Next, she urgently needed to know exactly how her Master had cured her Heavenly Deficiency and the damage to her inner organ.
Yet the diary entries that followed across the next ten years never mentioned the matter again.
The records ended with that ultra-large-scale expedition that had taken place while she lay unconscious, an event later entered into the Xianzhou annals.
Historically it became known as the Atedlan Ring Belt campaign.
The campaign had lasted a full thirty-two years, the longest in Xianzhou history.
Tomomu Kanzaki's diary also came to an abrupt halt on the eve of his departure for the Atedlan Ring Belt.
Jingliu pondered carefully and arrived at a certain possibility.
Everything that had occurred during that campaign was not only highly likely to be connected to Xueyi and Hanya activating the Self-Actualization Aspect, but also closely linked to the eventual curing of her Heavenly Deficiency and inner organ.
Jingliu drew a deep breath and turned her gaze toward the final Jade Sign.
Unsurprisingly, the answer waited there.
The familiar furnishings of the Alchemy Commission came into view.
This was the first time Jingliu had seen herself lying unconscious on a hospital bed from such a perspective.
Master stood clad in armor, a simple bouquet of flowers in his hand.
He replaced the withered branches in the vase, long fingers gently brushing across her loose, long hair.
"I do not know how many years this journey will take, but Master will return alive to cure you. Master promises you—I will never break my word."
The unprecedented gentleness in his voice and the softness in his eyes caused Jingliu's emotions to surge.
It turned out that everything she had once envied in her seniors, she too had possessed.
It was only that Master's tenderness toward her had always been hidden so deeply that not a single trace of it had ever been revealed.
After making the promise and saying his goodbyes, Master set out on the journey together with Xueyi and the others.
The scene shifted, and the sight made Jingliu's pupils contract sharply.
A borisin the size of a mountain was chewing on the flesh and blood of Cloud Knights. In the pool of blood at its feet lay Xueyi and Hanya, clinging to their last breaths.
Only half of their bodies remained, and their internal organs were scattered across the ground.
In the next second the borisin was struck down by Master, whose eyes gleamed with fierce light. Its life energy, together with every last fragment of the blessings of Abundance it carried, was completely plundered by him.
Then the recording showed the process of Master saving the Xueyi sisters.
Hearing the final words spoken by Xueyi and Hanya, Jingliu at last understood that their deep bond with Master had taken root during this very campaign.
It had not been merely an awakening of emotion, but an intertwining of stances and fates.
The three of them had become an inseparable community of destiny, touching the forbidden in order to activate the Self-Actualization Aspect and embark upon a thousand-year-long road of plundering the power of Abundance… She had not been the only disciple willing to give everything for Master.
Had Master refused to face his feelings and accept her simply because he did not wish to drag her into the forbidden?
Jingliu could not help thinking this way once again.
Yet on second thought, she felt the reason might not be so superficial.
Continuing to watch, she learned that Master had secretly kept the Abundance scourge obtained from Ussa and had even replaced his own heart with it… It must have left some form of aftereffect, though one that could still be suppressed.
Looking at Master's expression, he did not seem to care much.
Then came the campaign that lasted for decades.
Up until this point the specific method and process for curing her Heavenly Deficiency and inner organ had still not appeared, and she could not yet see how it related to that war.
Finally, on the second day after the forces of the Hunt returned in triumph, Master took her away from the Xianzhou to a world under IPC jurisdiction, under the pretext of seeking a Divine Doctor to treat her illness.
There was no Divine Doctor there at all.
Or rather, the Divine Doctor was Tomomu Kanzaki himself.
In a secret medical room with only the four of them present, the treatment officially began.
Jingliu finally understood why Master had insisted on finishing that thirty-plus-year war before beginning the treatment of her Heavenly Deficiency and inner organ.
—He had been purifying and transforming the plundered blessings of Abundance through a method she could not comprehend, then infusing that power into her inner organ.
As the saying went, one supplements wherever there is deficiency; this was exactly that principle.
Just as Jingliu thought everything would proceed smoothly, an unexpected turn arrived.
"How can this be…?"
Taking in the complex data reflected on the instruments, Tomomu Kanzaki's expression grew extremely unsightly.
This was the first time Jingliu had ever seen him make such a face.
Surprise, confusion, and a dazed blankness, along with a very clear fear.
He was afraid.
Afraid he could not cure her. Afraid of breaking his promise.
Master had said he would definitely cure her.
"What's wrong, Lord Kanzaki?" Hanya asked at once.
"Her inner organ cannot absorb any external power of Abundance. This is inconsistent with the characteristics of the blessings of Abundance," Tomomu Kanzaki explained in a heavy voice.
Both sisters were shocked.
"What if it is unpurified power of Abundance?"
"No. Purification is only a general term. Calling it 'adaptive modification' would be more accurate—similar to blood-type matching or the criteria used for organ transplants among short-life species."
Tomomu Kanzaki slowly shook his head, brow furrowed tightly.
"I have already memorized the fluctuation frequency of the imaginary energy within Jingliu's inner organ, and the sequence coding is aligned correctly, yet the result…"
"The Primus Immortus hinted that I would have a way and the confidence to cure her, but now…"
"Could it be that this path was unfeasible from the very beginning?"
At the thought of the unacceptable and terrible consequences, Tomomu Kanzaki's spirit fluctuated violently, actually triggering the onset of mara.
The abnormalities appearing on the surface of his skin were something no Xianzhou native could mistake.
"Calm down… calm down…"
Tomomu Kanzaki threw a punch that blew off half of his own head, forcibly inhibiting his regenerative power so that it would not recover immediately, using the intense pain to suppress the surging emotions.
Jingliu saw this, and her heart ached for him.
She could not bear to watch Master endure decades of bloody battle for her sake, only to then exhaust every effort in search of the one true path.
When she had awakened a thousand years ago she had been unable to stop herself from asking. At that time her liar of a Master had claimed he had found an ancient prescription that could cure her.
Even then her intuition had told her it was not that simple.
Looking at it now, the truth was exactly so. The journey had been filled with countless thorns.
"Liar… just how much of the truth are you still hiding from your disciple…"
More than ten minutes passed before Tomomu Kanzaki managed to calm himself, suppressing the symptoms that had nearly erupted because of his emotional turmoil.
The Self-Actualization Aspect could plunder the power of Abundance in order to avoid the troubles of mara, yet Master wanted to use that very plundered power to save her.
To save her, Master had been willing to endure the pain of mara for many years… The guilt in Jingliu's heart grew deeper and deeper.
At that time, how easy and simple had her life been?
Aside from chasing after Master's back, following in his footsteps, and longing for his recognition and tenderness, she had almost never needed to worry about anything.
So many daily troubles had never found her. Why?
It was because Master had silently shouldered so much, while she remained completely oblivious.
It was not that Master had hidden it well. If she had been attentive, how could she have failed to notice a single clue?
It was clearly that mindset of wanting to gain Master's recognition and love at work—only ever wanting to see what she wished to see—that had caused her to ignore so many details.
She had kept saying she loved Master, yet in reality her feelings for Master had been nothing more than morbid possessiveness!
Realizing all of this, Jingliu's eyes quickly grew moist, and her vision blurred.
What kind of… terrible mistake had she made?