Chapter 19: Currently Single, No Plans for Marriage!

That night, in the Merman Clan’s royal court.

In a space where absolute secrecy ensured no outsiders would disturb—Princess Nitira of the Merman Clan curiously watched as the black-haired girl meticulously arranged the formation disk in the corner of her private room, unable to resist questioning.

“Miss Vilyric, can this really connect directly to the continent? The Ghost Sea and the Great Whirlpool significantly hinder spatial magic, and the East Sea Pearl is more than ten thousand kilometers away from the farthest coast of the Ost Empire. No matter how powerful spatial magic is, it can’t possibly bridge that distance in one go, right?”

While tampering with the【Invisibile Spatial Portal】formation disk in her hand, the Priestess didn’t even look back.

“That’s just because your understanding of spatial magic isn’t deep enough. Though, I’m not exactly an expert either…”

“Theoretically, no matter the distance, spatial magic can achieve a crossover, but it requires higher grade equipment or specialized mages. That’s why I had to find a relatively stable environment in the spatial dimension—one that wouldn’t change with movement and is sufficiently safe to set this up.”

“This is a high-grade item, way more precious than ordinary portals. A certain friend of mine personally modified it not long ago, and I don’t have many on hand. If we just throw it on the ship, it would become a one-time use item, and that would be quite a loss.”

“Okay, all set~”

Saying that, the girl clapped her hands and stood up, the circular formation disk began to shimmer, forming a swirling silver door in the air, releasing waves of mysterious energy. Perhaps due to her limited exposure, Nitira couldn’t comprehend it, but Vilyric was crystal clear.

—The purest【Spatial】principle.

As Princess Nitira mentioned, the East Sea Pearl isn’t too far from the Great Whirlpool, with a straight line distance of just over a thousand kilometers. The bizarre nature of that thing indeed exerts a pulling effect on the spatial medium here, creating varying density levels and severely obstructing the teleportation process.

If it weren’t for the divine power infused by the proper deity, Miss Xiao Kong, even the high-grade items Vilyric brought from the game wouldn’t stand a chance against the Great Whirlpool’s interference and would be unable to connect to other portals far away.

Just to mention, due to material constraints, even after figuring out the source of the【Phantom World】and seeing some similar abilities as those from the game in the Lingyin Ethnic, the special items that have transformed from the game to reality are still mostly difficult to replicate. Even Miss Xiao Kong can only improve part of Vilyric’s inventory to enhance its efficacy.

Of course, the Priestess wouldn’t be foolish enough to sail all the way back to the continent, as everything has to be about cost and efficiency. What she’s doing now was actually planned well before they even landed on the East Sea Pearl Isles.

Nitira jumped off her lovely bed decorated with colorful shells, which seemed to only exist in fairy tales, and tiptoed to the portal, her pure and pitiful gaze resembling a little dolphin earnestly watching her friend set off on a journey.

“So, Miss Vilyric, are you really setting off alone now?”

“…?”

Pretending not to hear the princess’s implicit “How about taking me along!” suggestion, the Priestess, sensing it would be troublesome, directly nodded.

“Leaving now. Unless something unexpected happens, I should be back before midnight. Um, but it feels like the chance of unexpected events is pretty high… If there’s still no news after that, it’ll probably be morning before I can come back. You can just rest without waiting for me.”

“Of course, regardless, I will definitely rush back within tomorrow. You can rest easy about that, Your Highness.”

Though Vilyric’s intention was merely to inform and reassure this somewhat clueless little princess not to stay up all night waiting, the other party seemed to misunderstand and interpreted it incorrectly, her sapphire-like beautiful eyes widening, and her delicate face involuntarily flushing.

“Is—is this implying an overnight trip?! So, Miss Vilyric already has a partner in that kind of relationship?! No wonder you’re in such a rush to see them… Wait a minute, can you tell me if they’re a he or a she? There won’t be multiple, right?!”

“Ugh… But with Miss Vilyric’s charm and strength, it really is…”

“What nonsense is this?”

The Priestess, overwhelmed and helpless, facepalmed, then couldn’t help but flick Nitira’s forehead, causing her to yelp in pain, before casually explaining amidst the other’s watery-eyed pitiful appearance.

“The kind of relationship you imagined doesn’t exist, at least not for now! So please stop imagining things! Why is someone so young constantly thinking about this kind of stuff?”

“It’s obviously your words that are too easy to misunderstand…”

Ultimately, considering it might take more time just because this trip was indeed longer than usual and involved a lot more running around.

After saying that, without waiting for the little princess to inquire about any more gossip, the Priestess waved her hand and turned into the portal, disappearing without a trace.

Until the silver whirlpool gradually faded and even the formation disk itself automatically concealed its presence, holding her sore head, Nitira Mingjiao finally relaxed her hands, thoughtfully stroking her flat little belly, covered by her smooth dress, and breaking into a light, relieved smile.

“So, it turns out she really doesn’t have a partner yet…”

……

In the familiar sensation of weightlessness and floating, Vilyric swiftly traversed through the space.

The essence of spatial teleportation is, in fact, a form of ultra-speed movement that unfolds through fissures in space rather than appearing suddenly from one point to another. Thus, influenced by excessively distant distances, the process of this teleportation felt especially prolonged.

During this period, the Priestess briefly felt a significant pulling force from the outside, somewhat reminiscent of the influence of the Arch-Demon Lord, [Chaos Storm], which she encountered before, but the immediate effect was evidently not as strong, and thus it did not interrupt her teleportation.

That was probably the【Great Whirlpool】, the center of the Endless Sea, a singularity that devoured all comers.

Though she was quite interested in the true nature of this thing, she wasn’t in a rush to explore it now.

Where she was going to meet was naturally those locations where she had previously left teleportation points during her travels: the capital of the United Kingdom, the newly sprouted Life Divine Tree in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, the Holy Capital of the Holy Empire, and the Sky City of the Kingdom of Azure. Vilyric planned to make a round trip tonight, fully gathering knowledge of the situation over the past months and looking for some information she currently needed.

And to say where she would go first, it was naturally…

The silver misty space gradually stabilized, and once it became clear again, she had crossed through a suddenly opened portal, arriving in a quaint, simple wooden house.

A rich aura of life immediately surged into her body, as if soaking in some invisible hot spring, making her feel exceptionally refreshed. Even though that did not afford the Priestess, now part of the divine race, much substantial help, the comfort and familiar sense of vitality still made her squint her eyes slightly and relax unconsciously.

Not far from the portal, in mid-air within the wooden house, a woman with blue hair and blue eyes, as pure and beautiful as a young girl, yet with a gentle and composed demeanor far exceeding her appearance, was sitting in a hammock woven from vines, gazing at her with a smile.

—This is the world’s southernmost region, beneath the shade at the very top of the Life Divine Tree on Sky Island, a residence of a deity.

She leapt down like a leaf gently falling to the ground, her smile unchanged.

“Your changes… are indeed quite significant.”

She also smiled lightly, stepping forward to embrace the other, as if two close friends who had been separated for a long time.

No, the word “as if” should be removed.

“Your changes aren’t small either. So, Xi Fu Lin, long time no see! Did you miss me~?”

   

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