Chapter 404 - 291: Farewell

The Bloodline Species had thought it was in complete control of Li Zhenyuan’s body. It believed it had thoroughly purged him, to the point where it could no longer even sense the existence of his consciousness.

What it hadn’t expected, however, was that Li Zhenyuan had been biding his time, taking a gamble. After severing his own connection to the Rebirth Jade and erasing all memories related to Zhao Xuanqi, he began to let his own consciousness gradually fade away.

But this didn’t mean he had vanished completely. Just like the lingering will of Zhao Qi that had once resided within Zhao Xuanqi’s body, he too had become a nearly undetectable remnant of consciousness, integrated into every corner of the body, only to be activated under special circumstances.

Those special circumstances were the very moments the Bloodline Species unleashed the power of the Alien Source. At such times, its attention and abilities were concentrated on its own core, which was precisely when its control over the body was at its weakest.

Seizing that opportunity, he reappeared, forcing the Bloodline Species to reveal a fatal flaw.

The outcome of this battle would not have been decided in a short amount of time, but Li Zhenyuan’s emergence brought the fight to a premature end.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Having broken through the fleshy tentacles, Zhao Xuanqi unleashed his power without reservation. With a continuous chain of palm strikes, silver light exploded outward, the very earth trembling as pillars of Primordial Qi erupted.

Amidst the terrifying assault, Li Zhenyuan’s body rapidly disintegrated. Under the barrage of Primordial Qi, every inch of his flesh shattered, vaporizing into nothing.

Yet in his eyes, there was no pain—only relief and liberation.

He should have died long ago. Fortunately, the mistake he had made was one he ultimately resolved himself.

This way, he owed nothing to this world and no one in it.

"Take care."

Li Zhenyuan’s lips twitched, but no sound came out. Yet Zhao Xuanqi understood what he was trying to say.

The next moment, his body could no longer hold on and completely disintegrated. Amidst the shattered fragments of flesh, a twisted, fleshy mass was revealed.

A spherical body, a scarlet hue, and swaying tentacles. Black blood vessels covered the surface of the fleshy mass, gnarled and intertwined to form arcane patterns.

The Bloodline Species twisted and trembled under Zhao Xuanqi’s assault. Its fleshy tentacles tried to continue spreading, but they no longer posed a threat to him.

Zhao Xuanqi’s attacks and Primordial Qi tore through its flesh. Yet, even as it was being destroyed, the Bloodline Species displayed an impossibly tenacious life force, managing to rapidly regenerate even under his assault.

However, its regeneration speed was ultimately overwhelmed by Zhao Xuanqi’s attacks. Its body grew smaller and smaller...

Finally, just like Li Zhenyuan’s body, it vanished completely into thin air.

Still, Zhao Xuanqi couldn’t be sure, so he continued his assault. His body was like an overloaded machine, silvery steam constantly rising from him as he underwent a violent Rainbow Transformation. It wasn’t until he felt that strange, ethereal power finally dissipate that his body shuddered and he abruptly ceased his attack.

PHEW!!

He let out a long breath, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

WHOOSH!!

A power from the unseen surged between heaven and earth, many times stronger than when he had killed any previous Holy Seed. A large portion was absorbed by this world’s Celestial Dao, while the rest was seized by the Rebirth Jade in his body.

VMMMM!!

The Rebirth Jade trembled violently. He connected to it with his consciousness and saw the numbers in the Merit record shaking, spinning nonstop before finally settling after about two seconds.

Merit: One Benevolence, One Merit, One Gain

The "One Gain" entry was still blurry. This meant it was just as this world’s Celestial Dao had communicated before: after killing the Bloodline Species, he had obtained a Benevolence’s worth of Merit.

At the same time, he noticed faint writing appearing below the Merit record.

Reincarnation Condition: Met

’Finally...’

Seeing the change within the Rebirth Jade, Zhao Xuanqi let out a small sigh of relief.

’It seems the Bloodline Species has truly been eliminated. The wellspring of this world’s Alien Source has been severed.’

’I really underestimated the Bloodline Species’s power in this battle. If Li Zhenyuan’s consciousness hadn’t reawakened at that critical moment, I would have had to pay an immense price to achieve victory, even if I could have eventually won.’

’Still, my decision was the right one—luring the Bloodline Species into action and decisively ending it all. If I had allowed the Holy Seed System to develop any longer, dealing with the Bloodline Species would have become even more difficult.’

’Alien Source... What in the world is it?’

Recalling the terrifying life force the Bloodline Species had displayed in its final moments, Zhao Xuanqi couldn’t help but frown.

’My knowledge of Reincarnators, the Divine Court, and the Alien Source is far too limited.’

"Hm?"

As the surrounding fluctuations gradually subsided, Zhao Xuanqi’s expression suddenly froze. He snapped his head up toward the sky, as if sensing a gaze cast down from some infinite height, and faintly felt a sense of rejection from his surroundings.

VMM!

The Rebirth Jade within him vibrated. A message sent down by the Celestial Dao was converted by the Rebirth Jade into a textual description he could understand, appearing beneath the "Reincarnation Condition" entry.

Time Limit: Six days, twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes, fifty-nine seconds

Moreover, as he stared in a daze, the numbers in this entry began to count down, just like a timer.

’Time limit... Does that refer to the deadline for my next reincarnation? In other words, I only have seven days left in this world?’

Zhao Xuanqi’s brows furrowed. This sudden development upended his original plan.