Future Beast World: Becoming A Pampered Beauty-Chapter 538 - 477: Lan Cang Passes Away

A biting wind brushed against her face as Sang Luo opened her eyes. She was stunned for a moment when she saw the desolate, empty landscape of the Divine Realm, wondering if she’d come to the wrong place.

The children, however, were thrilled. They scampered off in a flash, some even digging around in the dirt, and soon their figures vanished.

"Hey! Stay close to me! Don’t run off too far!"

But her calls couldn’t bring them back.

"Don’t worry. Nothing here can harm them. Just let the children play."

Sang Luo relaxed upon hearing Fei Yuan’s words.

In the distance stood an ancient tree that soared into the clouds, though its branches were bare. Little Lucky Star, however, acted as if it had spotted a rare treasure, flapping its magnificent wings to fly up to a branch and curl into a ball.

"That’s the Parasol Divine Wood. Phoenix Clan hatchlings love sleeping in its branches," Yan said, walking over.

Sang Luo said to him, "Take me to see the Divine River."

"Alright."

Yan nodded and led her to the source of the Divine River.

There were layers of overlapping mountain ranges and glaciers that soared into the clouds. At the very peak, the purest ice and snow melted into a trickle, gathering in the dry riverbed below. Countless fallen stars seemed to mingle within the Divine River, giving off a radiant glow as the water flowed into the distance, winding its way out of sight.

Every drop of river water contained an immense concentration of Spiritual Energy. As the Divine River irrigated the cracked earth, new sprouts slowly began to emerge...

But for the Divine Tree nurtured by the heavens and earth, this was far from enough. Fei Yuan and Yan led Sang Luo to a barren mountain thousands of feet high. The ground there was also bare, save for a single withered sapling about as tall as she was.

Sang Luo’s lips twitched. "This is the Divine Tree you said bears the Blood Lotus Fruit?"

"Yes. It’s only grown this much in several hundred years. I worked so hard to nurture it to this size, and now it’s withered again." Fei Yuan was completely exasperated.

Using her hand like a blade, Sang Luo sliced open her left palm. Bright red blood trickled down and onto the sapling’s trunk.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, the Divine Tree began to recover its vitality.

Surprise filled Fei Yuan’s and Yan’s eyes. It was actually working.

When she fed it, the Divine Tree seemed to go mad, greedily absorbing as much blood as it could. Each time it drank its fill, the tree’s growth would accelerate rapidly. If Yan hadn’t been there to keep watch, it likely would have been even more unrestrained.

Sang Luo had no desire to bleed to death, so she only fed it once every half a month.

「More than a decade passed in a flash.」

The ancient tree had recovered its former vitality. It had even flowered and borne fruit, producing a single Blood Lotus Fruit that was larger and fuller than the one Sang Luo had eaten before.

Fei Yuan flew to the highest branch, returning with the Blood Lotus Fruit held gently in his mouth before placing it in Sang Luo’s hand.

"Luo’er, eat this. It’s incredibly nourishing."

It was a rare treasure, so Sang Luo didn’t refuse. She finished the fruit in a few bites.

All the vitality she had lost over the years was completely replenished. At the same time, a majestic surge of Divine Power rushed through her body. Her Cultivation rocketed upward, and she felt herself on the verge of breaking through to the realm of a Half-step Divine Venerable!

"This... Am I dreaming?" Sang Luo asked, overjoyed.

Yan smiled. "This is the first Divine Fruit the tree has borne since its revival. It’s also known as a Life Spirit Fruit. It contains a sliver of the Divine Power the tree has accumulated over millions of years, from its birth to this very day. Now, it has gifted that power to you. Find a quiet place to refine it. Fei Yuan and I will stand guard."

Sang Luo looked around. This place seemed as good as any, so she simply sat down where she was and began to refine the Divine Power within her.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as Sang Luo was about to finish refining the Divine Power, a sharp pain suddenly lanced through her heart, so intense it nearly stole her breath.

At that exact moment, she received two messages, one right after the other.

After reading the message from Minos, Sang Luo froze completely. Her mind went blank, unable to process anything.

Then, Little Stone’s voice message played—

"Mother, Father has passed away."

...

「Ice-breaking City.」

Unlike the bustling city Sang Luo had left behind, now every shop, large and small, was closed for business. An ever-burning lamp was lit before each door, and the signs of every household were draped in long, thick white cloth.

Sang Luo stumbled all the way back to the City Lord Mansion. Both inside and out, the estate was already draped in a sea of white mourning silk.

There were faces she recognized and faces she did not, all dressed in white and standing before the mourning hall.

Her spirit crushed, Sang Luo walked into the mourning hall.

Fei Yuan and Yan remained outside the hall.

Fei Yuan was incredulous. "...How could this happen so suddenly?"

Yan wasn’t surprised. "He was never destined for a long life. That Wolf Beast’s body showed signs of decay even in his younger years." He sighed regretfully. "He once asked me to examine him, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find the root cause of his illness or treat his body’s decline."

"Perhaps... I shouldn’t have called Luo’er away," Fei Yuan said, filled with regret.

"The fate of Mortal Beasts is fixed; it cannot be changed. This day would have come sooner or later."

...

Sang Luo entered the mourning hall.

Her three children and Little Hetao had all returned.

Zhi Xin’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. She fought to control her emotions, but tears still streamed down her face as she struggled to believe that her father, who had been perfectly fine, could have passed away so suddenly.

Her two sons were slightly more composed, but they were merely forcing themselves to remain calm. The corners of their eyes were red, a clear sign they had already had a long cry.

Little Stone said softly, "Mother, you’re here."

"...I’m sorry. I came too late."

Sang Luo felt as if all strength had drained from her body. Her vision swam as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

"Your... your father? Is he... still here?"

"Father left a letter before he passed," Little Stone explained. "He told us not to hold a wake and to bury his coffin in the tomb, as was his wish. Also... there’s this." He took a Crystal Core from within his robes. "This is the Crystal Core from Father’s heart. He left it with his final letter and entrusted me to give it to you."

Sang Luo numbly accepted the gray Crystal Core. It had been fashioned into a necklace.

There is an unwritten ritual in the Beast World. When some Beastmen sense their end is near, they will remove their Crystal Core and gift it to the most important person in their life.

They might give the core’s energy to their descendants to refine, or they might have it made into a piece of jewelry, like a necklace or a ring, as a gift for their mate...

Sang Luo clutched the necklace tightly, closed her eyes, and let the tears stream down her face. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Her grief was a heavy, restless weight.

"Mother," Little Stone called out, worried. They had just lost their father; they couldn’t bear for something to happen to their mother too.

"I’m fine," Sang Luo shook her head, wiping the tears from her face. "I’m just... so sad."

She looked at Little Stone, and his image seemed to merge with a tall, slender figure from her memories. ’He was this young back then, too.’

Sang Luo beckoned Little Stone closer and placed a feather-light kiss on his cheek.

The young man was taken aback. "Mother?"

"You look so much like your father did when he was young. If it weren’t for the scar he had, you’d be identical... When I first met your father in the tribe all those years ago... he looked just like you do now..." Sang Luo didn’t want to lose her composure in front of her children, but as she spoke, the tears flowed faster, until she was choked by sobs.

"And I... I didn’t even get to see him one last time."