Realization hit me like a truck as I stared at the seven children who I managed to rescue from the Forsaken Tree. Here I was, thinking that I'd finally get to take a momentary break after all the commotion with the Forsaken Tree was over.

Here I was, thinking that the only thing I have to do right now is to bring these children and Mei Mei to the nearest shelter and I won't have any problems.

I, the great Sect Master Tang Yongrui, thought wrong.

Why didn't I take into account that they were exposed for who knows how long to the virus?

Despite the fact that there were no more roots running all over the children's body, their depleted Qi Core was about to run out as well. There was only one explanation for it— that the Forsaken Tree was keeping them alive while sucking their Qi Energy dry.

And that was the least of my problems. Aside from having little to no Qi Energy, the children were all terribly malnourished as well. Furthermore, lack of nutrients and sunlight made their bodies so frail that their skins were literally eating their bones. There was no way I could save them. There was no—

Yongrui, calm down. You have to think about this carefully. The Rush Hour is coming and if you don't maintain your composure, then you'll end up dying to the horde or worse.

Ahah, as if the Rush Hour is not enough pressure already. You got this, Yongrui, no pressure.

After a little pep talk to myself, I carefully examined the status of all the children once again.

<Would you like to add him to your party?>

<Yes/No>

<Would you like to add her to your party?>

<Yes/No>

<Would you like to add her to your party?>

<Yes/No>

Seven prompts suddenly erupted in my vision when I leaned in closer to inspect the children. The moment I read the contents of the prompt, I realized that somehow or the other, accepting the prompt would help the children. I don't exactly know how the party system works but I was able to monitor the hp of all the people I've met so that's already helpful enough.

I didn't have to think twice about letting the children at my party. The least I could do is do my best to keep them alive. I was the one who rescued them after all. And as a Sect master, I'm not one to finish halfway.

"Can you save them, Yongrui?" Yang Mei Mei asked. The tears still won't stop flowing from her eyes. Unlike me who was trying to keep my composure, she was a jumbled mess of emotions. Fortunately, she wasn't loud enough to attract the attention of the people who were gathering nearby. If they had heard her, then she might be the next sacrifice for the Forsaken Tree or something.

"I don't know, I'll see what I can do. For now, I have to stabilize their Qi Core with the help of my Qi Energy, and then, I'll worry about them turning into zombies a little bit later."

"Thank you... Yongrui." Yang Mei Mei sniffled as she wiped the tears off her face. Clenching her fists, she stared at me with great determination, or rather, renewed determination. "Hearing that you'll do what you can for them is more than enough for a sentiment, Yongrui. I know that these kids cannot be saved because they were already infected... but hearing you say that makes me want to believe that you really can cure them."

"Oh, I can cure them, all right. It's just that, I have to figure out a way to do it simultaneously. For now, I'll be channeling my Qi Energy to them so they won't die due to Qi exhaustion. After that, I hope I could find a way on how I'll be able to remove the virus from their body without my Qi energy going out of control."

"Yongrui, I think I can help you with that. I mean the System! I think the System can help you with that." Hui-ying suddenly spoke in my mind.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" I asked. Sensing that she had some sort of idea, I knew that I couldn't pass it up. After all, Hui-ying and the System had always been a great help in all of my direst moments.

"Your new skills, Yongrui. Some of them might be of help to you. I happened to hear the names of the skills and all of them were related to Blood and Virus. I'm sure that one of them will prove useful right now."

"Not a bad idea. I'll check them out. Can you take over in channeling my Qi Energy to these children and stabilizing their Qi core? I will study my new skills. If worse comes to worst, I'll just use my purification skill and try to save as many of them as I can."

"Open window, or panels, whatever," I called out. Why did I even embarrass myself?

I quickly accessed the skills tab.

Skills:

[ Swordsmanship (max)

Dark Element lvl. 1

Blood Element lvl. 5

Space Element

Time Element

Ferocity (max)

Rage (max)

Killing Intent (max)

(P) Zombie Master proficiency lvl. 6

(P) Automatic Qi Condensation (max)

Coagulation lvl.2

Purification lvl. 2

(P) Strong Will (max)

Blood Transfer lvl. 1

Blood Control lvl. 1

Virus Madness lvl. 1

Virus Control lvl. 1

Virus Affection lvl. 1 ]

The number of skills I stockpiled until now was starting to overwhelm the panel in front of me. To think that it was only recently I got my consciousness back as a mindless zombie and now I've learned a total of four powerful elements and a few skills, the System has truly blessed me.

However, now's not the time to think about this. Right now, I have to check if my five new skills could help me.

<Skill: Blood Transfer>

<Description: Allows the transfer of blood from one person to another. It's best used after activating the Purification Skill to further purify the skill user's blood. Important Note: blood compatibility is overruled with this skill.>

<Skill: Blood Control>

<Description: Allows control over the blood of another. This can only be used if the skill user is touching the receiver of the skill.>

<Skill: Virus Madness>

<Description: Allows the user to step two realms higher by controlling the amount of virus in the body and inflicting self-forced berserk mode to self.>

<Skill: Virus Control>

<Description: That's exactly how it works, read the name of the skill, stupid.>

<Skill: Virus Affection>

<Description: Are you angry at someone or have you ever wished that that person would just drop dead in front of you? You've come to the right spot, or rather, you've learned the right skill! This skill allows you to infect someone with the Virus! Nice!>

After skimming through the new skills I've got, I closed the panel and heaved a sigh of relief. Although the skill descriptions got a bit lazy near the end of the list, I still managed to get a vague idea of how I should be using the skills. I didn't expect that such cheaply named skills would be very useful in emergency situations like this.

"Yongrui, I've done all I can. Their Qi Cores and Qi Energy are somewhat stable for now." Hui-ying interrupted my line of thought once again but I didn't mind it. She's done it so many times that I've gotten used to it by now.

"Thanks, Hui-ying. I'll take over from here." I said as I extended my hands and wrapped each and every child with my Qi. Since I've never used my new skills before, I was feeling rather conflicted and nervous. Just like how someone would test out their new gear in the battlefield, I felt the same.

However, there was no time for me to look back and rethink my actions. The lives of these children are already hanging by a thread as it is.

<You've activated the Skill: Blood Transfer>

<Activation is successful. Notice: user has little to no blood. Therefore, Qi Energy will be used as a substitute instead.>

<Congratulations! You've learned the skill Qi Energy Conversion.>

"Phew, thanks for the save, System." I muttered.

It had only been a few seconds but beads of sweat were already trickling from my forehead as I continued with the process. Carefully controlling my Qi Energy while it's being converted to blood was doubly taxing than I've expected. I know that life is in the blood, but now, all I could feel is the life being drained out of me!

No, Yongrui, persevere!

Minute by minute, the complexion of the children was starting to get better. They were starting to look healthier compared to before when they looked like corpses I dug from the graveyard.

But becoming healthy also had its own set of problems. For one, the spread of the virus would be faster compared to before. Just as I was thinking that, the complexion of the children started to change once again.

The virus is now spreading like wildfire in their bodies.

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