Volume 3, Chapter 2 – Evening at the Lingyuan Household, Ailiya’s Dilemma

As the foremost family of the Westivian Covenant, the wealth of House Lingyuan was certainly not to be underestimated.

After suffering a major blow, in less than three days, the repairs to the entire estate had been completed. The defense system was reactivated, and the half-destroyed main residence had been fully rebuilt. Everything had returned to order.

At this moment, in an elegantly decorated room within the Lingyuan mansion, a young woman dressed in a white lace nightgown with beautiful silver-white hair lay alone on a bed near the window. Moonlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows like silver gauze, bathing Ailiya in its glow.

Though it was late at night, Ailiya had not fallen asleep, nor was she enjoying this rare and beautiful moonlit scene. The silver-haired girl tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

As she turned, Ailiya had already buried her face into the cotton-candy-like fluffy belly of her teddy bear for the umpteenth time. The silk bedsheets had long been crumpled into wave-like shapes, and three aromatherapy sleep candles lay scattered by her pillow.

After another failed attempt to fall asleep, Ailiya suddenly flipped over to stare at the starry projection on the ceiling. Her pink eyes, bloodshot from exhaustion, were filled with conflicted and anxious expressions.

“What exactly should I do?” the young woman worriedly muttered to herself.

In recent days, Ailiya had been facing the problem of insomnia every night.

As for why she couldn’t sleep? Because every time she closed her eyes, the silver-haired girl would unconsciously recall her conversation with Cat Sister from a few days ago.

“Big Sis’s current situation is, well, complicated… Although after devouring Hilgena’s power, Lianna’s false body stopped deteriorating and her mind became slightly clearer, it’s ultimately just a temporary relief, meow,” Serveiling said while licking her paw with resignation.

“Just temporary relief?”

“What else? An Abyssal Lord’s power isn’t something a Divine Departure Realm practitioner can match. Don’t think that just because you’ve consumed a Divine-Graced Maiden that you can suppress the evil god instincts and hex energy corruption, meow. Big Sis’s new body has developed cracks again after these two battles, you know?”

“How could that be… Then, how long will this temporary relief last?”

“A year at most, meow.”

“Just one year? Then… to keep Lian’s power stable, do we need to kill more Divination Maidens to feed to Lianyue?”

Her fists gradually tightened, and a chilling glint involuntarily seeped from the silver-haired girl’s pink eyes.

Sensing the coldness emanating from Ailiya, the black cat’s eyebrows twitched twice.

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“Uh, that thinking is a bit dangerous… But honestly speaking, Augury Force does have the effect of suppressing the hex energy inside Big Sis. Otherwise, in the past, Yelena wouldn’t have guided Big Sis to devour those imposters. However, the suppressive effect of Augury Force on the evil god instincts is getting weaker and weaker. Even if Big Sis intentionally suppresses it, her body will still instinctively develop resistance. So, according to our calculations, even if she gorges on Divine-Graced Maidens, Big Sis can only hold on for three more years at most, meow.”

“And what happens after three years?”

“Her rationality will collapse, and she’ll become completely corrupted, turning into a madwoman driven by hex energy instincts. Just like Ulutiel and Polarvitan, meow.”

“I see…”

Ailiya lowered her head, her expression becoming unprecedentedly grave.

Looking at Ailiya like this, after a few seconds of silence, Serveiling spoke somewhat seriously:

“Listen, little Ailiya. You’re quite fond of Big Sis, aren’t you, meow?”

“Yes.”

“If you like her, then respect Big Sis’s wishes.”

“Lianyue’s wishes?”

“That’s right. Big Sis’s original intention in raising you all was to give herself an insurance policy. If she ever truly became a bloodthirsty monster, she wanted you to end her… Hmm, not ‘you all’ strictly speaking… just you, little Ailiya, meow.”

“How could I possibly do something like that?”

“Why not? I told you before, Big Sis will expose her weakness to let you make your move. Of course, your strength isn’t enough yet. That’s why Big Sis wants to feed you her flesh. If you reclaim Lianna’s portion of the Augury Force and advance to the Divine Departure Realm, then you’ll have that ability, meow.”

Faced with Serveiling’s words, Ailiya bit her lip, conflicted.

Seeing Ailiya like this, Serveiling shook her head bitterly and continued:

“You already know, right? Big Sis used to be human. For someone like her, what she hates most is becoming a complete monster. Eliminating her before that happens would be a way of repaying her.”

“Isn’t there any other way?”

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“Not at the moment, meow.”

“Doesn’t my aura and power help stabilize Lian’s condition? If I advance to the Divine Departure Realm, couldn’t I also…”

“Don’t even think about it, meow. That would only delay things for a little while longer. The corruption of an evil god cannot be purified by Divine Departure Realm powers. Unless you could reach the legendary Divine Graced Realm, then perhaps there might be a chance.”

“The Divine Graced Realm?”

“Sigh.”

Recalling that conversation, Ailiya, still staring at the ceiling, sighed once more.

Eight years ago, when she first met Lianyue, Ailiya, filled with hatred, had indeed hoped that Lianyue would perish soon.

But now, the girl’s thoughts had undergone a complete transformation.

She wanted Lianyue to live longer, to stay peacefully by their side.

After all, in Ailiya’s view, only Lian would protect and care for them so wholeheartedly in this world now… even if she saw them as substitutes.

Moreover, Lianyue was their sisters’ benefactor. If it hadn’t been for Lianyue back then, they would have died countless times already.

If it weren’t for protecting them, Lian wouldn’t have been beaten into such a sorry state by the Celestial Blight (well, though she wasn’t in great shape before either).

Ailiya was a grateful child.

She naturally wanted to help and repay Lianyue as much as possible.

If consuming Lianyue’s flesh and reclaiming her mother’s power would help Lianyue, Ailiya actually wouldn’t have much to hesitate about.

But, Ailiya always felt that…

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Given Lianyue’s current behavior, if she herself reclaimed her power and became strong enough to protect herself, this foolish Lianyue would probably immediately rush off to seek revenge against Paradise Manor without worries, or go self-destruct against the other two evil gods.

Although these were just Ailiya’s conjectures, the girl always felt that these scenarios could become reality at any moment.

Before she reclaimed her mother’s power, Lianyue probably wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving.

Somewhere in her subconscious, Ailiya seemed to want to use this to keep the evil goddess tethered.

Whether or not to eat Lianyue’s flesh did indeed leave Ailiya quite conflicted.

But this wasn’t what troubled her the most.

What worried Ailiya the most was Lianyue’s future. Regardless of whether she ate Lianyue’s flesh or not, it seemed Lian would inevitably collapse after three years.

As for the cat sister’s suggestion, Ailiya could never accept it no matter what.

So, she only had one choice left.

Break through to the Divine Graced Realm and use its power to purify the corruption.

“But the problem is, Divine Grace? How could breaking through be so easy…”

Over thousands of years, human society had produced many Divine Departure Realm experts, and even quite a few at the peak of that realm. But no matter how hard these people tried, none had successfully broken through to the Divine Graced Realm.

The Divine Graced Realm—how exactly could she reach that level?

Ailiya had no concept in her heart.

“Ah, this is so frustrating…”

Pressing her hand against her head, the silver-haired girl once again tossed and turned on her bed.

She had spent the previous few nights like this.

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However, tonight seemed different from the previous days.

Because, just as the silver-haired girl was wrestling with her thoughts, a familiar cry of alarm quietly drifted into Ailiya’s ears, causing the little Divine-Graced Maiden to suddenly show a puzzled expression.

“AAAAAHHHH!! GHOST!! HELP MEEEEE!!”

Huh?

This voice?

“Lianyue’s?”

Suddenly sitting up in bed, Ailiya looked out the window in confusion. And just as she was about to release her Augury Force to sense what was happening, another series of strange sounds came through.

“Ding-ding-dong-dong, boom-dong-dong, splat! Boom~”

Ailiya: ???

And after these strange sounds disappeared, Ailiya sensed another series of footsteps, hurriedly approaching her room.

Guided by instinct, Ailiya immediately lay back down on the bed, pretending to close her eyes. Of course, not completely closed, but leaving a small slit.

Then, under Ailiya’s somewhat puzzled gaze, the room’s barrier was quietly deactivated, and the door slowly opened.

After poking her head in and tentatively looking around the room several times, a certain blue-haired young woman wearing a nightgown and with bare feet tiptoed into the room, hugging her beloved pillow.

Hmm?

Lian?

What is she up to?