Eternal Companionship

Chapter 40: Forever By Your Side

More and more players surged in from all directions.

They surrounded the Evil Spirit Warrior in concentric circles.

Taking advantage of the brief window when players with the Taunt soul skill took turns controlling the Evil Spirit Warrior, the disoriented Duan Xing was pulled away from the scene by the players.

He was escorted away by the players.

The remaining players launched wave after wave of attacks on the Evil Spirit Warrior, preventing it from harming God of Wealth again.

The Evil Spirit Warrior's analysis panel was shared by players on the regional voice channel during the battle.

[Earth Spirit - Evil Spirit (Commander-class)]

Hunting Level: 63

Target Analysis: An intelligent evil entity born from the Black Tide, possessing powerful combat awareness and skills.

Despite being surrounded by players and already weakened, the Evil Spirit Warrior remained unstoppable.

Its casual attacks could easily kill swarms of players, while the players' assaults couldn't even break through its surface defense.

The players' only advantage was their sheer numbers, with reinforcements constantly arriving from all directions.

"Who else has the Taunt soul skill? I don't think we can hold on much longer. This thing can't be beaten by sheer numbers."

"Brothers with Taunt, type '1' in the regional channel. I'll form a party and we'll cast Taunt in turns, buying more time for God of Wealth."

Players with the Taunt soul skill were ultimately few in number, and a gap in Taunt soon appeared.

But to the players' surprise, the Evil Spirit Warrior didn't pursue the direction God of Wealth had left. Instead, it transformed into a black beam of light and shot into the sky, flying north.

The crisis averted, the players finally breathed a sigh of relief, believing God of Wealth's life was safe.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the Crimson Plains, Duan Xing was still asleep. The Runes Armor on his body flickered with a faint light intermittently, as if breathing.

Black death energy had spread all over his body, and his injuries were further deteriorating under the corrosive effect.

On the verge of death, Duan Xing vaguely saw his deceased father in a trance.

The man who had died in his place.

Memories from when he was seven years old flooded back, filling his childhood with endless pain.

In his memory, the Black Tide that had seeped into his body originated from a mark on his left chest. Over time, it had spread into his body, corrupting his heart.

The last time he saw his father, his consciousness was already hazy, but he clearly remembered his father smiling and stroking his head:

"Xing, do you want to possess the same powerful strength as Dad?"

"I want to... possess the same powerful strength as Dad. I'll definitely be able to overcome the corrosion... and in the future, I'll be able to join the Tidal Rebellion Legion like you and become a glorious warrior."

"For the path ahead, I hope you can continue to walk forward with strength."

"Dad, where are you going?"

"I'm not leaving. I'll always be by your side, witnessing your growth."

His consciousness fell into a deep sleep at that moment.

When he woke up, his father was gone. The corrosive energy that had infiltrated his body had also vanished.

His once weak heart now beat strongly and powerfully. When he looked down, he found an energy core connected to his heart on his left chest.

At that moment, he understood his father's choice. This was what his father meant by "forever by your side, witnessing your growth."

His decaying heart had been removed and replaced by his father's strong and powerful heart.

Through the sacrificial narrative, Duan Xing learned that the energy core on his left chest was a seal for the powerful heart within him. His frail body couldn't withstand the power of his father's heart. The energy core was a mechanism to control the heart's power, and the seal could be opened by twisting it.

A wisp of his father's residual consciousness flashed one last time as the heart and energy core perfectly aligned:

"Every time the energy core turns, Father will fight alongside you."

Memories churned in Duan Xing's mind. His body grew weaker, and the injuries inflicted by the Evil Spirit Warrior continued to deteriorate.

The death energy seeping into his body caused his organs to decay rapidly. Only his heart continued to roar, sustaining Duan Xing's last thread of life.

As his consciousness was about to sink into oblivion, Duan Xing vaguely saw his father standing not far away, smiling and extending a hand to him:

"Follow my footsteps closely."

Holding his father's hand, Duan Xing walked towards the faint light ahead. At this moment, the darkness around him no longer seemed terrifying.

Meanwhile, the players outside were extremely anxious.

Through the analysis feedback from the Guider, they discovered that God of Wealth was in a near-death state and could die at any moment.

At this critical juncture, many players chose to lend a hand.

"I earned 800 Sacrificial Power from you, so consider this 50 Sacrificial Power healing pill as repayment." A player said with a pained expression, placing a green pill into Duan Xing's mouth.

"God of Wealth, you can't die!" Another player exchanged a bottle of low-level healing potion for 10 Sacrificial Power and poured it onto Duan Xing.

"I'm a doctor, clear the way, let me see his injuries... I don't understand, you should just pay for medicine."

Under the players' healing potions and the unyielding beat of his heart, Duan Xing was pulled back from the brink of death.

His injuries began to mend at a visible rate.

Seeing this, the players surrounding Duan Xing cheered.

"Look at the analysis feedback, God of Wealth's near-death status has changed to Weakened. We succeeded!"

"We succeeded, but why are we still here? God of Wealth will definitely come after us when he wakes up, he's so fierce. Let's run!"

"Run, run! God of Wealth kills without batting an eye. If he sees us here, we'll definitely be sent to the 'Black Room' for an hour."

As Duan Xing's injuries healed, the players retreated, unwilling to linger.

Although they had a good impression of Duan Xing, they knew he had no good feelings towards them. Every time they met, he came at them with two cleavers, ready to kill.

Not long after the players dispersed, Duan Xing slowly awoke from his coma.

He opened his eyes, looked down at the energy core connected to his heart in his left chest, and then scanned his surroundings.

He didn't understand why he was here, or where the Evil Spirit warrior he had fought had gone.

With confusion, he tried to activate the combat information storage function embedded in his Runes Armor, and countless recorded scenes flooded his mind.

He saw the scene where the mysterious creatures he hated had risked their lives to save him just as he was about to die. He also saw them pull him away from the Evil Spirit warrior, buy him time to retreat, and fight the Evil Spirit warrior to the death.

The final scene in the combat recording was the mysterious creatures healing his injuries.

After watching the recorded footage, Duan Xing's hatred for the mysterious creatures turned into gratitude.

He didn't understand why they had done it, but he knew that his survival was bought with their lives.

All his past grudges became insignificant in the face of this debt of gratitude.

Sitting up, he took a rune imprint the size of a thumb from his bracer.

"Trial failed, it's time to go back."

After this battle, his obsession had vanished. He decided to abandon the trial and leave.

With the mysterious creatures blocking him, he couldn't possibly collect enough Evil Crystals. The next time they met, he no longer wished to kill them.

"I will repay your kindness when I become strong enough."

With that, Duan Xing flew straight into the sky.

An hour later, Duan Xing's figure appeared before the large pit he had crashed into upon arrival, preparing to embed the rune imprint in his shuttle to summon the observer for pickup.

But as he looked down into the pit, he was shocked to find that the shuttle was gone.

Frowning, he tried to activate the Runes Armor's positioning system, only to find that he could no longer sense the shuttle's exact location, nor could he retrieve even fragmented information.

His heart rate suddenly accelerated, his blood pressure soared, and Duan Xing's eyes turned completely red.

He thought of a possibility.

An ability that could make an object disappear completely... Besides those mysterious creatures, who else could it be?

Half a day ago.

Player Forum:

[Brothers, I've struck it rich! I found a machine at the bottom of a big pit. After throwing it into the altar for sacrifice, I got 38,000 Sacrificial Power points. This is too awesome, no different from winning the lottery. The monster world is indeed full of opportunities, Guider didn't lie to me!]

New book period~ Please vote~

(End of this chapter)