Elysian Realm's Doubts

Over the past week, the system had only refreshed two C-rank commission quests:

One was to help Aponia take care of the orphanage children, raising Aponia's favorability by 10.

The other was to help Chrono, the head butler, organize a banquet, raising Chrono's favorability by 10.

He would obtain the ordinary Signets of Discipline and Annihilation.

However, Li Ming had no time to deal with them yet. He planned to go after saving up seven days, because the stamina he had accumulated was enough for him to stay in the Elysian Realm for an entire month.

If he did not often need to ask Mobius questions and gather materials, Li Ming might have saved up even more than a month's worth of stamina. Still, he could complete all three quests now, and he had some leads on Canned Food's quest as well.

As for solving the Honkai Energy corrosion, that was not urgent. He could not gather all the materials anyway. He had asked Raiden Ryoma, and most of the materials were extremely precious, while he had never even heard of the rest. If this was not a reason to slack off, what was?

When night fell and the time seemed right, Li Ming lay on his bed, opened the system, and entered the Elysian Realm. He failed to notice that the faint patterns which had disappeared from his wrist had reappeared on his right wrist. They were simply not very noticeable, like capillaries blending into his body.

He went to find Aponia first. Sure enough, the moment he returned, he saw Aponia wearing a troubled expression, a glowing quest marker above her head. Li Ming walked over. It was time to trigger the NPC dialogue. "Sister Aponia, is there anything you need my help with?"

"Tomorrow, I need to attend an event, but the children are difficult to look after. Grandma Rona at the convent has also fallen ill recently, so I wanted someone to help care for the convent's children. Although I have already found someone, we are still short-handed." Her face was gentle as water, though her expression carried a trace of sorrow.

Who would not tear up at that?

"Sister Aponia, how about me?" Li Ming immediately volunteered. Come on, the NPC had already triggered the dialogue. Shouldn't he hurry up and complete the quest?

Aponia narrowed her eyes and suddenly smiled. "All right, then. Make sure you cooperate well with the other kind-hearted helper."

Li Ming patted his chest. "Don't worry. With me here, there definitely won't be a problem."

"All right, then I'll be leaving."

With that, Aponia directly blinked away. In the blink of an eye, she vanished before him, leaving only faint specks of light drifting through the air.

Li Ming smiled and walked into the convent. He had come here many times while learning tailoring, though he usually ate elsewhere.

Most of the convent's children knew Li Ming as well, so taking care of them did not feel particularly difficult to him.

"Anyone here? Sister Aponia sent me to help!" But the moment he entered, he saw a group of heroes so hungry their chests were pressed to their backs.

Li Ming immediately turned around, ready to leave.

Unfortunately, before he could step outside, a figure flew out. A fist landed on the road before him, instantly cracking the pavement in a spiderweb pattern.

Li Ming's eyelid twitched, and the corner of his mouth pulled up as he smiled. "Isn't this Hua? Long time no see. Don't you need to stay busy at the martial arts school? Why do you have time to come to the convent?"

"The last time I came looking for you, I couldn't find you. Then Aponia asked me to help, and I agreed. But it has only been a week, hasn't it? Oh, right. I still remember how you left without saying goodbye last time and hid for several days!"

Hua seemed to recall something. A faint smile appeared on her face while the veins on her hand bulged. She slowly walked toward Li Ming. "Come here and die!"

Her fist carried a fierce gust of wind, and Li Ming felt as though blades were scraping across his face.

Even so, Li Ming remained calm. He shifted his footing, twisted and lifted his body, evading the fist while bracing Hua's arm with his shoulder.

This move, this move was Kun Fist: Iron Mountain Lean.

However, the heavy blow still made Li Ming's shoulder go numb and ache.

Even so, Li Ming's hands did not slow. The Signet of Instants activated, faint sakura patterns gleaming over his left hand. Strength gathered in his palm. He leaned forward with his shoulder, borrowing the force to send a punch back at her.

When Hua was knocked back, she dispelled the remaining force in just a few steps. Seeing Li Ming return with another move, she remained completely calm. She drove her elbow forward. When fist and elbow collided, there was not only an explosive bang at the point of impact, but also a muffled sound from within their bodies.

The sheer force cracked the ground beneath their feet. Good thing Li Ming was wearing short sleeves, or his sleeves would probably have burst apart.

But Li Ming felt sweetness rise in his throat. Clearly, Hua's strike had not been easy to take. The heavy blow had jolted his internal organs.

Hua seemed to sense that Li Ming had suffered internal injuries, so she did not continue beating him. Otherwise, Li Ming felt he would not need to complete the quest of looking after the convent children anymore.

He would probably need to lie in the convent for several days.

Hua sighed and walked past Li Ming. "Forget it. I won't hold it against you. Are you the helper Sister Aponia found?"

Their fight had clearly attracted the interest of the convent children. They looked at the two of them like children watching Sun Wukong and Ultraman.

Their eyes were shining.

After the two of them coaxed the convent children back inside to eat, their first problem arrived.

Neither of them... could cook.

Well, it was not exactly that they could not cook. They just were not as skilled as Chrono, the head butler. Hua could still make a decent home-cooked meal, but Li Ming was utterly useless.

Li Ming's original body had also been someone who only knew how to eat and not cook. His best dish was egg fried rice.

The two looked at all the ingredients in the convent kitchen, discussed it for a while, and ultimately agreed to make egg fried rice.

After all, since both of them knew how to make it, it would be easier to handle and they could keep up with the work.

"We've been at this for a whole hour!"

"There are more than ten children. It really isn't easy catering to everyone's different tastes. Can't be helped."

"All right, then. Go call the children to eat. I'll carry the plates." Li Ming removed his apron, lifted a large bucket, and prepared to head out.

Hua said worriedly, "You were injured just now. I should do it."

Li Ming hurriedly refused. "Come on, I'm an inheritor of the Inch Punch Fist Style. I'm not so fragile that I can't handle this. Go on, go on."

Seeing Li Ming refuse, Hua could not force the issue.

Only after Hua left did Li Ming grimace in pain. "Seriously, she hit way too hard!"

Rubbing his shoulder, he felt as if the bones there might have cracked.

The dining hall was decorated warmly. The walls were painted beige and covered in the children's drawings. Every room had a clock hanging inside. It did not feel solemn at all. Instead, it made the convent feel comfortable, showing how much effort Aponia had put into decorating the orphanage back then.

Once the children arrived in the dining hall, they did not make a fuss. Instead, they were remarkably obedient. Li Ming did not know whether it was because the fight outside had intimidated them.

Still, things were already like this. It was great that the children were well-behaved. Who cared why they were being good?

After playing with the children for a while, Aponia suddenly sent Hua a message, telling her that it was time for the children to sleep.

So the two of them carried the children to bed one by one.

After turning off the lights, Li Ming and Hua stood in the courtyard. Li Ming crossed his arms and looked at Hua beside him. "So, are you going back to Golden Courtyard?"

"Forget it. It would be inconvenient to come over again early tomorrow morning. There are rooms here anyway."

"Mm. But you're about to graduate. What will you do afterward?" Li Ming glanced at the girl before him. Honestly, setting aside the filter of Honkai Impact 3rd, if the Honkai had never happened, Hua would only be an ordinary college student now.

Although the Elysian Realm had still fulfilled her desire to attend school, judging from Hua's strength, she should have memories of the Previous Era.

But what puzzled Li Ming was that this Elysian Realm seemed rather different. Not only were there all these children, Sakura's younger sister had not died during the outbreak of the Herrscher of Corruption.

It seemed that, in many ways, this Elysian Realm was different from the original one.

Moreover, only now did he begin to face one fact directly. After entering the Elysian Realm, he had immediately received a room in Golden Courtyard, while Hua and the others had never seemed to carry the heaviness of having experienced the Elysian Realm.

Instead, they had the feeling of living ordinary lives.

When Li Ming had first transmigrated, he had not noticed this. Or rather, he had noticed it at first but had not cared. The excitement of transmigrating filled his heart, and he cared more about meeting his anime waifus in person.

But after staying in the Elysian Realm for nearly two months, Li Ming had noticed some oddities. For example, this convent was not far from Golden Courtyard, though it was far from the city center.

When he helped Mobius look after her test subjects, Golden Courtyard had not been far from Mobius's laboratory either.

Yet Mobius's inventions were more like household inventions. But when Li Ming asked her about mechanical knowledge geared more toward industrial applications, Mobius not only answered fluently, but also gave him ideas for combat-oriented improvements.

Su was a doctor. Li Ming had only met Su during the first month, when he should have been on annual leave. During the rest of the time, Li Ming had barely seen him.

Yet when Su first saw Li Ming, he taught him some methods of perception. They had clearly only met for the first time, but it all felt natural, and Li Ming learned quickly.

Looking at it this way, it did not seem like a coincidence.

No, no. I can't get too caught up in conspiracy theories.

This was the flawless Elysian Realm. Besides, if the Honkai had never happened, perhaps everyone would have lived like this.

While working, Sakura also moonlighted as a shrine maiden, while Rin attended high school and occasionally went to the shrine to help her sister.

After graduating, Su became a renowned doctor, while Aponia opened an orphanage, though she had always called it a convent.

Cosmo was still in high school, while Griseo was in middle school. The two of them happened to be on summer vacation, so they stayed home and played whenever they had nothing to do.

It was quite nice.

"Hey, Li Ming?" Hua waved her delicate hand in front of him. "Are you listening?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." No matter what she had said, agreeing was the way to go.

Hua clenched her fist. "You weren't listening just now, were you?"

Li Ming hurriedly shook his head. Come on, put the fist down. He could die, okay?

"Forget it. Do as you please. Come on, it's getting late. Go get some rest."

Hua sighed, turned, and headed to her room. Li Ming also let out a sigh of relief.

No matter what, it was best when the fist was lowered.

But before Hua returned to her room, she glared fiercely at Li Ming. Li Ming felt like he was done for tomorrow.

Li Ming took a shower and lay on the bed, his thoughts in a mess. He logged into the system and checked the interface. There was no personal status panel. Under equipment, the only weapon was Moon God's Protection. He had no Stigmata, but there was an additional Signet panel.

His materials included the Anti-Entropy Imaginary Core ×10, Micro Reactor ×3, Gemini Soul Crystal ×5, and Reconstruction Mold: Ability Specialization ×1 that he had obtained earlier.

The Honkai Impact 3rd Commemorative Album lay quietly in the event slot.

When he opened the commemorative album, Li Ming immediately noticed something was wrong, because it had updated.

The first thing he saw after opening it was: My name is Li Ming. By the time you open this commemorative album, I will already be dead...

Ah, no. Wrong setting.

When he opened the first page, the words "Qinghe Arc" appeared on it, while the image showed the moment Li Ming used Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt to blow apart the Pseudo Black Hole.

There was also text below it: "July 3, 2002. I arrived in Qinghe City and met Raiden Yae. The appearance of the knockoff Boss Yang told me that this world was not an ordinary one..."