At the same time, A Tai's Origin power as a Mountain Spirit was also being drained.
It was an inescapable death trap.
What the Seed of Life truly extracted and refined was the Mountain Spirit's utterly pure Origin of heaven and earth.
Only by using the Mountain Spirit's Origin as a catalyst could it forcibly refine Root Grudge's sinister, unruly Origin as well.
Boom!
The Seed of Life grew rapidly. What had been a freshly sprouted seedling swiftly developed a sturdy trunk and a dense crown.
In the blink of an eye, it stood several meters tall, rooted in the core of the earth's veins, breathing out boundless, pure vitality.
As her Origin power was frantically drained, A Tai's petite, girlish form began to change dramatically.
Youth rapidly faded from her fair, delicate face.
Within a few breaths, she grew from an innocent girl into a breathtakingly beautiful adult woman.
Then came middle age, her beauty beginning to fade, followed by old age and a head of silver hair...
In the end, she became a frail old woman, her face covered in wrinkles.
Yet even with her body shriveled and her vitality exhausted, her back remained straight, like a mountain that had stood unbowed for ten thousand years.
A mountain never bowed!
The black energy below dispersed completely, and the remnant root that was Root Grudge's true body turned to ash in the emerald flames.
Only one last, exceedingly faint phantom remained. Barely clinging to life, he looked at the aged A Tai and rasped, "Was it worth it...?"
"There is... nothing left in this world for me to cling to."
A Tai shook her head.
She had not answered directly, yet it seemed she had answered all the same.
At her words, Root Grudge gave a desolate smile.
Deep