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Chapter 51: Reflection in the Mirror

After receiving that short but powerful reply, the girl fell silent for a long while.

A moment later, she let out a helpless smile.

“I can’t take it… You and that Yuan Qianqiu are truly two peas in a pod. No wonder you could get together back then.”

Vilyric stretched out her hand.

“Hand it over.”

“Ah? Uh, I’m sorry… my poor body might still last a little longer, but I can’t give it to you right now. However, if it’s just materials like blood and scales…”

The Priestess rolled her eyes and said irritably, “Who wants your body parts? I’m not a madman! Hand over the Feather of Destruction. I’m accepting your commission, as for payment…”

Looking around a few times, the girl casually picked up a strangely gleaming stone from the ground and turned back to the Qilin.

“Here, this island belongs to you, so I guess that counts as taking something from you, right? We’re even now.”

“Vilyric…”

This time, it was the Qilin that fell into a moment of silence.

But soon it shook its head and, for the first time since their meeting, raised its limbs and slowly stood up.

“Are you ready? In my current state, once the Feather of Destruction leaves the seal, it cannot be restored.”

“Swish~”

The long, white pastor’s staff appeared out of thin air in the girl’s hand, and her response to the Qilin was a simple one-word command.

“Come.”

“Roar…”

The beast nodded, letting out a clear and steady low hum. The barrier that had previously protected Yuan Zhi and Yuan Hong was released again from its body, but this time, with complete effort, it became more solid, brilliant, and majestic.

“Buzz~~~~~~~”

Seeing the sudden movement here, the spirits and others trying to rush over to check were instantly pushed back, unable to advance even an inch. Inside, only the black-haired girl and the beast were left, along with what was likely the stone coffin housing the true remains of the West Saint Yuan Qianqiu.

“What happened? Vilyric!?”

Soon, Ling Feng’s shocked voice came from a distance, but the Priestess merely turned her head to give her and Bai’er a calming glance before refocusing on the colorless feather that was gradually trembling at Qilin’s feet, about to detach from this isolated island — the true core of the Seven Stars Evil-Subduing Technique.

Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on the weapon.

This was Vilyric’s first true encounter with the object that had once caused the twilight of the gods, and facing the remnants of an entity that even gods struggled against, she was prepared to give it her all.

The Feather of Destruction detached from the ground and slowly rose into the sky.

There was no blinding radiance or earth-shattering phenomena; it was just an utterly ordinary feather.

“Crackle… crackle crackle crackle…”

Yet, the barrier that the Demon-Suppressing Sect and its summoned demons struggled to shake even a little began to shatter at a visibly rapid pace.

Even the seven giant pillars supporting the silver barrier above the inner sea rumbled with a booming sound, as the vast area above the isolated island that appeared to be tainted with pollution rapidly expanded.

“Indeed, that thing appeared because of this…”

“Vilyric! It’s… time!!!”

The Qilin roared lowly, and the sentiment conveyed was tinged with a bit of tremor. To forcibly resist the Feather of Destruction, which had left its seal without relying on the Seven Stars Evil-Subduing Technique, seemed too much for the weakened beast.

Thus, the Priestess no longer hesitated and pointed the “Eternal Staff: Heart of the World” at the colorless feather that was rising before her.

“Buzz~~~~~~~~~~”

A soundless hum resonated across the entire sky above the inner sea in an instant.

Divine consciousness surged forth, wrapping the source of destruction so it could no longer affect the outside world, but two completely different “laws” collided explosively at that moment!

Vilyric felt it.

It was an empty silence, transcending death, decay, and destruction, the absolute “nothingness.”

True emptiness, as if before the cosmic Big Bang when everything returned to a single point, a complete “nothing” where even space and time did not exist.

That was merely a slight edge, not even enough to be considered dust, yet it transformed into a singularity collapsing inward within this realm. Any force attempting to fill, erase, or obstruct this “nothing” would be eradicated by this absolute concept itself.

Yet it remained too minimal, allowing it to be temporarily sealed and suppressed in a manner akin to moths flinging themselves at a flame.

But what worried Vilyric even more was what lay behind this “nothing.”

Following that intangible pull, the girl sent a thread of divine consciousness into it.

“Here…?”

In the vast and boundless heaven and earth, Vilyric saw a mirror.

It was a mirror that spanned the gulf between heaven and earth, seemingly separating two worlds. Beyond that, there was nothing else.

Standing in the void before the mirror, the girl’s reflection emerged.

It was an existence similar yet vastly different from Vilyric.

Shimmering waves of light flickered among the black hair like ripples on a lake stirred by a gentle breeze, adorned in a feather-patterned holy robe and holding the staff that represented her identity as a Priestess, her exquisite face remained unchanged, save for a pair of eyes that shone like stars, marking her difference.

“…It’s you.”

She turned in the mirror, her golden eyes containing the mysteries of the world, offering a light smile that was both intimately familiar and remarkably strange to the girl.

“I told you we would see each other again.”

The Priestess furrowed her brow slightly.

“Who exactly are you? The true culprit behind the godly disaster? Why do you appear in my form?”

She shook her head lightly with a smile.

“I am Vilyric.”

She said.

“I am your past, your present, and your future.”

This easygoing attitude and highly repetitive response irritated the black-haired girl just as it had before.

She liked to act profound in front of others occasionally, but if the roles were reversed like this, it would leave the curious Vilyric scratching her head in utter frustration.

“Hey, hey, can you wrap it up? Why can’t you just say everything clearly once? Don’t think I won’t hit you just because we look alike!”

But the golden-eyed girl remained indifferent, merely gazing up at the sky, seemingly having seen through the illusions, witnessing the web of causality intertwined.

“The gears have started to turn, but don’t worry… Vilyric, don’t feel burdened or confused. Do what you want to do, what you think is right. You are justice, you are the law, and your actions are the path of redemption… Just remember your name.”

“Hey… don’t speak in riddles, you jerk!!”

Before Priestess Vilyric could stop her or process the situation, a fist had already struck that mirror. The figure before her gradually faded into light, leaving the mirror empty, only the echoes of heaven and earth remained.

“Will we see each other again next time? Hehe… let’s leave that for time to reveal.”

“Wait, I still have a few questions…”

However, she received no response.

The mirror shattered, sending the girl’s consciousness back to reality.

Before her was still the familiar isolated island.

“What a bunch of nonsense… I’ve never seen such an annoying character! If you dare to show up again, I’m definitely going to punch you!”

Though she complained this way, that brief and mysterious encounter had indeed provided Vilyric with a wealth of information.

At the very least, she could confirm the authenticity of that dream and… Vilyric was getting closer to her.

The evidence lay in the fact that the other party’s image had already changed, which was likely not an accidental or illogical alteration.

As for why it appeared at this critical moment…

The comforting and joyous sentiments from the Qilin roused the girl from her musings.

“It seems you succeeded.”

“Huh?”

Regaining her senses, Vilyric was surprised to find that the Feather of Destruction, formed from the power of “nothing,” had seemingly vanished into thin air.

The barrier surrounding them, which had been continuously breaking apart, also halted its changes, and even the large patches of dark marks above the isolated island ceased their spread, instead gradually retracting inward, causing this space to stabilize in an unprecedented manner.

The Qilin withdrew the barrier, collapsing in relief.

“Indeed, the Holy God Fox was right. Only a fated person can resist and erase the divine feather that brings destruction. Thank you… Vilyric.”

“I’m not sure what just happened. You must have put in a lot of effort to eliminate this threat from its source, even if it was just part of it, it’s more than enough to explain… That’s great, our world, our home, has finally welcomed hope.”

“Eh???”

Unconsciously scratching her head, the Priestess was floating with three question marks above her head.

So… can someone tell the involved party what exactly just happened?