Although I’m grateful to you all, this really can’t be the place, Li Ang thought.
And with whom?
It’s only Inanna who was molded by him, right? Although she provides plenty of feedback, Lily lacks any sense of distance, and there’s still the lingering resentment from Diao beside her.
Diao?
Li Ang caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, seeing the young girl wipe her eyes, looking despondent.
The four briefly rested in the forest, but Li Ang’s attention was quickly pulled away by Lily’s noise.
"Li Ang, come here, come here."
Lily sat at the edge of a giant bed woven by the ancient spirits in the forest, swinging her small legs, making the bed shake as she bounced.
The bed woven by the ancient spirits was enormous, enough for the four of them to sleep in each corner. From this perspective, calling it a bed might already be inaccurate.
Though it seemed sturdy, Li Ang was still worried that the vines might be pulled apart by her, he hurried over to stabilize the vines, slowing its vibration.
"Come tell me about your Sky Cavalry," Lily giggled.
"You’re not really thinking of joining, are you?" Li Ang started to sweat.
"Why are there only girls?"
"Uh, it’s because the first member was a girl, and then, by some chance... Well, I originally wanted to form a team of various skilled and reliable members, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be all problem girls."
"I’m curious, how do you get along with them on a daily basis?"
"Is... is that really important?"
"I heard you are very close to them," Lily remarked.
Li Ang was sweating profusely, yet Lily added, "I think you’re amazing."
Is she actually complimenting me?
"Why?"
"Just think, each girl has her own emotions, right? If they all mutually approve of you, it means you’ve managed to take care of everyone, which is truly an incredible skill."
Li Ang suspected that Liluliss developed this offbeat thinking due to growing up in the secluded sect, and for some reason, she considered it impressive that Li Ang could have multiple girlfriends.
But, if she knew her long-lost daughter was among them, would she still think so?
"Do you think your daughter..."
Li Ang was about to probe into Lily’s current thoughts on her daughter but saw she had already closed her eyes, sleeping on a wide leaf.
The black-haired witch, like Zoe, has boundless energy, but the severe injury to her affecting origins still drained some vitality.
Perhaps the high concentration of spirit at the Spirit Gathering Land was rapidly healing her wounds, she had shown fatigue since earlier, and thus it’s no surprise she fell asleep now.
Pulling a wide leaf nearby to cover her, Li Ang stood up and walked into the forest.
In the midst of his unfinished sentence, he saw Diao get up and stride away.
She seemed like she had many issues too. When they first met, she seemed the most reliable.
Sighing, Li Ang followed after Diao.
Today, the young girl hadn’t changed into the thin white training attire. She wore the rune feathered long robe, sitting by the water, with only her feet soaking in the river. The glow illuminated her slender legs and feet, which combined soft curves with wild muscle lines, seemed dipped in honey.
Upon hearing Li Ang’s arrival, her body shifted a bit but didn’t turn around.
Li Ang stood silently for a while, pondering how to speak.
"Great Witch, am I really unnecessary?"
Li Ang took a deep breath. That remark had truly impacted her.
When uttered, it carried a hint of resentment because ever since returning to Zultin Marsh, whether it was the Great Witch Priest or Diao herself, they constantly urged him to make that choice.
He couldn’t quite cleanse himself of it, but he still felt that treating such matters as unavoidable choices was hard to accept normally.
Especially Diao, she seemed particularly persistent about him.
"You’ve helped me a lot along the way, you’re definitely not unnecessary. Without you, in an Otherworld full of paints, I might not have escaped the pursuit of Otherworld Objects. Later, your knowledge and skills aided me greatly."
Li Ang sat down beside her.
"Don’t you have a team of girls? Why can’t I join?"
"Because that’s a different matter entirely."
Now that they’ve reached this point, Li Ang decided to speak frankly with her. Explaining, for instance, the principle that one needs to establish emotional connections before entering an intimate relationship.
"Do you know, Great Witch, when was the first time I met you?"
"When the Great Witch Priest brought you to me?"
"Actually, no."
Diao opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say a lot, yet unsure where to start.
"Do you know, I often see you in my dreams?"
She suddenly turned her head, her ink-colored pupils under the fluorescence appeared like an infinitely deep starry universe.
Li Ang paused: "In dreams?"
"In dreams, we’ve been to many places and experienced many things together."
Li Ang pinched his chin. He’s had similar dreams too.
The Sanctuary of All Spirits transcends the rules of matter and magic power, connecting the dimensions of spirituality and consciousness. The same dreams we have, could it be...
He glimpsed the faces of Meluna and Meimei. These two are Nebis from different world lines. If the wonder of the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits surpasses the boundaries of worlds?
"In the dream, how long have we known each other?" Li Ang asked.
Diao silently watched Li Ang without responding, but she didn’t look away. Her eyes filled with tears, and her cheeks turned pink. Suddenly, she grabbed Li Ang’s hand.
The surrounding spirits surged and roared, creating a small gale around them. She was using her spiritual perception to synchronize magic power to connect with Li Ang.
Is there something that can only be expressed through this? Li Ang didn’t oppose, trying to synchronize with her.
The young girl’s thoughts began to transmit to him, and some seemingly tangible images gradually formed, as if real.
He saw a small brown-skinned girl following alongside a couple dressed in feather-adorned clothing with faces painted in oil.
Evidently, this was Diao and her parents.
Li Ang had never heard the Great Witch mention the girl’s parents.
This couple often took her away from the village, passing through the "statues" of ancient witches, to stand before the stone gate.
They read ancient scrolls, learned knowledge, and engaged in various cultivation, aiming to become "restorers of balance" like the pioneers.
The tribe’s inheritors are chosen to take on this role, and they sought to become the individuals pointed out in the information left by ancient witches.
It was not for any benefit but a pursuit of something higher, for when they are accompanied by all spirits, viewing the true structure of the world, understanding balance and the flow of vitality, and experiencing the transcendent realm granted by the Ten Thousand Spirits, they naturally wish to do something for the spirits and the world.
Diao later understood this principle.
The couple disappeared forever behind the stone gate.
They were powerful individuals in the Excellence Realm, yet despite their strength, just like ancient witches, they lacked something.
What did they lack? Diao, who lost her parents, did not understand.
She never thought about whether she should walk the same path, but whenever she recalled the time spent with them, it was as if she were being pulled towards a swamp by heavy sludge. To escape this feeling, she began diligent cultivation, initially just to forget this feeling.
Later, outsiders came to Zultin Marsh.
It’s said that he was someone without tribal heritage who embarked on the path of a witch on his own. The Great Witch and some wizards believed this individual might become a restorer of balance.
Her parents couldn’t achieve it, yet could this outsider?
Diao stealthily observed this person. He looked like a young man without any aggression, possessing neither the courage of a warrior nor the transcendence of druids or mages.
Could such a person succeed?
Unexpectedly, he truly learned the tribe’s ancestral knowledge and passed the trials one by one.
Ultimately, only crossing through the stone gate remained.
How could he reach this step? Did his thoughts align with her parents’, or was it precisely because they differed that he performed so well?
At this point, Diao had already acknowledged his prowess.
Could he successfully traverse the stone gate, entering the true Land of Ten Thousand Spirits? Was he truly such a person?
Diao found herself filled with questions about him.
Slowly, with each of his cultivations, she would observe. Sensing him break the shackles of knowledge, mastering curse runes and curse art, perceiving all spirits...
Could he truly succeed?
If he could, then the efforts of prior generations wouldn’t be in vain; the tribe’s heritage and people’s sacrifices would have meaning.
However, one morning the Great Witch came to find Diao.
"Diao, there is a matter that perhaps only you can achieve."
This time, the Great Witch was particularly quiet, speaking only key phrases. Diao felt he seemed to always wander beyond the heavens, in conversation with unseen beings.
And when he looked over, Diao felt he wasn’t seeing her, but something else.
"What do you want me to do?"
"That outsider, he is leaving."
What?
Diao couldn’t understand; clearly he was standing on the brink of crossing the stone gate, why would he leave?
"He has many matters in the outside world he wishes to accomplish, unwilling to spend more time cultivating and improving to complete the trial of crossing the stone gate."
Just like that?
Diao was struck by astonishment, followed by an uncontainable flood of indignation.
People consider this lifelong pursuit, you have the chance, yet you are unwilling to do it? Are matters outside really this crucial?
"There is a ritual, potentially enabling him to enhance quickly in a short span, but only you can fulfill this condition."
The Great Witch seemed remarkably certain of what she could accomplish.
"I’ll do it."
Diao agreed before knowing what the task was.
When the scroll with the ritual content was handed to her, although she had learned the mysteries of the human body and the way of life through various scrolls, she suddenly felt helpless. Yet the indignation surpassed the sense of embarrassment.
Why not continue? Shouldn’t things be this way?
At that time, Diao’s thoughts were quite simple.
However, he was still tugging at the Great Witch. When she stood in front of him, he firmly refused, as if he encountered something terrifying, fleeing from Zultin Marsh like the wind.

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