"Ah… hahaha."
March 7th gave an awkward yet polite laugh in response to Yunli's opportunistic interruption.
She turned her head. "Shopkeeper Sylvester… do you have any other method?"
Seeing March 7th give up so decisively, Sylvester leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and said casually, "Then just train hard. Once your Pathforce is strong enough, you can just use raw strength and fling the divine construct."
Why are we back to this again?!
March 7th screamed internally.
Wasn't I here to avoid more training?! Why am I suddenly collecting reasons to train even harder?!
Study or exercise—what kind of impossible choice is this?!
Yanqing and Yunli exchanged looks after hearing Sylvester's words, their eyes lighting up with rising eagerness, as though they were moments away from dragging her out for drills.
To March 7th, her two masters practically had red beams shooting from their eyes.
"But since Miss March is so lucky today, the situation is different. Normally there really would be no other solution—but today is not like any other."
Sylvester lightly blew on his tea and took a leisurely sip. "There is a Curio that can spare Miss March the learning process entirely, allowing her to project divine weapons using the most energy-efficient method."
"What is it?" March 7th asked with excitement. "Is it in today's batch of trash cans?"
Even with only one trash can left, she was confident she could easily get it.
Please. All the purple and gold Curios today had practically thrown themselves at her.
She was the koi of all koi.
And even if she didn't pull it herself, she still had her two masters and Stelle; clearing the entire stock wouldn't be a problem.
Her only fear was Sylvester saying something like: "These trash cans contain anything; who knows what's inside."
And even worse—by the time she managed to find it, Yanqing and Yunli might have already trained her into a walking pile of muscle, making the Curio meaningless.
She prayed for the good outcome.
But instead, he gave an unexpected answer.
Sylvester spoke slowly, "Miss March does not need to ask me. She should ask Miss Stelle."
He set down his teacup and smiled lightly. "I recall Miss Stelle once obtained the [Hand of Deconstruction] I wonder if someone has already absorbed it?"
"Hand of Deconstruction?"
Yanqing and Yunli were confused.
The last time the Trailblazer team came to open Curio Trash Cans, March 7th had not yet apprenticed under them, and Dan Heng had repeatedly told them to keep the events of that day confidential. Thus, the two masters had no idea what Curios her companions possessed.
But anything that could synergize with Unlimited Blade Works had to be at least purple, if not gold.
"Hand of Deconstruction?"
Stelle also appeared confused.
Did we get that Curio last time?
She tilted her head—rare for her—and the empty expression made her look unintentionally adorable.
"It's that crystal hand bone! That one was gold!" March 7th shouted.
At that moment, her intelligence surged to the top of her brain.
She remembered—everything lined up. It was a Curio capable of completely analyzing anything. Dan Heng had said that if the Genius Society ever found out about it, the Astral Express would be targeted by some of their more reckless members.
To avoid trouble, they kept it strictly secret—even Himeko and Welt Yang didn't know about it.
"There was another golden Curio?!"
Yanqing and Yunli exclaimed in unison.
At that moment, they felt the sheer contrast of the world.
They exchanged a glance and immediately saw the same frustration in each other's eyes.
They themselves were thrilled just to get a single purple Curio.
These two? Each had a gold one… and forgot about them.
Is she pretending to forget just to show off?
Their eyes swept up and down Stelle with suspicion.
Given her past behavior, that possibility wasn't small.
Stelle had no idea her credibility had collapsed without warning; her blank expression remained unchanged.
But fortunately, she did not have a fish's memory. She smacked her left fist into her right palm, and a metaphorical light bulb lit up above her head.
"Right, right, right—we really do have that thing!"
She placed her bag on the ground, knelt on one knee, and began rummaging through it.
From the miraculous compressed-space backpack, she tossed out three pretty-looking pieces of trash, twenty ordinary trash items, hundreds of food items, and countless monster tissue samples.
Finally, from the very bottom, she pulled out a translucent crystal hand bone.
"Yes, that's the one!"
March 7th cried out excitedly and hurried to Stelle's side.
Light at the end of the tunnel—truly as the Xianzhou ancients said!
This Curio was a perfect match for her!
Should she choose the [Massacre Ruler]? Or [Avalon]? Ugh, what a difficult choice.
Maybe she should just take both.
Yanqing stepped forward, and Yunli followed.
Only now, recognizing the true power March 7th and Stelle wielded, did they understand the magnitude of these two women.
Stelle slowly stood up, locking eyes with March 7th.
Yanqing and Yunli gazed up at the pair, already prepared to temporarily offer their own Curios as a symbolic footnote to the first-ever combination of two golden Curio holders.
…
At the Alchemy Commission.
A pair of crimson hands pushed open the door of a side residence, revealing a room decorated with childish charm.
Lingsha checked the scent from the incense burner to ensure it wouldn't bother children, then smoothed her long, straight hair, composing herself in the most dignified manner.
It was early; the little Dragon Lady had not yet begun her consultations.
But the gatekeepers had said a guest arrived today, and Miss Bailu had—shockingly—allowed him inside.
Bailu, the famed Dragon Lady, normally had crowds waiting at her door, but because she was far too young, the authorities had long forbidden outsiders from entering without permission.
Yet today, Bailu had opened the back door for this person.
Curious, Lingsha came to see for herself.
As she approached the guest hall, she heard a childish voice complaining: "Hmph, I thought you had something important to ask, so I let you in. But you're just… looking around? Really?"
"And you're so big! Why should I be the one finding topics to talk about? So boring!"
Lingsha opened the door, her smiling face meeting a pouting Bailu. The guest sat on the sofa with his back to her.
"Ah! Sister Lingsha!"
Bailu bounded over to her excitedly.
Lingsha bent slightly and patted Bailu's head. "Good morning, Lady Bailu. I heard you had a visitor, and curiosity brought me here."
"Aiya! I told you, just call me Bailu!"
Hands on hips, tail swishing, Bailu grumbled, "All this 'Lady' talk is so annoying."
"All right—Lady Bailu." Lingsha smiled.
The guest finally stood up and walked toward Lingsha. Instead of using Xianzhou etiquette, he stood straight and spoke gently: "Miss Lingsha. I am Dan Heng, a Nameless from the Astral Express. I came to the Xianzhou Luofu at Arbiter-General Jing Yuan's invitation to participate in the martial exhibition."
"Today, I am here to visit an old acquaintance."