"I'm curious—"
Lawrence lifted up the regenerated limbs, and among the swaying tendrils, a hidden blade finally emerged from the flesh.
Covered in pitch black, patterns faintly materialized under the crystal lights, then vanished as swiftly as they appeared, disappearing into the darkness, difficult to make out.
Accompanied by the licking of long tongues, transformed blood touched the tip of his tongue, Lawrence tasted the burning pain and grimaced, "So-called 'Heavenly Craft·Night Dark,' claimed to penetrate the world's iron walls, which one is stronger? That or Minerva's defense?"
The wailing abruptly ceased.
From between the tightened fingers.
Beneath the shattered light, blood seeped out, yet it quickly transformed into a crystal more formidable than steel, spreading, merging, binding.
"A piece of broken iron?"
Wen Wen asked, "Is this all you rely on?"
Her other fist, just like that, raised.
Gripped.
Immediately following, a surge that could unsettle the entire hospital erupted, proliferating crystals from the earth like a tempest burst forth, dispersing.
Just one punch unleashed a hurricane.
Blood spurted, flesh splattered, and Lawrence, struck directly by the punch, had turned into a skeleton, but within the skeleton's eye sockets, ferocious flame light still surged.
Filled with ecstasy and delight.
Blocked!
"Ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Before Minerva's fist, was his extended palm, now only a half-remaining skeleton. Yet upon the skeleton, new flesh and tissue rapidly proliferated.
Vastly different from the frailty of mortal flesh.
It was a complex structure surpassing any earthly scales and membranes, yet more majestic was the sweet crimson surging within.
Brilliant and dazzling, like a red light!
Just a single drop, merged into the body, instantly recreated a shell capable of confronting Minerva head-on!
"I've succeeded! I have succeeded!"
Lawrence laughed loud, flesh unfolded behind him, tendrils extended, like arms opening up, gripping, connecting, drawing from the branches hanging down from the massive tree above!
Greedy slurping of this miraculous nectar, squeezed from countless deaths and sufferings!
"Above all mundane, the grandest of all forms is the dragon."
He devoutly recited those ancient verses passed down within the Dragon Sacrifice Ceremony, reveling in this wonderful Transformation: "Destruction and natural disasters are Its breaths, pain, and despair, are Its blood!"
Now, Dragon Blood came from Hell, the transformation had begun.
He would evolve, he would ascend.
He would be reborn from the Dragon Blood!
Amidst hysterical laughter, Lawrence sensed the transformation of the Vortex Planting Technique mysteriously freezing for a moment, but it quickly resumed normal, as if it was an illusion.
Only among the countless roots entwinement, Ji Jue's fingertips, imperceptibly moved within the slumber.
Like spasms in a nightmare.
Struggling in vain.
.
Like suddenly, falling into the deep sea, unable to breathe.
From an unprecedented chill and suffocation, Ji Jue plunged into an endless nightmare, drifting with the current, falling deeper.
Wherever he looked, he saw only crimson; when he listened carefully, the weeping echoed in his mind.
As if, simultaneously, millions were crying, wailing in sorrow, struggling futilely, and eventually, releasing their grasp, plummeting into the abyss, never to return.
What remained were only bones and tears.
Those tears merged into an ocean, the tide rose high, engulfing everything in the tide of crying.
"Why do you kill me, why?!"
From a daze, as if someone grabbed his collar, desperately questioning, "I'm just a worker, I've only been here a few months! I'm innocent!"
But before Ji Jue could respond, the apparition seemed to dissipate, replaced by a tired and disheveled man, covered in coal dust, banging repeatedly on the door in front of him, "Where's my money? Boss, didn't you say you'd pay me today!"
The metal door still stood, unresponsive.
"You're all liars, you've all been deceiving me!"
The desperate man cried, lifting a hammer, "I'll fight you all!"
He smashed the door open, and gunshots sounded.
Everything abruptly ceased, the illusion dissolved.
Ji Jue but heard the familiar beeping sound, the scent of disinfectant wafting to his nose, he confusedly turned his head around, saw the filthy hospital room, and the bedridden woman, her hair already fallen out, exposing wrinkled scalp.
"Have some more, eat a bit more."
The man by the bed lifted a bowl of food, beard unkempt, smiling appeasingly, "You have chemotherapy in the afternoon, eat to keep your strength."
But she didn't eat.
She could hardly lift her arms anymore.
"Listen to me, let's not treat it anymore, shall we go home?"
In the prolonged silence, she softly said, "This illness, it's too costly."
The man froze in place, his hand holding the bowl suspended in the air, his spine gradually curving down, as if bent by an unseen force.
He bowed his head.
"Okay."
This was the last sound before tears fell.
Then, a torrential downpour, in the blurred world only cries remained, the woman on the ground rolled, grasping at the child's leg, tears streaming down her face pleading, "Stop taking it! Don't suck it anymore! Please, I'm begging you as your mother, once you're involved with this stuff, your life is ruined!"
Bang!
A stick came crashing down, drowning out the sound of the storm.
The world spun around.