"Aiyaya?"

The little creature awoke as if from a dream, turning its flower bud with some confusion, only to immediately leap up, startled by the terrifying force rushing into its Spiritual Aperture. Threads of its Life Medicine surged out, instantly extending like vines throughout Nie Kong’s entire body—his four limbs and hundred bones. "Aiyaya, aiyaya..."

Anxious chirps rose and fell in succession.

"Return to Simplicity?"

In an instant, Nie Kong understood the meaning behind the little creature's words and couldn't help but freeze. This was a skill the little creature had comprehended just after advancing to the Eighth Tier. In the past life’s Demon & Fiend game, it was an auxiliary skill exclusive to Apothecaries, and its effect was immensely powerful.

In Demon & Fiend, there was a boss second only to the 'Purple Phantom Spirit Incense'—the 'Snow Domain Demon King.' Once its health dropped below thirty percent, it would unleash a group skill called 'Blizzard Collapse,' causing players to lose health continuously for one minute.

That was the light side; more severely, it would send players into a frenzy, causing them to run around aimlessly like headless flies for thirty seconds. Negative statuses like this could not be resolved by other auxiliary skills of an Apothecary; only the Eighth-Tier skill, 'Return to Simplicity,' possessed by high-level Apothecaries, could completely dispel it.

When previously considering ways to resolve his current condition, Nie Kong had thought of this skill, but it was merely a fleeting thought, not deeply considered.

After all, he had no idea when the little creature would awaken!

Furthermore, previous skills sometimes underwent alterations after the little creature comprehended them, making whether they retained their original effects an unknown factor. Most importantly, he had assumed that even if the little creature awakened, it would only be at the Seventh Tier, whereas 'Return to Simplicity' was an Eighth-Tier skill for an Apothecary.

What Nie Kong hadn't expected was that after absorbing the medicinal power of the Dragon Taming Grass, the little creature could advance two tiers consecutively, and 'Return to Simplicity' was not lost.

This outcome was due to both luck and past efforts.

If Nie Kong hadn't entered Dragon Island and found the Dragon Taming Grass in the Dragon Temple passage for the little creature to absorb, it wouldn't have advanced to the Eighth Tier, and without reaching the Eighth Tier, a skill like 'Return to Simplicity' would naturally not exist. Even if Xiangxiang had awakened, it likely couldn't have resolved his current anomaly.

Time was pressing, and Nie Kong could not afford to dwell on his good fortune. He mused inwardly, "Though the natural flow cannot be moved, the power of Taiyan is surging and colliding within my body, much like a frenzy state, and the 'Return to Simplicity' that Xiangxiang comprehended guides one back to their essential nature."

"Perhaps this skill truly is effective!"

With that thought, Nie Kong painstakingly mobilized a speck of 'Spiritual Treasure Essence' from the corner of his Spiritual Aperture and merged it into the little creature’s body. During this period, Nie Kong had constantly sought methods and attempted to see if he could reactivate his Spiritual Aperture and the Nine Nether Stars; this speck of Spiritual Treasure Essence was the result of those efforts.

The vast majority of the Spiritual Treasure Essence within his body had been aggressively pushed aside by Taiyan's power, but this particular speck was fortunate enough to be compressed between a pair of small apertures; otherwise, mobilizing it would have been impossible. Nie Kong had thought he might never get a chance to use them, yet they proved useful so quickly.

"Aiyaya."

Stimulated by the Spiritual Treasure Essence, the little creature cried out happily.

In the next instant, the Life Medicine power the little creature had extended into Nie Kong’s body began to spin rapidly. Emerald green vortices formed one after another within Nie Kong. In the blink of an eye, their number reached several hundreds, and a wondrous power spiraled out from these vortices.

Influenced by the power of the vortices, Nie Kong’s Spiritual Treasure Essence quickly began to stir. First around the Spiritual Aperture, then through the meridians...

Finally, even the divine power within the Nether Stars began to ripple slightly.

Several minutes later, when the emerald green vortices dissipated, the condition inside Nie Kong’s body grew even stranger. Taiyan's power still poured in and flowed out ceaselessly, but his own Spiritual Treasure Essence and divine power were no longer being excluded or compressed. Instead, they flowed in fine threads through the apertures, meridians, and Nether Stars.

However, the speed was significantly slower compared to before.

With a flicker of Nie Kong's will, the forty-one Spiritual Apertures and Nine Nether Stars, which had been stagnant for so long, trembled and flickered almost simultaneously. The 'Yin-Yang Spirit Devouring Art' and the 'War God Star Imprint' actually activated together. This development thrilled Nie Kong. He hadn't expected 'Return to Simplicity' to completely restore his body to its original state in one go, as the power of Taiyan was too overwhelming.

To manage to restore the natural circulation of his Spiritual Treasure Essence and divine power as they were now was already an unexpected delight for Nie Kong. As long as the 'Yin-Yang Spirit Devouring Art' and the 'War God Star Imprint' could circulate, it offered a rare opportunity to break free from this cyclical state.

"Aiyaya..."

Suddenly, the little creature's cry rang out again.

"Fusion?"

Understanding Xiangxiang's meaning, Nie Kong paused before suppressing a wry smile.

The little creature seemed a bit too fanciful. Fusing with Taiyan's power—how could that be possible? Although his 'Spiritual Treasure Essence' possessed the strength of the Second Grade of Spirit Illumination, compared to Taiyan's terrifying might, it was the difference between the earth and the heavens, utterly incomparable.

Yet, after laughing it off, Nie Kong couldn't help but ponder.

The Great Yan Spirit Venerable cultivated by absorbing the death aura of the Nether Soil to achieve divinity. To transform her main body and avatar, she transferred the majority of her power into Taiyan. Although Taiyan was a Spirit God Herb Spirit, it only possessed power equivalent to a Spirit God, not the true divinity of the Great Yan Spirit Venerable.

Therefore, Taiyan's current power was not pure divine power but rather the power of the Dark Origin. His Spiritual Treasure Essence was formed by wood spirit power absorbing a bit of fire spirit elements, which then condensed vitality and death aura. Death aura was the ultimate extreme power of dark spiritual energy.

One step further beyond extreme power was Origin Power.

Heaven and Earth were naturally composed of life and death; his Spiritual Treasure Essence also gathered the two paths of life and death, making it a power closest to the origin of natural heaven and earth. However, strictly speaking, Spiritual Treasure Essence was not yet Origin Power; there was a vast difference from true Origin Power. If it were the little creature's Life Medicine power, perhaps it truly could fuse with Taiyan's Dark Origin Power, allowing his Spiritual Treasure Essence to become a complete Origin Power.

But as the thought crossed his mind, Nie Kong hesitated again.

What if he truly absorbed Taiyan's Dark Origin Power? Wouldn't the creature be left completely defenseless? If it were only that, it would be acceptable, but what if losing this power caused her strength to regress, making it impossible for her to take human form again, or perhaps causing the entire 'Looking Back Grass' to wither? That would be a massive problem!