In the charred depths of the pit.
Asclepius, recovering from chaos and shock, lifted his pale hands and touched his familiar cheeks, feeling the normal warmth and the flow of blood and vitality beneath his skin. A scholar's curiosity arose, and he couldn't help but marvel.
"I'm actually still alive?"
"More precisely, revived from death."
Next to him, the pale-faced Luo En glanced at his troubleso great-nephew and narrated the events with annoyance.
Facing the thunderbolt of Zeus, not only could Asclepius, a demigod, not survive, even Luo En himself would have been blasted into heroic fragnts had he been there.
Thus, there was absolutely no way that Asclepius could have survived then; his body was genuinely destroyed by the divine might of the thunderbolt.
And not even ashes were left.
But, as Luo En thought, His Majesty the King of Gods did not intend to let Asclepius's spirit vanish into smoke as well, not wishing to craft an image of himself as brutally murderous to outsiders.
His initial plan was to destroy Asclepius's body in the na of the divine righteousness to serve as a warning to others and preserve the authority of the gods. Then, amid the pleas of other deities, he planned to step down gracefully, elevating Asclepius's spirit to the stars, adorning his own divine realm, and thereby seizing control of the healer's power completely.
The first half of the plan went smoothly, but the latter half encountered a severe deviation.
Zeus destroyed Asclepius's body and was about to imprison his grandson's spirit when he discovered that Asclepius's spirit—was gone!
Whether it was observing the scene firsthand or seeking verification from the Three Fates, he reached the sa conclusion.
In fact, all credit belongs to Luo En.
Out of precaution, before departing, he had transford his divine blood into fine wine, given it to Asclepius to drink, and contracted with his spirit through a holy word, preparing for a final safeguard before causing trouble in the Netherworld.
As luck would have it, the bad proved effective.
Asclepius, insistent on courting death, had his body directly obliterated by Zeus's thunderbolt into re dust.
But just as over the years, Zeus and the Three Fates had never discovered Luo En's identity and existence.
Asclepius's spirit, soaked with the divinity of [coincidence] by Luo En's divine blood, beca a system BUG. It went unnoticed by Zeus and unclaid by the Netherworld, fortuitously escaping disaster.
Because of his ignorance, His Majesty the King of Gods remained confused, facing the furious Hestia, Athena, and Artemis, continuously clarifying for himself:
—This was an accident!
—This was a problem of the Netherworld!
—Soone is trying to fra him!
However, Zeus's typically cunning mode of operation has long since eroded his bit of integrity.
Hestia, Athena, Artemis—who would believe him? They naturally assud that it was His Majesty the King of Gods who had destroyed both Asclepius's spirit and body, attempting to pass the bla.
Thus, having no way to refute the accusations, Zeus could only choose to avoid them. Lately, fearing that the three chief gods might block his path, he dared not even return to Olympus.
All these details were pryed from the insider dusa by Luo En during his return journey.
"He actually has these days too?"
Listening to Luo En's narration, Asclepius couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth, a gleeful smile of schadenfreude spreading across his usually calm and somber face.
Luo En glanced at this beloved grandnephew of Zeus, inquiring with amusent.
"So, do you still want to be [alive]?"
"Forget about it."
Asclepius chuckled and shook his head, his tone sowhat emotional.
"These days, being dead is much easier than being alive."
Suddenly, the dicine God paused, a hint of mischief reappearing on his face.
"Besides, opportunities to trip up His Majesty the King of Gods aren't frequent..."
Hearing Asclepius's aningful answer, Luo En nodded in satisfaction.
Not bad at all, truly fitting of being that obstinate Apollo's offspring, naturally heavy on rebelliousness.
And having just been tricked by his own grandfather Zeus, with his original body blasted to nothing, it was impossible for Asclepius not to harbor so resentnt.
"That said, I feel quite strange now."
At that mont, Asclepius scrutinized his current shell repeatedly, the slight surreal feeling causing him to frown.
"It doesn't quite feel like a dead person, nor does it feel like a living one, and my body's agility and coordination are also a bit off..."
"Did you expect to have such imnse powers as to completely restore your forr body?"
Luo En gave Asclepius a look, coldly snorting in irritation.
"What I used was my divine blood combined with the power of creation to mold a shell for you, at best a temporary container for your soul, just making do is good enough."
Asclepius bouncing around was partly thanks to the protective and hidden holy covenant he had before setting off, and partly thanks to Luo En himself obtaining the power of creation from Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.
Otherwise, even if that great nephew's spirit had been retrieved, he would have just been a lost soul.
"Here, drink this first, to deepen the fusion of body and spirit."
As he spoke, Luo En pulled out a bottle of Elixir of Immortality from the magic array and tossed it to Asclepius.
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