Be it Moon Song or Chen Dong, neither was around. Xia Fei was vaguely disappointed as he returned to the Hidden Realm, ready to recover his vitality and subdue the Scattered Star Chrysanthemum, as well as make preparations for his trip to the Ancient Battlefield.
“You still have twenty days to get ready. Use this time wisely and try to restore your health. As for the Scattered Star Chrysanthemum, you can decide if you want to merge it with Peacock Blue after you recover,” advised the demon lord.
Xia Fei was perplexed. “Twenty days? Didn’t you say that it’s forty-nine ? It’s only been a day since. Shouldn’t I still have at least forty-eight days left?”
Oro laughed. “It’s not that simple. Did you really think that the Ancient Battlefield is a place you can come and go as you please? A four-week preparation time is needed prior to entry, which is to say that you have to arrive outside the battlefield twenty-eight days in advance.”
Xia Fei nodded. He had not come into contact with the Ancient Battlefield before, so all he could do was listen to Oro’s instructions.
As he followed along the path into Metal City’s main tower, this time Xia Fei had not informed anyone of his arrival, so Warstar and the others did not come out and receive him.
Just as he took a turn, he suddenly heard the sound of an explosion! It was as if someone’s gas tank had exploded. As a result, the entire tower shook!
*Whoosh*
The location of the explosion was very near Avril’s cultivation chamber, and Xia Fei instantly accelerated, dashing right over, his heart fraught with worry.
“AVRIL!” Xia Fei bellowed as he pushed the door into the cultivation chamber open. All he saw was Avril innocently standing in the middle of the room, apologizing repeatedly.
“Sorry! Very sorry! I… accidentally…”
Hearing it was Xia Fei’s voice, Avril promptly looked up and then went leaping straight into his arms. She buried her head into Xia Fei’s chest as her cheeks flushed red.
Several robots said their regards to Xia Fei before quietly cleaning up the room.
Xia Fei realized that the two-hundred-square-meter cultivation chamber looked completely different. The metal walls had fine cracks all over, and some of the equipment Avril was using had been changed several times; right now, the new equipment had all been ruined again, almost as if the room would often be subjected to external destruction.
“What happened?” Xia Fei stroked Avril’s hair and asked with concern.
Avril softly answered with her face all red, “Ever since I gained my special ability, there will often be unexplained explosions occurring. This wasn’t the first time it has happened.”
Oro burst into raucous laughter. “Isn’t this obvious? Avril gained the ‘ethereal’ ability! Out of all the soundwave-type special abilities, it is the one that contains the greatest potential for combat usage. As her level grows, her Ethereal ability also becomes harder to control, which is why the room ended up receiving the brunt of it!”
Xia Fei was unamused. He, of course, knew that Avril’s Ethereal ability was a frightening soundwave that could be used in combat, but he had never expected that Avril would be able to cultivate it so quickly to the point that her Ethereal ability had already become a force to be reckoned with. Because Avril had not been subjected to any professional training, she lacked the ability to control its destructive force.
This was when Warstar came strolling over from afar, looking downcast as he shrugged. “Xia Fei, you ought to see the other two rooms. Now that’s what I’d call a tragedy.”
Tagging along with him were Dimsky and Pod. Phantom and Sophie were most likely still doing further research on the fusion of machine and soul, so they were not present.
Xia Fei’s mouth hung agape, for be it Pod, Dimsky, or even Warstar, each of them was sporting plenty of cuts and tears! Warstar was made out of liquid metal so his cuts were not as obvious, but Dimsky and Pod were looking very miserable.
Pod’s body seemed to have just been repaired, with several strands of wires exposed. Dimsky had lost his left arm, looking like it had been sliced off by a really sharp blade.
Avril’s voice turned soft again when she saw them all. “So sorry. I must be giving everyone a big headache these days.”
Xia Fei pointed at the trio before looking back at Avril, shocked. “You did all this?”
Avril nodded, her two hands clutching onto Xia Fei’s arm.
“I was careless…” Avril meekly protested.
…
Avril had indeed been careless. It was not just Warstar and the others, even the guards of the main tower and the robots assigned to tidy the place had already changed batch after batch. When it came to misery, these rank-and-file robots sure had it worse than Warstar, Dimsky, or Pod.
The rapid development Avril experienced with her ability was unexpected. Fortunately, everyone was robots, so they could just swap out their body after being damaged, and none of them lost their lives as a result.
In the dining room, the table was ladened with a scrumptious banquet, and everyone gathered, each updating their recent going-ons.
Perhaps it was because Avril was happy after seeing Xia Fei return, she started humming a melodious tune.
*Bang*
A robot in charge of serving the food instantly got torn apart! Its four limbs and torso separated and dropped down to the ground, convulsing endlessly.
“Sorry! So very sorry!” Avril looked very apologetic as she hurried over to carry that robot. Alas, all she heard was a crack as the already very brittle arm of that robot ended up breaking when Avril tried to pull it…
Everyone looked at Avril helplessly, who was feeling utterly embarrassed. She apologized profusely as she turned and ran away, rushing back to her room, only for another wail to escape from her throat.
*Kaboom*
Another innocent robot got ruined…
Xia Fei was completely speechless. It seemed like the Ethereal ability’s destructive force was a lot more severe than what he had first imagined.
Dimsky sighed. “You’ve seen it for yourself now. Since Avril has become this goddess of destruction, a moment of carelessness is all it takes for a tragedy to occur. It’s a good thing that those living in Metal City are all robots. Otherwise…”
Xia Fei felt quite awkward. It looked like Avril had recently been causing quite a bit of trouble for the Mechs.
Avril had an angelic singing voice and a radiant personality. The Ethereal ability originally had everyone besotted, completely enrapturing anyone with her melodious vocals. Sadly, these good times did not last, for the destructive force inherent in her Ethereal ability began to rear its ugly head. Now, everyone was avoiding Avril as best as they could, and any attempts to sing would soon turn into catastrophe, with no one daring to ever mention it again.
The old demon lord was almost tearing up from laughing too much. “I told you, right? You can’t just let Avril develop a special ability without additional training. See all the trouble you’ve brought; Ethereal is a top-tier combat ability, and this is only the beginning. If left unfettered, I’m afraid the entire Metal City may be ruined!”
…
Xia Fei mentally decided to begin training Avril in controlling her ability.
Xia Fei asked plenty of questions regarding Quantum Holdings, as well as the situation with the Mechs and others. Sentinel Goddess Sophie and Phantom were still busy with their research, but they hardly made any progress, and both were at a loss on how to proceed.
Conversely, the situation with Quantum Holdings was a lot more optimistic. Law Emperor Seth had already been assigned to Charlie’s side, and while he was hardly anyone outstanding out in the Law Realm, he was actually a super-expert in the Alliance! No one dared to have any designs on Quantum Holdings.
Xia Fei was still hung up on Avril, so he excused himself from everyone after simple follow-ups and went to her room.
All he saw when he arrived was Avril sitting by her bed with red eyes, doing her best not to cry, since she was afraid that her bedroom would end up suffering again if she did.
Seeing Xia Fei, Avril hurriedly wiped her tears and pretended to smile.
Oro sighed. “Looks like you’re the one who knows Avril best. This lady is far too kind-hearted; she only ruined a handful of robots, not a big deal by any measure, yet she’s already in such a state of sorrow. She’s truly not suited for combat. Best that you hurry up and teach her how to control her ability. Even this old Lionheart can’t stand seeing her feeling so guilty about herself.”
Xia Fei sat by Avril’s side and used a handkerchief to dab at her tears.
“I really didn’t want to hurt anybody…” Avril was rubbing the corners of her clothes as she said, looking very much like a student who had made a mistake.
“I know.” Xia Fei smiled. “This isn’t on you. It’s my fault that I opened your seventh brain region yet didn’t teach you how to control your ability. It won’t be like this anymore once I’ve imparted to you the ways to control your ability.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Avril felt a little better, though she was still feeling sad and guilty over the harm she had caused to others.
Xia Fei told Avril a joke, but it did not work too well. Kindhearted people easily felt guilt, especially Avril who was undoubtedly genuinely kind.
“Come with me!” Xia Fei suddenly had an idea.
Bringing Avril over to the huge cultivation chamber that was over five thousand square meters in size, Xia Fei took out the many fun toys he got from the Law Realm. Avril had never seen so many strange things before, and the more she saw, the more interesting she found them.
Taking a hold of her hand, Xia Fei said, “These are all the things I got from the Law Realm. Keep whatever you like. This here is a psychological monitoring atlas, able to let you know whether someone’s telling the truth or otherwise. This one here is the climate meter, able to direct energy and forcibly control the weather.”
With that said, Xia Fei pushed a button and the originally silent Metal City suddenly began raining. They looked up at the sky, puzzled, unable to make sense of the reason for the change in weather.
zHe showed all these things to Avril, one by one. She watched Xia Fei demonstrate them, fascinated as she listened to his explanation for every item.
“You’ll be joining me in the Law Realm soon. Right now, I’m staying in a place called the Wind Garden. Hardly anyone is there usually,” Xia Fei told Avril.
“Aren’t you being hunted down?” Avril curiously asked. She was, of course, more than happy to be with Xia Fei in the Law Realm, though she was still worried about being a burden to him.
“That matter is in the past now. The situation is very complicated, but you’ll understand once you come over,” Xia Fei said. He did not explain too much about the Skywings, afraid that Avril might be unable to digest everything all at once.
Avril nodded her head. “I believe you. Actually, as long as I can be with you, it doesn’t matter where we live. Still, I’ll need to tell father and grandfather first. They must be worried sick about me by now.”
Xia Fei left Avril in the room as he went to the bathroom. He had indeed collected plenty of interesting trinkets in the Law Realm, but they were hardly of any use. It would be great if Avril liked any of them, for as long as she was happy, there was nothing Xia Fei would be unwilling to give.
About a dozen or so minutes later, Xia Fei left the bathroom and suddenly came to a halt. Not only was he baffled, he was also astonished!
Before him was a flying rock that glowed a fiery, pale green light as it orbited around Avril at varying speed, seemingly playing with her.
Upon seeing Xia Fei, that rock instantly hid behind Avril. It almost seemed as if it were very afraid of him.
“This rock is very fun. What’s it called?” asked Avril with a big smile on her face. She had thought that the rock was playing a game of hide and seek with her.
The old demon lord’s mouth hung agape as he exclaimed, “That’s the Phoenix Tail Stone, an Immemorial Mystical Armament! Could Avril have managed to subdue it?!”
