Chapter 446: 63. Turbid
Fisher seemed to have had another dream.
His consciousness was hazy, resembling the state of matter before the birth of stars, not knowing where he was or where he was headed.
He only felt that he was constantly falling, incessantly falling.
Until a long time went by, he vaguely realized that he had stopped, halted in a place where he couldn’t see his own hands.
Surrounding him was a terrifying pitch-blackness, yet it was not confining; standing still, Fisher sensed a salty, cool sea breeze, carrying a hint of fishy odor, hitting his face. From an extremely distant place, he could still hear the sound of waves crashing against the shore.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The sound of the waves, without any frequency, should have been a reassuring white noise, but for some reason, at this moment, it made Fisher feel especially irritated and anxious, as goosebumps prickled on his back, making him instinctively want to escape from this place.
But he truly had nowhere to go, and the surrounding darkness, representing the unknown, made it a luxury to take even one step forward.
However, as time went by, amidst this pitch-blackness where he couldn’t see his hands, Fisher’s eyes seemed to gradually adapt a bit, allowing him to see the nearby scenery slightly.
He seemed to be standing on a wide and steep rock cliff, and right in front of him was an endless, tumultuous, deep black ocean.
That extremely magnificent ocean, like an abyss, seemed to want to occupy his entire gaze at a single glance, wanting to completely swallow him.
In an instant, he seemed to revert back to the form of a baby, hiding in a swaddling blanket, instinctively fearing the surrounding darkness, noise, and the feeling of falling without support.
At this very moment, that vast and surging black sea before him was imbued with a frightening sentiment, making him feel an instinctive retreat from the depths of his heart.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The abyss-like ocean was murky in the lightless night, yet it emanated an alluring sense that made one want to see through it.
But just as Fisher steeled his courage to gaze out at the ocean, he began to fall endlessly again, plummeting toward the unfathomable depths.
“Mm!”
When Fisher awoke, the first thing he felt was an unprecedented clarity, as if a porter, who had been carrying an unimaginable weight, suddenly unloaded all his burdens one day.
He let out a long sigh but then realized that his head seemed to be resting on an extremely soft place.
Fisher was slightly taken aback, and when he lifted his eyes, he was astonished to find that he was lying on Hela’s legs, forming a knee pillow.
At that moment, in this somewhat simple tent, only the scattered white bedding on the ground and Hela’s usual expression proved the madness of last night—though as Hela said, she had not fully transformed into a woman yet, and Fisher was helpless to do such things.
The angel’s body was perfect, lacking any human-distinguishable sexual traits or organs. Even the Fisher from last night was powerless against this. However, Hela was an imaginative genius, and she had successfully proven that other methods could work as well.
And from the looks of it now, Fisher found the results surprisingly good, even making him feel a lingering attachment for the first time.
“You’re awake? Just in time, the genius just dawned, and they haven’t awakened yet.”
Amidst a faint but deep fragrance, Hela’s gentle and exquisite face seemed enveloped in the warmest sunshine the world could offer, neither hot nor dazzling, yet brimming with life—a feeling unique to the first rays of morning sunlight.
Her left hand gently caressed her cheek, like a cold, soft veil brushing against it, bringing a pleasant tickle.
Looking at the slightly lowered Hela, as Fisher lay on her knee pillow, he opened his mouth intending to grasp her hand that was gently caressing his cheek, only to realize that his right hand was tightly clasped around her other hand.
And it seemed he had maintained this sleeping posture for a long time.
This made Fisher quite embarrassed. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke,
“You didn’t rest last night?”
“Everything in the mortal world is actually not applicable to angels, we don’t need to rest, eat, excrete, or reproduce. The reason I did so before was just for fun. Furthermore, even if I needed to rest, I helped you until too late last night, I had no chance~”
Fisher did not know when she had put on the white robe, nor did he know when he had lay on her knee pillow; he rose silently, feeling an unprecedented emptiness in his desires, which unexpectedly made him feel satisfied.
“We’re still in the Duke of Peach’s barrier; is it really okay for you to expose your identity like this?”
“Who knows? Is it really okay?”
Fisher, somewhat angry, turned back to glare at her, but suddenly found her beautiful face had quietly moved extremely close behind him, and without realizing it, he accidentally brushed his lips against her cheek when he turned around.
“Pop!”
That soft touch made Fisher instinctively retreat a bit, and upon seeing the wicked smile that often adorned her face, he realized he had been tricked.
“Are you feeling mischievous again?”
He said expressionlessly, which only made Hela’s smile more radiant,
“Adorable. So adorable, it turns out that disrupting your plans can produce such cute reactions. I understand now~”
Hela, satisfied, lightly covered her mouth, then stretched lazily and stood up, twisting her body as she exited the tent, without explaining whether exposing an angel in the Duke of Peach’s barrier would have consequences. She just smiled and pointed at her red lips, turning back to remind Fisher,
“Hurry up, they’re going to wake up soon. It will be troublesome if anyone discovers you coming out of my tent~”
That woman.
Fisher covered his head, and after a moment of silence, he also stood up, following Hela’s lingering fragrance towards the tent’s exterior.
Outside, the Peach Blossom Spring barrier was in the early morning time, with the sun just beginning to rise; as Hela exited the barrier, she completely vanished without a trace, while the others, including the several subhuman females bestowed upon him, were still resting.
Fisher wandered around the tent a few times, ate a few peaches meant for breakfast, and then, as Mikhail and Gouwen strolled out of their resting tent, Gouwen, who had rested him, appeared.
He looked at Fisher chewing peaches outside and paused slightly, then turned back to glance at his resting tent, somewhat hazily suspicious, and asked,
“You didn’t return to our tent to rest last night?”
There were four tents; the place where the subhumans had previously danced was the first, Hela used one exclusively, and the remaining men and women had one each. On the women’s side were Tang Zeming Asuka and Neceria, but originally, Fisher was supposed to share a room with Gouwen.
“Ah, um, it got too late, and I was afraid of disturbing your rest.”
Although Gouwen was becoming more and more awake, looking at Fisher’s refreshed expression confused him more and more. He quickly scanned Fisher’s condition with his curse, and to his surprise, was startled.
He saw that the energy that had been overflowing from Fisher’s lower abdomen had suddenly and bizarrely vanished without a trace, leaving not a drop behind, leading Gouwen to involuntarily imagine a protracted battle that might have happened last night.
He pointed at Fisher with a constricted heart, gritting his teeth, he said,
“What did you do last night?! You went too far, how could you do such a thing?!”
Fisher was not worried that Gouwen had heard the sounds from him and Hela, as he suddenly realized that Hela had an outstanding ability in concealment or transformation; otherwise, the Duke of Peach, who was ranked nineteen, wouldn’t have failed to notice the content of their conversation.
“You… you’re really… turbid!”
Before Fisher could explain, Gouwen anxiously ran to the first tent beside them, lifted the tent flap and looked inside, only to see that although the subhuman female slaves inside were sleeping haphazardly, they were indeed neatly clothed, and according to the curse, there were no signs of them having gained energy.
But Gouwen didn’t feel relieved; instead, he grew even more anxious and stepped out, incredulously saying to Fisher,
“You didn’t make a move on Tang Zeming Asuka, did you?”
“Aw, Gouwen, good morning. Huh, what move?”
At the same moment, Tang Zeming Asuka also stepped out of the adjacent tent, dressed neatly, rubbing her eyes, seemingly a bit groggy. Ever since she arrived in this world, she often dreamed at night, affecting her sleep quality, and she frequently forgot the scenarios she dreamed of upon waking.
Gouwen stared in shock at the intact Tang Zeming Asuka, clearly realizing that she was still a maiden, and that Fisher had not made a move on her after all.
That’s strange…
Hela wasn’t even a female, how could he make a move?!
Moreover, she was a terrifying mythical being; Fisher shouldn’t go that far.
As Gouwen pondered, he suddenly thought of something, looking at Fisher, who seemed to have something to say but hesitated. He could not believe his suspicion.
This guy, could it be that he took care of himself last night?
“It’s nothing; he was just still sleepy.”
Faced with Tang Zeming Asuka’s question, Fisher was too lazy to explain; entangling Hela, that playful angel, in this matter was inherently risky. Choosing her to help resolve difficulties was originally a risky move, and it was indeed more appropriate to keep this secret game between the two of them.
The freshly awakened Tang Zeming Asuka cutely tilted her head, yawning while completely unable to understand what they were discussing. Meanwhile, Gouwen awkwardly cleared his throat, then laughed dryly, walking to Fisher’s side and patting his shoulder quietly, saying,
“Actually, it’s not a big deal, hahahaha, aren’t we going to complete the Duke of Peach’s task?”
He seemed to think that Fisher could no longer endure and decided to resolve the issue himself with his hands?
Fisher felt pretty good at the moment. Hela, despite being annoying, had indeed delivered as promised; her reward was quite satisfying, even making him feel a lingering wish to continue.
He simply shook off the hand Gouwen placed on his shoulder and then looked toward the distant peach forest, throwing aside other unrelated thoughts swirling in his mind.
Because before them, the path leading to the Duke of Peach through the peach forest reappeared once more, seemingly telling Fisher that it was time for them to fulfill the promise they had made yesterday.
In fact, Mikhail and Neceria were approximately waking up too; the reason Tang Zeming Asuka was the first to leave the tent was merely because Neceria needed to don their extremely complicated Phoenix armor.
The subhuman women, upon hearing that Fisher and the others were temporarily leaving, were also reluctant to part and bid them farewell, saying they would wait for Fisher to come back, though Fisher himself did not know if he would have the opportunity.
Hela, who had wandered back from who knows where, also returned munching on a peach; her demeanor had reverted back to its previous harmless appearance.
“Hela, oh noble lady, I feel like something about you today is different from before?”
Observing Hela suddenly appearing and naturally greeting everyone, Tang Zeming Asuka keenly sensed something off, hesitating for a moment before posing such a question.
Hela touched her face and smiled, saying,
“Really? It might be because I didn’t rest well last night?”
She clearly didn’t look at Fisher, but he immediately averted his gaze and just listened in to their conversation,
“Not that, but another change… um, but I can’t quite put it into words.”
Hela smiled as she chewed on the peach, walking in front of the group alone without responding anymore. She seemed to have no intention of revealing what happened last night, but looking at her relaxed silhouette, Fisher always had an ominous premonition in his heart.
He sighed, and before him, illusory golden subtitles began to emerge; those were the rewards from his research on the subhuman race the night before.
The biological and social research progress on the Cloud Antelope Race had reached the threshold of 20%, the Thick-Claw Race had only just crossed the 20% mark on biological research, while the White Tiger Race had reached 20% in social research.
[You have received the following phased research rewards: Physique +18, Reproduction +6, Aquatic Adaptation, Fate Resistance.]
[Aquatic Adaptation: Your adaptability to living in water has significantly increased, enhancing your resistance to water pressure, underwater vision, and underwater mobility.]
[Fate Resistance: You have gained a certain degree of resistance against artificially induced fate interference, but it is only to a certain degree.]
Looking at the rewards before him, Fisher’s body still slightly stiffened; perhaps he was fairly satisfied with the other items, but that damned six points in reproduction was another story.
It was previously mentioned that physique would produce diminishing returns as rank increased; just like now, even though his physique had increased by eighteen points, it still kept Fisher’s rank stuck at the top position of rank thirteen.
But reproductive capability wouldn’t work that way; however much it increased was how much it increased, making him feel that the energy he had just released was beginning to refill at an alarming rate.
He sighed, wanting to glance at Hela again, but at that moment, Tang Zeming Asuka’s soft voice came again,
“Mr. Fisher, I have completed all the tasks you assigned to me; look.”
He turned around and found that in Tang Zeming Asuka’s hand lay two leaves, intricately inscribed with two perfectly arranged [Wind] Circles of magic.
Tang Zeming Asuka carefully followed beside Fisher, looking anxious as if she were having her mathematics homework checked by the teacher back in high school.
But she was no longer the troubled Tang Zeming Asuka struggling with math; she had now transformed into a newly qualified apprentice magician.
“Very good, although they’re only fourth ring, this magic is not merely copied from somewhere else. You have a solid understanding of the structure of magic; these two spells, [Wind Shield Circle] and [Wind Boat], are structurally rigorous low ring magic created by my teacher.”
“Mr. Fisher’s… teacher?”
Looking at her astonished expression, Fisher couldn’t help but chuckle, and then he felt somewhat emotional,
“Of course, I also have teachers; skills only advance through such inheritance. My teacher is someone with extraordinary knowledge of magic. He once praised me for having exceptional magical talent, but now it seems that your talent surpasses mine.”
Fisher returned the magic leaves to her hand before looking at the increasingly tight huge peach tree ahead, hesitating for a moment, he said,
“Now is not the right time. After the matters here are settled, I will teach you higher-level magic; until then, you can expand the low-ring magic I mentioned to consolidate your learning outcomes. Furthermore, merely being able to engrave magic is not enough; a magician should deeply understand how to use them.”
“But just as an excellent blacksmith may not master profound swordsmanship, my knowledge of applied magic is still not profound enough. We can learn together to deepen this understanding.”
Holding onto those two leaves that shimmered with a faint white light, Tang Zeming Asuka’s eyes sparkled, and she quickly nodded.
Perhaps until today, she realized that she did not dislike learning but was afraid of not achieving results.
If in her past life, her efforts in mathematics and other subjects could have achieved better grades, maybe she would have continued studying with enthusiasm. Perhaps there were reasons for her not working hard enough or perhaps a lack of talent. But at this moment, when she truly stepped into this magical realm seemingly prepared for her, she truly burst forth with her own unique radiance.
As they exchanged subtle words, they gradually approached the massive peach tree. On that tree, the little girl in a dress, tied up in an immortal bun, the Duke of Peach, was resting her eyes; upon sensing their arrival, she suddenly opened her eyes radiating a pink divine light.
In contrast to yesterday, her fearsome aura of rank nineteen was now fully displayed, yet she did not face those below directly, merely being absorbed by the surrounding endless layers of peach trees.
To seemingly diminish her presence, Hela silently retreated behind Fisher, taking the chance when everyone was not paying attention to stealthily pat his waist.
“Mm, it looks like you all rested well yesterday; shall we start now?”
The Duke of Peach rested her chin on her hand, questioning but not waiting for their answer.
As she gently gestured with her lotus arm, the entire Peach Blossom Spring seemed to come alive, amidst the scattered falling blossoms, the scene before them became increasingly blurred.
Like a tranquil pond erupting with ripples, showcasing the indistinct images beneath the water.
Amidst the fluttering peach blossoms, the power of destiny continuously surged; Fisher squinted his eyes, inevitably getting covered by the increasingly abundant peach blossoms surrounding him.
“The shadows of the past have become murky due to the coverage of the Trans, but I have asked the rules of fate to annotate everything that might be related; you can focus on these.”
In the distance, the Duke of Peach’s voice came faintly, but Fisher and the others were already blinded by the chaotic peach blossoms in front of them.
Until they didn’t know how long had passed, the surrounding peach blossoms gradually quieted down.
Fisher and his group opened their eyes to see an extraordinary scene before them.
What they saw was a magical realm filled with tall trees, where many commoners, nobles, and slaves walked about, appearing to be in the Royal Capital of the Elves at that moment.
However, everything around them was in black and white; the vividly alive beings were obscured by indistinct shadows invisible to the human eye, making them both lively and yet utterly illusory.
“Is this the Royal Capital?”
The Peach Blossom Spring had completely vanished, and Neceria among Fisher’s group murmured as she looked around.
Gouwen also furrowed his brows, scanning the vicinity and letting out a sigh, saying,
“Yes, but it is at least from half a year ago.”
Because before them were many elves entering the Royal Capital in their offering carriages.
Among them was [Bai], who brought Gouwen to treat the Elf King, and [Chuan], lined up at the end of a long offering queue.
