"It has already been ten days since the Valkyrie appeared, yet we still haven't been able to find any trace of her. It seems that ever since that incident, she has vanished completely from everyone's sight. Even though countless people have been asking her to come forward and accept everyone's gratitude, nothing has worked. It seems she simply doesn't want to appear."
"She's like one of those nameless heroes from epic legends who silently protect the people, seemingly unwilling to let anyone know who she truly is. Perhaps she has a life of her own and doesn't wish to be disturbed. Perhaps she is simply one among us. Or perhaps she will only appear when we suffer a disaster that cannot be stopped. But no matter what, we all miss her."
"Although professional cultivators have already stepped forward to explain that the magic formation that first appeared and the energy fluctuations surrounding the Valkyrie were completely different, proving that they came from two separate individuals, everyone still believes that the two must be connected somehow."
"No matter who she is, and no matter what her true identity may be, she is doing exactly what we hope for—protecting us."
"Now we can proudly tell the world that when danger strikes you, perhaps no one will come to save you. But we have our Valkyrie. She will continue protecting us, just as the immortals once used their overwhelming might to protect humanity before they disappeared."
"They are true heroes, people we can trust for a lifetime. They ask for no reward and seek no fame. The only thing they do is protect."
"Here, on behalf of everyone, I want to say this to you: please come forward. Even if you only say a single sentence, we want to see your true face rather than merely that hazy profile beneath the night sky..."
"All right, that concludes today's report on the Valkyrie. Now let's switch to our field correspondent and hear what the citizens themselves think about the Valkyrie's appearance."
The video changed to a street interview. An elderly man was speaking to the reporter, his deeply wrinkled face filled with undisguised reverence as he looked into the camera.
"After seventy years, I've finally witnessed another miracle. So everything I saw when I was young truly wasn't an illusion. It was real. She is just like those great nameless heroes who saved Huaxia back then. They accomplished such things, yet never once wished for anyone to know who they were.
"I am a devout Daoist and have practiced Daoism for seventy years. All this time, I've been searching for traces proving that such people once existed. And now, I've found them... No, no, I should say they have appeared again. They have returned to this world.
"I pray that these heroes will remain in this world for a long, long time, just like those immortal transcendent beings whose names will endure forever."
The old man looked extremely aged, yet every sentence he spoke made perfect sense. Every word was clear, and his eyes were not clouded in the slightest. Aside from the wrinkles covering his face, he hardly resembled an elderly man at all.
He spoke at considerable length, but in doing so, he revealed yet another hidden secret.
Unfortunately, the camera immediately shifted to someone else. This time, the interviewee was a student. He looked rather nervous facing the camera, yet still shouted, "Valkyrie, I'm one of your admirers! Please come out! From the moment I saw you, I was already captivated by you. Wherever you are, please come out and let me know, okay?"...
One person after another appeared on camera, their heartfelt words making their emotions unmistakable. The entire city had already gone mad over the appearance of the Valkyrie.
After all, the last city to suffer supernatural devastation had been Miami. Even now, its ruins had not been completely cleared away, while the line of fire burning across the ocean and the frozen trail that sealed everything in ice showed no signs of disappearing.
When disaster struck them, had those so-called superheroes from the movies come to save them? No. Although no one knew which powerhouse had ultimately slain the dragon, everyone could be certain that it had not been one of America's superheroes.
And now, when their own city suffered such destruction, someone had stepped forward. Faced with countless meteors, a magic formation had appeared and protected the entire city.
Then, when that enormous stone capable of seemingly destroying heaven and earth appeared and the formation vanished, the Valkyrie stepped forward. With her delicate body, she destroyed it and protected the city.
A mythical scene like that had unfolded right before their eyes. Compared with the dragon attack in Miami, it left them overwhelmingly shocked and grateful. How could they possibly not become fanatical supporters of her?...
"Big Sis still hasn't woken up?" Chu Chu sat on the bed, watching the television report as she yawned and asked the person beside her.
"She exhausted herself so badly that she still hasn't regained consciousness. Seriously, if there were going to be consequences like this, why did she push herself so hard back then? Doesn't she know that the more she forces herself, the easier it is for something to go wrong?" Cai Ya held an apple and peeled it as she complained about Chu Lian's recklessness.
"It's not that bad. She only stood up Hangzhou Fantasy Culture and Entertainment, and somehow they still haven't gotten angry. I have to admit, Big Sis really is charming." Chu Chu stretched lazily.
She knew everything that had happened over the past several days and was well aware that Chu Lian had left far too many things unfinished. Once she woke up, she would probably be busy again.
"Tch..." Cai Ya pouted unhappily. "She brought it on herself. Who told her to push herself that hard? Does she really think burning through her own life like that is a good thing?
"If she'd been just a little less lucky, she wouldn't merely have ended up covered in injuries. She would've died outright. There wouldn't even have been a chance to pull her back and save her."
"Well, that's true, but hasn't Big Sis broken through? Look at her aura. She's hovering around half-step Earth Rank now, just waiting for an opportunity to properly advance to Earth Rank.
"And this is a genuine breakthrough, not strength she temporarily gained through some other method." As Chu Chu spoke, she pointed toward the sleeping Chu Lian on the bed.
To take care of her, everyone had cleared out a spacious room on the fourth floor and filled it with bedding and other necessities so they could sleep beside her.
Part of the reason was that they were worried something might happen to her, but more importantly, they simply wanted to accompany the unconscious Chu Lian through this period.
As a result, nearly all the girls were living together now. Anna still stayed in Li Mingxue's room, Tina wandered around everywhere, Kurosaki Satsuki and Hiyori lived separately, Kurumi Tokisaki remained in the innermost room on the second floor, and Yaya had automatically returned to the summoning space after Chu Lian fell unconscious. Everyone else had come here.
By now, Cai Ya and Liu Yanran practically treated this place as their new home. Apart from occasionally going back to spend time with their parents, they stayed at the Chu residence almost all the time, looking exactly like daughters-in-law who had already married into the family.
At least, that was how Liu Yanran's parents had described it while chatting with Li Mingxue. And given the situation, there really was no better way to describe it.
Just what kind of intimate relationship could make two girls cling so closely to another family's daughter? Of course, their parents were only joking. They had never seriously considered that the person their daughters liked might actually be another girl.
Liu Yanran walked in carrying a fruit platter piled with various kinds of sliced fruit, which was certainly a much better spread than Cai Ya sitting there peeling a single apple by herself.
"It's fine. Luckily, during that stretch when she had some free time, she wrote several installments of Sword and Fairy and handed them over to me. Otherwise, my mom probably would've come here personally to drag her away.
"Chu Lian really is something. Sometimes she acts without considering the consequences at all. But I also didn't expect Aunt Li to let Chu Lian do something like that. Didn't she know how much it would hurt her?"
The first half of Liu Yanran's complaint was directed at Chu Lian, while the final sentence shifted the blame toward Li Mingxue.
This sort of conversation had happened several times a day over the past ten days, so everyone was already used to it. They merely smiled at her words.
"Mom must have had her reasons. There's no way she didn't know what kind of damage that would cause Big Sis. Since she allowed it, she must have known it would benefit Big Sis somehow.
"Look, the increase in strength is already one part of it. As for the rest, we'll have to wait until she wakes up and tells us." Chu Chu took a piece of watermelon from the platter, bit into it gently, and spoke with a satisfied expression.
"Lian isn't suffering." Inori, who had been sitting silently at the head of the bed this whole time, finally spoke.
The tension that had risen in the other girls' hearts during the conversation immediately eased. It seemed Chu Lian really was all right.
"Can you tell when she'll wake up?" Liu Yanran moved beside Inori and sat near Chu Lian's hand, gently stroking Chu Lian's cheek as she asked softly.
"I don't know, but it should be sometime tonight or tomorrow morning." Inori shook her head.
She truly did share a special connection with Chu Lian, but even she genuinely had no idea exactly when Chu Lian would wake up this time. Even Mana, who possessed foresight, could not predict the precise moment.
"Tonight or tomorrow morning? Then it won't be much longer..." Liu Yanran lifted her head toward the window. The afternoon sunlight was calm and beautiful, while the blue sky and white clouds were refreshing to behold.
It was now late spring, just before summer fully arrived. Flowers were blooming and leaves were lush, especially around their home.
With the protection of the Flower Youkai Cornus, all the surrounding vegetation flourished exceptionally well.
Even from the fourth floor, they could smell the delicate fragrance of flowers. Such an environment was extraordinarily comfortable for the human body.
"Once Master recovers, she'll definitely need a great deal of nutrition. Should I go catch something for her?" Sisi, the spider girl hanging upside down from the ceiling, suddenly spoke, causing Chu Chu and the others to hurriedly refuse.
"No, no, no! Sisi, you don't need to worry about that. We'll prepare a nutritious feast for Big Sis ourselves. We definitely won't let her go hungry, so you don't need to concern yourself with it."
"Exactly, exactly! Sisi, just keep clearing away harmful creatures around the area. You really don't need to worry about this."
For some reason, Ruriko Nana and Lux Lyle, who had both been lazily dozing off moments earlier, instantly woke up upon hearing Sisi's suggestion and refused in unison.
"Please, absolutely don't!"
"All right." There was no expression on Sisi's cold face.
Although she did not understand why her young mistresses kept rejecting her repeated goodwill, since they did not need her help, she could only obey as a servant.
"Phew..." Seeing the spider girl close her eyes and resume resting, Chu Chu placed a hand against her chest and exhaled heavily.
"That was close. Good thing we stopped her."
"I seriously can't understand an insect's diet. Those things..." Cai Ya recalled what had happened before, when they had unknowingly agreed to Sisi's request to catch supposedly nutritious food to replenish Chu Lian.
But when they saw what Sisi's little spider subordinates had brought back, everyone completely broke down and firmly resolved never to let her hunt for food again.
What kind of things were those? Just thinking about them made Chu Chu and the others break out in goosebumps.
Caterpillars as thick as an arm, centipedes over a meter long, warty toads thirty centimeters across the back, scorpions half a meter long, and an eighty-centimeter termite queen that had cultivated for centuries and become a spirit...
Every last one of them was some hideous, horrifyingly disgusting insect or poisonous creature.
That incident left Chu Chu and the others unable to eat properly for quite some time. Even when they closed their eyes, they saw those horrible things.
It took several days before the lingering effects finally faded.
Actually, if that had been all, the girls might not have reacted quite so badly. The real problem was that Sisi's little spiders were simply too "diligent."
While transporting their prey, they would either take a few bites or twist them into all sorts of bizarre shapes, making creatures that were already unpleasant to look at dozens of times more disgusting.
No ordinary person could have endured it.
After that experience, everyone came to an agreement. They could accept food from anyone except Sisi. Her "nutritious feast" was absolutely forbidden.
Even if those creatures were technically precious medicinal ingredients that would become highly nourishing once properly prepared in traditional medicine, they still refused.
After all, not a single girl among them had any fondness for such things. Bugs were the absolute worst.
"Can we stop talking about that? If we keep going, I'm going to feel sick again." Cai Ya hurriedly told Chu Chu not to dwell on the subject.
Her stomach was already beginning to feel uncomfortable. If they continued and brought those memories back too vividly, it would not end well.
"I don't want to think about it either..." Chu Chu flopped onto her own bed.
Recalling the sensation of seeing those insects made her feel uncomfortable all over. Compared with everyone else, she was even more afraid of such things.
Perhaps it came from some childhood trauma, or perhaps she simply found them disgusting. Either way, she now felt a certain fear toward Sisi and hardly dared to get close to her.
"Seriously, Chu Lian has it so easy, just sleeping and sleeping while we spend every day dealing with her affairs." Cai Ya hurriedly shifted the subject back to Chu Lian in order to distract herself.
Only Chu Lian could draw enough attention to make everyone forget what had just happened and erase the images that had begun resurfacing in their minds.
Forget it, forget it, forget it.
"You can't really put it that way. Chu Lian is simply exhausted. These ten days might actually be the best rest she's had in a long time.
"It's certainly worrying, but isn't everyone looking forward to her waking up?" Liu Yanran handed a piece of dragon fruit to Inori, took a bite of another piece herself, and spoke.
"During those previous days, even though it looked like she was resting, she was actually busy the whole time. She wants to do everything well even more than we do, and she works harder than all of us.
"Taking such a complete break isn't necessarily bad. At the very least... at least it gives us the chance to handle some things independently." Ruriko Nana rubbed her eyes and let out a soft breath before speaking.
"Mm. She always seems to have countless unfinished matters hanging over her. I'm serious, if people overseas knew she lived like this, Aunt Li and the others might get accused of child abuse.
"People in Huaxia may be more relaxed about these things, but even so, she's still far too busy." As a proper English girl, Lux Lyle understood this sort of thing particularly well.
"She deserves it. She never thinks to hand any of those things over to us and always assumes she can solve everything herself." Cai Ya clicked her tongue, clearly acting tsundere again.
"You can't say that." Li Xiu'er's voice came from the doorway.
As the words fell, the girl appeared carrying a large tray filled with pastries and snacks, slowly walking into the room.
"Oh! Did Mom make these?" The moment Chu Chu saw the tray, she hurried over to take it, carried it to the white round table in the middle of the room, and set it down.
She picked up a small plate, took a delicate bite of one of the pastries, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Auntie made them. She's still preparing a lot of other things. It seems some guests are coming today, although she wouldn't let me help." Among all the girls, Li Xiu'er was the most enthusiastic about housework.
But Li Mingxue had no shortage of helpers at all. Tina, the catgirl maid, had already been helping her before, and now she also had Lilith, the devil maid, assisting her.
Everything she did had become much more efficient.
After all, both girls possessed extraordinarily high-level bloodlines, making it absurdly easy for them to learn things.
Almost from the moment they became maids, they had already begun progressing toward total competence in every field.
Over the past several days, the devil maid hardly resembled a Devil Archduke at all. Instead, she looked like an ordinary beautiful girl with a faintly seductive air.
Of course, that excluded the way she would subtly provoke Tina every time she looked at her.
One was a devil, a creature born from the chaotic hells. The other was a spirit cat, a wielder of light and lightning and a natural enemy of all creatures bearing darkness.
Although Tina was an Underworld Watcher and did not possess any particular advantage against devils, their completely different auras and origins meant there was simply no possibility of the two peacefully sharing the same room.
If there had not been an overwhelmingly powerful Li Mingxue standing between them, someone neither dared defy, they probably would have fought every few days instead of maintaining even this superficial harmony.
Their current competition had moved into the kitchen, where each tried to make tastier food and help Li Mingxue more.
From that perspective, it was actually a good thing.
"Mommy still hasn't woken up?" While they ate and chatted, another tiny figure appeared at the doorway.
She peeked cautiously into the room for a moment before asking in a small voice.
"Anna, come here and let your big sister hug you~" Hearing her voice, Chu Chu immediately put down the cake in her hand and spread her arms toward Anna.
"No!" Unfortunately, the little girl had absolutely no interest in Chu Chu.
The moment she heard that, she turned her head away, only to quickly turn back again and look at Chu Lian lying on the bed.
"Mommy still hasn't woken up?"
"Mm, but she'll probably wake up tonight or tomorrow morning, so Anna doesn't need to worry." Compared with Chu Chu, Liu Yanran was much gentler.
Hearing Anna ask the question again, she softly explained.
"All right. Then I'll go take care of other things first." After receiving a specific timeframe, Anna obediently nodded and left.
*There are more and more people around Mommy. I wonder when it'll finally stop? But it doesn't matter. Once Anna learns everything about this world, Mommy will belong to Anna.
*None of these people will be Anna's match. Mommy is unconscious right now, so while she doesn't have time to become even closer to them, Anna needs to learn more.
I need to become better than everyone. So good that Mommy can solve everything by relying only on Anna. Then she definitely won't need any of them anymore.
Anna's wish had never changed, nor would it change so easily. To her, Mommy was everything.
No matter how much Li Mingxue did for her, Anna would only fear her. She could never depend on Li Mingxue from the depths of her heart the way she depended on Chu Lian.
Watching the girl's somewhat disappointed back, Kurosaki Satsuki stopped in her tracks.
She was still several meters from the doorway, but after thinking for a moment, she chose not to continue forward and turned away instead.
Too many people already like her. If I go over now, I'll only be adding flowers to brocade. Whether I'm there or not makes no difference.
She murmured softly, failing to notice that inside the doorway behind her, a girl was leaning against the frame and watching her retreating back with a helpless sigh.
"She still refuses to come over?" Cai Ya tossed the apple core into the trash and asked the pink-haired girl standing there.
Turning back into the room, Inori answered softly, "She doesn't want to come. Her emotional knot is probably still too difficult to untangle."
Unlike the other girls, the two people Kurosaki Satsuki had interacted with most deeply were Chu Lian and Inori.
Perhaps even Satsuki herself did not understand what she truly felt, but Inori had always understood and had been trying to help her change.
Yet the girl was far too stubborn. Many times, before Inori could even say anything, Satsuki would escape with one excuse or another.
By now, she had almost completely drifted outside the group. Aside from battles and training, they rarely saw her at all.
"This is all Chu Lian's fault. Who told her to get involved with so many people?" Cai Ya viciously finished off a small cake, completely disregarding the etiquette expected of a young lady.
The worry caused by Chu Lian's ten-day coma had nearly transformed her into an entirely different person.
"You can't say that either. If it weren't for Big Sis, none of us would've been able to come together and be this happy." Chu Chu had ambitions broad enough to embrace the world and was determined to claim the number-one seat in the harem—no, rather, the number-one place of honor.
The moment she heard Cai Ya complain, she immediately began comforting her, presenting herself like a dignified matriarch presiding over the household.
"You're just saying the opposite of what you feel. You obviously care about her more than anyone." Unfortunately, Chu Chu merely had a large chest, not a heart broad enough to embrace the world.
With a single remark and a flick of Cai Ya's forehead, Liu Yanran effortlessly stole every bit of Chu Chu's thunder.
Holding her forehead, Cai Ya glared resentfully at the giggling Liu Yanran and turned to Li Xiu'er for support.
"Xiu'er, look! Yanran is bullying me. Can't you say something?"
"Huh? Um, well..." How could Li Xiu'er possibly interfere? She was timid by nature.
Only in front of Chu Lian could she become relatively open. Around everyone else, she was unbelievably shy and barely willing to say much, much less step in and manage their quarrels.
"All right, stop making things difficult for Xiu'er. You obviously know she won't do something like that, yet you still ask her." Liu Yanran reached out to flick Cai Ya again.
Before her finger could land, Cai Ya dodged away and sprang onto the bed behind them, hiding behind Lux and Nana while making a face at Liu Yanran.
"Don't think that means I can't flick you." Unfortunately for Cai Ya, that trick might have worked in the past, but Liu Yanran's special ability had already awakened.
Catching Cai Ya was now ridiculously easy.
The moment those words left her lips, Liu Yanran vanished from where she stood and reappeared behind Cai Ya. She wrapped both arms around Cai Ya's shoulders and lunged forward with her.
"Ah..." "Hahaha..." The tackle itself would not have been a problem, except Liu Yanran had forgotten that Nana and Lux were still directly in front of Cai Ya.
As a result, all four girls tumbled together in a heap. Their light clothing became disheveled amid the horseplay, leaving the scene in considerable disorder.
"Here we go again..." Chu Chu covered her forehead.
These girls were clearly all refined young ladies, yet once they started fooling around, they became even more unruly than she was, practically forgetting the environment around them.
Then again, it made sense. There were only girls here, and everyone knew one another extremely well.
Any concerns or embarrassment had long since been discarded.
Besides, these four had already been in the same group during the school trip, so their relationship could be described as exceptionally close.
Although various matters had separated them for a while afterward, once they gathered again, there was no awkwardness between them at all.
If anything, their shared connection to the same person had only brought them closer.
"Um, Xiu'er, how about we play too~?" Seeing the others having so much fun, Chu Chu could not resist.
She rubbed her hands together and looked toward Li Xiu'er as though she intended to pounce on her right there.
Actually, aside from her big sister, the person she most wanted to tease was Inori. Unfortunately, Inori was older than her, and her abilities involving crystals, Void, and close combat completely countered Chu Chu.
Combined with that inexplicable aura of authority surrounding her expressionless demeanor, Chu Chu always felt strangely reluctant to mess with her.
Thus, the other gentle girl, Li Xiu'er, became her target. Sure, Li Xiu'er was her cousin, but Chu Chu even dared tease her own sister, so why would a cousin stop her?
"Ah! Chu Chu, don't!" Seeing Chu Chu pounce, Li Xiu'er nearly used her ability to throw her straight out the window.
But after remembering that they were on the fourth floor, she stopped herself.
That brief hesitation was enough for Chu Chu to pin her beneath her and start tickling and teasing her mercilessly.
Li Xiu'er gasped and struggled, but the strength of her resistance gradually weakened until, in the end, it hardly looked like serious resistance at all.
"Pfft~" Chu Chu released her hands and sat upright, laughing when she saw Li Xiu'er's flushed face and watery, embarrassed eyes.
No wonder her big sister sometimes liked teasing Xiu'er so much. Looking at her like this, she really did make it far too easy to tease her.
"Ouch..." The pink-haired girl flicked Chu Chu on the forehead.
Chu Chu puffed out her cheeks and no longer dared remain on top of Xiu'er. She slowly lifted herself and was just about to leave when a single sentence from Xiu'er instantly changed her mind, making her flop back down and resume teasing her.
"Black lace panties..." Among all the girls, aside from Kurumi Tokisaki and Yaya, the two who openly embraced such provocative tastes, only Chu Chu and Li Xiu'er when her inner personality surfaced would dare wear something like that.
Even Chu Lian, who often looked rather suggestive despite her petite appearance, usually wore extremely conservative pure-white underwear rather than anything more daring.
So when Xiu'er exposed her like that, Chu Chu immediately became embarrassed. Ignoring Xiu'er's protests, the two rolled together until they disappeared beneath the blanket.
"You two..." Inori tilted her head while watching them, somewhat unable to understand why everyone had suddenly started playing around like this.
"Ah, youth really is wonderful." A woman's voice came from the doorway, instantly freezing every girl in place as they stared blankly toward the entrance.
"Ah! Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" Three cries sounded in succession, coming from Chu Chu, Cai Ya, and Liu Yanran.
Standing at the doorway were Li Mingxue and two other elegant women who both appeared remarkably young.
One wore a refined office-lady outfit and bore some resemblance to Cai Ya, though she looked more mature and composed.
That image seemed somewhat far removed from her former identity as a musician, likely because her lifestyle had changed over the years.
The other wore an elegant traditional hanfu. Her long hair was pinned up with a jade hairpin, making her look as though she had walked straight out of an ancient painting.
Her features were graceful and gentle, almost like an older version of Liu Yanran. Clearly, she was Liu Yanran's mother.
"I already told you we had guests today, yet you're still behaving like this." Li Mingxue shook her head with a sigh.
Faced with the girls' excessive horseplay, she could not even find the words to scold them properly.
"Fix your clothes and straighten everything up. We'll come back in a little while."
"We're doomed..." Watching the three women leave, the girls exchanged looks before groaning together.
They were definitely going to get lectured this time.
"I told you not to behave like that." As the innocent bystander, Inori had nothing to fear.
Even if all the other girls were punished, she would not be included, so she spoke with complete confidence.
Then again, perhaps she still did not fully understand this kind of mother-daughter relationship. Whatever the case, those girls were certainly in for an uncomfortable day.
Having no other choice, they climbed off the beds, gathered the scattered clothing around the room, and hurriedly dressed themselves properly...
Judging from how much clothing had ended up scattered around, they really had gotten carried away.
After the room was put back in order, Li Mingxue and the other two women finally returned some time later.
Seeing the neatly arranged blankets, beds, and the girls now sitting with proper ladylike posture, all three appeared satisfied.
"Ya'er, if you behave like that again next time, you'll be grounded when we get home." Cai Ya's mother first gave her daughter a brief lecture before introducing herself.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Cai Ya's mother, Xu Feifei. You can call me Aunt Xu or Big Sister Xu, whichever you prefer."
Given the way she phrased it, did the girls really have any choice? Thus, aside from Cai Ya and Inori, everyone sweetly greeted her in unison.
"Hello, Big Sister Xu. You look so young and beautiful."
"Oh, really? I've recently been using a skincare product made by our family company. I didn't expect the results to be this good. Ohohoho..." Being called "Big Sister" by girls the same age as her own daughter clearly delighted Xu Feifei.
She covered her cheeks and laughed happily.
"Oh, give it a rest. You're already this old and you're still acting like that." Liu Yanran's mother clicked her tongue from the side.
Judging by their interaction, the two women were obviously very familiar with each other.
"I'm Yanran's mother, Ye Piaomiao. You can call me Aunt Ye. Unlike a certain someone pretending to be young, I'm perfectly capable of admitting that I've gotten older."
Ye Piaomiao looked much easier to get along with than Xu Feifei, but did Chu Chu and the others really dare call her "Aunt"?
"Big Sister Ye, you aren't old at all! You're very young, very young!" Chu Chu immediately began flattering her.
The other girls nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Exactly, exactly! Not old at all."
"Oh my, you're making me embarrassed." Ye Piaomiao, whose elegant name suited Liu Yanran's just as well, placed both hands against her cheeks and acted bashful.
"I really can't deal with you two..." Li Mingxue smiled as she watched the two older women tease the younger girls and paid it little mind.
Instead, she turned to the girls and said, "For the next little while, all of you need to stay home. Don't go out for now. Understood?"
"Huh? All right!" Although they did not know why she was saying that, Li Mingxue's words carried more authority here than anyone else's.
Thus, the girls all answered in agreement.
"Yes. That's actually why we came over today." Although the Cai family that Xu Feifei had married into was currently regarded publicly as Huaxia's number-one family, its shallow foundation meant it had only recently begun making contact with the cultivation world.
Somehow, they had learned the identities of the two heads of the Chu household their daughter had been visiting so frequently, prompting the Cai family to make its decision and seek friendly relations with the Chu family.
That was why Xu Feifei had rushed over personally. She needed to establish a friendly relationship with the Chu family herself.
Not merely among the younger generation, but among the elders as well.
As for Ye Piaomiao, after learning Xu Feifei's purpose, she had decided to come along.
Others might not know it, but she understood very clearly that there was only one true number-one family in Huaxia's cultivation world: the Chu family.
In this generation, the Chu couple were both world-renowned super powerhouses.
They were also the only two people to break through Heaven Rank and enter the Transcendence Realm before the age of twenty, after which they continued advancing at astonishing speed until they came into contact with and began comprehending Laws.
As long as husband and wife remained present, the Chu family would stand among the greatest powers even within the cultivation world, let alone in the comparatively weaker ordinary world.
To put it plainly, they were here to build connections. Li Mingxue was more than happy to allow it.
Her daughter was nearly grown now, so it was about time for the older generation to return to center stage as well.
Li Mingxue had only brought Xu Feifei and Ye Piaomiao upstairs so they could chat with Cai Ya and the others and let the two mothers see daughters they had not met for several days.
Once that was done, the three women left again, giving the girls space to relax on their own.
"Ugh, seriously, why did they have to show up at that exact moment..." Chu Chu collapsed onto the bed in misery.
Her image in her mother's eyes was probably completely ruined now.
After all, when they walked in, her black lace panties had already slipped down around her knees.
Nothing inappropriate had actually been exposed because of her clothes, but it had still been unbearably embarrassing.
"We're no better..." Liu Yanran and Cai Ya exchanged bitter smiles.
They had gotten so carried away earlier that they had casually tossed aside parts of their clothing.
It would have been one thing if only their own mothers had seen, but being caught like that in front of other elders was mortifying.
"So next time, we absolutely have to lock the door!" Something like this could never be allowed to happen again, so everyone unanimously agreed with Chu Chu's declaration.
Afterward, they began discussing Li Mingxue's warning about not leaving the house. Had the changes in the world really already progressed this far?
"I think Big Sis' appearance has been taken by the Huaxia authorities as a useful example. They've probably reached some sort of agreement with the other superpowers and major organizations about what to do next, using the image of the 'Valkyrie' as a positive model for supernatural ability users so ordinary people can accept our existence more easily.
"After all, the story of such a beautiful girl saving an entire city with her delicate body is certainly worthy of extensive coverage, isn't it?" Chu Chu had already seen through the truth behind the nonstop reporting, and her explanation made the other girls nod in agreement.
"So telling us not to go outside is basically a warning that more and more abnormalities are appearing, and until they've been brought under enough control for people to move around safely, we shouldn't recklessly go out?" Cai Ya lay on the bed staring at the ceiling as she voiced her guess.
"Nana thinks they're probably purging everything destabilizing from society." As someone descended from the underworld, Ruriko Nana naturally tended to interpret such matters from a darker perspective.
"The world will always change. Haven't we been adapting this whole time?" Lux Lyle removed her long gloves, stretched lazily, and lay down beside Nana.
"Don't overthink it. These things aren't something we can solve right now. We can talk about them once the abnormalities settle down." Liu Yanran took a more relaxed view than the others, perhaps because she disliked making things more complicated than necessary.
"Anyway, as long as I'm beside Chu Lian, I'm not afraid of anything." All debate came to an end with Li Xiu'er's simple statement.
That was true. As long as they stayed with Chu Lian, they would also remain together with everyone else.
And as long as they had one another, there was no need to fear whatever changes the future might bring.
"Once you're strong enough, naturally there's nothing to fear. When we stand together, we become the strongest weapon of all." Inori sat on the windowsill, gazing at the sky outside as she spoke quietly.
No matter how the world changed, one principle would always remain fundamental: the weak were eliminated, while the strong adapted.
As long as they themselves were powerful enough, why should they fear even changes capable of overturning heaven and earth?
"Yeah..." Chu Chu smiled faintly and finally relaxed.
In a peaceful mood, she stared at the ceiling as her eyes gradually grew hazy, blinking slower and slower until she soon fell asleep.
"Some things will change, and some things will remain unchanged. Everything was already destined long ago, wasn't it?" Inori murmured softly before closing her eyes as well.
She needed rest.
As one girl after another began to sleep, the room gradually fell silent.
Outside, the afternoon sun drifted from high overhead toward the western horizon.
Its final glow disappeared, moonlight spilled across the earth, and another night quietly arrived...