Chen Zhou said, "Try it."
"Try... what?"
The mummified corpse looked up blankly.
"Use your ability to make it take root and sprout."
She froze, staring down at the seed in her palm.
She looked at Chen Zhou, then back at the seed.
"I... I don't know how..."
Her voice trembled with panic.
"I've never... I've never done anything like this before..."
"Try,"
Chen Zhou simply repeated.
The mummified corpse pursed her sewn lips, lowered her head, and stared intently at the seed in her palm.
Try it.
Just try it.
She struggled to calm herself and began to attempt it.
She didn't know how to use her ability.
She had never actively wielded any power before.
The black spots were a part of her body; they spread on their own and birthed monsters naturally, requiring no control from her at all.
The only active thing she had ever done was suppression.
Desperate suppression, frantic suppression, using every ounce of her strength to hold it back.
She suppressed those black spots so they wouldn't spread too fast and wouldn't completely devour the Western Region.
But now, the Exalted One wanted her to... make a seed sprout?
She stared at the seed in her palm, thinking as hard as she could.
Sprout... sprout... sprout...
Several breaths passed, but the seed didn't react.
She grew anxious.
She pushed even harder.
She thought so hard her entire body trembled, wisps of black qi seeped from her withered skin, and the tears of blood flowed even more fiercely from her eye sockets.
The seed still didn't react.
Forget sprouting, it didn't even have a crack.
Her movements gradually slowed, and her shoulders slumped.
"I'm sorry, I can't do it..."
"I knew it... How could I possibly do something like that..."
Her self-loathing returned.
The tiny spark of hope that had just ignited shattered like a bubble.
What right did she have to hope?
She was just a monster, a monster that brought nothing but disaster and death.
Bringing life was something only a true god could do.
What was she?
As these thoughts swirled, her palm suddenly felt an itch.
It was very faint.
As if something had lightly brushed against her skin.
The mummified corpse froze and stared down at the seed in her palm.
The seed was still brown and shriveled, seemingly unchanged.
But that tickling sensation continued.
It was coming from her palm.
It was faint and gentle.
As if something was working hard, trying to burrow out from within.
She didn't dare move.
She stared at the seed, forgetting even to breathe.
A tiny crack appeared on the seed's shell.
Her eye sockets widened.
From that crack, two incredibly tiny things poked out.
They were tender green, as thin and soft as strands of hair.
They stood tremulously in the air, as if testing this new world.
"It sprouted! It sprouted! It really sprouted!"
The mummified corpse remained motionless, staring at the two tiny sprouts.
They were so small.
So small a breeze could snap them.
So small a little pressure would crush them.
But they were really there.
They had truly grown from her palm.
They had emerged from this withered, hideous corpse stained with sinful karma.
The blood surged even faster from her eyes, but she didn't wipe it away.
She didn't even dare move.
She was afraid that if she did, the tiny sprouts would fall.
She looked up at Chen Zhou, her face glowing with a radiant light.
Su Xue had seen that light many times.
It was the look on the faces of the believers in the City of the Wrongfully Dead when they first witnessed a miracle.
It was the light in the eyes of a dying person who had been saved.
It was the broken yet brilliant light of someone in despair suddenly seeing hope.
Chen Zhou looked at the mummified corpse, his expression neutral, but he felt a twinge of disappointment.
As expected, he had been over-optimistic.
How could a godhead be left behind so easily?
He had merged with the Oasis Goddess's inner godhead, which allowed him to communicate with and strengthen his Filth and Lethal Poison divinities.
Inferring from that, it was likely also linked to things like Desolation, Drought, and Death.
Chen Zhou wondered if there was an inner godhead, could there be an outer godhead?
If so, where would it be? Could it still be inside the divine remains?
Since the divine remains' title in life was Oasis, the outer godhead should logically govern authorities like Vitality, Revival, Nourishment, and Fertile Soil.
But now, the divine remains had to strain with all her might just to make a seed sprout, which was something any of the plant demonlings by Su Xue's side could do effortlessly.
This meant either the outer godhead had been taken long ago, or it simply didn't exist.
Chen Zhou's gaze darkened slightly.
It made sense. Something as important as a godhead... if it existed, how could those people from Sky-Monitoring leave it behind?
Perhaps even the goddess's divine artifact, the living soil, was already in their hands.
However, the mummified corpse was currently so happy just because a single life had been born in her hands.
Seeing her joy, Chen Zhou praised her, "Very impressive."
"Since you can control new life, do you have any other abilities?"
Buoyed by the praise, the mummified corpse cheered up, though she spoke with some hesitation.
"Other abilities?"
"I think... I can summon some black spots, those really big monsters..."
Chen Zhou's brow twitched.
"Try it."
Feeling more confident, a massive cloud of black smoke instantly surged from her body.
The sinful karma was so thick it was almost tangible as it flowed out and landed on the sand outside the tomb's threshold.
The moment the black qi touched the ground, it began to twist, expand, and solidify frantically.
In just a few breaths, three massive black-spot monsters appeared before them.
Each was thirty or forty feet tall, covered in dripping black slime, with hideous faces and terrifying auras.
The plant demonlings Su Xue had brought were startled and cowered behind her.
The mummified corpse waved her hands hurriedly.
"Don't be afraid! They won't hurt anyone!"
She explained urgently.
"These are black spots that follow my orders, not those monsters that go out of control."
"Really, they're very obedient!"
To prove her words, she waved at the three monsters.
"Sit."
The three behemoths immediately crouched down like obedient dogs.
"Roll over."
The three monsters actually rolled around on the sand, kicking up clouds of dust.
Su Xue: "..."
She suddenly found it a bit comical.
Chen Zhou, however, narrowed his eyes.
He could sense their auras.
They were all around the seventh-stage.
The strongest one was even bordering on the first symbiosis contract of the Symbiosis stage.
This was no small ability.
The mummified corpse looked at Chen Zhou anxiously, afraid it wasn't enough.
"Exalted One, is this okay?"
"I know these monsters are ugly and scary, and they aren't very useful..."
"I... this is all I have..."
Chen Zhou looked at her.
Seventh-stage combat power was a top-tier existence anywhere.
To be able to summon three at once, and to do so with such apparent ease and energy to spare...
And she called this not very useful?
Rate on N.U.
