It was late at night, and an aura of death spread across the silent Violet Forest.

Crack!

My blade sliced all the way through Violet Undead Knight’s spear, skull, and shoulder in an instant.

A beam of golden light shrouded me as I leveled up to 47. As usual, the experience gained for killing monsters that were many levels above me was incredible. Since I was alone, all of that bonus experience was mine. On top of that, my new passive skill, Awakening, increased my XP gain even further.

My body convulsed as if new flesh had grown around my bones. I put down my hood and checked out my own reflection using a pool of spring water. My flesh had basically regrown in full, and my face no longer looked as scary as it used to. However, my complexion was still incredibly pale.

Ding~!

System Notice: You have ascended to a new rank, Bone General!

……

Good. If I had any doubts as to whether I had truly ascended to a new rank before, the system notice made it all too clear. I had reached the apex of Bone Creatures. The next step was to become the legendary Asura!

Asuras had complete bodies of flesh, so I would finally be able to take off my hood and show my face to the world.

I continued to fight my way through the forest, killing all high-level Violet Undead Knights I encountered.

Crack crack!

I froze my enemy with Ice Ray before following up with a Slayer Slash. Two damage numbers rose from the knight’s head.

874!

901!

Another basic attack from me and my Dark Wasp respectively, and the Level 55 mob was killed in less than 3 seconds!

I couldn’t help but smile as I stared at the Ghost Ice Soul. This Gold-grade sword was seriously amazing. It was basically a must-have, be it for PvE or PvP!

I continued to grind away until it was past 9 am. I had leveled up again and reached 49 during this time, meaning that I was one step away from returning to Level 50! This leveling speed was absolutely insane!

It was at this moment I received a message.

Beep!

It was from Murong Mingyue. “Are you there, Sinks Into Sand?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I want to thank you for everything you did this morning…”

“You’re welcome.”

Murong Mingyue paused for a moment before replying, “Eve is very sad. She still thinks that you’re him. Tell me, are you really not him?”

“Mingyue, I…”

“Please don’t tell me you’re not Lu Chen because I’m never going to believe that in a million years. There’s no one in the world besides that dumb boy who would fight that hard for He Yi. You’re also the only one who could make He Yi drive all night without sleep just to search for you…”

“...”

This time, Murong Mingyue called me directly and smiled at me. “Alright, you’ve finally admitted it, haven’t you?”

I kept quiet for a moment before asking, “Has… has He Yi returned yet?”

“She did just now.”

“Sister Mingyue, please don’t tell the boss about me yet. Let’s meet up. I’ll wait for you at Silver Fir Cafe, it’s on the opposite side of Suzhou University of Science and Technology.”

“Alright, I’ll log off right now!”

“See you in 20 minutes!”

“Okay!”

Murong Mingyue was clearly excited to confirm that I was still alive. It could only be good news to He Yi.

I took off my helmet, brushed my teeth and went outdoors. It was a hot summer day, but I put on a black coat and wore a hat to keep my head fully hidden from the sunlight. I then walked across the streets quickly before entering Silver Fir Cafe.

A couple of minutes later, a red A8 stopped by the road next to the cafe. Murong Mingyue in her uniform walked out of the car and burst into Silver Fir Cafe while still holding her car keys.

It took her only a glance to spot me sitting at the corner.

“It’s really you!”

Murong Mingyue walked up to me excitedly and hugged my shoulders, smiling. “I’m so, so glad. Thank goodness you’re fine, Lu Chen!”

Embarrassed by her reaction, I pushed her away gently before saying, “What do you want to drink, sis? It’s my treat.” My nose was assaulted by the scent of her perfume.

“A cup of coffee, please.”

“Mn.”

I ordered two cups of coffee as she sat down on the opposite side of me. This was the first time I saw Murong Mingyue up close, and I had to admit she was an excellent beauty in her own right. Her face looked like polished jade, and her skin looked smooth and white. Her eyes glowed with spirit, and her extraordinarily huge breasts looked like they would burst out of her white blouse at any moment. She truly deserved her title as the number one priest of Heavenblessed.

“So, how have you been, Lu Chen?”

Murong Mingyue asked with a smile while stirring her coffee with a spoon.

I shook my head and said in a somewhat bitter tone, “It’s… been a passable month, I guess.”

“Why do you say that?” Murong Mingyue was a bit surprised by my reaction. “You’re number two on the Heavenly Ranking, and there’s no one in Floating Ice City who doesn’t know your name. If this is just ‘passable’, then what should the rest of us do, die in shame like the noobs we are?”

I couldn’t laugh at her joke, however. I said quietly, “Sister… do you know why I didn’t let boss know that I’m still alive?”

“Why?”

Murong Mingyue stared at me in astonishment.

“Do you remember the first and last time I went out with boss? That time someone tried to murder her?”

“Of course!”

Murong Mingyue nodded and cleared things up for me. “GGS is a huge international corporation, and Eve was appointed as the Asia Region Vice President. The president of GGS passed away not long ago due to old age, and a replacement was going to be chosen among the three vice presidents. However… the vice president at Shanghai got greedy and tried to have Eve murdered. He’s in prison now, naturally. Oh right, you were hurt during that murder attempt, weren’t you? What happened to you after that?”

I gave her a painful smile and said, “I wasn’t just hurt that day. I died.”

“Died?”

Murong Mingyue was caught off-guard by my reply, but she quickly giggled and said, “What are you talking about? If you are dead, who am I talking to? Please don’t make fun of me!”

“It’s true,” I said in a calm and indifferent tone. “Can you please sit next to me?”

“Huh? Sure…”

Murong Mingyue looked a bit confused, but she still got up and sat next to me.

I took off my hat and pulled up the sleeves of my coat. These damnable patches of discolored skin reared their head again because I hadn’t been exposed to the sun these last couple of days!

Murong Mingyue was an experienced and knowledgeable woman, so she immediately recognized what the discoloration was and fell silent. She couldn’t say anything for a very long time.

After collecting herself, she muttered, “What is going on, Lu Chen?”

I leaned back against the sofa and said indifferently, “I was asleep—dead—under the soil for a whole day and night that day. Some time later after I woke up, I discovered that my body was starting to develop hypostasis. All the signs pointed toward me being dead, but after an examination it was discovered from a blood sample that an incredibly complicated virus had somehow gotten inside of me. Amazingly, it has the ability to revive a person’s dead cells continuously. It is the only reason I’m still alive right now, but… I have no idea how long this situation will continue. I don’t know when I’ll die for real.”

Murong Mingyue clenched her fists together and felt herself tearing up when she heard this. She murmured again, “What… what should we do? Lu Chen, come back with me! Eve will find a way to treat you!”

I asked, “How? I’ll die if the virus is eliminated.”

“But… but you being all alone out there is just… Eve and I will not…”

Murong Mingyue clamped a hand over her mouth and shed tears of sorrow. “We won’t allow you to die alone no matter what.”

I smiled. “I’m not alone, really. I have two amazing brothers, and I have friends like Wind Fantasy.”

“Then why won’t you return to Eve’s side?” Murong Mingyue looked at me hopefully.

I sucked in a deep breath before answering, “I don’t want her to be sad.”

“Are you serious?” Murong Mingyue abruptly rose to her feet. “Are we pretending she’s not already as sad as she could be? How will keeping this a secret remedy this?”

I stood up as well and replied to her firmly, “I’m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of making her stay with me and wait for death to overcome the both of us! That is a life neither He Yi nor I deserve to lead!”

Murong Mingyue shuddered all over as realization hit her. Finally acknowledging my stance, she nodded. “So… what are you planning to do in the future?”

I said, “I’m expecting some progress on the research of the virus in about a month or so. Once my condition stabilizes, I’ll seek out you and the boss myself. Is that fine?”

Murong Mingyue nodded again. “Alright. And what will you do before that?”

I said calmly, “I’ll fulfill my promise and help He Yi and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls rise to the top once more. I won’t rest until Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls become a Top 3 guild in Floating Ice City, at the very least!”

“Mn. Your body is going to be fine during this time, right?”

I nodded and gave her a smile. “Yeah. This virus is afraid of sunlight, so if I catch some sunlight every day I may even be able to live forever.”

Murong Mingyue broke into a laugh. “I can’t believe you’re joking at a time like this.”

“Hehe…”

I thought for a moment before sitting back down. “Sis, seriously. Promise me you won’t tell boss about this until the time is right, please?”

“I promise.”

“I’ll work from the shadows and help boost our guild to greater heights. You and Xu Yang need to work hard as well. The entire reason I built Bloody Mercenaries in the first place is to help Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, so I promise I will return one day. As for the rest, I’ll be counting on you and Xu Yang.”

“Mn, no problem.” Murong Mingyue smiled at me. “Eve gave me a half-a-year holiday, so my current focus is on Heavenblessed.”

“Oh right, where is Lian Xin?”

“I don’t know either. I heard she left the country some time ago, and I haven’t been able to contact her. I’m sure she’ll seek us out once she returns though.”

“Yeah.”

Murong Mingyue’s excitement finally got the better of her. “Doom and gloom aside, I’m really glad that you’re still alive. Eve will be overjoyed when she learns about this.”

I smiled. “Is that so?”

“It’s amazing you still have the heart to smile, you heartless little flirt,” Murong Mingyue said in an exasperated tone. “I’ve seen how sad Eve was after she lost you. I’m sure she’ll become the happiest woman in the world the day you show yourself to her!”

“Hehe, I will.”

“Alright, it’s a promise. And don’t you forget what you promised us earlier!”

Murong Mingyue suddenly stood up again and gave me a hug. She pressed her face to my chest and whispered, “You promised Eve you’ll walk with her, with all of us, to the very end… you’re not allowed to leave this early into our lives, you hear me…?”

I shivered and felt something in my nose. I couldn’t tell if it was sorrow or joy.