A stalemate meant death.
Although Poison-Wing had burned through the karma of Ksitigarbha of Great Vows and caused the umbilical cord to crack, he himself was at his wit's end.
His bare body was covered in wounds, and purple blood dripped down, corroding deep pits into the ground.
Piao was in an even more miserable state; her belly had distended to its limit, her skin becoming transparent as if she might explode at any moment.
She had swallowed too much Buddhist light, and those filthy powers were now crashing violently inside her.
The orchid shield below was growing thinner and thinner, and Su Xue’s face was as pale as paper.
She was using her own origin life-force to resist this sky-filling rotten Buddhist light, overdrawing her life.
"Pfft—"
Finally, a corner of the orchid shield shattered.
Su Xue watched as a little girl hiding at the edge of the light barrier had her arm touched by the Buddhist light through the crack. It immediately began to rot, and she started crying out in pain.
Despair began to spread.
Su Xue’s whole body jolted, and she spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the pristine orchid petals.
The orchid, stained with blood, looked chillingly beautiful.
She looked at the faltering Poison-Wing, at the painfully struggling Piao, and at the villagers trembling in fear.
Su Xue took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She was a healer.
What should a healer do at such a time?
Wait for death? Watch helplessly as those protecting her fought to the death, and watch the innocent rot and perish before her eyes?
No.
Thousand-Tangle’s words flashed through Su Xue’s mind.
'Su Xue, you are a uniquely favored spirit herb that all plants envy.'
'You have hands and feet, thoughts and talent. Why do you live your life as a potted plant that can only be sheltered by others?'
'I simply look down on you.'
Yes.
Five hundred years ago, to save her, Jade Toad had shielded her, becoming a gu insect for Ksitigarbha of Great Vows, suffering a fate worse than death.
Five hundred years later, Poison-Wing and Piao shielded her, desperately blocking the erosion of the Buddhist light.
For five hundred years, she had always been well-protected.
A potted plant was for viewing, something that needed to be placed in a safe spot and meticulously cared for.
But a true spirit herb of heaven and earth was one that had experienced a thousand years of wind and rain, a spirit herb that had witnessed countless cycles of life and death.
Its roots should burrow into the deepest soil, its leaves should welcome the fiercest storms, and its very existence was meant to defy heaven and change fate!
Su Xue took a deep breath. In those eyes that were originally soft as water, a certain fire ignited.
Since the Buddhist light is the ultimate death qi, filthy and decaying.
Since my origin is the ultimate life-force, nourishing all things.
Since life and death in this world are numbered, and life and death are fleeting.
Then I shall determine the balance of life and death and master this cycle!
"Poison-Wing, Piao, step back."
Su Xue walked out from the center of the orchid shield step by step, coming before Poison-Wing and Piao.
"Sister Su Xue? What are you doing? Get back!" Poison-Wing cried out in shock.
Su Xue ignored him. She lifted her head, her gaze clear as a cold star, staring directly at that foul-smelling umbilical cord.
Her green silk dress fluttered in the wind and snow, her back straight as a pine tree. Her originally gentle temperament suddenly shifted.
Su Xue’s hands slowly formed a seal before her chest. She intended to use her entire origin life-force to activate the 【Heavenly Doctor Noble】 destiny.
Perhaps her state of mind had changed, or perhaps the origin of a thousand-year spirit herb was simply too vast.
Su Xue successfully connected to the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm within the City of the Wrongfully Dead.
Buzz—
The clear sound of vegetation sprouting seemed to ring out between heaven and earth.
Behind her, a phantom world faintly emerged.
It was the life of vegetation—the spring burst of growth and the winter wither.
Life and death were inherently a cycle.
【Life-Death Transformation: Can convert death qi into life-force, or life-force into death qi.】
The rotten Buddhist light looming over Jiuquan Village began to reverse the moment it touched the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm.
The rotten light that was enough to kill was forcibly stripped of its death attribute and transformed into the purest life energy.
A green rain began to drizzle down from the sky.
The rampaging energy inside Piao’s body settled instantly. She let out a comfortable burp, and her belly shrank back down at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The horrific wounds on Poison-Wing’s body healed rapidly, and fine down even began to grow back on his bare wings.
Su Xue stood in the center of the light rain. Though her face was pale, her back remained ramrod straight.
Her hands hovered upward, injecting all the life-force converted from death qi into the orchid phantom above her.
The orchid swelled abruptly, its volume expanding more than tenfold. Its petals unfurled, enveloping the entire Jiuquan Village, along with Poison-Wing and Piao.
Su Xue looked up at the sky, watching that massive umbilical cord. Her cold, clear voice echoed across the fields.
"The Goddess does not permit you to die. Even if Ksitigarbha himself descends—he. Shall. Not. Take. You!"
In this moment, she was no longer a potted plant protected by others. She was the Harvest Goddess who governed life and death!
She was the Su Xue Demon King who rekindled the fire of life in a place of despair!
However, the consumption of such a heaven-defying feat was terrifying.
Su Xue’s hair was turning white at a visible rate as her life origin burned.
As soon as Poison-Wing recovered, he immediately lunged at the umbilical cord again.
"It’s not enough... just a little more..." Poison-Wing gritted his teeth, looking at the umbilical cord that was already more than half-cracked. "Just one last strike!"
The umbilical cord was, after all, a creation of Ksitigarbha of Great Vows. Although it was riddled with holes, it was still held together by a layer of tough membrane, refusing to snap.
Right then, an incredibly arrogant laugh rang out.
"Hahahaha! Who dares to bully my Little Four and Little Ten? Did you ask your Lord Rat first?!"
A vast sea of white bone swept in from the horizon like a dark tide.
It was a group of skeletal little novice monks wearing human-skin cassocks and holding bone monk staffs.
At the front of the skeletons, Plague Rat, dressed in black and wearing a mask, stood on the shoulder of a bone giant, looking utterly defiant and domineering.
"Little Four, Little Ten, don’t panic!"
"Your boss has arrived!!"
"Rat? You finally bothered to show up!" Poison-Wing was overjoyed.
"Shut up and call me boss!" Although Plague Rat cursed, his movements weren't slow at all.
He controlled the bone giant to leap high, his body emitting a thick aura of plague and festering.
"Little Ten, coordinate with Lord Rat!"
"Coming!"
Poison-Wing spat out Calamity Venom-Fire once again. Though his feathers were gone, his firepower remained.
One purple, one green—the two forces converged in mid-air.
The venom-fire burned karma, while the plague corroded flesh.
Plague Rat’s fiendish qi transformed into sharp claws, tearing at the largest crack in the umbilical cord, with Poison-Wing’s venom-fire following closely behind.
"SNAP—FOR ME!!!"
Crack!
A world-shaking snap echoed.
Supported by Su Xue’s life-force and struck by the combined might of Poison-Wing and Plague Rat, the umbilical cord connecting heaven and earth finally snapped completely!
A rain of blood fell from the sky, but it was steadily blocked by that giant orchid.
Jiuquan Village had been held.
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