Emily could hardly believe her eyes as her own brother choked her, lifting her body off the ground.
As an experienced hunter with an S-rank ability, Emily should have been able to fight back, but the shock was too much for her.
Her gaze was filled with worry; she knew something strange was happening to Alex.
"Did something go wrong when he tried to learn the cultivation method?
I already told him to test it on others first..." she thought.
Emily offered to find some people to test, but Alex refused, insisting he would find them himself.
He said this not because he didn't trust Emily but because he doubted the volunteers who came through her.
In Alex's eyes, no matter how experienced Emily was, she was always his naive younger sister.
Her strength waned further, and Emily could feel her energy and life being absorbed by Alex.
Strands of her golden hair began turning white.
Gathering all her remaining strength, she slowly raised her hand.
Her target wasn't Alex's hand but his cheek.
Tears dropped from her sapphire blue eyes, and her lips moved slowly with broken words, "W...h... Why...?"
As the life force finally returned to the ten percent threshold, clarity started returning to Alex's mind.
At first, everything was blurry; he could only feel something warm on his cheek.
But Vesa's scream in his mind jolted him back to reality.
Upon seeing Emily's condition right before his eyes, Alex quickly released his grip and then pulled her into his arms.
Emily had already fainted, and her condition made Alex's heart beat in fear.
Half of her hair had already turned white, and he could even see her face had aged.
Her once rosy face was now pale.
"What have I done," Alex mumbled in shock.
[King, she is still alive; see her status.]
______________________________
Ability: Embodiment of Light lv. 2
______________________________
If not for the situation, Alex would have been surprised by Emily's power level.
This meant she was stronger than Mingyue.
As for the abilities tab, it wasn't a surprise for him since he was the one asking Vesa to update the information.
Although Vesa had said the ability she put wouldn't be accurate, except Alex absorbed part of their life force, Alex still asked her to include it.
Any information would help him better judge his situation.
Seeing Emily's life flickering like a candle in the wind, Alex asked, "Vesa, tell me more about this life force.
Can I return it to her?"
[Yes, you can, King, but not now.
It's one of the Progenitor's Abilities you unlock later on the path.
As for life force, it's quite complicated, but to put it in simple terms, every numeric number can be counted as one year of lifespan in the case of humans.]
Alex's hands started to shake; he understood clearly that this meant his sister only had ten years left, and not just that.
When she woke up, her body would be frail, like someone who had lived for 140 years, with only ten years in their lifespan.
Her organ function would degrade, as would her immune system.
She would then start getting many illnesses that appear in the elderly.
[King, maybe you can try using the new cultivation technique on her since…]
But Vesa stopped sending messages as she could feel Alex was really angry.
"She is not a scapegoat!
To raise my Progenitor level, I need more of his blood.
Send me to one of those places now.
No, send me after I put her somewhere safe."
Alex carried Emily like a princess and started walking toward the facility.
Vesa remained silent at his absurd request; none of the places that held a Progenitor were weak, each requiring at least a power level of 20.
Going there now was tantamount to suicide.
If you don't tell me now, I will find a way myself!" Alex said coldly as he kept walking.
[It's not that I don't want to, King, but I will be blunt: you are too weak now.]
[If it were possible, I would have already sent both of you to another world so you could become a Progenitor quickly and start rebuilding our race.]
[There's also another reason; right now, my energy is very limited.
The remaining energy I have is only enough to send both of you one time.]
Can't you just send me?"
This limitation was put onto me by the last Progenitor.
[King, I understand your worry and fear, but sending you now really is suicide.
If I had more energy, I could at least ensure that I bring both of you back here in case something happens.]
"So, you're saying it's a problem now because you only have enough strength for one trip.
What do you need to recover your strength, Vesa?"
In Edonia, Vesa's chubby mouth opened and let out a big sigh.
Vesa felt helpless with Alex.
There were many pieces of information Vesa kept on purpose so they could focus on improving themselves, but Vesa knew Alex would keep pressuring until he got his answer.
[I need a life force, not just from any being.]
[I need one from the strong one, at least at the level of an Immortal of MingYue's world.]
[My plan before was to recover some part of my power from the other progenitor blood you gain, so I have enough to keep sending both of you on quests.]
Alex put some thought into it.
Lifeforce from beings as strong as Immortals—he already had some idea of how strong they were from talking with MingYue.
His estimate was that it should be the same as a Category Five dungeon boss.
[King, don't be careless.
If you die, who will help Emily?
And did you forget MingYue will die too with you?]
"Don't lie to me, Vesa.
I know I cannot die that easily.
Only those that can really destroy my soul can kill me, and my soul is at Progenitor level now, even if that is not complete."