Time passed second by second in this agonizing wait.
The sun slowly climbed up from the east, passed over the treetops, and finally hung in the middle of the sky.
Noon has arrived.
The Yaoshi, hiding in the shadows of the tree roots, felt every cell in his body screaming in pain. o(╥╥)o
Even through layers of leaves, the damned sunlight was still unreasonable, pricking him like needles.
My skin is burning.
The blood is evaporating.
The fear of death was quickly consuming his remaining sense of reason.
"Damn it... the sun~"
He gritted his teeth, his once handsome face contorted in pain, looking like a ghost.
He could even smell the nauseating odor of burnt meat emanating from himself.
Just a second before his will collapsed.
An anomaly has occurred!!
He stared intently at the empty gravesite for three days and three nights.
The ground began to tremble slightly.
Then, like something out of a dream, a pure blue color burst forth from the earth without any warning!
One plant, two plants, ten plants, a hundred plants...
It was as if they had received some mysterious order.
At the very moment when the sunlight was at its most intense, countless green flower buds eagerly emerged from the frozen soil, and, facing the deadly sun, blossomed at a speed visible to the naked eye!
It was a kind of... indescribable, ultimate blue.
Purer than the sky, deeper than the sea.
Each petal, like a crystal of the purest sunlight, radiates a dreamlike halo in the air.
The vibrant fragrance instantly filled the entire mountain forest!
The Yaoshi stopped breathing.
His bloodshot eyes, swollen from pain, stared intently at the miraculous sea of blue flowers before him.
He forgot the pain.
Forgot about fear.
His heart, which had become numb from waiting, began to beat wildly at a frequency he had never experienced before!
"Blue... the red spider lily..."
He murmured the name he had always dreamed of.
Found it...
He really... found it!! yyds!!
A thousand-year-old legend, the ghost boss's lifelong pursuit, the ultimate dream of all ghosts...
Right in front of him!
You can touch it with your bare hand!
Overwhelmed with ecstasy, like a flash flood, he snapped the last thread of his reason!
But, the next second...
The fear of death kicked him down from the peak of ecstasy.
That sea of flowers was being soaked in the most scorching sunlight.
From the shade of the tree where he hid to the edge of the flower field, it was less than ten meters.
But those ten meters are the dividing line between life and death!
Want to gamble?
A crazy idea was screaming in his head!
What if... what if it wasn't Blue Spider Lily?
What if it's just an ordinary plant that looks similar?
What if it doesn't actually have that magical ability to withstand sunlight?
The moment he steps out of this shadow, within seconds, he'll be burned to a pile of useless ashes by this damned sun!
He had finally obtained eternal life.
His noble wisdom surpasses that of all his kind.
He's about to begin the great "Era of God"...
Everything is going to be ruined!
But!
A sudden, insane "ambition" flashed in the Yaoshi's eyes!
He remembered the aloof ghost boss who treated all ghosts as pawns and tools.
He recalled the humiliation of the past few months, when he had been like a dog, constantly hiding and being chased all over the world by that expressionless, water-spraying Water Hashira!
He didn't want to live that miserable life of hiding in the dark and living in fear anymore!
He wants to be the one and only God!
He wanted to stand in the sunlight and look at everything that had once frightened and disgusted him!
"Hehe... hehe..."
"Muzan, Lord Muzan..."
He laughed softly, maniacally.
"Because you were a coward, you wasted a thousand years in the darkness."
"And I, the Yaoshi, will use my courage to end this tragic era that you began!"
"This... is... the ultimate... clinical trial!"
"The test subject... is me, myself!"
"The stakes... are my life!"
"And the prize..."
His gaze was fixed intently on the sea of blue flowers.
"It's the whole... world!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't hesitate for even a moment longer!
Like a wild beast freed from all its chains, he used all his strength to burst out of that safe shadow!
"Sizzle--!"
The deadly sunlight, like the most concentrated Aqua Regia, poured down on him!
That clean white lab coat was the first to turn gray!
Next, every inch of his skin exposed to the sun!
Smoke, mixed with the stench of burning flesh and blood, billowed wildly from his body!
Excruciating pain!
The pain is excruciating!
The pain was so intense, it felt like my very soul was being torn apart!
His body, under the sunlight, dissolved and disintegrated at a speed visible to the naked eye!
His vision began to blur.
His consciousness began to fade.
But his eyes, burning with ambition, remained fixed on the green expanse ahead, which was almost within his grasp!
"Mine!!"
"Be mine!!"
He let out a hoarse roar!
With a frenzied energy that transcended life and death, he plunged into that sea of flowers!
He didn't even have time to tell what was going on; he grabbed a handful of green flowers, mud and all, and stuffed them into his mouth!
The petals melted as soon as they entered my mouth.
A strange, warm current, seemingly carrying the energy of the sun, rushed down his throat and into every corner of his body!
That moment.
Time seemed to stand still.
The excruciating pain that burned through his body... was gone.
Instead, it was replaced by a peace that had never been before.
He felt that his collapsing cells had stopped making noise.
They were cheering.
They are jumping.
They were greedily absorbing the sacred energy that rushed into their bodies!
Recombination, evolution, sublimation!
The Yaoshi slowly, very slowly, raised his hand.
That hand, which had just been scorched by the sun, was now a bloody mess, almost reduced to a skeleton.
Now, it's growing back at an incredibly fast pace, completely defying any scientific logic.
The newly grown skin was like jade, even more perfect than his previous skin.
He felt the sunlight that had once terrified him to death; now, it felt like the gentlest hand of a lover, softly caressing his body.
That was no longer poison.
Instead... nutrients!
He... succeeded.
He really succeeded!!
"Heh... hehe..."
A suppressed laugh escaped from his throat.
Then, the laughter grew louder and louder, more and more... maniacal!
"Haha... haha... haha!!"
He raised his head, spread his arms, and faced the golden sun in the sky, letting out a triumphant laugh that resounded throughout the entire mountain forest!
He is Upper Rank Seven, Yaoshi!
From this day forward, I am the only God, walking in the sunlight!!