Chapter 377: Silver Law, Valkyrie, Dimming

Ideal State.

Yves Saint Laurent, deep within the Academy’s halls.

Tower of Mirrors, through the endless branches of inter-reflecting silver mirrors, the lush green mingled with bright blue domes came into view. She looked up at this towering wonder and sighed softly to herself:

“No matter how many times I see it, Dad’s magic was always beautiful.”

Chu Wang Shu tiredly collapsed into the mist formed by the white horse. Her chest was pierced by a mercury sword, bright red blood gushed out like a spring waterfall, but amid the sharp pain, she lifted the corners of her lips and smiled happily.

The Pure White Witch’s skirt and hair fluttered in the wind; her golden eyes looked down quietly with no extra emotional color, simply gazing upon this girl. The fullness supported by the thin fabric over her chest was pierced through by an unreasonable authority, creating a hollow space.

This body built of magic essence was collapsing irreversibly, silently breaking down into fine silver powder, scattering with the wind.

—[Final Blessing]: When cut by blade and spear, the power of mourning briefly revives for you.

This counter-damage skill originating from Charlotte had allowed her to defeat a Magic Clone of Chu Yuanqing in normal mode during her first challenge.

And this was her eighteenth challenge.

So, she was not happy because of this.

Chu Wang Shu coughed violently, and deep within her heart, silver threads were woven with wondrous enchanted words, engraved into her flesh and blood genes, forcibly breaking through the boundary of death.

—Sequence 2 · Silver Law.

This power, originating from the depths of the [Son of Mankind], finally revived again amid thirst and crisis, condensing into powerful magic that set rules with her own will.

Now, she wove rules with Silver Law, mimicking parts of [Blooming Flowers], causing sunflower petals to replace the lost flesh and blood, collapsing inward to repair, and restoring the injuries within several breaths.

At this moment, the mist behind her dissipated, replaced by a female Martial God riding a white horse. She wore a silver winged helmet, a blood-red battle robe, and held a spear and shield seemingly formed from condensed light, shining brilliantly.

—Sequence 1 · Valkyrie.

Valkyrie, the female Martial God from Norse mythology, was said to be the personification of mist or clouds, and the magic manifested by the [Son of Mankind] could summon this female Martial God who could become mist at will.

Although not weak, she was of little significance when facing Dad’s clone.

Chu Wang Shu was not discouraged. She vaguely sensed that these sequence-imbued magics possessed incredible potential that would evolve alongside her growth. Perhaps, one day, she could summon an entire Hall of Heroes.

“Valkyrie, descend.”

The girl issued the command. The Valkyrie behind her transformed into mist, merging into the light Magic Armor, forging shining, sturdy skirt armor and light armor. At the same time, the opponent’s combat skills appeared, blending into her memory and instincts.

Of course, these skills could not compare in value to the [Blessing of the Brave].

But Dad’s skills were so profound that they were beyond understanding. When she struck with a blow nearly at the Perfection Realm, it was like an ordinary person pressing a missile launch button—knowing it existed but not understanding how it worked, unable to learn anything from it.

By contrast, the Valkyrie’s skills brought new insights and progress each time they were integrated, fitting her current stage perfectly.

Moreover, the [Blessing of the Brave] only activated passively when facing a disaster beast; trying to activate it proactively without the passive condition consumed too much energy.

Above, the scorching magic essence surged and boiled. Accompanied by the thunderous shattering of silver mirrors, multiple Magic Clones were born: one wielded a mercury sword, another held the king’s sword of annihilation, and a third brandished the Spiral Demon Sword.

Chu Wang Shu looked up at this magnificent scene, and for a moment, felt a shiver on her scalp.

Though she had known from previous times that the program embedded by the Holy Sophon adjusted the difficulty according to the speed at which the first Magic Clone was defeated.

But… she had cheated using her mother’s blessing to pass before. Without the counter-damage skill, she couldn’t even defeat one Honey Qing clone. How could she fight three Honey Qing clones wielding different spells simultaneously?

The next moment, a sea of red and black flames ignited in the atmosphere. Under the Spiral Demon Sword’s spell, they gathered into a column of energy entwined with thunder, storms, and mist, flickering in space before vanishing from the dome and instantly descending onto the earth like divine punishment, passing judgment on all things.

Boom, boom, boom!!!

At that moment, neither the [Final Blessing] nor the two newly acquired sequences had any room to manifest. Facing the terrifying disaster of overwhelming strikes, the fear of death made the [Blessing of the Brave] blaze brilliantly.

In a daze,

the girl’s mind was clear and undistracted; her self expanded infinitely, reaching deep into the universe, then collapsed infinitely, entering the cells of flesh. Energy and matter from the void frantically withdrew, converging into a faint spark of heart-fire, delivering the strongest punch of her life.

After one breath, the Pure White Witch’s spell collapsed and shattered. It withstood a strike from the Perfection Realm for only a moment before, caught in the violent energy reaction, they exploded together, turning the land barren and shattering the silver mirror.

At that moment, the roots of the Mirror Tree burned fiercely. The place where Chu Wang Shu had just been stood empty. The illusory world began to freeze and dissolve; this trial had once again reached its end.

In reality,

Chu Wang Shu lay inside the pod, her mind filled with the pain of flames licking her skin, the scorching heat of thunder piercing through her flesh, and the terror of her limbs melting into charred ashes and flying dust.

The girl furrowed her delicate brows, clearly in great pain, but unlike the first several times, she did not lose her reason in the half-sleep, half-wake phantom pain, nor did she cry helplessly, shedding tears in a pitiful state.

After a long while, with the branches of the Holy Sophon’s thoughts providing tremendous spiritual nourishment, she finally formally broke free from the nightmare of death and returned to reality.

Chu Wang Shu composed herself, stepped out of the pod, and requested to watch a replay of the battle aftermath.

In the footage, at the moment before her death, Charlotte’s [Funeral] activated again, but as she poured all her magic essence and power into that punch, the protection from [Funeral] visibly dimmed and failed to trace back to the sky to launch a counterattack.

The girl felt somewhat bewildered; the blessing from her mother essentially relied on her own magic power and was not a true [Funeral] blessing imbued in herself.

Therefore, when facing a terrifying opponent like her father, she should always activate the [Gifts of the Stars], linking endless dimensions and entering infinite blue mode to perfectly apply her parents’ blessings.

“My reaction was still too slow, and my battle mindset not agile enough. I need to keep training a lot more.”

“The Silver Law still cannot perfectly reproduce [Blooming Flowers]. Maybe I should ask other seniors who know [Blooming Flowers]. Then, when I reach [Full Bloom], I should be able to use this sequence to gain higher immortality.”

“Valkyrie’s atomization ability can be transmitted to me, so the spirit descent’s possession state is more useful than being a servant.”

Chu Wang Shu reflected on her shortcomings and areas for improvement. She picked up the sunflower that had waited beside her until it fell asleep. Petting the adorable little creature, she murmured,

“I wonder how many sequences [Son of Mankind] still hides. I should dig out a few more in the coming days; maybe there will be more useful magic.”

The sunflower chirped softly and rubbed its little head against the girl’s chin, as if to express agreement, swaying its big tail, looking exceedingly cute.

Chu Wang Shu felt greatly healed by the Lantern Elf and could not help but hug it, inhaling deeply a few times. She showed a pure smile, her eyes shining brightly, lifted it high, and said earnestly,

“Let’s work hard together to protect Dad, Sunflower!”

“Chirp!”

…

…

Rose Street, a small villa, backyard lawn.

Xie Qingxuan stroked Derail while lying beside the giant wolf. The fluffy ears twitched, and the dark pupils radiated a maternal glow, emitting a certain strange dignity.

If one delved into the soul, one would find this being in a state of [Zen Meditation], assembling an incredibly intricate personality model with astonishing efficiency.

Little Sakura lay nearby, seemingly sound asleep.

Tang Liuli sat beside them, her eyes shifting with a flowing green light. Her face was concealed beneath a cold, hard mask, making her expression unreadable. The illusory spikes in her hands encircled the two like thorns intertwining and piercing into their flesh.

[Divine Control] transmitted memories.

[Mask] completed reality.

The combination of these two continuously transmitted a large amount of information about Tang Liuli, Chu Yuanqing, and Kirimi Miyuki, rapidly accelerating the completion of the personality models.

In the six months of the Ideal State,

Xie Qingxuan’s “Virtuous King” still had not forged a single knight.

The reason was nothing else but a habitual pursuit of perfection.

Once the completion of a personality model reached 10%, it could begin to be shaped.

As time passed, and memories of the first playthrough slowly revived, the personality puzzles of the teammates without exception all exceeded 60%, nearly reaching the stage of ripeness and readiness.

However, after recent discussions and at Tang Liuli’s suggestion, the three unanimously decided to test the limits of the “Virtuous King,” adding an extra layer of insurance for the stormy future ahead.

In Xie Qingxuan’s consciousness, the swirling winds and rains grew ever more intense. With her own assistance, the two personality puzzles in her mind were gradually perfected, pushing the progress to an infinite approach to 100%.

Thus, a few shining glimmers merged into them. Alongside a passionate surge of large amounts of magic essence, the outlines of those figures became clear, ultimately transforming into three marks.

Pine Moon Cherry.

Scottish Green Rose.

And pure white Loquat.

…

…

Sea City, the neighborhood.

Chu Yuanqing closed the storybook. She glanced at the bedside table, upon which lay some comforting gifts from Elise, Ji Qianju, Little Yu, and Violet.

These three children would stay in the apartment across the hall for the next few days, probably sent by Esther to protect her.

“Don’t think too much. Beelzebub is worth a visit from the three captains.”

The person with silver hair and red eyes sat by the window. Her body and face shone transparently in the light; her downward gaze was filled with worry as she asked,

“Do you really not need the Witch of Relief’s treatment?”

Chu Yuanqing shook her head, smiled gently, and said softly,

“It would only be a waste; no need to try.”

Ji Qianju’s magic had great potential; she was a promising junior for the future, but right now she was still too inexperienced. She could not even perform resurrection magic, so there was absolutely no chance of combating curses.

Moreover, even if time could be reversed and causality undone, it would be impossible to overcome the origin of nothingness. The rectifications of the Sea of Truth were powerful enough to crush this planet, this single universe, and the limits of this civilization for millions of years to come.

The magical girl system was very special.

But in the end, this was also the change it brought about.

Chu Yuanqing should count herself fortunate—fortunate that at the moment of the Pure White Witch’s birth, a completely new causal line was added to this identity.

Otherwise, as she forgot Chu Yuanying and the face of that young man, she would have walked into nothingness, triggering a mechanism left deep within her soul, transforming her into raging flames and prematurely igniting the final battle.

Now, the split-body spell woven by her original wish could no longer replicate the father’s familiar form known to her daughter.

Even when she looked at old photographs, all she saw was emptiness, unable to imitate or reconstruct it. Perhaps only upon death would she truly recall her past self.

Chu Yuanqing whispered,

“Esther, help me start a live broadcast.”

“Alright, but may I ask what you intend to do?”

The gold in Chu Yuanqing’s eyes dimmed; her expression was calm, her delicate face revealing emotions that no one could understand. She examined her increasingly fragmented self, full of blanks and pits. Her lips moved as she murmured,

“I want things to be a little livelier.”

This… might delay sinking into nothingness a little longer.

Esther was silent for a moment. She remembered the Witch of Relief’s prophecy poem—“Loneliness.” Combined with Chu Yuanqing’s answer, it always evoked a certain profound meaning.

“The nano camera is already in place. I installed an app on your phone that allows you to turn the live stream on and off at any time. Privacy mode is set, so you don’t need to worry about anything extra.”

“When you start the live stream, all platforms will push your stream. The streaming quality can be adjusted in the app.”

After speaking, this super AI did not fade away as usual, but like an electronic pet, moved a virtual stool and sat beside the bed, apparently feeling the prophecy poem ill-omened and deciding to personally keep watch over Honey Qing.

When the live stream began, the entire network of Daxia erupted. In less than 60 seconds, a hundred thousand viewers were online, with dense bullet comments filling the room like a school of fish through virtual reality technology.

“So cute, so cute, so cute ❤️❤️❤️.”

“Honey Qing, you’re such a healthy and adorable baby. Please don’t push yourself too hard in the future, okay?”

Chu Yuanqing did not disguise her appearance with any spell. The golden light in her eyes was noble and divine. Her hair was pure as frost and snow, like angel feathers, immaculate and flawless. Even in weakness and dimness, she shone brightly before the camera.

This person who attracted the attention of millions, stripped of the savior’s majesty and radiance, appeared as the simplest, purest little idol. She coughed intermittently while patiently answering questions from bullet comments, a bright smile on her lips betraying no trace of sorrow from illness.

Outside the door,

The Last Diva leaned against the wall. As the lively and enchanting atmosphere of wonder ebbed away, the warm smile in her eyes vanished. Her frost-blue lashes drooped, hiding many worries. That hand grasped her pale wrist, touching the faint, fading Chain of Contracts.

No matter how many words there were, silence prevailed.