Eternal Life: I Have the Favor System

He scrambled on all fours, kicking up leaves and dirt, and shot off like an arrow loosed from a bow. He rushed into the distance, trying to use the forest for cover and disappear from everyone’s sight.

"Who dares say he isn’t a demon!"

Zhang Xuan was livid.

He shot forward, his Flying Sword streaking toward Lin Shirong’s rear.

A wail of agony echoed from afar.

Next, the forest began to shake, the ground trembling.

Lin Shirong mustered all his Spiritual Power to fight Zhang Xuan, but the gap between them was too vast. After just two exchanges, Zhang Xuan lopped off his head, killing him on the spot.

Zhang Xuan enveloped the gushing blood with his Spiritual Power, carefully sensing its composition.

’Qi Storage Pill.’

’So that’s it. No wonder he was able to hide from my Spiritual Sense.’

’Who gave him this Qi Storage Pill?’

Zhang Xuan wondered aloud.

Li Mao arrived with Chu Lingguang.

Li Mao also manipulated a drop of blood, bringing it to his nose to sniff it. After carefully sensing the changes within, his expression turned grim.

Chu Lingguang, however, simply stared at Lin Shirong’s corpse.

Lin Shirong had struggled so hard to achieve a breakthrough, but before he could even enjoy it, Zhang Xuan had cut him down, leaving him dead right before his eyes.

"Junior Brother Chu, where were you just now?"

Zhang Xuan questioned.

"Didn’t you see for yourself?"

Chu Lingguang said, his fists clenched.

He and Lin Shirong may not have had a life-or-death bond, but their days at Wolf Valley Pass had been pleasant, and they had long since become good friends. Now, seeing him dead at Zhang Xuan’s hands—beheaded for fusing with that bizarre object and lying right in front of him—Chu Lingguang couldn’t help but glare daggers at Zhang Xuan.

However, that very expression dispelled Zhang Xuan’s suspicions.

He knew Chu Lingguang was fiercely loyal. If Chu Lingguang hadn’t shown anger after he killed Lin Shirong, but only nervousness, then Zhang Xuan would have suspected that Chu Lingguang was the one who gave him the pill.

Or that Chu Lingguang had found him earlier and deliberately let him escape.

’But still, where did this Qi Storage Pill come from?’

’When did it get out?’

"Zhang, it wouldn’t have been easy for Junior Brother Chu to catch up to him, given his strength,"

Li Mao pointed out.

"I was just asking. I’m curious where he got that Qi Storage Pill. I suspect demons have already infiltrated Yuanchu Mountain. We’ll have to re-examine everyone’s auras. We can’t let any demons hide among us."

Zhang Xuan said, his expression grave.

"I agree, that’s necessary."

Li Mao nodded in agreement.

"Junior Brother Chu, what do you think?"

Zhang Xuan asked pointedly.

"What happens at Yuanchu Mountain is not up to me. It’s useless to ask me."

Chu Lingguang scoffed.

"Junior Brother Chu, don’t blame me. I know you and Lin Shirong were friends, but he had become a demon. If we didn’t kill him today, he would have become a fiend, endangering the people of the Great Yuan and even Yuanchu Mountain itself. I hope you can prioritize the greater good."

Zhang Xuan said with a smile.

"Hmph!"

Chu Lingguang snorted. He wanted to dig a grave nearby and give Lin Shirong a proper burial.

CRUNCH!

But just then, Zhang Xuan reached out, and a powerful wave of Spiritual Power enveloped Lin Shirong’s corpse.

With a forceful clench of his hand,

a bloody heart, tangled with countless vessels, was ripped from Lin Shirong’s body.

"What are you doing?"

Chu Lingguang roared.

"He only just fused with the bizarre object; the process wasn’t complete. We have to destroy it utterly, or a new abomination might emerge from it,"

Zhang Xuan explained.

"Zhang is right. Junior Brother Chu, stay out of this."

Li Mao also reached out, using his Spiritual Power to take control of the heart, which was now floating between them, tangled in a web of vessels.

The heart was still beating.

Tender vine shoots were sprouting from the vessels.

SPLAT!

The heart suddenly exploded into a mist of blood.

Chu Lingguang had pierced it with his spear.

"What did you do that for?!"

Zhang Xuan roared, his face splattered with blood.

"You already killed him. To then try and refine his heart and abilities is going too far. No matter what, he was my friend,"

Chu Lingguang said, staring directly into Zhang Xuan’s eyes.

He could tell that Zhang Xuan and Li Mao wanted to refine Lin Shirong’s heart. Clearly, after his death, all his energy had converged there, and they could use it to enhance the power of the vines in their Star Systems.

He couldn’t stop Zhang Xuan from killing Lin Shirong, but he could at least stop them from absorbing this last bit of his power.

With that said, he ignored Zhang Xuan’s twisted expression, dragged Lin Shirong’s body into the pit, and began to bury it.

Li Mao shook his head at Zhang Xuan, signaling him not to lose his temper with Chu Lingguang.

"Junior Brother Chu, don’t forget the tenet of Yuanchu Mountain. Anyone who fuses with a bizarre object becomes a monster. There are no exceptions—not even for one’s own master,"

Zhang Xuan added with a sneer, then turned and stalked off.

Li Mao shook his head and patted Chu Lingguang’s shoulder. "Zhang and I will handle slaying demons for the next couple of days. You should get some rest."

With that, the two of them departed, one after the other.

After burying Lin Shirong and bowing respectfully to his grave, Chu Lingguang released his Spiritual Power and sped off toward another region.

Zhang Xuan was already suspicious about the Qi Storage Pill. Worried that Yan Zhen, Qin Yu, and Yun Hong would be discovered, Chu Lingguang rushed off to warn them.

’I have to find them before Zhang does. It’s the only way to ensure they’re safe.’

He remembered Yan Zhen and Qin Yu were responsible for clearing the bizarre objects from the Hundred Thousand Mountains near Yunchuan City.

’As an Inner Sect Disciple of Yuanchu Mountain, even if I part ways with Zhang Xuan’s group and deliberately leave my assigned area, Yuanchu Mountain won’t do anything to me as long as I don’t fuse with a bizarre object myself.’

’My Spirit Root Constitution grants me a certain amount of leeway at Yuanchu Mountain. Even though I haven’t learned any cultivation Skills yet, they probably won’t kick me out, and my life certainly isn’t in danger.’

「Half a day later.」

"He’s still not back?"

Zhang Xuan wondered.

"He’s probably still sulking,"

Li Mao said with a wry smile.

"I just feel there’s something off about him, like he’s deliberately trying to oppose Yuanchu Mountain. I have no idea how he got so lucky as to have a Spiritual Root. Even First Senior Brother is exceptionally fond of him,"

Zhang Xuan complained.

"To each his own fate,"

Li Mao said offhandedly.

"What are you two doing here?"

A voice suddenly rang out.

"Greetings, First Senior Brother."

Li Mao and Zhang Xuan hurriedly bowed. The newcomer was Kou Han.

Kou Han gave them a brief glance, then turned and bowed respectfully to someone behind him.

From out of the swirling mist, a slovenly old Daoist priest emerged.

"We pay our respects to Grandmaster Yuan."

Zhang Xuan and Li Mao scrambled to their knees, kowtowing with their foreheads to the ground. Given their status and power, there were few people in the entire Great Yuan territory who commanded such reverence from them.

Grandmaster Yuan was one of those few.

He was none other than Kou Han’s master, Yuan Shanhe.

His cultivation was unfathomable. He was a living fossil of Yuanchu Mountain, rumored to have lived for over a thousand years—a truly transcendent being.

Yuan Shanhe stood in the air, gazing down at the forest. With his naked eye, he could see a multicolored aura, as well as the writhing roots of the vines stirring beneath the ground.

He waved his Fuxiu and said, "Burn it all. This is all worthless junk."

"Yes."

Kou Han nodded.

Burning it all meant using Spiritual Power to incinerate the entire forest.

"Where is that little fellow you were talking about?"

Yuan Shanhe couldn’t detect the aura of the Spiritual Root.

"Replying to Grandmaster Yuan, we’re looking for him as well. A friend of his just turned into a demon, and I was forced to slay him. After burying his friend, he disappeared. We don’t know where he went,"

Zhang Xuan explained.

He had just extended his Spiritual Sense to Lin Shirong’s grave but hadn’t detected Chu Lingguang’s aura.

"Oh."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shanhe blinked. A golden light radiated from his pupils, seemingly blanketing the entire region. He saw a figure, hurrying toward Mazhou Prefecture.

And he was moving surprisingly fast.

His feet were empowered by Telekinesis, and his Spiritual Power was exceptionally potent and pure. He had obviously practiced a Qi Refining art.

In an instant, his robes billowed without a wind. He transformed into a streak of golden light and shot off in Chu Lingguang’s direction, vanishing from the sight of Kou Han and the others in the blink of an eye.