The smallest stalk of Blue Silver Grass had only one green leaf left. It mustered all its strength to nuzzle Ah Yin's branches and leaves:
"Empress... carry our share with you... and live well..."
As its words faded, its last glimmer of light flowed into her, and it turned completely into withered grass.
The surroundings gradually fell silent. The once-lush Blue Silver Grass Forest now held only vast stretches of withered yellow stems.
Ah Yin's true form stood amid the withered yellow grass, golden-red patterns flowing across her blue-black body.
She slowly lowered her blades of grass, gently covering her subjects who had already withered.
The instant her leaves touched the withered grass, a sob suppressed to its utmost scattered on the wind.
"I swear to you."
Ah Yin's voice was low and firm, golden-red light flowing over her dark-blue body:
"I will avenge every one of our fallen kin! And I will never betray the hopes you paid for with your lives!"
As her vow fell, the energy within her boiled over completely.
The life force gathered from the sacrifice of half the Blue Silver Grass in the Blue Silver Forest washed over her true form like a tsunami.
Her age soared wildly within that torrent, finally stopping at 100,000 years!
"Humm-!"
A dazzling red light suddenly erupted from Ah Yin's true form, instantly illuminating the entire withered yellow forest.
The Dark Blue Silver Emperor, originally only thirty centimeters tall, shot upward and grew wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Black-red patterns moved like living things across her dark-blue stems, radiating a heart-pounding pressure.
In the blink of an eye, however, all the light and energy abruptly withdrew inward, forming a cocoon woven from Dark Blue Silver Emperor vines.
The cocoon was as tall as a