Chapter 1076

After their condition recovered, Bai'e and Wandi escorted the fainted bathers away from the scene of the incident...

In this escort contest, Bai'e narrowly won with a surprising advantage of 27 to 25.

Aglaea watched their retreating backs, lightly shaking her head: "Heh… Fire Pursuit Journey, truly the road is long and arduous."

——

The Funeral of Frieren

There are far too many missing and omitted characters in the dictionary of Xuanfengcheng, aren't there?

Although knowing that might just be Wandi's verbal tic, Xutake still couldn't help but complain, these two really are a natural-born… foes

Filien let out a long breath: "But it's not bad that they have this mindset; I just fear that if the trial fails, Bai'e will fall into despair."

The quality of being indomitable is also part of the essential qualities of a savior, Filien; you should give Bai'e a bit more confidence. Frieren smiled slightly, "More importantly, from what Wandi said, it seems he wants to wait until he resolves his people's problems before inheriting the fire seed—in that case, inheriting the conflict fire seed is just a matter of time, and everyone can temporarily turn their attention to the other Titans."

Among the remaining Titans, the most important is probably Eagler, after all, his existence directly determines whether Dan Heng and the others can contact the train. Xutake said, "Moreover, if we are to subdue the sky Titan, do we have to go to the heavens? That black-clad swordsman probably wouldn't go up to the heavens to kill them, would he?"

"... Hard to say." Frieren's face grew solemn as she shook her head, "Anywhere the black tide can corrupt should be within the black-clad person's attack range. Do you remember when the train first entered Ophyrus, that extremely dim sky? If not for the massive sphere behind Kefale, this world would have long been shrouded in darkness. The reason it has become this way is inseparable from Eagler."

Lady Frieren, do you think it has already been affected by the black tide?

"It's probably similar to the situation with the conflict Titan?" Frieren lowered her head in thought, "... It feels fantastical to go to the sky and fight a Titan; that Kefale we saw once before, its form hidden within the cloud layers, only revealing a single eye that sends chills down one's spine, looking like a colossal beast akin to a dragon. Just looking at it makes it seem hard to kill."

——

"... But thanks to them, the sorrowful atmosphere has dissipated. Although we went through a farce, the Yunshi Heavenly Palace is rare in its tranquility; let's continue with our previous itinerary. Xiao Fengjin, would you like to join us as well?"

"Such a spacious bath is a rare sight..." Fengjin nodded happily, "I also intended to relax after the procedure, so thank you, Ms. Tiptoe, for the invitation!"

The three of them happened to have the whole bath to themselves, with Fengjin and Aglaea soaking in the tub, while Tiptoe sat at the edge playfully kicking the water.

"Hehe, so comfortable..."

Fengjin poked her head out of the tub, curiously asking, "But, Tiptoe teacher… you're not going to soak too?"

"*We* won't, after all we've become little kids."

Aglaea: "Please excuse her, affected by Janus's blessing, she can no longer tolerate this pool's water temperature."

Tiptoe keenly noticed the strangeness in the girl's eyes and proactively said, "Are you curious about *our* affairs, little Fengjin?"

"I am somewhat curious, but my intuition tells me… maybe changing the topic would be better?"

"What's there to be nervous about? It's not something we can't talk about! Actually, *we* long ago… were just like Aya, mature adults." Tiptoe tried to recall, "But for various reasons, *we* took over Janus's divine office and obtained the power of the 【Gate Path】…… and as compensation, the price we paid is the splitting of the soul."

Aglaea added: "Each time the 【Hundred Worlds Gate】 is opened, it deepens the division's effect on Tiptoe and the others. From body to mind, step by step they regress toward infancy."

Tiptoe lowered her head: "Actually, *we* also don't know what the endpoint will be; in short, this is why *we* have become little kids."

Fengjin gasped, opening her mouth wide: "Then… back when you faced Nikadoli, the gigantic 【Hundred Worlds Gate】 you unfurled above Ohema… wasn't it…?"

Tiptoe lifted her head, forcing out a faint smile: "No way, the Fire Pursuit Journey is destined not to be smooth sailing."

——

Sword Art Divine Realm

I kind of want to see what Tiptoe used to look like.

Asuna couldn't help but be curious; the image of adult Tiptoe she imagined was that of a knowledgeable older sister, and combined with her knowing history and being a teacher, she automatically pictured herself as the history teacher from her previous school.

She used to be the high priestess of Janusopolis; if we go to the Hall of the Three Phases of Fate, combined with Mimimi's ability, it's not impossible to find her former appearance. Kirito said softly, "But the endpoint she mentioned… could it be that the soul reassembles and returns to Tiptoe's body?"

It probably isn't that simple, right? Kirito, I'm more inclined to think their endpoint is 'death'. Asuna shook her head, solemnly said, "The 【Hundred Worlds Gate】 currently appears to be a limited skill that can be activated only by consuming one's own HP, which means the demigod nature of the Gate Path is essentially an irreplaceable 'consumable'. We must find a way to deal with that black-clad person before Tiptoe's consciousness is completely exhausted."

【Hundred Worlds Gate】…… I have an idea. Kirito extended a finger, "The transmission range of the 【Hundred Worlds Gate】 is worth researching—is it effective only within Ophyrus, or can it transmit outside Ophyrus? If it's the latter……"

Before Kirito's words even faded, Asuna had already guessed his plan and smiled knowingly: "Kirito, are you suggesting using the Hundred Worlds Gate to send the black-clad swordsman into space?"

"Hmm, that's right." Kirito noncommittally replied, "The black-clad person's regenerative ability is very strong; radiation in space might not necessarily kill him. But space is also an ultra-low-temperature environment, perhaps it could freeze him, and later we could use the technology of the Vermilion Bird Divine Ship to cast him into a star to be burned, eliminating future trouble."

Ultra-low-temperature environment…… can it really seal his movements?

Unclear, but we have to try; I feel that with Ophyrus's local power we absolutely cannot kill him, and if we want to take his life, we still need to borrow some power from beyond the heavens.

——

"Perhaps… there will be a way. The core subject of the Wisdom Seed School is the soul—whether to counter its loss or to make up for already dissipated souls… as long as research continues, there might be new discoveries." Fengjin nodded firmly.