Bathed in warmth, a faint smile rested on Mobius's face, who in the eyes of the world, bore the image of a mad scientist.
A smile born from the heart. A sense of ease.
Mobius had always lacked a sense of security. From when she was in the Fire Moth, she bore the title of "genius."
Likewise, bearing that title meant she was fated to walk a path completely different from ordinary people.
A mother who scarcely existed in her memories. A father who regarded her as a monster.
Relying on her own intellect, she learned from a young age how to protect herself in such a world, how to draw nourishment from it, how to grow strong.
It seemed perfect. She succeeded, earned the title of genius, gained public recognition. Like a dancer beneath the spotlight, she shone brightly, dazzling all eyes.
For a time, she truly believed she was that kind of person.
Steadfast. Fearless. If an experiment failed, she would tear it down and start anew; if trapped in a deadlock, she would break through it by force. The intensity of her experiments continued to rise, and the figures of ordinary people gradually faded from her field of view.
Only a handful remained, special individuals, worthy of entering her sight, of being placed upon the operating table, so that she, filled with curiosity toward all the unknowns of the world, could understand, discover, and comprehend them.
As time passed, her wish grew ever more rigid and obsessive.
Life... what is it? And what could infinite life bring? She began climbing this twisted, arduous path.
Before her, there was no shortage of deluded dreamers, mediocre people with ambitions bigger than their abilities, who cast their gaze upon this field. But they were destined to fail. From the moment this path was born, it was never meant for ordinary people.
Later, her experiments succeeded. She evolved into an existence that could never die, so long as she had sufficient energy!
And for her, this condition was laughably easy, so simple it was no different from stepping through the laboratory doors every morning.
At first, she truly believed she no longer feared anything in this world.
Even geniuses would experience a fleeting moment of daze under that sensation. Mediocrities would sink into it. Geniuses, however, would use it to broaden their horizons.
Mobius's horizons expanded once more, and with them came questions that could overturn everything.
Then, she fell into fear. The uncertainty of her own future filled her with the unknown and with terror. She began to pursue immortality, true immortality, immortality without any conditions!
Even now, her thoughts had never changed. At most, because of a certain beautiful lady with pink hair, she opened her eyes once more to look upon the world.
She was a contradictory person. Mobius knew this.
She never admitted defeat, yet harbored fear. She feared an uncertain future, feared existences beyond her understanding.
And yet, she could forcibly suppress that fear, clutching a heart forever yearning for knowledge and for the unknown, donning a white coat as she moved through laboratories that were both vast and crowded.
Later still, her horizons were expanded yet again.
This time, she arrived in a bigger cosmos.
The magnificent, dazzling, mysterious universe extended an invitation to her at every moment. She thought that no genius alive could resist such temptation.
And so she came here, bearing witness to the most defiant miracle in the world!
The grandest life. Mobius, the serpent that pursued infinity, and one who had always put that pursuit into action.
From that moment on, she felt warmth. The care of those she joined lingered around her at all times. She was no longer alone.
Just like back in the days of the Fire Moth, the pink-haired girl always wanted her to wear cute pink clothes.
Even though those people were so afraid of her, treating her as something to be feared, keeping their distance.
At that moment, she understood. That was her longing for infinity, born from humanity's most primal desire.
It was time. There was a voice in Mobius's heart, telling her what she should do now.
Right... what should she do now...
....
"General, it's already the third day. Will there really be no problems?" Standing beneath a boundary marker some distance away, Fu Xuan gazed toward the direction of the roots of the Ambrosial Arbor, worry flickering in her eyes.
Two enormous emeralds cocoons floated in midair. Streams of verdant light continuously poured into them from the Ambrosial Arbor, bathing the entire place in an aura of mystery.
"..." Jing Yuan was silent for a moment, staring in that direction for a long while. Just as Fu Xuan was about to lose her patience and ask again, he finally spoke.
"Problems... aren't significant. But the pressure is." Fu Xuan's heart skipped.
There is an old saying: it's not the certainties you fear, but the single exception.
That very exception was why she had been guarding this place for days.
Although she knew from Jing Yuan that the Marshal was keeping an eye on the situation, but as one of the Six Charioteers, she could not convince herself to ignore the potential risks here.
Her interrogative gaze bored into Jing Yuan. After a moment, having finally organized his thoughts, he spoke.
"There is no issue at all with Lady Mobius and Bailu, if anything, they're healthier than ever."
"Then what problem are you talking about?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, we'll likely need to wait a bit longer. A slight miscalculation. The vitality nurtured by the Ambrosial Arbor over several millennia is simply too vast."
"Even with Phantylia's earlier 'help' in channeling it, a massive amount of life force has accumulated. Based on Lady Mobius's and Bailu's absorption rate, conservatively speaking... one year?"
A year was not long. For the people of the Xianzhou, it was not a comparison between yesterday and today, but rather the difference between this week and next.
But everything has exceptions. The above applied to most Xianzhou people, who lacked a strong sense of time. As leaders, however, they could not afford to think that way, especially since...
"The planet Rahu had begun moving recently!!"
Fu Xuan, who had always harbored suspicions about the connection between these matters, immediately widened her eyes. Puffing out her cheeks, she stood on her tiptoes, trying to glare straight at Jing Yuan.
After a moment, realizing she had no way of dealing with this lazy general, Fu Xuan deflated and returned to her actual height, then spoke.
"Do you seriously have no way to speed things up?"
"On this front, I'm unquestionably a rookie. Besides, the entire process is being handled personally by Lady Mobius."
"Bailu's situation is even more like her body automatically absorbing the Ambrosial Arbor's energy. Either case is something the Xianzhou has never encountered before, there's really little we can do."
Knowing Jing Yuan was not lying, Fu Xuan couldn't help but sigh.
Her beautiful eyes lingered on the two radiant emeralds as she murmured softly.
"The Ambrosial Arbor, Rahu, Abundance..."
What kind of connection existed between them?
Shaking her head helplessly, she felt that the possibilities among them might already have been cut off long before her fall into Mara.
The Dharma Eye bestowed by Nous still brought waves of pain. The relic she had grown accustomed to over countless years now caused her faint discomfort.
Her body had already adapted to a more relaxed environment.
It was just that,
Wait... wait!!
Suddenly, Fu Xuan opened her eyes, her chin lifting slightly. Realizing she shouldn't have reacted that way, she hurriedly raised a hand and gently touched the crystal-clear Eye on her forehead.
"It doesn't hurt anymore," she murmured.
From her experience, when the pain brought by the Dharma Eye stopped stabbing at her body, it meant… Godzilla!!
"Hmm!"
She was still lost in her thoughts when a light shout from Jing Yuan sounded by her ear.
She lowered her head slightly, her gaze instinctively turning toward the very front.
Stunned.
Fu Xuan's face perfectly reflected the state of her mind at that moment.
Below the roots of the Ambrosial Arbor.
Dense life energy had turned into mist, swirling around two jade-like forms and continuously seeping into them, this was Jing Yuan's perspective.
With the help of the Dharma Eye, Fu Xuan was able to see the truth hidden within the mist.
The skin of Bailu and Mobius seemed to devour the life energy surrounding them, even condensing into textures barely perceivable to the naked eye.
At the same time, the changes in both of them began to accelerate. All the energy contained within the Ambrosial Arbor was being drawn into their bodies, producing a sensation that made Fu Xuan feel… profoundly mystical.
In a place they could not perceive, within the consciousness of the two, a towering figure radiating warmth stood there.
"Big guy!"
"Good afternoon."
The moment she saw that figure, Bailu jumped excitedly, hopping about in delight.
Mobius smiled faintly and performed a polite gesture, welcoming this unexpected surprise.
Godzilla's gaze reflected the two tiny figures below. His thick, long tail slowly extended forward, and the two of them stepped up without hesitation, gradually moving until they stood before him.
"Grrr?" 'Well?'
Godzilla let out a low growl. Both of the people most familiar with him understood exactly what he meant.
"Hehe, I feel super comfortable right now! And, and, it feels like my power is growing. It's kind of weird, like I can command it!" Bailu said, tilting her head back slightly and grinning.
Godzilla couldn't treat illnesses, but he could see clearly the changes happening within Bailu's body.
Even though they were currently within a consciousness space.
Half of the power of the High Elder within Bailu was undergoing a drastic transformation under the life energy of the Ambrosial Arbor.
What was once only half of her ability had now surpassed the level of an ordinary, complete High Elder.
Bailu excelled in medicine to begin with, and the energy of the Ambrosial Arbor had strengthened precisely this aspect of her.
More importantly, she could now skillfully mobilize this part of her power.
In the past, Bailu could only use that half of the High Elder's power to heal the injured. Now, with her vast energy reserves and power, she could even pour that energy directly into an enemy's body.
There is a saying in medicine: the weak cannot endure excessive nourishment.
Even for Pathstriders, an excessive amount of Path power is not a good thing.
If it cannot be absorbed, such vast power will only lead to death.
Godzilla merely glanced at Bailu's current strength and made no further comment.
Even if Bailu became ten times stronger, it would still not be enough to scratch his itch. At best, she had evolved from a small plush doll into a special-edition small plush doll.
As for Mobius, his golden eyes shifted slightly. Light shone upon Mobius, yet there was not the slightest sensation of burning.
The reason he cast his gaze was precisely because of her.
Whether the universe was destroyed or not was of no concern to him. As long as it didn't disturb the place where he slept and ate.
Perhaps he even needed to leave a space for venting after waking up? Only those he had specially marked were different.
Tingyun, Serval, the little gray-hair, Herta… forget that last one. Including the Mobius before him.
He regarded them with the same attitude an adult had toward children at play. He didn't care what kind of trouble they might stir up, Herta was much the same.
Even though Herta was obsessed with the idea of giving him an injection, in his eyes she was just a mischievous big kid.
How could an adult get angry with a child? When his dreams began expanding toward the cosmos, those he had marked stood out in his mind like bright stars.
Normally, he wouldn't pay special attention, but if something unusual occurred, he would lower his gaze.
First, because changes big enough to draw his attention might genuinely interest him.
Second, because he could see if there were any slightly more durable punching bags around.
This time, it was the simultaneous changes in Mobius and Bailu that drew him over. The moment he arrived, he knew, this had to be Mobius's doing.
Bailu had always been a good child. Although she trained hard to teach those Preceptors, who only knew how to scold, a lesson, that didn't change the fact that she was a good kid.
Seeing them absorb the Ambrosial Arbor's life energy, Godzilla did a rough calculation.
No more, no less, exactly one year. For Mobius, a year was nothing. But for Bailu, a year could be filled with many interesting things.
A child's childhood needs joy. The tip of his tail curved lightly, tapping each of their small heads in turn.
Even just the tip of his tail was enormous, forming a striking contrast with the two little figures.
And so… Before he could even make a move, the speed at which they absorbed life energy suddenly increased, turning into a violent pull.
The changes in both of them had been born from Godzilla's influence in the first place. Naturally, the moment the source appeared, their bodies automatically received the signal. Godzilla's most primal appetite filled every single cell.
At the same time, Godzilla's presence greatly suppressed the activity of the life energy itself, allowing them to rapidly convert what they absorbed and strengthen their own bodies.
One year? No, make it complete now!
…
Under Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan's stunned, puzzled, and bewildered expressions, the massive energy of the Ambrosial Arbor was absorbed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In an instant, the thick mist thinned to almost nothing, on the verge of dispersing entirely.
In that momentary emptiness,
"Crack." Clear and sharp, the sound rang out.
The spiderweb-like cracks spreading everywhere, silently announcing what was happening before their eyes.
"Crack!"
A continuous series of sounds struck the ground as fragments formed from condensed energy fell one after another.
Mobius and Bailu slowly opened their eyes. Radiant pupils lit up this corner of the world. Brilliant beyond compare.
"Hoo, " The Ambrosial Arbor, already reduced to a gray, ashen exterior due to earlier events, collapsed completely the moment they awakened. Its ashes turned into a thin mist, drifting down like a curtain of dark dew.
Night fell. People across the various delves of the Xianzhou Luofu looked up in confusion.
Then, in shock, they realized, It was not the sky growing dark.
It was the once legendary, sky-piercing Ambrosial Arbor, spoken of occasionally, now witnessed with their own eyes, beginning to… decompose.
Perhaps it was the turning of an era, or perhaps this tree that had granted longevity yet plagued the Xianzhou for thousands of years was finally bidding them farewell.