Though Jin Shu tensed for an epic fight, the goddess clearly had no intention of dragging things out. With a slow, almost lazy motion, she lifted her hand, forming a claw-like grip, and aimed her palm at Chou Hundan. A beam of green light shot from the center of her palm, piercing straight into his heart. His aura, which had just surged to the 3rd stage Adept realm, immediately began to collapse. Within seconds he had fallen back to his original cultivation—and then plummeted even further before he could mount any resistance.

"W-what are you doing to meeee!?"

He lashed out in desperation, flinging razor-thin threads of qi, but they melted away like snow before an open flame, never even touching her. When he charged in, fists flying, she drifted aside as effortlessly as a leaf on the wind.

Nothing he did could harm her in the slightest. His frenzy only deepened, but so too did his despair, for his cultivation wasn't the only thing slipping away—his very life was being drained.

Chou Hundan, once ugly but still faintly youthful, withered before their eyes. Within seconds he looked a decade older, and the years continued piling on.

By the time his cultivation crumbled to the Qi Realm, his body was that of a man near eighty. He collapsed to his knees, wheezing, too exhausted to even lift his arms.

"P-please, great goddess, forgive me!" he sobbed, snot and tears streaking his wrinkled face. "I'll repent! I swear it! Just… spare me!"

"A twisted soul like yours could never repent," Ziran Nushen replied coldly, her hand still draining him.

"You bitch! If you won't let me live, then you'll die with me!"

With shaking hands he pulled a curved black dagger from his robes. A crimson sigil glowed upon the blade—a reverse cross, the mark of the demon cult. He drew it back and thrust toward his chest—

Bang!

A bloody hole burst through his temple, spraying red and pink across the grass. The dagger clattered to the ground, followed by his limp body.

Ziran Nushen tilted her head curiously at Jin Shu as he handed Li Xue back her Glock. Feeling her gaze, he turned toward her.

"Sorry to cut in," he said with a small shrug. "But in stories, whenever you let the villain pull something desperate, it usually ends badly. And sometimes, it costs a hero their life."

Her lips curved into a smile, though she said nothing. Jin Shu scratched his cheek awkwardly.

She descended slowly, drifting across the grass without bending a single blade, until she stood close before him.

"I couldn't see it back then—before my ascension—but you are quite the interesting young man," she said, tilting her head as she studied him. "You carry not just one life, but five within you. And the future… mm, I look forward to that day. For now, take this as a reward for saving my people."

She leaned in. Jin Shu tried to back away, but his body refused to move. Before he could grasp why, her lips pressed against his. A strange energy surged through him, spreading from her mouth into every vein and muscle. It wasn't sinister—it was warm, invigorating, filling him with a vitality he hadn't realized he lacked.

When she drew back, her eyes lingered on him with a look he couldn't quite decipher.

"When we meet again, I'll give you something better than a kiss." She winked, and turned away.

"Are you not Biyu?" Li Xue asked, stopping in front of the woman. "Does that mean Jin Shu just kissed another woman? Or not, because you are Biyu?"

"I am possessing her body," Ziran Nushen said with a gentle smile. "So you could say I am both her and not her at the same time."

Li Xue tilted her head, confused. Ziran Nushen made no effort to explain; she moved past her, her body briefly glowing before she vanished and then reappeared miles away, hovering above the forest where the ancient treant had disappeared. She reached out a finger and let a drop of green liquid fall into the river below.

The drop vanished into the water. Seconds later the river shuddered; a giant arm burst forth, followed by the rest of the ancient titan, whole once more.

"Greetings, goddess." The treant cupped his fists and bowed. "Thank you for this gift of life."

"Greetings, goddess," the other treants echoed, kowtowing as they followed his lead.

Ziran Nushen waved them away, then appeared above the broodqueen—still wrapped in a cocoon of vibrant green energy. She waved her hand and the energy dissipated.

Jin Shu blinked. The creature that emerged was no longer a colossal, grotesque spider but a comparatively tiny, hand-sized, snow-white spider with red streaks down its legs.

"Thank you for enlightening this lowly one, goddess," the spider said in the voice of a young woman. "If not for your mercy, I would still be enslaved to that man and to my demonic nature."

"You need not thank me. But you can do me a favor."

"Anything!"

"Bond with this body's owner. She needs a guardian—the wood spirits here cannot leave the forest."

The spider hesitated. "She is your host?"

"For now," Ziran Nushen answered. "It doesn't have to be immediate. Travel with her for a while. See if you two can get along."

The spider nodded. "I can do that."

Jin Shu turned away from them and focused on the two small, frightened girls.

"Daddy, I was so scared. I thought everyone was going to die!"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Jin Shu gave Ji Ji a puzzled look. "Why are you calling me daddy? Last I checked I wasn't your dad…"

"Because that's what Yin'er calls you, even though you're not really her father. It makes me feel better."

"I am her father," he said, shaking his head with a half-sigh. "But fine—do what you want."

He wasn't going to argue with a scared child over semantics. Even if he hadn't sired Yin'er, he'd accepted the role: she was his daughter.

"How about you?" he asked Yin'er. "Are you holding up all right?"

"I'm okay." She nodded, but her ears drooped. "I just wish I were stronger so I could have saved Daddy…"

"I don't need you to save me," Jin Shu said gently. "I just need you safe and unharmed. So no more diving into danger, okay?"

Yin'er looked away with a small pout.

"Okay?" he pressed.

"...Okay," she mumbled, lacking conviction.

He rubbed her head, softening his tone. "Still, you did well. I'm proud of you."

Her pout dissolved, replaced by a radiant smile.

"Daddy Jin Shu, look, look!" Ji Ji squawked.

He turned to see her hopping on one foot, holding the other aloft and gawking at a talon. For a moment he was confused—until he noticed the claw gleaming gold in contrast to her other black talons.

"Oh… your bloodline is awakening."

"Ahaha! I'm a golden roc now!" she crowed, dancing on her single foot before tripping and rolling across the dirt, covering herself in dust.

Jin Shu shook his head—half relieved, half exasperated. At least she wasn't scared anymore, though her endless energy was another trial in itself.

With the chaos finally settled and no immediate threats looming, he allowed himself a moment to breathe and take stock of everything that had happened.

First, the spider assault at the hot spring. At the time, he had cursed his luck and believed he'd brought catastrophe upon them by killing the broodmother. But in truth, the swarm had been driven by a demon worshipper, using the spiders to collect living sacrifices. His actions—slaying the broodmother and gathering everyone into a single defensive position—might well have been what saved them. Without that, they would have been scattered, and Biyu never would have met the dryad queen, dooming both the disciples and the treants.

The guilt over the disciples' deaths still weighed on him, but now he recognized he had saved many more lives than were lost. That knowledge didn't erase the sting, but Gold's memories gave him the perspective to endure it. Guilt, he knew, never disappeared—it only dulled, little by little, the more lives he managed to save.

His thoughts drifted to the railgun and his peculiar lightning element. Together they were devastating — and volatile. In his storage space a half-melted, blackened railgun floated in the outer space-like void.

"We'll need to rework the design. It'll need metals that handle electricity better," he told himself.

"Rather, I believe your heavenly lightning is too strong for any common metal," Nano suggested. "It may be better to rely on lightning runes, and use your element only when absolutely necessary."

"You're probably right…" Jin Shu sighed, then forced his mind toward the thing he'd been avoiding: Biyu's change. What had happened to her during the spider swarm? Had she become some sort of nature goddess — and if so, was she still Biyu? The uncertainty churned his gut.

He scanned the crowd but couldn't find her, until a voice spoke from behind.

"Looking for me?"

He recognized the tone as Biyu's — but whether it was her or the goddess still occupying her body, he couldn't tell.

Slowly he turned. Her form had returned to normal: no visible fusion with the dryad queen, and she was clothed again. He wanted to believe she was Biyu, but hope tightened and then slipped away.

"Biyu…?"

"Call me goddess."

His face darkened. He'd let himself hope, then been slapped down.

"Pfft!" She covered her mouth and began to giggle.

His mood sank further. He'd been furious but had nowhere safe to put that anger. Even if she wasn't entirely herself, she occupied Biyu's body and radiated power far beyond his. The aura she'd shown in the brief fight had reminded him of his aunt's — a sealed immortal, he suspected.

"What do you need from me, goddess?" he spat.

She doubled over, laughing.

He saw nothing funny.

"She's no longer the goddess…"

Jin Shu searched for the voice and finally spotted the little white-and-red spider waving a leg. In another leg it held something tiny and metallic — his railgun dart, shrunk to a tenth of its original size.

"This is my spirit weapon," the spider announced proudly, displaying the miniature dart.

Jin Shu blinked, bewildered that his ammunition had become a beast's spirit weapon. But there were bigger questions.

"Biyu?" he asked again.

She looked up, smiling. "Yeah? Who else would I be?"

"Well… I thought—" He stopped; she was teasing him. "I'm glad you're back."

Her smile softened. "I never left. Even while Nushen used my body, I was still here."

"What happened? Are you a goddess now or…?"

"Or something." She paused, then waved someone over.

Tian Li, Li Xue, and the others were already converging. Beyond them, the two little ones danced while Ji Ji sang on about being a golden roc.

"I'll explain when everyone's here," Biyu said. "Otherwise I'll be explaining all day."