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Taking the wooden box Yunli handed over, March 7th patted it twice, feeling delighted inside.
To get the finished Super Lollipop this quickly… Master Yanqing and Master Yunli must have worked really hard, right?
She looked straight at Yanqing and Yunli, thanking them sincerely. "I thought this wish would take a long time to come true, but in just one day, you two already gathered all the materials. You treat me so well—I don't even know how I'm supposed to repay you."
"Miss March, no need to mind it. The making process isn't complicated, and while the ingredients were difficult to find, Master Lingsha handled all of that. We merely ran a few errands."
Yanqing did not take any pride, brushing off his own credit with humility.
He raised his hand, gesturing toward the gentle, intellectual woman beside him. "If you must thank someone, thank Master Lingsha. It was she, in her capacity as Cauldron Master, who personally oversaw the matter. That's why it went so smoothly."
"You give me too much credit, Little Yanqing," Lingsha stepped forward with a warm smile—not intense, but as pleasant as a spring breeze.
"I merely wrote a few letters. A trivial matter, hardly worth mentioning."
"Besides, the Astral Express and the Luofu are allies. We should naturally help each other. Don't you agree, Miss March 7th, Miss Stelle?"
To this, March 7th agreed wholeheartedly. "Of course! The Astral Express roams the universe doing good, and helping each other is what we're all about."
"The Astral Express is like that," Stelle added with a nod. "Akivili only needs to blaze the Trail; we Nameless have to do everything else."
"That's right. With a universe this vast, trouble is unavoidable."
Seeing how well the two played along, Lingsha let a faint note of concern slip into her tone. "Since I've only just arrived, if I run into any difficulties tomorrow, I hope the Express won't refuse me."
March 7th grabbed the pole Lingsha extended and climbed right up. "No problem! If anything comes up, just say the word—we'll take care of it beautifully!"
Hah! Once I activate Unlimited Blade Works later, my combat power will definitely skyrocket. And with Stelle, a bona fide Trailblazer and an Emanator of Elation, what trouble could the two of us possibly fail to handle?
Even if Phantylia comes again, Stelle and I could beat her until she cries for her ancestors. We might not even need the Luofu to intervene!
Guided by these thoughts, March 7th boasted boldly.
Seeing this, Lingsha finally felt a heavy stone drop from her heart.
It wasn't that she was overly scheming, forced to use such a subtle trap. But the significance of the [Hand of Deconstruction] was simply too great. Researching conceptual power was something the Astral Express would gain almost nothing from.
The Nameless were too few, while the Xianzhou was vast. Even if conceptual-power weapons could be mass-produced and the final data made public to the Express, the benefits would still be overwhelmingly one-sided.
She had almost never seen such unequal trades succeed, so she had no choice but to use a little trick.
"Miss March 7th is so straightforward—your help means the world to me," Lingsha said with a bow, smiling. "I too wish to witness the wonders of Unlimited Blade Works."
"Hehe, then watch my performance!"
March 7th opened the wooden box; inside were rows of perfectly arranged candies.
She handed the box to Stelle for safekeeping, taking only one lollipop for herself.
Seeing the rainbow-colored candy radiating creamy fragrance, she almost drooled.
She hadn't indulged in a proper carb-heavy meal in days because of training.
I really miss the days when I could eat little cakes to my heart's content…
Thinking of sweet and irresistible desserts, March 7th felt her mind wobble, her mouth automatically filling with saliva.
Ahem… Come on, March 7th, pull yourself together! As long as you show your power today, no one will ever stop you from eating cake for all three meals again!
Motivated by the promise of delicious food, March 7th's ambition burned even brighter.
The candy in her hand seemed to sense her resolve, conveying a united fighting spirit. She unconsciously shouted, "Super Lollipop!"
She licked the candy twice, then with each word she chanted, she changed into a new stance.
Finally settling into what she believed was her most heroic martial pose, she closed her eyes, brimming with the aura of a lofty, untouchable expert.
The lollipop slowly vanished into the air, and an immense aura surged faintly from March 7th's body.
That aura climbed higher and higher, its force pulling the surrounding air currents. Countless towering ancient trees rustled, their branches bending toward March 7th.
Falling leaves gathered about a meter from her, forming a perfectly round sphere. The leaves weren't pressed together haphazardly—they layered like scales, neatly aligned, tightly sealed.
This sudden burst of energy made everyone's hearts tremble.
"Wow!" Yunli's eyes went wide, and she whispered in awe, "I'm not doubting for even a second that this candy can give someone peak-level power."
She turned to the others. "What I do doubt is whether Little March could really have trained herself to this level."
Talent alone was far from enough—you had to train relentlessly, without exception.
The precision of this airflow manipulation was so high that even a Pathstrider of wind elements would struggle to accomplish it. And Little March's 'diligence,' combined with her complete lack of wind affinity…
Yunli even wondered whether Sylvester had lied about the candy's effects.
But that made no sense—merchants always exaggerated their goods, never downplayed them.
Yanqing, too, was unsure. He never expected his disciple to reach this level. "Uh… Maybe the candy works according to the most idealized standard? Automatically assuming Miss March would push herself to the absolute limit?"
Lingsha smiled lightly. "Perhaps this Nameless young lady is truly a once-in-a-century prodigy? Doesn't that prove how sharp you two little masters' eyes are?"
She wasn't familiar enough with March 7th to make deeper comments, so she simply offered a polite compliment.
"That aura… could it mean…?"
Only Stelle held her chin with one hand, lost in thought.
Looking at the icy blue flames radiating from March 7th, she couldn't help recalling the sealed fragments of March's past she once glimpsed.
C-could this power be coming from her past?
Is March 7th going to break her memory seal just by using this candy?!
The Garden of Recollection might become extremely serious about this matter.
She drew out her bat, revealing for the first time her stance as an Emanator, ready to block any memetic entity that dared intrude into March 7th's mind.
March 7th's own memories—whether sealed or not—should be decided by March herself!
Suddenly, the vortex pulling the leaves halted. A mysterious surge of ice-element power burst outward from March 7th.
The sphere of leaves transformed into a massive ice orb. The surrounding trees, on the sides facing her, were coated in sharp, crystalline frost armor.
Everyone hurriedly activated their Paths to defend against the freezing blast.
Their expressions turned grave.
What was going on? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. March 7th followed the Path of Trailblaze—where did this terrifying memory power come from? It was almost comparable to an Emanator!
With a crisp crack, the ice orb split, countless fine fractures spreading across its surface before it shattered into glittering shards that fell onto March 7th's head, onto her clothes, settling at her feet.
Emerging from the broken sphere, March 7th radiated power several times greater than before—but her eyes no longer held the spirited fire of earlier. Instead, they were filled with sorrow.
Tears welled in her eyes and dripped onto the layer of shattered frost.