"Drip… drip…"
Fresh blood kept falling. The wound that had only just healed from soaking in the Inner Realm's water was torn open again, cut deep.
Each drop of blood that fell was quickly absorbed into the joints within the circle. Energy surged back toward the center, rapidly pouring into the small cat's shattered body.
By the time everything before Louis's eyes seemed to blur slightly, he finally withdrew his hand and slowly walked outside. At this moment, his body no longer wavered, but his face was deathly pale, like that of a vampire.
He sat beneath the moonlight, quickly restoring his strength after a day of running about.
Everything seemed to have returned to its proper track.
Early the next morning, Louis picked up gardening tools and various seeds and entered his Inner Realm.
At this point, one corner of the rocky ground inside the Inner Realm had already been piled full of water, ready-to-eat food, clothing, and other daily necessities.
Louis had even thoughtfully arranged everything neatly into separate areas.
That aside, the area not covered by fog was now nearly as large as two soccer fields combined.
However, one third of it was solid rock and couldn't be planted at all, so Louis used it as storage space.
As for the remaining two thirds of soil… Louis wasn't sure whether plants could actually grow here. He had never farmed before, but the books said that for plants to grow well, the soil should at least be loose.
So Louis put on shorts and a sleeveless shirt, lifted the hoe, and began hacking at the ground without pause.
But it seemed this was far harder than he had imagined. There really should have been machinery like the kind used on farms.
Unfortunately, Louis didn't have the permits to buy such machines. For now, he could only rely on his own strength.
An entire morning passed, or maybe even longer. Louis wasn't sure. By the time he was completely exhausted, the amount of land he had managed to dig, properly, neatly, and loosened, was only close to twenty square meters, yet he was already panting like a dog.
As a Dark God, this was truly no small humiliation.
He let out a sigh, bracing both hands on his knees. Sweat ran down his face, gathered at his chin, and then dripped onto the ground.
"It's fine. Tomorrow I'll be able to dig a bit more…"
Louis muttered, then directly picked out the seeds of an apple tree.
The book said they had to be planted six meter apart.
Only then did he recall that for this kind of plant, it would be best to use saplings instead. That way, everything would go more smoothly.
With his level of farming skill, he had no idea whether these seeds would even sprout.
But since he had already started, he would do his best before the saplings were delivered.
In the end, Louis successfully planted six apple seeds, no more and no less.
He let out a breath and walked outside.
Glancing at the clock, it was exactly eleven in the morning.
Louis couldn't help but frown slightly. He felt that far more time should have passed. At the very least, it ought to be late afternoon by now.
Perhaps there was a time difference between the outside world and the Inner Realm?
He would test it again tomorrow.
Louis made the decision silently, then went online to order saplings.
Early the next morning, Louis once again entered the Inner Realm.
The hoe he had used yesterday was still there. The saplings hadn't arrived yet, so he could take the opportunity to dig up a few more patches of land.
However, the moment he saw the scene inside the Inner Realm, Louis couldn't help but stop. Astonishment that he couldn't conceal spread across his face.
On the plot of land he had tilled the day before, six young shoots had already sprouted, each one over thirty centimeters tall.
Louis nearly dropped to one knee to examine the seedlings. In his dark eyes, a trace of light appeared for the first time.
Instinctively, he reached out, hesitated for a moment, then finally brushed them lightly with his fingers. The leaves swayed gently, as if sending him a greeting.
"They really grew…"
Louis couldn't help murmuring.
There hadn't even been any fertilizer, no watering at all. Louis looked down at the soil beneath his feet and felt that the key was probably the earth itself, as well as the air inside the Inner Realm.
But no matter what, those plants had indeed grown without the slightest obstruction, and at a speed far faster than in the outside world.
Through experimentation, Louis also confirmed the time difference between the outside and the Inner Realm.
Three days passed inside the Inner Realm while only one day passed outside.
It was truly a perfect place to rest and recuperate. Moreover, Louis discovered that if he worked inside the Inner Realm, he wouldn't get hungry easily. And so, the days Louis spent farming while immersed in the Inner Realm began.
The results of his labor were that all kinds of fruit trees had been planted. The seeds he had brought back from the farm were no exception.
But what was even more shocking was their growth speed and size.
A single carrot could even grow as thick as, or thicker than, Louis's forearm.
This forced Louis to plant them much farther apart.
And now, more than a month had already passed.
At this point, the chaos brought about by nature had gradually subsided, and the weather had become clear and pleasant.
Over the past month, Louis had almost done nothing but buy, buy, buy, and farm, farm, farm.
By now, he had even placed an order for a custom off-road vehicle with its own engine, ensuring it could charge through the chaotic world of the apocalypse.
At present, he could stay underwater for more than ten minutes, and the black viscous fluid no longer surged out.
Previously, the water in the pond had brought him pain, but after every "metamorphosis" was complete, it simply restored Louis's stamina and healed his injuries.
Looking at Louis's hands, no one would be able to tell just how much he had struggled with the soil inside his Inner Realm over the past month.
Beneath the clear, green-tinged water, a perfect body floated suspended within.
The lines of muscle were well-defined but not exaggerated, slender yet still carrying an unmistakable sense of strength.
His skin was a cold, pale white, like that of a vampire who shunned the sun. His black hair, raven-soft, drifted down and swayed with every movement of the water.
His lips were blood-red. His facial features were exquisitely beautiful to the extreme, and the tear mole beneath his right eye only added to the sense of dreamy allure. Yet all that alluring beauty vanished the moment he opened his eyes.
A pair of pitch-black, shadowy eyes. A dense, absolute black that looked strange and frightening, as if they could see straight through a person's soul and shatter any hazy, romantic thoughts.
He gently pushed off, and in an instant rose out of the water.
A dripping sound echoed as black mist immediately gathered, condensing into a twisted, terrifying shape that let out threatening sounds toward the young man.
During this period, his neck and limbs had all returned to his body, and he had gradually regained consciousness. It was just that, even now, he still could not return to his body completely.
Every day, he stared at the one who had tormented him, caused him pain, and imprisoned him here. The fury burned. Truly damnable. Just wait until the day he escaped this place. The very first thing he would do would be to bite off that man's throat.
The little cat, no, it now had a name given by Louis. Varkas. This name appeared after Varkas's body had finally been pieced back together, like a confirmation that his life was at last secured.
But clearly, Varkas now regarded Louis as his abuser, someone who not only tormented him but refused to let him die and continued to torture him instead.
Louis was still unaware of all this. He looked at the shadow that kept baring its fangs and waving its claws, and did not pay it much mind. No matter how sharp those claws were, if they could not scratch him, they were meaningless.
He cut open his wrist. Fresh blood immediately poured down as if it cost nothing. Energy gathered at once, drifting toward the center.
Another day of drinking blood to his fill. Varkas felt that the day he left this circle was no longer far away. His sinister gaze followed Louis's retreating figure.
Just wait for that day. Varkas swore he would bite off this man's throat, not only drinking his blood, but devouring his flesh as well.