“Take them off. All of them.” Seeing that Lili hadn’t responded, Yae-hi repeated herself.
“Take… take them off? Why?” Lili’s cheeks flushed as she looked at the unconscious Alicia lying before her. They were all girls, and close friends at that, but she had only seen Alicia’s body back when they were children, bathing together.
“The clothes will get in the way of my acupuncture.” Yae-hi looked over and calmly explained, “The earth energy inside Alicia’s body has already spread throughout her system. The only way to treat it now is through acupuncture.”
“I see…” Lili exhaled in relief. Since it was necessary for treatnt, there was nothing she could say.
She stepped to the bedside and carefully began to undo Alicia’s clothes. Her hands trembled slightly; undressing soone unconscious like this was her first ti, and the task proved more difficult than expected.
Yae-hi watched for a mont, then sighed and ca over to help. Her movents were practiced and efficient, so much so that Lili almost blurted out, “Why are you so skilled at this?”
With Yae-hi’s help, Alicia was soon laid bare, pure and unguarded like a newborn. Looking at the flawless, enviable body before her, Lili’s small hands clenched as she glanced down at her own flat chest and sighed quietly.
“You’re perfectly fine as you are,” Yae-hi offered with a comforting tone.
Lili rolled her eyes in response.
“Ahaha… I an, I really do like it that way,” Yae-hi said awkwardly.
At that, a faint smile finally appeared on Lili’s blushing face. “Princess, can we start now?”
“Right away.” Yae-hi nodded.
Though Alicia’s life was not in imdiate danger, delay could worsen her condition. A green needle appeared in Yae-hi’s hand, and in a flash, she began inserting them with lightning speed.
Lili’s eyes darted, dazzled by the precise, fluid motion.
In no ti, Alicia’s entire body was covered with three hundred seventy-two needles. Then, a powerful surge of life energy flowed into her. Lili clasped her hands nervously, watching the changes unfold. Yae-hi pressed one hand upon Alicia’s lower abdon, her eyes suddenly widening.
At that mont, the life energy tangled with the earth energy inside Alicia’s body, erupting into an invisible battle. The room fell silent. Yae-hi remained perfectly still, directing her energy soldiers with total focus, determined to eradicate every trace of the invading earth energy in the shortest ti possible.
One hour passed. Then two. Two and a half hours. Throughout it all, Lili stood motionless, watching Yae-hi’s unmoving form. If not for the vibrant waves of life energy filling the room, she might have thought Yae-hi had turned to stone.
Lili couldn’t understand what was happening within Alicia’s body, but she could tell Yae-hi was completely in control. In truth, Yae-hi had already fought such inner wars before, against the corrupted energy within Allie and Aurora. This was nothing new to her.
A re earth energy? Hardly a threat compared to the strange viruses or spatial storm residues she had faced before. The only reason it took so long was because the earth energy had deeply invaded Alicia’s body, attempting to turn her entirely into stone.
Yae-hi, however, worked in reverse, stripping away every trace of the earth energy, extracting it piece by piece. The process was difficult, but to her, it was little more than chanical repetition, tedious enough to make her almost sleepy.
‘This earth energy… it might actually be useful to .’ Sensing the mutated earth energy coursing through Alicia, Yae-hi’s thoughts stirred. She had gained considerable benefits before by absorbing mutated energies from Allie. If she absorbed this one too, who knew what surprises awaited?1
The thought alone spurred her to act, Yae-hi was never one to hesitate once she made up her mind.
By now, the earth energy inside Alicia was collapsing in full retreat. If it had any form of consciousness, it would’ve already raised a white flag in surrender. Unfortunately for it, even if it could surrender, Yae-hi would never accept.
She pressed more firmly on Alicia’s abdon, channeling another burst of life energy into her. In an instant, the retreating earth energy crumbled completely, defeated beyond recovery.
Still, as the saying went, even a shattered ship has a few nails left in it. It was still massive in scale; to expect instant victory was nothing short of a fool’s dream. Yae-hi did not rush to finish it off. Instead, she continued her assault with steady, deliberate precision.
Ti trickled by, second after second. Lili’s small hands tightened even more as waves of anxiety and worry surged in her heart. At that mont, she finally understood what it ant for every passing second to feel like an eternity. Each heartbeat of waiting was tornt. Yet all she could do was stand quietly and watch.
An hour and a half later, the seemingly motionless scene suddenly changed.
Lili’s eyes widened sharply, her pupils reflecting the instant Yae-hi withdrew her hand. No, that wasn’t all. In Yae-hi’s palm, she saw a green orb of light, about the size of a small apple.
Before Lili could say anything, Yae-hi spoke first, “Alicia is fine now. Lili, keep watch and don’t let anyone disturb .”
As soon as her words fell, she pressed the glowing green orb against her own chest. In an instant, the orb fused into her body. Though Lili didn’t know what purpose this served, she could only obey and guard her quietly.
At the sa ti, the heavy stone in her heart finally lifted. Because Alicia’s body was now radiating a soft green glow, her life energy steadily rising. It was clear that, just as Princess had said, Alicia was no longer in danger. On the contrary, she was recovering rapidly.
‘Thank goodness…’ Lili exhaled deeply in relief and turned her gaze back to Yae-hi. By then, Yae-hi was seated cross-legged on the ground, a look of pain etched across her face. It was as though she were enduring so unbearable agony.
‘Wait… did she just force that compressed earth energy into her own body?’ Confusion filled Lili’s delicate face. Alicia had absorbed an enormous amount of earth energy, so forcing it all into herself was practically suicide!
The thought made the stone that had just settled in her heart rise again in alarm. Fortunately, though Yae-hi’s expression twisted in pain, her body showed no signs of harm.
Otherwise, Lili would have been completely lost, how could she bear to watch Princess save Alicia’s life only to lose her own monts later?
‘Good… the earth energy really is strengthening my resistance to earth attributes!’
Unbeknownst to Lili, Yae-hi was suffering, yes—but also exhilarated. In less than two minutes, the earth energy within her body had been fully absorbed. Her earth resistance reached its peak, and she gained a new ability: Basic Earth Force.
“All done.” Yae-hi opened her eyes slowly, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. Just then, the system’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
Ding!
Green Emperor’s Longevity Manual advanced to Stage Three.
Foundational training complete. Next phase unlocked: Interdiate and Advanced Stages.
Hearing that, she froze for a mont in surprise. Then, a trendous surge of life energy erupted from within her, threatening to burst out of her body. In that instant, Yae-hi’s power skyrocketed, ascending to an even greater realm.
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