"Nun, I'm back!"
After bidding farewell to Ju, who had delivered the message, Linsey returned to the church.
Red Moon was still seated before the chapel, carrying out her daily prayers day after day.
Hearing Linsey greet her,
the elderly Nun merely nodded slightly and said nothing more.
Compared to when she had saved Linsey three years ago, Red Moon had hardly changed at all.
Silent and calm.
After giving it some thought, Linsey stepped forward and said:
"Nun, Teacher Finn asked me to pass along a message."
"Finn?" Only then did Red Moon turn to look at him. "Has he already sensed that the end of his road is near?"
Red Moon's words were blunt. The end of one's road drawing near meant death.
In truth, as Finn's health had declined over the past two years, this had become an unspoken fact everyone understood.
Linsey could understand Red Moon's seemingly coldhearted question.
Because awakened ones possessed their own Essence, they found it harder than ordinary people to become walking corpses. However, once such a rare occurrence did happen, it often brought even more dangerous consequences.
Given her duties within the School of Death, Red Moon naturally had to ask.
Linsey hurriedly shook his head.
"Teacher Finn was still teaching me normally today."
"It's just that he asked me to pass on a message. He said he needed to discuss Merchant's Source Material with you."
By this point, Red Moon had already guessed Finn's intentions.
She lowered her head slightly and sighed.
"Ah..."
Hearing the trace of sorrow in her voice, Linsey hurriedly pressed her:
"Nun, what is it?"
"Is there something wrong with Merchant's Source Material?"
Red Moon explained in a drawn-out tone:
"The technique used by merchants to cultivate Essence combines one's own Essence with an external object, then shapes it into a magical item that can be cultivated, replacing the Source Material System centered on one's own body."
"After this technique spread, some awakened ones nearing the end of their lives would abolish their own abilities before death and try to leave behind something more useful than a corpse."
"..."
Teacher Finn really is going to die! It was as though a bolt of lightning flashed through Linsey's mind, leaving him standing there dumbfounded.
Red Moon then moved to the church's rear courtyard and took out a thin paper scroll.
"This is the cultivation method for Merchant's Source Material?"
Only then did Linsey react. "I... Nun, sorry, I'll deliver it."
Red Moon handed the scroll to Linsey. "Have a good talk with Finn."
"Nun, I'll be back late tonight."
Taking the scroll, Linsey dashed out of the church without another word. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from before it.
Red Moon watched her godson leave.
She turned around and gazed at the statue of the School of Death. In the end, she merely shook her head slightly and said nothing more.
Meanwhile, Linsey raced through the town.
After three years of training, along with the boost from Life Source Material, his three physical attributes—Constitution, strength, and agility—had reached 14, 11, and 12 respectively.
By Linsey's estimation,
an ordinary adult human's physical attributes should be around 6.
Such exaggerated attributes, nearly double the norm, gave him abilities beyond those of elite athletes.
With 14 Constitution, during a marathon-like long-distance run, his stamina drained more slowly than it recovered. As long as he had enough food and clear water, Linsey could run day and night without stopping;
with 11 strength, lifting objects weighing over a hundred kilograms came easily; with 12 agility at full sprint, he could run one hundred meters in nearly nine seconds.
Supported by these attributes, Linsey quickly returned to Finn's cabin.
But this time, his heart was in turmoil.
He even forgot to knock, pushing the door open and walking straight inside.
"Linsey, why are you here?"
Finn was sitting by the fireplace boiling water. Seeing Linsey's panicked appearance, he immediately asked with concern, "You're in such a hurry. Did something happen to Red Moon?"
"No, I, you..." Linsey stammered, unable to get the words out.
He couldn't possibly ask Finn to his face, "Are you nearing the end of your life?"
Yet that reaction also answered Finn's question from another angle.
The botanist understood and smiled gently. "Child, it's all right."
"I have spent over a hundred years in this world. That counts as a long life."
Linsey still found it hard to accept.
"But it shouldn't be like this. Your legs may not be as steady as before, but your mind is still sharp. How could it happen so soon..."
Linsey wanted to say more, but Finn took the paper scroll from his hand and shook his head, interrupting Linsey's unwillingness. "Child, this is a judgment I made through my abilities."
"Within the Life School, the first ability our branch elevates is called Life Instinct. It gives me powerful intuitive premonitions. This year will be my final days."
"..."
Silence blanketed the cramped cabin.
Finn's tone had been gentle as he explained, but his meaning was absolute and beyond dispute.
Linsey knew this was the truth, so he could not say anything.
After three years of close companionship,
he had long regarded the elder before him as his most respected teacher. Now that his mentor was about to pass away, Linsey truly did not know what to do.
Whooo—
After a while, the kettle on the fireplace began to whistle.
Finn lifted the kettle and poured Linsey a cup of hot water. "Child, have some water."
Linsey accepted the cup almost instinctively.
But he did not take a sip. Instead, he stared at Finn and asked in a trembling voice.
"You... how much time do you have left..."
Finn first shook his head, then nodded. "Linsey, I know you are a gentle child, and this will make you sad. But from now on, you must learn how to part with people."
As he spoke, Finn seemed to settle into his role as a teacher.
He continued earnestly, "You, who possess Life Source Material, will enjoy a far longer lifespan than ordinary people. Such partings will run throughout your life. You must prepare yourself well, or this feeling will crush you in the future."
Finn's original intention was to help Linsey accept the cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death.
This was also the final lesson he could give Linsey.
But Linsey thought of the longevity granted by Life Source Material and hurriedly asked, "Then could my Life Source Material possibly help you?"
Finn smiled and shook his head.
"If such a thing were possible, this world would have fallen into chaos long ago."
Then the elder rose from the table and slowly walked into the study, looking toward the bookshelf.
Linsey had organized the bookshelf very neatly after reading the books.
But as the master of this place, how could Finn not tell which books Linsey had read?
Finn's gaze lingered on the bookshelf for a long while before he finally said:
"Child, I know your aspirations do not lie solely along the path of life. In the future, you will surely try to break through Black Mountain's blockade."
"And I believe you can do it."
"So if one day you reach Volcano City, or meet other scholars of the Life School, please entrust my knowledge to them, so that these abilities will not be lost."
Linsey straightened up and made a solemn promise:
"Teacher, I promise you!"
Without even turning around, Finn waved him off. "Child, hurry home. Red Moon Lady will worry about you."
To clarify, ordinary people have an average physical attribute score of 6. Those who are strong and healthy can reach 9, elite athletes can barely reach 12, and reaching or exceeding 13 belongs to the realm of the extraordinary.