Chapter 2502: Meeting Shiva Again
Chapter 2502: Meeting Shiva Again
"Mu Xuelian? What are you doing here?" Yuan muttered after seeing her familiar face.
"I should be saying that to you! No, how are you—"
Mu Xuelian was abruptly cut off mid-sentence as the being possessing her body suddenly seized control.
The temperature in the surrounding area instantly plummeted, becoming so cold that frost crystals began forming in the air itself.
"Shiva," Yuan called out to the Eternal currently possessing Mu Xuelian’s body.
Shiva narrowed her gaze at Yuan, her eyes flickering with doubt and confusion.
"Why are you still alive?" she eventually asked.
"That’s the first thing you say after abandoning me during my fight with Saaruk? How cold..." Yuan remarked while pretending to shiver dramatically.
Shiva gritted her teeth for a bit before shouting angrily, "I had no choice! What else was I supposed to do?! Help you fight Saaruk with this body that cannot even use Eternal Essence properly?! I may owe you for breaking my seal, but I will not meaninglessly sacrifice my life for you!"
"Calm down a little," Yuan said while shaking his head. "It’s not like I’m actually blaming you for leaving me behind. It was the correct decision, and if I were in your position, I probably would’ve done the same thing."
Despite Yuan claiming that he did not blame her, the frown on Shiva’s face did not lessen in the slightest.
"So how did you survive? Did you somehow manage to escape? Or did Saaruk let you go... unlikely as that sounds?" Shiva asked again, unable to comprehend how Yuan had managed to survive the encounter, as she was certain that he would die at Saaruk’s hands.
’There’s no way a mere mortal like him could escape from an Eternal... But it’s even more impossible for someone like Saaruk to spare his life...’ Shiva thought inwardly while waiting for Yuan’s explanation.
"Neither," Yuan eventually replied, a slow smile creeping onto his face.
"What would you say if I told you that I defeated him?"
"No way!" Shiva instantly rejected the idea without even a second of hesitation, making it abundantly clear just how little faith she had in him.
However, one could hardly blame Shiva for underestimating Yuan. After all, she had spent her entire life viewing humans as little more than insignificant ants.
Yuan chuckled and said, "Well, you’re right. I didn’t defeat him, but he didn’t kill me, either."
"Are you saying that he was incapable of killing you, so he backed off?" Shiva asked.
"It’d be more accurate to say that he was forced to back off because he used a little too much power trying to kill me."
"The Absolute Power!" Shiva’s eyes widened as she started understanding the situation more and more.
Yuan proceeded to explain the whole situation in more detail.
"Unbelievable..." Shiva muttered as she began looking at Yuan in a new light.
’Not only was he able to survive a fight against Saaruk, but he’d even managed to chase Saaruk away...’
"So, what are you doing here?" It was Yuan’s turn to ask. "From what I could tell, it looked like you were training."
"Because that is exactly what we were doing. Training." Shiva looked down at her own palms before continuing, "After our encounter with Saaruk, I realized just how powerless I was before other Eternals."
She then clenched her hand slightly and said, "There’s a high chance I’ll have to fight them in order to reclaim my body someday, so I’ve been training this body to withstand my Eternal Essence better."
"Does it actually work? Can a mortal body be tempered to withstand Eternal Essence?" Yuan asked with visible curiosity.
"An ordinary mortal body? No," Shiva replied. "However, this body was specifically created for that very purpose through countless generations of refinement. Still, the progression is pathetic. Even though we’ve been training for years nonstop, she can barely handle a hundred thousand years’ worth of Eternal Essence. At this rate, it’ll take tens of millions of years before she can wield even a decent amount."
"..."
Without warning, Yuan suddenly reached out and grabbed Shiva’s arm—or more precisely, Mu Xuelian’s body.
"What are you doing?" Shiva asked with a deep frown, clearly displeased by the fact that Yuan had touched her.
Yuan released a sigh and said, "I just examined her body, and as expected, it’s a complete wreck. Forget tens of millions of years—I’d be surprised if she can even survive another hundred in this condition."
"As long as I continue possessing this body, she won’t die, so there’s no need for you to worry about that," Shiva remarked nonchalantly.
The moment Yuan heard those words, a surge of anger rose within him.
"I finally understand what it is about you Eternals that’s been bothering me this whole time," Yuan muttered in a cold voice, his eyes burning with fury.
"The way you Eternals so naturally treat humans as nothing more than disposable tools to further your own goals... it disgusts me."
"..."
After a brief moment of silence, Shiva finally spoke, "Using others to achieve one’s goals is not something exclusive to Eternals."
She narrowed her eyes at Yuan calmly and continued, "Humans do the exact same thing to their own kind as well."
Yuan closed his eyes and released a deep sigh.
"I won’t deny that disgusting humans like that exist as well," he said in a low voice. "But that still doesn’t make it acceptable."
"Then what else am I supposed to do?" Shiva asked.
"At this point, she is the only way for me to recover my true body. Or what? Are you going to take her place and help me recover it instead?"
"If it means you’ll stop treating her body as though it belongs to you, then I don’t mind helping you recover your true body," Yuan said calmly.
"Even if it only brings you more trouble? There’s a very high chance you’ll offend other Eternals by helping me," Shiva warned him.
Yuan casually shrugged and said, "Believe it or not, offending Eternals has basically become a lifestyle for me at this point."