After being reminded by Customer Service Kiana-chan, Lynelle finally remembered—she hadn't even checked her own physical condition yet.
But honestly, it wasn't really her fault for forgetting.
For one thing, ever since the Ambrosial Arbor took over her body's healing process, she hadn't had much sensation in her own form—and that was a good thing.
Otherwise, the destructive power constantly eroding and reshaping her body would've probably hurt enough to knock her out cold.
And secondly… well, they were in the middle of a full-blown Aeon battle! Who had time to worry about that?
Anyway, now that the Aeons had each withdrawn, Lynelle naturally began to retract her spiritual energy, turning her focus inward to examine her own body.
And then… she was completely stumped.
What kind of body is this? What you're showing me is a corpse, isn't it.jpg.
"Kiana-chan, are you sure… this is my body?"
It looked like a battlefield. Every part of her body was a warzone where Destruction and Abundance were fighting for dominance—one indiscriminately tearing everything down, the other indiscriminately rebuilding it.
Watching these two Paths locked in a deadly dance, a twisted kind of celebration, Lynelle felt her own future grow dim.
[Yeah, what did you think? That Nanook personally infusing you with Destruction energy was some kind of joke?]
[If it weren't for Lan's arrow purging most of that destructive power, you'd probably be stuck in an endless loop of reviving and burning to ash.]
[So, as you can see, the amount of Abundance and Destruction energy inside you is exactly at the maximum your body can theoretically handle. But that's just in theory—there's no way you can fully absorb this much.]
[Which means… it's time for you to make a choice.]
"A choice?"
[Mhm. Option one: use your original energy reserves to intervene. With my help, we can completely purge one side's energy and fully accept the other.]
[If you go that route, you'll most likely become an extremely powerful being on the Path of Abundance.]
[Although the energy Yaoshi gave you directly isn't quite enough to reach Emanator level, you could still pull off that rare dual-blessing setup thanks to the Abundance blessing the Ambrosial Arbor gave you.]
[And if you ever encounter Yaoshi again, They definitely wouldn't mind turning you into a full Abundance Emanator.]
[Of course, this option isn't without its cost—and it's probably one you can't accept.]
"Hmm… so what's the downside? Do I stop being human? Or do I grow some kind of natural feature and turn into a Foxian or a Wingweaver?"
[Neither. Those would just increase my attack speed, honestly.]
Customer Service Kiana-chan casually tossed out a wildly inappropriate line to lighten the heavy mood.
[The cost of this option… is time.]
[You saw it earlier—eroding the Destruction energy Nanook left behind is extremely time-consuming.]
[To wear it all away and then merge with part of the Arbor's blessing… forget about making it to Penacony; by the time you're done, even the events on Amphoreus might be over.]
"Then I choose the second option."
Just as expected, Lynelle didn't hesitate.
"That one shouldn't take as long, right?"
[This one really is faster, but it might turn you into a 'manba'.]
"Stop with the puns already!"
[Alright, alright, no need to pull my tail…]
[So the second option is to do what Phantylia did—harness both Abundance and Destruction at the same time. But unlike her, who already had Destruction power and then reached for Abundance's blessing, what you need to balance are the energies of both Paths themselves.]
[I probably don't need to explain the difference between an Abundance blessing and the full Path of Abundance, right?]
[That said, this method shouldn't take nearly as much time. Even if you don't fully succeed in mastering both powers, you can always adjust bit by bit—add flour if there's too much water, add water if there's too much flour—until Abundance and Destruction reach equilibrium in your body.]
[That shouldn't be too hard. Plus, during the process, you can seek help from both inside and outside yourself.]
[After all, you still have powers like Corruption and Origin inside you, which are highly adaptable… although, now that I think about it, your body's really turning into a whole mixed grill.]
"Origin and Corruption? I'll give it a try…"
Lynelle nodded and began to connect with the Authority of Origin stored within her Stigmata.
As a power that could "make thoughts into reality," she carefully guided a wisp of Origin energy and gently reached out to the other powers inside her.
And then…
"Agh—ow, ow, ow, ow…"
An "explosion" went off inside Lynelle's body—unsurprisingly.
[Mmm… looks like the two powers inside you are still pretty active.]
Seeing the situation unfold, Kiana-chan was momentarily out of ideas.
[So, we'll at least have to wait until they've both stabilized before you can try merging them…]
"Then, for now…"
[In that case, how about we get some sleep?]
The Kiana-cat in the system space shrugged her paws in a very human-like gesture.
[Actually, this works out—now you've got plenty of time to deal with that Honkai business…]
--+--
Of course, just as Lynelle began repeating her old routine from inside the Ambrosial Arbor—"sleep, attempt to merge powers, sleep again, try merging again"—the world outside was undergoing earth-shaking changes compared to the original storyline, all while she slumbered.
First off, Jing Yuan.
Since Lynelle took the hit meant for him (referring to the moment in the original plot where Phantylia tried to turn him into a Void Ranger), his physical condition was much better.
At the very least, it didn't leave so many players thinking the upcoming memorial mission was meant to mourn him after the main story ended.
The bad news, though, was that Fu Xuan was still temporarily taking over the General's duties—because Jing Yuan had personally returned to the Alliance to deliver his report.
After all, the incidents on the Luofu had reached a level serious enough to concern all the Xianzhou ships.
First, a Lord Ravager tried to overthrow the Luofu; then, three Aeons gathered in the Scalegorge Waterscape; and now, a highly sensitive young woman was sealed inside the Luofu's own Ambrosial Arbor.
By comparison, Jing Yuan secretly letting Dan Heng return, or letting someone impersonate the Xianzhou Marshal Hua—things that would normally be punishable offenses—were now considered too trivial to even bring up.
Although it wasn't clear exactly what was happening with Jing Yuan, judging by the worry on Fu Xuan's face, his situation couldn't be good.
So, after a day of anxiously waiting on the Luofu, the Express crew decided to lend him a hand.
To be precise, they decided to find someone who could lend him a hand—and also look into a way to get Lynelle out of the Ambrosial Arbor.
"What?!"
Herta, who had just finished debugging the Simulated Universe and was in a great mood, felt like the sky had fallen the moment she took the call from the Express crew.
"What do you mean Lynelle is on the verge of death?! She's only been gone a few days!"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.