"It is great that you can understand the situation." Irene breathed a sigh of relief seeing that Lixue seemed to comprehend the circumstances. "If possible, I look forward to our cooperation from now on."
"If it is for the sake of humanity, I am more than willing to provide assistance." Lixue nodded. This was the duty of a Valkyrie; even in another world, it remained the same.
However, after maintaining silence for a moment, Lixue pressed for an answer: "...Master. How is the Master of this place doing now?"
"I can feel that you are practicing the Taixuan Sword Qi, so you must know Master."
"Master?" Pardo tilted her head, leaning in with a face full of curiosity. "Who is Sister Lixue's Master?"
"I'm talking about Fu Hua." Irene gently pushed Pardo away, unable to resist flicking Pardo's ear in the process. "Have you not realized that Lixue and Fu Hua look very much alike?"
"Eh? A-Hua's disciple?" Pardo leaned in to scrutinize Lixue. After her gaze swept across Lixue's chest, she scratched her head. "I really didn't notice she looked like A-Hua..."
"Pardo, where exactly were you looking just now?!" Standing to the side, Irene clearly caught the trajectory of Pardo's eyes, which was definitely incorrect.
"I said they look alike, but I didn't mean that part looks alike too!"
"..." Lixue kept a wooden expression as she watched the playful banter before her. "So, you do indeed know Master?"
"I know her, oh yes. A-Hua was once my comrade-in-arms~" Pardo placed her hands on her hips. "A long, long time ago."
"Comrade-in-arms? But I have never heard Master mention it." Lixue's gaze swept over the cat ears and tail atop Pardo's head. She had never heard that Master had such a friend.
"Because A-Hua loses her memories. She probably forgot me completely by that time." Hearing this, the light in Pardo's heterochromatic eyes dimmed slightly. "But it doesn't matter. She will remember eventually. My Super Luck will definitely help A-Hua."
"She is right. She is one of the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, and indeed was once a comrade of your Master." Irene nodded from the side. "As for your previous question—yes, yes, we know her."
"And right now, Fu Hua is in this very area as a student. However, her condition might be much worse than you imagine."
"Furthermore, just as stated in the memories I gave you, the reason you are here is because you once crossed your destined death."
"In other words..."
"Here, I did not manage to accompany Master further to the end, correct?" Lixue nodded. After seeing the contents of that book, she understood.
In this world, during that Second Eruption, she likely did not break through the boundaries she had failed to cross using the enlightenment of death.
Sword Heart as Still Water; the state of mind melts into a lake, calm as still water, unmoved by myriad things. The next step is the Heart Lake condensing into ice, stainless and dustless—this is Stainless. Her former self had stopped at this step, unable to cross it.
No matter what, she could not condense the ice, for there were still people in her heart she could not let go of. Until that great battle, until she was struck by the power of the Herrscher of Flame of that time.
With death approaching, she understood that if she continued like this, she would never see Master again.
Clearly, it was not long ago that she had reunited with Master. If she really died, there would truly be no one left to stay by Master's side.
The closer she came to death, the more tranquil the originally rippling Heart Lake became. And it was right then that she understood what Spirit was.
But precisely because she had experienced it, she understood that she was truly too close to death at that time. According to Irene, that should have been her original death.
"I want to see Master. May I?"
"You can, but not right now." Irene nodded. She was taking classes in Fu Hua's class anyway; letting Lixue see her once would be simple, but definitely not now.
"Is there something that needs to be done? Or is it inconvenient for Master to meet right now?" Hearing Irene's words, Lixue's eyes dimmed slightly. But then she saw Irene flip her palm like a magic trick, and a small clock appeared in her hand.
Irene pointed at the clock in her hand, looking at Lixue: "Because it is currently the early hours of the morning! It is easy if you want to see her; at dawn today, I still have to train together with Fu Hua."
"There will be plenty of chances to let you see her during class, but right now, let me sleep first!"
*
Morning · St. Freya Academy · Back Mountain
The mountains in the early morning were slightly foggy. Irene sat within the array she had set up in the gazebo earlier, faint white currents of air visible between her breaths. Fu Hua stood to the side, quietly sensing Irene's current state.
There was a hint of surprise between her brows. According to her observation, Irene's state of mind had already approached Still Water in such a short time. To enter the state so quickly...
Moreover, the flow of Honkai energy between her breaths was not slow in the slightest. She felt no emotional fluctuations or active pushing; she could even sense that Irene's will was currently close to nothingness.
It was like being in a deep sleep, yet in this condition, she could still perfectly run the circulation routes of the Taixuan Sword Qi. This state of mind indeed possessed the realm of Still Water.
"This natural talent..." Fu Hua clicked her tongue looking at Irene. She had thought that the Taixuan Sword Qi would be very suitable for someone like Irene with extremely high Honkai Adaptability, but she hadn't expected it to be this suitable.
It hadn't even been a few days, yet she could elevate her state of mind to Still Water. Although it still needed polishing, one had to remember that Irene had been practicing for less than two days, and she couldn't possibly be cultivating Taixuan Sword Qi 24/7.
Such natural talent... even if compared to... Fu Hua just wanted to compare Irene's talent to a person she knew, but as soon as the thought settled there, a burst of piercing pain struck her mind.
"...Sigh." Fu Hua shook her head, suppressing the churning ashes in her mind. For now, Irene's side was more important. However, Irene no longer needed her to teach any basic skills.
Perhaps it was time to get Irene a weapon, a weapon that could better utilize the Taixuan Sword Qi.
She wasn't sure if she would ever see a second person with such talent. Coupled with that familiar feeling coming from Irene, taking in this disciple was not a loss.
Meanwhile, the Palace of Consciousness inside Irene's mind was quite lively.
Lixue used Irene's senses to feel Master's aura outside. At the same time, she could also sense the weakness of Master's aura—it was even weaker than at that time.
"Master..." Worry flickered in Lixue's eyes. "Master, how could she be weak to such an extent?"
"You should know A-Hua's abilities, right? As a disciple." Pardo looked at Lixue. "According to what Sister Irene said, in that Second Eruption, Fu Hua used the First Rated Power of Fenghuang Down to burn her memories clean in exchange for a powerful attack."
"But the price... was extremely heavy. So Lixue, you might have to be prepared. A-Hua might not remember you."
Originally, Pardo would still call her 'Sister', but after realizing Lixue was Fu Hua's disciple, calling her 'Sister' didn't seem quite appropriate anymore. Besides, Lixue herself couldn't accept it; the generational seniority was off.
"...I understand." Lixue nodded heavily. "Master... as long as Master is okay, Lixue asks for nothing else."
"However, Miss Irene can be considered my junior sister now. I will properly teach her together with Master later. It is just that with Miss Irene's talent, I am not sure if she needs my help."
Although Irene had definitely cheated a little—after all, with the assistance of the Palace of Consciousness, calming her heart couldn't be easier; she just had to shift more of her attention into the Palace—doing it meant she had done it.
Moreover, the Palace was also Irene's ability. Having an ability and not using it, that would be the fool. And the premise of cheating is being able to do it.
Irene shifted most of her attention to the Palace, and with just a tiny bit of attention, she could perfectly guide the Honkai energy to complete the circulation. This represented that Irene herself only needed that tiny bit of attention to suffice.
With such natural talent, Lixue didn't have the confidence to teach Irene well either. After all, she had been stuck at Still Water for so long, and it was only through the enlightenment of approaching death that she managed to cross over.
And by the time she reached Still Water, who knows how long she had been practicing Taixuan Sword Qi? Her experience was truly not much.
Di-di-di...
Just then, a vibration came from inside Irene's clothes. Irene opened her eyes, took her phone out of her pocket, and seeing the call from Theresa displayed on the screen, she raised her hand to signal Fu Hua, then stood up and walked to the side.
"Hello, Principal Theresa. Did you sleep well? Did you not sleep in, getting up so early today?"
"With so many things happening last night, how could I possibly fall asleep?" Theresa rubbed her eyes. It was just one night without sleep; she wouldn't have dark circles yet.
She had tossed and turned in bed for a long time last night. She had finally managed to calm her mood, but the events of last night indeed made it somewhat difficult for Theresa to fall asleep.
Finally, acting on Kallen's words from inside the Stigmata Space yesterday that she could seek Irene to learn the usage methods of Judah, Theresa prepared to use this as an excuse to find Irene. However, she discovered Irene was already gone from her room.
"Where are you right now? Did you go to class this early?" Theresa asked while using her authority as Principal to check Irene's class schedule.
"But I see you only have classes in the afternoon today. Why did you leave so early?"
"Ah, I am doing morning exercises. You forgot, I am exercising together with Class Monitor Fu Hua." Irene smiled. "But looking for me this early, is there something the matter?"
"Um." Theresa's voice sounded somewhat bashful. "Irene, do you remember that Miss Kallen said last night that I... I could find you to learn how to use Judah, right?"
"Yes, I remember. I didn't expect the Principal to be so proactive." Irene smiled. "Now? I am indeed free this morning, but you have to wait for me to eat breakfast first."
"Then I will wait for you at the villa, and then we can find a place. Is that okay?"
"Alright, then wait for me at the villa." Irene hung up the phone and turned to look at Fu Hua. "Sorry, Fu Hua. Principal Theresa has something to do with me."
"No problem, you go ahead." Fu Hua nodded. Irene didn't need much guidance from her now anyway; the remaining things practically relied on Irene's own comprehension.
As for the other techniques within the Taixuan Sword Qi—since the name contained 'Sword Qi', there were naturally many sword moves.
But she wasn't clear if Irene was suitable for using a sword or if she had talent for the sword. Since the foundation of Taixuan Sword Qi had been laid, then in tomorrow's training, she would test and see if Irene was suitable, right?
"This is a specialized training ground." Theresa led Irene into a small plaza. Speaking of which, why did Irene want this place to be in a state disconnected from the network and unrecorded? Was it because of her ability?
"I want to keep a bit of mystery." Irene smiled. What other reason could there be? It was just worry about Otto. Although she had half-exposed herself to Otto, that was only Pardo.
If Kallen were exposed to Otto, or if he saw that she could use Judah even better than Theresa, then Otto's interest in her would be more than just a little bit.
She had guarded against it for so long; she couldn't be exposed because of such a small issue.
As for why Theresa cut off the surveillance of the training ground for no reason in broad daylight... well, since it was Theresa who did it, Otto wouldn't investigate deeply.
Or perhaps he eagerly wished for Theresa to have some little secrets of her own, preferably growing up quickly, even becoming as strong as possible. After all, this was also within his plan, and a requirement of his plan.
As long as it didn't interfere with his plan, Otto was very tolerant of many things. As for if you interfered with the plan, or were even harmful to the plan, then Otto's bottom line would be low enough to make one's hair stand on end.
For example, if Theresa secretly colluded with the Anti-Entropy Conservatives later on, and Otto didn't hear even a whisper of wind about it? That would be underestimating Otto too much.
He just didn't care, and even very much hoped Theresa would possess her own team. Only in that way could his plan be better realized and completed.
"Mn, do you need me to lend you Judah?" Theresa operated the panel for a bit, then unslung Judah from her back and handed it to Irene. "Or do you plan to transform?"
"No need for now." Irene waved her hand. "By the way, how do you plan to learn from me? Sparring or?"
"If I spar with you, I'll be beaten to death by you, right?" Theresa shook her head. Although Irene looked like her physical fitness had improved quite a bit,
She was still far inferior compared to Theresa. And once they started fighting, she might not be able to hold back during training; it would be bad if she injured Irene.
"You act as a target for me, or um, demonstrate to me?" Theresa scratched her head while operating the panel. "If you need a target, the system still has simulation dummies for this aspect."
"Then let me show you first." Irene flipped onto the training field. "Just bring up a training dummy for now. I will demonstrate more uses of Judah for you."
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