Seph didn’t even recognize the hugs of his partners. He was still in deep shock.

  Lilith held him for a few minutes before she said, “Get yourself together; remember the reason we are here. You must give the potion to your mother.”

  Seph looked at her weakly for a few seconds, then nodded.

  He got up, and walked alone towards his house all groggy, when Lilith took two wide steps to reach him, she put her hand on his shoulder and said, “You better check the new skill you gained from your manual before you meet your mother. You must learn its properties to avoid what happened from happening again.”

  Seph’s eyes went wide when he thought of that possibility, but he pulled himself together and gave her a firm nod and checked his Martial Art screen.

  One Thousand Arms of the Undead Buddha

  We perceive the world’s lamentations, but we lend them no ear.

  We see the world’s suffering, but we will increase it a thousandfold.

  Shattered into a thousand pieces, the world shall be unborn by our will.

  Level: 3/9 (I)

  1: Arms overreaching

  2: Arms overbearing (Beat an opponent that weighs 10 times the same as you: Completed)

  3: ???

  4: Graveyard Emergence (Emerge against overwhelming odds)

  Seph was confused by the third hidden skill; then he thought he must have had missed his manual heating to signal a new mantra at a certain point.

  He read the condition to gain the fourth skill with regret. He hated the skill, hated his manual, and hated himself for having killed these innocents.

  He reluctantly opened the manual as the screen that comes from his Eye of the Veteran skill didn’t really tell him much, other than that he had to fight against overwhelming odds for it to trigger. Which differed from how he gained the second skill, which triggered as some kind of achievement for a feat he had done.

  Once Seph looked in the manual, he found two lines of words written.

  Shattered into a thousand pieces, His arms are illusory.

  Perform 10000 double palm strikes while reciting the mantra, each day for ten days in a row, each strike must be in a different direction.

  The other line was.

  Shattered into a thousand pieces, His arms are multitudes.

  Meditate for an entire day while reciting the mantra; you will need to do this each time you want to recharge Graveyard Emergence.

  Lilith, growing impatient, asked Seph, “Did you find something?”

  “Yes, we don’t need to worry; I need to recharge the skill before using it again.” Seph said with a sigh of tiredness.

  “Phew, that’s great to hear, last thing we need is you destroying your own house with your mother in it.”

  Seph looked shocked, and his mind wandered to that scenario, even though it’s not a possibility anymore.

  Lilith slapped her palm on her open mouth as she saw the effect of her callous words on Seph. “Look, I am very sorry. I wasn’t thinking when I said that you didn’t need to hear me say such a thing, not at a time like this.”

  Seph smiled weakly and said, “Thanks for looking out for my mother, Lilith. I know you weren’t thinking of your own wellbeing when you said that. So, it’s okay.”

  Her smiled beamed in response and she said nothing as she hooked her arm under his again and started walking.

  In no time at all, he was leading her with Sun on his shoulders to his house.

  The village was dead silent, since the fight occurred quite far away from the residences.

  He felt relieved he wouldn’t have to run into anyone else. There had been enough killing for this night.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  ***

  Seph and Lilith stopped at the door of his home, and he extracted the potion from his spatial sack and checked it with the Eye of the Appraiser one last time.

  Appraising…

  Name: Potion of longevity

  Type: Potion

  Quality: Super Rare

  Description: No one knows who made this potion. It’s definitely not a mortal, but why would an immortal make a potion to cure mortals and extend their lifetimes?

  A sick relative, perhaps? Someone with a destroyed cultivation base? A son with no cultivation root?

  Regardless, one lucky mortal will get to have a new beginning in life after drinking this, no ailments, and 10 extra years to get ill all over again.

  Is it a blessing, or is it an extension to a life full of suffering?

  Effect: Increase lifespan by 10 years

  Cure all ailments at the time of consumption.

  He nodded his head in approval, and a genuine smile crept to his face, since the last smile he had to force for the sake of Lilith.

  The young cultivator looked at Lilith and she nodded her head with a big smile on her face; she was glad he will finally save his mother.

  Sun, too, was tapping his leg on Seph’s shoulder in excitement.

  The young cultivator knocked on the door, and no one answered, he repeated, and the manly voice of the village’s healer answered him from inside with a sleepy voice, “Yes, I am coming, will be right there—cough—Hold on just a minute.”

  Lilith cocked her left eyebrow up; she wasn’t sure since she was absent for thousands of years, but the healer sounded like a funny old man to her.

  The truth is; the healer was used to wake up at any point of the night to help anyone in need, his time was for the people of the village, and that’s why he always felt that he needed to assure them he wasn’t slacking even long before he opened his door. Only this time, the poor man wasn’t even aware that he wasn’t in his own house and was groggily trying to find his way to the door of a house that he wasn’t familiar with enough to traverse while half asleep.

  Finally, he opened the door, and Seph bombarded him with the question he held inside for all this time. “Is my mother, okay? Please tell me she is still alive.”

  “She was okay, or as okay as her condition would allow her to be, before I nodded off Seph, my dear boy. Please calm down and let’s go check on her.”

  “Thank you, Uncle Bruce.” Seph said and hurried inside, leaving the doctor staring in wonder at the monkey on his shoulder, and thinking Whenever did he get that monkey?

  He couldn’t wonder for long though, because Lilith grabbed him by hooking her hand under his arm and pulling him inside, saying, “Come on! We must check on her; aren’t you the healer? Why aren’t you hurrying inside after him?!”

  Lilith. pulled inside the doctor, a look of complete bewilderment on his face as he said, “Who are you?!”

  Meanwhile, Seph reached his mother’s bed, and she was motionless; he feared the worst, so he put one of his fingers under her nose and sighed a sigh of relief when he felt a weak breath going in and out.

  Sun descended from his shoulder and stood on the bed next to her and caressed her hair while cooing; he could feel how sick she was and wanted to console her.

  The healer came inside and saw how Seph wasn’t torn by worry anymore and sighed in relief as well.

  “Uncle Bruce, I got this potion that will cure all of mother’s illnesses, I would like you to administer it in a way that doesn’t harm her, I am not sure if she can swallow or not, or how to do it.”

  The healer’s eyes went wide as he saw the potion, and said, “Where have you been to get such a potion and such weird company?”

  Lilith said, almost to herself, “Did he just call me weird?”

  Sun glared at him but didn’t screech because of the sickly woman.

  The healer’s eyes went even wider when he finally noticed the changes to Seph’s countenance. “Dear Goddess in heavens, what happened to you?!”

  “There is no time for that now. Please, use the potion on her.” Seph said with a pleading look on his face. He feared the worst, that the healer would freak out and they wouldn’t get his professional help to administer the potion.

  “Okay, okay, make way for me.” The healer said, as he shook his head to focus on his life’s task of healing people.

  Sun jumped on Seph’s shoulders as they stepped back towards the door, with Lilith beside them, and the healer supported his mother’s back with one of his arms to bring her to a half sitting position and opened the potion and made her drink it.

  Before even half the bottle’s contents were down her throat, they heard her groan.

  By the time she drank all the bottle’s contents, they saw her open her eyes weakly and looked around her, as she said weakly, “Seph, my boy.”

  Seph sprinted fast towards her and took the healer’s place, as he supported her back with one of his hands, “Mother, I am with you, oh goddess, I am so glad to see you talk again, I can’t believe I almost lost you.”

  The young cultivator let his tears flow down his face again; he felt relieved. He went through so much and lived through a time compressed trial for 9 months just to heal his mother, and he finally did it.

  Nothing was for sure; his entire life was in jeopardy at each step. Sure, he got lucky a few times, which helped him survive, but that shouldn’t discredit his perseverance, courage, and ingenuity to overcome the trials, and come out as the sole winner.

  His mother took a minute before she became more focused and said, “Oh Seph, why are you crying?”

  “Nothing mother, I am just so happy to see that you are okay now.” Seph said while smiling behind his flowing tears.

  “Don’t cry then. I don’t like to see you cry; remember you are the man of the house; men don’t cry Seph”

  “Haha, yes mother, we will call them happy tears.”

  Sun and Lilith and the healer were all teary-eyed while smiling, happy to bear witness to the mother and son reunion in front of them.

  “Why! With each passing second, I feel better and better. What happened to me?”

  “I gave you a potion that cured all your illnesses; you should feel your best in years once its full effect has run through your body.”

  The woman was surprised and said, “How did you get that potion? Did you sell---” The woman stopped mid question as she noticed the changes on her son’s face; she stared at him in fear of him and fear for him at the same time, “Oh dear goddess, what happened to you Seph? Why do you look like that?!”

  “It’s a long story, mother. Let me put a pillow behind your back for support, and I’ll tell you everything, but first I would like to introduce you to my two new friends, Sun and Lilith.”

  Sun hooted happily at her while he waved his hand, and Lilith gave her a courteous bow.

  The mother waved unsurely at them. She hadn’t seen a more odd-looking animal or young woman before in her long life than these two.

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