“What are you doing?!” He stepped forward and grabbed Little Chrysanthemum’s wrist, his expression darkening as he glared at him. “Do you consider your demonic life too long?”
Little Chrysanthemum paused, somewhat taken aback as he turned to look at him, probably not expecting him to suddenly appear here.
Turning back to the barrier he had erected, which had been shattered into pieces as soon as the other had barged in, he instantly understood.
To the powerful, his barrier was probably no different from not having one at all, especially now that he was so weakened.
“Sorry, did I disturb your rest?” Little Chrysanthemum looked at him apologetically, then glared at the man who had rushed over in annoyance.
If this fool hadn’t suddenly burst out shouting, he wouldn’t have been discovered by others.
“What, you dislike that someone hindered your good deed?”
Jing Li looked at him with a face full of sarcasm, a rare chill on his face, “If you really don’t want to live, I can lend a hand and save you the trouble of doing it yourself.”
“I…” Little Chrysanthemum’s face paled, about to explain when the man who had hurried over interrupted him.
“Jingzhou, what happened to you?” The man rushed over in panic, his face turning pale when he saw the bloody wound on his chest. Trembling, he coaxed him, “Let me take you to the hospital, okay? I…”
The man moved to support him, but Little Chrysanthemum waved him away forcefully.
The movement was a bit forceful, instantly pulling at the wound on his chest, causing him to wince in pain, but he still insisted stubbornly, “I told you not to meddle. Get lost.”
“You don’t want me to meddle?” Seeing him still so stubborn, the man also grew angry.
He looked at the young man’s pained expression, glanced at the big tree beside them, and said in a grim voice, “If you insist on being so stubborn, believe it or not, I’ll burn it down tomorrow!”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Little Chrysanthemum’s face turned ashen upon hearing this.
But the man seemed undeterred by his threat and sneered, “You’ll see if I dare or not!”
“Rather than watching you torment yourself, desperately using your heart’s blood1I’m not sure about this. The raw say 心头血 which is literally heart blood. But I cannot find any explanation relating it to cultivation. The only result on Baidu is a novel with that title. to nourish it, I might as well burn it down and be done with it!”
“Heart’s blood?” Jing Li immediately caught onto the key point in their conversation.
He glanced at the two, recalling the subtle connection he had sensed earlier between the Tree of Life and the chrysanthemum bushes below, and looked carefully at the nearby tree, indeed sensing Little Chrysanthemum’s aura within.
“You actually used your heart’s blood to nourish it?” Jing Li looked at Little Chrysanthemum he held with shock, outrage, and disbelief. “Where did you learn these crooked methods?”
Unlike the power stored in the demonic core, which could be gradually accumulated over time, every drop of a demon’s heart’s blood consumed was their primordial spiritual essence.
So if a demon’s heart’s blood was drained, their life would be forfeited, and even a great immortal could not save them.
No wonder Little Chrysanthemum had withered so much in such a short time, it was due to consuming his own spiritual essence!
But for so many years prior, Little Chrysanthemum and this place had always been peaceful. Why would he suddenly start tormenting himself like this for no reason?
“After I came here, has anyone else visited this place?” Jing Li narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Little Chrysanthemum with suspicion that some malicious force had deliberately misled him into this. “Or rather, who told you this method?”
Little Chrysanthemum froze for a moment but did not intend to tell him. He pursed his lips, then lowered his gaze. “It’s late. You should return and rest.”
“Do you think it would take me long to destroy it?” Jing Li meaningfully glanced at the tree beside him. Although he didn’t spell it out, his cold expression fully revealed his stance.
Little Chrysanthemum’s expression changed, finally wavering. After struggling under Jing Li’s icy gaze for a moment, he compromised and revealed the truth.
“I’m not entirely clear who it was either.” He pursed his lips and said softly, “After receiving your blessing last time, I could clearly feel Grandpa Tree’s condition improving. But suddenly one day, half of its leaves fell, and the surrounding spiritual energy also rapidly diminished.”
“Just when I was desperate and at my wit’s end, I received a letter saying using my heart’s blood to nourish the Tree of Life could revive it…”
Little Chrysanthemum knew the significance of a demon’s heart’s blood, so at first, he thought it was a trap set by someone deliberately, and he didn’t believe it.
But the next day, seeing the tree’s spiritual energy draining again, and even its spirit fell into a deep sleep, and the plants of the entire mountain withering, he could no longer bear it. Thinking he might as well risk it all, he drew a drop of his heart’s blood and nourished the Tree of Life with it.
Unexpectedly, a miracle indeed occurred.
After the Tree of Life absorbed his heart’s blood, it really improved. Following that method, he nourished it several more times. Seeing the Green Forest gradually recovering and becoming even better than before, he fully believed in this method and persisted.
After hearing his account, Jing Li confirmed his suspicions, but his expression only grew grimmer.
Such a vicious method, such a familiar modus operandi, made him recall those things he had encountered before.
But he never expected they could be so despicable as to target these weak plant spirits.
“Didn’t you ever consider their ulterior motive?”
Jing Li looked at Little Chrysanthemum in disbelief, equally angered by his stupidity. “What’s more, the Tree of Life you nourished with your heart’s blood may have temporarily preserved your kind, but once your spiritual essence is depleted, who will take your place to continue nourishing it?”
“Bearing the life of a demon, do you think the laws of nature will allow the tree and the forest to endure?”
With each word Jing Li spoke, Little Chrysanthemum’s face grew paler. Upon hearing that the kind he had devotedly guarded would face destruction from the laws of nature for bearing his demonic life, he lost all support and collapsed to the ground.
The man who had previously issued threats so ferociously instantly softened upon seeing his state and rushed to catch him in an embrace.
Previously, he had been unapologetic towards Jing Li and his companions, he now lowered his noble head to Jing Li, pleading humbly and sincerely, “Since you can say these words, Master Jing, you must have a way to save Jingzhou, right? I beg you to help him.”
“It may sound shameless, but as long as Master Jing is willing to act, I, Jin Weifeng, swear on the entire Jin family to serve you for eternity.”
“Don’t force Jing Li, and you don’t need to pledge yourself and your entire family…” Little Chrysanthemum urgently tried to dissuade him upon hearing this, but meeting the man’s reddened, grief-stricken, and despairing gaze, he felt a pang and couldn’t utter another word.
Jing Li glanced at the man with some surprise. He hadn’t paid much attention before, but upon closer inspection, he found the man somewhat familiar.
Jin Weifeng, if he wasn’t mistaken, wasn’t that the name of the person ranked tenth on the list of the world’s richest?
But this wasn’t the time to discuss that.
Jing Li glanced at the resolute Jin Weifeng, then at Little Chrysanthemum, who had grown even weaker since the afternoon, and finally couldn’t bear it.
“Forget it.” He sighed in resignation, then raised his hand to condense a pure white spiritual force. Facing the Tree of Life solemnly, he intoned, “By the cycle of karma, sincerely witnessed, may the innocents be reborn, and evil receive its due retribution.”
As the words fell, the white spiritual force at his fingertip transformed into a golden light. As he pointed towards the Tree of Life, all the golden light poured into the great tree.
Simultaneously, the lucky charm Jing Li kept in his pocket emitted a faint glow, but no one noticed as all attention was on the Tree of Life.
After the golden light entered the tree, its entire trunk shuddered slightly. Then, from where Jing Li had pointed, a white radiance gradually emanated outward, sweeping up the surrounding spiritual energy to be reabsorbed into the tree.
In a mere moment, the previously withered appearance of the tree was repaired bit by bit, its vitality fully restored. The crown swiftly sprouted lush green leaves, becoming verdant in an instant.
But the restoration didn’t stop at the tree. That spiritual energy then gradually dispersed outward from the tree, settling on every flower, grass, and tree it encountered, causing them too to revive with lush growth until the last wisp was absorbed.
A breeze swept through, and the rustle of countless beings joyfully singing seemed to fill the forest.
Innumerable specks of golden merit light then drifted towards Jing Li before gradually entering his body.
“…This is…” Little Chrysanthemum couldn’t appreciate the dazzling lights of merit, only gaping at the changes to Grandpa Tree and the surrounding vegetation. He looked down at his wound, rapidly healing as his main body absorbed the spiritual energy…
It wasn’t until a long while later that he finally snapped out of his daze, looking up at Jing Li in disbelief. “Words as binding as gold and jade2金口玉言” (jīn kǒu yù yán) – idiom. lit. Golden Mouth and Jade Words. Traditionally used to describe the words of an emperor, implying that whatever the emperor says is unchangeable and must be followed. ?!”
However, Jing Li couldn’t afford to speak. This was one of his rare special abilities that heavily consumed his spiritual power.
Especially with how scarce the world’s spiritual energy was, that one action had almost depleted all his spiritual power. Even constantly absorbing the abundant power of faith, he estimated it would take at least half a month to recover somewhat.
The abrupt draining of his spiritual power left Jing Li unsteady. He closed his eyes, intending to lean against the tree for a moment, but as soon as he took the first step, his vision blacked out as his body collapsed uncontrollably towards the ground.
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