Chapter 2374 — Chapter 2374 Consuming the Curse

"Wait… Wait a second…" Yuan had to do a double-take after hearing the curse's unexpected declaration, which confused the hell out of him, as the curse made it sound like it was a baby that was consumed before it could be born.

"She devoured you? Before you were born? Are you not a curse? If no, what in Heaven's name are you?" Yuan asked.

"I am… a curse now… as I cursed her… right before my death," said the curse.

"But before I became one… and before she… consumed me… I was … in the process of being born…"

"Had I been… born… I would have… become… an… Eternal!"

"?!?!"

Yuan's eyes widened with shock and disbelief after learning the curse's true identity—that Supreme Ruler Dena had actually consumed an Eternal before it could be born!

This explained why Supreme Ruler Dena was able to recreate Eternal Essence without being an Eternal herself, and why Yuan felt familiar with the curse's aura.

"However… I will not… allow myself… to die… so easily…!" The curse continued.

"I will… consume every… living being… in this world… and be reborn…!"

The curse stared at Yuan and said, "I can sense… Eternal Essence… emitting from you…"

"Help me… and I will… grant you any… wish…!"

Yuan narrowed his eyes at the curse.

'Does it think I am an Eternal because I can use Eternal Essence?'

Suddenly, an idea came to Yuan.

Rather than attempting to destroy the curse while it was still inside Supreme Ruler Dena—risking her life in the process—Yuan realized there was another option.

It was a method that would guarantee her safety… but it would be incredibly reckless for him.

"Sure, I'll help you, but I don't need anything from you. After all, we're both Eternals. It's only right to help out a fellow comrade," Yuan spoke with a smile on his face.

The eyes on the mass of lump grinned into a crescent, clearly very happy to hear that Yuan was willing to help it.

"However, I will need you to do something first in order for me to help you."

"What is… it…?"

Yuan extended his arm toward it and said, "Leave your current host and use me as a vessel instead!"

"What…?"

The curse looked at him with wide eyes, unable to comprehend why Yuan would make such a suggestion.

"Listen carefully. How close are you to completing your rebirth right now?" Yuan asked.

The curse fell silent for a moment before replying, "I am about… thirty percent… done."

Yuan shook his head and released a pitiful sigh.

"And how long have you been doing this? Tens of billions of years? At this rate, not only will it take you forever to finish, but I doubt you'll even succeed in being reborn."

"What…!?"

"Why are you surprised?" Yuan chuckled. "What do you think is the most important for Eternals?"

"Eternal Essence!" Yuan answered before the curse could respond. "Even if you consumed every living being on this world, you would lack the necessary Eternal Essence to be reborn. However, if you enter my body and use me as a host, I will be able to gather and feed you Eternal Essence." "Oh… oh… OH…!" The curse exclaimed with excitement after hearing Yuan's logical explanation.

"You are… amazing…!"

"Very well… I shall… enter your body… now…"

The next moment, Yuan felt the curse begin transferring from Supreme Ruler Dena's body into his own.

The process only took a few minutes, but to Yuan, it felt as though days had passed. Throughout the entire ordeal, he had to endure immense, searing pain that felt like someone was injecting lava into his veins.

"Your body is… a little smaller… but… it's much more… comfortable…!" The curse remarked shortly after entering his Dantian.

"Oh…? What is… this…?"

It was also intrigued by the nearby Spirit Tree.

The very next moment—

"W-WHAT IS… HAPPENING…?!"

The curse cried out loud when the Spirit Tree's roots suddenly attacked it and began draining it of its energy.

'Oh?'

Yuan was pleasantly surprised to see the Spirit Tree waking up to absorb the curse even without needing him to do anything. He'd initially planned on absorbing the curse himself, but if the Spirit Tree was going to do all of the work, he was fine with that, as well.

'You…! You… lied… to me…!"

The curse immediately started fighting back, slowly overpowering the Spirit Tree.

Seeing this, Yuan decided to step in and started attacking the curse with Eternal Essence.

"Why…?! Why are you… attacking me…?!"

"I thought… we were… comrades…?!"

The curse shouted.

"Comrades?" Yuan sneered. "Although you and I have no enmity for you, I am not an Eternal."

"What…?! Then how… can you… use… Eternal Essence…?!"

"You have no need for that knowledge since you'll also turn into my Eternal Essence soon."

"No…! I… curse you…!"

"Good luck with that!" Yuan laughed out loud as he continued weakening the curse and refining it into his own Eternal Essence at the same time.

However, the process took much longer than Yuan had anticipated.

The curse, although weak and only thirty percent completed, was still tens of billions of years old with immense energy from consuming countless demons.

One year… five years… twenty years…

It'd taken Yuan nearly thirty years to finish refining the curse.

"I will… return… one day…"

The curse muttered its last words before it was completely absorbed by Yuan.

After examining his condition, Yuan discovered that his Eternal Essence had strengthened by at least triple after consuming the curse. It was an immense gain considering how little effort it took him.

"So this is what it feels like to consume an Eternal, huh? To think I'd grow this much from an Eternal that wasn't even fully born." Yuan started wondering how much stronger he'd get if he were to refine a completed Eternal.

After finishing, Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

Immediately, he was met with a pair of beautiful crimson eyes, gleaming like two ruby jewels just inches from his face.

"Hey, Dena. How are you feeling?" Yuan asked her with a calm smile on his face.

"..."

Supreme Ruler Dena had awakened, and she was crouched directly in front of him, her crimson eyes fixed on Yuan as if she were examining him.

"Tian… Chenyu?" she muttered in a low voice, sounding as if she was doubting her own eyes.

"I was Tian Chenyu, but that was long ago. Now, I am simply Yuan."

Supreme Ruler Dena nodded and then said, "Were you the one who woke me up from that everlasting nightmare?"

"What do you think? Who else besides me is here?"

A warm smile tugged at Supreme Ruler Dena's lips, causing her already ethereal beauty to shine even more radiantly.

"I have a lot of questions for you," Yuan said.

"As do I," said Dena. "But you may ask your questions first."

Yuan nodded and proceeded to ask about the Eternal.

"You… consumed an Eternal before it was born? How does that work? And why did you do it?"

Supreme Ruler Dena pondered her answer for a moment before speaking, "That's right. I sensed a familiar energy appearing somewhere in the void, so I went to investigate it, thinking it was you."

"But when I arrived, it turned out to be something else entirely. It was some kind of crystal, and it emitted an energy that I could not comprehend, so I ate it."

"You ate it just like that? Have you ever considered the consequences?" Yuan asked, even though he had no right to lecture someone else about their eating habits.

She calmly shrugged before continuing, "I thought I would be able to acquire that power after consuming it, but alas, even though I was able to comprehend it to a certain extent, I was unable to wield it."

"But you were able to replicate it. How did you do that?"

Supreme Ruler Dena raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You… don't remember? I fought with your clones not long ago, and they were able to wield an energy similar to Eternal Essence."

Supreme Ruler Dena then said, "My memories are still a bit blurry since I've only just woken up."

"Well, what do you remember?"

"That I consumed the crystal and returned home. But anything after that is a haze."

"Is that so…" Yuan muttered.

"It's my turn to ask some questions," Supreme Ruler Dena then said.

"Where are we?" she then asked.

"Huh? When did you wake up?" Yuan asked.

"Shortly after you removed that thing inside me."

"And you haven't bothered to go outside even once?" "No. I didn't want to leave your side," she calmly replied, leaving him speechless.