Chapter 50: Life will find its own way out

Life will find its own way out.

The voice over there paused noticeably for a moment, then still without hesitation said, "Yes."

A guide can control a Sentinel's behavior, but it is rare to hear of being able to absorb the spiritual power of the Sentinel one serves.

If a Sentinel is a guide's power bank, then in the guide's eyes, does the Sentinel still possess human qualities? Is it a living person, or merely a disposable pawn to be used at will?

Serve with life, serve with heart.

Shu Tong and Liu Yun exchanged a glance; the oath of allegiance was no empty promise—they understood they had staked everything in this life.

They would obey Fu Guang's words, even if they did not conform to human morality.

"We're done." Shu Tong wrapped her arms around herself, looking at her brother, as the petite snow bird perched on her shoulder chirped.

Liu Yun leaned against the wall, his hair hanging down to shield his brows and eyes, his voice low: "I've known all along, haven't I? Little sister."

"I always feel we've done something tremendous." Shu Tong gave a humored chuckle, feeling her spiritual power slowly seeping from her mental landscape, recalling her gentle-yet-strong master, and uttered an enigmatic remark.

"Truly, in a single thought."

In a single thought, circumstances all change.

Fu Guang took out the blue-gold potion from her space; the cool bottle eased the lingering heat, and she brought it to her lips and drank a small sip.

The blue-gold potion inside the bottle swayed, forming a beautiful wave, like scattered gold falling onto the sea surface.

The spiritual power previously given by Xi Guang and that absorbed from the benevolent Sentinel were completely exhausted, falling back to Fu Guang's own B-rank spiritual power.

On one hand, since it is not her own spiritual power, using it feels awkward, and its consumption rate is much higher than using her own spiritual power.

On the other hand, due to damage within the mental landscape, the mental landscape is like a punctured balloon, constantly leaking air; even though the balloon's owner, Fu Guang, cultivates spiritual power that pumps in.

B-rank merely achieves a bare balance, keeping the balloon deflated—not so much that it suddenly bursts and flies away, nor enough to inflate it fully, leaving it in a half-dead state.

Two strands of spiritual power injected into Fu Guang's mental landscape caused her spiritual rank to rise again like a roller coaster, stabilizing at A-rank.

Shu Tong and Liu Yun are now A+ rank; each contributing half of their spiritual power can bring Fu Guang up to A-rank.

Unlike Xi Guang and the benevolent Sentinel, they have a contract with Fu Guang, so their spiritual power can almost be considered Fu Guang's reserve spiritual power.

Their usage efficiency is also one-to-one, with no loss or absorption limit; how much is drawn depends entirely on Fu Guang's conscience.

Fu Guang first wrapped her spiritual power around her body, forming a barrier with the outside world to prevent interference from the battlefield's aftermath.

She reached out, her fingertips gently pulling out a golden tuft of fur.

Xi Guang's voice finally showed some fluctuation, no longer cold: "Wait a moment; I will place you at the rear."

"I'm much better, Executive Chief." Fu Guang summoned a thin stream of water to wash clean the feathers stained red with her own blood.

"Executive Chief, your feathers are waterproof!"

Water droplets slid off the fur; unlike ordinary feathers that clump when wet, the golden feathers retained their original shape.

Just as she lifted the fur, Xi Guang sensed the guide's movement, seized her wrist to stop her mischief; the girl seemed very interested in his feathers.

His six wings unfolded and lightly flapped, blowing Fu Guang away to a distance from him alone.

Fu Guang redirected her gaze to the bloodthirsty vine, which appeared unchanged.

Crimson vine tendrils danced, turning into scorched-earth sand that drifted down, the tendrils whistling as they lunged at Fu Guang.

Clang, clang, clang.

A metallic clashing sound rang out; beneath the blood-red sky, the Sentinel stood tall and straight, the jade-colored mask on his face flashing a warm, moist glow.

The golden flying sword blocked all the vine tendrils; amidst the falling silver strands of hair, his sharp, keen brows and eyes could be seen.

Fu Guang sought the wood-system Sentinel on the other side of the battlefield: "Do you have any tenacious life-force seeds?"

The silent woman, not knowing why the guide wanted seeds, still handed her a handful from her bosom, and using her remaining spiritual power conjured a few more seeds, passing them all to Fu Guang.

S-rank already possesses some ability to create familiar objects.

"Thank you very much." Fu Guang wrapped each seed in a tiny water bubble; visible to the naked eye, within the water bubbles rich in water element, the seeds split open and sprouted tender shoots.

The wood-system Sentinel watched Fu Guang leave; she understood that water is the source of all things, but is it really this easy to spur plant growth?

Even wood-system sprouting seeds require careful caution, lest a slight excess of force cause the seeds to burst.

As an apothecary, Fu Guang has handled hundreds, if not thousands, of plant types through her hands; she knows their characteristics intimately.

She withdrew the spiritual power from her fingertip, bit it open in her mouth, then extended her finger straight; a drop of blood imbued with strong water-element force fell from her fingertip, merging with the bloodthirsty vine's branch, which was indistinguishable from the land itself.

What is she doing? All the Sentinels thought the same thing in their minds.

They have done their best to prevent the bloodthirsty vine from sucking blood; does the guide know what she is doing? Does she intend to drag everyone down to die with her?

Ting Zhu's brows and eyes sharpened; a silver spear appeared in his hand, its tip aimed at Fu Guang, within which a silver light slowly condensed, killing intent stark.

"Wait a moment, let's see."

Xi Guang's cold voice appeared in Ting Zhu's mind; his stature was within a sword's length of Fu Guang.

A reach would be enough to stab her.

Beneath, the bloodthirsty vine's tendrils rolled, having absorbed blood they glowed anew, as if returned to the state at the battle's outset.

The vines stirred, seeking to sweep away the small blocking insects in one net.

"If we wait any longer, I'll be able to collect your corpses." Ting Zhu had already given them one trust; his trust was pitifully scarce, with no second chance.

As the words between Ting Zhu and Xi Guang in the mental channel just fell, fragile seeds, no larger than a pinky tip, scattered into the blood pool.

"Thunder Sentinel, strike two bolts of lightning at my drop of blood." Fu Guang turned back, smiling, and issued the command.

A pale blue light flashed at one point on the vines; the seeds scattered separately around it.

Perhaps the girl's resolute expression was too intimidating, or perhaps her prior good performance meant her trust had not yet expired.

Ting Zhu raised the gun's muzzle and fired two shots into the air; like water buckets, thunderbolts came crashing down.

"When thunder first sounds, all things sprout." Fu Guang whispered; as she spoke, the seemingly tiny shoots burst from their water bubbles one by one, gradually growing and strengthening.

"Executive Chief, plant growth needs sunlight." On the horizon, beams of light pierced the blood clouds.

"Wood-system and earth-system Sentinel sisters, please help spread some fertilizer."

Little sapling, grow quickly.

Rain falls.

As Fu Guang's orders were issued one after another, plants will extend their root systems downward to take root, latching onto the vines of the bloodsucking vine; the vines will not easily let seeds grow.

That drop of Fu Guang's blood will guarantee the seeds' survival rate; it consumes Fu Guang's spiritual power to absorb the bloodsucking vine's life force and transfer it into the seeds.

Batch after batch of trees fell, seed after seed regained vitality, batch after batch, they lived and died, died and lived.

Fu Guang distributed the remaining spiritual medicine she held, ensuring the process proceeded smoothly.

As time passed, they took root on the branches of the bloodsucking vine, sharing a patch of land with it, and they shared each other's life force.

Everyone stood together, Fu Guang leaning on Lu Wu's back; the consumption of spiritual power left her face as white as fragile paper.

Golden radiance fell upon her; Fu Guang now does not turn away anyone who comes.

This is a protracted battle.

"You've also worked hard." Shu Tong and Liu Yun, the siblings, kept drinking the medicine that replenished spiritual power without pause; the continuous flow of spiritual power draining made even the strong-bodied Sentinels feel a bit dizzy.

"As long as the adult helps, that's fine." Liu Yun replied in between, glug-glug sounds continued.

The Sentinels watched the constant life and death of the trees; Fu Guang had warned them not to break the hard-won balance.

They all gathered together, looking in amazement at the girl who created the miracle.

Fu Guang propped up a leg, merely gazing into the distance at the trees reviving and dying, saying, "Do not underestimate the will to survive, whether human or plant or animal."

"Life will find a way."