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Chapter 254: Decayed Wood

Time flows in the Void.

The Pharmacist suddenly remembered many things.

His life before he became a “Pharmacist,” the bonds he once forged, and the ambitions that set him on this path.

Hundreds of years felt both long and short. He walked along a seemingly endless road, burdened by the curse left behind by his predecessors, all for an absurd obsession. He chased that elusive end, even if it meant flying into the fire or losing all morality, using every means possible to reach out and touch it.

Along the way, he twisted and became obsessed, mad yet pure. He forgot his original purpose but always remembered it, transforming into an everlasting Vengeful Spirit.

The Pharmacist might die, but the Pharmacist will never disappear.

How many “Pharmacists” had there been before him?

He didn’t know, but he also remembered a part of his memories from before he became a Pharmacist. Each Pharmacist is the same yet different, but their actions are surprisingly unified.

Because the first one, the long-gone “him,” transmitted a will strong enough to overpower all selfish desires, long buried in history but for some unknown reason resurfaced at this moment.

That was a selfless, desireless, pure and flawless ideology.

Medicine is meant to save lives; it should be thus, and the Pharmacist was born for this purpose.

But why can’t medicine save lives?

Why must life die?

How many experiments must be conducted, how many bodies must be replaced, to reach that supreme realm that is the same as “her,” and create a medicine that truly saves people, saves anyone?

The power of humanity is so small and laughable, like an ant trying to shake a tree when faced with the cycles of fate and life and death.

So, he ran madly down the endless road, chasing invisible shadows and the future.

Then, he suddenly realized something.

Perhaps, the “Pharmacist” had long since grown weary.

Otherwise, how could he insist on entering the depths of Mirror Valley even after being warned by the Princess Ling?

Was that “true death” just a vague threat?

Many strong individuals were responsible for infiltrating Mirror Valley, trying to connect with the “Benefactor,” but in the end, it seemed he was the only one who truly reached this place. Even the other Seven Day Demon Lords—Bone Immortal, Misty Veil, Yin Lue—appeared to have been kept out by powerful forces.

Lingyin Fairy Island had been preparing for this; that was beyond doubt, but why let him alone enter the valley?

The Pharmacist didn’t understand, but he didn’t care; aside from that ultimate goal, he had long since stopped caring about anything else.

Of course, this included the lives and deaths of those so-called “companions.”

A pure person who had long disregarded his own life for the sake of seeking the Dao would not concern himself with others’ joys, sorrows, or lives.

The Pharmacist never had companions; it was merely a matter of mutual interests.

He entered the valley alone…

And then… what happened next?

Oh, he remembered.

In that already empty, mirror-like crystal valley, aided by the treasure given by the Evil Demon leader No-Eye, he heard a voice from beyond the world.

It was not will, nor was it temptation, but pure rhythm.

It was “breathing,” yet it did not breathe.

It was “leaping,” yet it did not change.

It wanted to “wake up” from its slumber, yet it had no “heart.”

The soul trembled in that indescribable rhythm, lamenting; merely the ripples of its unconsciousness were enough to topple heaven and earth, twisting all things.

The Pharmacist suddenly realized that the so-called “destruction” and “evil demon” were merely a shallow tributary extending from its infinite contours. It could not be understood, surpassed, defeated, or touched.

It realized what the story that Princess Ling had previously told him was truly trying to convey.

It is… it is…

The “eighth day” of creation, the only one beyond cycles and reincarnations, the end of all things.

“Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The curtain of formlessness and color was collapsing; it was chaotic and twisted, yet an unprecedentedly vast will awakened amidst the roar.

It expressed a sentiment, yet that will also turned to void, unheard by anyone.

“Ah… this is the realm that only exists in legends…”

The splendid and stunning Nine-Tails Fox descended from the heavens, its pure silver eyes containing supreme divine power, radiating unrestrained hostility and hatred.

The pressure came like a storm, even the very medium of space shattered under this overwhelming might.

Without a doubt, this was the true power that could be called “fairy hidden,” an existence similar to the girl that other “Pharmacists” had seen on Cangyun Mountain. Originally, before such existence, he could only flee awkwardly or face a humiliating death without even escaping. But now… things were different.

“Indeed, this body is attached to the realm… so disgusting, what concept is it this time?”

From the Nine-Tails Silver Fox’s eyes, filled with disdain and hatred, the Pharmacist saw its reflected form.

It was a colossal creature standing over a hundred meters tall, not too different from the divine fox before him.

The fabric belonging to humans had long since vanished, covered in scaly-like or horn-like, layered twisted folds on every corner of its surface. Its two hands had transformed into long branches that could twist and turn freely, while its lower body had rooted deep into the earth, like a giant tree drawing nourishment from the world. A round arc of light slowly rose from behind, spreading its peculiar divinity.

It sensed its own existence, its significance.

This was one of the dreams of the end, sending the world into eternal slumber, the decayed wood.

It bestowed power upon this body in its slumber, fulfilling the mission of the end, bringing decay to all existence.

And… with the uprooting of the decayed wood, the first beings stripped of their vitality were the hundreds of “Pharmacists” spread throughout the Ancient Spirit Realm.

It could feel that in places connected to this location, every figure simultaneously transformed into decayed fruit, rotting into dust.

That Princess Ling did not deceive him.

The Pharmacist obtained the long-desired power that transcended the mundane, but the first to die was indeed the “Pharmacist.”

Even so… the mission would undeniably be fulfilled.

It raised the massive arms on either side of its body; countless frightful beings burst forth from the ground, wrapping around the Nine-Tails Giant Fox in the sky!

“Skillful tricks!”

The Nine-Tails Fox raised its tails high, and a myriad of brilliant silver blades shot forth, raining down to snap the decayed branches, slicing through, and headed straight for its core!

“Rumble rumble rumble!!!!!!!!!!!”

Wood chips flew, the roar shook the heavens; under the might of the divine being’s full strike, the decayed wood’s body was almost decimated by half, the scattered remains crashing to the ground, drenched in the crimson rain, sinking like rot…

Yet more twisted, winding branches and trees grew anew!

“?!”

The Nine-Tails Fox soared into the air without hesitation, dodging the newly sprouted trees that surged toward it. Surprised, it did not immediately counterattack.

It could clearly see that the ground, soaked by the blood rain, was visibly turning into a different color of withered decay, as if that monster’s endless vitality came at the cost of draining the entire land and all life within it.

And the decayed wood’s body, which was the first to be attacked by divine power and lost a third of its volume, also began to wriggle and restore itself, as if completely unharmed.

This… was the ultimate creation that brings death to the world.

“The Undying Decayed Wood.”

Its battle with it had only just begun.