Find a Troubled Girl after leaving the Guild

Outrageous! Unforgivable! Diao spent many days venting his anger by running across the wilderness.

He is absolutely not the one to restore balance! Retreating in the face of such an important matter, it’s absolutely impossible to accomplish such a task.

"Right? Great Witch? You’ve all got it wrong!"

A somewhat calmer Diao sought out the old Ancient Witch, hoping to get a definite answer from him.

However, the old man was noncommittal, instead saying to Diao, "Diao, at this age you can vaguely sense the children of all spirits. In my limited lifetime, I have only seen you. Continue your cultivation, and He will give you the answers, no matter which question it is."

Although it’s hard to completely forget about that outsider’s matter, the long-term cultivation life occupies a lot of emotional space, and she returns once again to the process of cultivation accompanied by transcendence and savagery.

Just as the Great Witch said, as her body grows, her control over magic power improves, her ability to communicate with spirits naturally increases.

She can share the extraordinary things seen by all spirits and verify them mutually, the records of the outside world on the ancient scrolls instead expand an illusionary world in her mind, even though closed off in the Sky Island of the marshes, but gazing at the starry sky that represents how many great spirits Nebis has existed, her thoughts can leap over limitations and understand the world from a broader perspective.

Perhaps when she was twelve, Diao fell asleep in the wilderness, and upon opening her eyes, she saw that young outsider.

He had completely changed into the attire of Zultin Marsh, although not painting oil colors nor tattooing, his body was not short of beast bones and feathers and used herbal-infused strings embroidered with various curse runes on his clothes.

He looked calm and peaceful, sitting at a tree stump-made wooden table and studying the ancient scrolls, while writing something with colorful ink.

Seeing Diao wake up, he gave her a gentle smile.

Diao suddenly leapt up, years of confusion and resentment re-ignited like a burning flame, at that moment, she realized, these grievances had not disappeared but solidified with cultivation.

Because to this day she still doesn’t understand his choice.

"You! Why are you back?! Didn’t you run away?! How dare you come back to Zultin Marsh?"

The twelve-year-old brown-skinned girl pounced like a panther in front of the young man.

"I’ve always been here, haven’t left since I came."

Li Ang looked somewhat innocent, scratched his hair, then stepped forward and embraced her.

"Ahhh! What are you doing! Let go!"

"Still fuzzy from sleep?"

Li Ang placed a warm and large palm on the girl’s forehead, and the contact of the body temperature instantly calmed her movements.

With this warmth, she remembered.

Yes, he stayed in Zultin Marsh to complete the path of the witch. What was I thinking?

The Great Witch let me stay by his side, always took care of his daily life, then we... became very close.

"Sorry, I was a bit confused." Diao flushed and gently pushed him away.

Li Ang chuckled softly: "No problem, Zultin Marsh is close to the River of the Flowing Spirits, the people here often receive strange messages, you are exceptionally talented, seeing odd things is perfectly normal."

That, that’s still quite strange.

Diao forced a laugh, glanced at the Time Counting Magic Sand, and remembered what she should be doing this time.

"It’s time to cook. Brother, what do you want to eat today?"

Time quietly and gently passed by, as the girl grew, the two became closer until their souls aligned.

The perception of all spirits reached a peak.

As there was nothing more to learn as a witch, Li Ang and Great Druid Diao stepped into the Stone Gate, traversed the Transcendent Realm, reaching the center of the Sanctuary of All Spirits.

There, they obtained the Ancient Witch’s legacy, finally wore the crown named "the one to restore balance." Upon returning, it was time to leave Zultin Marsh with the blessings of the Ancient Witches and fulfill the expectations carried by this title.

"Out, outside, will I be unfit?" Diao felt anxious.

"It’s alright. Although I have become somewhat like the Ancient Witches, I am still from the outside world, and you just need to follow me. There are many wonderful things outside as well."

Li Ang gently smiled, holding the girl’s hand as they left the miasma of Zultin Marsh.

He said, no matter what the responsibility of restoring balance holds, he would first take her to see the whole beautiful Nebis. With their combined strength, there’s generally no opponent they cannot handle in Nebis, allowing them to live freely.

However, outside Zultin Marsh lies Nebis, engulfed by flames of destruction.

Strange enemies came without warning, capable of resisting Diao’s magic, only Li Ang’s curses barely matched, but the entire world had already fallen into the hands of such enemies.

They fought alone, the girl witnessed her loved one dying in front of her.

"Ahhhhh!"

Awaking with tear stains in the wilderness, Diao discovered fallen leaves and dirt had accumulated thickly atop her, and the bird spirit perched on the nearby tree branch flew away seeing her awake.

Soon, the Great Witch appeared.

"Grandpa, am I..."

"You’ve slept for half a month, all spirits temporarily took you away."

All spirits?

I clearly saw...

No, why did I dream about becoming with him, and end with that kind of conclusion?

Diao wanted to speak but couldn’t, flushed cheeks burning as speech choked.

The Great Witch held a smiling silence, observed her mature speech, seemingly saw everything.

At last, the girl removed the embarrassing parts and spoke of the main experience.

The Great Witch listened intently but didn’t elaborate.

The old man said to Diao that the symbolization of all spirits often mainly implies, He provides numerous different messages, requiring us to discern what is being conveyed.

Afterward, Diao had other dreams.

...

Li Ang disengaged from the mingling thoughts with the girl, silenced a while, sighed: "Unexpectedly, it’s not just one dream."

What he saw, the dream where he and Diao joined the Rebel Army, fought against the Empire’s annihilation forces alongside either familiar or unfamiliar Sky Knights and even the Six Wind Dragons, was also one type.

"Different forms of life, total of four times, starting from age twelve, each year I dream once. Whereas the real-time dream lasts one or several years."

Diao’s cheeks flushed pink: "Each meeting is different, hence the ways we unite vary."

This present her differs in character from each one of the dreams.

However, initially, she appeared lively overall, with a hint of wildness.

Of all the Diaos, it’s the one before me who is the most awkward.

Is it because the various dream-provided life experiences have inadvertently shackled her current self?

Li Ang shook his head, temporarily shifting his thoughts away from her to ask, "Is there an ending where I didn’t die?"

"Yes, there is."

Diao’s eyes glimmered with emotion, "I watched you die in my arms, and there were times when we stayed together... all the way to the moment of the world’s destruction."

"You just mentioned that we spent at most a few years together, yet the world has already been destroyed?"

"Yes, none of the scenarios involved us defeating formidable enemies together; they were all rather unfavorable outcomes."

Despite it being a dream, Diao’s expression showed some sadness.

After knowing these things, Li Ang felt that no sane person would dismiss this as just ordinary dreams.

Diao witnessing their shared lives in dreams surely wasn’t her daydreaming turning into night dreams; the intervention of Ten Thousand Spirits was surely involved, just like his previous dreams.

The only question is whether they’re real or illusionary?

Objectively speaking, to Li Ang and Diao, those dreams are akin to the Illusion Realm.

However, Ten Thousand Spirits present the Illusion Realm using the Spirit Marks that He remembers, reenacting monumental events and figures from Nebis’s history.

Then what is the source of these dreams concerning personal fate appearing in the mind?

Are they also Spirit Marks? But none of these events have happened.

If they have happened, it must be in another world line.

These matters can only be seen at the World Wedge.

Despite seemingly not having seen much information before Spirit-transmigrating to Nebis Meimei, according to what Meluna saw, Li Ang as a Transmigrator possesses "uniqueness."

In their world line, Li Ang doesn’t exist.

If Diao’s dream refers to another world line, for example, if he decided to stay at Zultin Marsh and eventually be with Diao through daily interactions, the logic slightly contradicts Meluna’s statement.

Could that woman be concealing something? Li Ang felt a headache coming on.

Although he thought she might not be entirely honest, he felt a bit annoyed. He decided to go back and give her a good piece of his mind.

"Anyway, I understand now."

Li Ang organized his thoughts and focused his attention on Diao in front of him.

At this moment, he found it difficult to maintain a stern face, his heart unintentionally softening towards her, understanding her persistence towards him.

"Though we truly met when you returned to Zultin Marsh, I’ve known you for a long time."

Diao, like a female deer, had eyes moist with boundless affection.

"But none of that is real." Li Ang spoke with firmness.

The young girl’s eyes reddened, "I think, perhaps under certain circumstances, they are indeed real."

She didn’t know the World Wedge or the so-called parallel world theory, but she didn’t feel that her seemingly real dreams were false. Li Ang could sense this.

"We indeed haven’t experienced those things together, nor have we lived together."

The young girl slowly lowered her head.

"However, starting from crossing the Stone Gate, we’ve had definitively existing shared experiences."

The young girl, with her head lowered, suddenly opened her eyes, her body twitching, but she didn’t immediately lift her head.

She seemed to fear something.

But she also seemed to be anticipating something.

"I think, that ’ritual’ indeed needs a basis, however—"

"There’s already a beginning, isn’t there?" Diao raised her head and interrupted.

She seemed to have released herself from some previous heaviness, standing up with a nimble action.

This appearance was reminiscent of her original self.

"Indeed, those dreams are just dreams, but reality has started anew from now."

Barefoot standing on the moss-covered rocks by the river, her long, powerful toes gripping the stone surface tightly, she resembled a beast granted rebirth.

With a swift motion, Diao untied her long robe and tossed it aside.

"Hey hey..."

"Don’t worry, I’m just borrowing the river to practice Transformation Technique."

Wearing a slip, the young girl stuck out her tongue playfully, the glow accentuating the Curse Runes painted on her body with long-lasting paint, making her exude mysterious and untamed civilization.

She walked into the river, and under Li Ang’s amazed gaze, her bones crackled, and she dislocated many of her joints directly.

"What are you doing?"

"Seeing you transform into a snake, I’ve also wanted to practice, this is a hurdle I haven’t overcome."

She adeptly floated in the water, able to perform movements exceeding human flexibility due to dislocated joints.

"Don’t worry, I always practice this way, I’m very familiar."

Li Ang had no doubt about this point, plus her healing ability, there would be no aftereffects, whereas ordinary people wouldn’t be able to endure such pain.

Yet she...

Amidst enduring pain, her pupils emitted a peculiar excitement, showcasing an unusual allure in her youthful face.

"Is this your rapid progress secret?"

"Sort of. I myself have... some interest in it..."

The river water soaked her slip, outlining the shape of bone adornments on her body. She flicked at the bouncing bone decoration with her fingertips, looking quite enticing.

Li Ang scratched his head, realizing that the more he understood this individual, the greater the issues seemed to be remarkable indeed.