Fu Xuan firmly believed that Bai Ming was a god.
Because of that, out of respect and caution, she felt she shouldn't disturb her lightly—especially not for reasons as private and embarrassing as feeling lonely or craving company.
As a qualified Emanator, what would it look like to be acting like a spoiled child toward one's deity every single day? It was simply unheard of.
But once the words left Bai Ming's mouth, the narrative shifted.
It suddenly sounded like Fu Xuan was the one bottling things up, forcing the goddess to take the initiative to come find her and soothe her loneliness.
Now it seemed like it was entirely her fault!
Was that right??
That couldn't be right.
What kind of Emanator asks their god to come over and sleep beside them every night?
Yet, the logic in Bai Ming's words actually seemed to hold water. It really did sound like the issue lay with her. Fu Xuan scratched her head, feeling her sense of logic becoming a bit of a muddle.
"Then... should I be the one to contact you first?"
"Mm, now you're getting it."
Bai Ming smiled and patted Fu Xuan's head before climbing out of bed.
If Fu Xuan was headed to the Divination Commission for work, Bai Ming certainly wasn't going to tag along. Besides, Screwllum had sent her a message last night.
Apparently, Herta happened to be at the Space Station for Simulated Universe maintenance and ran into the suddenly appearing Celenova. She was furious.
Regarding this outcome, Bai Ming admitted she had been a bit careless. Since those Geniuses almost never visited the Space Station, she had completely forgotten about it.
Or rather, who spends every day worrying about what might happen in their own home in the future?
She subconsciously viewed it as a safe house. Consequently, Bai Ming hadn't given a second thought to potential complications.
However, if it was a situation worth Screwllum sending a specific notification for... it seemed Herta really was blowing a fuse this time.
She just wasn't sure what the anger was directed at.
Was Herta blaming her for dumping Celenova at the Simulated Universe station, or was she mad about the fact that Bai Ming had been teasing Celenova?
Hmm... hard to say.
Bai Ming didn't deny that there was a certain ambiguous spark between her and Herta.
Their relationship was certainly much closer than that of ordinary friends, and they'd shared some intimate moments. But strictly speaking, no explicit relationship had been established between them.
Of course, the fault lay with Bai Ming.
For Herta, she had known Bai Ming—and been influenced by the various things Bai Ming left behind—for centuries. But for Bai Ming, she had only really known Herta for a year or two.
Herta had realized this disparity in emotional accumulation the moment Bai Ming returned.
That was why Herta had said nothing. Later, Bai Ming rose to power with staggering speed. In a short span of time, she went from an ordinary Pathstrider to an Emanator, and even to the level of an Aeon.
Before Herta could even attempt to make a move, the gap between them had widened to a degree that was difficult to swallow.
And Herta was an incredibly proud person.
She had personally witnessed Bai Ming go from a minor imitator all the way to her current heights.
Herta understood the terrifying nature of Bai Ming all too well. Briefly playing the role of Nous in Amphoreus wasn't enough to make Herta accept the abyss-like chasm between them.
So, even as the atmosphere and distance between them grew smaller and smaller, Herta never breathed a word about taking things a step further.
Herta wouldn't bring it up because of her pride and self-esteem; in the face of that, Bai Ming couldn't exactly ignore Herta's sense of self and choose to shatter that thin veil between them.
Please. They were both high achievers. An intimate relationship was important, sure, but not important enough to justify crushing someone's pride and self-respect.
As for Acheron, who was also close to Bai Ming, she remained hesitant to move forward because of the responsibilities she had burdened herself with.
Therefore... the point of Herta's anger couldn't exclude the maid outfit Celenova was wearing. But then again, this was Herta. Would someone like her really get angry over something like that—angry enough to demand an explanation from Bai Ming?
Bai Ming found it a bit hard to believe. She had always felt Herta wouldn't show such obvious emotional fluctuations over things like this.
Well, perhaps she was falling for a bit of a stereotype.
In any case, Bai Ming decided it was best to head back and see Herta. Now that she knew Herta was angry, she couldn't exactly stay out here flirting with other beautiful girls with a clear conscience.
The reason she hadn't returned last night was because Screwllum and Herta were still performing maintenance and upgrades on the Simulated Universe.
According to Screwllum, they had also taken the opportunity to run a simulation related to Elation.
Essentially, Herta was working seriously last night; showing up then would only have made her angrier for having her research interrupted.
That was why she waited until today.
After seeing Fu Xuan off, Bai Ming sent messages to both Huohuo and Qingque, letting them know she was leaving the Xianzhou and to contact her online if they needed anything.
Qingque was devastated. Because Bai Ming had been around lately, Qingque had used her as an excuse to take leave many times. Those ten or so days had been the happiest of her life.
But with Bai Ming gone, she had no more excuses. She was about to return to the grueling life of a corporate slave, struggling just to survive.
Qingque practically begged Bai Ming to take her along. Unfortunately, she couldn't.
Huohuo, on the other hand, was much calmer, simply saying she'd be welcome to come back and play anytime.
She also expressed great thanks for the command flag Bai Ming had given her; now, when she argued with Tail, she had a handy weapon instead of just relying on her clumsy tongue to talk back.
Looking at Huohuo's reply, Bai Ming's smile turned a bit subtle. She wondered what had happened yesterday to make Huohuo unable to resist using that flag to pick a fight with Tail.
Tucking her phone away, Bai Ming deactivated the character card transformation.
--+--
[Roleplay System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: ∞ ]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta, Acheron, Celenova, Jingliu, Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Hertatomb, Lors Ravager - Jingliu, Young Herta, Robin, Artoria, Cipher, Georios, Cyrene - Fuli (Charge: 25.5%), General of the Yuque - Qingque (Charge: 61.4%), Huohuo (Charge: 54.2%), Silver Wolf (Charge: 22.5%)]
[Available Pulls: 14 (53.2%)]
--+--
[Settlement Rewards: All of Huohuo's exorcism talents; Extra Reward: Path Comprehension talent boost.]
--+--
There was plenty of time left on the Huohuo card—more than half, actually. Even so, in just half a month, the number of pulls had increased by one, and the next charge was more than halfway done.
As for the settlement rewards, the portion belonging to Huohuo wasn't much to write home about—better than nothing, but that was it.
The extra reward, however, was direct: it enhanced her ability to comprehend Paths. To put it in layman's terms, it boosted her innate savvy.
The most immediate reaction was that the last remaining bit of the Equation of Permanence—the part belonging to Abundance—was instantly and smoothly understood by Bai Ming.
She pushed her mastery of the Permanence Equation to 99%. Again, she left that final speck belonging to the Aeon's will untouched, skipping over it entirely.
Not only that, the remaining parts of the Propagation and Abundance Paths, which had been difficult to grasp due to a lack of Path Equations, now seemed significantly easier to understand in Bai Ming's eyes.
This all-around enhancement left her very satisfied.
And now, Bai Ming was going to go for something big.
"Targeted Gacha!"
Bai Ming had been eyeing the Nihility Equation for a while.
Now that she had settled the Permanence Equation, Nihility was naturally the next goal.
If she could understand Nihility to a certain degree, she could liberate Acheron from that responsibility—or at least lighten her burden significantly so she'd have the energy to do other things.
Ten pull attempts vanished in an instant. In exchange, emerging from the golden light of the Express was the lazy silhouette of Hysilens, accompanied by the sound of the tide.
Helektra, daughter of the sea, representing the Ocean Titan Phagousa.
However, whether it was the Titan's symbol or Phagina's preferences, everything leaned heavily toward Elation—yet the Ocean Titan ultimately represented Nihility.
Perhaps it's because pure hedonism and banquets only provide fleeting joy.
After the laughter fades, the emptiness and the ever-rising threshold for stimulation cause the spirit to plummet into nothingness. If one only understands the surface level of Elation, it is indeed easy to fall into nihilism and subsequent self-destruction.
In fact, from Bai Ming's perspective, many of the young Masked Fools in the Tavern currently had a very one-sided understanding of Elation.
This included the classic "Dichotomy Paradise," which had a tendency toward "pleasure for the sake of pleasure."
This school of thought easily leads one toward Nihility, much like how the God of Banquets represents it.
She didn't know why Aha didn't step in to manage it. Surely THEY didn't expect Bai Ming to do it?
She'd rather look after the Mourning Actors than provide ideological education to those empty-headed pleasure-seekers.
Forget it. Let Aha worry about it themselves.
Bai Ming brushed these thoughts aside. A new character card was in hand. She wasn't in a hurry to use it; she'd wait until she reached the borders of Nihility.
But before that...
"Time to see our Madam Herta~"
At the thought of Herta's angry face, a gentle smile appeared on Bai Ming's lips.
Although she was a bit intimidated by the consequences of Herta's wrath, looking at it from another angle, there were probably very few people in this universe who could make Herta that angry.
Thinking of it that way made her feel a little bit happy.
With those thoughts in mind, Bai Ming quietly left the Xianzhou Luofu. She passed through a wormhole and arrived at Herta City.
However, she had previously been granted permissions that should have allowed her to land directly inside Herta City.
This time, the exit of the wormhole was mysteriously blocked.
When Bai Ming emerged, she found herself standing outside Herta City, watching the magnificent, gargantuan city float before her.
"Huh... she even revoked my entry permissions? Looks like she's truly pissed off this time."
Bai Ming scratched her head. She hadn't expected to be locked out entirely. It seemed the situation was indeed serious.
Of course, this kind of defense couldn't actually stop her. But out of politeness, Bai Ming didn't force her way in.
Instead, she began to crack the protective layer in a very conspicuous manner, ensuring that Herta would definitely notice her presence.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL