My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Did it fail?" Rexol asked.

"Do not."

"Do not."

Aksut and Lemon both shook their heads.

Aksut extended his right arm to Lemon, gesturing a "please" gesture.

Raymond nodded slightly to him, manipulating the diffraction array as he spoke:

"Talis, inside the spacetime container, is rapidly losing his life force. Using a life sign monitor or a spell to detect blood runes on him will reveal that his lifespan is decreasing at a rate of 10 days per second. This is a very strange phenomenon, because no spells related to life force are in effect."

Aksut took over the conversation and said:

"The spacetime flow inside the spacetime container is reversing. The reversal speed is also 10 days per second."

"Is there any connection between the two?" Rexol was a little confused.

The only person present who could be considered to have done some research on the energy of life force was Xia Zuo.

Meeting everyone's gaze, Xia Zuo pondered for a moment and said:

"In common sense, we believe that a person can live as long as they have enough vitality. But if something unexpected happens and causes the person to die before their lifespan is exhausted, then the excess vitality is meaningless and can only return to nature."

Let's consider this from another perspective:

"The longer a person lives, the more vitality he has. Vitality increases with time, accumulates in his body, and can also be lost from his body and return to nature as time flows backward."

"I think this statement is quite suitable for explaining the current situation."

There is another explanation that might be easier to understand, but Xia Zuo dared not say it:

From a data perspective, the longer a person lives, the higher their eight-dimensional attributes will be.

For the native humans of this world, their eight-dimensional attributes increase primarily based on their life experiences over the past few months. The more physical labor they do, the more their strength and willpower increase; the more they practice alchemy and magic, the faster their perception and spirit grow.

Similarly, if you are in excellent health, have a good appetite, and maintain a healthy lifestyle, it will be difficult for your vitality attribute and maximum health not to increase, and your lifespan will also increase accordingly.

Talis's current situation is equivalent to losing his maximum health and vitality attribute value due to the effect of time reversal, which is what everyone calls "life force".

In Xia Zuo's view, this life force flowing out of Talis's body was constantly changing into various shapes in the spacetime container, and as time went back, the amount of life force increased and the speed of change increased.

Although Rexor and the others did not have data-driven character templates, their comprehension skills were quite good, and they quickly understood what Shazo meant, nodding in agreement.

"So, the incantation Nukalofa chants only puts a specific person into a state of time reversal?" Rexor asked.

Aksut nodded slowly. "So far, it seems so. I haven't found any other anomalies."

“I do have some clues.” Lemon fiddled with the control panel of the diffraction array, switching the ripples of light.

A pink orb of light appeared inside the spacetime container.

“We can’t see the life force, but that doesn’t stop me from using illusions to simulate it based on the energy readings.”

Lemon walked to the spacetime container and introduced it:

"The pink orb of light you see now is the life force I simulated. Its appearance is constantly changing. Notice how these patterns look familiar?"

“Let me see…” Rexor leaned closer to take a look. “It seems to be the language of the Otherworldly.”

“It is indeed the language of the Otherworldly Demons.” Kadum moved closer, staring intently at the pink orb of light. “Its changes too rapidly; I need to examine it more closely…”

Kadum arrived at the front of the time-space container and observed for nearly half a minute before finally understanding the contents of the demonic script.

"The 13th attempt to give back to the target..."

"Attention! Sodike Black Flag has been detected as dead!"

"My attempt to give back was rejected!"

"The 14th attempt to give back to the target..."

"Attention! Sodike Black Flag has been detected as dead!"

"My attempt to give back was rejected!"

Chapter 104 Refusing to Give Back Starts with Me (End of Volume)

After Talis completed the experiment, Aksut adjusted the flow of time in the spacetime container, and life force flowed back into Talis's body.

Rexol then recruited several more test subjects to conduct the experiments.

In front of a room full of witnesses, the same warning message in the demonic language was repeated again and again, all pointing to the same result:

Sodike Blackflag is dead.

The news came so suddenly and unexpectedly that even after everyone around him swore an oath to the element of light to keep it a secret and left the room, Rexor, who had been tracking Sodike Blackflame for over 30 years, was still not in a daze from the news of Sodike's death.

"This guy is dead..." Rexor walked out of the underground alchemy room, came to a corner of the fountain sculpture plaza, raised his head to face the sunlight, and closed his eyes.

It was hard to tell whether it was the disappointment of missing out or the overwhelming shock of the surprise of Sodick Blackflag's death... Rexor stood by the fountain, basking in the sunlight, and it took him a long time to relax the lines on his face.

Xia Zuo sat on the long bench next to the bald man, his gaze shifting from the fish swimming in the pool to the bald man's forehead.

He waved his hand, setting up a barrier to prevent spying and eavesdropping.

“Congratulations on completing this arduous task, Master. I believe the news of Sodike Blackflame’s death will greatly inspire the members of the Temple, especially at this critical juncture when all-out war is about to begin.”

Rexol took out a bottle of fruit wine, took two sips, sat down on the bench, and sprinkled some bait into the pool.

"Xia Zuo, do you think this information is true? Could it be fake news fabricated by Sodike Black Flag or some other alien demon using the laws of spacetime?"

Rexor let out a long sigh and shrugged helplessly.

"Nukalofa showed us the methods the Church of the Otherworldly Demons uses to manipulate the laws of time. Clearly, we are not at an advantage in the realm of spacetime; in fact, it is our weakness."

"Although we have been pushed along by the river of time and space and have experienced thousands of years, we know nothing about how to go against the current to find the upstream and the source of the river of time and space. Even Aksut, who has the deepest understanding of the laws of time and space in the temple, can only go back a short period of time."

Rexol paused, then took a sip of fruit wine.

"What I fear most is that even if we declare Sodike Black Flag dead now, it might be reborn in a time warp in the future, lurking in the shadows and delivering a devastating blow to the Temple. In that case, the prestige of the Demon Hunter School will inevitably suffer, since investigating Sodike Black Flag is my responsibility..."

"Master, are you overthinking this?" Xia Zuo didn't know how to reassure the other party that there was no need to worry about Sodike Black Flag's rebirth...

Among everyone gathered in the underground alchemy chamber at the time, there were probably more or less doubts about the news of Sodike Blackflame's death.

Xia Zuo is not included in this list.

The demonic script formed from the life force orb said this:

"The xxth attempt to give back to the target..."

"Attention! Sodike Black Flag has been detected as dead!"

"My attempt to give back was rejected!"

Xia Zuo couldn't control the first two lines of demonic script.

But the last line, “Reciprocation rejected,” is his masterpiece.

When Talis's life force outflow was still small, the cheat system didn't react at all. But when the life force orb was enough to condense into demonic characters, Xia Zuo had been receiving information from the cheat system:

"Spore cytogenes 1373 has been detected and is attempting to feed back to the host. Do you confirm acceptance of the feeding back?"

"If you confirm acceptance, the host will receive the following:"

"1. All eight attributes of Sporangioblast 1373, including memory, spellcasting talent, knowledge, past sensory experiences, bloodline characteristics, and mental pattern characteristics."

"2. New blood magic [Life-Generating Sac]."

The cheat code didn't explain the use of the blood magic [Life-Generating Sac], but judging from the description in the cheat code's information, this blood magic should be extremely powerful and bizarre.

Considering that accepting the feedback in full view of everyone might allow Master Lemon's diffraction array to detect the changes in the life force orb, Xia Zuo resisted the temptation of the eight-dimensional attribute values ​​and [Spore Sprout Growth], resolutely refusing the feedback from the spore sprouts time and time again.

That's why the line "returning the favor was rejected" appeared.

Up to now, Xia Zuo feels that many of his guesses about Sodike Black Flag make sense.

First, an unknown entity captured Sodike Black Flag and sealed it into Shazo's spirit thread.

Sodike Blackflag was already dead at that time.

Its body may have been reduced to ashes by this unknown entity, undergoing the most thorough physical destruction.

Its mastery of spells from various schools, such as blood magic and shadow magic, was infused into Xia Zuo's body by an unknown entity. This may be the reason why Xia Zuo gained the talent of [Spellcasting Instinct].

The relationship between Sodike Black Flag and the cyst-borne organisms, that is, the organisms separated from its body, was also transplanted onto Shazo by the unknown entity.

Regardless of who it is—a member of the Temple or a demon from the Church of the Otherworldly Demons—once the spore spawn's feedback function is activated using the laws of time and space and a specific incantation, this strange spell will immediately target Sodike Black Flag.

If the spell detects that Sodike Black Flag is dead, it will use its life force light to write the message "Sodike Black Flag has died" in the language of the Otherworldly Demons.

After that, the spell's target changed, pointing towards Xia Zuo, who was in the second position.

This led to the Golden Finger asking Xia Zuo whether he would accept reciprocation.

The entire logic chain is just one step away from forming a perfect closed loop.

Who is pulling the strings behind all this?

Who killed Sodike Black Flag?

Xia Zuo took a slight breath, feeling that he was getting closer and closer to the truth... but to take this last step and find the mastermind behind it all, he probably couldn't do it on his own.

"Master, do you intend to investigate the specific circumstances of Sodike Blackflame's death?"

Xia Zuo asked:

"Both the Church of the Otherworldly Demons' battle plan and Nukalofa's confession prove Sodike Black Flag's power and eeriness. Who can defeat such an Otherworldly Demon?"

"I don't know who defeated Sodike Black Flag..."

Rexol shook his head.

“I don’t want to investigate this matter for now. Let’s just consider this person as human for now… This person can find Sodike Black Flag, but I can’t. I think if he’s deliberately hiding his whereabouts, I’m destined to never find him.”

Rexor stood up, tucked the wine bottle under his leather armor, stretched comfortably, and looked much more relaxed than before, as if he had unloaded his burden and accepted the fact that Sodike Blackflame had died in battle.

"Forget about it. I've already figured out what to do. Let's go to the Legion's stronghold and meet up with Aksut first, and speed up the preparations for establishing the forward base. When I have time in the next day or two, I'll write up the report for the Two Halls meeting."

Rexor walked toward the teleportation chamber, with Shazo following behind.

"Are you planning to announce the news of Sodike Black Flag's death directly?" Xia Zuo asked.