Whoosh!
A light wind flowed from one side of Holy Light Star to the other, almost as if foreshadowing chaos with its peaceful breeze.
It took a full day for Xue'er to clear out the beasts that she'd been tasked to defeat, and even after accomplishing her goal, she wasn't allowed to rest.
She was soon introduced to her Third Aunt, who proceeded to spar with her for many hours to the point where she felt like dying!
However, her Third Aunt was like an angel, able to immediately make her feel like she'd woken up from a good night of sleep in an instant and make all of her injuries disappear.
It was helpful training for Xue'er before the true challenge that was to come, but while watching them, Damien also noticed something else.
"You're injured?" He asked Elena after she'd finished training with Xue'er.
Elena shook her head. "It's nothing much. I had to burn a good amount of blood vitality to survive my last encounter, but it only somewhat affected my strength. I just need to be mindful in the future," she responded with a shrug, severely downplaying her state.
Damien frowned. Did she really think she could keep it from him?
"Your aura has already reached the 1st revolution, but your strength has actually regressed from the last time I saw you. And you call losing this much lifespan 'nothing much?!' You practically lost half your life!"
He sighed to himself and placed his hand on her head, allowing the warm currents of [Heal] to flow through her body.
This skill that was granted to him by Alaric, the Primordial Undying Tree, was a lifesaver for him whenever he made the same suicidal move for the sake of survival.
And thankfully, it was able to keep those close to him healthy, regardless of what they faced when he wasn't with them.
Elena closed her eyes contentedly as she felt the warm power course through her again. This was the second time she'd felt the power of this trait, but it still didn't cease to amaze her.
She could sense just a trace of concept within the current that was similar to Transcended Death, yet far milder, as if it was the true path to immortal life.
She smiled to herself.
'I guess even if he's talented, Life Laws aren't his specialty.'
He was following a far more mainstream path than she was in terms of Life Laws alone, which made her somewhat happy.
After all, what would be the point of all her hard work if the path she was following could be mimicked by anyone else?
Even if that person was Damien, the fact didn't change.
As Damien healed the foolishly grinning Elena, he glanced at Xue'er with furrowed brows.
'How troublesome...'
It wasn't long ago when he said promoting Xue'er was the utmost priority, but after seeing her fight, his opinion ended up changing.
'She's not ready yet. She has a developed battle style, but she still relies extensively on spirits and only contributes physical strength and mana from her body. The actual processes are taken care of by them. If I try to push her to promote, I'd only be harming her.'
"Huu..."
Damien exhaled lightly.
He thought he was past the point where he made mistakes in judgement, but Xue'er had rapidly brought him down several pegs.
'I said I was respecting her wishes, but I was just rushing because I know how bad it is to get stuck in imbalance and cope with the consequences in the future. However...how could I forget why that imbalance exists in the first place?'
Whether it was Damien or Xue'er, the Laws they studied were far greater than those of the people around them. Their paths were more convoluted even while following the same flow as the universe's streamlined path.
'The reason my Spacetime became so profound is because I spent time slowly understanding my Law and purpose before finally grasping it for maximum results. My Baptism couldn't have been planned even if the greatest heavenly strategist tried, and Xue'er's will inevitably be the same.'
"I'm going to send her back," he finally said out loud.
"Back to the Sanctuary?" Elena asked.
"Mm," Damien responded.
"She's gotten a sufficient amount of practical experience in the past few weeks, and what she needs now is to go somewhere quiet and introspect until she finds her answer."
"And if she can't find it using that method?"
"Then time is the only answer. A constant cycle of struggling and introspecting until the answer decides it's the right time for her to understand it."
"That's quite convoluted."
"It is, which is why it's annoying."
Damien sighed and dropped his head, letting himself fall into Elena's lap.
"You've felt it, right?"I think you should take a look at
"Yeah, how could I not? Life Laws are my whole thing."
"True. Do you think she'd survive?"
"Xue'er...?"
Elena glanced at the little girl who was peacefully sleeping off her fatigue nearby.
"Probably not," she finally said.
Damien sighed. In the end, this place was meant for 4th class beings, and the strongest among them at that.
Realistically speaking, the troubles of this realm weren't challenges to Xue'er, they were true hells!
Damien kept his eyes on the sky above, enjoying the feeling of Elena's hands running through his hair.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Nonsense. With that kind of healing, why wouldn't I be feeling better?"
"Mm, but I couldn't get you back to your original lifespan. You're around 80% recovered."
"That's more than enough. You know me, I'll do the rest myself somehow."
"Mm, your plot armor looks especially beautiful in the moonlight."
"Don't forget whose lap you're resting on."
"Mmm, squishy thighs."
"Tch."
Damien smiled to himself and closed his eyes.
There was nothing particularly special about this moment, but it felt especially peaceful.
For some reason, his mood turned reminiscent. He thought about the past and the present, he thought about the people who he held dear and the enemies he'd vanquished along the way.
It was "Life."
"His" life.
He and Elena held an extreme connection to the element of Life, and unlike the rest in the realm who were soon going to experience a terrible calamity, to them, it was something else entirely.
The world was going through a cycle of creation and destruction like a beautiful microcosm representing the universe itself.
To them, it wasn't a calamity that was coming, it was a resurrection.
And the ambient mana's strange movements that foreshadowed such an event were like a serenade to them specifically, unheard by anyone else.
"What should we do after I send her back?" Damien suddenly asked.
"Hmm..." Elena muttered.
"Do we really need to divert from the original goal?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...the reason plundering everything became meaningless is because the competition is too weak. But, after this calamity, won't those Holy Land geniuses finally start entering the realm in droves?"
"You can't be thinking of..."
"Why can't I be thinking of that?"
"You have a really big appetite."
"Not nearly as big as yours."
"Hmph."
Damien rolled his eyes.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm Holy Land geniuses...
Could they really live up to his expectations?