Volume 6, Chapter 86 – Changes

“So what if I’m flat?!”

Xing Wu’s face burned red as she pressed both hands firmly over her chest, stubborn as a slab of iron:

“It’s aerodynamic ! Not a single wasted movement in combat — unlike you , lugging those two things around every day, having to fight extra careful just so they don’t go swinging everywhere!”

“And what use are they, exactly? Are you supposed to whip them out mid-battle to distract the enemy?”

“Who would even want such vulgar lumps of flesh?!”

For all her talk, however, Xing Wu’s gaze couldn’t quite help sneaking a glance at Ailiya’s deliberately thrust-out chest, and her throat gave an involuntary little swallow. She had to admit, that particular endowment was genuinely enviable — even she found herself wondering: when this awful woman reincarnated, how had she possibly managed to land herself that kind of body?

“Vulgar? A nuisance?”

Hearing Xing Wu’s contemptuous words, Ailiya smiled until her eyes curved, raised a hand to give her chest a deliberate little lift, and made those generous contours even more pronounced on purpose:

“But Lianyue loves these ‘nuisances’~ Last time I was holding her, she leaned right into them without even thinking, said they were soft and lovely. Wanted to keep leaning~”

“That’s a lie!” Xing Wu stamped her foot in fury, her violet eyes practically shooting sparks. “My annoying Mom would never be that shallow — she doesn’t care about bodies !”

“Oh? Is that so?” Ailiya arched an eyebrow, her teasing tone deepening. “Then you explain to me — why, when Lianyue takes female form, does she arrange herself quite so generously ? Isn’t it because she likes them large~ You, my dear, are a little too small. Lianyue might get picky about you someday. That flat of a chest must be rather uncomfortable to cuddle against~”

“You—!”

That particular string of smug jabs lit the fuse all the way down. Xing Wu, her most sensitive insecurity jabbed again and again, finally ran out of patience. She blurred forward in an instant, appearing right in front of Ailiya, and reached up to seize the soft things she both resented and envied in one sharp grip.

“Hss—!”

The sudden, unexpected force hit without warning. The smile on Ailiya’s face froze solid; she sucked in a sharp breath, her body dropping involuntarily to one knee.

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With her Magical Girl transformation released, Ailiya’s physical strength was naturally nowhere near her Divine Graced Realm level. Her Divine Departure Realm cultivation kept her from any real injury, but that sudden, vicious grip was quick and fierce — pain knitted her brow tight, a flash of startled indignation crossing her cherry-colored eyes:

“You little wretch?! Open revolt, is it!”

“That’s for teasing me! That’s for being smug!”

Xing Wu held on without letting go, her face full of the giddy satisfaction of well-earned revenge, and only released when she saw cold sweat beading at Ailiya’s temple from the pain. Then she tossed her head away with a huff, loftily declaring:

“Next time you dare make a single comment about my figure, I’ll squeeze those two things flat!”

Even as she made this threat, however, Baby Xing Wu’s little hand couldn’t quite help… tightening slightly, just once more.

They really were…

Large. Soft. So…

…I want some too, wuwuwu.

Of course, Xing Wu would never in a million years say any of that aloud.

On the other side, Ailiya gathered herself and slowly rose, rubbing the reddened area with a pained wince still fresh in her eyes. She wasn’t genuinely angry — just looked at Xing Wu with exasperated resignation:

“What a completely unruly girl. Ever heard of respecting your elders?”

“I’d rather not take life lessons from a woman who put chili powder in her daughter’s milk.”

Xing Wu crossed her arms over her chest and looked away in disdain.

Seeing Xing Wu still so thoroughly puffed up, Ailiya let out a sigh and decided to stop poking the hornet’s nest.

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“You know, getting a bit bigger isn’t impossible.”

“Really?!”

Xing Wu’s expression flipped instantly. She was in front of Ailiya in a flash, violet eyes glittering, staring at her with undisguised anticipation:

“What’s the method?”

“Drink more milk.”

“Huh?”

Ailiya gave a completely earnest nod.

“This body of mine grew up drinking Lianyue’s milk from the very beginning. That’s why I developed to this scale. If you drink more of it regularly, you should see results too.”

“Is that so…”

Pursing her lips, Baby Xing Wu nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

The atmosphere between them eased by a few degrees. The anger on Xing Wu’s face gradually faded.

After a deep breath, Xing Wu seemed to let go of the chest-size matter entirely. A more somber look settled over her pretty features. She turned to face Ailiya directly, her tone growing serious:

“Anyway. Let’s talk about what actually matters. What’s going on with my annoying Mom? The Celestial Blight and the Abyssal Lord are gone, right? So what exactly is Mom’s situation…”

At the mention of Bai Lianyue, Ailiya’s expression sobered considerably. She reached up to brush the loose silver hair from her face, and spoke with quiet gravity:

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“Someone else took her place. They mutually destroyed each other with those two Malevolences in Lianyue’s stead.”

“Someone else?” Xing Wu frowned. “You can even substitute for something like that?”

“How else do you think Lianyue is still alive? It’s because the original evil god will emerged and seized Lianyue’s power — then went and died in her place.”

“Seized — you mean Mom’s power was stolen ? But if it was stolen, then how were the three of them destroyed? Was it you?”

A thread of skepticism entered Xing Wu’s eyes. Ailiya and Luolin’s combined transformation had definitely boosted their strength considerably, but it didn’t quite look like enough to take on three Malevolences.

“I don’t have the full picture either. But my feeling is that it was Lianyue who did it.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Xing Wu shook her head in rapid succession, frowning hard. “You just said Mom’s power was taken. So how did she destroy all three of them?”

“Hah.”

Ailiya let out a long sigh, then looked at Xing Wu with an expression that carried the weight of something being entrusted:

“That’s exactly it — there are things that still need to be figured out. The battlefield in front of the Veiled Domain hasn’t been cleared yet, and there’s still quite a bit of cursed miasma lingering. I need you to go and handle it. And while you’re there, use your Divine Graced Realm senses to survey the scene… look for anything unusual.”

“Such as?”

“Something like… certain fundamental rules of this world having been altered… or strange life signs of some kind.”

Seeming to register the gravity in Ailiya’s eyes, Xing Wu gave a short nod.

“Fine. I’ll go now. But you have to promise me — while I’m gone, you keep a proper eye on my annoying Mom. Don’t you dare take advantage of her while she’s all spacey!”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Ailiya waved her off wearily. “What do you think I’m actually going to do to her? Go on, go. Stop worrying.”

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Xing Wu gave a cold sniff — close enough to agreement.

After a few more quick instructions from Ailiya, Xing Wu’s figure dissolved into a streak of violet light and vanished into the night above the Lingyuan family estate, shooting off toward the direction of the Veiled Domain.

At the same moment, in the Presidential Residence of the Covenant capital Clavino, every light was blazing.

Xi Xuan, Second Seat of the First Celestial Augur Knights, sat behind a broad office desk dressed in a formal black suit, dark hair combed immaculately, his expression entirely serious. The desk was buried under mountains of documents — post-war reconstruction, military deployment, civil stabilization measures, and much else besides.

Under ordinary circumstances, none of this would have had anything to do with Xi Xuan. But since the previous president had been killed by “himself,” and as the most senior and respected figure present at the scene, Xi Xuan had been pressed into temporarily taking charge of Westivian Covenant affairs — becoming, in name at least, the acting president.

As a result, Xi Xuan found himself buried in work. Otherwise he would have returned to Wishaven with Xing Wu long ago.

While Xi Xuan was deep in his documents, a civil official working nearby seemed to receive some report. He came hurrying over to Xi Xuan’s desk, his face flushed with agitation:

“Lord Xi Xuan — the reconnaissance results from before have come in!”

Xi Xuan set down his pen. His expression sharpened immediately.

“Report.”

“The Veiled Domain, Cinderfloat Isle, the Abyssal Sea — the miasma across all three Malevolence territories has fully dissipated. Every Corrupted Beast detected within them is confirmed dead. No matter how our advance forces attempted to provoke a response, they received no counterattack whatsoever. Our earlier hypothesis may well be correct… The Trinity of Malevolence no longer exists.”

“I see.”

Xi Xuan exhaled — a long, complicated breath.

“The world… is about to change beyond recognition.”