smiled and said, "This is because our affinity for life force allows us to better understand and control Life Force, thus enhancing your healing abilities."
He took Ye Lingling's hand. "Let's keep going."
Ye Lingling took his hand, and the two walked deeper into the forest.
The deeper you go, the taller and older the trees become, and the stronger the life force permeates the air.
An hour later, they arrived at an area made up of countless vines and trees.
The vines climbed up the tree trunks from the ground and then extended from the trunks to the canopy, becoming denser than before and enveloping the entire area.
However, the plants were somewhat dark in color.
It wasn't a healthy emerald green, but a dull, grayish green with a yellowish tinge.
The leaves were curled up, their edges scorched, as if something had sucked away their life force.
The smell in the air is also wrong.
The original fresh and gentle vitality has been replaced by a dull, decaying smell, making one feel suffocated just by smelling it.
"This area is being eroded. I can feel the roots of those vines withering. If it's not repaired in time, they will die completely within a few months, and then the whole area will wither away."
Ye Lingling's voice carried a hint of solemnity.
Tang San nodded; he could also sense that the plants' vitality was slowly fading away.
"We must find the root cause of this loss of vitality."
Tang San's gaze swept across the dense forest. "But there are so many plants here, vines and trees intertwined, layer upon layer, like a giant maze. Time is very tight, it seems we need to divide the work."
Ye Lingling nodded. "Okay. I'll start checking from the left, and you can start checking from the right, Third Brother."
The two immediately split up, one to the left and one to the right, and searched in two different directions.
Tang San walked on the right, his Spiritual Power like an invisible net, covering an area of several hundred meters around him, carefully sensing the life state of every plant.
He followed the direction in which the life force was flowing away, searching through vine-covered areas and around ancient trees.
Tang San could sense that all life in this area was wailing in agony.
Days passed by one by one.
On the fifty-sixth day, Ye Lingling found the root cause.
It was a dark force parasitizing an ancient tree, constantly devouring the life force of this forest.
Tang San stood before the ancient tree, his brow furrowed slightly. "How do we remove it?"
Ye Lingling was silent for a moment. "We can try 'Life Judgment'."
That was the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the fusion of the Blue Silver Emperor and the Nine Heart Begonia Emperor, which had a natural restraining effect on evil attributes.
Tang San nodded. The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously released their Martial Souls.
Blue-gold light surged from Tang San's body, while emerald green light surged from Ye Lingling's body. The two lights converged and merged in the air, transforming into a ten-meter-tall phantom—the incarnation of the Goddess of Life.
"Life Judgment!" the two men shouted simultaneously.
A turquoise orb flew from the palm of the goddess's phantom, transforming into a streak of light that struck the trunk of the ancient tree with pinpoint accuracy.
The moment the ball of light entered the tree trunk, the entire tree suddenly lit up and began to twist and struggle wildly.
Tang San and Ye Lingling could sense that the dark power was fiercely clashing with the power of Life Judgment.
The dark forces attempted to resist, but faced with pure life energy, they had nowhere to escape and could only be gradually dissolved and purified.
This process lasted about fifteen minutes.
When the last wisp of dark power was completely purified, the ancient tree trembled violently, then slowly returned to calm.
The curled leaves on the tree trunk slowly unfurled, regaining their emerald green luster.
The surrounding vines also began to revive, with the withered yellow leaves turning green from the edges, and new buds sprouting from the branches.
The entire area was transformed in the blink of an eye.
"It's a success," Ye Lingling said softly.
Tang San smiled and nodded. He could feel the life force in this area gathering again.
Nearly two months of investigation have made them even more adept at grasping the power of life and more sensitive to the power of darkness.
Without delay, the two continued walking.
About three days later, all they saw was deathly silence.
This place stands in stark contrast to the rest of the forest.
Countless dead plants and tree stumps were scattered on the gray-brown ground, like the remnants of a great fire.
But there are no scorch marks here, only traces of time.
There was no stench in the air, only an indescribable sense of desolation.
Tang San and Ye Lingling stood side by side at the edge of the cemetery, looking at the desolate scene before them.
"This place... looks like a 'cemetery'," Tang San said softly.
"Outside, there is vibrant life; here, there is utter death."
Ye Lingling nodded, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes. "Life and death are simply two sides of life. Without death, life cannot continue; without life, death loses its meaning."
The two exchanged a glance, then slowly walked into the cemetery, sat cross-legged on a relatively flat area, and closed their eyes.
Tang San sank his consciousness into the soil beneath his feet, following the dead tree stumps, feeling their lingering presence, and listening to the stories that belonged to them.
His consciousness, like a stream, flowed along the lines of the tree rings, seeping into the interior of the tree stump, feeling its daily absorption and growth year after year.
The joy of sprouting in spring, the pride of lush growth in summer, the melancholy of falling leaves in autumn, and the silent waiting in winter.
Then, it grew old.
After a winter, it never awoke in the spring, and quietly and slowly withered away, falling to the ground.
The tree trunk became part of the soil, and the leaves turned into nutrients, nourishing new life.
Everything that was once drawn from the soil eventually returned to the soil.
Ultimately, it became the withered tree stump it is today, returning nutrients to the soil so that new life can begin here.
Those memories were small and fragmented, like a silent movie, playing slowly in their minds.
Tang San listened to the stories of the withered trees, one after another.
Each tree has its own story.
Some trees have lived for hundreds of years, witnessing generations of animals nesting, reproducing, and migrating on their branches.
Some trees only lived for a little over ten years before being snapped in half by a sudden storm, ending their lives young.
But no matter how long they live, they all tell the same story in their own way: death is not the end, but the beginning of another form of life.