An adult Red Jujube Crab was about the size of a quail’s egg. As he picked it up, he saw a large, cotton-like mass of red matter stuck to its underside. Suspended within this red substance were countless, densely packed, pale red eggs.

The Red Jujube Crab struggled fiercely, its eight legs swishing through the air with a faint sound. If they were to scratch an ordinary person, they would immediately leave bloody gashes.

’It’s definitely much stronger than the ordinary crabs from my past life. A lot of power. For such a small crab, its strength feels comparable to a three- or four-year-old child’s...’ Lin Hui observed.

’The goal of the Sacred Form of Life is for me to save ninety-nine different types of living beings, and then feel the Pulse of Life. So flowers, grass, insects, and animals should all count, right...?’

’How should I save them?’ Lin Hui wondered. He put down the Red Jujube Crab and wandered around a bit. Soon, he found another Red Jujube Crab wedged in a rock crevice. It was being squeezed by its companions, its body pushed almost to the point of deforming.

He quickly reached out, picked it up, and placed it on a wider part of the rocky beach.

The Red Jujube Crab scuttled sideways, waving its two large pincers, and dashed toward the sea as if fleeing for its life the moment it touched the ground.

’Does that count as saving one species?’ Lin Hui wondered.

Soon, an extremely faint, warm stream flowed out of thin air and into his heart.

The stream was very warm and comfortable, like a massage for his heart.

But it was so faint and fleeting that the stream vanished in an instant, making Lin Hui feel as if the sensation had just been an illusion.

’This is the Pulse of Life? I knew it wouldn’t be this simple.’

Lin Hui frowned.

If insects were included in the ninety-nine creatures to be saved, the number of species would be far greater than ninety-nine. If monsters from the Fog Area also counted, the categories would easily exceed several hundred.

But the key was that if the saved creature was too weak, the result would be just like what had happened now: the Pulse of Life would appear only to vanish in an instant. Before he even had time to react, it was all over.

It was a total bust.

Standing up, Lin Hui looked around and soon discovered that the red rock beach was connected to the sea on one side and a black forest on the other.

The forest was about three or four hundred meters away from him. Most of the trees inside were black, as if they had been scorched.

Between the trees floated a black, jellyfish-like animal, dragging long tentacles that faintly glowed with a pale green fluorescence.

These black, jellyfish-like animals were called Guoqu. Lin Hui had seen them before during his walks. According to his teacher colleagues, this creature was somewhere between an insect and an animal. It was highly venomous but had a gentle temperament, never attacked people, and fed only on fruits and nuts.

An idea struck him. His figure flickered, and in an instant, he crossed several hundred meters, arriving before the black forest and in front of a Guoqu.

The Guoqu was over a meter long. It floated before him like a real jellyfish, its tentacles below constantly squirming in a rhythmic pattern, emitting an invisible force that kept it suspended in the air.

GURGLE GURGLE.

The Guoqu’s sound was like many water bubbles constantly popping. He had no idea what it meant.

Lin Hui scanned his surroundings but didn’t find any Guoqu that needed help.

’What if the creature I want to save doesn’t need any help in the first place?’ The thought flashed through his mind.

’Then I’ll make it so they *do* need help.’

That was the fastest and most effective idea.

Lin Hui looked at the Guoqu in front of him.

SMACK.

He reached out and slapped it.

Struck by the immense force, the Guoqu shot out like a bullet and slammed into a nearby black tree trunk, leaving a deep, damaged crater.

Bark fell from the tree, and the Guoqu’s black outer shell was also significantly dented and cracked.

It fell to the ground and rolled over a few times. Its tentacles squirmed, but it couldn’t get up for a long while.

Seeing this, Lin Hui quickly went over and gently helped it up. He then took some disinfectant and anti-inflammatory powder from his waist pouch and applied it to the creature.

He didn’t know if medicine for humans would work on this thing, but regardless, the priority was to treat the injury first.

Fortunately, it wasn’t bleeding. Only its hard outer shell was dented and damaged. A faint, fruity fragrance, somewhat like a mix of banana and peach, wafted from its body.

The Guoqu struggled a few times and floated up from Lin Hui’s hands.

Then it fled from Lin Hui as if for its life, providing absolutely no feedback from the Pulse of Life for being helped.

’So it didn’t work? Is this Pulse of Life judged subjectively, or does it have to meet certain prerequisites?’

Lin Hui felt this was worth testing.

He first retreated from the black forest and concealed himself.

Then, from a distance, he projected his Inner Strength, precisely injuring a Guoqu that was resting against a tree trunk.

THWUMP.

The Guoqu fell heavily to the ground, its body trembling, unable to move.

Fortunately, Lin Hui’s control was extremely precise. The outer shell wasn’t damaged; it was just stunned, probably with a slight concussion.

Just as the Guoqu was wondering where the attack had come from, Lin Hui descended from the sky and gently scooped it up.

He quickly applied medicine, soothed it, and then let it fly away.

The Guoqu gratefully circled him a few times before slowly flying off.

And then...

’Nothing at all...’ Lin Hui didn’t feel the slightest hint of the Pulse of Life.

’Was the injury not serious enough?’

Next, he tried several more times, injuring the Guoqu to varying degrees and then treating them.

But after fussing about for over two hours, he still hadn’t felt any Pulse of Life.

The sky gradually grew dark.

He had no choice but to head back for the time being. On his way, he happened to buy two small potted plants from the street that were on the verge of dying.

One was a Golden Water Orchid, the other a Wind Chime Narcissus.

Both pots had the simplest of problems: pests.

Carrying the two flowerpots, Lin Hui carefully placed them on the floor by the door of his study.

’This time, I’ll test the Pulse of Life from plants.’

After consulting the hired worker in the courtyard responsible for trimming and planting, Lin Hui bought the specific pesticide powders for both types of pests. He then carefully dug the two plants out of the soil, cleaned their roots, applied the medicine, and then repotted them with fresh soil and watered them.

By the time he finished with the second pot, the sky had turned completely dark.

Li Yuanyuan was directing the hired aunties to fully draw the night canopies.

In reality, because of the night fog, most of the houses here were enclosed. Only a few areas, like the garden and hallways, were open to the sky. It was only necessary to cover these places.

After treating the plants, Lin Hui didn’t receive a Pulse of Life. Looking at the state of the two pots, he estimated that if it were to have any effect, it would take at least several hours, or maybe even several days.

Plants had always been slow to react. He understood this.

In the following days, he continued his daily routine of teaching classes, cultivating, and occasionally returning to the Lin Mansion to guide Lin Xiaoliu and have awkward chats with Liu Xiao.

Ever since his father had made his intentions clear last time, every time he went back and saw Liu Xiao, the young woman would blush furiously, sit with her head down, and not say a word.

Lin Hui could only talk to her about his teaching, especially about a student named Fan Lingxi.

Liu Xiao had also joined the Martial Academy as a teacher. After a year, she had grown accustomed to the rhythm of teaching, so they could at least exchange a few words on these topics.

But his main focus was still on the Pulse of Life.

「A few days later.」

Of the two potted plants, the Golden Water Orchid was successfully revived, but the Wind Chime Narcissus had died completely.

When Lin Hui returned home from work at noon, he felt an extremely faint warm stream flow into his heart the moment he walked through the door.

This warm stream was even thinner and smaller than the one from the Red Jujube Crab, and just as fleeting.

’Is this the Pulse of Life from a plant? It’s too little, and it took so long... Perhaps a large tree would be more cost-effective. But this is still too slow. If I could save all the species in an entire area at once... could I obtain a massive amount of the Pulse of Life directly?’

Soon, it was time for Wang Hongshi’s wedding celebration.

Wanyu Manor was located north of Xinyue Town, not within the town itself, but among the farmlands between Xinyue Town and another town called Baishui Town.

The manor’s owner was said to be a former pirate who had gone legitimate. Now, the vast farmlands in the surrounding area belonged to him, and he used a few of his own manors to host wedding celebrations for profit.

On the day of the wedding, a large number of the bride’s family and friends were present. It seemed her family was well-off.

Lin Hui and a group of Qingfeng Daoist Disciples attended as friends and family of the groom, Wang Hongshi.

After a series of seemingly lively but actually boring ceremonies, Wang Hongshi and the bride, Zhao Feiyue, knelt before both sets of parents, paid their respects, and bowed to each other.

Lin Hui sat upright in the row of seats reserved for elders, smiling as he watched the wedding approach its final step: entering the bridal chamber.

BANG!!

Suddenly, a gray figure leaped down from mid-air in the courtyard, lunging straight for the bride, Zhao Feiyue.

"Hahahaha, my luck is good tonight! To think I’d run into such a gorgeous little beauty just by passing by!"

The figure made a grasping motion with a large hand, conjuring a wide, fan-shaped palm shadow that pressed down on the bride, Zhao Feiyue.

"Let me take you back and savor you properly!"

"Insolent!"

"Stop him!"

"How dare you crash my Zhao Family’s wedding banquet! Die!!"

Three of the Zhao Family’s relatives standing nearby shot forward, launching three Palm Seals of Inner Strength from mid-air.

In a flash of white light, the Palm Seals shattered the gray figure’s fan-shaped palm shadow and slammed viciously into his body.

SPURT.

The figure was sent flying backward, spitting blood in mid-air, and vanished after soaring several dozen meters away.

Lin Hui was speechless. The members of the Qingfeng Daoist Sect hadn’t moved either. Everyone knew that with Lin Hui presiding, no matter what emergency arose, there would be no problem.

They just hadn’t expected that this lecher couldn’t even get past the Zhao Family’s relatives.

They watched as the lecher was quickly chased down by the crowd and captured. A gray sack was thrown over his head, and he was forced to kneel on the ground, covered in blood, wailing in agony from the beating.

"Just kill him. For a lecher like this, the Government Office rules state he’d be put in a knife cage anyway," said the bride’s older brother, Zhao Feichi, nonchalantly.

He currently served as a Chief Constable in the Government Office, so he knew these rules inside and out.

"Then let’s dispose of him quickly. Don’t let it delay the auspicious time," Wang Hongshi’s father nodded in agreement.

Wang Hongshi had served as the Grand Supervisor of the Qingfeng Daoist Sect for many years, so his family’s financial situation was naturally a world apart from what it used to be. His father had the air of a wealthy merchant magnate.

"Since everyone agrees, let’s just get rid of him," said the Zhao family relative who had caught him, smiling. He was about to give the lecher a quick end with his blade.

"Wait a moment," Lin Hui suddenly spoke up, stopping them.

A key thought suddenly occurred to him: if he saved this lecher, would he receive a Pulse of Life?

He wanted to test whether the Pulse of Life had any sort of moral judgment about good or evil.

And if he did receive it, what would happen if he killed the man *after* receiving it?