Lin Shengsheng could even clearly smell the scent of death emanating from the giant tiger—a mixture of blood and decay.
Amid this extreme fear and despair, the faint warm current within her body seemed to be stimulated, suddenly becoming active!
It was no longer a trickling stream but transformed into a warm river, swiftly flowing through her limbs and entire body. An unprecedented, life-filled sensation surged from deep within her.
【Life Purification】.
These four words, like divine revelation, clearly surfaced in her mind.
This was her ability.
The only miracle she had brought from the apocalyptic world ravaged by the “Gray Decay Virus.”
The instinct to survive overwhelmed everything at this moment!
She had to take the gamble!
Lin Shengsheng bit her lower lip hard, mustering all her strength to climb up from the ground.
Her actions stunned all the beastmen below the altar.
“What… what is she trying to do?”
“A defective product, daring to defy the Mountain God?”
Liya stood among the crowd, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of her mouth. She wished for nothing more than for Lin Shengsheng to anger the Mountain God and be crushed into a pulp. That would be a truly spectacular sight.
However, what happened next nearly made everyone’s eyes pop out of their sockets.
The snow rabbit tribe female they regarded as useless, the frail girl who could barely walk steadily and seemed as if a gust of wind could knock her over, was actually trembling step by step, yet with unwavering determination, walking toward the snow-white giant tiger on the verge of a rampage.
She’s gone mad! She must have been scared out of her mind!
The giant tiger seemed to sense the approach of a tiny creature. With great difficulty, it lifted its massive head. Its originally brilliant golden vertical pupils were now tainted with a violent crimson. An aura of destruction and madness erupted like a tangible storm!
“Roar—!!”
A roar filled with endless pain and savagery shook the entire Gray Jaw Ridge, causing it to hum and vibrate!
The beastmen below the altar were terrified by this oppressive force, scrambling to prostrate themselves on the ground, not daring to lift their heads. Liya, in particular, turned pale with fright, collapsing to the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably like a sieve.
Lin Shengsheng, who bore the brunt of it, felt as if her soul was about to be shattered by the roar. Her ears buzzed, her mind went blank, and her legs grew so weak she could barely stand.
But she did not retreat.
Because deep within those blood-covered eyes, she saw a trace of… pleading.
It was a longing for life, a plea to escape endless suffering.
As a doctor, she had seen such expressions too many times.
The instinct to survive and the compassion of a healer miraculously converged at this moment.
Lin Shengsheng took a deep breath, gathering all the warm current within her body, known as 【Life Purification】, into her right hand.
Her hand was small and thin, with knuckles even slightly prominent due to long-term malnutrition. But at this moment, it emitted a faint, gentle green glow.
The light was very weak, yet under the dim sky, it resembled the most brilliant emerald.
Under the horrified, speechless gazes of all the Broken Tooth Tribe beastmen, Lin Shengsheng extended her glowing hand.
Time, at this moment, seemed to have been slowed down.
Her pale, slender fingers, shimmering with green light, formed an incredibly vivid and startling contrast with the giant tiger’s forehead, which was covered in ferocious curse markings and seared like hot iron.
Finally, gently, she reached out and touched it.
There was no expected crushing into a pulp.
Nor was she torn to shreds by a violent force.
The moment Lin Shengsheng’s warm, soft palm fully pressed against the giant tiger’s forehead—
“Hum—!”
A visible ring of green light, centered on her palm, spread out like a gentle ripple!
The halo was filled with pure, gentle, and immense life energy, like the first ray of spring sunlight melting the ice and snow, or the first sweet rain falling upon parched earth.
A miracle occurred.
The black curse markings on the giant tiger’s forehead, which writhed like living creatures and appeared ferociously terrifying, upon contact with the green light, sizzled softly as if being purified, then rapidly faded and dissipated at a visible pace!
The curse that brought endless pain and madness was being purified!
“Roar…”
The painful roar in the giant tiger’s throat gradually subsided.
In its vertical pupils, stained with blood, the desire for violence and destruction faded rapidly, replaced by a nearly bewildered, unbelievable sense of comfort.
The excruciating pain that had tormented its soul and body day and night for countless years… had actually vanished?
In its place was a warmth and peace rising from the depths of its soul, an experience it had never known before.
It felt like a beast wandering in the icy wilderness for centuries had finally found a warm den.
Or like a soul sinking in endless darkness for millennia had finally glimpsed a ray of redemptive light.
This ancient giant beast, on the verge of losing control entirely from pain and descending into the Curse Fall Cataclysm, under the touch of that warm, soft, and small palm on its forehead, relaxed its taut, steel-like massive body inch by inch.
Then, in the deathly silence of the entire world.
Under the stunned, jaw-dropping gazes of all the Beastmen.
From the depths of its throat, it emitted a low, lazy, and utterly comfortable sound…
“Purr… purrr…”
The sound was remarkably like that of a cat, contentedly purring as its chin was stroked by its owner.
The world fell into deathly silence.
Only the low, steady, and slightly satisfied purring echoed over the empty altar.
The sound was like the finest velvet gently brushing against everyone’s eardrums, carrying a magic that made their bones tingle.
Yet the source of this sound was an ancient giant beast as massive as a mountain, which had just been on the brink of frenzy.
All the Beastmen of the Broken Tooth Tribe, including the chieftain, stood frozen in place as if under a paralysis spell, their expressions twisted into a mix of terror and bewilderment.
What were they seeing?
The Mountain God… the Mountain God… was purring?
No, not purring.
The sound was more like… more like the contented murmurs made by the females in the tribe when they were pleased by their mates, nestled in their partners’ arms.
Liya collapsed on the ground, her meticulously painted red eyes wide with a fury that seemed ready to burst. She stared fixedly at the center of the altar, the venomous flames of jealousy nearly erupting from her gaze.
How could this be?!
That defective product, that waste—what right did she have?!
Not only had she not been crushed into pulp by the Mountain God, but instead… instead, she had made the Mountain God show such… such an expression of pleasure?!
What in the world was that glowing hand, that gentle green light?!
Lin Shengsheng, however, felt far less shock than the onlookers.
She only felt exhaustion.
An unprecedented wave of fatigue washed over her, engulfing her entire body.
The warm current within her, after that unreserved output moments ago, was now completely depleted, leaving only a faint trickle that seemed ready to vanish at any moment. Her palm remained pressed against the giant tiger’s scorching forehead, but no light emanated from it anymore.
The skin beneath her palm was terrifyingly hot, like a red-hot branding iron.
And the grotesque curse patterns covering it, though mostly faded in the area beneath her palm, continued to writhe slowly and stubbornly in the darker, more distant markings.
Her Purification had only temporarily alleviated his suffering.
It was a superficial fix, not a cure.
Just as Lin Shengsheng was considering whether to withdraw her hand and preserve her last bit of strength—
The massive head beneath her palm moved.
“!”
Lin Shengsheng’s heart clenched violently!
The enormous snow-white tiger slowly, yet with an undeniable force, lifted its head.
Lin Shengsheng’s hand was forced to slide from his forehead.
A pair of eyes opened.
What translucent, pure golden vertical pupils they were.
The earlier frenzy, bloodlust, and chaos had all faded away, leaving only a molten gold brilliance and the cold, authoritative gaze of an apex predator, one that seemed to see through everything.
He was awake.
His remaining rationality fully returned amidst the comfort of the Purification.
Yuan immediately recognized the source of his relief from pain—this tiny, fragile creature before him, radiating a pure, life-giving aura.
Her scent… was pleasant.
Like tender sprouts after rain, like the first clean dewdrop of dawn, like the warmth he had longed for deep within his bloodline’s memory.
It was she who had pulled him back from the endless, soul-scorching abyss of agony.
Below the altar, the silence was shattered by a greedy, hoarse shout.
“She… she has received the Mountain God’s blessing!”
It was the one-eyed elder of the Broken Tooth Tribe. His clouded eyes blazed with fanatical light as he pointed at Lin Shengsheng on the altar, his voice trembling.
“A female blessed by the Mountain God! She can bring us good fortune! Quick! Seize her!”
Ignorance and greed instantly overcame fear.
A pure female without beast transformation abilities was already a tribe’s asset. Now that she had been “blessed” by the deity, her value was beyond measure! Perhaps, by possessing her, the tribe could escape the drought and regain its water source!
“Go!”
“Capture her!”
Sharp Fang and Dirty Claw, who were closest, exchanged a glance. Greed overwhelmed all else in their eyes. With a roar, their powerful limbs propelled them forward as they lunged toward the altar!
A flicker of malicious delight also flashed in Liya’s eyes.
Yes! Take her back! She’ll see how a defective product can still hold a place in the tribe after being “used” by the Mountain God!
However, their actions ignited a fury they could never have imagined.
Just as Sharp Fang’s claws were about to touch the edge of the altar—