The Elysian Realm's Doubts

Over the course of this week, the system only refreshed two C-rank commission missions:

One was to help Apponia look after the children at the orphanage, which increased Apponia's favorability by 10.

The other was to help the head steward Chrono with a banquet, which increased Chrono's favorability by 10.

He obtained the normal imprints of [Precept] and [Annihilation].

However, Li Ming didn't have time to deal with them. He waited until the seven days were up before attending to them, as the stamina he had accumulated was enough for him to stay in the Elysian Realm for a whole month.

If he didn't have to constantly seek out Mobius for questions and collect materials, Li Ming might have accumulated enough stamina for more than a month. But regardless, all three missions could be handled now, and he had some ideas for the canned food missions as well.

As for dealing with the Honkai Energy erosion, it wasn't that urgent. Since he couldn't gather the materials anyway, and he had already asked Raiden Ryoma, most of the materials were precious, and he hadn't even heard of some of them. If he wasn't going to slack off now, then when?

When evening came and the time seemed right, Li Ming lay down in bed and opened the system to enter the Elysian Realm. What Li Ming didn't notice was that the faint patterns that had disappeared from his wrist had reappeared on his right wrist, though they weren't as obvious, looking like capillaries integrated into his body.

He first found Apponia. As expected, upon returning, he saw Apponia with a worried expression, a cursor flashing above her head. Li Ming walked over, and it was time to trigger the NPC dialogue. "Sister Apponia, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I have to attend an event tomorrow, but the children are difficult to look after. Grandma Rona from the convent is also sick lately, so I wanted someone to help take care of the children at the convent. Although I've already found someone, we're still short-handed." Her face was as gentle as water, her expression tinged with sadness.

Who wouldn't shed a tear seeing this!

"Sister Apponia, do you think I'd be suitable?" Li Ming immediately volunteered. Come on, the NPC has already triggered the dialogue, and you're still hesitating to complete the mission?

Apponia narrowed her eyes and suddenly smiled, "Alright then, but you'll need to cooperate well with the other kind person!"

Li Ming patted his chest. "Don't worry, with me here, it'll be fine."

"Okay then, I'll be going now."

With that, Apponia vanished in a flash, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye, leaving only a faint trail of light in the air.

Li Ming smiled and walked into the convent. He had come here quite a bit when he was learning tailoring, though he usually ate out.

Most of the children in the convent recognized Li Ming, so Li Ming didn't find looking after them particularly difficult.

"Is anyone here? I'm here to help at Sister Apponia's request!" But as soon as he entered, he saw some burly figures with their backs to him.

Instantly, Li Ming turned to leave.

But before Li Ming could step out, a figure flew out, her fist landing on the road in front of him, causing a spiderweb crack to appear.

Li Ming's eyelids twitched, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Isn't this Hua? Long time no see. Don't you have business at the martial arts school? How come you have time to come to the convent?"

"I came looking for you last time but couldn't find you, so Apponia asked me to help, and I agreed. But it seems like only a week has passed. Oh, right, I haven't forgotten about you leaving without a word last time and hiding for several days!"

Hua seemed to recall something, a faint smile on her face, veins bulging on her hand as she slowly walked towards Li Ming. "Come and die!"

Her fist carried a strong gust of wind, and Li Ming felt as if his face was being scraped by a knife.

Despite this, Li Ming's mind remained calm. With a sidestep and a twist, he dodged the punch while bracing Hua's arm with his shoulder.

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

However, the powerful blow that landed on Li Ming made his shoulder feel a bit numb.

Even so, Li Ming's hands were quick. The imprint activated in an instant, his left hand faintly shimmering with cherry blossom patterns. He gathered his strength, leaned forward with his shoulder, and used the momentum to throw a punch back.

As Hua was repelled, she easily dissolved the force with a few steps. Seeing Li Ming attack again, she didn't panic. She pushed her elbow forward, and as their fists and elbows collided, not only did a loud bang erupt upon contact, but a dull thud also echoed from within their bodies.

The powerful force caused the ground beneath their feet to crack slightly. Fortunately, Li Ming was wearing a short-sleeved shirt; otherwise, the cuffs would have likely burst.

However, Li Ming felt a sweetness in his throat. Clearly, Hua's previous strike was not easy to handle, and the heavy blow had impacted his internal organs.

But Hua also seemed to sense Li Ming's internal injuries and didn't continue attacking him. Otherwise, Li Ming felt he wouldn't need to complete the task of looking after the convent children.

He probably would have ended up lying 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 one Apponia asked to help?"

The fight between the two had clearly attracted the interest of the children in the convent. They watched them as if they were seeing Sun Wukong or Ultraman when they were kids.

Their eyes were shining.

After the two coaxed the children back to eat, their first dilemma arose.

They... couldn't cook.

It wasn't that they couldn't cook at all, just that they weren't as skilled as Chrono, the head steward. Hua could still make some home-style dishes, but Li Ming was completely useless.

Li Ming's original self was also someone who only knew how to eat, not cook. His specialty was fried rice with eggs.

Looking at the ingredients in the convent kitchen, the two discussed it and finally decided on fried rice with eggs.

After all, if both of them could make it, it would be easier to handle and they could manage.

"We worked for a full hour!"

"With over ten children, catering to different tastes is indeed difficult, there's no way around it."

"Alright then, you go call the children for dinner. I'll serve the dishes." Li Ming took off his apron and picked up a large bucket, ready to go out.

Hua said with some concern, "You were just injured, let me do it."

Li Ming quickly refused, "Please, I'm a successor of the Inch Punch Fist Style. My body isn't that fragile. Go on, go."

Seeing Li Ming refuse, Hua didn't insist.

After Hua left, Li Ming grimaced, "Seriously, she hit hard!"

He rubbed his shoulders, feeling like his bones might be cracking.

The dining room's decor was warm and inviting. The walls were painted a beige color, adorned with children's doodles. Each room had a clock, not making the place feel somber, but rather comfortable, showing that Apponia had put a lot of thought into decorating the orphanage back then.

When the children arrived at the dining hall, they weren't noisy. Instead, they were remarkably well-behaved, perhaps due to the intimidating aura of the fight the two adults had outside.

Regardless, things were as they were. It was good that the children were well-behaved, no matter the reason.

After playing with the children for a while, Apponia suddenly messaged Hua, telling her that the children should be going to bed.

So, the two of them carried the children to their beds one by one.

After turning off the lights, Li Ming and Hua stood in the courtyard. Li Ming clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Hua. "How about it, are you going back to the Golden Courtyard?"

"Never mind, it's inconvenient to come over first thing tomorrow morning. There are rooms here anyway."

"Mm, but you're graduating soon. What will you do after that?" Li Ming glanced at the young girl in front of him. Honestly, if you ignored the Honkai Impact 3rd filter, and if the Honkai hadn't happened, Hua would just be an ordinary university student right now.

Although the Elysian Realm had fulfilled her desire to attend school, judging by Hua's strength, she should have memories from the previous civilization.

But Li Ming was puzzled. This Elysian Realm seemed different. Not only were there these children, but Sakura's sister hadn't died in the Herrscher of Corruption outbreak.

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

Moreover, it was only now that he began to face a fact: after entering the Elysian Realm, he had directly obtained a room in the Golden Courtyard. Hua and the others, from the beginning, didn't seem to have experienced the heaviness of the Elysian Realm.

Instead, it felt like ordinary life.

When Li Ming first transmigrated, he hadn't noticed this. Or rather, he had noticed it at first but hadn't paid attention. The excitement of transmigration filled his mind, and he was more focused on meeting his anime waifus.

But after staying in the Elysian Realm for nearly two months, Li Ming had noticed some oddities. For example, this convent wasn't far from the Golden Courtyard, but rather far from the city center.

When helping Mobius watch over her experiments, Mobius's laboratory wasn't far from the Golden Courtyard either.

However, Mobius's inventions were more like household inventions. But when Li Ming asked her about mechanical knowledge leaning more towards industrial applications, Mobius not only answered fluently but also offered Li Ming ideas for combat improvements.

Su was a doctor. He only seemed to have taken a year-long vacation during the first month, so Li Ming had seen him then. But at other times, Li Ming had barely seen Su.

The first time Su saw Li Ming, he taught him some methods for perception. It was their first meeting, yet it felt natural, and Li Ming learned quickly.

Looking at it this way, it didn't seem like a coincidence.

"No, no, can't be too conspiratorial."

This was the flawless Elysian Realm, after all. And, if the Honkai hadn't happened, perhaps everyone would be living like this.

Sakura worked while also moonlighting as a shrine maiden, and Rin was in high school, occasionally helping her sister at the shrine.

After graduating, Su became a renowned doctor, and Apponia opened an orphanage (though she always called it a convent).

Cosmo was still in high school, and Griseo was in junior high. Now that they were on summer vacation, they just played at home.

It was quite nice.

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

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." No matter what she said, just agree.

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

Li Ming quickly shook his head. Please, put your fist down, I'll die.

"Forget it, whatever. Let's go, it's getting late. Let's go to bed."

Hua sighed and turned to her room. Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter what, it was best that her fist stayed down.

But before Hua returned to her room, she gave Li Ming a fierce glare. Li Ming felt like he was going to die tomorrow.

Li Ming took a shower and lay down on his bed, his thoughts in a jumble. 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. There were no Stigmata, but there was a new panel for Imprints.

In the materials section, he had the previously acquired Anti-Entropy Imaginary Core*10, Micro Reactor*3, Gemini Soul Crystal*5, and Reconstruction Mold: Ability Specialization*1.

The Honkai Impact 3rd Memorial Album lay quietly in an active slot.

When he opened the memorial album, Li Ming noticed something was wrong because the album had been updated.

He opened it and saw the first line: My name is Li Ming. By the time you open this memorial album, I am already dead...

Bah, wrong movie.

He opened the first page. The words "Qinghe Arc" appeared, and the image was of Li Ming blasting a Pseudo Black Hole with Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt.

Below it, there were more words: "July 3rd, 2002. I arrived in Qinghe City and met Raiden Yae. The appearance of a bootleg Boss Yang told me this world was not an ordinary one..."