Once, he was the mighty Azure Dragon, but now he was just a dying man with only a few months left to live. How could he possibly marry her?
As he awaited death, his mind became exceptionally clear.
In a voice so weak it was barely audible, he murmured, "Girl, I'm sorry... I can't marry you, and I couldn't find Hamilton..."
Slowly, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and death finally approached.Suddenly!
Just as his consciousness was about to fade completely, a voice echoed in his mind, "Do you want to live?"
Who?
Who was speaking?
The last shred of his awareness was startled by this sudden change, but he could do nothing except listen to the voice.
The gist of it was that this person had been hunted down for a certain treasure and had managed to escapwith only a fragment of their soul, which had taken refuge in Merritt's body.
Originally, the soul fragment intended to reside in Merritt's body indefinitely, absorbing his inner energy and life force to recover enough to merge with the treasure.
Would Merritt die?
No!
Since the soul fragment and Merritt were now one, Merritt's life or death determined the fragment's survival. Infact, in about a month, the fragment and the treasure would complete their fusion. While absorbing life force would severely damage Merritt, it would not kill him.
But unexpectedly, just as the fusion was nearing completion, Merritt's remaining life was cut short by three months.
With Merritt's death, the remnant soul would also dissipate.
What to do?
In the end, the remnant soul had tomake a choice: to sacrifice itself to save Merritt's life.
It wasn't out of any great sense of nobility.
After all, if Merritt died, the remnant soul would vanish too, and there would be no chance for revenge. On the other hand, if Merritt lived, there was at least a possibility of avenging past grievances.
The voice, filled with anger, spat out a list of names through gritted teeth: "Kill them, and not only will I keep you alive, but I'll also grant youunimaginable powers!"
Having someone speak inside your head is already hard to believe, and even Merritt found it unbelievable.
But when such a person claims they can save your dying self, would you believe it?
Yes!
In fact, given Merritt's current state, he had no choice but to believe.
Killing people to save his own life.
Totally worth it.
For Merritt, killing was a trivial matter; he had killed countless people—why wouldn't he agree?
Moreover, he wasn't the kind of person who kept promises to strangers. Agreeing to something didn't mean he would necessarily follow through.
"Remember! If you fail, the thing I left in your soul will make you vanish completely!"
The voice grew incredibly solemn and commanded, "Now, accept all my legacy. From this moment on, you are me, and I am you!"A flood of information surged into Merritt's memory. The sheer volume was so overwhelming that it caused a sharp pain in his brain, and his thoughts halted as he fell into unconsciousness...
He didn't know how much time had passed when he finally woke up.
Yes!
He was alive!
If he had thought the voice in his head was a hallucination brought on by the brink of death, now he was entirelyconvinced.
Not only was he alive, but he also felt his previously depleted life force restored to its pre-incident level—weak, but not fatal.
Merritt sat dumbfounded on the ground. The miraculous event felt surreal, and he couldn't fully grasp it right away.
Was it a dream?
No.
Since he was alive, everything was real!Although his powers were gone, being alive meant that the mysterious illness that had been draining his life force for a year was gone. He didn't have to die anymore.
He had initially chosen to leave because he thought he was going to die, but now things were different—being alive meant there was hope!
Starting over wasn't a big deal.
With his talent and the experience he had gained over the years, he was confident he could return to his peak within ten years!He could finally go back. He could finally marry the girl he loved.
As he regained his composure, his thoughts became more active, and he began to plan his next steps