The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 454: Shadows of the Past

After an uneventful day, the time within Lord Tao's barrier reached the second day, which was the time Marquis Bai was to take Gou Wen and the others into Jianmu Palace.

Fisher and the others woke up very early. Mikhail seemed to have rested well last night; after stretching, he greeted Fisher and prepared to head to the grand hall. Fisher waited at his door for a moment, and only when Asuka Karasawa, who lived next door, opened her door, did he stop leaning against the wall.

"Ah, hey, good morning, Teacher Fisher!"

She hadn't noticed Fisher right after coming out. It was only several seconds later that she saw Fisher standing in the corridor, startling her into immediately standing straight and wishing him a good morning.

"Morning."

Fisher swept a glance up and down her white robe, his eyebrows twitching as if he sensed something. Then he suddenly walked towards Asuka Karasawa, gently grabbed her right wrist, and lifted it up, revealing a leaf flashing with magic luster sandwiched within her white robe.

And in Fisher's eyes, such magical fluctuations weren't limited to just the leaf before him. Fisher scanned her body from top to bottom, sighed, and said.

"Did you not rest last night? You've engraved so many wind magics, there must be dozens at least, hidden all over your body."

Feeling Fisher's gaze, Asuka Karasawa felt somewhat embarrassed. For some reason, she used her left hand to cover her chest area, pouting her small mouth slightly as she hurriedly explained to Fisher.

"No, no, I didn't engrave for that long, at most only two hours, and I did rest well... Originally I wanted to rest immediately, but no matter what I couldn't fall asleep, so I..."Two hours?

Fisher somewhat in disbelief scanned the dozens of four-ring and five-ring magics hidden all over her body once again. One must know, Fisher only possessed such rapid engraving abilities after reading the Soul Completion Handbook and obtaining the ability to strengthen his soul. Yet Asuka Karasawa's soul strength seemed to be innately excellent, and extremely gifted in magic. Even without the aid of magic materials, she could stabilize extremely unstable magic structures.

He cast a final glance at Asuka Karasawa, who was looking at him eagerly, then suddenly let go of her hand, smiled, and said.

"You are already capable of learning more profound magic. Telling you this is not out of fear of making you arrogant: you are probably the human who learns magic the fastest, apart from the creator of magic themselves. I think even the most outstanding magic masters in history wouldn't be able to surpass you."

"Really?!"

Asuka Karasawa's expression immediately became sunny and bright, as if the crying idiot from yesterday wasn't her.

Her face was full of pleasant surprise. Not just her expression, but even her face tilted upward little by little, as if her nose was going to turn up to the sky.

To think that idiot when it came to studying, the dead-last Asuka Karasawa, would unexpectedly have such a day!

Asuka Karasawa felt she had never loved studying so much.

Fisher nodded with a smile, then his expression suddenly turned blank. He pointed to the dozens of magic leaves hidden within the white robe all over Asuka Karasawa's body and said.

"Hmm, but there's a question I want to ask you... We are now going to enter Jianmu Palace to meet the Elf King. You having such obvious magical fluctuations hidden all over your body is undoubtedly like walking in stark naked with bombs strapped to you. It'd be a ghost if you could get in."

Before Asuka Karasawa's expression could remain bright for over a second, her little face fell. She hurriedly covered her body and chattered softly.

"Did Teacher Fisher learn bad habits from Helaire, starting to like teasing people... Teacher Fisher is bad."

Learned bad habits from Helaire?

Fisher perhaps originally thought it was partly his own nature, but hearing Asuka Karasawa say that, he conveniently pushed the blame onto that bad Angel.

"Then... then I'll go back to my room and take all the magic leaves out. Sorry, I didn't think of this at the time."

Asuka Karasawa had just prepared to turn back and go into the room to take out the leaves she had carefully hidden in her clothes this morning. Because Fisher had taught her that it's best not to stack magics together, especially when no ward has been set, otherwise it's very easy to accidentally trigger them and cause an accident. So she had hidden one leaf in each spot, forcefully hiding dozens of such leaves in her robe.

Seeing her foolish appearance that presented a stark contrast to her magic talent, Fisher couldn't help but sigh. He crooked his finger at her.

"Turn around and face me [back to me]."

"Eh?"

Asuka Karasawa was confused at first, but her body unconsciously and obediently turned around to face her back to Fisher. In the next second, Fisher gently bit his index finger.

Not to mention, after strengthening his constitution, even this step was somewhat difficult for him to do.

Subsequently, Fisher slowly touched his blood-stained finger to a spot on her back.

Feeling that warm, moist finger touch her skin, Asuka Karasawa's pupils instantly constricted. Her body trembled as she stood a bit straighter. Just as she pursed her lips and continuously swallowed her saliva, Fisher's steady voice came from behind.

"The fluctuation of magic is essentially a faint resonance of the world. The higher the number of rings, the more obvious this resonance is, but it's not impossible to shield against it. By setting another simple magic to cause the magical fluctuations it emits to counteract the previous world's resonance, one can block perception. We call this kind of magic a [Shielding Node]..."

Ahhh, what is Teacher Fisher saying?

It seems to be something very important, but I can't listen to it at all...

So ticklish, so hot, and the voice is so close...

I... I'm just a high school girl going through puberty. Learning something under such a testing situation is like studying mathematics; it's simply impossible to do it!

"It's done. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes!"

Asuka Karasawa responded loudly with a flushed face. Those who didn't know might think she was going to drive a warship. But just as Fisher nodded and prepared to set off to the grand hall, the slightly blushing Asuka Karasawa awkwardly turned her head to look at Fisher, stuck out her tongue awkwardly, and said.

"But it's not that clear either? Teacher Fisher, hehe..."

"..."

Perhaps praising her magic talent earlier was a bad move?

Fisher suddenly thought this.

But there was no time to give her a lesson now.

Fisher glanced at the corridor, then gently patted her head and went to the front hall with her.

The time for eating breakfast was skipped. Anyway, for Fisher and his group, the food within the barrier didn't have any taste at all. They merely put on an act and ate a few bites in front of Marquis Bai and left it at that.

It was just that from the moment Fisher appeared, to eating, to finishing breakfast and getting on the palanquin to head to Jianmu Palace, Gou Wen's resentful gaze towards Fisher never ceased. It made Fisher somewhat awkwardly avoid his gaze, seemingly feeling a bit guilty about leaving him alone in the grand hall yesterday to face Marquis Bai.

"Last night..."

"I maintained my purity like jade, fully and utterly loyal to my wife."

Fisher had just opened his mouth when Gou Wen beside him, who finally deigned to close his eyes and rest for a bit, suddenly spoke, blocking everything he was going to say.

Although everyone knew Gou Wen would never do anything to betray his wife, it would have been fine if he didn't explain. This explanation caused Asuka Karasawa beside them and the usually serious Mikhail to laugh. Even Fisher himself was unable to help laughing. The inside and outside of the palanquin were suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Fortunately, constrained by Li, Marquis Bai was sitting in the palanquin ahead, not face-to-face with them at this moment.

Fisher was just about to laugh when Gou Wen's resentful gaze followed him like a shadow again. He didn't make any more jokes about this henpecked Whale-kin husband, merely shifting his gaze to the outside of the palanquin window, thus seeing the imperial palace for the Elf-kin holy land, named "Jianmu Palace".

The Elf-kin revered the giant tree and thus also loved the earth. Jianmu Palace was built on the ground, that was true, but the closer one got to the World Tree, the more severe the terrifying spatial turbulence became, even more frightening than what Fisher had seen in the Northern Border previously.

Before that giant tree, a magnificent vermilion wooden building slowly presented itself before Fisher and his group.

But it was completely different from seeing an ordinary building. Before Fisher and his group's eyes, space was nested together like a crystal flower with hundreds of petals. Like a mirror shattered from the middle, erupting with countless crystal-clear reflective fragments, every single fragment displayed a complete building. Only by completely combining the buildings within those countless refracted spaces was it the true imperial palace, Jianmu Palace.

"That is Jianmu Palace?"

Everyone was shocked by this spectacular sight, but for Gou Wen, who had already been here once, he was accustomed to this strangeness. What he truly found confusing was something else.

Gou Wen furrowed his brows, pointed at the scene within the folded space, and said.

"The hundreds and thousands of spatial entrances here lead to many places. Thus, this is not only the residence of the Elf King and the place where all the Elves perform sacrifices and divinations, but also the only entrance to reach the World Tree. The World Tree we see outside is that Demigod's external phantom. Her true body is too massive, thus making it impossible to display her full appearance. Only by entering Jianmu Palace can one find the entrance to climb onto her branches..."

"But look, the space above is blank. When I came here before, it wasn't like this. At that time, I could clearly see the location of the Elf King's sleeping quarters from here, but now I can't see anything."

Fisher gazed in the direction Gou Wen pointed and indeed discovered that at the destination of their suspended palanquin, one among those hundreds and thousands of nested spaces was unexpectedly completely blank. It was as if the phantom of destiny lost its effect at this moment, rendering nothing visible.

"Is this the destiny Lord Tao mentioned being obscured by the Transferred Person? So she couldn't see exactly which Elf was assisting?"

Gou Wen stared at that blank space for a long time, then shook his head and said.

"I vaguely feel it doesn't look quite like it... we'll see once we pass through."

"Hmm."

Entering Jianmu Palace in a palanquin required passing through layers of inspection. The one who inspected them first was a massive Treant. It seemingly wasn't a living creature, yet it was incredibly massive, sitting rigidly in front of the countless nested spaces like a giant tree hundreds of meters tall.

Seeing the palanquin approach, scattered starlight suddenly lit up on the Treant's body. Fisher and the others immediately sensed danger, seemingly perceiving fluctuations similar to the lethal weapon of the Universe Square Axis Artifact from before, capable of strangling any existence below the Mythical Rank. Even for an existence at the Mythical Rank, taking that bizarre Universe Square Axis sphere of light head-on would probably not yield a good end.

But right at this moment, a demi-human possessing three bizarre bird claws suddenly flew down from the space above. This demi-human was dressed in a royal capital official's robe, covered in golden feathers all over. Upon seeing the palanquin, he stood steadily atop the Treant and spoke.

"Respectfully welcoming Marquis Bai. His Majesty invites Milord to enter."

Following the bizarre demi-human's words, the restless Treant beneath him finally quieted down bit by bit.

After that was the second inspection. At this time, they needed to disembark from the palanquin. Everyone, including Marquis Bai, had to verify their identities. Fortunately, Marquis Bai had submitted a memorial to the Elf King yesterday, reporting the identities of the three of them as Transferred Persons.

From the illusory spatial rift before them, two massive fox-headed demi-humans, about three meters tall, slowly walked out, simultaneously saying to Marquis Bai in the palanquin.

"His Majesty is very pleased and wishes to see these three Transferred Persons immediately. Marquis Bai, please postpone the medical treatment for a moment. His Majesty just met with Earl Tsubaki and is not in a very good mood. Please wait in the palace for a moment. After His Majesty meets with the Transferred Persons, he will summon the doctor into the hall."

"Bai receives the order."

Before these two massive, elegant fox-headed demi-humans, the carefree and casual Marquis Bai was unexpectedly steady. She obediently gave a salute, then looked at Gou Wen behind her, gesturing for him to stay with her.

And Gou Wen glanced at the blank patch in space, not knowing what would happen upon entering it either. Thus, he quietly looked at Fisher. Seeing him ponder for a moment before nodding at him, Fisher took a step forward and followed behind the pair of fox heads.

"Please come this way."

The pair of fox-headed demi-humans then nodded, turned their heads, and walked right into that almost completely blank space. And as it should be, after drilling into that blank piece of destiny, they completely disappeared. Fisher froze slightly, then turned his head to glance in Marquis Bai's direction. He found Gou Wen's expression was somewhat solemn, but Marquis Bai looked as if she hadn't seen anything.

It seemed that existences within Lord Tao's barrier couldn't sense this blank space. In their eyes, those two fox-headed demi-humans presumably just entered Jianmu Palace normally.

Fisher stood in front of that spatial rift for a moment, then slowly stepped into that blank space.

Just as he expected, there was absolutely no Jianmu Palace upon entering the rift, only an expanse of void-like blankness.

Frowning, he looked around. Looking at this dead silent blankness all around, he faintly perceived a slight problem. But before that bit of inspiration could burst forth, Mikhail behind him also consecutively entered this piece of blankness.

"There's nothing here. Is this the concealed destiny that whatever Elf was talking about?"

"I vaguely feel it's not that simple... Outside, what did it look like to you after seeing me enter?"

Mikhail turned his head to look behind. Through the rift they entered, Asuka Karasawa, who had yet to enter, couldn't be seen, and naturally, Marquis Bai and Gou Wen couldn't be seen either. Subsequently, he said.

"To us, it looked like you suddenly disappeared. But Marquis Bai seemingly didn't notice any anomaly at all, as if you just followed those two fox-faced freaks, even urging us to hurry up and follow."

"Lord Tao's barrier is a projection of destiny. The shadows inside will act according to their own internal logic, thus appearing especially realistic. But essentially, nothing has happened here... So, even if the person right here were to truly attack us, we would probably be fine."

Mikhail neither agreed nor disagreed, but he still reminded.

"It's better to be a bit careful."

"Hmm."

Just as Fisher turned his head, preparing to continue observing the surrounding blankness in an attempt to discover some clues, the spatial rift behind him trembled slightly. Immediately after, Asuka Karasawa rushed in with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Teacher Fisher, ahhh!!!"

"...What's wrong?"

Fisher was startled by her being easily startled, thinking something had happened outside. As a result, only after seeing that both of them were fine did Asuka Karasawa breathe a sigh of relief, saying embarrassedly.

"Sorry, I saw you both suddenly disappear, so I was a bit scared, a bit too afraid to come in... and then... and then Marquis Bai kicked me in, even saying the emissaries had been waiting for me for a long time, but I clearly didn't see or hear anything..."

"...Is that so? But there's nothing in here. Lord Tao's method of relying on Transferred Persons to see this concealed truth didn't succeed."

Fisher looked toward the blank surroundings, suddenly feeling a bit confused.

Logically speaking, even if that Transferred Person could interfere with the probing of destiny to a certain extent because of the aura of Chaos on their body, could they really accomplish such an exaggerated feat?

This Jianmu Palace was completely a piece of blankness, containing nothing. It was as if an entire segment of destiny had been cut out, as if it had never existed.

The people transferred over should all be ordinary humans. According to Lord Tao's introduction, that Transferred Person shouldn't have been in this world for very long, at most a few years. How could they possibly develop to the level of the future Creator's Society?

Looking at the blankness before him, Fisher seemed to perceive a clue and something amiss.

But while he was thinking hard about the key points within, he was completely unaware that when Asuka Karasawa entered this blank gap in destiny, peach blossom petals faintly began to drift down from the sky. However, just as those petals were generated, a resplendent golden light abruptly burst forth from a certain direction very far away.

That light was pure. In an instant, it covered the peach-colored petals, dyeing this blank space with layer upon layer of phantoms.

And right amid these layered golden phantoms, the adjacent piece of blankness slowly began to fade, slowly revealing a magnificent red building.

"Teacher Fisher, look quickly, it seems... it seems the surrounding situation has changed."

Fisher opened his eyes, only to see the surrounding environment bit by bit turning into the same true appearance as outside. Even the outer side of the spatial rift they entered began to display colors.

And at this very moment, the three of them were standing at the side of a pavilion in front of that magnificent building, quite a distance away from the spatial rift entrance they used to enter, thus being perfectly hidden amidst a patch of lush greenery.

"What happened?"

Fisher was somewhat confused. Using his gaze to probe toward the direction of the spatial rift entrance, he saw the two tall fox-faced demi-humans who previously led the way slowly entering. They seemed to be leading the way for someone.

"Lord Marquis Bai, a reminder first. His Majesty is not in a very good mood. Later, you must make the doctor you brought speak and act with caution, especially since he is a foreigner."

Fisher furrowed his brows. He then saw Marquis Bai following behind those two giant fox faces, along with Gou Wen, the Whale-kin human carrying a medicine box with an expression of having nothing left to live for.

"It's Mr. Gou Wen."

Asuka Karasawa spoke up softly to remind him, but Fisher raised a finger to Asuka Karasawa, seemingly perceiving something amiss.

Even Mikhail beside him realized it. He spoke.

"That isn't Gou Wen... at least, not the Gou Wen who's with us. That is the him from the past. Is this what happened when Gou Wen entered half a year ago? But shouldn't this have been concealed? Why did it suddenly... Where did the real Gou Wen go?"

Fisher looked at the Gou Wen slowly distancing himself while following Marquis Bai, a slightly ominous conjecture faintly forming in his heart.

"This... seems to be the phantom of destiny regarding that Transferred Person that was hidden previously. But because the phantom of destiny outside has already been disrupted by us entering the barrier, this previously hidden shadow has not, thus creating a displacement. Gou Wen is still staying in the previous phantom of destiny, which is outside the spatial rift; while we, located within the spatial rift, have truly returned to half a year ago.

"In other words, it's equivalent to three Transferred Persons appearing out of thin air inside Jianmu Palace."