The deep blue night sky hung like an expanse of ink, profound and boundless. Stars faintly dotted its canvas, twinkling like curious children.
Having no appetite for dinner, Lin Xuan succumbed to her usual laziness and skipped the meal entirely. Instead, she sat perched on the counter, engrossed in conversation with the young woman who introduced herself as Tu Su, a fox demon from Mount Tu.
Despite her self-proclaimed ‘chuunibyo’ tendencies, Tu Su was remarkably polite. Unlike previous acquaintances, her fantastical claims weren’t delivered with an air of arrogant grandiosity.
The young woman was an engaging conversationalist, often humbly seeking Lin Xuan’s guidance on various ‘cultivation’ dilemmas.
Lin Xuan, naturally, agreed with pleasure. It was evident this young woman was still quite young and relatively new to her chuunibyo phase. As a seasoned veteran, Lin Xuan believed she had a wealth of ‘chuunibyo’ knowledge to impart.
After all, what was youth without a touch of chuunibyo?
However, Tu Su’s overwhelming gratitude made Lin Xuan feel a little awkward. The young woman also seemed incredibly intrigued upon learning that Lin Xuan owned a flower shop.
[Tu Su: N-n-n-no, I’m still on a mission in Mount Tu. But if I have time in a couple of days, can I visit your flower shop, Senior? (ﾉ)`ω´(ヾ) ]
Just then, Lin Xuan went to sip her lemon water. Finding it a bit sour, she inexplicably took a blue crystal from a nearby box and dropped it into her cup.
‘I remember that uncle saying this was edible, right?’ she mused.
Turning back to her phone, she saw several more messages from Tu Su.
[Tu Su: Tu Su meant nothing by it. If Senior finds it troublesome, Tu Su won’t disturb you. (இωஇ) ]
[Nine-tailed Celestial Fox: It’s fine, come whenever you like. My flower shop doesn’t get many visitors anyway.]
[Tu Su: Really? ⊙∀⊙！I can really visit Senior’s flower shop?]
[Nine-tailed Celestial Fox: Yes, you can. If you like, I can even give you a flower.]
[Tu Su: Thank you so much, Senior!!!!]
Lin Xuan chuckled. This young woman, it was just a flower, wasn’t it? Was there really a need to be so excited?
She picked up her lemon water and took a sip. Instantly, a delicate fragrance permeated her mouth.
Delicious! She had never tasted water so good before!
‘This is incredibly delicious!’
Peering into the cup, she saw the icy-blue crystal slowly dissolving at the bottom. The white snowflakes within it melted into the water along with the crystal, creating a beautiful spectacle.
Lin Xuan froze.
‘Could this actually be some kind of special sugar?’
She tried to recall what the old man had said when she first asked him about it. He had seemed to say:
“This is the Extreme Ice Divine Crystal, containing incredibly violent and terrifying power. Even ancient gods would crumble upon direct consumption. However, if it’s you, I’m sure you’ll find a way to use it correctly…”
At the time, Lin Xuan hadn’t paid much attention, casually tossing the piece he gave her into the refrigerator. After some time, she noticed it had vaporized, and the foul odor in the fridge had completely vanished, replaced by a delicate fragrance.
Since then, Lin Xuan had been using it as an air freshener, right up until now.
‘So, this was sugar all along!’
Taking another sip, Lin Xuan was even more convinced. It was sweet, and aside from a cool, refreshing sensation akin to mint, its taste was no different from ordinary rock sugar.
Could that old man actually hail from a prominent sugar-making family? And this was some high-end delicacy specially supplied to nobles? Thinking about it, it seemed quite plausible.
‘Typical chuunibyo, even his explanations have to be full of pretense…’
****
Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen, the fox demon girl, phone in hand, had leaped from her bed in excitement, bumping her head on the inn’s ceiling.
“Ouch!”
“Guest, is everything alright?”
“Ah, yes, nothing, nothing…”
The little fox demon landed back on the bed, her hands clutching her head. She quickly replied to the voice outside the door, her blue eyes fixed on the chat history on her screen, her small face alight with exhilaration.
‘Senior Nine-tailed actually said they’d give me a fortuitous encounter!!’
****
Unbeknownst to her, time had already crept past ten o’clock.
“Victory! That was too easy! Am I on a trajectory from noob to godlike now?”
Watching the enemy’s crystal explode and spin on the screen, Lin Xuan couldn’t help but exclaim.
Despite having eaten nothing for dinner, she felt no hunger at all. Instead, she was unusually energetic, even feeling as though she could run ten kilometers and then game for thirty hours straight.
‘Some kind of high-energy sugar?’
Lin Xuan idly toyed with the blue crystal she had just taken from the wooden box, then thought better of it and put it back.
‘Forget it, if I eat another one, I probably won’t be able to sleep until dawn!’
‘Time to go upstairs, time for bed!’
Even though she didn’t feel like sleeping at all, she still had to self-hypnotize herself.
‘Hmm? School anniversary holiday extended to three days? Nice!’
Seeing the notification pop up on her phone, Lin Xuan happily clicked open her QQ alt account.
Just then, a message also popped up in the ‘God and Demon Exchange Group’.
[Lord Shao Hao: Hey, hey, hey, ╮(‵▽′)╭ big news everyone! Big news!]
[Hai Na Bai Chuan: What?]
[Wu Xian: ?]
[Lord Shao Hao: That suicidal expedition team from the South Pole, they actually came back alive, damn it!!!]
[Tomb Robber Immortal Master: Really?]
[Hai Na Bai Chuan: Holy crap, I heard about it too. I thought that little demon was messing with me, I still have them hanging on the southeast branch right now.]
[Bu Suan Alt Account: Strange, I clearly calculated a ‘great misfortune’ hexagram for them before…]
[Linglong Xian: Was this expedition team led by some super powerful expert?]
[Lord Shao Hao: No, no, I was stunned when I heard the news. That expedition team was just an ordinary suicidal one. The leader was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, utterly pathetic!]
[Wu Xian: ?]
[Hai Na Bai Chuan: Apparently, not only did their team return, but they also brought back the legendary ‘Divine Crystal’.]
[Lord Shao Hao: Damn you, don’t steal my lines!]
[Linglong Xian: Divine Crystal?]
[Wu Xian: Divine King’s Crystal?]
[Bu Suan Alt Account: Holy f***, is that true? That legendary heaven-defying crystal? How did those people steal it right under the Antarctic Emperor’s nose? What kind of insane luck did they have?]
[Linglong Xian: I think it might be because of the good fortune you bestowed upon them…]
[Bu Suan Alt Account: ???????]
[Wu Xian: Something’s fishy.]
[Tomb Robber Immortal Master: Something’s fishy +1]
[Hai Na Bai Chuan: Something’s fishy +1]
…followed by a long string of repeated messages, which left Lin Xuan speechless.
‘These chuunibyo people really have vivid imaginations. It’s a shame they don’t write novels!’
After the string of repetitions, the group fell silent again. Lin Xuan scrolled through some short videos for a while, then considered opening her writing software.
‘With this rare burst of energy, I’ll write three or four thousand characters tonight!’
One minute later…
‘Tonight, I’m going to conquer the Rift!’
****
The second update of the day has arrived!
ヾ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ