Villanette's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Celestia. The fallen angel stepped out from the shadows, her face still bearing shock and deep contemplation, but her eyes were completely different now—a ignited, pure thirst for power and awe for knowledge.
"Not bad," Villanette commented faintly, acknowledging the group's battles. "Celestia, did you gain anything from this fight?"
"...Yes." Celestia's voice was somewhat dry, yet exceptionally firm. "I saw the gap, saw the crudeness, and also... the direction. Please, senior, teach me 'Shadow Leap' and 'Spear of Delusion-Breaking'!"
Villanette nodded slightly: "Remember this feeling. The elevation of power begins with recognizing deficiencies." She turned to Fa, "As for your trial, it truly begins now. Follow me." She turned, her inky black six wings lightly spreading, walking toward the deeper part of the stone hut, which seemed to connect to another space.
She looked at Celestia again: "Your shackles are bindings, but also protection. Until you initially grasp the essentials of 'Leap' and can control the power without tearing your own spatial structure, they will prevent you from dangerous attempts. Now, listen carefully, comprehend with your heart."
Villanette did not demonstrate directly but began to explain, her voice calm yet pointing straight to the origin:
"The 'Wind Origin' is not merely the movement of airflow. It is the pulse of space, the carrier of material motion, the medium of energy transmission. You feel the wind, drive the wind, yet have never truly 'integrated' into the wind, becoming part of the spatial flow."
"Your 'Shadow Shuttle' merely uses the shallowest folds between the shadow plane and the real plane for short-distance jumps, like clumsily splashing on the surface of a turbulent river. The true 'Shadow Leap' requires understanding the 'texture' of space." She extended her jade-like finger, lightly drawing in the air. There was no flashy light, but the space before everyone rippled like water waves, revealing an extremely subtle, fleeting black fissure. "Sense it, not with eyes or ears, but with your 'wind senses' to touch the ripples of space, with your 'shadow affinity' to smooth the resistance of the folds. Imagine your existence as the lightest wisp of wind, sliding along the texture of space into the gaps of those folds..."
Villanette's words contained profound laws, and Celestia listened entranced, struggling to understand every word. She closed her eyes, attempting to mobilize the wind and shadow powers within her, mostly suppressed by the sealing shackles. Following Villanette's guidance, she no longer pursued explosive speed but extended her perception infinitely, touching the invisible "texture" of the surrounding space... An unprecedented, almost dizzying sense of space assaulted her.
"As for the 'Spear of Delusion-Breaking'..." Villanette's voice shifted to the mental level, "Your mental shrieks are like tsunamis, covering vast areas but lacking depth, shattering upon reefs. True mental slaughter requires extreme 'condensation' and 'penetration.' Discard all distractions, compress your anger, your obsessions, your will... all mental power! Compress further! Like forging a divine weapon, temper it a thousand times, remove impurities, condense into an indestructible point of sharpness! Lock onto the core fluctuation of the target's soul, like Arya locking onto the gryphon's eyes... Then, 'thrust' it out! Not for intimidation, only for piercing!"
Villanette's words were like enlightenment, striking deep into Celestia's soul. She struggled to recall Arya's terrifyingly precise archery, attempting to imagine her vast and scattered mental power as invisible anvils and heavy hammers, beginning the difficult "thousand-tempering" compression process... Sweat instantly covered her forehead, and tearing pain came from her soul—this was the inevitable suffering of changing ingrained habits.
While Celestia was immersed in Villanette's recent teachings, Fa had followed Villanette through the light gate flowing with denser starlight and strange runes in the depths of the stone hut. Her trial concerning the Wind Origin and True Essence of Light officially began.
On the platform, the nine Frost Roar Gryphons lay quietly, like loyal guardians. Arya and the others seized the time to recover stamina, treat wounds, while marveling at Celestia's aura undergoing some indescribable transformation—converging inward yet becoming more dangerous—under Villanette's brief guidance. This trial of wind and light above the Light Feather Dome was not only a clash of powers but also a reshaping of souls and skills.
Fa's Trial: The Ultimate Challenge of Five-Attribute Fusion
In the depths of Villanette's stone hut, Fa followed Villanette through a light gate flowing with dense starlight and strange runes, entering a space filled with mysterious aura. The air here seemed stagnant, permeated with powerful fluctuations of wind and light attributes, oppressively making it hard to breathe. The walls were engraved with rotating star orbit runes, emitting dim blue light, and the floor was made of dark crystal stone, reflecting Fa's figure as if standing in a void.
Villanette stopped, turning to look at Fa, her ice-blue eyes deep and calm: "The second trial will be your greatest challenge so far." Her voice was calm yet carried invisible pressure, "You must feel and fuse all the attributes you've learned so far—Earth's heaviness, Water's agility, Ice's cold silence. And I will infuse the 'Wind Origin' and 'True Essence of Light' into your body. These two forces are immensely powerful; if you cannot control them, they may burst your body."
Before the words finished, Villanette waved her hand lightly, and a lifelike dummy appeared out of thin air in the center of the space. The dummy was made of some strange crystal, emanating faint magic fluctuations, as if alive. Villanette raised her hands slightly, and two dazzling lights shot from her palms—one was pure and sharp wind attribute energy, like invisible blades tearing the air; the other was scorching yet gentle light attribute energy, like liquefied star glow. The two forces infused into the dummy at astonishing speed.
"Boom—!" In less than 3 seconds, the dummy let out a piercing scream, its body rapidly expanding, the crystal surface covered in cracks, then exploding in a blinding light, fragments scattering and turning into a mess of wind and light remnants, dissipating in the air.
Villanette withdrew her hand, her gaze calmly turning to Fa: "This is the consequence of failure. But if you pass this trial, it counts as passing the second test. Good luck."
Fa took a deep breath, her right Star Eye flickering with dim light, feeling the burning resonance from the inheritor's stone in her chest. She knew this was not only a test of her power but also a tempering of her will. She nodded firmly: "I'm ready."
Villanette said no more, stepping forward slowly and gently placing her hands on Fa's shoulders. In an instant, a vast and violent energy surged from her palms, flooding into Fa's body like a torrent. The sharpness of wind and the scorching of light instantly swept through every inch of Fa's flesh, violently colliding with her original Earth, Ice, and Water attributes.
"Ah—!" Fa let out a suppressed groan, intense pain like thousands of needles piercing her marrow, every cell in her body seeming torn apart and reshaped. Earth's heaviness tried to stabilize her body, Ice's cold attempted to slow the energy impact, Water's softness tried to harmonize it all, but the newly added wind and light raged like unbridled horses, slamming against her limits. Fine cracks appeared on her skin, blood seeping out, barely repaired by light's healing power, only to be torn open again by wind's sharpness in the next second.
Fa closed her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth, trying to control the fusion of these five attributes with her will. Her right Star Eye throbbed wildly, blue light penetrating her eyelids, attempting to guide the chaotic energy flow. But each collision made her body tremble, her bones emitting teeth-gritting creaks, as if about to collapse at any moment.
Villanette turned calmly, her inky six wings spreading lightly, her figure disappearing into the starlight, leaving Fa alone to face this vast and dangerous stellar space. The heavy stone door closed silently behind Fa, completely isolating inside from outside.
The test had begun.
The Team's Worry and Determination
When Villanette's figure appeared in the main hall of the stone hut, Arya and the others were seizing the time to treat wounds and recover stamina, while Celestia sat cross-legged in the corner shadows, eyes closed tightly, her body surrounded by extremely faint yet mysteriously rhythmic spatial and mental fluctuations, obviously struggling to digest Villanette's guidance on "Shadow Leap" and "Spear of Delusion-Breaking."
However, at the moment the stone door closed, a suppressed to the extreme, as if squeezed from the depths of the soul, painful muffled groan penetrated the thick stone door, clearly entering everyone's ears!
"Urgh—!!!"
A shrill, inhuman scream pierced through the thick stone walls, slamming into everyone's eardrums and hearts. The pain contained in that voice was so pure, as if every cell was repeatedly crushed and reassembled between boiling magma and absolute zero cold, the soul torn by invisible hands.
Arya's face instantly turned as pale as paper, her heart gripped by that scream, rushing to the light gate, her hands futilely pounding the flowing star glow: "Fa! Fa! What's wrong?!" Responding to her were only more high-pitched, death-like roars from inside the door, occasionally mixed with the muffled "creaks" of bones under unbearable strain.
Kayla also stood abruptly, lightning crackling on her thunder claws, her beastman intuition sensing the terrifying energy fluctuations and Fa's extreme danger from behind the door.
"Villanette!" Arya turned sharply, her emerald eyes burning with shock, anger, and fear, almost spewing fire, "What did you do to her?! Open the door! Open it now!"
Villanette was already sitting calmly on an ancient stone chair, somehow holding a crystal-clear ice crystal cup in her hand, filled with a liquid emanating a clear scent. She took a light sip, her ice-blue eyes calm and emotionless, as if the deathly wails from inside the door were irrelevant wind sounds.
"She is undergoing the test." She set down the cup, her voice indifferent without a trace of worldly emotion, "Fusing the杂驳 power seeds in her body—Earth's steadiness, Ice's deathly silence, Water's endurance, then bearing my infusion of Light's True Essence and Wind's Origin. Five primal forces vying for dominance in her shell, like stuffing five giant beasts into a sparrow's frame. Survive it, and she'll be reborn. Fail..." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the group's shocked and furious faces, "Boom, just like that."
She pointed casually with her slender finger. The air in the corner of the stone hut twisted slightly, instantly forming a transparent humanoid made of pure energy, similar in size to Fa. Immediately after, Villanette flicked her fingertip, a subtle wind vortex wrapped in a speck of blazing white light particle, sinking into the humanoid.
At first, the humanoid merely glowed faintly, five-colored halos flowing beautifully. But in just three seconds, the halos suddenly turned violent! The yellow of Earth, blue of Water, forest white of Ice, blazing white of Light, pale green of Wind, like five out-of-control beasts, rampaging and biting inside the humanoid! The transparent body was instantly bulged with countless hideous lumps, cracks spreading like spiderwebs!
"No—!" Arya cried out in horror.
"Boom!!!"
A deafening explosion swallowed the cry. Blinding intense light flashed, violent energy turbulence sweeping like a hurricane, disrupting the flowing star charts in the stone hut. Only wisps of dissipating energy residue remained on the spot; the energy humanoid had been completely annihilated, leaving not a trace.
Dead silence.
Only Fa's continuous, increasingly desperate painful roars echoed in the silence, like blunt knives cutting everyone's nerves.
Villanette seemed to merely wave away a wisp of smoke before her, picking up the ice crystal cup again, her tone unwavering: "Life or death depends on her own will. You all, just wait quietly for the result. If she dies, you can disband."
"Disband?!" TISK roared roughly, slamming his Lava Hammer heavily on the ground, "We are Fa's partners! She's suffering and fighting for her life in there, and we're just watching outside?!"
"Watching, or leaving, is your freedom." Villanette sat back down, closing her eyes, seeming intent on meditating, turning a deaf ear to the increasingly shrill cries of pain from behind the door.
That painful roar was like a heavy hammer, striking everyone's hearts. Arya bit her lower lip hard, almost drawing blood. Kayla paced irritably, fierce light flashing in her eyes. Yuyuer's crystal orb flickered with light, clearly unrest in his heart. Zhamisi's snake tail slapped the ground uneasily. Rex's armor emitted low humming, data analysis screens wildly jumping with terrifying energy readings leaking from behind the door. Lin Ya's emerald body glowed dimly, filled with worry. Celestia was also startled from her meditation, listening to the painful sounds, a touch of shared misery in her complex expression.
"We can't just watch!" Salsa's mechanical cat shell's eyes flashed with dim light, her electronic voice carrying unprecedented determination, "Villanette!"
Villanette did not open her eyes.
Salsa continued: "We want to enhance our combat power..." Salsa's mechanical cat shell's amber electronic eyes flickered with dim light, her cold intent transmitted to everyone, "This crazy woman is cold-blooded, but her power level is beyond our imagination. Fa is fighting for her life; we... can't just wait!" Her gaze turned to the resting Villanette, "Hey! Villanette! Name your price! All of us, accept your special training!"
Villanette's eyelashes trembled slightly, slowly opening her ice-blue eyes, her gaze carrying a hint of interest and condescending scrutiny: "Oh? Special training? On what grounds? Teaching you... people, what benefit is there for me?"
The air froze. Fa's screams from inside the door were a cruel countdown.
Yuyuer gripped his Dragon Bone Staff tightly, waves surging in the crystal orb. He took a deep breath, stepping forward, speaking rapidly: "Lady Villanette! The Doomsday Rebirth organization's claws are spread across the continent; their ultimate goal is the Star Shards and Starfall Lands! They're stealing power, twisting life! If they succeed, the entire world's laws may be overturned, and the stellar trajectories and balance you guard will suffer unprecedented impacts! We are the frontline forces against Doomsday Rebirth! Enhancing us is fortifying the dam against Doomsday Rebirth's erosion! This is the most effective aid to your guardianship duties!"
Villanette's expression fluctuated slightly; Yuyuer's words clearly hit the core. She was silent for a few seconds, her fingertip lightly tapping the rim of the ice crystal cup, producing crisp sounds.
"Not enough." She said faintly, "Dams eventually decay, ants in numbers still can't shake a giant tree. I need more... direct 'benefits.'"
Lin Ya's emerald body emanated a gentle life glow; he spoke steadily: "The Star Glow Orchids of Light Feather Dome, and even the ice crystal moss and cold iron wood in this eternal storm region, are unique magical plants. I am versed in natural life forces and can help you organize and optimize the ecological cycles here, even attempt to cultivate plant variants with purer wind, ice, or light attributes. The pure energy and unique materials they produce will surely benefit you."
"Oh?" Villanette's gaze fell on Lin Ya, for the first time carrying serious consideration, "Child of the Forest... interesting."
Zhamisi hissed with her snake tongue, her venom fangs curved blades flickering with dim light, her tone carrying the snake-like hiss and ruthlessness: "We will fight! Fight nonstop! Until we destroy the Doomsday Rebirth organization! All spoils from battles—the remnants of monsters transformed by Doomsday Rebirth, their eerie lab devices, even captured key figures—if you're interested, we'll prioritize supplying them to you for research! Doomsday Rebirth's technology and secrets may also serve as reference for understanding certain 'law' distortions?"
Rex's armor emitted low data flow sounds: "Supplemental proposal: High-intensity energy collision data from battles, spatial disturbance parameters, biological mutation instances, can establish a shared database. My scanning system can perform high-precision recording and analysis; this will be valuable samples for researching energy origins and real-world interactions."
Yuyuer summarized: "All core intelligence and samples we obtain about 'world laws,' 'primal energies,' 'lost technologies,' and 'higher life forms' will be prioritized and fully shared with you! Aren't you an observer? These firsthand 'variables' from the most dangerous frontlines must have inestimable value for your understanding of world trajectories and fulfilling inheritor duties, right?"
The air instantly quieted, leaving only Fa's painful gasps from behind the door.
Villanette slowly opened her eyes. In the depths of those ice-blue eyes, it seemed as if stellar nebulae were accelerating in rotation. She was silent for a few breaths, her gaze sharply scrutinizing Salsa, then sweeping over the other faces filled with expectation and determination.
"...A group of interesting people." Villanette's lips curved into an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible arc, "Your proposal does touch on the deep variables needed for 'observation.' This 'information priority' is worth three days of my time." "The deal is made. Remember, you begged me." Her gaze swept over everyone like ice blades, "My 'special training' has no mercy, only squeezing at the edge of life and death. If you can't endure, become crippled, or even die, it's your own fault. Now, it's too late to regret."
She raised her hand, pointing to the platform outside the stone hut, which had just undergone fierce battle with cracked ice rocks: "Three days of hell, starting now."
"No regrets!" Arya was the first to step forward, her eyes incredibly firm. For Fa, and to better stand by her side, she was willing to endure any pain.
"Bring it on! My bones are itching!" Kayla grinned, revealing her forest-white fangs, lightning intensifying on her thunder claws.
"For partners, for the future! Dwarves fear nothing!" TISK pounded his chest plate.
"Data recording prepared, optimization protocol request loading." Rex's electronic eyes locked on Villanette.
"Begging for it!" Yuyuer gripped his Dragon Bone Staff tightly.
"Hiss... Come on!" Zhamisi hissed with her snake tongue, battle intent soaring.
"The forest's resilience fears no tempering." Lin Ya's body flowed with emerald light.
"Intelligence deal established, instructor." Salsa's mechanical cat bowed slightly.
Celestia also silently stood up; although Villanette's main guidance wasn't for her, she similarly yearned to absorb more in these three days.