Chapter 283

Chapter 283: The Return, Pressing Honey Qing to Go Into the Sea, the Dream Weaver Rabbit

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The gentle rain pattered against the window.

The girl’s snow-white lashes fluttered, and her golden eyes showed no signs of sleep, only a deep weariness, heavy like strong liquor, desolate like a wasteland. The illusions of the Sea of Truth faded away, but the lingering pain stirred in every cell and every thought.

This is the long-lasting echo hurt by the Embers after using [Embers]. Normally, similar pain wouldn’t last long and would completely swallow the soul and body, restoring health and a perfect state in exchange for the blessing of [Immortality].

But under the illusion of the Sea of Truth, it felt stretched out as if endless, dragging out a hallucination, still reflecting pain in her body.

Even the pain relief given by the little idols seemed meaningless at that moment.

In fact, the effect brought by the magic supplement felt more like a comforting potion. On the surface, it could extend life, but its core purpose… was to let her face her own end as painlessly as possible.

Chu Yuanqing struggled to lift her body; her nose felt blocked like she had a cold, and her throat was throbbing with pain as if it were on fire. Coldness and aching pressed down on her bones, her vision was a blur, the scenery sometimes going dark and sometimes twisting, and various ailments seemed to grow wildly in every corner as if time was speeding up.

This was not the backlash of the Embers.

This time, in the illusion, appeared a Calamity God that she had forgotten, whose authority seemed related to power and perhaps disease or virus.

And the illusion of the Sea of Truth successfully brought the "cost" of the hard-won victory into reality.

In the illusion, Chu Yuanqing couldn’t regain her former glory; her soul was in a dying state, lacking the thirteen branches of Calamity God authority, and couldn’t freely use Martial God Technique. Even the blessings that should have existed were almost gone, leaving only [Immortality].

As a result, she could only use Levatin roughly, using the burning technique of Embers combined with [Immortality] for endless blood grinding, basically like the last time she fought Old Testament in the illusion.

The difference is that this time she lost the advantage of information, as if returning to the first playthrough, fighting against Calamity God in the hardest way, suffering many losses that cost her life.

If it were only like this, it would be fine to regain information about the other Calamity Gods in the illusion; dying a few dozen times would not be a problem. Unfortunately, after exiting the illusion, the memories in her mind quickly became hazy and lost all reference value.

"So…"

"Is this a warning of Pure White / my continuous deterioration?"

Chu Yuanqing whispered to herself; based on the results from the data and various investigations, she realized that not long ago she faced Old Testament, the corresponding forbidden area showed signs of change, even overflowing enough to disperse many disaster aura whirlpools hidden around the world.

This can be seen from the fact that Charlotte has already cleared several whirlpools born from Old Testament’s radiation in Austria, showing the seriousness of the situation.

Therefore, following the previous pattern, it is highly likely that the Sea of Truth is helping Calamity God to reclaim the power that resides on their side, and regardless of whether they win or lose in the illusion, the challenging Calamity God will become more active and stronger.

"What would happen if… I lost in the illusion?"

This is a problem that must be handled with care.

In light of the premise that the Old Testament lost in the illusion and still caused a stir, once the Calamity God achieves victory in the illusion, her soul will also wear away in this defeat, leading to the collapse of Pure White, and the Calamity God’s authority will be restored.

In short, the crisis of the apocalypse has come much earlier than expected.

As for whether this argument is correct, we can ask Esther in a few days if there have been any unusual occurrences in forbidden areas to find out.

Chu Yuanqing felt the taste of the Calamity God’s authority; it was as if she experienced the pain of many patients from dozens of hospitals in just a few seconds, and it took about ten minutes for her senses to gradually return to normal.

Pure White Witch stood up, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside.

This was the first rainy day they had encountered since they set out a few weeks ago.

But strangely, even though it was raining, the sky was not gloomy; the bright blue dome and the warm sunshine pouring down made the countless raindrops sparkle as they fell, like dew dropped by the hands of a deity, spreading across the lush green mountains, landing on the turquoise obelisks and the monastery.

Water droplets slid from the eaves of the old town, tapping in a rhythmic beat on the colorful shop windows. On Mozart’s old street, someone was selling flowers under an umbrella, and the little idols moved forward with lively steps along the hillside street, splashing water that sparkled, creating a moment that felt like a rainbow.

The world is beautiful.

Chu Yuanqing looked down and smiled, greedily and happily savoring this feeling, her chest filled with quiet joy, enough to cover the burning pain of lingering embers and the illness that clung to her.

So, as always, Miss Savior hid her pain and crises, tidied herself in front of the mirror, and using the lipstick Little Xuan had given her, lightly tinted her slightly pale lips to create a beautiful and moist peach color, making her way to the castle dining hall before lunch.

At mealtime, the atmosphere remained as harmonious and cheerful as before.

Chu Yuanqing always found her own way to praise everyone; she was not silent, and she smiled more than anyone, showing no hint of being a battle-hardened warrior who had felt the struggle for days and had just tasted death hundreds or thousands of times.

Charlotte also did not notice anything wrong; she was still thinking about the Honey Qing photo shoot. When she glanced at the dining table and saw Little Yu was missing, she sent blessings to her well-trained friend and silently prayed that she wouldn’t hold a grudge against Chu Yuanqing.

After all, without understanding the full story, anyone would think the morning’s training was too extreme.

That kind of teaching method is like sharpening a sword in a very rough way, and it’s all too easy to accidentally break the sword. It is not suitable for our current time of peace.

And in fact,

Xie Qing Yu didn’t skip the meal to show her displeasure or because she was unhappy with Chu Yuanqing; she simply couldn’t eat because she had seen too much blood and violence.

In a room on the second floor of the castle, a little butterfly was flying around, crying.

"Waa, Little Yu, I don’t want to have a holiday anymore! Let’s go back to work at the Countermeasures Bureau today! Honey Qing is so scary! I was frightened until I fainted and just woke up; it was so terrible!"

Xie Qing Yu’s face was pale; she resisted the urge to vomit and stubbornly shook her head, saying earnestly:

"No way! If I give up now, not only will Teacher Chu and Little Xuan look down on me, but I will have wasted all those times my heart blew up this morning!"

And…

I don’t know if it was the overwhelming feeling of life and death, but she felt her long-stagnant magical limit move slightly higher.

In fact, she was so scared that she didn’t dare to use magic ten times stronger than Chu Yuanqing’s; even her control over her own magic improved quickly through repeated serious injuries, raising it significantly in just a few hours.

Although she still hadn’t learned the true essence of the breathing that the other spoke of, enabling her to master herself and reach the Perfection Realm, these experiences alone proved beyond doubt that Teacher Chu was truly a good teacher with real skills.

In comparison, Teacher Dream Weaver does know many spells and skills, but she cannot make much progress in this area.

Violet was anxiously pacing around; she did not want Honey Qing to accidentally injure Little Yu one day.

Although the magic girls are very resilient, if their hearts break, the Blooming Flowers will gradually fail, leading to death.

The little butterfly puffed up, ready to tell her off.

"Who was just too weak to stand up? Silly Little Yu, always trying to be tough! Honey Qing’s crazy training methods are just nonsense. Don’t be fooled just because she looks good!"

Xie Qing Yu thought Violet had no right to speak about this, since this morning she was the first to rush into Teacher Chu’s arms, snuggling and inhaling the scent of Flower of the Soul.

The girl explained seriously.

"Teacher Chu is indeed beautiful, but now when I see her face, I instinctively tense up, feeling a shiver, while naturally channeling my magic and trying to breathe deeply into my blood and cells."

Xie Qing Yu said this while imagining and correcting a lot, feeling both admiration and respect.

"I think this is the result that Teacher Chu wanted to see."

"If in the future, one can stay alert with everyone, facing sudden attacks and protecting themselves well, avoiding being caught off guard by the strange abilities of the disaster beast, this fighting awareness itself is a valuable treasure."

The little butterfly listened and was convinced.

Indeed, instead of being killed by the disaster beast, it would be better to be accidentally harmed by Honey Qing.

And as long as it could trick Little Yu into not participating in training, it could run over to Charlotte’s side, watching together with them, staying completely safe and healthy, without any risks.

– Although the Lantern Elf wouldn’t survive after the witch died.

Violet became lively again, pretending to be serious as she said:

"Ahem, since you are so eager to improve, Little Yu, I won’t stop you, but are you really not going to have lunch? It’s rare to share a meal at the same table with Honey Xuan, and I am also a bit eager to see forget-me-nots."

Forget-me-not?

Xie Qing Yu gently squeezed the little butterfly’s wings and said:

"Then you can go and say hello to Teacher Chu and everyone for me."

Violet shouted yay and happily asked:

"What about Little Yu? Will she continue to practice the ‘Shine Meditation Method’ in the room?"

Xie Qing Yu nodded and replied, a bit troubled:

"Well, even though I practiced all night with Teacher Dream Weaver’s permission, I still couldn’t find any key points and haven’t been able to raise my vision to a higher level, let alone connect my soul to the imagined dimension and absorb the nutrients for improvement."

"So, I plan to practice a few more times."

As for eating, she really couldn’t eat right now, especially knowing that just seeing Chu Yuanqing would make her shiver.

In this regard, she was just like her sister.

The only difference is that Xie Qingxuan’s physical reaction is very different from that.

At this moment, Little Yu still does not know how much her respected Teacher Chu has privately endured the "bullying" from golden retriever dogs to maintain this training intensity.

The little butterfly, after hearing this, no longer paid attention to her. It fluttered its wings, turned into a streak of light, flew through the door, and quickly arrived at the dining room. It hovered above a green-eyed cat’s head, curiously looking at the food on the table and happily greeting everyone.

However, in the next second.

Tang Liuli gently held the violet in her palm, gazing at the lovely little creature with her bright green eyes. She poked at its wings and asked,

"Violet, where is Little Xuan’s sister?"

The little butterfly did not mind the green-eyed cat’s touch. It leaned in to sniff and said earnestly,

"Little Yu is working very hard, and you, Liuli, smell so good. You will surely bloom a wonderful Flower of the Soul in the future."

The green-eyed cat declared that she would not be fooled this time, and she complained,

"Flirty little butterfly, do you say that to everyone!"

Violet flew in a circle and, without feeling guilty, confidently said:

"That’s because everyone is really great! Even if you are eliminated from ‘Dazzling Stage’ in the future, you will still become a powerful witch."

Tang Liuli was not surprised by this statement, as she knew that one of the goals of the ‘Dazzling Stage’ project was to nurture witches. She understood that it made no sense to lose the qualification of being a witch just because of elimination.

This does not match the reality Sister Charlotte described.

So, being eliminated probably only decides whether you’re in a certain team or not?

If she and everyone else successfully debut together, then in the future, they would form an idol group of all witches, just like Xie Qing Yu’s ‘Butterfly of the Underworld.’

If someone gets unexpectedly eliminated, it seems likely that it would just be a random assignment, kind of like being sorted into a specific role.

The green-eyed cat felt a strong sense of crisis; as ‘Dazzling Stage’ became more popular, her past fame as a child star was fading quickly, and she guessed that within a few months, her teammates would catch up with her.

If the stage in the future is not amazing enough, the leaders of other teams in the Sea City area may have a chance to push her down.

Moreover, when she thought about it carefully, Sister Charlotte’s singing ability was so outstanding that it almost completely overshadowed her own shining points.

Even though the other person is not in the same team as me right now and we are not performing on the same stage, what if one day they suddenly cut in? Wouldn’t I be in trouble?

Tang Liuli felt upset and thought it was very unfair.

Charlotte’s singing skills in the first playthrough were already beyond human level, not to mention now.

I can’t let this happen; I must work even harder in this afternoon’s training!

At that moment, the shy cat, fearing being left behind, found a spark of determination to become a talented idol who excels in both singing and dancing under Little Butterfly’s confused gaze.

Then, not long after finishing dinner, Liuli, looking for an excuse to snuggle in Honey Qing’s arms, completely forgot all about her determination to work hard in the warmth of unconditional love.

In the afternoon.

Chu Yuanqing left Miss Saintess in the castle to teach Little Yu various points of the "Shine Meditation Method," while she joined the main group for the afternoon training.

Although she had to teach the captain-level witch with the authority of an emperor in the morning, and in the afternoon, she was deeply involved in the illusion of the Sea of Truth, fighting against a Calamity God to fulfill her duties as a savior, she still had to go to the dance room in the afternoon like other young girls.

Chu Yuanqing was almost unaware of the awkwardness; her sense of shame in this area, like her acceptance of Silver Party, had been raised after her encounters with The Last Diva, which forced her boundaries to expand so much that she was starting to blend in and get used to it.

It must be said, this could be considered a kind of subtle downfall.

During the break in training, Miss Esther, who had just logged off not long ago, came to visit and asked directly,

"What kind of photos do you want to take?"

With her hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a yoga outfit that outlined her curves, Chu Yuanqing adjusted her hair tie with her fingertips while listening to the question and glanced over with her golden eyes, her delicate and beautiful face quickly showing a confused expression.

Huh? Photos?

Who wants to take a photo? Me?

The super AI captured this expression precisely, and she complained:

"This matter has already been made public in Daxia; it has been trending for several days. Don’t you usually look at your phone at all?"

However, before she could finish speaking, the data about Chu Yuanqing’s phone usage time jumped into her mind, forming an accurate number. Considering the time spent on vacation, she averaged only 45 minutes of phone use each day.

This was mainly because someone occasionally replied to fan comments and often logged on to comment, and during that time, she chatted heavily with Charlotte, which increased her average time significantly. Otherwise, it would probably be only five minutes.

To be honest, this is almost unbelievable for a modern person.

Dream Weaver Rabbit thought of this and simply explained:

"It’s about the last event where we asked you to help with promotions. The grand prize for this event is to choose a contestant for ‘Dazzling Stage’ to take photos, and the winner chose you."

Hearing this, Chu Yuanqing felt a bit angry, thinking that this red-eyed bunny must have done something mischievous, deliberately giving the grand prize to her fan. Otherwise, what a coincidence it was that right after she had asked for a long list of high-end Disaster Debris, she ended up participating in the promotion and got "lucky" in the draw.

"…Can I refuse?"

Although she didn’t know what type to shoot, she always felt that taking photos of herself didn’t feel right.

Even if it wasn’t swimwear or revealing clothing, just the thought that someday someone could buy her photos and look at them made her feel a deep sense of despair, like her past mistakes were now flying around everywhere.

Esther said honestly:

"In theory, it’s possible, after all, you are the ‘Lighthouse.’"

"But online, your fans have already piled up millions of votes for various types of photo shoots, and the pre-sale, marked at zero price on the platform, has ‘sold’ seven million copies in just a few days. It’s clear that your fans are very excited about this."

This despicable and shameless super AI perfectly portrayed the face of Dream Weaver Rabbit, calmly saying words that were a form of moral coercion, almost asking one question.

That is, do you want to disappoint all your fans’ expectations?

And just when Chu Yuanqing was feeling conflicted,

Esther kept throwing out all her chips:

"If you agree to shoot, style, type, and scale are all up to you."

"In addition, this magazine photoshoot will be sold worldwide, and it is a great opportunity to quickly gain a lot of popularity and conveniently build more shine in a short time."

Pure White Witch took a deep breath and stared at the broken Lantern Gem in her hand that was slowly healing with her will. After a long silence, she held back her shame and gritted her teeth to answer:

"I will do it."