Believers

Xie Xie stared blankly at the scene before him.

His pupils contracted slightly, and bewilderment churned deep in his eyes, so intense it nearly overwhelmed him.

No matter how he tried, he could not understand how his mother's terminal illness, long since declared incurable, had suddenly vanished like smoke. She had truly regained her vitality.

Of course, beneath that confusion lay an even stronger feeling: joy he could barely contain.

After all, his mother had once been on her last breath, with one foot already through death's door. Now she stood before him again, her cheeks rosy.

Anyone would have felt joy welling up at the sight.

Yet the most bewildered person there was Xie's Mother herself.

She knew better than anyone how grave her illness had been. It was truly incurable.

Unless some overwhelmingly powerful force, something close to a miracle, was poured into her, there had been no possibility of recovery.

So she had never imagined she would see the day she recovered, much less that a miracle would descend upon her so suddenly.

"My body... My body really has recovered. How is that possible?"

"The disease inside me was already so severe. I should have been at death's door. How could I recover so easily?"

Her voice trembled, thick with disbelief that reached her very bones.

She could even smell the nauseating stench rising from her body.

But at that moment, the stench meant nothing to her.

Xie Xie had no attention to spare for the smell.

He rushed forward and reached his mother's side in a few strides.

Then he wrapped both arms tightly around her and burst into loud, heaving sobs.

He had watched helplessly as his mother moved step by step toward certain death. Now he had seen her escape danger and gain a new lease on life.

The force of that emotional blow was hard for anyone else to imagine, much less truly understand.

For Xie Xie, it was like a heart-stopping roller coaster. His feelings had plunged and soared in mere moments, leaving him tangled beyond words.

He did not know what he should feel, or what he should do.

Even as he looked at his mother, restored to health, Xie Xie could not say a single word.

After such violent swings of emotion, the shock alone was enough to steal a person's voice and leave them dazed.

And that was exactly how Xie Xie looked.

While he was caught up in the moving reunion between mother and son, Li Qingyue, standing nearby, remained calm—even detached.

He was destined to witness countless things like this in the future, and to live through countless similar scenes.

But no one knew how they would end, or what sort of conclusion awaited them.

Not even Li Qingyue himself could be sure of the final outcome.

I hope you won't covet Eternal Life.

After all, when I grant you Eternal Life, I'll be granting you the greatest calamity along with it.

Li Qingyue thought this silently, his face as calm as ever.

More than ten minutes passed before Xie's Mother slowly rose.

Once on her feet, she knelt before Li Qingyue without the slightest hesitation.

Her eyes were filled with heartfelt sincerity and gratitude.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving me."

"I can feel it. My body has never been in better condition, and every trace of the disease is gone."

"I can even clearly feel that my life has somehow been extended."

At that, her lips parted slightly, and a hint of hesitation crossed her eyes.

Li Qingyue's expression did not change much. He merely gave her a calm smile.

"There's no need to thank me."

"This power was not mine to bestow. It was a blessing sent down by a god."

"I merely carried out the god's will and passed that power on to you ahead of time."

"If you truly wish to give thanks or offer prayers, you can paint the god's likeness and worship it each day."

Li Qingyue spoke earnestly, though he had no intention of insisting that she enshrine and worship him.

After all, one or two believers would offer little benefit. He did not particularly need them.

But if Xie's Mother chose to pray devoutly to the god day after day, it might help him accumulate a considerable amount of power.

After hearing him out, Xie's Mother nodded repeatedly without hesitation.

"Of course I'll do that. I'll enshrine this god and worship them."

"They saved our family and gave me a new life."

"May I ask the god's name? And by what title should we address them?"

As she spoke, Xie's Mother lowered her head slightly. A rare look of devotion appeared in her eyes.

Li Qingyue listened, then smiled calmly. "The god's name is Yaoshi. You may address them as the God of Abundance."

"And what Xie Xie recited earlier was a prayer to the God of Abundance."

Li Qingyue nodded toward Xie Xie as he spoke, his expression still calm.

Xie Xie wiped his eyes and managed to get to his feet.

He, too, bowed deeply to Li Qingyue, his eyes full of gratitude.

Li Qingyue did not take that gratitude to heart.

After leaving the room, Li Qingyue made a point of giving mother and son some time alone.

It was not until evening that Xie Xie and Xie's Mother came out.

By then, Xie's Mother had regained her composure. Her manner had even become gentle and serene.

At the sight, quite a few of the surrounding maids and attendants looked startled, their expressions turning strange.

The news that Xie's Mother was close to death had long since ceased to be a secret. Everyone had seen how serious her condition was.

Yet someone so gravely ill, someone almost certain to die, had suddenly returned to health. Anyone would have found it unbelievable.

The attendants and maids exchanged glances. None could explain what had happened, much less why the change had come so suddenly.

But more than a few gazes had quietly settled on Li Qingyue and Na'er.

At noon, Xie's Mother had been hanging by a thread, liable to breathe her last at any moment.

Yet soon after these two strikingly beautiful people arrived, she had miraculously recovered.

How could that not set people speculating? A strange look had already crept onto more than a few faces.

Li Qingyue had noticed their change in attitude, but he was not particularly concerned.

It was hardly strange that people would have such thoughts.

After all, this world held good people and bad, honest souls and wicked ones. It was a complicated place.

Some of the servants employed by these great families were themselves members of collateral branches.

They considered themselves members of the Xie Family too, and all manner of emotions mingled within them.

So although Li Qingyue had sensed that some might be harboring ill intentions toward him, he paid them little mind.

If anyone truly dared to target him, they had almost no chance of succeeding.

He had not yet revealed the God of Abundance's strange powers, nor had he granted Eternal Life to anyone.

Although Xie's Mother now possessed something close to Eternal Life, its true nature would not reveal itself until she reached a certain age.

Until then, she would enjoy a blessing that was almost perfect.

If someone still wanted to harm him under these circumstances—

If they sought to seize his power, or even kill him outright—

Then, when that moment of danger came, Li Qingyue would not mind teaching them a lesson.

He would show them that, besides being a Support Soul Master, he wielded power of terrifying strength.

And he would show them what it meant to cross the sea of stars in pursuit of a sworn enemy, sweeping away every calamity and disaster beneath the heavens with divine arrows.