The crimson vine slowly flew to the Book of Rituals in Wang Si's hand. And then, it rested directly on his index finger.
Huan Xue immediately caught the sight of an abnormal black vein bulging on the second bone of Wang Si's index finger.
"It's really an imprint. There is a mark of a ritual passed to Grand Physician Wang Si," said Huan Xue and his crimson vine started to stretch towards the vein, until it covered all the old physician's fingers and hand.
The moment the vein wrapped around, the figure of the lady wearing a noble white dress turned around and stood straight. She extended her hand and her pointy nails poked the crimson vine. This angle gave Huan Xue and Wang Aija and good impression of her face.
"There is no doubt. That lady has similar face of the Empress of the Open Sea. But, she seemed to be in her spiritual form?" Huan Xue whispered while switching his attention to Wang Si and then to the lady back and forth.
"A cosmic elemental guardian?" said the lady in a very distant tone. It was as if she was speaking in a very far location even though her figure was just inside the room.
Huan Xue stood straight when he heard her. His hands almost trembled while he watched as the lady stared at him directly in the eyes.
"Which family do you belong to, guardian?" the lady asked again.
Even though she was just staring at the crimson vine inside Wang Si's room, Huan Xue could see her image staring at him on the scene that flashed on the floor.
Strangely, Wang Aija could not hear anything from the lady.
"Is the empress talking to Grand Physician, Master Huan Xue?" she somehow asked when she noticed that the lady had opened her mouth to speak. But, she could not listen to her sound.
"She is communicating with me," Huan Xue casually replied to Wang Aija. His green eyes flared and then his deep green aura slowly spread around his body.
"You can't hear me? Are you from the family guarding elemental inscriptions? It's the only celestial guardians that had no ability of hearing..." the lady asked again. Then, in this dark room, a white wisp started to emerge and turned into a weird character that Huan Xue could not decipher. She seemed to be asking the same question but now using an unknown text.
"It's from the Huan Territories. Our bloodline is not guardians of elemental inscriptions. Are you the spirit of the Empress of the Open Sea?" Huan Xue suddenly murmured. The volume of his voice was extremely low that even Wang Aija only heard incoherent noise on his side.
But, such a message was directly sent by the crimson vine inside the room of Wang Si. He did not need to speak his words clearly. His tone was enough for the lady to hear his words.
The lady tilted her head and seemed to be in deep thought after receiving Huan Xue's message. She retracted her hand and stopped examining the crimson vine. She then slowly sat beside Wang Si.
"Huan Territories... I have not heard of this domain. However, you have the crimson vine element... Your family should be related to cosmic guards?"
"Yes. The Huan people are protectors of constellation formation and elemental alignment."
"Mere protectors... I see. The position of your family is too low for me to remember. I have the spirit of the Empress of the Open Sea because I trade my essence for a ritual called Tune of Deathless Existence. But, I am not the ruler of the open sea."
Huan Xue pondered all the information from the lady and tried to recall all the teachings he had in the past. "If protectors are too low for your recognition, may I ask the lady of your identity?"
"I once lived in the dimension just beside The Hunter Constellation. Too far from this world. And you are probably too young to know my dwelling place. That dimension had long been like this," the lady expressed and motioned her face to the room.
With Huan Xue's sharp mind, he instantly understood her simple gesture. It meant that the dimension where she lived had turned into complete darkness. The place no longer exists.
"The Hunter Constellation was one of the most dangerous celestial formations. Its power is very aggressive and it was worthy of its name. It kept on hunting. Somehow, it managed to locate my dwelling and targeted my people. We had no means to escape. But, I took my chance and placed my spirit on a rock. The rock landed in this world and this man... Ahh... you should be able to tell what happens next. Wang Si treated all my wounds. He somehow restored my memory and vitality. He is no doubt a talented physician and we became cultivation partners. He saved my life. So, when, he accidentally killed himself, I created a ritual for him."
Huan Xue nodded his head and could not help but be amazed by Wang Si's life. No wonder, the Grand Physician had a lot of otherworldly methods of treating people. "Tune of Deathless Existence... That is a technique under the Tune of Chaos?"
"No, it's not just the simple Tune of Chaos. It's the combination of the two tunes. That technique is similar to the common method called Melody of Manipulation which the sirens used to control the human mind. But, the Tune of Deathless Existence does not manipulate humans. It manipulates the existence of death and allowed the person to live... It's a formidable technique that even a celestial being like me needs to pay for my entire vitality."
"Your e-entire vitality... I don't understand?" Huan Xue responded with great confusion. How could a celestial being, perhaps, positioned higher that the Huan Family, give up her existence to save Wang Si? They were just cultivation partners? Since Wang Si died, she could just find another cultivation partner. Why does she need to pull him out from the dead at the expense of her existence?
"Protector... we shared the same thoughts. Even I... don't also understand why. But, when I found out that he was no longer breathing, something inside me seemed to turn empty. Until now, I have no answer to such a complicated question. I did not feel anything when my people were tragically consumed by The Hunter Constellation. It was part of their ill-fate. But, when this man's heart stopped beating, I went to confront the Ruler of Death and challenge it to a life-and-death battle. Hahahaha... Isn't that reaction absurd?"
Huan Xue somehow turned speechless. It was indeed ridiculous! The crimson vine produced a brighter green aura. After a while, he spoke, "You've confronted the Ruler of Death in the abyss?"
"Yes, I was too courageous at that time. Well, it did not accept the challenge and just laughed at me. Then, it gave me the ritual technique Tune of Deathless Existence."