Two more days passed...
That night, Mark's life-source extraction was finally about to begin: the procedure to separate that Ran Bing's life source and preserve it properly so she could be revived.
Last time, supposedly, when Dragonbone Village used that "Bone-Shaking Singing Bowl" equipment to successfully shake someone's life source out of a Mana Flower, the flower had been completely shattered. So it was fair to say this was a very risky procedure. One wrong move, and Mark could drop dead on the spot!
In theory, Mark was very important to White Elder and to Dragonbone Village, and the life-source extraction was so dangerous that White Elder should have opposed it, shouldn't she?
But in the end, she agreed to Mark's request and insisted on going through with it.
Perhaps she wanted to make Mark utterly devoted to her, to ensure his fullest cooperation with some even more important plan of hers, and to give him more faith and ties to hold on to?
So even knowing there was a risk that Mark's life-source seed could be shattered and he could die, she still agreed to let him try, willing to take that risk!
Still, to ensure the best chance of success, she had made many preparations beforehand. For instance, she'd overseen Mark's training in everything from his physical condition and nerves to his hand-eye coordination. She only planned to carry out the ritual once she was satisfied that he was ready.
She'd chosen to perform the ritual late at night, when all was quiet, for no other reason than to give Mark the best possible chance of success.
Besides a certain idle little girl who'd eaten her fill and had nothing better to do—that is, Annie—those who came to watch tonight naturally included White Elder, a group of old