As Nicos surveyed the hidden space, the Spirit Beasts were doing the same.
Countless pairs of eyes quietly observed the unexpected visitor.
Some regarded him with curiosity.
Some remained cautious.
Others merely glanced at him before losing interest altogether.
The Spirit Beast cubs that had been frolicking near the stream were quickly called back by the older beasts, who watched Nicos with vigilant eyes.
Nicos paid them little attention.
His gaze had already been captured by the flowing stream before him.
Stepping closer, he stood at the water's edge and looked into the crystal-clear stream.
Its pristine waters revealed everything beneath the surface.
Various aquatic plants swayed gently with the current. Sacred lotuses bloomed elegantly atop the water, while lilies drifted lazily across the stream. None of them looked ordinary. Every single plant radiated dense Spirit Essence, making it obvious that each possessed extraordinary medicinal properties.
Merely standing beside the stream filled him with an indescribable sense of comfort.
He felt refreshed.
Energized.
Even his breathing became lighter.
A subtle transformation quietly began within his body, as though every breath he drew was washing away years of accumulated impurities.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Nicos abandoned all etiquette.
He immediately knelt beside the stream and lowered his head, drinking directly from it like a traveler who had wandered through a desert before finally finding water.
The Spirit Beasts continued watching him.
For a fleeting moment, a glimmer of intelligence flashed across several pairs of eyes.
Nicos paid them no mind.
He continued drinking.
And drinking.
Yet no matter how much Spiritual Water entered his body, it felt as though he were pouring it into a bottomless abyss that had no intention of ever being filled.
He almost wished he had another mouth.
Deep within his body, his decayed Spirit-Root greedily devoured every trace of Spirit Essence contained within the water.
Yet...
Nothing changed.
The Spirit-Root remained exactly as it had always been.
Nicos wasn't discouraged.
He continued drinking.
Deep beneath the stream, several lotus-like seeds slowly detached themselves from the riverbed.
Instead of flowing downstream with the current...
They moved against it.
They drifted upstream.
Toward Nicos.
As the Spiritual Water continuously nourished his body, changes gradually began to appear elsewhere.
His internal organs grew stronger.
His bones became denser.
His muscles and physique underwent a subtle yet thorough transformation.
His blood vessels were purified.
His meridians and spirit channels, which had long since withered, were slowly restored and refined.
Meanwhile, the lotus-like seeds quietly drew closer.
Completely unaware of their presence, Nicos swallowed three of them together with another mouthful of water.
The three seeds traveled down his throat before settling within his lower abdomen—
The place where his decayed Spirit-Root had always resided.
The moment they arrived...
The decayed Spirit-Root shattered.
It didn't crack.
It didn't wither.
It was utterly destroyed.
Nicos abruptly stopped drinking.
His eyes widened in alarm.
He instinctively examined his body.
The familiar presence of his Spirit-Root...
Had disappeared.
Nothing remained.
Only an empty void.
However, before panic could consume him, he noticed something astonishing.
All the Spirit Essence his decayed Spirit-Root had absorbed over the years hadn't vanished.
It had merely been trapped.
Now that the Spirit-Root no longer existed, that immense accumulation of Spirit Essence burst free like a river breaking through a collapsed dam.
The torrent of energy surged throughout his entire body.
It flowed through every vein.
Every organ.
Every bone.
Even his bone marrow was thoroughly cleansed as countless hidden impurities were expelled from within him.
At the same time, the three lotus-like seeds settled where his Spirit-Root had once been.
They began spinning rapidly.
As they revolved around one another, delicate lines of light slowly appeared across their surfaces.
Curiosity replaced his earlier shock.
Nicos immediately returned to drinking from the stream.
This time, however, part of his attention remained fixed on the changes occurring inside his body.
The mysterious seeds continued absorbing Spirit Essence at an astonishing speed.
With every passing moment, they emitted an increasingly brilliant radiance.
Finally...
There was a response.
For the first time since entering the hidden space, the Spirit Essence was truly taking effect.
The hidden space gradually fell into complete silence.
Only the gentle murmur of the flowing stream could be heard.
Time quietly slipped away.
After absorbing an immeasurable amount of Spirit Essence, the three seeds slowly drifted together.
Three...
Became two.
Two...
Became one.
A single Spirit Seed, roughly the size of a baby's fist, floated serenely within his lower abdomen.
Nicos stopped drinking and carefully observed what happened next.
The Spirit Seed slowly descended before settling exactly where his Spirit-Root had once existed.
Moments later...
Crack...
A faint sound echoed.
The surrounding Spirit Beasts immediately lifted their heads.
Crack...
Crack...
The sound grew louder.
Soon it resembled a series of firecrackers exploding one after another.
Inside Nicos' body, fine cracks spread across the shell of the Spirit Seed.
Then—
The shell completely disintegrated.
What remained was an exquisite lotus platform.
Resting upon the blooming lotus sat a tiny Being in a meditative posture.
The moment he saw it...
Nicos instinctively understood.
"My Spirit Being..."
He whispered in astonishment.
As if responding to his thoughts, countless tiny strands of radiant light extended from the Spirit Being.
They slowly reached upward before intertwining with his Inner Spirit.
Nicos stood rooted to the spot.
Everything he had ever known about the connection between humans and the Spirit Realm was being overturned before his very eyes.
Ordinary Spirit Warriors established their connection to the Spirit Realm through their Spirit-Root.
His...
Was completely different.
Then another thought surfaced in his mind.
"Then again... a decayed Spirit-Root was never normal to begin with."
Suppressing his astonishment, he quietly continued observing the process.
Once the connection between his Spirit Being and his Inner Spirit was fully established - It like a shell merging with the substance making the completely one and whole, another transformation began.
This time...
It was his physical body.
"We're... still not done?"
Nicos muttered in disbelief.
Not far away, the Spirit Beasts instinctively retreated several steps.
They weren't afraid.
Rather...
They were feeling something strangely familiar.
For countless years they had lived within this hidden space.
The aura now emanating from Nicos...
Was identical to the one emitted by the Sacred Seed resting at the bottom of the stream.
Completely unaware of their reactions, Nicos remained immersed in his transformation.
His silver hair gradually lost its original color.
Strand by strand...
It transformed into pristine white silk that flowed elegantly to his shoulders.
His facial features became sharper and more refined.
Every contour seemed to have been meticulously sculpted by the hands of a master craftsman.
His jawline became more defined.
His eyebrows and eyelashes grew perfectly proportioned.
His straight nose complemented his face flawlessly.
His lips became fuller, carrying a healthy crimson hue.
Even the graceful lines of his neck possessed an almost ethereal elegance.
His once copper-colored skin gradually became pale and flawless, resembling polished white jade.
Every inch of his physique was refined.
Perfectly balanced.
Perfectly healthy.
When Nicos finally opened his eyes...
His familiar hazel irises had transformed into a striking shade of silver-grey, harmonizing perfectly with his white brows and eyelashes.
He looked like an entirely different person.
A reborn version of himself.
After calming himself, Nicos turned toward the stream once more.
His thoughts immediately drifted to the people waiting outside.
His mother.
Tabitha.
Barnabas.
Alfonso.
Nakita.
"I'd be selfish if I kept this blessing to myself."
He smiled faintly.
"Surely... this is a blessing bestowed by the Holy One."
"I have to share it with everyone."
Without hesitation, he removed the two water flasks from his backpack.
He poured out the ordinary water inside before filling both flasks with Spiritual Water from the stream.
To his surprise, several Sacred Seeds quietly drifted into the flasks as though choosing to accompany the water.
Nicos carefully sealed both containers before securing them inside his backpack.
Looking around once more at the countless spiritual herbs, flowers, and trees, he couldn't help wishing he could bring them back as well.
The thought lasted only a moment.
He quickly dismissed it.
Anything imbued with Spirit Essence would never survive outside this hidden space.
Taking one final look around, Nicos prepared to leave.
Just then...
Four Spirit Beast cubs appeared directly in his path.
The tiny creatures looked irresistibly adorable.
For a brief moment, he was tempted to take them with him.
But reason quickly prevailed.
The Forgotten Region was devoid of Spirit Essence.
Bringing them there would only doom them.
Reluctantly, he smiled before carefully walking around the cubs.
As he reached the edge of the hidden space, he turned back one final time.
Then...
He stepped through the barrier and disappeared.
The Spirit Beast cubs immediately turned toward the older beasts.
To anyone else, what happened next would have been impossible to believe.
"Go."
One of the older Spirit Beasts spoke calmly.
"If everything continues according to fate..."
"It won't be long before we join you."
The four cubs' eyes immediately lit up with excitement.
Without another moment's hesitation, they rushed out of the hidden space, eagerly chasing after Nicos.
Had Nicos remained long enough to witness the scene...
He would have been utterly flabbergasted to discover that the Spirit Beasts could actually speak.