Chapter 25: Enemy from Outer Space (Patreon)

When Wise and Belle slowly opened their eyes, the familiar gauze curtains of Tushan's bedchamber filled their vision, and a scent of heartbreak flowers mixed with pine incense lingered in the air.

Belle moved her fingers first, then felt her own arm, her leg, her waist — and finally sat bolt upright, her eyes going round as glass beads.

"It... it worked?! I'm actually alive again?!"

She scrambled up, hopped off the bed, and spun in place three times. Her pink ponytail bounced back to its usual lively fluff, her skin smooth and radiant all over, her vital energy full and vibrant — utterly perfect.

She reached up without thinking to touch her chest, and her eyes lit up, her voice trembling:

"No way... it can really change back?! Gusttave, you weren't lying to me!"

Wise slowly sat up too, her pale fingertips brushing her own cheek — the touch warm and real, her heartbeat steady and strong. She looked down at her hands, her skin smooth and glowing, spiritual power flowing gently through her body, with none of that fading, hollow feeling of a life running out.

She looked toward Gusttave, her eyes rimmed faintly red though her smile stayed gentle: "...Thank you, husband."

Gusttave stood with his hands on his hips, grinning so wide his tail nearly stood on end. "Of course it worked — look who did it. From now on, you two are part of the long-lived race as well. No more worrying about lifespans. Do whatever you like."

Belle lunged at him instantly, wrapping both arms around his arm. "Quick, quick, quick! Teach me how to use that Localized Enlargement! I want to try it!"

Wise hurriedly pulled her back, her ears burning red. "Belle! Don't — don't be silly... we can talk about that kind of thing in private."

[March 7th: Aaah, they're alive, they're alive! An actual physical resurrection AND immortality! I could just die from the sweetness!]

[Kiana Kaslana: What kind of good stuff is this Localized Enlargement?! Show me too! Mei, Mei, write it down quick!]

[Raiden Mei: ...Kiana, behave yourself.]

[Hu Tao: Argh, why does a broken technique like the Localized Enlargement even exist?!]

[Furina: Exactly, that's way too overpowered!]

Just as the group dissolved into chaos, three familiar presences approached from beyond the hall doors.

Feixiao kicked the door open first, dressed in a short blue outfit, her fox ears standing straight up. "Gusttave! What are you sneaking around doing—"

Her words cut off abruptly.

She stared at Belle, bouncing with energy, and Wise, glowing with perfect color, and froze in place. Her deep blue eyes went round, and her tail puffed up instantly like a dandelion. "You— you two... you're alive?!"

Tingyun strolled in with slow steps, fanning herself, her peach-blossom eyes sweeping over the pair. Her fan lightly covered her lips as a smile spread across her face. "My, my, our benefactor really does have miraculous skill — able to rewrite even life and death as he pleases. This humble one is utterly convinced."

Huohuo trailed in last, watching in silence as Wise and Belle stood there restored to youth and granted eternal life once more. She stepped forward and gave a slight nod. "Congratulations."

Belle ran straight over, grabbing Feixiao with one hand and Huohuo with the other, bouncing in place. "Look, look! I'm long-lived now too! No more painful partings from Gusttave, ever again!"

Feixiao said, sounding impatient, "Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're so loud... just behave yourself now that you're alive. Don't go causing trouble everywhere again."

Her mouth complained, but the joy in her eyes was impossible to hide.

[March 7th: A perfect ending! This is exactly what a happy family reunion should look like! Lifespan theory, get out of this world!]

News that Gusttave had brought Wise and Belle back to life never spread beyond their own circle — after all, reversing death was simply too significant an event to let loose.

Not even the fact that Gusttave had wreaked havoc in the Underworld was widely known.

Of course, few knew — but that didn't mean no one did.

The people of Aolai Kingdom, without question, knew about it.

But they hadn't moved to stop him — or rather, they hadn't had the strength to.

Gusttave's own power was already overwhelming to begin with, and combined with his Trait as the Strictest Father Among the Other Races, even the Third Master of Aolai was no match for him.

Although the two of them had never actually crossed blades, they had faced off in secret many times.

At first, they were said to be evenly matched. Later, once Gusttave's cultivation advanced further, he came to completely dominate the Third Master of Aolai.

Granted, part of the reason was that the thing pinning down the Third Young Master's head had sealed away much of his strength — but even at his absolute peak, he still would have been no match for Gusttave.

Just as things should have reached a perfectly happy conclusion for Gusttave's family, disaster struck without warning.

In ancient times, First Master of Aolai of Aolai Kingdom had shattered this world's spatial barrier through his own divine powers, drawing in a horde of creatures from other races.

First Master of Aolai died on the spot in battle. Of the two strands of fur he left behind, one sheltered part of the human race, while the other fused with the Bitter Love Tree.

Afterward, the three remaining monkeys of Aolai Kingdom joined the fight. Over the long years that followed, Second Master of Aolai — the Six-Eared Macaque — and Third Master of Aolai both died in battle.

Seeing the tide had turned hopeless, Fourth Monkey could do nothing but keep fleeing, relying on his own divine powers.

In utter desperation, Third Master of Aolai rose again from his own corpse, and with strength far surpassing what he'd had in life, wiped out the invading race.

In the end, the invaders used a treasure to grievously wound him and seal away much of his power.

Seeing that he had no way to fully destroy the invaders and seal the spatial passage, Third Master of Aolai had no choice but to draw a boundary circle to protect the native life of this world.

Using his own method of rebirth, he brought Second Master of Aolai back to life — but no matter what he tried, he was never able to revive First Master of Aolai.

As for the humans that First Master of Aolai's fur had sheltered, Third Master of Aolai taught them to awaken the Flame Seed of Heaven and Earth, and bestowed upon them the surname Dongfang.

Now, the disaster had come from that very spatial passage beyond the heavens.

Although nothing with power to match Third Master of Aolai had ever emerged from that passage, that didn't mean nothing of that caliber existed on the other side.

After all, if a single treasure could strip away nine-tenths of Third Master of Aolai's strength, then something far more powerful than him surely existed beyond the passage — held back only by some reason from crossing over.

Of course, even if they couldn't physically cross over, that didn't mean they were incapable of striking at this world.

Now, with Gusttave's rise, the beings beyond the passage sensed danger closing in.

Third Master of Aolai alone had already put enormous pressure on them. If another Gusttave emerged, it was only a matter of time before the region beyond the boundary circle was fully pacified — and then they truly would never be able to cross over at all.

So they had to find some way to bind Gusttave, to keep him from ever using his full strength.

As for how to bind him, the obvious answer was to strike at the people he cared about.

And so, the foreign race from beyond the heavens (the spatial passage was called "beyond the heavens" since it lay out in space) launched an attack on this planet from the void.

And the target of that attack was Tushan.

The Third Master of Aolai, the Six-Eared Macaque, and Fourth Monkey all saw the attack coming from beyond the heavens. They knew at once it was aimed at Gusttave, and moved to rush to his aid.

They weren't close, but in a manner of speaking, they were on the same side.

The Third Young Master, in particular, was still hoping Gusttave would one day split open the Five-Finger Mountain pinning down his head and free his sealed power, so there was no way he'd stand by and watch Gusttave fall into danger.

But of course, the invaders had thought of this too — the attack from beyond the heavens wasn't aimed solely at Gusttave.

They had marked the whole of Aolai Kingdom as a target as well.

A beam of purple-black destruction, like a pillar of light meant to end the world, engulfed the whole of Tushan.

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