It was a very peculiar feeling.

A slight coolness from the dampness seeped in from outside the nest.

Causing the Bamboo Wood Ants, who originally intended to continue working, to shiver and curl up directly in their own nests.

Although they had grown and were no longer afraid of the rain, the instinct to stay inside the nest on rainy days was still deeply imprinted in their bloodline heritage.

When it rains, there's no need to go out and work—this was the ants' instinct, so the Bamboo Wood Ants, who were initially eager to move, all sprawled in the places they found most comfortable.

No need to work, listening to the sound of rain, feeling the cool moisture being kept out by the nest, their thoughts naturally began to flow.

While nibbling on their stored food, they pondered the warm power that surged into their bodies when they were transporting the precious fruits.

It seemed that with the help of that power, they were able to grow so large, become so formidable, and even have their own preferences and life.

That deity... would it be willing to give them more power?

Hmm, why did they know it was a deity?

Although they were a bit smarter now, they still couldn't see through Li Ye's methods.

Thanks to the Ant Race's decisive nature, the bored Bamboo Wood Ants quickly began to pray for more blessings in their hearts.

"Immortality."

"Immortality."

"Immortality."

The wish generated by each individual Bamboo Wood Ant combined with the unbroken ability of the ant colony was almost deafening.

Even the curtain of rain trembled lightly.

The prayers of tens of thousands of Bamboo Wood Ants quickly received a response.

——On top of the five grains stored in their nest, crystal-clear drops of dew appeared.

Accompanied by a faint voice of compassion.

"Life means no birth."

The dew slowly dripped to the ground, and the Bamboo Wood Ants frantically sucked on the crystal-clear divine power.

Little wheat spikes soon grew on their bodies.

The sound of rain suddenly stopped at this moment.

Because Li Ye felt his connection with the Bamboo Wood Ants, he also touched the blessing of Compassion—the sign of wheat spikes growing appeared on him over there on the Jianmu, on the body of his transformed self.

Should he drive away this power?

Or should he experience this power to see how exactly it was constructed, how it could grant immortality to living beings?

Li Ye hesitated briefly.

But in an instant, he decisively transferred this power to the world of Jianmu, watching as golden wheat spikes broke through the ground on Jianmu's soil.

Dew droplets slowly fell on the wheat spikes.

"Drip, drip~"

When they splashed on the ground, terrifying vitality burst forth but was quickly absorbed and converted by the land—or rather, by Li Ye's panel.

All Li Ye could feel was——

[+100000.]

A single dew drop equaled a hundred thousand points of Vital Essence!

Well, at this moment, he indeed felt that Compassion was very generous, but it was precisely because of its generosity that so many troublesome matters were created.

However, due to this bold experiment, he had vaguely learned the "method" by which Compassion granted immortality.

Vitality.

The "precious fruits" composed of vitality could maintain the stability of the body and soul—if it was a deceased person, the precious fruits could carry their memory, thus achieving immortality.

Somehow, this method felt somewhat familiar to him.

"No wonder the founder of Hell Path who created the Path and Compassion had a connection, perhaps it was inspired by this."

"Could it be that..."

He suddenly had a bold idea.

Taoist Friend Wen!

He needed some of Taoist Friend Wen's blood to conduct an experiment.

However, before he could pass on this message, Xiangshui House suddenly transmitted an extremely urgent divine sense to him——

Old Mr. Qiu was causing trouble.

A loathsome aura was rising in the area where Old Mr. Qiu frequently appeared.

That was...

Hell Path?

Li Ye's divine sense froze momentarily, only then did he recall the original purpose of building the Dongcang Marketplace was indeed to delve into the Hell Path.

But the Hell Path had always kept the only entrance sealed, so it had never succeeded.

Now that they suddenly appeared, were they trying to take advantage of the situation?

If so... they were arriving just in time.

Li Ye immediately began to prepare, ordering the Bamboo Wood Ants to accept the blessing of Jianmu and get ready for battle.

Ants that could infinitely revive and never die would certainly be fun to think about.

...

On the other side.

Old Mr. Qiu was digging a pit.

Ignoring his fingers made bloody by Compassion's divine power, he frantically dug the pit.

His body was his greatest reliance.

Anyway, he could recover, so it didn't matter no matter how painful it was.

As he continued to dig downwards, his blood and Compassion's divine power mixed with the soil, and a faint yellow spring seemed to trickle from the earth.

It started off as just a trickle.

But then the yellow spring became more and more voluminous, bursting like a dam to fill the entire pit, still overflowing outward.

Gathering into streams that surged around.

Though they meandered freely, the array pattern they formed already divided the space here.

Figures stepped out from the spring.

All clad in dark armor, completely enshrouded in shadow, although each was immensely tall, there was no sign of vitality, gloomy like zombies.

These armored figures surrounded Old Mr. Qiu.

The power of Compassion's vitality actually worked on them as well—just by surrounding Old Mr. Qiu, they continuously absorbed the surging essence from him.

Even their previously lifeless bodies seemed to gain a hint of vitality.

"Uh..."

Old Mr. Qiu wanted to struggle.

But he couldn't break free; all he could do was feel his seemingly limitless vitality being ceaselessly drained.

His limbs convulsed, even his mouth dribbled saliva from the agony.

At that moment, a gray-clad cultivator leisurely walked out from the yellow spring.

He cast a glance at Old Mr. Qiu.

The corners of his mouth slightly curled: "My junior brother really is kind-hearted. Even with you in this state, he refuses to use you as fertilizer for the Demon-Suppressing Tree."

The cultivator, or rather Li Ye's senior brother, raised his head.

Gazing at the Jianmu that overshadowed the place, and the bells on the Jianmu that swayed and scattered morning light, excitement filled his eyes.

"Heart Soil's power."

"The power of the Three-Star Deity Tree."

"Truly nostalgic."

The days in the Hell Path were not easy.

After all, although they possessed many Spatial Divine Powers, every Grotto Heaven they created was a mess, gray and chaotic, nothing compared to the Four Seasons Sect.

But there was no choice.

If not for his true self taking in the power left by Compassion back then, and creating three avatars with "precious fruits," the Hell Path probably wouldn't have granted him even the slightest authority.

But none of that mattered.

As long as he died here, at the hands of the disciple of the True Man Suoxing from the Four Seasons Sect, his true self would definitely be smoother sailing.

With this thought, he reached out and grabbed Old Mr. Qiu.

Slim fingers tightly grasped Old Mr. Qiu's collar, pulling him close, staring directly as he said, "Old man, have you ever heard that everything comes at a price?

Compassion's power is good.

But, it's also very exploitable."

When had Old Mr. Qiu ever suffered such anguish?

He struggled hard but couldn't break free, and when Compassion's power touched the cultivator, it got absorbed by the latter.

His senior brother had no desire for further conversation, immediately tossing Old Mr. Qiu into the pit still bubbling with yellow spring water.

"Splash!"

He sank to the bottom instantly.

Stagnant and cold liquid flooded into his orifices, making him convulse, like he was about to die.

Yet the vitality continued to keep him alive.

The clash between the two forces generated countless mists, and amidst the drifting mist, more black-armored soldiers appeared.

Silently forming ranks.

The sky turned pitch black.

Contrasting the dazzling Jianmu in the distance as black and white.

One evil, one righteous.

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