novelraw Chapter 1007: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (15)
Chapter 1007: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (15)
It seemed like a weight had been lifted, making things feel much lighter.
The tune Zhang Qianrui was humming… carried a warmth to it.
It was as if a wave of heat was born in the pit of her stomach and then spread to her limbs… In the cold, damp cavern, Song Ying felt her cheeks heating up, and even her consciousness was starting to blur.
Her body was growing sluggish, and the weakness in her limbs made her feel uneasy. Instinctively, she touched her forehead and found that it was burning hot.
A fever… Was it because she had caught a chill?
Through the haze, Zhang Qianrui's humming seemed to have stopped. Song Ying shone her phone’s light toward Zhang Qianrui and saw her leaning against the rock wall, her cheeks flushed, breathing in small gasps, her gaze unfocused.
"It feels… strange…" Zhang Qianrui’s voice was faint and fragmented.
Song Ying forced herself to reach out and touch Zhang Qianrui’s forehead, realizing that she was burning up as well… Could it be because of those vine tendrils they had just sucked on?
Were they poisoned…?
With great difficulty, Song Ying moved closer to Zhang Qianrui and shook her gently. "How are you…? Are you still conscious…?"But her own consciousness was also slipping further into a haze.
Her vision began to distort, making it hard to see Zhang Qianrui clearly… So hot… so hot… so hot…
As her awareness faded, she vaguely felt a hand exploring her body. She lifted her head slightly, her vision blurring even more, barely making out a delicate face drawing closer and closer.
A soft breath exhaled.
...
...
The surrounding temperature had risen sharply, and the source was undoubtedly Song Haoran. His arms were engulfed in flames, with tendrils of fire rising and dissipating into the air, generating an intense heat that had already evaporated much of the moisture around him.
The ground was riddled with craters left from the fierce battle, resembling a war zone hit by stray bullets. Song Haoran gasped heavily, as if he had just finished a grueling marathon. His hair was soaked with sweat, only to be dried instantly by the heat of his burning arms, leaving it messily stuck together.
Even though his body had returned to its original state after reviving, his stamina had not regenerated… Maybe he had revived too many times.
For a brief moment, Song Haoran lost track of how many times he had come back, but it had to be over a hundred. Even for him, it was an immense mental burden.
Not far away, the mysterious figure wasn’t entirely unaffected either—each attack took a toll. Though small, the repeated expenditure added up, and after a hundred exchanges, even he wasn’t unscathed.
His breath was uneven… A rare feeling of disbelief flickered in the mysterious man's mind. Not only was his breathing irregular, but an unfamiliar irritability was creeping in—something that shouldn't exist within him. After all, he had always been in control of everything.
Everything except that mysterious young man he had encountered beneath the Song Family Ancestral Mansion. That had been completely outside his calculations. Otherwise, everything had gone according to plan.
Was it frustration from not being able to kill him? The mysterious man frowned.
On one hand, it was because he still didn't know the limits of this undying opponent. On the other… perhaps it was because his own state of mind was not as flawless as he had believed.
"Enough."
The mysterious man, wearing a bronze mask, suddenly lowered his hands, signaling an end to the fight. He stood there calmly, looking at Song Haoran.
"Enough?"
Song Haoran, panting like a lone wolf, fixed his gaze on the man. "It looks like I was the one at a disadvantage… And now you're giving up?"
"I don’t know how many more times you can revive." The mysterious man shook his head. "But given the current situation, I should be the one at a disadvantage, since I still don’t know your limits."
Song Haoran smirked coldly.
The masked man continued indifferently, "Besides, I don’t intend to waste any more time on you. There are more important matters I need to handle."
"That strange mist… was your doing, wasn’t it?"
Song Haoran’s arms remained ablaze. Even though his opponent had lowered his hands and ceased attacking, he did not let his guard down. After all, he had already died more than a hundred times.
The mysterious man spoke evenly, "I admit you have earned the right to live. That resurrection ability of yours is quite remarkable… As a species, you could be considered worthy of existence. Treasure it—this gift from the heavens."
His figure slowly faded into the thick mist.
"What is your goal?" Song Haoran called out into the fog.
No response came for a long time. Just as he was about to give up, the deep voice of the mysterious man finally echoed from the mist.
"I simply wish to create a better environment… a world suited for extraordinary beings."
With that, silence returned.
Song Haoran exhaled and let the flames on his arms gradually extinguish before collapsing onto the ground. He was completely drained and had no energy left to move.
Just then, something dropped in front of him with a soft thud.
Startled, he picked it up and found an old, thread-bound book.
"Great Freedom Method"
Without a doubt, Song Haoran was highly knowledgeable. His years of adventuring had given him a vast range of expertise. He was able to read the ancient script in the book.
It seemed to be a gift—or perhaps a remnant—left behind by the mysterious man.
"A world more suitable for extraordinary beings?"
Flipping through the book, Song Haoran found its contents obscure and difficult to decipher. He frowned in thought and, to his own surprise, felt a faint sense of yearning for what the mysterious man had described…
"But…"
Sprawled on the ground, Song Haoran muttered, "I'm starving…"
...
...
According to ancient legends, the Dragon God's child, Hope, resided in a deep pool beneath a cascading waterfall.
In this distorted space, Long Xiruo had to admit she was impressed. The person in front of her had found this place with hardly any effort.
Dense negative ions filled the air as mist rose from the crashing waterfall. Luo Pianxian took a deep breath, stretching her body lazily.
But before she could fully extend, Long Xiruo suddenly smacked her on the back, scolding, "How many buttons do you plan on popping off?"
"Huh??" Luo Pianxian blinked in confusion. Reflexively, she pulled down the zipper of the jacket Luo Qiu had given her, revealing what was hidden underneath. "But I didn’t pop any off this time?"
Long Xiruo covered her forehead in frustration… So as long as she wasn’t completely exposed, she didn’t care at all?
Luo Qiu, however, paid no attention to this and instead focused on the pool before him. Despite the roar of the waterfall, the scene carried an air of majesty.
"Where exactly?" Luo Qiu turned around, only to see Luo Pianxian pausing mid-zip, their gazes meeting.
She tilted her head curiously, but her hands remained still.
Luo Qiu chuckled and shifted his gaze back to Long Xiruo. "Miss Long?"
Long Xiruo, exasperated, pointed toward the pool. "Under the waterfall, there's a large circular boulder. Behind it is a passageway."
Following her direction, Luo Qiu concentrated on the spot. After a while, he said, "Miss Long, that boulder has already been moved."
"The carvings on the stone… How many remain?" Long Xiruo frowned.
"There seem to be three left. The rest are scattered and unclear."
Long Xiruo nodded. “It’s not the worst situation. If three marks remain, they can be restored… but Hope is probably no longer inside. The key is to bring it back; otherwise, repairing the seal will be useless.”
“We should make the necessary preparations first.” Luo Qiu nodded before heading toward the water pool.
Long Xiruo wanted to say something but quickly swallowed her words.
Because at that moment, the waterfall in front of them suddenly split down the middle, with water continuing to cascade down both sides. Simultaneously, the pool also parted in the center!
The water on both sides seemed to be held back by an invisible force, revealing a direct path along the pool bed. The ground remained moist but was not muddy.
It seemed that not only had the issue of traversing the area been considered, but even potential obstacles along the way had been accounted for.
“Wow!”
As they stepped into the exposed path, Luo Pianxian gazed in amazement at the towering walls of water on either side. Through the clear water, she could see fish swimming freely, as if she were looking at an aquarium display.
Curious, she pressed her face closer to the water wall, took a deep breath, and then held it as she stuck her head inside.
Her cheeks puffed out slightly, distorting her face, while the water's buoyancy made her hair float around. She took in the underwater world around her.
Suddenly, a large, aggressive fish swam toward her, showing no signs of stopping. As its mouth opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth, Luo Pianxian instinctively gasped.
The immense pressure at the bottom of the pool forced a rush of murky water into her mouth, making her cough in discomfort as she quickly pulled her head out and gasped for air.
“Here, wipe yourself off.”
Luo Qiu took a clean towel from his backpack and handed it to her. At the same time, he casually waved his hand, sending the fish—now flopping helplessly on the ground—back into the water.
It seemed like a simple gesture.
But Long Xiruo was momentarily dazed.
As the boss of the club, as a soul reaper who covets all things beautiful in this world… why do you show such respect for even the weakest of lives?
What exactly are you thinking?
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” The Little Butterfly Demon apologized repeatedly. “I caused trouble for you again, Boss… I’m really sorry.”
“It’s nothing.” Luo Qiu shook his head gently. “If you’re interested, you should visit an aquarium. It’d be much more convenient.”
Luo Pianxian nodded before suddenly flashing a bright smile. Without much thought, she blurted out, “Then next time, Boss, let’s go to the aquarium together!”
“Me?” Luo Qiu was slightly taken aback.
Luo Pianxian blinked. “Yeah! It would be lonely going alone, wouldn’t it?”
“I suppose so.” Luo Qiu smiled. “If there’s a chance.”
“Really?!” Luo Pianxian grabbed his hand and held it to her chest, looking ecstatic. “Oh, and we should invite Sister Yōu Yè too! And Sister Dragon! Let’s all go together!”
“I don’t have time for such nonsense.” Long Xiruo scoffed, looking unimpressed before striding forward.
Luo Pianxian hesitated, looking a little uncertain. Luo Qiu, however, calmly withdrew his hand and said, “You should dry your hair first.”
“Okay!”
She was always so full of energy.
Up ahead, Long Xiruo had already stopped. She stood still, her brows furrowed as she looked at a massive, fully exposed round stone.
This stone was marked with black chain-like inscriptions. Upon closer inspection, the inscriptions were composed of countless tiny spell sigils.
Now, however, only three of the inscriptions remained intact.
“Can you tell anything from it?”
Luo Qiu had somehow appeared behind Long Xiruo, leaning slightly closer to ask. The proximity made her suddenly feel a strange chill, like the sound of nails on glass, sending goosebumps across her skin.
She moved aside slightly before replying seriously, “It was deliberately destroyed. If Hope had broken out on its own, the damaged inscriptions wouldn’t be so evenly fractured.”
Luo Qiu nodded while looking beyond the round stone.
A pitch-black cave entrance lay beyond—normally concealed by the stone—but now partially sealed off by several stone pillars. However, some of the pillars had already been broken.
“Has it…” Luo Qiu suddenly asked, “always been inside?”
“What else could we do?” Long Xiruo sighed helplessly. “It was for its own good. It’s not like I wanted to do this.”
Luo Qiu nodded. “I’ll leave the restoration work to you, Miss Long. I’ll go take a look inside.”
Before Long Xiruo could respond, Luo Qiu swiftly stepped through the broken pillars and disappeared into the darkness.