[You turn back and see the bones of the martial elder being dropped in the pond by the branches of the harvest tree. A moment later, the branches retract to their original position and the tree grows still.]

Lem’s simulated self tore his gaze away and kept on moving through the trees. Even if the harvest tree had not threatened him, it did not mean that he was comfortable around it.

As he put more distance between him and the water lilies, he could feel the ambient spirituality diminishing. Lem’s simulated self was in too much pain to be influenced by it, but he still paid attention.

As far as he knew, the invisible barrier only protected places where he could still feel the spiritual energy.

Once he was beginning to feel the spirituality drop precipitously, Lem’s simulated self fell to the ground. He cried out involuntarily as his burnt skin touched the ground.

The spiritual energy was still significantly higher than it was on the fringe, but it was far from the saturation that was present close to the pond. He had not moved further because he knew that the spiritual energy had healing properties that he did not want to forgo completely.

Lem’s simulated self closed his eyes, grimacing at the slightest movements of his body.

Now that he was no longer concerned with his safety, the pain felt like it magnified. At the same time, wherever he looked there was either burnt clothing or black and red flakes of skin.

[You keep traveling through the forest, wanting to put distance between you and the harvest tree. You stop before you pass the invisible barrier and drop to the ground, feeling tremendous pain due to your full-body burns.]

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Lem was amazed. His condition was truly ludicrous.

He was not someone who was concerned with aesthetics. His attention was on survival, so how could he care about slight differences in facial symmetry!

Still, he could not help but feel a morbid curiosity as he wondered how badly his simulated self had been mutilated.

What did his face now look like?

If children saw him, would they shriek and run away?

What about their parents? Would they even have the ability to hold their nerves when they saw his appearance?

Lem’s mind went to the final blow of the martial elder.

He was sure that the only reason he had survived was because Master Brightflame had been at the end of his tether.

If he had been hit by any of the attacks that had been used on the harvest tree, he would have been vaporized in an instant.

When he recalled the harvest tree’s attitude towards him, it made him wonder. Had Master Brightflame actually saved him by trying to kill him?

The mystery was why the harvest tree had not attacked him in the first place.

One possible explanation was that it only attacked those who tried to steal the water lily.

Another was that he was too weak to be regarded as a threat.

But there was a third theory that Lem thought was highly probable. The harvest tree had not perceived Master Brightflame and his simulated self as being together.

He and the martial elder had arrived at the same time, so it would be natural to treat them both as invaders who wanted to steal the spiritual lily.

What could have stopped the harvest tree from making this assumption?

The answer was obvious. The martial elder had tried to kill Lem’s simulated self in his last moments!

In doing so, it was possible that he had saved the life of Lem’s simulated self. He had drawn a line between the two of them in front of the harvest tree.

If this was the case, then it would demonstrate just how much luck his current simulated self had.

Even a killing blow from a Martial Master had become a saving grace!