Chapter 277: The Miracle Drug

As they talked, the sunset had completely sunk beneath the river, and the night gradually wrapped around the stone steps by the Star River, mingling with the brilliance of March.

After ending her contemplation, the White Fox Girl turned her head slightly and glanced at Fleidetrika Cecelia, who was also hugging her knees and lost in thought, without disturbing her. She softly said, “So, you mean to say that your and Edwina’s teacher, the true backbone of the Cecelia Family, is Losa Cecelia, the once fifteenth Judging Saintess, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Without hesitation or attempt at concealment, the current Saintess, who had inherited three generations, straightened up and gazed at the quiet, serene river under the moonlight, giving a slight nod.

“After discovering that both her daughter and friend had long since disappeared, and after searching for a long time to no avail, the heartbroken teacher returned to the City of Angels, which had just been designated as the new capital. Soon, she used her hidden illness as an excuse to pass on the position of Saintess and the Holy Sword to her successor, retreating to the background and no longer involving herself in worldly matters.”

“The transcendent possesses a longevity far beyond ordinary beings. The teacher’s cultivation had already reached a high level of transcendence with the help of Min Chen during her travels; otherwise, even if she had the Holy Sword in her hands, she would have found it difficult to participate in the legendary war back then.”

“Although due to injuries and hidden ailments, as well as limitations from her race and talent, she finds it hard to continue progressing, let alone reach a new transcendent level, three hundred years is not enough to take her life.”

“She quickly faded from the limelight, hiding behind our Cecelia family, nurturing the next generation in her own way and silently protecting the family and the Holy Nation.”

“Not just me and little Nana; in fact, the previous Judging Saintess and the one before her were both trained by the teacher. However, like me, they were stuck at the peak of legend, unable to break through the chasm of transcendence, and have now passed away.”

“I see…”

After that, the two women continued to stare at the river under the night sky, remaining silent for a long time.

“Is it really okay to tell me such a secret? A transcendent Guardian—it should be your family’s trump card, right?”

At her words, Fleidetrika couldn’t help but chuckle lightly in resignation.

“Miss Xī thinks this trust of mine is a bit unreasonable, but you should also understand that the reason I chose to appear and meet with you is not solely due to the reasons mentioned before…”

“It was the teacher’s instruction for me to do so, whether to let you know of her existence or to collaborate with Miss Xī to deal with the current situation, although my personal judgment is also intertwined.”

“I mentioned it before, I had already sent trusted individuals back to contact the family a long time ago; although little Nana might still be clueless, the things the Cecelia Family has been secretly doing far exceed what is visible on the surface.”

“That’s true! Like secretly supporting the Church of the Light… Heh, the old fox is still as clever as ever.”

Without extending the topic further, the White Fox Girl added, “Now, back to the main topic: what exactly is this miracle drug for ‘Impurity’?”

In fact, Miss Vilyric had already guessed something.

If it were really that simple to make and effective, the Cecelia Family would have long promoted it nationwide instead of hiding it away for secret use.

“So, is there a problem with the drug… or rather, are there certain constraints?”

“As expected of Miss Xī, you saw right through it.”

After pondering for a moment and nodding slightly, the Saintess explained, “The miracle drug for ‘Impurity’ has been something scholars have relentlessly attempted to develop throughout history, but it is extremely, extremely difficult.”

“To our knowledge, there is almost no magic or medicine that can hinder the proliferation of ‘Impurity.’ It is an absolute change close to a law; otherwise, our world wouldn’t have suffered from it for centuries, leading to the extreme conclusion that contact with ‘Impurity’ is fatal.”

“The group led by Min Chen is indeed very capable; they took an alternative path and used innovative theories from another world, supplemented by help from Losa’s ancestors, to develop a more targeted medicine, which theoretically could indeed suppress the spread of ‘Impurity’… but there are still two main difficulties.”

“Firstly, the materials. Considering the issue of versatility, the ancestors selected relatively easily obtainable and cheap materials when developing this product, but there is one substance that cannot be avoided: the most crucial reagent.”

“The reagent…?”

Hearing the White Fox Girl’s voice, which seemed not too comprehending, Fleidetrika nodded again affirmatively.

“That’s right, the reagent, or you could consider it the core of this medicine. And speaking of this, we must first discuss the pharmacology of this miracle drug.”

“You should already know that ‘Impurity’ is essentially a law, a kind of special plague targeting the soul… this notion, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve certainly heard of it.”

With that, the Saintess took out a translucent crystal vial from her storage item and shook it in front of Miss Vilyric, who could clearly see that it was filled with uniformly sized, pale gold spheres, about one-third the size of an adult’s thumb.

Clearly, this was the miracle drug.

Fleidetrika poured one out into her palm and offered it to the White Fox Girl beside her.

“Miss Xī, can you feel its attributes?”

“Um…”

Miss Vilyric did not respond immediately; she merely held it in her hand and quietly activated her ‘Information Detection.’

Fleidetrika seemed unconcerned by this silence and continued to explain.

“To eliminate the pollution that is a ‘law,’ one can only counter it with the power of another ‘law,’ but how can mere mortals possess the strength to contend with the laws of demon lords?”

“So, we can only rely on the same divine bestowal.”

“Using fragments of the divine power descending into this world as a guide, combined with the sincere devotion of faith, to exchange for the strength to resist the erosion of ‘Impurity’—that is the essence of this medicine’s principle.”

“But the signs of the divine are incredibly hard to find. The era of the gods has passed; aside from the three divine artifacts of brightness that descended a thousand years ago, our Holy Nation has not truly encountered any divine miracles for a long, long time. Thus, while it is theoretically feasible, this medicine has yet to be truly made.”

“Until recent years… when the Abyss disaster in the Wasteland of the Extreme South erupted.”

Fleidetrika showed a reverent expression, gazing at the bright night sky of March, but did not notice a brief moment of stiffness in the movement of the White Fox Girl.

Then, the Saintess softly spoke.

“You must have heard of the ‘Radiant Source Crystal,’ right?”

“Ever since learning that demons have once again launched a massive invasion in this world, Losa’s ancestor re-discovered this formula, and began pairing it with various potentially effective reagents, attempting to produce a treatment for ‘Impurity,’ but all efforts thus far have been in vain.”

“The most important reagent—the fragments containing the breath of the divine, have been beyond our reach.”

“Until we heard that a divine miracle had appeared in the south. She took the first batch of Radiant Source Crystals just collected by the family, ground them into powder, and added it to the mix… only then did this batch of medicine finally come into being.”

“The miracle that descended in the forest was undoubtedly granted by a true divine being, the true source of light, providing guidance and a path to us, the deeply misguided believers.”

“Uh, that’s… not so exaggerated, right? Haha, ahaha… since the medicine has been produced, what is the second difficulty you’re talking about?”

Finally noticing the slightly off tone of the White Fox Girl, Fleidetrika turned her head and looked at her with curiosity, but she didn’t dwell on it, and her expression began to grow serious again.

“The second difficulty is that we need a real, magnificent, existing belief.”

“Uh? That shouldn’t be a difficulty for the followers of the Church of the Goddess… wait, you don’t mean…?”

The Saintess nodded gravely.

“Just as you thought, after the followers of the Goddess took this pill, it did not produce the expected effect in the initial experiments to suppress the impurity plague.”

“If it weren’t for an issue with the drug itself…”

The Judging Saintess took a deep breath, her expression solemn and heavy.

“Then it means that the object of our faith… the Light Goddess Aurora, does not exist at all.”

   

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