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Chapter 264: Awakening from a Dream

The light and shadows around me represented the traces of memories and life, fragmented and dissipating.

Every time a piece of existence that constituted the “Pharmacist,” or rather, the essence of “Decayed Wood,” was erased, the invisible backlash from causality would immediately act upon the Black-haired Girl, causing the borrowed divine spark she wielded to gradually weaken and collapse as well.

Erasing such a vast existence required an unimaginable cost; it was as difficult as using one’s own origin to cause a self-destructive confrontation to kill a thousand enemies, even with the borrowed power of the “Nameless.” It was not something ordinary beings, let alone gods, could simply accomplish.

Yet, Miss Vilyric silently accepted all the backlash. Despite the divine spark fragment in her hands continuously dissipating amidst the clash, the origin power that formed her body remained stable, unwavering like the vast, boundless starry sea.

These “lives” were plundered by the Pharmacist and now became sacrifices offered to “The End.” The heart of the Decayed Wood was like a life that had long since died but twisted and grotesquely lingered, tainted by malice, like a dream.

Sending it back to reincarnation was also the duty of the Spiritual Fox Priestess.

“Bang!!!”

The last segment of the bizarre dream shattered into shards of light, and the void world finally began to quiet. The deepest essence of decayed wood revealed itself before the girl at this moment.

It was a sapling growing in the darkness, blossoming into branches—the original “Pharmacist.”

It depicted a child alongside an indistinct silhouette of a grown adult formed entirely of white light.

“Master, the medicine is ground up.”

The child, dressed in coarse cloth, carefully presented a plate with the powder. The white light figure reached out to receive it and ruffled the child’s hair.

The light’s lips moved, seemingly speaking, but Miss Vilyric could neither see nor hear what was said. She could only sense the good relationship between the two, and how the child held great respect for the former.

What they did was very simple: the white light figure prepared and refined some medicines while the child assisted nearby, nothing more.

The child asked, “Master, what are we making so many medicines for? Are you planning to open a clinic?”

The light figure provided an answer, though its voice was still unclear, quickly met with the child’s influx of doubts.

“To save people? I know the medicine is for saving people… because I was saved by you, Master! Spirit medicine is really amazing, that person can surely be saved, right?”

“It’s hard… how could it be? Master’s medicine is obviously so powerful…”

“Ah! Master, don’t be angry! I won’t say anymore…”

The scene flashed again, and the child had grown much older, but the figure of the “Master” still remained indistinct for some reason.

“Master, you can finally ascend to the legendary Lingyin Fairy Island! Don’t worry, the immortals must have a way to save Mistress, and I will continue to work hard to develop medicine that can treat the Soul Loss Illness!”

“What do you mean… no need to try anymore? Just relying on medicine won’t cure her? But… isn’t medicine meant to cure illnesses?! How can there be an illness that medicine can’t cure?!”

The scene flashed once more, the blurry “Master” figure vanished, and the fully grown child sat beside a bed, gripping the wrist of a girl who looked like she was barely hanging on, panic in their expression.

“Hang on, just hold on a little longer! I will definitely think of a way! The new medicine is already brewing!”

“Cough… cough… there’s no need to try anymore. Master is right. Life and death are predestined. No matter how powerful the medicine is, it can’t go against fate…”

“You’ve done your best; forget about me. Go find someone more suitable for you…”

“What nonsense predestination! There’s absolutely no illness that medicine can’t cure in this world, it’s just that we haven’t found the right method yet! Xiao Han, hang in there! You must hold on! With Master gone, the only relative I have left in this world is… Xiao Han? Xiao Han?!”

As the girl suddenly lost strength and her wrist fell, the images in the branches began to swirl and distort rapidly, as if countless afterimages rippled and then vanished—this was his life.

He saved countless people, tirelessly running around the world, delving deep into various difficult and obscure ailments, developing innumerable new medicines.

At some point, saving people was not just about saving others, but to prove the steadfast belief within him. However, reality repeatedly dealt him heavy blows, as he couldn’t save everyone, just like his mistress or his childhood friend who died early from a tumor after being taken in by the Master.

And… so many more people.

He remained unmarried throughout his life, revered as the Sage of Medicine by the world, yet at the very end of life, he was left in bewilderment.

Why, why couldn’t medicine cure illnesses? Is that truly an unavoidable destiny?

In his wandering, a sudden lightning strike shattered the sky, and he suddenly found the answer.

Not the fault of the medicine, but… human life is simply too short.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death; the cultists raising children, people repeating a sad cycle, yet being unable to truly pass on knowledge and talent. Death and skill limited the power of medicine, binding all they knew and saw.

Just like his own legacy, though he had taken in many disciples, none could perfectly inherit what came before.

Epidemics are finite, but medicine can constantly be created. As long as one keeps trying, endlessly attempting, surely one day, failures will pile up into a true perfection that overcomes that laughable predestination and destiny.

If that’s the case…

Then it’s just about passing everything on to future generations.

Months later, the Sage of Medicine passed away, the world wept bitterly, but in a corner where no one knew…

The ghost known as “Pharmacist” was born.

“To pass everything on to future generations… heh, I really don’t know if I should call this a great or mad undertaking.”

Feeling the deepest residue of the “Pharmacist,” the single obsession that anchored the Decayed Wood to this world, Miss Vilyric just shook her head.

She couldn’t evaluate the correctness of the first-generation Sage of Medicine’s actions. Perhaps the original intention was merely to pass on knowledge in this way to compensate for human life’s fleeting flaw, but no matter how beautiful the original intention, once twisted and distorted, it would lead to inescapable disaster.

When the Sage of Medicine left behind the “Pharmacist,” perhaps he never imagined it would become a calamity wandering the earth, a disaster that couldn’t be eradicated.

If an obsession loses its restraint, it simply becomes madness.

With a gentle touch on the sprouted branches, the White Fox Girl radiated an ethereal glow.

“O sorrowful and misaligned soul, return to the afterlife.”

The trunk gradually faded, rising into the air like countless past causal threads, disappearing into the pitch-black world.

The core constituting the world dissipated, and heaven and earth turned upside-down. When Miss Vilyric opened her eyes again, her consciousness had returned to her own body.

She lightly waved her sleeve, summoning a wind that scattered the blood-red flowers of the immense Decayed Wood, transforming them into countless petals drifting toward the vast expanse of the divine kingdom. However, the original inner substance had long since vanished without a trace.

The Nine-Tails Giant Fox, who had always vigilantly protected her body, slowly lowered its head, seemingly bidding farewell.

“It’s over… truly this time.”

“Yes.”

The White Fox Girl nodded slightly.

Though the Pharmacist had turned into a terrifying threat fused with the dream of The End, it was precisely because of this that the Ancient Spirit Realm fully bore the causality that originally pointed to the world, giving Miss Vilyric and Miss Xiao Kong the chance to resolve the problem once and for all.

If it hadn’t been for the hundreds and thousands of layered causalities, no one could ever have achieved such a feat as an individual, nor would it have become that troublesome.

The cold figure of a certain Silver-haired Girl resurfaced in her mind. Confirming everything, the White Fox Girl removed her mask and shook her head helplessly.

“Now you can rest easy, Hen…”

The glorious Nine-Tails Giant Fox transformed back into a half-beast girl shape amidst the flickering light, and Miss Xiao Kong floated beside Miss Vilyric, who had returned to her Black-haired self, wanting to say something but hesitating.

“Can I still call you by your old name?”

The Priestess, knowing what she was concerned about, smiled slightly.

“Of course, I won’t nitpick over such trivial matters. In essence, I am indeed that person, just mixed with more ingredients that aren’t originally hers. What do you think ~?”

“Hmm…”

As she spoke, the Miss God finally revealed a hint of amused relief.

“The Ancient Spirit Realm has broken free from the curse that lingered for a thousand years, and you’re back. Everything is moving in a good direction. Xī, do you know what I want to do most right now?”

“What? Don’t tell me you want to hit me?”

“Idiot, it’s to sleep! To return to my true form and sleep comfortably for decades before anything else!”

“Wow… that’s a bit too long, don’t you think? Are you a fox or a pig?”

“Alright, beating you really is the best stress relief! You’re done for if you dare to fight back!”