"The young female wouldn't have the heart to return him once she sees how much we've sent." He had truly run out of options with this son of his. Thank the Beast God! He had to get the boy packed up and delivered to that young female as soon as possible. The elder, watching his king move so swiftly, hurried to remind him. "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Prince Marcus has been in the crystal coffin ever since he jumped into the lake last month and was rescued. He still hasn't woken up." "Right—he's still out cold!" Maurice smacked himself on the forehead, realizing he'd completely forgotten. No wonder the girl couldn't get in touch with him. "No matter," he said gruffly. "Have someone carry the crystal coffin over. Either way, we're sending him out today. And double the dowry—hell, triple it! As long as she doesn't send him back, we can give her every fine thing Frostveil has." … At the Interstellar Hunter Alliance headquarters, inside a small wooden cabin, Emma took advantage of Edric's absence to sneak out a fine needle. She pricked her fingertip and let a drop of blood fall onto the dark wooden stick Coalball had brought back. A few days earlier, Corvin had accidentally knocked over the flowerpot where she'd planted the stick. While cleaning up the mess, Emma had cut her finger, and a drop of her blood happened to fall onto the little black twig. She hadn't thought much of it—she just repotted the stick and went back to her tasks. But the next day, she discovered something unbelievable. The pitch-black twig had straightened, its color deepening into a dark blue. Tiny green buds had sprouted from the branch, and by nightfall, one of them had unfurled into a crescent-shaped leaf. A deep blue line ran right through the middle of the fresh green blade. What shocked Emma most was that the leaf looked exactly like the ones she'd seen on the lightcore—leaves from the Crescent Divine Tree, the Beast God's twin root. Over the past few days, she'd done plenty of research, digging through both the lightcore and the Alliance archives. By now, she was almost certain that this branch came from the Crescent Divine Tree itself. No wonder Coalball had treasured it so much. According to what she'd found, the tree's flowers held extraordinary healing energy. No matter how grave the injury or illness, as long as the person still drew breath, eating one of its blossoms could restore them completely. The Empire made regular pilgrimages to Divinar to ask the Beast God for a blessing from the sacred tree. Its diluted nectar was used to produce medicine that healed countless therians across the world.Its fruit—the Divine Seeds Emma had once eaten herself—could awaken a therian's latent abilities. She had no idea how Coalball had managed to get his hands on such a rare fragment of the Crescent Divine Tree. But if she could keep it alive long enough to make it bloom, she would have a miracle cure at her disposal. No matter how badly she or Edric were hurt, they'd never have to fear again. Drip. A droplet of her blood fell onto the deep-blue branch and vanished in an instant, absorbed by the wood. Emma quickly dabbed an ointment over her fingertip, and the tiny wound closed within seconds. Coalball, curled up beside the beast core, slept soundly through it all. Lately, he had developed the odd habit of sleeping next to those cores. Corvin had picked it up too—neither of them even bothered with the bed anymore. After tending to the sacred branch, Emma moved it to the window so it could bask in the sunlight. "Come on, grow fast," she murmured. "And hurry up and bloom for me." Her blood wasn't free—she expected something in return. With that, she went back to her training, not noticing how the tender leaf trembled faintly as she turned away. Edric had been gone for three days, busy sorting out her identity records and registration. Without him around, Emma either missed him or threw herself into cultivation. Over the past few days, she'd absorbed a great number of Rank 5 beast cores. Her strength had risen sharply—she was on the verge of advancing to Rank 5 herself. Just as she stepped out of the bedroom, her lightcore rang. The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number. Emma hesitated before answering. "Ms. Tibarn? It's me, Damian!"Upon hearing Damian's voice, Emma blinked in surprise. A few days ago, she'd spoken to him over the lightcore about dissolving their match. She'd already submitted the application and even sent him the confirmation screenshot before deleting his contact altogether. Since the dissolution was already processed, there was no reason for them to stay in touch—no shared benefits, no unfinished business. "Damian, we've already dissolved our match," Emma said evenly. "Why are you calling me?" On the other end, Damian's voice trembled with emotion. "Ms. Tibarn, please—just give me a moment. Let me finish. I know I have to pay for what I've done…"