Chapter 710

Is this the normal Mirror World? Lu Mi gazed at the dark, illusory, unreal roads around him, like a mosquito trapped in a complex spiderweb, gripped by inexplicable fear—as if a vast, twisted, pitch-black spider might crawl from the depths of this strange place and drag him and Fulanka into the dark abyss of destruction.

"Does every illusory path connect to a mirror?" Fulanka 's voice suddenly sounded right beside Lu Mi's ear, so close he could feel her breath.

At the same time, Lu Mi caught a faintly warm, sweet fragrance; his veins throbbed inexplicably, and his body and mind relaxed slightly.

Fulanka had somehow pressed against him, her eyes flickering as she scanned the surroundings.

Lu Mi gave a slight nod:

"Theoretically, yes."

"No!" Fulanka contradicted herself, "They might connect to certain mysterious other dimensions instead."

"Yes…" Lu Mi recalled the common knowledge he'd learned about the Mirror World.

He exhaled and took a step forward:

"I think even in those cases, what's connected is still a mirror—one belonging to those mysterious other dimensions."

Before Fulanka could respond, he pointed at the dim, illusory path ahead:

"Without understanding the Mirror World's coordinate patterns or positioning methods, traveling through here recklessly is extremely dangerous. If you're lucky, you might just end up at the wrong mirror and have to return to the real world; if you're unlucky, you'll reach a mirror tied to a dangerous place and face terrible enemies upon exiting; if you're the unluckiest…"

Lu Mi fell silent here.

Fulanka squeezed closer to his side, her voice soft:

"What happens if you're the unluckiest?"

"You'll vanish forever in this Mirror World—alive, no one sees you; dead, no body is ever found." Lu Mi steadied himself and took another step forward.

Suddenly, he felt the dark, illusory, unreal path twist into a massive vortex, pulling him downward.

Fulanka felt the same sensation—a sharp spiritual warning.

Both stepped back at once, breaking free from the vortex's grip.

"How dangerous," Fulanka murmured. "Even just approaching these illusory paths, without intending to enter, can force you into an unknown mirror. At such moments, you can only rely on the 'winners'' luck, hoping the destination isn't too terrible. Uh—your ability to amplify or manipulate fate should help too."

Lu Mi nodded:

"I originally thought the Mirror World had a close link to the Spirit World—that 'Teleport' could work here too. But now it seems there is a link, yet not strong enough to support my 'Teleport.' It's not that you can't traverse it—it's just too dangerous, nearly 100% chance of getting lost."

"Without mastering Mirror World-related abilities, unless a high-rank 'Sorceress' or high-rank 'Apprentice' helps, I don't recommend using this place to ambush Moran Avini."

Seeing Fulanka nod thoughtfully, Lu Mi exhaled quietly and smiled with mock teasing:

"Are you feeling better?"

"Huh?" Fulanka froze, then flushed with anger. "What can I do? When using rituals to petition the Primordial, you inevitably suffer some influence—sometimes tempted, sometimes in pain, sometimes depressed like you've got temporary mental illness, sometimes stiff as a statue for a while…"

After becoming a formal member of the Witch Cult, the "Black Witch" had taught Fulanka many esoteric teachings, especially regarding prayer and petitioning the "Primordial Witch."

Regarding such matters, the "Black Witch" had said:

As the ritual's conductor, the ritual itself provides some protection; the influence leaking from the Primordial is extremely low. After the ritual ends, just endure ten or twenty seconds. The only thing to watch for is that desire stems from your own normal reaction to the Primordial's allure—it fades slowly. But which witch doesn't have a few lovers? Don't worry too much about it.

Fulanka spoke more and more confidently, almost indignantly:

"That's a true god! How could I possibly withstand even a trace of a true god's leakage?"

"If I weren't the ritual's conductor, I'd have lost control long ago, overcome by bestiality."

Saying "bestiality," she amused herself.

—In the Mirror World, she always used "Primordial" to refer to the "Primordial Witch," to avoid blasphemy.

Lu Mi thought for a moment:

"Praying to other true gods won't cause similar effects, unless someone is blaspheming on-site."

"Who says the Primordial's state isn't off?" Fulanka had already considered the reason. "Don't think you're a 'Hermit' and can endure it. If you'd been there then, and weren't the conductor, Heihei —I'd have seen you overcome by bestiality."

Saying this, she glanced over Lu Mi from head to toe, curled her lips, and whispered with a smile:

"You weren't unaffected either, were you? Weren't you afraid you couldn't hold back, so you deliberately broke my state to make things awkward?"

Unconsciously, Fulanka 's breathing grew heavier again.

Lu Mi let out a dry "Hah":

"When I arrived, the residual influence hadn't fully faded—the air was still thick with that strange fragrance. That's a true god! How could I possibly withstand even a trace of a true god's leakage?"

He repeated her own words.

"Is that so? Just because of the lingering scent?" Fulanka 's lake-blue eyes narrowed dangerously, as if provoked.

The shimmering light in her gaze returned, glinting like shards of sunlight scattered across water.

Lu Mi exhaled, stepped sideways, and grabbed her upper arm:

"I'll take you back first. Jianna is waiting for you."

"Already going back?" Fulanka asked in surprise. "Aren't we going to explore the Mirror World further? Think of ways to use it?"

"I've got a plan." Lu Mi pulled Fulanka closer and stepped out of the Youanshijie of illusory tunnels like a spiderweb.

Back in the quarry's hollow, Fulanka, her attention diverted, pressed:

"What plan?"

Lu Mi, while attempting to activate the black mark on his right shoulder, answered expressionlessly:

"Contract ability."

He planned to find a supernatural creature with Mirror World traversal ability and sign a contract to obtain its trait!

After all, he hadn't yet decided which three abilities to contract this time—this could be one of them.

"Yes, contract ability…" Fulanka felt a surge of joy.

She immediately noticed Lu Mi hadn't moved, and leaned close to his ear, whispering with a low laugh:

"Aren't you going to 'Teleport'? Why haven't you left yet? Is your 'Spirit World Traverse' naturally slow—or are you holding back?"

The moment she finished speaking, their figures vanished from the dark quarry hollow.

…………

In the evening, inside Lu Mi's rented apartment.

The nearly one-meter-long Felt firefish lay on the dining table. Ludwig, holding a child's dinner knife, broke the crisp, golden-brown skin at its thinnest point and sliced the tender white flesh into thin pieces.

Lu Mi glanced at Fulanka, now dressed in a light-colored hunting outfit, and saw the "Joyful Witch" avoiding his gaze, her face filled with embarrassment.

She seemed to be screaming:

"Kill me!

"I'm too humiliated—I can't live!"

Lu Mi, who had also felt slightly awkward, smiled.

He mouthed to Fulanka:

"The sage's time is great."

Though Fulanka didn't understand lip-reading well, she still sensed Lu Mi's mockery.

Joy is harmful!

Joy is harmful!

Whether male, female, or neither, when pleasure fills the mind, one always does things that cause utter social death!

Too humiliating!

I can't live!

At that moment, Fulanka wished the ground would crack open and swallow her.

Quietly seated beside the table, Anthony glanced at Lu Mi, then at Fulanka, and looked away.

Finally, Ludwig removed the inedible parts and sliced enough fish to fill three soup pots.

Fulanka immediately froze one pot and stored it in her "Traveler's Satchel" for future use. Ludwig pushed the second pot toward Lu Jianuo and said in a child's voice:

"Can we have fish slice, clam, and cream soup tonight?"

"Yes," Lu Jianuo replied quickly.

He struggled to keep his gaze from wandering between Fulanka and Jianna—the two witches—considering it disrespectful to his boss.

In his view, both witches were his boss's lovers.

He silently admired:

No wonder he's the boss—he has two witches as lovers!

Even Emperor Luo Saier only had one.

After pouring copious lemon juice over the third pot of fish slices, Ludwig pushed it toward Lu Mi.

His meaning was clear: the blood of a Hunter-path Adept was now needed.

"How much?" Lu Mi asked.

"Just stir it in," Ludwig replied, as if this were the bare minimum.

Jianna frowned and asked:

"How much does each person need to eat to gain the permanent effect?"

Ludwig answered with a "naive" expression:

"It varies by constitution and sequence. Only by actually eating it can you know."

Lu Mi raised an eyebrow and poured all the remaining Gardener Martin blood into the pot.

Seeing it was still slightly short, he cut a gash on his hand with the ritual silver dagger and dripped twenty to thirty milliliters of blood in.

Ludwig watched with eager anticipation.

"Aren't you worried about contamination?" Lu Mi asked with a sneer.

Ludwig shook his head:

"The amount now is small enough."

Franca forced herself to act normal and joked,

"Talking about toxicity without mentioning dosage is just bullying."

"Yes," Ludwig agreed with Franca, stirring the pot of fish slices with a spoon.

Droplets of blood that still seemed to burn were gradually absorbed by the tender white fish flesh, and the flesh slowly began to char.

"Add ice," Ludwig looked toward Franca and Jianna.

The two witches stood up simultaneously and extended their hands over the pot.

Drops of white frost condensed and fell like rain, clearly slowing the charring of the fish until it stopped entirely.

Ludwig jumped off his chair, dashed into the kitchen, and returned carrying several silver serving platters, then gave each person seven or eight slices of "Ice Lemon Fish."

"Is this enough?" Jianna asked with a surprised laugh.

"If not, we can add two or three more slices," Ludwig replied sincerely.

Jianna instinctively wanted to say her usual phrase, but seeing Ludwig's childlike appearance, she held it back.

She pointed to their plates and said:

"You only ate this little bit of fish—did you take that much blood from Lu Mi?"

"Why not cook less and save the rest of the pot for tomorrow?"

Ludwig grabbed the pot in front of him and shouted loudly:

"Mine!"

"..." Jianna suddenly felt like a witch stealing candy from a child.

Definitely using public resources for private gain... Lu Mi watched Ludwig and shook his head with amusement:

"You've got some sense—only when it comes to eating."

With that, Lu Mi scooped all the "Ice Lemon Fish" from his plate into his mouth.

PS: Thanks to Hui Chen for supporting the Silver Alliance~

(End of Chapter)