Chapter 146: The Favored One

Chapter 146: The Favored One

Ever since that red line appeared in her vision, Lily had already been enlightened. She had evolved too quickly and had not yet adapted to or grown accustomed to her new abilities. She could hear the whispers of Mana, but she had never quietly listened; she could see stories from afar, but she had never truly looked.

What did Bran do after his Evolution? He forced himself to listen, forced himself to look, until these became instinct. And her?

She began to listen to the echoes of Mana around her ears. Various Mana Fluctuations were like a tangled mess, entwining around her. This was also why she was unwilling to listen and unwilling to look; she lacked the patience to sort it all out.

What felt soft underfoot was soil, what felt slightly hard were stones; they mixed together to form the solid earth. The grass blades brushing past her legs, the scent of flowers carried by the wind…

While running, she found the end of the thread in the tangled mess, and everything began to make sense. A grand Mana painting slowly unfolded: the earth, the sky, the setting sun, the weeds, the shrubs. Although there were still too many, far too many unknown fluctuations, they were already encompassed within this painting of heaven and earth, either as Shadow or as Mist, no longer able to disturb this world or her perception.

Gradually, she integrated into this painting, becoming its eternal center.

In this heaven and earth, her Mana also quickly exchanged the old for the new. The earth responded to her, and the sky responded to her. Having run this far, she did not feel the slightest bit tired; instead, she felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.

She began to understand that she and Bran were different—completely different.

From beginning to end, Bran had been constructing his own World. He constantly assimilated, devoured, and endlessly communicated with this World, yet he had never opened his embrace. He had been like this since childhood, hiding in his own World.

But she was this World’s favored one. This heaven and earth were all opening their arms to welcome her. She did not need to cautiously probe and construct like Bran. She only needed to breathe freely and run joyfully.

When the Starry Sky was full of stars and the moon first rose, the coolness of the Night calmed her considerably, and her thoughts gradually gathered. Her pace did not slow down because Night fell. Light and Darkness were merely two Shadows lying over the World, and they no longer affected her.

…

An insect crouched in the grass, its dark green body perfectly blending with the environment. Although the Night limited its vision, its belly pressed against the ground could sense various vibrations coming from the earth. Through these vibrations, it could determine the type of prey, its weight, and other information. This was the method they most commonly used during concealed ambushes.

Someone was running this way from a distance. It raised its forelimbs and waited quietly. As the footsteps drew closer, its claw hooks quietly opened. It prepared to launch a sudden attack the moment the prey ran past its side. But the change came too fast, so fast it had no time to react. It only heard the sound of clothing stirred by the suddenly accelerated movement. Then, it found itself falling deep into the grass. The surrounding grass stems were thick and tall, tall beyond its reach.

A noise of hard wings rubbing together sounded, intermittent. This was the struggle of a clan member before its Flame of Life was extinguished, but the sound was too familiar, so familiar it didn’t want to believe it.

The sound of hard wings rubbing broke the silence, causing the Insect Swarm in the distance to become restless. A few insects rushed over first. Then, they saw a Northlands girl coming straight at them. Accompanied by a diagonal slash of blade light, she swept past their sides.

The Insect Swarm fell silent briefly, then began to clamor. But the clamor had no effect on the girl. She was swift as the wind, sweeping from one side of the Insect Swarm to the other, then sweeping back again. Like skinning, one layer, then another.

After a brief contact, the scattered footsteps of the Insect Swarm replaced the clamor. All the surviving insects clamped their hard wings and turned to flee. But this did not help them escape their fate of Death. On the contrary, the girl clearly sped up. The whistling sound brought by the blade wind grew increasingly rapid and sharp.

…

It was all too simple, which made Lily feel a little disappointed. Was this the insect that had posed a threat to Bran during his Trial?

Nothing more than this!

The recent killings couldn’t even be considered a warm-up; they weren’t even as exhilarating as the running. The bloodline was still continuing; this was not the end, so she continued to pursue it.

The moonlight, carrying a hint of chill, spilled over her body, covering her with a hazy veil. Her heart gradually became calm and untroubled, and her perception became even sharper.

A faint, almost imperceptible pulse came from the Depths of the Earth, heavy and slow. With her running footsteps, this pulse gradually created a Resonance with the Mana within her body. The Mana began to vibrate, starting from her feet and spreading to the ends of her hair.

She felt herself breaking free from the constraints of her body. Her vision began to rise. In her vision, her body gradually grew smaller, and the earth became vast and expansive. Just as she was happily thinking of flying higher and higher, that pulse gently pulled her back.

The moment she returned to her body, she suddenly awoke. She was still running, following that bloodline, without any deviation. Everything just now seemed like only a Dream. Yet it wasn’t a Dream; her Mana pulsed, slow and powerful.

…

When Lily fell into her brief Dream, in another ancient land, within a grand Temple, a ritual was taking place. Or, it was more appropriate to describe it as a somewhat serious game.

At the center of the Temple, there was a huge pool—the Pool of Foresight. Mist perpetually swirled and churned above the pool, constantly changing. In front of the pool stood a group of young men and women; they were the lucky ones among the pilgrims. They could ask some questions, trying to get answers from the pool water.

Most of the time, the Pool Water showed no reaction. For example, who was the most beautiful person in this World? That was an unanswerable question. Different races had vastly different aesthetics.

Even though they knew they couldn’t get an answer, it couldn’t stop the curiosity of the youths, so such questions always emerged endlessly.

A young girl stepped forward, stood before the pool, and loudly asked, “Who is the most beautiful person here?”

The mist displayed her image. Then she raised her head proudly and returned to her companions’ side.

The ritual continued until an honest-looking young man stepped up. He asked loudly, “Who is the strongest person?”

The mist churned and then fell silent, as if thinking. The priest standing nearby shook his head—another unanswerable question—and signaled for the next person.

The honest young man reluctantly backed away, holding onto a last shred of hope. Through the swirling mist, he saw ripples seem to appear on the water’s surface, making him rub his eyes. That’s right! The ripples were expanding! Excited, he pointed at the water and shouted, “Look!”

With his shout, the water surface began to boil. The mist gradually condensed into a blurred face, that of a young girl. All eyes focused on the girl’s face, hoping to see her appearance clearly at first glance. But the mist condensed with great difficulty. The priest couldn’t help but frown; this indicated the target was very, very far from here.

Under the tense gaze of the people, the pool exhausted its power, and the mist scattered and collapsed. They ultimately failed to see the girl’s face clearly. However, the most obvious feature on that face was revealed—Facial Markings.