Damn it, that evil human is bullying someone again……
Within the Mist Core, a rainbow of saturated color streaked across the monotonous mist.
Little Mist promptly noticed the commotion Vieno was causing in the mist and witnessed the entire process of her being shot down by Truth.
Finally, it saw Vieno suddenly pull out a dog collar, seemingly wanting Truth to lead her.
Afraid of being caught peeping by Truth, Little Mist was currently using its Authority to hide and observe the two from a distance.
While very concealed, the downside was it couldn’t hear their conversation.
Why did this big purple cat suddenly want Truth to lead her? Little Mist was utterly puzzled.
But based on its understanding of Truth, it was highly likely that Truth had said something threatening, which made the purple cat panic and desperately try to please Truth…
Yes, that must be it!
After taking another look at Vieno’s pleading and highly agitated expression, Little Mist felt it couldn’t watch anymore.
This feeling of having one’s dignity trampled by others was just too suffocating. It felt so sorry for her…
No, it had to hurry up and reach First Rank, synchronize its Authority, and balance Truth. Otherwise, she was just too lawless!
As long as Little Mist could find a way to reach First Rank and achieve a ten percent fusion with its Authority, it would successfully unlock the Divine Domain and become the second entity bound to the Mist, right after Truth.
Then, after binding with the Mist, the fusion percentages of both Truth and Little Mist would directly synchronize, reaching twenty-four percent!
At that point, Little Mist’s strength would be exactly the same as Truth’s. Let’s see if Truth would dare bully it then!
After reaching First Rank, it would be time for Little Mist’s revenge!
Just you wait, evil human! Late at night, I’ll sneak into the dungeon to heal the injured and unconscious Adventurers to level up! Little Mist thought to itself.
“Hey, Little Mist!”
At that moment, Ariel’s call suddenly rang out near the cottage. Little Mist immediately jumped off the table and crawled outside to see what was happening.
It found Ariel excitedly walking towards the cottage, holding a huge, silver-white egg that emitted a faint golden light.
“Look what I found! I found a huge egg nearby. It seems to be a Dragon Egg!”
While taking a walk nearby, Ariel had accidentally discovered the Dragon Egg of the Illusory Realm that Truth had placed in the Mist Core.
This scared Little Mist so much its tail stood on end, and it shook its head repeatedly.
“No, no! Egg, no good!”
“What are you saying? You’re not speaking clearly. Hey, do you want to study this Dragon Egg with me? I feel this egg is very unusual.”
Ariel had never seen a Dragon Egg of the Illusory Realm before, so she couldn’t identify what breed of dragon this egg belonged to.
She was extremely curious… Maybe she could crack it open and see? It looked like it was about to hatch anyway.
“No… allowed!”
It wasn’t until Ariel got closer to Little Mist that she finally heard its refusal clearly. Little Mist quickly went back inside and used paper and pen to communicate with Ariel.
[Put the egg back. Now!]
“Put it back?”
Ariel, still holding the Dragon Egg, tilted her head in confusion. Why? There were no dragons in the Mist, which meant this egg… Wait! Suddenly, Ariel realized something.
If there were no dragons in the Mist, then who brought this egg in? That was hard to guess…
Without hesitation, a cold sweat breaking out on her back, Ariel hurriedly put the Dragon Egg back in its original spot, the place where the Mist’s aura was most concentrated.
“I almost forgot about that Demon! Good thing the little snake reminded me. If it found out I stole its stuff, I’d probably end up in pieces scattered everywhere!”
So why did that Demon casually leave a Dragon Egg in the Mist?
Just as she was about to leave, Ariel took another careful look at this Dragon Egg of the Illusory Realm.
Since it belonged to that Demon, it definitely wasn’t simple! Good, another one of its little secrets discovered…
Meanwhile, in the western part of the Mist.
“Lord Hermit, ever since hearing about your deeds from Suna, I have thought of you day and night, every moment. My admiration for you has grown daily. Finally, I couldn’t contain the restlessness in my heart and came directly into the Mist to pay my respects to you!”
Vieno was still kneeling on the ground, holding up the leash as she “confessed” to Truth’s mist-formed image, leaving Truth utterly unsure how to deal with this Catfolk…
“Chirp!” Xiao Cai indicated she felt the same, showing no aggression towards Truth whatsoever. It really seemed a Contract Beast’s personality followed its master’s.
This put Truth in a difficult position. Not taking the leash felt a bit pretentious, since Suna had surely already told her about her fondness for bullying people.
But taking it felt a bit… off. It felt like she was indulging her…
It felt like she was being taken advantage of.
Truth was momentarily caught in a dilemma. After thinking for a while longer, she decided to use a compromise.
Before Vieno, the monster formed from mist gradually dissipated. Then, within the mist, a petite figure began to manifest.
Under Vieno’s gaze, the silver-haired, pink-eyed little Priest, Truth, slowly walked up to her.
“Hello, Vieno. Lord Hermit asked me to come chat with you.”
“Huh?!”
Why the sudden change of person? Vieno was a bit confused, but she could understand.
After all, Lord Hermit was an existence far above her and wouldn’t deign to communicate directly with a small fry like her.
Probably, questioning her earlier was just to punish her for breaking the Mist’s rules…
Speaking of which, could they give a heads-up before suddenly switching people?
Vieno quickly turned to hide the leash and the little dog collar around her neck.
Xiao Cai swiftly burrowed back into her arms; it felt a bit embarrassed too.
It was just too shameless to show such an expression that practically screamed “I want to be disciplined” in front of a junior…
“Ahem.” After adjusting her appearance, Vieno bowed slightly and said formally,
“Greetings, Holy Maiden. Suna always talks about you. Seeing you in person is better than hearing a hundred descriptions; you are indeed very cute.”
Just as Suna had said, the Ninth Saintess had been bewitched by Lord Hermit without the Goddess of Life’s knowledge! However, Vieno actually believed this version more:
Truth had been secretly worshipping Lord Hermit for five hundred years.
It was just that five hundred years later, before Lord Hermit had fully awakened, the Goddess of Life had managed to win her over.
As for why Lord Hermit allowed Truth to remain the Ninth Saintess, Vieno had no idea.
“Senior Vieno, you came to the Mist to find Lord Hermit this time… it’s not because you want to be, uh… played with, right?”
Truth asked directly, while simultaneously stepping forward and gently touching Vieno’s wounds with both hands. The Mist Healing Art began operating at full power.
Grab a bit of experience while asking questions. After healing this Catfolk, she’d probably reach Level 25.
“That’s correct.”
Vieno nodded. She was certain Lord Hermit was observing her from the shadows, so she held nothing back and stated directly,
“Actually, I don’t have that kind of fetish at all. I acted that way just to try and please Lord Hermit. Because I believe Lord Hermit can grant my wish! And for that wish, I’m willing to act like a cat or a dog!”
Grant a wish? Truth frowned slightly. What on earth did that Suna tell Vieno! And hey, you’re already a cat!
“Can you tell me about that wish?” Truth asked calmly, keeping her composure.
Vieno took a deep breath and said seriously,
“Let me obtain a method to advance to King Rank and break through the deities’ rank blockade!”
Immediately after, Xiao Cai also poked her little head out and let out a “chirp,” indicating she felt the same.
As a Contract Beast, only after Vieno broke through to King Rank could she follow and advance to King Rank.
Although Vieno was only Level 93 now, she was already searching for ways to break through the King Rank blockade in advance.
She didn’t want to end up like those predecessors, stuck at Level 99 for a lifetime, dying depressed.
Unfortunately, despite all her efforts, she still couldn’t find any method to break through to King Rank.
According to her predecessors, it seemed the deities had hidden something important…
“Advance to King Rank? What’s wrong? Problems with your advancement ritual, or can’t find the advancement materials?” Truth asked, puzzled. Why was King Rank suddenly blocked by the deities?
“Huh? Besides advancement materials… you also need an advancement ritual?!” Vieno was shocked.
After researching so many documents, how had she never found out that advancing to King Rank required a ritual?
Actually, the deities’ method of blocking King Rank was very simple: they destroyed all information about advancing to King Rank and controlled almost all King Rank advancement materials.
This way, if people wanted to break through to King Rank, they could only join a church and become the deities’ dogs.
After a brief conversation between Vieno and Truth, the latter finally more or less understood the deities’ actions. Oh, so it’s a monopoly…
“I see…” Truth thought for a moment and replied,
“Simple. Lord Hermit just told me via divine sense that there are plenty of advancement methods. For a Contract Master like you, there are several methods.”
“Ah?! Re… really? Then, could you…”
“Don’t rush, don’t rush. You know, when making deals with mysterious beings, you can’t do so without paying a price. So…” Truth gave Vieno a suggestive look.
“I’m ready to be a dog!”
“Eh… Is that all your price is? What a shame. Lord Hermit doesn’t seem very interested in you.” Truth shook her head.
“Uh… then, then what should I do?”
“Don’t worry. Lord Hermit isn’t some demonic evil god or anything. He won’t demand high prices like your soul or your life. Hold on, let me ask.”
Truth closed her eyes again, seemingly negotiating with Lord Hermit, which made Vieno instantly nervous.
Finally, half a minute later, Truth spoke again.
“Do you know Wilona? She seems to be a little cat too. She came to De Ya Cheng before.”
“Wilona?!” Vieno was stunned by Truth’s question. Why was Wilona suddenly involved?
“I’m her aunt. Wh… why?”
“Lord Hermit says he wants her to come live in the Mist for a while.”
“Wh… what?!”
“That’s the condition Lord Hermit proposes. If you want the method to advance to King Rank, then bring Wilona here.”