Chapter 104: Argument

"We should commemorate this," Corey announced, pulling a flat memory-crystal from his spatial ring.

"The sect elders always capture grand events on crystal. Everyone line up by the hearth!"

The group shuffled toward the center of the hall.

Elder Thorne, Vespera, and Corey proudly held their newly minted gold statuettes.

Theo stood in the center, directing traffic.

As he looked over the group, he noticed a small figure lingering near the staircase.

Elara stood by herself, clutching her training sword. Her knuckles were white. She stared at the gold trophies in the hands of the elders.

She had not been part of the infiltration at the Obsidian Vault, so she had no claim to the awards...

Theo reached into his pocket.

*Clink*

A gold chibi-Sovereign statuette hit the floorboards and rolled toward the staircase.

"Well, that is unfortunate," Theo sighed, staring at the ceiling in feigned bewilderment. "I seem to have misplaced a gold trophy. If only a courageous, civic-minded individual were here to retrieve it."

Elara blinked. She hurriedly bent down, scooping up the gold figurine.

"Sovereign, you dropped this," Elara said, holding it out to him.

Theo shook his head and offered a smile. "Elara, you dragged an Earth-Ranking assassin through the streets of the capital all by yourself. That level of dedication cannot go unrewarded. Congratulations on winning the award for Best Vanguard."

Elara’s eyes widened.

A genuine smile broke across her face. She hugged the gold statuette against her chest and quickly ran over to join the group line-up, taking her place right next to Theo.

"Alright, the crystal is set," Corey said, channeling a bit of qi into the device and floating it in the air.

"Smile on three! One... Two..."

Theo glanced to his right. Liana was standing beside him, holding her wooden figurine.

"You should smile," Theo whispered.

Liana turned her head.

Elara shivered and instinctively stepped behind Theo’s leg.

"I tried," Liana stated.

"That was definitely an attempt," Theo agreed.

Just as Corey shouted "Three!", Theo executed a sneak attack, jabbing his fingers into the soft, sensitive curve of Liana’s waist.

He expected a gasp or a sudden laugh.

He severely underestimated her reflexes.

Liana did not laugh. The unexpected contact sent a jolt of electricity straight through her spine, bypassing her conscious mind and triggering her supreme combat instincts.

Without breaking eye contact with the memory-crystal, Liana’s free hand shot out.

Her delicate fingers clamped down on the soft flesh of Theo’s side.

With the precision of a master swordswoman, she applied a 180 degrees twist!

"Gahhh!" Theo screamed, his knees buckling.

He grabbed her wrist, trying to pry her icy fingers off his ribs, but her grip was like a steel vise.

*Flash*

The memory-crystal flared, capturing the scene.

In the developed projection, Thorne was laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach. Vespera was smirking in brutal approval. Corey was cheering. Elara looked deeply concerned.

And in the center of the frame, Liana stood with impeccable posture, twisting the flesh of the Abyssal Sword Sovereign while he grimaced in agony.

...

Night fell over the capital.

On the rooftop of the leased estate, Liana sat alone. She held a duplicate slip of the memory-crystal in her hand, projecting the group photo into the air.

She stared at the image.

"Is that really how I look?" Liana murmured to herself.

In her past life, portraits of the Reborn Empress were grand, solitary, and steeped in blood. Here, surrounded by a perpetually drunk master, a greedy alchemist, a dwarf, and a terrified princess, she looked... normal.

She looked like she belonged.

Her eyes drifted to Theo’s agonized expression in the projection.

Liana’s lips curved upward into a genuine smile. The memory of the event brought a strange warmth to her chest.

She had shared a bed with him in the World Seed, and they had circulated their qi intimately for weeks, but this was different.

[Ding!]

[Countdown to the next Fate Comparison: One Day.]

[Reminder of Failure Penalty: The victor will be granted permission to manually trace and map the loser’s primary meridian network.]

Previously, Liana had viewed the penalty as a mere annoyance... an invasive but clinical process.

But now, with the tingling sensation still fresh on her waist, the nature of the penalty vanished.

The thought of his hands tracing the pathways across her skin sent a sudden flush to her cheeks.

"I cannot lose tomorrow," Liana whispered, her grip tightening on the memory-crystal.

...

Down in the estate’s eastern courtyard, the broad brass cauldron was roaring with fresh karmic fire.

Theo sat on a bench, rubbing his bruised ribs while waiting for Elder Thorne to prepare the raw materials.

Tonight, he planned to forge the seventh and final External Qi-Core.

Once the seventh core was tethered to his Inner Scenery, he would possess enough stabilization to attempt his ultimate sword art.

Corey was sitting on a nearby crate, polishing his fake dwarf beard.

"Corey," Theo asked. "Do you understand how women think?"

Corey paused.

He lowered the fake beard and looked at Theo with pity.

"Theo, you are a genius in cultivation, but you are a fool," Corey sighed, shaking his head.

"Excuse me?" Theo frowned.

"Why would anyone waste time trying to understand women?" Corey asked, entirely serious. "Women are complicated, they complain when you blow up their alchemical cauldrons, and they pinch you when you try to be funny."

Corey reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a red explosive core.

"Explosions, on the other hand, are pure," Corey declared. "An explosion never lies to you. It does exactly what it promises. It is bright, it is loud, and it solves ninety percent of life’s problems. Focus on the explosions, Theo. Leave the women to the scholars."

Theo stared at the boy.

He was not sure what bothered him more: the fact that Corey was comparing women to high-yield explosives, or the fact that, in the context of their current lifestyle, the boy actually made a disturbingly valid point...

"I will keep that in mind," Theo muttered.

He turned his attention back to the cauldron.

"By the way," Theo asked. "How did you manage to get into the group projection if you were the one activating the crystal?"

"I channeled my qi to press the activation rune remotely," Corey explained matter-of-factly.

"You used telekinesis to take a group portrait?"

"Do you use telekinesis to summon your broadsword?" Corey countered.

"Of course."

"Then why is it strange to use telekinesis to press a button?"

Theo paused.

Once again, the boy had delivered an argument that was entirely logically sound.

"Fair point," Theo conceded.