Year after year passed. After the passage of an innumerable amount of time, when the pill had matured and risen to prominence, it founded the Crow Divinity Tribe. Many more years passed. Eventually, the Greenwood Tree’s life began to waste away, and it died.
The medicinal pill could not accept that the tree had perished. It used its powers to transform its color, and every so often, it would sacrifice some of its own life force to feed the tree.
However… the tree truly had perished. Regardless of what was done, the only thing that could be brought back was something empty, lifelike though it might seem.
Even still… although the medicinal pill understood this, it refused to give up.
Meng Hao considered all of this for a long moment, and then let out a soft sigh. His hand dropped to his side as he stepped back a few paces. He clasped his hands and bowed deeply to the great tree and the Golden Crow.
He could see that the Golden Crow was currently growing weaker and weaker. Soon, its life force would be exhausted, and it would transform into dust on the wind. When that happened, the great tree would have nothing to support its empty but lifelike existence, and it too would transform into dust.
Perhaps both of them were simply waiting for that moment when they both turned into dust together, and could drift up into the empty sky.
Meng Hao looked at the Golden Crow and the great tree. He wasn’t sure why, but for some reason the look in the eyes of the Golden Crow reminded him of certain aspects of Grandmaster Pill Demon. The crow stood atop the great tree; Pill Demon stood on his short mountain. The crow gazed upon the tree; Pill Demon gazed upon the statue of Violet East.
It was a strange feeling that caused Meng Hao to stand there thoughtfully for a moment before sighing.
“Since I’m here, I might as well employ some of my power….” He lifted his right hand into the air and performed an incantation. Then, he took a deep breath and pointed at the tree.
“By my command as the Ninth Generation Demon Sealer, I bequeath you with Righteous Bestowal!” Immediately, a tremor ran through Meng Hao’s body, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. When it landed on the tree, a strange light began to glow in the Golden Crow’s eyes, and it stared at Meng Hao.
“Righteous Bestowal causes your path to become that of a Demon!
“Righteous Bestowal causes your Dao to become unceasing!
“Righteous Bestowal causes your spirit to return from emptiness to become a Demon!
“My approval represents the approval of the League of Demon Sealers…. This is Righteous Bestowal, a true blessing.”
Such was the true usage of Righteous Bestowal. After being enlightened regarding it, Meng Hao had never truly used its full power on any Demon. At the most, he had used only some of its bestowing power.
Righteous Bestowal was a type of approval. Any Demon of Heaven and Earth that received the approval of a Demon Sealer would be able to temporarily absorb some of the essence of the Ninth Mountain and Sea. Even if that Demon were dead, its soul would not disperse.
This Golden Crow had not done any favors for Meng Hao. However, its emotions and thoughts had stirred Meng Hao. They touched him in a way that made him believe that providing assistance with Righteous Bestowal… was the right thing to do.
After the power of Righteous Bestowal was manifested, Meng Hao took a deep breath. He looked at the great tree and the Golden Crow and then turned to leave. It was at this point that the Golden Crow suddenly emitted a sound. This was the first sound it had made since Meng Hao entered this place, a shrill cry.
This cry sounded something like the grating of metal against metal. Meng Hao looked back to see the Golden Crow shaking. As it shook, ghost images sprung up, and a golden light surged out. The light slammed into Meng Hao’s torso, transforming into a gold-colored brand.
It was a totem tattoo that was somewhat similar to his previous totem tattoo of the Greenwood Tree, an image of a Golden Crow. This was a Metal-type totem, which, if Meng Hao was lucky and could accomplish an Ancestral Awakening, might eventually turn into the ancient character for metal!
After sending out the totem, the Golden Crow seemed to have been weakened by at least half. Its body shook on the verge of collapse for a moment before it collected itself and then looked at Meng Hao.
Meng Hao opened his mouth to say something, although he wasn’t sure what. However, it was at this exact moment that, within this world of grayness, a boom echoed out from the mouth of the seventh volcano. Four figures suddenly became visible.
“Hahaha! We’re here!”