Chapter 1949

"The most important Chosen One? Do you mean you?"

It was evident that the soul aggregate's mouth twitched because of Xia De's question:

"I mean the Balanced Chosen One. Even among the thirteen Chosen Ones, she is an extremely special one. As long as she is still here, the balance of the world will not be completely broken so quickly.

But a Year Without a Summer will only be the beginning of a series of other situations. From now on, the time I can leave the Randall Valley will be shorter. This abnormal heavy snow will not last long; except for a few places, the snow in other regions will disappear quickly, and then the temperature will rise. But in the coming months, this kind of sudden unexpected weather will be very frequent."

In fact, ring-warlock had the means to change the weather and climate, but if they rashly used supernatural power to affect the climate on a large scale, it might cause even greater trouble.

"I will go to the Heart of the Earth with you; I want to see the current state of the Heart of the Earth."

Xia De stood up holding Mia, and the Guardian nodded. Then, a straight hole appeared in the church floor beside Xia De, and he jumped down without hesitation.

Now that the Guardian had the management permission for the "Heart of the Earth," Xia De didn't have to go through the "Butterfly Cemetery" every time and disturb his sleeping friends and their wives.

The fall didn't last long, and soon, Xia De, using "Feather Fall," landed lightly on the edge of the underground lava lake while holding the cat.

It was evident that Little Mia was quite interested in the environment here, poking her head around to look at her surroundings. Xia De was worried that the cat would be even more interested in the bubbling lava, so he held her tighter, then followed the Guardian across the stone bridge over the lava lake and entered the stone platform in the center of the lake.

The two stayed here for the entire morning. Xia De felt the power of the Heart of the Earth and then had to admit that this climate change, which was equivalent to a natural phenomenon, was indeed part of the world's own process. He talked a lot with the Guardian of the Earth, and the latter also told him how to stabilize the power of the earth here again once the earth mutated.

It seemed that the Guardian of the Earth wanted Xia De to be an insurance policy in case something happened to him, so that at least one other person would know how to stabilize the earth in the "Heart of the Earth."

By the time it was near noon, the topic came to a temporary end, and Xia De intended to leave. But the cat in his arms, when he suggested to the Guardian that he be sent back to the Chosen One church—the Heart of the Earth forbade the use of crystal shoe spatial teleportation—struggled desperately, wanting to jump out of Xia De's arms.

"That won't do. Do you know what the temperature of the ground under my feet is? Your little paws can't handle this temperature; they'll get roasted."

Xia De said to the cat, looking down. The Guardian stared at the cat in Xia De's arms for a moment, then remained silent for a few seconds before speaking:

"Does your cat have special abilities?"

"Yes, she has an extremely faint bloodline of the 'Child of the Sun' and has now mastered the ability to have her tail catch fire and to spit small flames from her mouth."

Xia De nodded, so the Guardian remained silent for a moment again, then suggested:

"The earth is the cornerstone, and the sun is the supreme. The power of the earth and the sun complement each other and can also promote each other. That is why the Balanced Chosen One can comprehend her 'Power of the Earth.' Let your cat come into contact with the Heart of the Earth; it might be good for her."

As he spoke, he pointed to the black stone pillar behind him. This was the true core of the Heart of the Earth. Three months ago, Xia De had also relied on touching this stone pillar to obtain that drop of divinity from the earth.

"That makes sense."

Xia De thought for a moment, then walked over holding the cat. Amidst the cat's impatience, he grabbed her little paw and slowly approached the surface of the stone pillar.

"Ha~"

He moved forward abruptly to let the cat's paw touch the stone pillar, then immediately pulled it back. The speed was very fast; Xia De even felt it was less than a second.

"Meow?"

"Perhaps you should let her stay in contact for a longer time."

The Chosen One of the Earth reminded him from behind. Although Xia De was worried about Little Mia's paws getting hurt, since the "master" here said so, this time he grabbed the cat's little paw and pressed it against the stone pillar, maintaining this posture and waiting for a while.

There were no special sound or light effects; all around, there was still only the sound of the lava lake bubbling. Xia De just felt that the body temperature of Little Mia in his arms had risen a little. He looked at the orange-and-white kitten with some worry, but didn't find any abnormality in her expression.

The cat squinted her eyes and let Xia De hold her paw, and didn't object when Xia De finally moved her paw away from the Heart of the Earth.

"Mia, how do you feel?"

Of course, the cat wouldn't speak; she just rubbed her furry face against Xia De's chest, then curled up in his arms and didn't want to move.

Xia De looked inquiringly at the Guardian of the Earth, who remained expressionless and didn't seem to intend to express an opinion on this.

Afterward, with the help of the Guardian of the Earth, Xia De returned to the Church of the Forgotten and happened to meet the girl who came to clean and pray. Before the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe left, they left a small number of girls to maintain the church and support the operation of the Wilde Opera House. They all knew Xia De and smiled as they asked him about the current condition of Miss Bernice and Siris.

By the time Xia De walked out of the basement of the Green Lake Hotel on Green Lake Island again, he had already discovered the change in Little Mia.

After coming into contact with the Heart of the Earth—a high-end existence that ring-warlock had a high probability of obtaining a spirit rune from even if they just touched it—the small flame that could emerge from the cat's tail had clearly become larger, and the sparks that could be spat from her mouth also showed signs of turning into small flames.

In short, the cat was indeed, as the Guardian said, a bit more powerful because of touching the power of the earth. But perhaps because the cat's original power base was too small, she was still a weak kitten even after the change.

Thinking about things, he had already arrived at the first floor of the hotel. Approaching lunchtime, Xia De originally wanted to talk to Megan and go to the Edwards' old mansion with her to meet other members of the family and determine their respective destinations.

But as soon as he looked up, he not only saw Megan, Miss Aurora, and Grandma Cassandra sitting at the table by the fire chatting, but also saw Grace and Helen whispering to each other on the side.

The sisters hadn't expected to see Xia De all of a sudden, and all three were stunned for a moment. Then, the girls in white and black dresses scattered into a large group of red butterflies and flew out the window.

"Xia De, good noon... Oh!"

"Help me take care of her!"

Xia De stuffed Little Mia to Miss Rita Swift, who was greeting him, and then turned into a large group of red butterflies, rushing out the window into the forest, which was still snowing.

The flight speed of the butterflies wasn't fast, but the speed of the butterflies that Xia De and the red butterfly girls turned into clearly couldn't be judged by normal standards. The twin sisters flew in front, and Xia De chased from behind. The two streams of light, not very restrained, chased each other, and disappeared into the forest outside the window in a few seconds.

The red butterflies moved in large swaths, flying over the bushes and sweeping past the squirrels on the treetops that were scared silly. The butterfly group in front was the first to cross the stream that appeared in the forest after the Battle of Green Lake. The sisters, holding hands, appeared on the other side of the stream, smiling and looking back.

Xia De appeared on the bank, looking at the sisters across the stream. More red butterflies danced wantonly above their heads, between the stream and the forest. Grace and Helen smiled and said to him:

"Sir, over here! Come and chase us!"

They laughed very happily, and the quietness of the forest brought by the murmuring stream made the smiles of the girls in white and black dresses even more eerie and terrifying.

They held hands and ran deeper into the dark forest, and Xia De also stepped on the water to cross the stream, following them into the forest. In a trance, he realized that this was the scene when Helen first took the initiative to meet him in the Sikar Mountains.

Red butterflies danced in front of Xia De, but the figures of the sisters, reflected in red, became increasingly blurred. Until they turned into a butterfly group again, dancing forward in the slightly dark forest, so Xia De also turned into a butterfly group again.

This time, the butterflies didn't fly very fast. Above a patch of snowy ground in the dark forest where the canopy was sparse and illuminated by sunlight, the butterfly group behind finally caught up with the larger number of butterflies in front. The thousands of red butterflies from the two groups gradually merged together.

So the butterfly group stopped moving forward, but danced wantonly above the grass covered in white snow.

The two groups of red butterflies represented the bodies of three people, so letting the red butterflies merge together was equivalent to the three people becoming entangled.

Soon, the red butterflies, scattering red light spots, seemed to form a red tornado and vortex in the sunlight above the grass. The red light became brighter and brighter, until even the butterflies themselves became blurred, and one could only see the red stream of light reflecting an eerie luster on the snow below.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from the butterfly group, and then the butterfly group scattered in all directions, and the three of them fell into the snow together.

To prevent Grace and Helen from falling, Xia De deliberately cushioned them, holding the two girls in dresses with his hands respectively. Helen in the black dress giggled, and after landing, she leaned on Xia De's chest, making him unable to get up while lying in the snow. Grace sat up, and while raising her hands to tidy her hair, she smiled as she saw her sister happily lying on Xia De and frolicking.

Helen wouldn't let Xia De get up, so Xia De simply stopped trying. He lay flat on his back in the snow, looking at the mottled light marks of sunlight falling through the gaps in the dense tree branches that formed the canopy above his head.

Although it was still snowing, the snowflakes were already very small. The weather was quite clear, and after the great battle that night, the weather here seemed to have been this good all along.

After the chase just now, Xia De, looking at the sky, actually had the thought of just lying here and being idle for the whole day.

Helen, lying on his chest, saw that Xia De was no longer "struggling," so she also lay down on her back steadily, looking at the mottled tree shadows in the dense forest with him. Grace, who had tidied her hair, smiled and lay down as well, her head resting on the other side of Xia De, and together with them, she watched the wind blow the canopy in the snow, watched the mottled light and shadow sway, and let the snowflakes fall on their bodies and faces.

No one spoke, and large swaths of red butterflies still fluttered around them, silently lighting up the dark forest, embellishing the scenery that was actually not monotonous.