---o---
Let's turn back the clock a few minutes, to the Scalegorge Waterscape—
The Flame of Hope within the lantern swept away all obstacles on the path to the Ambrosial Arbor. The minions of [Destruction] and the Abominations of Abundance from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were all reduced to ashes in the brilliant golden blaze, completely and utterly unable to wreak havoc in the ruins of the Vidyadhara palace ever again.
Ron arrived before the Ambrosial Arbor with Herta and Bailu. However, Bailu, who had already been terrified by the horrifying sight of the Antimatter Legion and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus slaughtering the Pearl-Guardians, was now even more dazed and disoriented after witnessing Ron's method of summoning a golden conflagration to burn away all evil.
She followed Ron to the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor, the power and influence of [The Abundance] gradually seeping into her very marrow... Bailu, who had been reincarnated from the power of [The Abundance] and the bones of a Foxian into a malevolent dragon, was extremely sensitive to [The Abundance]. She was already shaken by the events that had just transpired, and now, acting as a relay to channel the Flame of Hope and ignite the seal on the Ambrosial Arbor throughout the entire Scalegorge Waterscape, she had taken on a power she was never meant to bear. Her body was somewhat overdrawn.
Although Ron had ignited a sliver of the Flame of Hope for her, opening a door to the Path of [Salvation], and perhaps one day Bailu would benefit from it and walk the Path of [Salvation], it did nothing to change her current state of profound weakness.
Thus, the closer she got to the Ambrosial Arbor's main root, the more dazed her mind became. In the end, she couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed into unconsciousness.
Ron, with his quick reflexes, caught the falling Bailu. He saw that her face was flushed and her expression was somewhat troubled, as if she were seeing something terrifying. But no matter how he looked at it, she just seemed to be having a nightmare...
The power of [The Abundance] radiated from the Arbor's main root, naturally permeating all living beings in the vicinity... Bailu was now basking in the Arbor's influence, sleeping soundly and snoring softly.
Seeing that Bailu had only fallen asleep due to extreme exhaustion, Ron felt relieved. He carefully laid her down to the side to rest, then proceeded to inspect the Ambrosial Arbor, where he discovered Phantylia's mark.
And that brings us to the present...
[You have successfully reached the deepest part of the Scalegorge Waterscape and have seen the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor, which stretches between heaven and earth as if it were the end of this world.]
[Its gnarled roots are anchored in the endless abyss. The Boling, the Ancient Sea of the Scalegorge Waterscape, suppresses the Ambrosial Arbor, yet it has never been able to restrain the spread of its root system—]
[The roots of the Ambrosial Arbor have already spread throughout the entire Xianzhou [Luofu]. The foundational framework of this starship, which is actually the size of an entire star system folded through spatial compression technology, has for the most part completely fused with the Arbor... The Xianzhou [Luofu] cannot leave the Ambrosial Arbor, nor can it be separated from it.]
[You have glimpsed the faint purple-black sigil upon it. It is identical to the sigil you saw at the terminus of a branch on the Path of [Destruction]...]
[You know that this signifies the encroachment of [Lord Ravager Phantylia]. This is the sigil she left behind—she is not here at this moment, but is hiding in the shadows of the Xianzhou. This, however, is your best opportunity.]
[Facing the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor, a curious idea springs to life in the depths of your mind—]
[This Ambrosial Arbor... can it be transformed from decay into a miracle, for your use?]
[Think carefully. You must make a choice—]
The text on the light screen faded, and a new option box materialized:
[Please Choose—]
[1. (The Abundance) "The Plagues Author is merciful, the Ambrosial Arbor shall revive! Hahaha, the era of the merciful Plagues Author has arrived!"]
[You can provide the power of [Salvation] to the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor. The resplendent golden hope will become the ultimate fertilizer for the Arbor, allowing it to grow to unimaginable heights...]
[Perhaps you can try to control this Ambrosial Arbor that has devoured the flame of [Salvation], and attempt to walk the Path of [The Abundance]—]
[In accordance with the attitude of the Plagues Author of [The Abundance] towards you, you will be rewarded for your actions accordingly.]
[2. (The Destruction) "What Ambrosial Arbor? Isn't this just a giant matchstick to light up the Xianzhou?"]
[You can offer the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor a scorching white holy light and a dark golden sacred flame. The blaze that consumes evil will follow the dragon-shaped burls down to the root system, spreading along the Arbor's gnarled roots throughout the entire ship, setting the Luofu completely ablaze and casting it into an endless sea of fire.]
[Perhaps you can attempt to use the complete immolation of the Xianzhou [Luofu] to earn a sideways glance from Nanook of [The Destruction], and attempt to walk the Path of [The Destruction]—]
[In accordance with the attitude of Nanook of [The Destruction] towards you, you will be rewarded for your actions accordingly.]
[3. (Salvation) "Good fuel. Into my lantern you go!"]
[The main root of the Ambrosial Arbor is a mighty blessing personally bestowed by the Plagues Author of [The Abundance]... While it may be far inferior to the boundless grace you received as the Vine-Dragon Emperor directly from the Plagues Author, it is undoubtedly among the most outstanding of the Plagues Author's blessings—]
[The amount of power contained within the main root of the Arbor is unimaginable. Even though it has now been completely severed, there is still an infinite amount of Imaginary Energy stored within it, and the power of [The Abundance] surges continuously...]
[This power and the branch-concept of [The Abundance] are precisely what you lack most right now—the fractured Lantern of [Salvation] lacks the conceptual Path to mend its foundational shell, and it also lacks sufficient Imaginary Energy to fuel the Flame of Hope.]
[You can ignite the concept of the Ambrosial Arbor, gathering its conceptual form as fuel for the Lantern of [Salvation].]
[Perhaps you can attempt to use the Ambrosial Arbor as fuel to reforge the Lantern of [Salvation], allowing it to restore its original form as much as possible—]
[Based on your degree of completion, you will have the chance to obtain a wondrous material of a different grade, which can be used to forge the "Blade" capable of piercing the veil of fate, completing the "Sharpening the Blade" phase of your plan.]
---o---
Looking at the options on the screen, Ron naturally wouldn't choose the first two. He immediately locked onto the third option.
This option perfectly aligned with his decision. It also made it clear that the Lantern of [Salvation], after being repaired by burning the Ambrosial Arbor, would possess the potential to become a wondrous material, sufficient to provide the foundation for Ron to create that "Blade" to pierce the veil of fate.
With this in mind, Ron unhesitatingly clicked the third option on the screen.
The option box on the light screen faded, and a new scene appeared.
Ron gently placed his palm on the gnarled trunk of the Ambrosial Arbor. Caressing the dragon-shaped burl, he could feel its subtle, life-like "breath"...
That was the power of [The Abundance].
The power of [The Abundance] permeated the Arbor's core, making it the perfect fuel for the Lantern of [Salvation].
After a moment of thought, Ron hesitated no longer. He opened the lid of the lantern in his hand, and a golden sacred flame poured out like a flowing liquid.
In the next instant, the resplendent golden sacred flame clung to the Arbor like a maggot in the bone, rapidly climbing and spreading along the complex root system of the Arbor's core, burning this Tree of Longevity that had grown on the Xianzhou [Luofu] for who knows how many thousands of years, the very tree that had brought long life to the entire Xianzhou Alliance and accompanied it through countless ages...
The power of [The Abundance] would not sit idly by. But the Plagues Author of [The Abundance] had roamed the sea of stars and bestowed who-knows-how-many blessings, and had always been too lazy to care about what happened to the things it had blessed.
Although the Ambrosial Arbor held a special significance within the Xianzhou Alliance, it was by no means anything particularly special. It was absolutely impossible for it to resist the burning of the Flame of Hope on its own.
And so—Ron witnessed the collapse of a concept.
The main root of the Ambrosial Arbor, as a small, insignificant sliver of a branch on the Path of [The Abundance], was now glowing with a brilliant golden light.
The portion of the concept of [The Abundance] left within the Arbor's core was like dry, rotten wood meeting a raging fire. At this moment, it was utterly ignited, burned clean.
The main root of the Arbor, originally full of life and looking like a true sleeping dragon that could awaken and soar into the sky at any moment, now lost most of its vitality. It became withered and listless. The majestic, imposing appearance of the dragon-shaped burl was gone, replaced by a look of decay and rot. It had completely contributed its concept and power.
And this portion of [The Abundance]'s concept, burned into a resplendent golden flame, a blaze far more intense than before, followed the gnarled root system back, returning to the now wide-open and completely empty lantern in Ron's hand—
In the next moment, the lantern in Ron's hand was flooded with a countless, sun-like warmth of brilliant gold. The damaged outer wall of the lantern was rapidly mending itself. Under the change of concept, the filth upon it was continuously washed away, and the cracks were repaired...
Finally, as the turbulent golden light within the lantern gradually calmed, the Lantern of [Salvation] in Ron's hand had transformed into a brand-new form. It no longer seemed to have a speck of dirt on it, nor was it like before, with its walls covered in cracks, looking like a piece of junk picked up from some garbage heap.
The Lantern of [Salvation] now burned with a bright, brilliant golden flame. Although it was far from being as bright as in the previous simulation, when Ron, as the Aeon of [Salvation], constructed the Path of [Salvation] by seizing the Path-concepts of several Aeons, it had nonetheless escaped its near-shattered state...
The current Lantern of [Salvation] was like an extremely weak, non-existent Aeon... It possessed its own unique Path-concept and had likewise carved out its own Path of [Salvation]. However, all of this was extremely weak; theoretically, it lacked the power to even open a Path.
But because of the Life Simulation Game, the Lantern of [Salvation] was not a relic of a Path yet to be opened, but a fragmented manifestation of the Path of [Salvation]—
Therefore, it had become a manifested state of a "complete Path"... like an extremely weak Aeon.
While the current Lantern of [Salvation] was far from possessing any Aeon-grade divinity, this was more than enough for Ron... The entire reason he wanted to burn the Ambrosial Arbor to repair the Lantern of [Salvation] was simply to push it to this level.
Now, the Lantern of [Salvation] possessed the status of an Aeon, an existence of the highest standing in this world. If the "Blade" forged from a material like this Lantern of [Salvation] still couldn't break the veil of fate of Terminus, the Finality, then Ron would be out of options.
After all, this was the best material he could obtain at the moment to complete his planned project in the Life Simulation Game. Even the Lantern of [Salvation] itself was an unexpected boon, something Ron had accidentally received from the sudden appearance of Herta...
Just as Ron was feeling satisfied with the repair of the Lantern of [Salvation], the image on the light screen faded, and new lines of text appeared—
[You have successfully burned the [Abundance] concept within the Ambrosial Arbor, using it to repair the already dilapidated Lantern of [Salvation].]
[The Lantern of [Salvation] in your hands has been completely transformed into a new form... Although it is still very weak, on a conceptual level, it is already equivalent to a complete Path—]
[You have obtained an "Aeon-grade" wondrous material. This is exactly what you wanted...]
[But just as you were filled with satisfaction and preparing to begin experiments on the Lantern of [Salvation], using it as the material for your planned project, "Sharpening the Blade," you saw a flash of faint purple within the lantern—]
[That is the sigil of [Lord Ravager Phantylia]... By completely burning the concept of the Ambrosial Arbor, you have successfully swept it up and absorbed it into the lantern...]
[Within it, you saw a fleeting fragment of memory.]
[That is... the memory of [Lord Ravager Phantylia].]