Chapter 204: New Divine Trials
The Divine Realm, the Water God's Temple.
The Water God reclined sideways against the main seat of her temple, twirling a leaf formed from condensed water idly between her fingers. She lifted her eyes to look at the divine sense feedback materializing in the void before her, and the corner of her mouth curled upwards.
"Finished it in two years?" she muttered, casually tossing the leaf away, where it dispersed into a cloud of water mist midair. "That's much faster than I expected. When I gave her a three-year limit back then, it was because I was afraid she'd rush too hard. And in the end, that girl took it slow in the second year, and still passed just the same."
She leaned back, her fingers tapping on the armrest.
"The rewards were a bit too generous, too. Let her breeze through the Goddess of Life's second trial on the side." She shook her head, a hint of helplessness in her voice. "But it couldn't be helped. What's meant for her is meant for her."
She suddenly furrowed her brow, shifted to a different posture, and propped her chin in her hand, starting to fret.
"Now, this second trial of mine... what kind of task should I set for her?"
She flipped over, lying prone against the back of the chair, chin resting on her arms, staring blankly at the temple dome.
"Too hard won't do; too easy won't do either... The third trial is inheriting the Water God position. If the leap is too big in between, problems could crop up."
She thought for a moment, her eyes suddenly lighting up.
"Hunt a million-year soul beast? Tch, no, no. How many million-year soul beasts are there even on the entire continent? Di Tian's too tough a nut to crack. There are some in the ocean, but that territory's the Sea God's now. I'd have to speak to him first... too much trouble."
She waved her hand, dismissing the idea.
After pondering for another long while, she slapped the armrest and sat up.
"Forget it. Let's just set it directly as achieving Titled Douluo! Within eight years, achieve the rank of Titled Douluo, and the second martial soul must have five hundred-thousand-year soul rings. That's it! Simple and direct, I'll be relaxed, and she'll be relaxed."
She nodded with satisfaction, her fingers tracing through the air as if writing something.
"Rewards... three Divinely Bestowed Soul Bones, all soul ring ages increased by fifty thousand years, and a divine artifact. She seems to already have one... but no matter, having one more isn't a bad thing. Who knows, she might come up with some new tricks."
She waved her hand, and a strand of divine sense shot from her fingertip, vanishing into the air.
"Done. That's settled."
...
At the same time, the Goddess of Life's Temple.
The Goddess of Life sat upright in the center of her temple, holding a cluster of soft light in her hands. She watched the images emerging within the light, a faint smile on her face.
"Two divine trials in one year. Though not all completed purely on her own, still quite the whirlwind of activity." She spoke softly, her fingers gently toying with the light. "It seems it's time to raise the difficulty a notch for what comes next."
She thought for a moment, then stood and walked to the side of the temple. There stood a tiny sapling, only the size of a palm, entirely emerald green, emitting a faint fluorescence.
"This Seed of Life... it is time to send it on its way."
She reached out a finger and gently tapped the sapling. The sapling quivered, and several leaves unfurled, as though awakening.
"These past years, soul tool development on the Douluo Continent has been far too rapid. The plane has been worn a little fragile. If this continues, it'll easily invite disaster later on, and its native people will find it hard to achieve major breakthroughs." She looked at the tiny sapling, a hint of worry in her tone. "Let it go and take root there. Once it grows into the Tree of Life, perhaps it can help the entire plane ascend a step."
She smiled, and with a wave of her hand, the sapling transformed into a seed and vanished from the temple.
...
Shrek Academy, inside the dormitory.
Furina lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, her eyes sparkling. She had just finished receiving two strands of divine sense, and her mind was still reeling a little.
[Water God's Second Divine Trial: Within eight years, achieve the rank of Titled Douluo. The second martial soul must possess five hundred-thousand-year soul rings. Rewards: All soul ring ages increased by fifty thousand years, three Divinely Bestowed Soul Bones, one divine artifact.]
[Goddess of Life's Third Divine Trial: Plant the Seed of Life in a suitable location, infuse it with life energy, and allow it to sprout and grow vigorously into the Tree of Life. Rewards: Soul power increased by one rank, all soul ring ages increased by five hundred years, affinity with the Goddess of Life's divine position increased by fifteen percent.]
She couldn't help but laugh out loud, then immediately covered her mouth and turned her head to glance at the bed next to hers. Xiao Xiao had rolled over, mumbled something in her sleep, and then drifted off again.
Furina let out a sigh of relief, pulled the blanket up a little higher, and curled up underneath it to continue reading.
"The Tree of Life... isn't this just handing me my own domain?" She blinked, the more she thought about it, the more pleased she became. "From now on, that's mine. No one's going to snatch it away."
She paused, then remembered something else.
"A divine artifact... that Splendor of Still Waters in my hand, besides using it once on an evil soul master when I first got it and once to deal with Ma Xiaotao afterwards, has never really seen action. There are far too few places I can actually use it."
She rolled over, lying on her side, her fingers tracing lines on the pillow.
"The system said it can evolve, but the conditions have never been clear... Does it need to kill a certain number of people, or does it need to devour other divine artifacts?"
She racked her brains for a while without figuring it out, and finally just shouted inwardly in frustration.
"System! Come out for a sec."
No response.
She called out again. "System? Don't play dead. Even though you usually don't speak and I only use points to exchange for things, I actually have business with you right now."
After a moment, a lazy voice echoed in her mind.
"Ehe~ It's just that I see the Host is thriving, becoming more prosperous by the day, living a more comfortable life than even me."
Furina rolled her eyes.
"What 'comfortable life' do you have? I do the missions, I earn the points. You just sell things and hand out rewards. What's so comfortable about that?"
"No, no, no," the system's voice carried a hint of defiance. "Host, you don't understand. We systems also have performance metrics, okay? And different systems aren't the same. Look at the systems over at Qidian—they're all a bunch of rabbit-head fanatics. The systems over in the cat camp all turn into cat-girls. And those from the top forums... well, need I say more?"
A touch of melancholy crept into its tone. "And once you become a god, strutting around this world unopposed, you won't really need me anymore. When that time comes, I'll have to find a new host. Gotta scout in advance, right? What if I find some bootlicker or cuckold? Wouldn't all my innate talents go to waste?"
Furina had a headache from listening to this.
"Alright, alright, I'm not interested in your host-hunting. I just want to ask, how exactly does my divine artifact level up?"
The system cleared its throat and turned serious. "Simple. Just devour other divine artifacts. Especially ones of the same attribute. For example, that trident of Sea God Tang San's—it's at the super-divine artifact level. If you devour that thing, the Splendor of Still Waters will directly evolve into a super-divine artifact."
Furina's eyes lit up, her mind already working calculations.
"Any other way?" she asked again. "If I only evolve it after dealing with Tang San, what's the point?"
"You can also devour soul bones, or carving knives and such, especially those with the water attribute. Soul bones are easier to find, carving knives are hard to come by."
Furina nodded, understanding dawning.
"Alright, I'm done with you. Dismissed."
The system let out a wail. "Used and then tossed aside! Host, you're so heartless—"
Furina couldn't be bothered to pay it any attention.
"Oh, right," the system's voice popped up again. "Here's a nice little gift for you. A juvenile Flame of Life, ranked fifth among the exotic flames. Use it when planting the Tree of Life—it'll grow fast."
Furina paused for a moment, then burst into a grin.
"Wow. With this thing, what medicinal herb won't I be able to grow in the future?"
She rolled over, pillowed her head on her arm, and looked at the moonlight filtering in through the window.
The smile at the corner of her lips was utterly irrepressible.
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Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation story. It's a crossover of Toaru and One Piece... Well, the only Toaru element here is one cute Misaka. This is all that came of my desire to translate a Toaru fanfic, but I'm not complaining—even though I've only just started reading and translating it, I'm really enjoying the story. It has plenty of slice-of-life elements, and the pacing is quite slow and detailed. It's written in a sweet, positive way—at least for now. There likely won't be any romance, as there were no tags indicating such, but I won't say for sure until I've finished reading it myself. I'd recommend it to those who aren't craving violence, carnage, or excessive cruelty. In my opinion, it's a worthwhile story, though it's definitely a matter of personal taste—especially since the protagonist is a girl, which isn't everyone's cup of tea (though it doesn't really matter for now—at least as of 30+ chapters in, Misaka is still 6 years old). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.
One Piece: Railgun Misaka Misaka https://www.webnovel.com/book/one-piece-railgun-misaka-misaka_37195209600636405