After a while, Lilian didn't hear any reply from the Goddess. She realized that maybe the Goddess' voice memo couldn't respond because her thought reaction this time couldn't be anticipated. It was outside the scope of what she had prepared.
After Lilian's mind-blowing "discovery" about her divine husband's secret, she became completely determined to help him return to godhood as soon as possible. That meant she had to do her best improving herself too, or she might not be able to help her divine husband. Her resolve hardened like a seed taking root, ready to grow into something unstoppable.
"Goddess, can you teach me how to use the unique body you bestowed me?" Lilian asked. She figured that there would be a reply this time because this was something that the Goddess had already prepared.
"Now, now. My dear apprentice, you have been calling me Goddess all this time. That does not reflect our relationship at all. From now on, call me Divine Mentor, okay? All of your senior apprentices address me by this title."
Lilian nodded. "Yes, Divine Mentor! Eh? I have senior apprentices?" Lilian realized.
"Of course, I have had seven apprentices previously, and adding you, I have eight apprentices now. However, you are a special case. I didn't intend to accept any more apprentices previously, and I only wanted to retrieve my missing garden. But because of a wonderful fate, we became mentor and apprentice. Hehehe."
Lilian was dumbfounded. She recalled again the scene that was shown to her. Her Divine Mentor's real reason for accepting her as an apprentice at that time was due to their melons having the same size. A flush of amusement warmed her cheeks as she marveled at the absurdity of fate's whims.
Lilian lifted her breasts again and kissed them, one each. Lili, Lian, you two are really my lucky melons, Lilian praised inwardly.
"Divine Mentor, let's not waste any more time. Please teach me how to use my unique body." Lilian steered their conversation back to her objective.
"Sure, sure. Don't worry, my apprentice, I have even prepared the best cultivation manual that complements your new meridian structure. I'm sure your cultivation speed will be much faster. Now, let's begin."
And so, on a moving cloud high up in the air, Lilian began her tutoring session with her Divine Mentor. The wind tugged at her hair as she sat cross-legged, the vast sky stretching endlessly around her, a perfect stage for her ascent.
---
Somewhere on Titanis Continent where it rained heavily.
Three men were chasing after a tall red-haired woman.
"There! She's over there! Don't let her go! Hahaha! Boss, she slowed down. She must have thought that she had gotten away from us." A man in red shouted, but the heavy rain drowned his voice greatly.
"Don't worry, boss, the rain is my turf. Let me lead!" Another man in blue said. He was more level-headed than the man in red, so he communicated using sound transmission instead of shouting in the rain.
"Good. I don't believe an early Core Formation Realm like her can outrun us! This bitch has been rebellious to me since the beginning, and now she dared to betray me. If she dies, that's fine, but if we can capture her, that's even better. She could be our slave and take care of our needs. Hmph, if not because of being stuck in the Mystic Realm like this, I wouldn't have bothered going after an average woman like her. There are plenty of beauties to pick from." The third man in black replied. He then stepped aside and let the man in blue lead the chase.
"Wahaha, don't worry, boss, I'll do my best to capture her. Water elemental cultivators like me are good for capturing others. Current Chaser!"
The man in blue spread a large amount of Qi around him, gathering and manipulating all the rainwater while moving at high speed, and very quickly, he was lifted by the fast water current. His hands danced through the air, weaving the droplets into a shimmering, flowing ribbon that obeyed his every command.
As the man gathered more rainwater, the fast water current continued becoming longer and longer, approaching the red-haired woman.
The red-haired woman tried running in a different direction, but the water current carrying the man swiftly changed direction as well, closely following her relentlessly. After that, the man in blue increased his speed by sliding forward on the already fast water current.
With a flick of his wrists, he shot multiple water balls toward her, each one spinning with force to trap her in a watery cage. The red-haired woman twisted and leaped, dodging them one by one as they splashed into the mud around her, her movements sharp despite the rain-soaked ground.
"Wahaha! You shouldn't have tried to run away. Nobody can escape from the Boss. And you should have given your space ring when the boss ordered earlier! We don't need a burden like you in our group anymore," the man said as he approached closer.
"What bullshit! I already said that I didn't get anything, and even if I did, we already agreed to keep whatever we found for ourselves! You losers obtained many things already, but you still want my thing? Keep dreaming, idiots! I'd rather die!" The red-haired woman retorted loudly while maintaining her speed.
But running in the rain and swampland proved to be more difficult than she thought, and seeing the man in blue catching up quickly, the woman felt that she had no choice but to go all out soon. Her breath came in sharp gasps, her legs sinking into the mud with every step, a stark reminder of how the elements were conspiring against her.
Living in a family of good people for years had lowered her vigilance significantly, and now she was reminded again by how untrustworthy people are.
The red-haired woman was Valenia.
When she arrived at Mystic Realm four months ago, Slashy wasn't with her anymore, and neither was anyone else. Valenia experienced the same flying prohibition problem that the others went through, leaving her no choice but to travel by land.
After wandering around the place where she appeared for a few days and without any sign of other people showing up, Valenia headed to the colossal tree on the horizon.
Along the way, she spent her time training and honing her Sword Intent by slashing different kinds of materials she encountered. If she met a big boulder, she slashed it. If she met a metal structure, she slashed it. If she met a big tree, she still slashed it. If she met demonic beasts, she slashed them and harvested their meat for food. Her objective was to slash at as many different materials as possible to grasp the differences.
Speaking about food, Valenia regretted that she never stocked any of Tasya's or the maids' delicious dishes in her space ring because now she could only eat some crudely done meals she made for herself, and they tasted horrible. She always found it ridiculous that Leyvi often stocked so much food whenever possible, but now she was the one regretting it, acknowledging that it was a great idea. Her stomach growled in protest, a bitter reminder of her oversight as she chewed on another tough, overcooked bite.
For average people, eating what she made would taste fine because they were meats of demonic beasts rich in spiritual energy, but as her taste buds had already become accustomed to top-tier food for every meal, the roasted meat she made tasted horrible.
She could imagine Leyvi's usual teasing face as he enjoyed Tasya's delicious food while he laughed at her only eating bland roasted meat alone. Imagining Leyvi's face, Valenia would frequently trigger herself and start executing flying slashes into the same area, leaving behind countless deep slash marks. Each slash carried a flicker of her frustration, carving her defiance into the earth like a silent tantrum.
Valenia vowed to herself that once she returned later, she would stock as much delicious food as possible in her space ring.
After three months of traveling alone, crossing many terrains, Valenia finally found another person. No, to be accurate, another person found her. A man in red. It turned out that all the slash marks she left along the way became evidence to the man who found her that someone else was nearby.
So he tracked the trails as fast as possible and found her. Valenia was quite vigilant at first, but after enough goodwill from the man, she let him travel with her.
The man in red was named Jayden. He came from a big sect in the West Region. Since he was from the West Region, he had dark skin and curly hair like Nala, as most people from there had darker skin tones than the rest of the Cloud Continent.
After that, Valenia and Jayden traveled together, but since then, she stopped using her Sword Intent to slash at things. Instead, she used her Qi for her flying slash. Her Qi slash was nowhere near as powerful as her Sword Intent slash, but she did it to hide her true ability.
Valenia felt that leaving behind fresh sword slashes as trails along the way was a good idea if she wanted to find more people. This way, she might even reunite with Leyvi, Slashy, and the others.