Chapter 360: Two Ladies, Let Me Perform a Magic Trick for You

"Can you grow vegetables here?" Ang asked, pointing to the colorful, beautiful ornamental flowerbed.

Auberny's forehead twitched with dark lines; inside, she screamed: You want to plant vegetables on this gorgeous flowerbed!!!

"No," Auberny said.

Not long after, Ang pointed to the lush green lawn ahead: "Can you grow vegetables there?"

"No," Auberny replied.

Ang pointed to the ornamental vine corridor ahead: "Can you grow vegetables there?"

"No…" Auberny said weakly.

Ang then pointed to the side, where the magic ball arena stood—a rare expanse of flat ground, where mages rode various magical devices, wands, and brooms, chasing magic balls through the air and directing them into the opponent's goal.

It was a sport demanding precise elemental control and magical manipulation.

"Grow vegetables?" Ang tilted his head.

"Can't you have any other hobbies?" Auberny looked on the verge of madness.

Ang tilted his head, thought for a moment, then pointed to the bustling bikini beach in the distance: "Can you grow crops there?"

Auberny's temper flared instantly—so you can't grow vegetables, but you can grow crops? Isn't that the same thing?

Then she immediately noticed everyone in Ang's group was staring at her: the angel holding the Archangel's Staff, the little zombie, Lisa, the Elemental Deadlands Aistolia…

Auberny sucked in her anger with a hiss and forced a smile: "No."

"Oh, boring," Ang concluded, reaching into his space to plant something on his own.

A lump of frustration stuck in Auberny's chest; she couldn't catch her breath. Though she often wandered Meishencheng, she rarely interacted with Ang—she never imagined this guy could be so infuriating.

After bringing everyone to her mage tower and arranging their accommodations, Auberny handed out access passes and declared with authority:

"Enjoy your meals, have fun, stay happy. If you run into trouble, don't kill anyone or make a scene—running roughshod, forcing sales, buying by coercion—all fine. Just name me, and I'll handle it. I'm off now; I've got a mountain of work. If you need anything, find the butler."

Then she fled in panic, realizing Ang was once again staring at the magical plant flowerbed in front of her tower.

Auberny had her own magic tower—a six-story structure above ground, which in Starfall was somewhat inconsistent with her identity as the Dead Star; look at the Star-Gazing Tower on Blue Star, towering into the clouds, over a hundred meters tall.

But no one knew that beneath the Dead Star Tower lay another twenty-plus levels, nearly seventy meters deep—that was the tower's true core.

Yet when visitors toured, they discovered the underground core was flooded…

Auberny's butler was an undead, appearing as a little girl in a maid's dress, who now awkwardly explained: "So rude, so rude! The Dead Star Tower has stood over six hundred years; neglected for ages, it's been leaking for two hundred years. At first, the master would repair it, but after a few attempts, she gave up. Now she uses it to raise fish."

Fine, the underground core couldn't be toured; the six above-ground floors were quickly seen through. Everyone simply took their access passes and scattered.

Du Luo also enthusiastically donned his Golden Touch outfit and a tall hat, strolling ahead as their guide.

Feiti, wearing a straw hat and transformed into an ordinary middle-aged human, trailed behind Du Luo, glancing left and right.

Feiti was currently in projection form, but his true body was a Purple-Gold Skull, with immense spiritual power; even as a projection, no one except Ang and Auberny could see through his disguise.

Still, he was initially reserved—this might be the first time Feiti, since gaining consciousness, had gone shopping. But when he saw a necromancer parading a skeleton through the streets, he grew accustomed to it.

"Huh, these people aren't afraid of undead creatures?" Du Luo asked in surprise.

The undead maid floated over quickly: "My lord, we are in the Starfall Kingdom, where stars shine brilliantly and colorfully—undead creatures are not shunned. Those who shun them have already been buried by the Dead Star."

"Oh~" Everyone understood.

Ang also looked around curiously; this street had the richest biodiversity he'd ever seen—even more than the Lich's Undercity.

Luolan City's species were already diverse: minotaurs, dark elves, dwarves and goblins—but all remained within humanoid bounds. Here, it was different.

A cluster of air elementals floated past, accompanied by an elemental summoner, shouting hoarsely: "Make way! Make way! Element Cleaner coming through! Please toss your trash to it! Do not approach! Do not touch!"

Where the air elemental passed, the entire street became spotless—even dust was sucked away.

Around the corner, a circus troupe performed: several skeletons danced a construct dance under the direction of a necromancer.

That kind of dance—where you dress yourself as a construct, stand rigidly, then dismantle your own bones to dance and sing.

At the climax, the crowd cheered excitedly, showering silver and copper coins onto the stage.

A mage wearing a red hat flew down, and during a pause in the dance, approached the necromancer: "Register these skeletons—do they have legal origins?"

The necromancer hurriedly replied: "Yes yes, here's the registration proof."

"Alright, you must know the corpses' origins are legal. If we find you dug up graves illegally, the Dead Star herself will come chat with you. Understood?" the red-hat mage said.

Hearing "Dead Star," the necromancer broke into a sweat: "No no, I've performed here before—these old buddies have been with me over ten years. I'd never dig up graves."

After checking, the red-hat mage mounted his broom and flew off. Passing Ang's group, he saw their Dead Star access pass and stopped to salute.

When the skeleton dance troupe resumed, the necromancer didn't notice an extra skeleton had joined—the bare-headed Feiti blended in and danced joyfully for a long time.

When the necromancer happily climbed onstage to collect tips, he suddenly noticed: "Huh? Why are my tips so few?"

Feiti scooped up a sack of silver and copper coins, dashed back, grabbed a handful for Du Luo, a handful for the little angel and little zombie, and a handful for Ang.

"What about mine?!" Nageleis asked.

Feiti scoffed: "Earn it yourself."

The dragon's competitive spirit flared instantly: "Damn it, you think I can't earn? Just wait!"

Before Huang Tong could think of a way to earn money, he saw Du Luo approach two beautiful ladies, lift his tall hat, and bow gracefully.

"Two lovely ladies, may you be as beautiful and radiant as lilies." As he spoke, he held his hat, plucked something from the air, and tossed it inside.

With a puff, white smoke erupted—when it cleared, two stunning lilies appeared inside the hat.

Du Luo picked up the lilies and presented them to the two ladies.

But the two ladies accepted the bouquet with half-smiles; one drew a handkerchief, covered the flowers, tapped once, then lifted it—hey, the bouquet was gone?

The other lady slowly brushed her fingers over the flowers; the pure white petals turned a dull metallic gray, becoming metal lilies.

After completing the trick, the two ladies smiled slyly: "What year are you in? Spatial or Alchemy? Don't you know us? You dare flirt with your teachers?"

Du Luo had overacted—he, a ten-thousand-year-old lich, was mistaken for a student. He froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "Love knows no bounds." He pulled out two bottles of limited-edition ten-milliliter essence.

A hundred-milliliter bottle of essence cost over a thousand magic crystals—too expensive. Even Starfall Magic Academy teachers rarely bought a full bottle at once.

Lisa, quick to respond, launched the limited edition: ten milliliters sold for 120 magic crystals—sales exploded. Du Luo had pulled out the limited edition.

"Whoa! Meishen Essence? Limited edition? For us?" The two female teachers' eyes sparkled.

"Of course. It's a great honor for it to grace your beautiful faces."

"Hehe, you're so charming, but we don't accept gifts from students." The two teachers reluctantly declined.

"I'm not a student. Here, let me perform a magic trick for you."

Du Luo chatted with the two teachers as they walked away.

Nageleis sighed: "Two hundred magic crystals just like that? Even if you seduce them, you can't use them. What a wasteful thing."

He turned around—wait, where were Ang and the other two?

Ang and the other two were crouched by the roadside, watching people play "tennis."

"Everyone, come try! Great rewards! Each time you launch the ball into the air, use magic to control your net and catch it—catch how many, get how much prize. One silver per try, one gold for eleven tries, one magic crystal for one hundred twenty tries. Kid, wanna play?"

The "tennis" vendor shouted hoarsely, then turned to the little angel.

The little angel now looked like a little girl—the perfect age for fun, and the main consumer group for "tennis." If a child wanted to play, no parent could refuse.

Sure enough, the little angel nodded frantically, shoved all the coins Feiti had given him into the vendor's hand, then handed the net to Ang.

A big customer! The vendor excitedly counted the pile of loose coins—but soon froze at a gasp.

He looked up: Ang controlled the net with fluid motion, catching every single ball launched into the air.

Minutes later, the vendor wept, returned all the money, dumped all his prizes into Ang's arms, then rolled up his stall and ran away.

In Starfall Academy, "tennis" games were always made harder—unless a Truth Mage showed up, no one ever lost money.

In the vendor's mind, Ang had to be a Truth Mage in disguise.

That day, everyone had a blast. Back at the tower, they found Auberny radiating murderous intent.

"What happened? Any incident? Need help?" Nageleis asked quickly.

"No no," Auberny rubbed her cheeks. "I'm used to it. Every festival brings a pile of trouble—as long as no one dies. Just caught two rapists, a dozen murderers, one pest controller, six slave traders. All buried."

Nageleis couldn't close his mouth—you just said "as long as no one dies," then buried over twenty people? Aren't those people?

"Too bad—I probed the pest controller's soul. He had two accomplices. These pest controllers are sneaky. If I don't find them, I won't sleep tonight. I came back to check on you—I'm off to duty." Auberny said.

Nageleis gestured for Ang to pull out one of the Insect God's creatures: "Easy. Take Hemoer with you—it'll help you find them."

"Hemoer? Hemoerthos? The Insect God?" Auberny stared at the fat, four-legged creature before her, astonished.

At that moment, Auberny's communicator rang. After a quick conversation, her expression turned strange:

"A boy got into a fight with two of our female teachers in a tavern. They scratched his face and called him a fraud. Patrol caught him—he's carrying my access pass…"

Nageleis scanned the group—only Du Luo was missing. He was currently in a boy's form, and he'd been with the two female teachers…

"Damn it, what the hell is going on?!" Nageleis cursed.

Auberny ordered the patrol to release the boy and left immediately, taking Hemoer to hunt the remaining two pest controllers.

Soon after, Du Luo returned, his face covered in scratch marks, looking utterly disheveled.

Whoosh—everyone gathered around, buzzing with gossip.

"What happened? Why did you fight? Why did they scratch you?" Nageleis asked, eyes gleaming with burning curiosity—the same fire burned in everyone else's eyes.

Du Luo covered his face and turned to run.

They couldn't catch him—but Auberny returned. Hemoer led her on a long detour, then back again, all the way to the Dead Star Tower's underground water outlet.

The outlet was too small for Hemoer to enter, so it spat a mouthful of water into it.

Soon after, a swarm of tiny black fish erupted from the outlet, jaws sharp, frantically gnawing at Hemoer's spit.

The Insect God's substance had a lethal attraction to these fish.

Auberny was furious: "My fish! My fish turned into these monsters!"

"Fertilizer," Ang said cheerfully, pushing past Auberny, then pouring a bottle of insecticide into the outlet.

Already driven mad by Hemoer's stimulus, the monsters went berserk—moments later, they began tearing into each other.

Ang quickly gathered the dead fish, clearing more space at the water outlet; insects and fish drawn by the scent rushed toward it frantically, as if a pipeline made of creatures had been opened.

Obonli, who had been worried about how fast Ang was cleaning, just sighed in relief when Negrilis's words made her tense again.

"I wonder if there are any in the bay? Tomorrow's ceremony will have so many people, and there's the bikini beach—don't let the insects and fish get fed."

PS: Huh? Bad! Double vote bonus—hurry, rob their votes!