Everything was ready.
The excavation team immediately sprang into action.
Under Ging's leadership and practical operation, the stone door of the palace was quickly opened.
After all, as a two-star professional Ruins Hunter, Ging's greatest strength lay in his practical skills.
As the stone door opened, the hall tainted by darkness came into view.
Deep within the darkness, a cold and sinister aura of Post-Mortem Nen drifted in the air.
Ging raised his hand, and the low-powered flashlight beam pierced through the darkness, reaching the throne at the far end of the hall.
There, a faint figure could be seen seated on the throne.
When the light shone upon it, it was clearly a corpse entangled with root-like plants.
The corpse's head was tilted backward, with roots as thick as a baby's arm protruding from its eyes and mouth.
At the same time, wisps of black smoke floated along the edges of the roots.
The area around the throne, as well as the walls and ceiling, were densely covered with fine roots, extending to unknown places.
This seemed to be the source of the plant roots outside.
Everyone looked at the root-entangled corpse on the throne, their faces showing astonishment.
Before opening the palace, the excavation team had considered many possibilities but never imagined such a scene.
As more flashlight beams illuminated the palace, Ging scanned the area and frowned slightly.
These roots, spreading to every corner, were the biggest obstacle to the excavation and research work.
In comparison, the Post-Mortem Nen emanating from the edges of the corpse's roots seemed almost friendly.
Morrow, however, had no such concerns. Upon seeing the Post-Mortem Will attached to the corpse, a glint flashed in his eyes.
As long as he absorbed this Post-Mortem Will, the excavation and research work at this ruin could be accelerated.
Once the excavation was complete, Ging would have more time to assist him in refining the Starlight Convergence ability.
Tessa watched the Post-Mortem Nen emanating from the corpse with a grave expression.
As an Exorcist, what she feared most was Nen strengthened by death.
Their focus was not on the abilities of this Post-Mortem Will but on the success rate and high risks involved in transferring and digesting it.
Tessa was never skilled at removing Post-Mortem Will. From the perspective of transferring and removing it, she sensed an intense aura of danger after just a few glances.
This Post-Mortem Nen... it was undoubtedly of the offensive type. To completely remove it, the most troublesome part would be the first stage of transfer, rather than the final stage of sublimation and purification.
Thinking of this, Tessa subtly glanced at Morrow's profile and noticed not a trace of tension or gravity.
It seemed he was fully confident.
Exorcists must excel at assessing risks.
When facing challenging targets, they decide whether to proceed with removal based on the assessed risk level, never taking unnecessary risks.
In Tessa's view, since Morrow was so calm, it meant the removal would not be difficult for him.
Nevertheless, Tessa proactively suggested, "I'm not skilled at removing Post-Mortem Will, but I know some sealing techniques that can suppress part of its threat. This might ease the pressure during your transfer."
"Huh."
Hearing Tessa's proposal, Morrow was somewhat surprised.
"Thank you, but it's not necessary."
Declining Tessa's help, Morrow instead looked toward Sanbica who had already entered the palace.
Sensing his gaze, Sanbica turned back and nodded at Morrow, indicating everything was fine.
Confident in Sanbica's ability, Morrow immediately gripped his flashlight and strode directly toward the depths of the palace.
Just in case, he activated his Starlight Convergence ability.
Instantly, the aura output enveloping his body surged dramatically, then shattered into countless starlight fragments, painting a brilliant and beautiful starry sky within the dark palace.
Sanbica and the others couldn't help but focus their attention on Morrow.
After spending this time together, Ging had gained a clearer understanding of Morrow's Nen exorcism methods.
So even if the Post-Mortem Will attached to the throne corpse possessed strong aggressive intent, he wasn't worried at all, or rather, he trusted Morrow's Nen exorcism ability completely.
But Sanbica lacked this understanding, and when she looked at Morrow surrounded by the dazzling starlight, her eyes revealed concern.
A moment later.
Morrow arrived below the throne.
Along the way, the drifting starlight around him hadn't detected any unusual movements.
But just as Morrow stepped onto the golden-cast staircase, the thick roots emerging from the corpse's eyes and mouth on the throne suddenly seemed to come alive, striking downward at Morrow like pythons.
Starlight Convergence immediately registered the attack information from the roots.
Morrow's expression remained calm, and with a slight mental command, he withdrew his Starlight Convergence ability.
In an instant, the surrounding starlight receded like a tide.
Centered on him, it was as if space rapidly collapsed, drawing all the starlight back.
This speed in activating and deactivating abilities was one of the results of his recent intensive training.
Now, he no longer had to crudely discard his aura output like before when encountering emergencies.
However, Morrow knew there was still room for improvement in his ability activation/deactivation speed. It just required longer tempering.
As the starlight transformed back into Nen and returned to him, Morrow immediately used his Astral Step ability.
Whoosh.
Morrow's figure vanished into thin air.
The thick roots that had shot through the air naturally struck empty space.
The next instant.
Morrow reappeared beside the throne, reaching out with his right hand to grasp one of the roots.
Absorb.
With a single thought, the Tree Rings ability instantly activated.
Faced with the suction force from Tree Rings, the Post-Mortem Will nurtured within the corpse suddenly displayed intense resistance.
But against the far stronger Tree Rings, no matter how it struggled, it was futile.
In just one or two seconds, the dense black Nen was successively drawn into the Tree Rings, leaving not a trace behind.
After absorbing this fiercely aggressive Post-Mortem Nen, the third Tree Ring's energy visibly increased.
But Morrow had no mind to pay attention to this right now.
Because the moment the Post-Mortem Will transformed into energy, some memory fragments came along, forcibly flooding into Morrow's mind.
Morrow reflexively closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his mental space to receive these suddenly arriving memory fragments.
Scene after scene flashed through his consciousness.
On a black-gray beach littered with corpses, a pitch-black object resembling a "message in a bottle" rolled over numerous bodies pushed by the waves, eventually coming to rest in the crook of one corpse's arm.
From the dark bottle-like object, hair-thin filaments slowly extended, burrowing into the corpse like parasites.
The next moment, the corpse abruptly opened its eyes.
The scene shifted.
Within a pure and holy temple, white-robed devotees knelt in reverence. From the temple's ceiling, tendrils descended, gently enveloping the heads of these believers.
As the tendrils took full root, expressions of bliss spread across the faces of the devotees, as if they had entered a virtual paradise.
The flashback of memories suddenly accelerated.
In an instant, various illusory and surreal images stormed through Morrow's consciousness like a tempest.
These overwhelming memory fragments seemed to be an alternate virtual world conjured solely from the believers' imaginations.
Fortunately, Morrow's current endurance limit was far beyond what it used to be, allowing him to barely withstand this memory storm.
Soon, the memory fragments reached their final scene.
Dark clouds churned in the sky as torrential rain fell.
Through the rain-blurred vision, a palm-sized gray feather drifted vertically from the clouds.
Amidst the howling winds, rain and storm battered against the feather.
Yet the feather seemed to exist in another dimension, entirely unaffected.
The slightly blurred gaze remained fixed on the gray feather until it gently landed on the blood-and-rain-soaked earth.
In that instant, centered around the gray feather, the ground cracked and began to violently shake.
In the deathly silent palace, Morrow's eyes snapped open.
Beside him stood Ging, Sanbica, and others.
Seeing Morrow's composed expression, Sanbica let out a sigh of relief.
"It's done."
Morrow took the opportunity while retracting his arm to check the status of the third Tree Ring, frozen at around 85%.
This Post-Mortem Will had yielded him a 13% gain.
Only 15% remained to fully charge the third Tree Ring energy.
"Good work."
Ging approached, smiling as he patted Morrow's shoulder.
With such a reliable Exorcist, they need not worry about any future challenges posed by Post-Mortem Wills.
Morrow smiled faintly, ignoring the subtle look of astonishment from Tessa's direction, and stepped aside.
With the Post-Mortem Will resolved, the team could focus on studying the palace without worry. It wouldn't be long before Ging no longer needed to guard this place.
Soon, excavation team members began filing into the palace, each face filled with awe.
Having completed his task, Morrow left the palace and stepped out onto the platform outside.
Tap, tap.
Light, unhurried footsteps approached from behind.
Morrow turned to see Sanbica jogging toward him and paused to wait.
Sanbica stopped before Morrow, lifting her gaze to meet his. Softly, she said, "Morrow, it's been over a year since we last met. You've changed so much."
"Have I?"
Morrow's eyes swept over Sanbica's unchanged attire before settling on her gentle, beautiful dark eyes. The corners of his lips curled slightly. "You haven't changed at all."
"Ah..."
Sanbica thought Morrow was referring to her clothing and unconsciously lowered her head, softly explaining, "I'm used to these clothes... so I ordered many identical sets. I've never considered switching to other styles."
"That's good. Not having to worry about choosing clothes means more time to focus on what you want to do."
Morrow laughed.
Sanbica's eyes brightened slightly as she nodded, "Mm."
"What have you been busy with lately?"
Morrow walked toward the corridor and casually asked.
Sanbica followed beside him, her voice gentle as water. "I joined a virus research team. Besides providing free treatment to some medically underdeveloped regions, we've successfully developed two vaccines."
"Impressive."
Hearing the word "free," Morrow wasn't surprised at all and sincerely praised her.
Sanbica tilted her head to look at him, belatedly realizing she now had to look up to see Morrow's profile.
"And you?"
She asked softly.
Upon hearing this, Morrow thought about his experiences over the past year. It seemed most of his time had been spent striving to become stronger.
Even now, after resolving the Death Threshold, he showed no signs of slacking off.
Because there was still something he wanted to do, keeping his word and taking down Illumi.
"I've mostly been training. Unlike you, who actively engages in benevolent acts that benefit humanity."
Morrow gazed ahead and said with a smile.
Sanbica lowered her head somewhat sheepishly, then carefully observed the aura surrounding Morrow.
Compared to his level a year ago, the difference felt like night and day. It was hard to imagine how much effort and willpower it took to achieve such progress.
"You're impressive too."
Sanbica murmured gently.
Morrow glanced at Sanbica in surprise but could only see her lowered hood. After a moment of silence, he shifted the topic to free treatment.
"Those regions you mentioned with scarce medical resources, their living conditions must be quite harsh, right?"
"Yes, in these areas... food shortages are common."
Speaking of this, Sanbica's tone noticeably darkened as she sighed, "War is truly cruel."
"..."
Morrow fell silent, understanding that Sanbica's team likely went to regions affected by war.
In such areas, it's normal for medical systems to collapse, and with the high death toll among civilians, hunger and disease spread rapidly.
From this perspective, Sanbica's medical team perfectly embodied the brilliance of human nature.
This seemingly cruel world of survival of the fittest is still clearly divided between good and evil.
There are criminal groups like the Phantom Troupe that disregard human life, and there are selfless entities like Sanbica's medical team.
Thinking of war, Morrow recalled fragments of memories he absorbed while taking in the Post-Mortem Nen, also related to war.
It seemed the rise of the Akasha nation was achieved through war, plunder, and annexation.
"Indeed."
Morrow agreed with slight emotion, then reminded her, "Then you should be careful about your safety. Especially your ability, even if your team is reliable, don't expose it easily."
"Mm."
Sanbica smiled beneath her mask.
Although she had heard similar words countless times from her master...
"Did I interrupt you?"
Suddenly, Ging's voice seemed to appear out of thin air.
Sanbica was startled.
Meanwhile, Morrow remained calm, as if he had sensed something before Ging spoke.
Ging's gaze toward Morrow carried a hint of teasing as he subtly gestured with his hand toward Tessa, who was quickly approaching from the palace direction.
"I did my best, say thank you."
"Well, thank you very much indeed."
Morrow returned Ging's look with a glance of his own, then drooped his eyelids.
As expected, Tessa found an excuse to take Sanbica away.
Morrow and Ging watched the two head toward the palace.
Ging raised his hand and patted Morrow's shoulder, sighing, "Tough situation."
"..."
Morrow shook his head slightly in resignation, then brought up the main topic. "Ging, do you think the improvements to Starlight Convergence can meet my expectations?"
"That's incredibly difficult."
Ging withdrew his hand, his expression turning serious.
Over the past few months, the two had conducted numerous practice sessions during their spare time.
With Ging's understanding of the Nen System, he had already realized the difficulty of making improvements.
Hearing this, a flicker of disappointment passed through Morrow's eyes.
Seeing this, Ging said earnestly, "Why be in such a hurry? Even if the final result doesn't meet expectations, this process definitely won't be wasted."
"Oh, in that case, let's officially begin tomorrow."
Morrow proposed accordingly.
"Sure."
Ging agreed straightforwardly.
This took Morrow by surprise. He had thought Ging would be participating in the upcoming excavation research work.