On Jiuzhou Star, Weasley’s expression was grim.
Before the Party Leader left, he’d drilled it into Weasley over and over again—keep an eye on the Awakeners, no matter what.
And yet, barely any time had passed, and something had already happened to the Lin family!
“Old Black, what’s going on? Why are the old master and old madam in a coma?”
Old Black was at a loss for words.
See? This was exactly why people said—persuade someone to study medicine, and you’ll get struck by lightning. He should never have gone into the medical field in the first place.
Ever since joining the Star Union Party, he’d been keeping up with the latest cutting-edge medical knowledge. But even so, he was still behind the times!
Take the Lin elders, for example. He’d run over a dozen tests on them and still hadn’t found a single thing wrong. But they just wouldn’t wake up.
This was completely beyond his medical expertise.
“Maybe… you should go ask Mrs. Lin? I’m getting the feeling this looks like an Awakening.”
Weasley’s teeth started to ache.
Were these prehistoric civilizations just dead set on making the Party Leader’s life difficult?
One Awakening in Mrs. Lin was bad enough. But now the old master and old madam too?
“Sigh. I really hope it’s not an Awakening. Otherwise, how am I supposed to explain this to the Party Leader?” Weasley exchanged a look with Old Black—both of them wearing the same worried, troubled expression.
…
At the Saint Tablet.
Lin Xiaohe saw a massive hole torn open in the universe!
Beyond that hole was an endlessly stretching darkness—thick as ink, spinning at high speed from west to east.
But what was even more terrifying was that this gigantic hole came crashing down on the entire starfield like the Buddha’s own Five-Finger Mountain!
And the Saint Tablet’s home—Haige Star—was directly in its path.
Every single cell in Lin Xiaohe’s body screamed in alarm.
With a sudden pop, dozens of blessing halos wrapped tightly around her.
Her mind went completely blank.
What was she supposed to do now? How? There was no Saint Tablet guardian left—was she supposed to take over?
But going up against that massive hole in the cosmos… that was like asking a newborn baby to take on a planet-killer cannon!
How was that supposed to work?
Lin Xiaohe slapped the Saint Tablet frantically. “The Witch Clan is about to bite the dust! Show some divine power already!”
The Saint Tablet stood as still as a mountain, refusing to give her even a hint of a response.
Lin Xiaohe called out to the heavens—no answer. She called out to the earth—no reply. Xiao Hei, Doudou, Xin Bao—none of them were around!
With this tiny little body, what exactly was she supposed to do?
Forget it. Might as well just give up and lie flat. The Saint Tablet had pulled her in here—it definitely didn’t want her dead.
Given the Saint Tablet’s mysterious origins and its bizarre abilities, if it wanted to kill her off, there were countless ways to do it. There was no need to go through all this trouble.
Lin Xiaohe closed her eyes and prepared to die, quietly wondering to herself—after she died, would she leave the Saint Tablet, or would she enter the next world?
Maybe… she’d enter the second prehistoric civilization?
Why did she feel like some kind of NPC following a script? Like her whole reason for existing was just to experience each dying civilization one after another?
The massive hole hadn’t even fully descended upon Haige Star yet, but the sheer pressure it radiated shattered dozens of blessing halos in an instant.
Lin Xiaohe felt a pang of heartache.
She’d already figured out that these were gifts the Witch Clan had left for her.
Her mind was calm—almost eerily so. In fact, she found herself faintly curious about what the second prehistoric civilization would look like.
Suddenly, she caught a familiar fragrance. Then came a light, feathery softness—something landing on her face, her hair, her body.
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes shot open.
Filling her entire field of vision were scattered flower petals—white with a hint of pink—drifting down from the sky in a slow, endless rain.
“Hey, you little menace. Even you have your quiet moments, huh.” The Lotus Tree had taken root in front of the Saint Tablet, weaving its dense branches and lotus flowers into a shield, carefully guarding the tiny figure on the hilltop.
Under the crushing weight of the great hole, the lotuses bloomed and withered, bloomed and withered again.
Inside the shield, shredded petals were everywhere.
Lin Xiaohe’s heart churned with complicated emotions. “Stop worrying about me.”
With that kind of power, wouldn’t it be better to just look after itself?
“Aww, don’t tell me you’re about to cry.” A branch snapped and nearly fell on Lin Xiaohe.
She looked up at the tree, speaking earnestly. “Stop worrying about me. After I die, I’ll enter the cycle of reincarnation—just like all the other Witch Clan members.”
The Lotus Tree said deliberately, “No way. You’re just going to give up like that? You’re not a coward, are you?”
Lin Xiaohe sighed helplessly. She wasn’t a real child—there was no way she’d fall for such a simple provocation.
“Lotus Tree. Protect yourself. Okay?”
“No.” The tree’s main body had already been cut in half, and the shield had shrunk to a diameter of just ten meters.
“Even if you reincarnate, that won’t be the same little menace I raised with my own hands.”
The little menace it had painstakingly raised—every sip of water, every bite of food, every messy, exhausting moment!
The little menace who’d snatched away its only seed—and it couldn’t even bring itself to truly stay angry at her.
Watching her die right in front of it… it just couldn’t do it.
“Enough with the moping. Where’s that fiery spirit of yours that wanted to take on the heavens? Or were you only tough at home?”
Lin Xiaohe: “What should I do?”
The Lotus Tree fell into a shameful silence. Then it let out a low, impossibly gentle laugh. “Just stay here like this. That’s enough. When I’m gone, then you can go to the Saint Tablet.”
Let me take one last look at the little menace—alive, full of energy, acting like she was second only to the heavens!
Not that defeated, resigned look.
I don’t like it. It hurts my heart.
Lin Xiaohe stared fixedly at the Lotus Tree. Then, slowly, she began to smile. “You’re right! I was born to be a rebel!”
If the Saint Tablet wanted her to do something, she’d just do it?! Who did it think it was?!
Even if the gap in power was enormous, even if everything she did was futile struggle, even if the outcome wouldn’t change—the details would still be different!
One tiny detail wouldn’t change the ending.
But what about a hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Hundreds of millions of tiny deviations, all stacked together? Surely that could change the ending—even just a little?!
For the first time since arriving in the Witch Clan civilization, Lin Xiaohe’s mind was crystal clear.
She had nothing—just this body of Witch Clan flesh and blood.
Her flesh and blood might return to the universe, or they might merge into the Saint Tablet.
But why should they?
She couldn’t choose whether to enter or leave the Saint Tablet. She couldn’t stop the apocalypse from descending. But her body—that was hers to command!
Lin Xiaohe pulled out the tiny seed. It was a vibrant green, with a small white tip at its pointed end.
She looked up at the Lotus Tree and beamed. “You gave me life. I’ll give you life in return.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she slashed her wrist without hesitation, letting the surging blood drip onto the seed.
“Blood for the spring, flesh for the soil.
Ancestral spirits for the guide, soul for the light.
This broken body I offer, to help you break through the soil.
Life without end, shining across the eight directions!”
The Lotus Tree’s eyes went wide in disbelief. This was the Witch Clan’s most tragic sacrificial chant!
Once invoked, the one who offered the sacrifice would never enter reincarnation again—they would be erased entirely, body and soul.
In the entire history of the Witch Clan civilization, only one person had ever used this chant—and she had exchanged her own life to nurture the Baby Fruit on the divine tree!
But Mu… was using it on its seed!
This was absolutely unheard of.
The Lotus Tree poured every last wisp of its remaining energy into stalling for time, buying the ritual the moments it needed.
Until—pfft—the seed cracked open, broke through the soil, and sprouted.
And only then did the Lotus Tree and Lin Xiaohe both crumble into ash…
