"So that's the Statue of the Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God?!"
Not long after, following Thoma to the area near the Tenryou Commission Headquarters, Lumine finally saw the enormous statue from afar. Paimon cried out in surprise.
The statue was more than thirty meters tall, sitting in a meditative posture. Its hands rested on its knees, its eyes were closed, and a cloak covered its body. Wings spread out behind it.
Dozens of Visions of different colors shone brightly across the statue.
Because officials of the Tenryou Commission guarded it strictly, ordinary people were not allowed to approach.
Even Thoma could only bring Lumine to about ten meters away.
After all, those embedded Visions were extremely precious. Allowing others to approach them might risk theft, which would embarrass the Shogun herself.
However, when Lumine came within about ten meters of the statue, she suddenly frowned.
Voices began echoing in her mind.
She held her head, her expression turning strange.
Paimon immediately became anxious.
"Hey! What's wrong? Do you feel sick somewhere?"
Thoma also noticed something was wrong and looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine… I just suddenly felt a little dizzy."
The voices came quickly and disappeared just as fast.
Within only a few seconds, the strange sounds inside Lumine's mind vanished completely.
Seeing her expression return to normal, Paimon and Thoma finally relaxed.
"If the Traveler isn't feeling well, we should head to the Kamisato Estate first to meet the young lady," Thoma suggested.
"You can rest there. Perhaps you're just tired from traveling."
Paimon immediately agreed.
"Yes, yes! Let's go. This place feels too serious and strange."
"Alright."
Before leaving, Lumine turned back and stared at the statue one last time.
Deep inside, she suspected that the voices she heard were the wishes contained within the Visions embedded in the statue.
Meanwhile — Ritou
Passing by Miss Ryōko's food stall again, Luo Li was warmly greeted by her.
She had apparently created a new dish and hoped he would try it.
Watching another woman enthusiastically greet her teacher, Mitsuyo couldn't help recalling the past.
It had always been like this. Wherever he went, unfamiliar women would inevitably be charmed by him.
"Lumine and Paimon have probably already reached Inazuma City by now," Luo Li said while looking toward the distant outline of the magnificent city.
He felt that it was time for him to leave for Seirai Island.
Once Lumine met Kamisato Ayaka and was persuaded by her, events would begin following their destined course.
However, there was still a long time before Thoma's arrest, so Luo Li had enough time to prepare.
"Teacher, are you leaving now?" Mitsuyo asked.
After stabilizing her emotions, she no longer struggled with uncertainty.
Since she couldn't persuade her teacher to stay, she would simply wait obediently.
"Yes. I'll return quickly."
"I wish you a safe journey, Teacher."
Before he left, the cold and elegant woman gave him a farewell kiss.
After parting with Mitsuyo, Luo Li began his journey to Seirai Island alone.
Instead of stepping onto Narukami Island, he summoned a Waverider from the anchor point at Ritou and decided to sail along the sea route near Kannazuka Island toward Seirai.
These mysterious devices could only be found near bodies of water.
While sailing across the sea, Luo Li passed by Narukami Island. From afar he could clearly see the outline of the Tenshukaku, standing at the peak of the island.
The towering palace complex radiated supreme authority as if overlooking all living beings.
Beyond its nobility, it also carried an unmistakable coldness.
Only when the outline of Narukami Island nearly disappeared into the horizon did Luo Li shift his gaze toward his destination.
Above Seirai Island, clouds wrapped in lightning swirled constantly.
The clouds spun like a vortex, illuminated by purple lightning. Many small floating islands could be seen drifting within them.
If Narukami Island was decorated with cherry blossoms and green grass, then Seirai Island was completely dominated by purple lightning.
Thunder echoed endlessly across the sky. From time to time, terrifying bolts of lightning struck down onto the island.
"So the Thunderbird's lingering resentment has finally been released," Luo Li murmured.
When the Waverider reached the shore and he stepped onto Seirai Island, he carefully observed everything.
A unique aura belonging to elemental creatures circulated throughout the island.
At the same time, the pulse of the land felt unusually strong.
It was like blood flowing through veins. Luo Li could clearly sense that the ley line energy beneath the island was constantly being generated and cycling endlessly.
However, something unusual caught his attention.
A small portion of that ley line energy seemed to be drawn toward a certain location on the island, splitting off like a branch and gathering there.
"This familiar rhythm… it's the sealing technique I taught."
Luo Li would never mistake it. His spell patterns stood out like ink on white paper.
"And the direction where the ley line branch flows… is over there."
He turned his gaze toward the southwest of Seirai Island.
It felt as if a giant invisible mouth there was devouring all the stolen ley line energy.
After sensing it for a moment, Luo Li began walking along the main road toward the southwest.
Halfway through the journey, he encountered no one.
Only the heavy rumble of thunder echoed across the sky.
Eventually, a long-abandoned village appeared ahead.
From the worn stone monument outside, he could read its name: Koseki Village.
Luo Li glanced around casually.
There was no sign of human life anywhere.
That made sense. Lightning constantly struck from the sky here. Who would dare live in such a place?
Someone might be killed by lightning in their sleep.
Over time, fewer and fewer people remained on Seirai Island. Now it was almost impossible to find residents.
Those who still stayed likely knew how to deal with the lightning.
Unexpectedly, after passing through Koseki Village, Luo Li noticed something unusual.
There were signs of recent human activity ahead.
On the sea near Seiraimaru, several cargo ships floated on the water.
Men wearing light armor were loading goods onto them.
"…The Resistance Army?"
Their uniforms were completely different from the Shogunate's soldiers, allowing Luo Li to recognize them immediately.
In the next moment, they emptied sacks from carts onto the ships.
The contents spilled out.
"So… they're ores."
Luo Li immediately understood.
Watatsumi Island was rich in resources, but it lacked mineral deposits.
To equip an army capable of fighting the Shogunate forces, the resistance lacked sufficient metal.
So they had turned their attention to Seirai Island, hoping to risk gathering iron ore from this lightning-covered, abandoned island to forge weapons and armor.