Happiness, Wrath, Sorrow, and Joy (before battle)

Now that's an annoying trick...

Tsk, everything's just bouncing off that sod...

The fact that N Corp. has already found a way to successfully extract E.G.O has already been identified.

... However, it is at a more advanced stage than we had imagined.

But they... physically could not have had enough time to reach this level of completion.

You're not the most pleasant bastard to be around, but... I must admit, you are certainly capable.

Hmph. It is no surprise that a layperson such as yourself fails to see through the vast mind of a scientist.

It really happened as my research deemed it would, did it not? The defensive field generated by this E.G.O is invincible.

The lineage of Hierarchs must continue. The bequeathment of immortality must continue. The amusements of life must continue.

This momentary lapse in judgment mustn't be allowed to shake Daguanyuan's status quo.

You need only remain a gem, nothing more. Your only responsibility was to keep that jade clean, free of marring, to bring further glory to Daguanyuan...

Jia Mu! Correct the foolishly lost child's wanderings! Return him to the rightful road!

Why does the gem, the child who must witness nothing but the greatest luxuries at the apex of the world, endeavor to become a worthless stone again?

Now ensure that the child, the beneficiary of our love and care, may fulfill his duty and purpose for existence.

What a tragic turn of events.

I meant to bestow you the Golden Bough, forsaking one of the paths to immortality that I had acquired...

... yet you would rather pursue the pointless, fleeting charade? Against your own grandmother?

Yes. Grandmother, elders... you have all loved and cared for me more than anyone else in Daguanyuan has.

And that's why, while my own brothers and sisters were doomed to spend the rest of their lives killing each other...

I could simply witness the lives plummet to the cold earth, all from the comfort of my room.

My parents also told me that I should be thankful for being born as a gem. That I should feel lucky that all I have to do is just keep an eye open.

But... grandmother...

... What if I told you I'm exhausted... tired of just glimmering on?

A precious jade has no such thing as wants or desires.

<…!>

<The Golden Bough...?>

The Golden Bough slides into Jia Mu's body and begins to flicker, its power spiraling into her body.

The rewinding process you have shown us in the first round was most fascinating.

And it has unlocked a new level of understanding in me - the true worth of this artifact, previously unnoticed and allowed to remain untouched within the depths of our treasury.

Once we leave this little... ruckus behind, I will be sure to put that Golden Bough within the 'rewinding thing' to good use as well.