Irritable as can be, Elizabeth dispelled the status information as she thought through her options. "They punished me even though I achieved a perfect rating? f.u.c.k me!" Who else but Elizabeth would utter curses even through precarious times like these? Once Elizabeth stopped her pointless actions, she turned to the female genie who had begun to look at her with concern.Elizabeth said, "Ok, so… After I blacked out… What led up to you having to take care of me?"
"After you reached the 1,000th step in the Foundation Substation Legacy Trial, you received the Castle Lord"s life"s work; his magnum opus if you will. Given your current cultivation at the Mortal Stage, that kind of accomplishment is unheard of. So, as a favor, you were flown into the Resting Chamber, where I was a.s.signed to take care of you."
"Ok… Does that mean you"re also a construct? And how exactly did you take care of me?"
"To answer your first question, no, I"m not a construct; I"m a real Djinn. My name is Yrre, but you can just refer to me as your servant. As for how I took care of you, take a look around us. This is the princ.i.p.al chamber of the Resting Chamber, which is made up of various natural healing agents. You see this water?" Yrre cupped her hands and brought a bit of the water surrounding both her and Elizabeth to show Elizabeth.
She continued, "This is Calm Springs Water. Since you"ve only unlocked the Mortal Grade Resting Chamber, this water comes from the backwater recess of the Deva Dimension. But, it still works wonders on Mortal Realm pract.i.tioners. I"ve been bathing you in this water since you arrived, also using my Djinn Heart to further mend your tired body."
"Mhmm… What makes you my servant? Are you like a slave or something?" The idea of having a servant, while tempting indeed, wasn"t in line with Elizabeth"s personality. It"s not that she couldn"t accept the idea of someone doing her every bidding, but a stranger? Perhaps Sun and Jane qualified for that kind of position due to their undying loyalty, but this strange Djinn? As Elizabeth would put it, "Fat chance!"
However, as if she planned to shatter Elizabeth"s expectation, instead of immediately responding, Yrre"s genie body started glowing brighter and brighter until a certain phenomenon started materializing. Located near the center of her chest, right where a human heart should reside, translucent chains of pure soul energy formed, connecting Elizabeth to Yrre. Before Elizabeth"s face turned anymore downcast, Yrre quickly said, "These are Law Linking Chains. They guarantee that I"m bound to you till the day either of us die."
"Wh..." Elizabeth traced her fingers on the illusory chains and called for their status to appear. She also called for Yrre"s status to make sure she wasn"t lying.
[Name: Law Linking Chains
Grade: Divine Low-tier
Description: Chains forged from the essence of a Djinn and the Divine Powers of a G.o.d.
Current Effect: Binds the Djinn Yrre with the user until death.
Status
Name: Yrre
Level: 0 (79)
Rank: Sealed Void Soul Stage Djinn
Affection Rating: Absolute Servant
Description: Bound by Law Linking Chains, it is impossible for Yrre to feel anything but fear, respect, and trepidation for you.
s.e.x: Female
Strength ???
Endurance ???
Speed ???
Defense ???
Intelligence ???
Luck ???
Void Soul Energy ???]
"Se-seventy n-nine?" Yrre"s sealed power was so ridiculous that even with the Law Linking Chains and Absolute Servant Affection Rating, Elizabeth couldn"t even fathom her limits. Level 31 was the start of the Spiritual Realm, and Yrre was over double that…
Trying her best to not express her shock, and failing spectacularly, Elizabeth became a stuttering mess as she said, "Y-you st-ill didn"t answer m-my ques-stion. W-what led u-p to this m-moment?!"
"It was the Castle Lord"s and my will. You see… The Castle Lord was my benefactor many years ago. He not only saved me from certain death, but he also changed the fate of my clan. After the incident..."
Yrre"s eyes drew a blank look to nowhere in particular. She seemed, both happy and sad at the same time, melancholic even, as she continued saying, "The Castle Lord and I kept meeting as if destiny itself was pushing us together… I ended up joining the Castle Lord"s faction up in Heaven and before his time came, we decided to keep me as the First Attendant here in the Resting Chamber. As First Attendant, my duties were to follow and serve the first Honorary Disciple that managed to prove themselves worthy of inheriting the Lord"s legacy."
"Heh… W-why w-would I even want y-you as m-my s-s-servant?!" This was Elizabeth at her best, trying to bluff an ent.i.ty what was probably SEVERAL Realms of cultivation above her. Fortunately for her, though confused by Elizabeth"s sudden excitement, Yrre didn"t try to a.n.a.lyze her new master"s eccentric ways.
Very confidently, Yrre said, "I"m very well versed in the path of cultivation! I can guide you on your path and help train you in all manner of battle."
"H-heh-heh-h-heh… W-who are y-you k-kid-ding? From our c-connection… I c-can t-tell you h-have not a s-speck of cultivation!" The madness and greed Elizabeth"s eyes conveyed as she stared at Yrre would cause prolific cat-callers to blush…
"That"s because we didn"t want to distract and pervade the path of the Lord"s disciple! You wouldn"t have a chance to grow if I was there to solve each and every one of your problems. Through the Law Linking Chains, my strength with always be five phases lower than yours. The second you breakthrough to the p.a.w.n Stage, you"ll see my seals weaken and hints of my original cultivation return!"
...
Elizabeth took a couple seconds to calm down as the sparkle in her eyes threatened to outshine the faint incandescence of the crystals that lit up the Resting Chamber. Eventually, she stopped her stuttering and decided to finish her business in the Skyseizing Castle. She asked Yrre where she could get some clothes. Yrre told Elizabeth to follow her and soon the two of them ended up in one of the secondary chambers of the Resting Chamber.
From Elizabeth"s point of view, all she could see was an endless line of silky robes and various other odd articles of clothing. Elizabeth didn"t think too deeply as she just didn"t want to remain naked. Thus with the swipe of her hand, she just put on the first couple things that would make a complete outfit.
Clad in purple, Elizabeth left the Resting Chamber, and found that her access to the round room had indeed been compromised by a translucent barrier. The grand table that held her various rewards had moved out of the round room and was waiting for her right next to the entrance to the exchange hub.
Elizabeth went to pick up her tickets and finally noticed the Cyan Badge that she had earned in that last substation. She picked it up and checked its status. Naturally, the result brought a pleased smile to her face.
[Name: Cyan Badge (Status: Honorary)
Grade: Peak-tier Divine Artifact
Description: A badge inscribed with perfect Divine Grade Enchantments, only given to those who enter a discipleship with the Lord of the Sky Seizing Castle.
Current Effect: After every major breakthrough in cultivation, the user may use this badge to tear a stable rift into the void of any dimension and teleport back to the round room of the legacy trial.]
Elizabeth picked up all her tickets and left to enter the exchange hub. She already had an idea of what kinds of things she wanted to buy. So, the moment that Scion rematerialized, Elizabeth pulled out the exact number of tickets she was going to spend and said, "I"d like to trade for three Mortal Grade Reforging Crystals, the [Spatial Contraction] method, the [Temporal Flux] manual, a Peak-tier Mortal Grade s.p.a.ce Ring, 3 Yin, 3 s.p.a.ce, and 4 Time Peak-tier Magical Cores."
"Right away." Scion collected 225 Grey Tickets, and the rest of the other colored tickets Elizabeth earned, before the items Elizabeth request materialized in front of her. The decision to spend her one and only Cyan Ticket was spontaneously made after Elizabeth learned about the marvels of her Cyan Badge. If she were allowed re-entry into the round room of the Sky Seizing Castle every single time she had a major breakthrough in cultivation, that would effectively guarantee her ascent to the peak of the Sky Seizing Castle"s levels.
Elizabeth wore her shiny new black s.p.a.ce Ring and put the rest of the things she traded for, within the s.p.a.ce inside. Looking at the s.p.a.ce Ring"s status, Elizabeth"s grin almost stretched to the base of her ears…
[Name: Pitiful s.p.a.ce Ring
Grade: Peak-tier Mortal Artifact
Description: A ring inscribed with s.p.a.ce enchantments. Though impressive with regards to its design, the ring is effectively worthless as even poor quality Spiritual Grade s.p.a.ce Rings offer more capacity...
Current Effect: Holds up to 25 cubic meters worth of stuff.]
After Elizabeth came back down from her daydream — wherein she purged the world of all its valuables, h.o.a.rding every naturally treasure within her inventory-like s.p.a.ce Ring — just as she was about to walk out of the Sky Seizing Castle, she remembered that Yrre was a Djinn. Elizabeth turned to face Yrre and said, "Say… you wouldn"t by any chance have the ability to shapeshift or turn invisible, would you?"
"Huh? Oh, you must be worried I won"t fit in where you"re from." As Yrre finished her thought, where her lower torso cut off, a pair of long and sensual legs materialized. If Elizabeth wasn"t there to see the transformation, she too would be fooled that Yrre was just a regular person.
Elizabeth said, "That"s convenient..." and the two of them walked out through the Castle"s entrance. Elizabeth called for P with her soul, saying, "Can I get a teleport home now?"
From P"s end, Elizabeth could hear the soft giggling of a girl before P said, "Yeah, but just so you know..." P couldn"t hold herself together as she started to laugh rather aggressively. She did her best to finish speaking, saying, "Hahaha… Don"t freak out when you get back!"
"Wh-" Elizabeth"s voice cut off as she entered the teleportation sequence. For some reason, she had an ominous feeling after hearing P"s message. Little did she know that all the absurd things about to unfold came directly from her actions...