Blooming in Eternal Life

Within the illusory surroundings, the sound of an unseen curse quietly echoed.

As Li Qingyue's words fell, the man's body began to tremble.

He gazed at Li Qingyue through unfocused eyes. Looking at the boy's gentle, peaceful face, he seemed to behold the holiest, most selfless being in the world.

His gaze grew hazy too, even though he was a Soul King.

But faced with this uncanny mental guidance, he could neither resist nor find a way to break free. The pain wracking his body had nearly driven him mad.

He yearned for eternal life, for a life that would never end. He longed to live forever and escape the endless torment his illness brought.

And now, such a chance seemed to have been placed abruptly before him.

The middle-aged man stared at Li Qingyue in a daze. Then his legs gave way, and he dropped straight to his knees.

His bones struck the ground with a crack, but he seemed not to notice.

He looked at Li Qingyue with devotion, bowed his head slightly, and held both hands out before him as if ready to receive something.

His eyes filled with reverence. "Merciful is the Medicine King. The Ambrosial Arbor grows. The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus are of one heart. Together we ascend to paradise."

The man's voice was soft.

He did not even know where those words had come from, yet he spoke them instinctively, then repeated them over and over.

As he spoke, a faint radiance shone from Li Qingyue—or rather, from the tree in his hand. Above his head, green branches began to grow, one after another.

Boundless life force seemed to flow through the emerald branches, purifying all the filth and corruption around them.

Li Qingyue's eyes remained ink-black, but his gaze had become utterly still.

He watched the man in silence from the lofty heights of a god.

His two arms slowly became six.

Then Scarlet Pupils opened along all six arms, pair after pair of eerie crimson eyes.

A profoundly strange power gathered in those eyes. The man's mind tried to struggle, but he was already trapped here completely.

The promise of relief from his illness made him abandon the last of his reason. Li Qingyue gently held the branch and pointed it toward the man, his gaze indifferent.

"I shall grant you eternal life, free you from all suffering, and bring you with me into paradise," Li Qingyue said softly.

As an unseen power touched the man, his wounds began to heal in an instant.

Flesh grew to fill the holes in his body, and every injury within him vanished.

The man raised his head and stared at himself in wild delight. His body seemed to have been restored completely.

Behind him, the rotting elk also began to recover.

Its missing flesh grew back until it became a whole Martial Soul once more.

Feeling the power swelling within him, the man's eyes shone with elation and excitement.

He stared blankly at his arms, then at the rest of his body. He could feel an incomparable strength.

"This is eternal life! It's real eternal life! I—I've gained eternal life, a life almost without end!"

The middle-aged man's voice rang with ecstasy, but then he froze. The delight in his eyes turned first to confusion, then to shock.

For as he watched, a tendril of vine slowly unfurled from his body.

Green leaves opened along it. His body began to twist, and countless vines sprouted from him and kept growing.

The vines spread everywhere, growing wildly like the most terrifying curse in the world.

They swallowed the man's body completely. He struggled to his feet.

His whole body had become like a patch of soil, swollen countless times beyond its former size, while everything inside it had turned strange.

Clutching his head, the man threw it back and let out one shrill howl after another. Then his body slowly dissolved. He collapsed to the ground, and branches spread out in every direction.

Flowers and grass began to cover the once-black earth. Small blossoms—blue, pink, and white—grew quietly from the muck.

The entire area around the man became a dense thicket.

A delicate floral scent drifted over. Na'er stared at the scene. Though she had no memories, she looked at Li Qingyue with a trace of puzzlement—or perhaps curiosity—in her eyes.

Na'er was not afraid, but she had never seen such uncanny power before.

Li Qingyue was gasping for breath. He was only an ordinary person, and forcibly drawing on even a sliver of the God of Abundance's power had placed a terrible strain on him.

Yet as he looked at the man's corpse, he could only sigh. The God of Abundance truly did grant eternal life.

But he was not the God of Abundance. He was only himself.

You wanted my life. Of course I'd take yours in return.

With that thought, Li Qingyue stood, and his power slowly receded.

The branches above his head faded away, and his six arms became two again.

Feeling his body return to normal, Li Qingyue stretched.

Then he took Na'er by the hand and led the little girl back to the hole in the ground.

As Li Qingyue walked, wherever they were about to step, grass sprang up.

All along their path, wild grasses flourished, covering the whole area in lush green.

Flowers and grass also began to grow from the decaying corpses.

Li Qingyue silently pressed his palms together in farewell and mourned the dead.

Only then did he use his strength to climb the stone wall, bringing Na'er up with him.

He looked at the abandoned garbage station and fell silent for a moment. After only a second's hesitation, he found a landline and calmly called the police.

They arrived quickly. In less than ten minutes, a large number of City Police officers had rushed over and sealed off the area.

Some officers went down into the hole, while the others began questioning the two children.

No one could explain what had happened down there. Li Qingyue said it had already been like that when he woke up.

The officers believed a six-year-old child.

Besides, Na'er plainly looked dazed and could not even speak, which made them believe the children all the more.

They assumed the strange sight had frightened both children senseless, so they paid them little further attention.

The two stayed at the police station for an entire day. Early the next morning, someone knocked on the lounge door.

A policewoman who looked to be in her twenties came in and smiled at Li Qingyue.

"Li Qingyue, we found a relative of yours. She says she's your aunt. She's passing through and said she can pick you up, so please wait here for her."

"Oh, and please come upstairs with me. I hear your aunt's surname is Leng, and she has an important background. The chief asked me to take you both to the VIP lounge upstairs."