Chapter 1559

"Wah… waa…"

"A cry broke the silence in Mimi's searching memory. This is what Xilian looked like when she was just born—tiny, curled up under everyone's gaze, pink hair damp and sticking to her forehead, eyes not fully open yet, but already using her cry to announce her arrival to the world."

"Peach. Memory. Preservation. Learning."

"The villagers clasped their hands in gratitude: 'The prophecy has come true. This child is a gift from the gods.' 'Pink hair, and those ears—she was born to be the priestess of 'Ages'.'"

"Xilian is. Pink hair. Pointed ears."

"'You shall reap at the time of blooming, as beginning and end are born as one'… Cry, child, cry loudly. Let your voice reach Ou Luo Ni Si."

"Xilian is. Girl. Priestess." Mimi recorded seriously, "Simple. I will. I learn."

"..."

Xilian: "That said, I don't like tears, you know!"

"'The name Aolixie is clearly taken from the gods' sorrow…' Bai E looked at her, confused, 'But you're always giggling, like you've never had a worry.'"

"Xilian is. Doesn't like tears. Giggly."

"'Of course. Because the world is gentle to me.' Xilian slowly closed her hands around the Divine Revelation Box, 'So I grew into gentleness.'"

"Xilian is. Gentle. Loves beauty. Writes poetry."

"Simple. I will. I learn."

"..."

"As the song in the wind says, Huoyouzhe is an endless journey of loss." Aglaea said.

"But even if everything passes with the wind, some things don't change easily—like my height, Tibao's childlike innocence, and Aglaea's beauty♪"

"Xilian is. Doesn't grow tall. Speaks. Even after the wind passes, still left behind."

"Xilian is. Every last sentence, always giggling, like a little tail♪"

"Simple. Learned it♪"

—

Spirit Cage.

"Because the world is gentle to me, I became gentle in form. But I feel Wengfaluo Si is not gentle at all—before Star and Dan Heng arrived, it was utterly a tragedy of despair." Xia Dou hugged her pillow, muttering.

Sui Xing sighed softly: "But for Xilian back then, Aolixie was her entire, tiny world. Her homeland was already incredibly gentle."

"And precisely because Aolixie treated her gently, she treated De Miu Ge gently, and De Miu Ge grew gentle too." Saying this, Xia Dou slammed her fist into the pillow, fuming: "In contrast, that First Genius, Boss Bai—I'm wondering… if Zandal had trained De Miu Ge with 'hatred' and 'destruction' instead of letting her sleep by detonating the Star Core, would she not have become like today's Tumu?"

"This 'if' never held from the start." Bai Yue Kui shook her head. "Because the direction of intellectual development and the creation of consciousness have no overlap, so Zandal never believed De Miu Ge would generate 'consciousness,' nor possess true emotion."

"Put differently, De Miu Ge's emergence of 'consciousness' is a miracle—and only Xilian could have triggered it."

"First comes 'love,' then comes 'Xilian,' only then does 'Mimi' come into being. And Zandal… do you think he's someone who has 'love'? Even toward Tumu, he treats it purely as an experimental subject."

Sui Xing fully agreed: "Moreover, as the core of the Scepter, De Miu Ge's responsibility is solving the question of the Life First Cause. But Zandal tried to destroy it—could it be that De Miu Ge had already found the answer, and Zandal simply rejected it, so he detonated the Star Core to 'negate' that answer?"

—

"I promise you, pain… passes in an instant."

"Alright, don't let the mood get so heavy. What we're about to embark on is truly the Hero's Journey. So…" Xilian smiled faintly, "Smile, okay?"

"Xilian is. Born crying. Fragile. Transparent. Like crystal."

"Xilian is. Crying farewell. Soft. Pink. Like a flower."

Mimi tried again to learn, but let out a "Huh?"

"The memories after—gone. Is it unseen, or vanished?"

"Ah. I get it—could this be… 'Blank'! So 'the next Xilian' is 'Blank'."

"So… as long as there are two 'Xilians,' 'Blank' remains, and Taizi remains."

"Ah, I see. I understand now, completely."

"'Xilian's' memories. All, preserved!"

—

Blessings on This Beautiful World.

"Wait… two Xilians?!"

A Ku Ya was already standing guard with her left eye, watching with her right—she completely failed to understand what Mimi meant.

Of course, it wasn't just A Ku Ya—most people in the Adventurers' Guild Tavern had their heads go "Buzz" and shut down.

"I told you, it's still two Xilians!"

"No no, it's just one Xilian—you misunderstood!"

"Nonsense, Mimi herself said it's two Xilians!"

"..."

Listening to the adventurers chatter, Ke Si Te couldn't help but lower his head to ponder Mimi's words. After a moment, she suddenly spoke: "I think, if the next Xilian is 'Blank,' then as long as Mimi preserves all of Xilian's memories, becoming the 'next Xilian,' becoming her 'Blank,' her Taizi can always be."

A Ku Ya tilted her head: "Still don't get it—does saying this mean you didn't say anything? And, becoming the next Xilian and all that…"

"When Star arrives at Wengfaluo Si, won't Mimi just become Xilian in the end?"

You You stroked her chin, serious: "Once she becomes Xilian, then in the new cycle—namely, this life where Star becomes KefaLe—she will gather the memories of three thousand myriad worlds, as the new 'Blank,' and write the epic with Star. By rights, this life's Xilian should also be born, meaning it's equivalent to 'two Xilians' appearing. The great Xilian as 'Blank' remains, and the small Xilian as 'Taizi' remains."

"Is that roughly what Mimi meant?"

—

"How strange… though I can't see it, I have a feeling… you've grown up, haven't you?"

"Xilian still sat in Da Mu, though she couldn't see De Miu Ge, her form had already grown from Mimi's into that of a maiden."

"Hey. Missed me, huh♪"

Xilian puffed a laugh: "I just feel… I've gained a bit more mature air."

"Yes. Mature. Beautiful. It's you." The flower of memory said, word by word: "Now. I will listen, speak, read, write. I will dance. I will sing. I will tell stories. Telling stories is what makes 'Xilian'."