"Have you submitted?"
"I submit."
"Were you wrong?"
"I was wrong."
"Then I ask you…"
"Stop asking. If you don't get off me soon, my back is really going to break." The Great Herta's right hand slapped the carpet repeatedly, signaling her surrender.
"Fine." Although Chen Li was still curious as to why the Great Herta had suddenly decided to pull a fast one on him, he decided to let her go for now.
Was it because she had always been on the losing end of their confrontations and wanted to be on top for once?
"Honestly… to be so rough with a young human woman as devastatingly beautiful as me. It's hard to imagine you ever getting a girlfriend in the future." The Great Herta stood up, holding her lower back.
"You don't need to worry about that at all. It's just a shame about the delicious treat," Chen Li said, looking at Herta's right foot with great regret.
"Hmm? Delicious treat?" The Great Herta paused, then looked down at her own black silk-clad right foot.
"I didn't expect you to be into this sort of thing, Chen Li. I don't understand it, but I respect it." The Great Herta felt she had stumbled upon something rather incredible.
"I was talking about the Laughing Powder you smeared on your black silk. Such a fine Curio, and I didn't even get a taste before you ruined it," Chen Li sighed.
"If you really feel that it's a shame, I can take off the stocking for you. You can brew some tea with it yourself." Realizing she had misunderstood and thus missed a great opportunity to get back at Chen Li, the Great Herta felt it was a great pity.
"That won't be necessary," Chen Li shook his head repeatedly.
"I am curious, though. How did you discover the Laughing Powder? That Curio is colorless and odorless…" The Great Herta was puzzled.
"…"
The reason was actually quite simple. When Herta extended her right foot towards him, Chen Li saw her black stocking glowing, which clearly indicated that an item with an Entry had been applied to it.
Under normal circumstances, Chen Li would only know an item's Entries after touching it.
But there was one exception: items he had touched before and whose properties had not changed recently.
It possessed both an [Elation] Entry and a [Delicious] Entry. Aside from the Laughing Powder he had seen before, Chen Li could think of nothing else.
Otherwise, he truly couldn't comprehend why a [Delicious] Entry would be floating over Herta's right foot.
Was that reasonable? No, it was not.
"Don't you worry about how I found out. In short, if you waste food again next time, I'll treat you as food."
"So, you really don't want a bite?" The Great Herta tilted her head.
"If you keep teasing me, I'm really going to have to teach you a lesson."
"Oh? What kind of lesson? So are you going to eat it or not? There's still half left." The Great Herta held up the half-used box of Laughing Powder and asked Chen Li.
"I'm gonna devour it!" Chen Li's eyes lit up.
"Here." The Great Herta extended her right foot again.
"…" Chen Li clenched his fist, smiling without a word.
"Alright, I'm sorry, I was wrong." The Great Herta immediately offered up the half-box of Laughing Powder.
Chen Li continued to smile without a word.
"What else do you want?" The Great Herta instantly understood what Chen Li was thinking.
"I heard you once believed that luck could be altered, so you invented the 'Felix Felicis.' Applying it to one's eyelids grants a full 24 system hours of good luck…"
"That's right. You want that thing? But I must warn you. Many people on the space station tried this invention with great joy, but they all spent a completely uneventful day. This shows that in a turbulent world, simply living an ordinary life is already very lucky. It might not bring you any big surprises," the Great Herta warned.
"I'm going to eat it. And also to obtain a good luck Entry."
"Oh, in that case, never mind. I thought you were planning to use the Felix Felicis and then spend Star Stones on the gacha. I'll have Asta bring the Curio to you later," the Great Herta nodded.
"If Felix Felicis could affect the Starry Sea Treasure, where would that leave the dignity of The Guide to Forging Curios? But compared to boosting my own luck for the lottery, I feel like friends are much more useful," Chen Li said.
"Friends? How are friends useful?"
"As everyone knows, newbies have a protection period, just like in fishing. So I believe the Starry Sea Treasure also has a newbie welfare period…"
"…And that's why you're trying to circulate a valuable currency like Star Stones in the Friends Circle? You're too despicable, Chen Li!"
"You're even more despicable, poisoning food!"
"You're despicable!"
"You're more despicable!"
"You…"
"Alright, stop arguing. I came to find you because I'm about to do something that will shake the world," Chen Li interrupted the repetition.
"Something that will shake the world? I do that every day. What's so special about it?" The Great Herta didn't understand.
"Let me rephrase. It's something that will soon shake an Aeon."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! Let's do something big." The Great Herta's interest was instantly piqued.
"Put your shoe on first."
"Oh."
---o---
"So the big thing you mentioned was just to have me clear out half of the Herta Space Station so you can use it to forge a Curio?" The Great Herta tilted her head, feeling as though her excitement had been wasted on nothing.
"Because the Curio I'm about to forge is a bit special, I'm worried the Aeon of Equilibrium will come beat me up," Chen Li explained.
"You created the Revival Games Curio and even the Aeon of Equilibrium didn't personally intervene. What on earth are you planning to do that would make you worry about that?" The Great Herta was baffled.
"This is different. The Revival Games Curio is indeed outrageous, capable of reviving even an Aeon, but the problem is that it hasn't revived anyone of major importance yet, so it's not a huge issue. But the Curio I'm about to forge, its very existence is meant to break the equilibrium. And I have a feeling the Aeon of Equilibrium has been putting up with me for a long time."
"Are you trying to become an Aeon?"
"It's not that ridiculous. I'm just forging a Curio that can suppress the Mara-Struck state in the people of the Xianzhou."
It could suppress the Mara-Struck in the Xianzhou people, and it could suppress more than just the Mara-Struck.
"The Mara-Struck. Why are you interested in that? Did Ruan Mei ask you to?"
"Ruan Mei? Right, Ruan Mei is from the Xianzhou too, isn't she? It wasn't her. The General of the Luofu requested it."
"Ruan Mei's relationship with the Xianzhou can't be explained in just a few words… Speaking of which, the data on the Aeon of the Hunt in the Simulated Universe was obtained from the Xianzhou through Ruan Mei's channels. As the only faction in the universe to possess the full blessings of an Aeon, the Xianzhou has a lot of good stuff."
"You're getting off-topic. In short, are you going to get out of the way, or are you going to stay here and watch me forge the Curio?" Chen Li asked.
"Me? Get out of His way? I'd like to see just what kind of commotion you can stir up by forging this Curio." The Great Herta snorted coldly and told Chen Li to do as he pleased.
"Then I won't be polite." Chen Li directly summoned the Miracle Forging Platform.
The Miracle Fire ignited, and Chen Li first tossed the flower wreath with the [Innocence] Entry into the flames. As the wreath withered, the [Innocence] Entry was slowly extracted.
Following that were [Meme], [Purification], [Release]…
The Entries were like lines of code, and Chen Li's job was to compile them into a functional program.
Standing beside him, the Great Herta watched Chen Li's movements and the variously glowing Entries within the Miracle Fire with rapt attention…
The melodious sound of smithing echoed throughout the Herta Space Station. Even the staff who had been moved to the other side could clearly hear the pleasant sound.
Asta's eyes were filled with worry. The researchers were enthusiastically discussing what new miracle Lady Herta would perform on the space station. Sirin, who was confined to a cabin and forbidden from seeing Chen Li until she learned how to teleport objects between fixed points on a schedule, looked sullen. And Little Herta, now equipped with a genius knowledge module, was excitedly pondering the combination of a Machine Spirit and a genius…
Everything was so calm and peaceful.
But it also felt like something was brewing.
---o---
The forging process lasted for half an hour. The sheer number of Entries Chen Li had to handle was certainly a major factor, but figuring out how to [Allocate] the power within the Entries also exhausted his mental energy.
When the final hammer fell, a new Curio was born within the Miracle Fire.
As the Miracle Fire gradually faded without fuel, the Curio truly materialized in the world.
Chen Li reached out to pick up the Curio, but just as he was about to inspect its effects, he felt an infinite power descending upon him.
He looked up and saw a magnificent figure.
Its gaze fell upon Chen Li, upon all things.
It was clearly one, yet it split Itself in two.
It grasped two halves of Itself, yet kneaded them back together.
It watched over the balance of the world, yet none could observe Its existence. It slowly "embraced," "connected," "shifted," "severed," and "shed" Itself. It held Itself in Its own palm, until It melted.
The unobservable Aeon of Equilibrium—HooH—at this moment, cast Its glance upon Chen Li.
The Aeon of Equilibrium was different from all other Aeons. He had merged his will into the very fabric of the universe's logic, eternally maintaining the balance and stability of all things. This meant the Aeon of Equilibrium was acting upon everyone at all times, yet could not act upon anyone.
[If one can walk upon the Path an Aeon presides over, they will receive its distant senses, like a glance cast across the light-years of the galaxy. Many believe this to be the only intersection that can occur between an Aeon and a mortal.]
When the Aeon of Equilibrium cast its glance upon a Pathstrider, this state would be briefly broken.
Then, under Chen Li's watch, the Aeon with clasped hands stared at him for a good while, then slowly unclasped Its hands and raised a fist towards him.
"Equilibrium is in all things!" At the same time, a whisper echoed in Chen Li's ear.
[In layman's terms: I've been putting up with you for a long time!]
"Eh, holy crap, you're really coming at me for real like this? This is too ridiculous!"
You're willing to break your rule of non-interference just to punch me? You bastard… Haji-Hoo!