Chapter 59: Western Fantasy Romance (I)

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Chapter 59: Western Fantasy Romance (I)

∇ Congratulations, A’chen, for completing the mission. You have received 9,000 points as a reward, along with an additional 6,000 points for the side mission, giving you a total of 15,000 points. Would you like to use the system store?

Miao Lichen opened his eyes. The twin swords were still in his hands, their icy weight as unchanged as ever. Clad in flowing red robes, he looked exactly as he had while dancing in that other world. His fingers traced the intricate patterns carved into the hilts, and a knowing smile curved his lips. Slipping the swords onto his back, he gently stroked the soft, pink “egg” resting there. Its surface yielded beneath his touch like a tuft of cotton, yet this seemingly harmless little thing was his greatest ally in capturing his targets.

If the strategies in the previous worlds had relied, to some extent, on the system’s assistance—the lingering autism of his original body in the first world, the fatal teleportation in the second, or the body that appeared to grow weaker by the day despite being perfectly healthy in the third—then this world had unfolded entirely according to his own design. Lovely had done little more than tell him how to leave behind the antidote at the end. By preserving a fragment of his angel power, he had completed that world’s final stage of evolution. From the very first move of his carefully laid plans to the final act of his own death, not a single detail had strayed beyond his expectations. Such absolute control was intoxicating, so much so that he found himself momentarily captivated by it.

But Miao Lichen was, in the end, still Miao Lichen—the man who had been offered countless opportunities to stand at the pinnacle of power, yet had always chosen instead to wander the world in carefree freedom. Power, wealth, and status had never been what he sought. If there was anything he truly desired, it was simply to make the world a little more interesting. He craved novelty, something fresh enough to seize his attention. And so, even this fleeting intoxication of absolute control lingered in his heart for less than a minute before fading away.

The pink egg gave a slight wiggle. Apparently sensing no trace of ill intent from Miao Lichen, it made no move to roll away. Instead, it affectionately rubbed itself against his fingertips.

Miao Lichen naturally felt the soft touch before withdrawing his hand and reclining onto the luxurious bed that Lovely had prepared exclusively for him within its private space. The bed was dressed entirely in creamy white, immaculate and free of even the slightest blemish. Set against the vivid red carpet, the pristine colors formed a striking contrast that made his red robes stand out all the more.

Miao Lichen slowly narrowed his eyes. In his vision, Zhang Yang’s wild, unrestrained gaze seemed to emerge once more as his fingers turned the pages of the Beauty Album. It was a rare occasion for him to browse through it within the system space. As always, the cover bore his own portrait, unchanged through the ages. Inside were each of his conquest targets. Yue Yingying, however, was nowhere to be found. He understood the reason well enough—what she felt for him had surpassed ordinary admiration and become something closer to worship than love. When he reached the final page, where Zhang Yang’s portrait should have been, he found only a landscape of lightning. Through the storm, the outline of a man’s face could just barely be discerned, flickering in and out of view within the pages of the book. Only his entry was different, most likely because he was already dead, while all the other targets were still alive.

In truth, Miao Lichen’s original plan had never included personally killing his target. If the attempt had failed, the mission would have ended in failure. Miao Lichen never gambled with such things. He had no taste for failure; it was a bitter seasoning he refused to add to his life. Yet he had never expected someone to equate sharing a grave in death with being together forever. Love of that sort was… astonishingly easy to exploit. No matter how gifted or exceptional a person might be, the moment they encountered someone destined for them, they could become vulnerable. Love was something Miao Lichen would never allow himself to possess. And if, by some impossible chance, it ever did take root, he would sever it with his own hands. He had no need for weaknesses. Even so, he had to admit that exploiting such weaknesses had become something he rather enjoyed. He truly was… growing more and more nasty.

He beckoned to the pink egg, and it immediately floated closer through the air. The pink bubbles surrounding its shell became even richer and more vibrant. Miao Lichen had a faint suspicion that the reason he had come here was somehow connected to the egg’s growth. Or perhaps, more accurately, his missions served as nourishment for the system itself. If he could exchange his angel power for that nourishment, then the transaction hardly seemed like a loss. For the first time, Miao Lichen found Lovely somewhat more pleasing to the eye. Closing the Beauty Album, he instructed the Lovely to open the System Shop.

After spending 12,000 points to exchange for the Fourth-tier Angel Bloodline, Miao Lichen was left with 3,000 points, which wasn’t enough for the next upgrade. The next upgrade, the Fifth-tier Angel Bloodline, required a staggering 24,000 points. In other words, each successive level demanded exactly twice as many points as the previous one. Fortunately, the rewards he earned from each world also continued to increase, keeping his income and expenditures in rough balance.

The Fourth-tier Angel Bloodline transformed his single pair of ethereal angelic wings behind Miao Lichen into two pairs. It also granted him a new skill: “God Said.” The name carried more than a hint of charlatan mysticism. Curious, he casually tested it in front of a full-length mirror. He merely intended to change the pink Lovely into another color, yet the supposedly infallible skill dutifully dyed the pink egg a deep red instead. The egg, which had once radiated an oddly suggestive charm, now looked like something that belonged in a ghost story. Miao Lichen promptly gave up any hope that this new ability would prove more reliable than the Qixiu internal energy. He had clearly intended to turn the egg sky blue, yet blood red was the result. He refused to believe that the “God” behind “God Said” happened to be red-green colorblind. The only reasonable conclusion was that this so-called divine spell had undergone some sort of mutation.

∇ My dear A’chen, you are now a magnificent four-winged angel. Keep working hard, and one day you will grow into the supreme twelve-winged angel. Once you reach that highest rank, you will learn every secret of the System.

Lovely’s voice brimmed with unmistakable enthusiasm. Although Miao Lichen’s gaze toward it remained as indifferent as ever, it no longer sensed hostility or dislike from him.

“A twelve-winged angel…” Miao Lichen murmured. “So that means evolving the Angel Bloodline to Eighth-tier?” Lovely seemed to shift its round body uneasily. After a long pause, it answered in a cautious voice, “The System does not disclose information to challengers in advance.”

∇ You have two options for what comes next. The first is to stay in the system space for a day. Lovely will provide you with the most luxurious service, allowing you to enjoy the comforts of an emperor. The second is to proceed to the next challenge world.

“Take me to the next mission world.” A faint smile touched Miao Lichen’s lips. An Eighth-tier Angel… or perhaps something even higher. A twelve-winged angel was said to possess the greatest number of wings in all of Western legend. Even the legendary Lucifer had once been a twelve-winged angel before his fall, which was enough to demonstrate just how precious and formidable a being of that rank truly was.

∇ The fifth challenge world has been drawn.

∇ Main Mission: Capture the Male Protagonist, Servius Joy (Favorability 100).

∇ Reward: 16,000 points.

∇ Failure Penalty: None

∇ Due to the unique nature of this world, side missions will use a percentage-based reward system. For every ten points of favorability you earn from the side-mission target, you will receive an additional 1,200 points.

Once again, Miao Lichen experienced the now-familiar shift between worlds. The warm, elegant residence with its distinctly Eastern charm vanished in an instant, replaced by a fortress reminiscent of medieval Europe. A faint aura drifted through the air, carrying a presence that felt strangely comforting to him. He ascended a few steps and settled into the throne-like seat at the highest point of the hall. Beside him, a man clad in the white robes of a high priest approached with utmost reverence and placed a silver tray before him. Resting upon it were a golden scepter and the Beauty Album, a sight with which Miao Lichen was intimately familiar. Below the dais, rows of white-robed clergy knelt in unison before him. The spectacle was grand enough that any outsider would mistake him for an Emperor. In reality, however, he was the Pope and had nothing whatsoever to do with royalty.

It was a cathedral. Even someone like Miao Lichen, who had never believed in gods or buddhas, could immediately recognize it as a place of worship steeped in a culture reminiscent of medieval Europe. He picked up the two objects resting on the tray. The Beauty Album was already thoroughly familiar to him, but what surprised him was the strange sense of familiarity he felt toward the golden scepter as well. Narrowing his eyes, he remained seated upon the seat reserved for the Pope and quietly accepted the memories of this body. Just as he had suspected, the body’s identity was indeed that of the Pope—and not just any Pope, but one on the very first day of his succession. The inauguration ceremony had not yet been completed, nor had he officially received the scepter symbolizing papal authority, before Miao Lichen took possession of the body. As for the Beauty Album in the tray, it had assumed a new identity in this world. Here, it was the Holy Scripture, the second divine relic of the Holy Church alongside the golden scepter. According to legend, it contained the sacred art known as “God Said,” a secret technique capable of invoking the power of the gods.

Following the customs preserved in his inherited memories, Miao Lichen completed the enthronement ceremony without the slightest mistake, officially becoming the leader of the greatest religious order on the Kedor Continent. Though he was no emperor, his authority rivaled that of any emperor. Every Holy Church, however, possessed an enemy destined to oppose it—the Dark Church, devoted to the worship of the Demon King. Unlike the Holy Church, whose cathedrals stretched across every corner of the continent, the Dark Church concealed itself in the shadows. One was a dragon basking openly in the light; the other, a venomous serpent lurking unseen in darkness. At present, however, the Holy Church clearly held the upper hand in their endless struggle, with followers spread throughout every land in the world.

Miao Lichen returned to the Pope’s chambers. Though described merely as a bedchamber, it was vast enough to accommodate dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of people. Aside from an enormous bed, every corner of the room displayed treasures so precious that ordinary people would never dare dream of owning them, yet here they served as little more than decorations. At the center of the chamber was an immense magic array capable of dramatically accelerating one’s cultivation. The Pope’s status in this world could truly be considered second to none. That was, of course, assuming the legendary Divine King and the Demon King remained nothing more than legends.

Opening the Beauty Album, Miao Lichen found that the story unfolding within was just as it always was. This was a Mary Sue romance novel centered around the heroine’s journey of growth and rise to prominence. The protagonist, Shu Guyun, was the number one assassin secretly cultivated by her family. Whenever she accepted a mission, she could be said to have never suffered a single failure. When she was not carrying out assignments, however, she lived the ordinary life of a simple urban office worker. But a pearl would shine no matter where it was placed. Even though the heroine concealed her breathtaking appearance behind a pair of oversized black-rimmed glasses and hid her innate pride beneath an unremarkable exterior, she still inevitably attracted attention. As a result, this assassin, whose combat ability left her with almost no rivals, was awkwardly forced into an elevator by her own pursuer, the domineering CEO who loved her. Then, as fate would have it, the elevator suddenly plummeted, and she gloriously surrendered her young life.

The girl whose body she possessed was naturally weak and incapable. Although she was the legitimate daughter of an Earl in the Mante Empire , her lack of talent in both magic and martial skills left her inferior even to ordinary members of her family’s collateral branches. Her life was, in every sense, lower than that of a mere servant girl. The entire story began only after this young woman’s soul was replaced. The empire’s Third Prince, the most capable heir to the Mante Empire and her fiancé who had once looked down upon her, immediately regretted everything he had done and vowed to spend his life with only her in his heart. And then there were him, him, him, him, and him… not a single one of them could escape her charm.

This Pope was also one of the many dazzling figures surrounding the heroine. Furthermore, aside from the Divine King and the Demon King, he could be considered one of the most noble and extraordinary existences among them. He was also the person who provided the heroine with the greatest amount of assistance. Miao Lichen lightly tapped the Beauty Album with his finger. This time, his target was the male lead whose popularity in the novel ranked just below his own, His Majesty the Demon King, an existence who could be considered the strongest being in this world. Thinking of the Demon King’s dramatic entrance scene, Pope Miao Lichen found himself even more satisfied with his current identity. Compared with that Demon King, he was practically the perfect example of someone who was wealthy, handsome, and powerful.

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