46 Discussion

The vine completely went straight to the back of her mind as she immediately ran towards Ling Xiao the moment she heard him gasp. She threw her arms around him once he was within her reach.

"Are you okay? how are you feeling?" She asked looking him up and down

"I'm all right. Except for a slight headache and little nausea, I'm feeling fine. They both just passed by anyway" Ling Xiao responded holding her arms.

"That's good>" Emilia responded as she calmed herself down.

"What's wrong? did something unexpected happen?" Ling Xiao asked. He could tell from her expression that something that shouldn't have happened, happened.

"This is my fault," she said lowering her head." I misunderstood when the vine said we could use two petals and because of that I almost killed you. Turns out he meant one at a time, not two at once. I'm sorry"

"That's alright, you weren't aware yourself so I can't blame you." He responded." So does that mean that we didn't undergo the same process?"

"No according to the vine, what you endured was at least five times what we underwent," Emilia replied. "By the way just how painful was it?"

"It was insane" Ling Xiao responded. "It came to a point where I actually felt like asking for death. I've never experienced anything like that in both lifetimes."

"Wow, it must have been really bad then. No wonder your brain went into self-defence mode." She mumbled

"Self-defense mode? What do you mean?" He asked looking at her puzzled

"The vine said that your brain disconnected itself from the rest of the body as a way to protect itself." She responded

"No wonder I suddenly couldn't feel anything and I passed out," he responded.

"Forget about that, how do you feel now?" Emilia asked

"I feel like I have the body of a fourth-level ability user with the strength of a second-level, if not third-level, power ability," Ling Xiao replied standing up to swing his arms and kick his legs. "Even then my body feels way lighter like a heavy burden has just been lifted off my body."

"Well, the lightness must come from having a whole lot of impurities removed from your body. I also felt the same after having undergone my baptism." She said after contemplating a bit. "The only thing is, I most probably have the body of a second-level and the strength of a first-level power ability user. I guess it has something to do with the fact that you've undergone at least two baptisms already." Emilia said.

"Mhm," he nodded, "right what's up with this space anyway? Where did you get something so magical like?" He asked, his curiosity has gotten the best of him. He was curious to know just where this magical space randomly appeared from.

"I don't really know much about this place yet, the guardian spirit was not so keen on sharing much information about itself and this space since we are still on a trial test," she responded. "As for where I got it... this space kind of attached to me one time six months ago when I was in the woods. It happened actually about a few days before we met. Of course, I only found out about this space early morning today."

"And this guardian, is the golden vine you've mentioned before?"

"Yes, that's the one. It is also the one that woke you up just now." She replied

"Can I maybe meet this guardian?" He asked curious to see just what this guardian looked like.

"Sure but maybe another time. It wasn't really happy that I called for it to save you not even 24 hours since it told me not to disturb it, but I'm sure you can meet it the next time you come here." She responded

Nodding his head he moved around glancing at everything he could see.

"And this trial period is until when?"

"Three months. I'll only have access to this place for three months and if I want it for a longer period then I'll be required to fill up this flower with energy." She said pointing towards a black plumeria planted alone by the lake bed. "According to the vine, I would have completed the agreement the moment this plumeria turns back into complete white."

"And the energy source? What exactly can you use?" Ling Xiao asked coming to squat in front of the plumeria. What fascinated him most about the flower he was looking at was the fact that, unlike most plumerias that only grew on trees, this one stood alone next to the lake and it even had its own stem and complete root system. The flower was completely able to support itself.

"Moonstones."

"Moonstones?" He exclaimed surprised. "In his mind, he was thinking it would be something more expensive. He was even prepared to borrow money just in case what he had would not be enough to acquire some rare resources.

"Mhm, moonstones. According to the vine, it prefers those since their energy is similar but we can also give it other natural gems as an energy source. I also believe zombie nuclei should be included as well since the zombies' entire life force is stored in their nucleus and that is the exact type of energy the vine is looking for. Life energy." She explained.

"Well, moonstones are cheap so they are easy to buy but I'm afraid that the moment the apocalypse starts in just a few days you won't be able to find many of them since not every jewellery store sells them precisely because they are not valuable, so it will be a bit difficult." Ling Xiao analysed. "But since nuclei will still work then I guess you'll just have to make do with that once the apocalypse starts and even those only begin to appear one month into the apocalypse." He continued.

"Yeah, so I'll be on a tight schedule" Emilia replied. "That's why for now I'll just collect as many moonstones as I can get during these next two or three days, and as many gems, as I can afford since most of the money has already been used up," Emilia responded.

"I guess that's the only thing you can do now," he said standing up and dusting his hands. "I'll also try and collect as many as I can on my way on the mission and back. I should be able to collect quite a few moonstones since they are loved quite a bit in Country M."

"That will help us a lot. Even though I don't know much about this space or that vine but as of right now it will benefit us more if we can maintain this cooperation for as long as possible. After all, we won't get these benefits anywhere else. Plus, according to the golden vine, there are a whole lot of other things we can get from this space that will benefit us." Emilia responded, now moving towards the petal-embedded tree.

"Right these baptism petals …how many do you have left?" Ling Xiao asked looking at her.

"I only have one of the five left. I was thinking of saving it in case I need it later," she replied moving towards the tree.

"How about you use it on yourself now?" Ling Xiao suddenly proposed.

Taken aback she quickly turned towards him. "But what about saving it for someone else later?"

"I know you want to use it on others but the first and most important thing for us now is that we have as much strength as possible in order for there not to be a repeat of our past lives." Ling Xiao said looking at her. "We can always give others an opportunity at a later date, after all, didn't the vine promise you more petals after you've collected enough energy?"

"Mhm, it did" she replied.

"Right so you can budget and think of others at that time but the most important thing right now is for you and Ling Qin to be able to protect yourselves. Everyone else and everything else comes second."

"But you're also here are you not?"

"That is true but we are not sure yet if I can really return before the apocalypse begins and just in case there is a delay on the road you need to have enough strength to take care of both Ling Qin and you. After all, it's always best to rely on personal strength compared to borrowed strength."

Emilia was silent for a bit before she nodded her head. "Okay, I understand," she said. "I'll undergo the second baptism"

"That's good" Ling Xiao said with a smile on his lips. "So are you going to do it now? Should I wait for you?" He asked

"No, there is no need for you to remain here. You're still on a mission and your teammates are still waiting for you. You can't delay anymore. We've already wasted enough time. You need to leave now." Emilia said shooting down his idea.

"Ok," he nodded so should we get out of here he asked stretching out his arm towards her.

"Yes, let's get out of here," she said holding onto his hand with one hand and rubbing the ring with her other hand. And just like how they came in Ling xiao saw a blur appear in front of him for a second and the hotel room appeared immediately after.

"Come on you need to go" Emilia tugged on his arm bringing him out of his short daze.

"Mhm," he hummed. Ling Xiao walked to the door before he stopped and turn around. He quickly walked towards her and kissed her forehead. "You need to take care of yourself when I'm not here" he whispered.

"Mhm, I will" she responded. "And you need to take care of yourself as well."

"Of course, I'm not going to die on you. In this life we need to live as long as possible" he responded. " I'll see you when I get back." Taking one last look at her Ling Xiao proceeded to walk out the door and head back upstairs.