Chapter 193: Turning Back

Chapter 193: Turning Back

“Come here, try that Magic.” Zheng Yichen gently waved his fingers; several strands of Mana Thread swiftly wove into a Magic Rune Array. A small Fireball appeared in the palm of his other claw. Compared to the size of the claw… this Fireball, which was closer in size to a tiny flame, seemed pitifully small. It looked like a candle flame in the wind, as if it would go out at any moment.

The little girl held a paintbrush. She looked at the Magic Rune Array that appeared on Zheng Yichen’s other claw and gave a slight nod. She started drawing a corresponding pattern on a piece of paper with her brush. The brush was specially made by Zheng Yichen, mixed with ink that could hold Mana. All the little girl needed to do was guide her Mental Energy to connect with the Mana.

That Mana was gathered free-floating Mana by Zheng Yichen. It had no particular control; anyone’s Spiritual Power could connect with it. However, the connection was rather weak.

Zheng Yichen wanted the little girl to learn Magic on a whim. He only noticed that she did not feel dizzy when looking at some slightly complex Magic Rune Arrays. Magic Rune Arrays involved mysterious power . For people with insufficient Spiritual Power or no related Talent, glancing at them briefly was no big issue, but staring intently to understand them could lead to such consequences. Back when Zheng Yichen looked at the Rune Patterns in that Saintess’s hand, he felt dizzy because he concentrated too hard on observing them.

This little girl was an ordinary person, an ordinary person without Talent. Even looking at a Fireball Spell’s Magic Rune Array would make her dizzy. Although it might not be severe, the symptoms could worsen if she looked for too long. For such a person to want to learn Magic was like someone with severe hemophobia trying to learn surgery — simply looking for trouble.

If one had Talent, they would not experience such symptoms when first looking at low-level Magic Rune Arrays. That showed the possibility of getting started.

“… And the result is just doodling?” Zheng Yichen looked at the Magic Rune Array the little girl had drawn. He could indeed feel fluctuations of Mana from it. However, the fluctuations from this Mana were scattered. Because there was no Spiritual Power mixed in to guide it, an effective Magical Structure could not form, preventing it from becoming real Magic.

That was impossible. The brush also contained materials that could guide the flow of Spiritual Power. As long as she concentrated enough, even if she did not know how to use Mental Energy, her Mental Energy would be involuntarily mobilized.

The little girl’s Spiritual Power should have been sufficient to release this most basic fire Magic, which couldn’t even be considered entry-level. Even an ordinary person, with this brush, should have been able to produce some flames by drawing the Magic Rune Array. Could it be…?

Zheng Yichen suddenly thought of something. He extended a claw and gently tapped the little girl’s forehead. Faced with this action by the big dark figure before her, the little girl had already gotten used to it. Although Zheng Yichen’s claws were sharp, when they touched her head, it seemed that with just a little force, her head would be like a dandelion touched lightly by a finger. But Zheng Yichen had excellent control over his strength; the touch was as gentle as between two humans. Apart from his claws feeling cool, it did not harm her at all.

“As expected… no Spiritual Power at all.” Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched slightly. After thinking for a bit, he did not find it strange. Spiritual Power… that thing was closely related to the Soul. The little girl’s Soul had long been manipulated to who-knows-where. Even if some Spiritual Power remained, by now it should have dissipated completely.

Zheng Yichen shook his head and scratched his own head. Without Spiritual Power, learning Magic was impossible. Better to wash up and go to sleep! The Mana generated within an individual’s body was also related to Spiritual Power. Without Mental Energy, how could one mobilize this power?

Use muscles?

In short, a little girl without Spiritual Power could be said to have absolutely no affinity for Magic or even Mana. However, it was not without its benefits. Her current condition probably allowed her to ignore Magic that directly affected the spirit and Soul…

“Can’t I learn Magic?” The little girl asked after Zheng Yichen withdrew his claw.

“Can’t learn, can’t learn~” Zheng Yichen glanced at the little girl and grinned. “What? Very disappointed? Still want to learn Magic and then run back to where you came from?”

“…”

“Forget it. If Magic doesn’t work, there are other paths.” Zheng Yichen waved his hand, muttering about what would happen to Mages in conditions similar to the little girl’s. Would they lose control of their Mana after losing Spiritual Power?

He shook his head. He had not encountered any relevant examples, so such speculation was clearly meaningless. Perhaps those beings were in another situation. In any case, since Magic did not work, he could try… Battle Qi!

Speaking of Battle Qi, Zheng Yichen himself felt a bit frustrated. He had worked hard for a long time, but so far, he had not shown any signs of Battle Qi power. He had trained his body so diligently and still maintained intense training. And the result? Not only had there been no trend of growth in size, but aside from his body becoming stronger, he still had not a single hair of Battle Qi.

Whenever Zheng Yichen thought about it, he could not help but feel a bit crazy!

“Come here, try Battle Qi… er, wait a moment.” Zheng Yichen pushed aside the paper and brush hanging in the air by Mana Thread and muttered to himself. The little girl was named Lily. She was eleven years old. Surname? She did not have one. Most ordinary commoners in this world did not have surnames. Their names were also very ordinary. In larger cities, you could find ten, eight, or even more girls with similar names.

Zheng Yichen hesitated because her age was a bit young. As a Mana Warrior, this age was a bit old. Mana Warriors also had requirements for the body, but the requirements were not as high as for Battle Qi Warriors. Therefore, to achieve something as a Battle Qi Warrior, you had to wait until the body had developed a bit more.

Of course, that did not mean doing nothing before then. In some families, if children of family members wanted to become Battle Qi Warriors, even if they were not old enough for harsh training, they could use many precious medicinal herbs to nourish their bodies beforehand. This allowed their bodies, under such steady cultivation, to far surpass their peers. By the time their bodies were developed enough for harsh training, they already had the physique of others after rigorous training.

They started with a foundation that was superior from the beginning!

Well… rich people could really do as they pleased in many things, right?

Lily was just an ordinary little girl. Even though her appearance was carefully selected, she did not have the conditions of family children. But that was okay. Zheng Yichen indicated that among the many good solutions in the Alchemy knowledge he extended based on his Earth knowledge, even if the starting time was a bit late, it could still be made up for, as long as she could endure it.

“Little sister, I’m asking one last time. Do you truly desire to become stronger?”

“Very much!” Lily answered without hesitation.

“Tell me the truth. After becoming stronger, what then?”

“Kill people.”

“And after that?”

“…” A flicker of confusion passed through Lily’s eyes. After a while, she said, “After that, I don’t seem to have anything else to do. So… wait for death… maybe?”

“Ahem.” Zheng Yichen could not help but give a light cough, suppressing the urge to ask about the story behind her. The thoughts of one so young were quite crazy and unusual. He pointed to that basket. Lily sat in it as usual. Zheng Yichen grabbed the basket and took off directly, making a beautiful turn in the air and flying back the way they came.

“Are we going back?”

“Since you want to go back so much, we’ll go back then.” Zheng Yichen said. They had run so far; even if the Sanctuary Church’s Saintess was chasing him relentlessly, she would not expect him to suddenly turn back, right?

He wanted to see if that Town still existed. He had paid attention to the first Town where the Witch Power erupted earlier; it was completely abandoned.

The second Town was probably in dire straits. Taking Lily back for a look could also extinguish some of her crazy ideas. After all, having such crazy ideas was not suitable for a child’s growth, right? Lolis were for being cute and adorable. What was with all the thoughts of fighting and killing?

However, things turned out to be somewhat unexpected to Zheng Yichen. That Town was actually fine. Not only that, it was specially protected by people from the Sanctuary Church. Glancing at the eager Lily beside him, wanting to go back, Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched involuntarily. It had taken him four days to come back. During that time, he had not been idle.

The little girl now had some small accessories on her body. There were small bands on her wrists and ankles. Zheng Yichen made these by combining some stimulating Magic with Alchemy. Their main effect was to use this stimulation to keep the body in a state of highly active “exercise,” truly achieving the effect of training the body even while sitting still. Moreover, this kind of “exercise” was more comprehensive… Unfortunately, it did not work on dragons!

Zheng Yichen’s body was too strong, and with his Magic Resistance, even if the output of this thing was increased a thousandfold, it would be insignificant to him. It was not as good as him doing a set of exercises with weights on his back!

But this thing was very effective on the little girl. As long as she could get sufficient energy replenishment, she could be in a highly efficient training state twenty-four hours a day. It would not be an exaggeration to call this thing a cheat for ordinary people. As for the energy intake for replenishment? After carefully searching, he found he still had several Lollipops in his pocket. Those would be enough to replenish Lily’s consumption.

Four days was neither long nor short. In fact, with such a tool, she had already gained considerable benefits two days ago. Consequently, she now had some mysterious confidence, thinking she could handle big things. She was thinking too much. Kids really had simple minds; they got puffed up quickly… Tonight, he would search in the Dreamscape to see if he could find the high school exam prep books he once saw. Would bringing them out to grind her temper be a good idea?