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The Hōgyoku began to heat up without any warning.
It seemed to be trying to convey a message, and Aozaki Reiji intuitively grasped its profound meaning.
Reiatsu, dense as a spiderweb, transformed into countless delicate threads, continuously flowing out from within the Hōgyoku and rapidly connecting with the branches of the bushes.
This was what the Hōgyoku craved!
"Strange, after the Hōgyoku was completed, it showed no reaction to ordinary Reio's fragments, so why is it now craving these bizarre 'chunks of flesh'?" Aozaki Reiji muttered softly, clutching his chest, a hint of confusion in his voice.
However, despite his confusion, he did not stop the Hōgyoku.
Reiatsu threads continued to surge from his chest, spreading outwards through the gaps between his fingers, continuously establishing connections with the bushes.
Affected by the Reiatsu threads, the formerly rigid bushes now became exceptionally soft, dancing like nimble tentacles.
The tips of the branches all connected with the Reiatsu threads, then slowly gathered in the direction of the threads!
The massive tree, surrounded by numerous bushes, suddenly burst forth with dazzling white light.
It was only then that Aozaki Reiji, as if waking from a dream, realized that the dense bushes before him were merely decaying chunks of flesh growing on this large tree.
"What exactly is this thing? Is it really a chunk of the Reio's fragments? Or perhaps one of the Reio's internal organs?"
He widened his eyes, gazing at everything unfolding before him with a bewildered expression.
Looking at the tree before him, Aozaki Reiji's gaze was deep and focused, as if he were peering through the bark to see the traces of time.
He walked with light steps, slowly approaching the base of the tree, feeling the power emanating from the ground beneath his feet.
Immediately after, Aozaki Reiji gently raised his hand and pressed his palm tightly against the tree trunk.
In an instant, a powerful energy fluctuation emanated from his hand, creating a strong resonance with the Hōgyoku!
This resonance swept over him like a raging tide, leaving him awestruck.
The next moment, something astonishing happened.
The large tree began to tremble violently!
The entire earth seemed to shake along with it.
The branches slowly drooped, and the previously half-dead white bushes now, as if imbued with life, frantically converged towards the center.
This colossal "tree" seemed to have suddenly awakened!
However, it did not possess life and thought like ordinary living beings; instead, it "activated" in a deceased manner.
A massive eye quietly opened on the thick main trunk.
That eyeball was entirely black, with only the central pupil emitting a deep, profound light, yet it stared at Aozaki Reiji lifelessly.
Immediately after, countless branches and bushes surged towards Aozaki Reiji like a raging tide.
They seemed to want to tightly embrace him!
Facing this sudden change, Aozaki Reiji's expression remained exceptionally calm, like a still pond, without the slightest ripple.
"Have you already passed away?" Aozaki Reiji murmured softly, then felt it was somewhat unrealistic.
Looking at those lifeless eyes, a faint sadness flickered in his gaze.
He sighed slightly, as if lamenting its fate.
Then, he spread his arms, allowing the branches and twigs to entwine around him like gentle tentacles.
In Aozaki Reiji's placid gaze, like a calm lake, the large tree and the surrounding bushes suddenly burst forth with dazzling, mesmerizing light.
In an instant, the entire sky seemed to ignite, becoming incredibly bright.
The formerly pitch-black world was now completely engulfed by an endless white radiance.
White bushes, pure as snow, were everywhere, slowly and eerily contracting and merging, connecting tightly without any gaps.
Large amounts of thick white viscous fluid continuously flowed from those branches, like countless trickling streams, converging into a warm ocean.
Aozaki Reiji felt himself immersed in this warm ocean, his body and mind relaxing as never before.
Gradually, a strong wave of drowsiness washed over him, and he involuntarily closed his eyes.
The massive tree was like a benevolent mother.
Its branches, like soft fingers, gently caressed Aozaki Reiji's face, embracing him tightly, gradually forming a gigantic white sphere.
Aozaki Reiji lay quietly inside the sphere, like a fetus returning to its mother's womb, sleeping very sweetly.
However, in stark contrast to the peaceful and serene Aozaki Reiji, the large tree seemed to be enduring unimaginable agony.
The white sphere occasionally trembled slightly, emitting a low humming sound, and its volume slowly decreased, as if it was slowly moving towards liberation.
Then, the surrounding reishi began to gather rapidly, and a Reiatsu wall, similar to the reishi membrane that once enveloped the Hōgyoku, lit up.
The vast undertaking outside seemed unrelated to Aozaki Reiji.
He slept like a baby, having a good dream.
In his dream, he vaguely saw that ordinary middle-aged man with the miraculous eyes.
It was as if he was above the clouds, with nothing but two parallel, snow-white staircases extending into the sky.
It was there that the two of them met unexpectedly.
Aozaki Reiji stepped onto the staircase and halfway up, he couldn't wait to look up.
He saw the middle-aged man, dressed in a simple, spotless white robe, slowly descending along a skybridge above the dome.
His lofty presence did not inspire aversion; he gazed down at Aozaki Reiji below with a condescending demeanor.
A sacred radiance emanated from his body, making it difficult to look directly at him.
His deep eyes revealed an unspoken benevolence, mixed with an indescribable weariness.
If there truly were gods in this world, this is what they would look like!
Aozaki Reiji thought so.
This man gave him an innate sense of majesty—he was born to be a god!
"Aozaki... Reiji!" The middle-aged man slowly descended from the top of the sky, softly calling Aozaki Reiji's name.
For some reason, a hint of joy welled up in Aozaki Reiji's heart, so he also unhesitatingly shouted the middle-aged man's name:
"Yhwach!"
Yhwach did not respond, his face still bearing a benevolent smile as he continued to descend, as if about to fall from the high heavens to the ground.
He quickly reached the bottom of the stairs, one more step and he would fall into the mortal world.
Just as he was about to take that next step, he suddenly stopped, then slowly turned around, looking up with deep eyes at Aozaki Reiji, who stood higher up.
At this moment, Aozaki Reiji, who was also walking towards the high sky, also stopped his progress and turned slightly to look down, his gaze meeting Yhwach's below.
The sunlight shone on both their faces.
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