Chapter 143: Contact from the Life Goddess

Nighttime.

After the welcome banquet, Miss Vilyric sat by the window in the room arranged by the Moonshadow Clan, gazing out at the black shadows of the plaza and temple in Moonshadow Valley, sorting through the vast amount of information she had gathered during the day.

In the afternoon, in a secret chamber, Vanessa and Min Chen had revealed many secrets to her. The reason? It was partly due to Vilyric’s help in finding the long-missing Noviya—out of gratitude, the clan leader wanted to show appreciation, along with the agreement with Tiyelu. On the other hand, they likely wanted to pull the Priestess, reputed to be a powerful expert, over to their side.

Indeed, it was about rallying the factions.

The case of Noviya’s disappearance was far from as simple as it appeared. Currently, while the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons had eased their external troubles, the hidden internal concerns still pricked like thorns on their backs, requiring constant vigilance.

Although the three main pillars were the leaders of magical beasts, it didn’t mean they were the absolute strongest. Figures deeper in the hierarchy, like Tiyelu and Min Chen, were the true protectors of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, and the enemies they faced were not just minor skirmishes like the Demon Town.

While the crisis hadn’t yet surfaced, these astute and experienced strong beings had already begun preparations. Tiyelu dividing her incarnation to venture into the outside world and Min Chen temporarily closing the gates to meet with Vilyric were actions stemming from similar reasoning.

“Prepare before the rain comes, rather than dig a well when thirsty,” as the saying goes.

“Rustle, rustle, rustle…”

“Huh, it’s starting again.”

It began to rain.

All of a sudden, powerful raindrops relentlessly bombarded the wide-open window of the stone house, pelting the seated Priestess by the window like dense gunfire. Yet, these were blocked by the invisible protection naturally manifesting around Vilyric, sliding away toward the mountainside.

The torrential rain poured, instantly veiling the entire Moonshadow Valley in darkness; with the wolf clan having exceptional night vision, they didn’t need to light a fire at night. Thus, on this pitch-black night, shrouded by thick clouds in March, one could only see the rain curtains and the towering shadows of the temple through the downpour.

A refreshing yet chilly air rushed at her, adding a touch more coldness to the late autumn night.

“Buzz ~ buzz ~”

As Vilyric raised her hand, pondering her next move, a sudden light tremor and a wave of spiritual energy caught her attention.

With a slight lift of her brow, the black-haired girl reached into the void, quickly pulling out a beautifully crafted statue, entirely jade-green and with wings sprouting from its back.

Without doing anything particular, she simply held the statue, infused a bit of SP into it, and broke into a cheerful smile.

“Eh? What wind blew this way today? Our great Life Goddess has time to come find me?”

“Hehe, it’s been over a month, and you’re still as lively as ever, Vilyric~ How have you been?”

Emerging from the statue was a green light that formed into a petite figure merely three inches tall. Though small, it looked clear and solid. If not for witnessing its formation with her own eyes, one might think it was some sort of magical creature.

“Goodness, Xi Fu Lin, aren’t you asking the obvious? With Miss Tilysha carrying a strand of the Life Goddess’ divine thought, and her affinity with divine power so high, I don’t believe you, O great deity, are completely ignorant of what’s been happening here, right? Can we skip the formalities?”

The goddess, projecting her image through a medium, smiled slightly and didn’t deny it.

“You truly can’t hide anything from you. However, this was merely precautionary. That child is, after all, acting on my behalf. If she runs into any life-threatening danger, at least this can save her life—it’s not out of intention to pry; I hope you understand.”

“Got it, got it~ Seriously, why do you always have to be so serious? You really are the genuine goddess, huh…”

The fact that Xi Fu Lin had left divine thoughts on Tilysha was something the Priestess had long since noticed from their interactions. In truth, it seemed the Life Goddess had no intention of hiding it—otherwise, with their accomplishments on a soul level, Vilyric might not have easily sensed it.

After all, Xi Fu Lin was a true deity who had lived for over tens of thousands of years. Although she was now somewhat distanced from her peak as a god due to her divine spark being split, she had reformed her divine position and was undoubtedly stronger than the incomplete Withering Goddess. Even the Little Dragon Daughter wouldn’t dare claim victory over her.

After all, Xi Fu Lin now possessed a real divine realm, a type of terrifying power that Vilyric deeply felt could not be summarized by mere levels and attributes.

Receiving such attention from a true goddess could only be a blessing for Tilysha. Besides, Xi Fu Lin, once a deity of order, clearly wouldn’t harm her own divine servant. They had come this far without doing anything underhanded.

“So, is there suddenly something urgent that you need to tell me? Did something happen with the Divine Tree or the Sky City?”

Vilyric casually placed the statue she was holding on the side table. The object enabling their communication across thousands of kilometers was, after all, the statue of the God of Sky she had received from Liliya, which once sealed the fragment of Xi Fu Lin’s divine spark.

After regaining her divine position, the Life Goddess had transformed this Ming Neer Wa into a tool made from special materials, allowing it to store a portion of life divine power along with a bit of the goddess’s thoughts.

Vilyric wasn’t entirely clear on its specific uses, but Xi Fu Lin had stated, “Just take it out when you run into trouble,” and as for long-range communication—a task even mortals could manage with some effort—this was certainly no trouble for a deity.

Upon acquiring it, the Priestess had once identified this modified item. Although due to its direct carrying of part of a deity’s power, its mysterious nature had not revealed much useful information, at least she could ascertain it was a sacred item, even approaching a semi-divine weapon level.

It could almost be considered the highest-grade item Vilyric had managed to obtain in this world. One could only say that items provided by deities were in a league of their own.

Hearing this, Xi Fu Lin shook her head with a smile.

“Rest assured, both the city and the Divine Tree are doing just fine. The nutrients we once provided for that child are already sufficient for her entire growth process. Subsequently, once she has fully matured and her branches are planted, the Divine Tree will naturally absorb the magical energy in the air for stabilization, even benefitting the surroundings. At that time, I won’t need to stay here all the time, so you all better put in the effort~”

“Yes, yes, yes… So, the goddess just called to check up on things? Are you here to push for progress?”

“Let me be clear—I’m not just having fun for myself. The first seedling planting point has been settled; it’s just that I ran into some other situations that I plan to prioritize first…”

“Once again, I emphasize, there’s absolutely no slacking off!”

   

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