As consciousness returned, Lin Yue, who had gradually grown used to dying, no longer panicked like she had the previous few times.
She snapped her eyes open and surveyed her surroundings.
She was at Chen Xi's home. Out of habit, she picked up the phone beside her pillow to check the time.
September 18, 7:32 a.m.
Perfect timing. It was the day after they had killed Wu Xin.
They had plenty of time to start planning their escape from Tianhai City.
"Qianqi Weiming, just you wait. I'll wring your neck."
In the end, her opponent had chased her around for nearly half an hour.
Only after she had finally accepted the situation did Lin Yue snap her own neck with a shadow, rather than let herself fall into Qianqi Weiming's hands.
She opened her status panel to check how much Legend Degree she had retained.
[Shadow Dweller (First Rank) Legend Degree: 28%]
She had inherited 28% out of 34%. That was certainly cause for celebration.
It wasn't that she was lazy and hadn't tried to grow stronger in days. There simply weren't any Legends to be found in Tianhai City.
It was almost laughable. Because of the information gap, the two of them had only looked at the surface-level posts on the forums and thought the Spark Federation was as safe as a fortress.
Who could have guessed it was in this state?
Thinking about it, Lin Yue suddenly realized something was off.
On the third loop, Luo Li had tried to persuade them to join the Countermeasure Bureau under these circumstances.
She discreetly became more wary of the blue-haired girl.
Also...
[Erosion: 79%]
It had only been 36% in the previous loop, but now it had more than doubled.
The negative effects would probably erupt in the next loop.
"Damn it!"
Lin Yue angrily pounded the pillow.
Meanwhile, in another bedroom.
"I'm back."
Chen Xi casually rolled her joints.
Wait...
Looking at the familiar ceiling, Chen Xi realized something was wrong.
Why wasn't she in the classroom?
So Lin Yue's ability didn't always send them back to a fixed point?!
The first three Regression points had all been in the classroom, which had left Chen Xi with a tiny misunderstanding about Lin Yue's ability.
"No wonder she wanted to try staying behind. So that's how it works."
Chen Xi immediately understood the implications.
But Qianqi Weiming was far stronger than either of them had imagined. There was no point talking about staying to fight now. They should hurry up and run.
Thinking of that pretentious Transcendent Conference, Chen Xi couldn't help snickering.
She really found it hilarious.
It was hard to imagine that, in a situation like that, the Transcendents of Tianhai City still had time to hold a meeting like this.
After this loop, Chen Xi had finally figured out the state of the world.
If the Spark Federation was on the brink of collapse, with only its central cities counting as safe havens, then Tianhai City was a small city that even the Evil Flower organization couldn't be bothered to invade. They could just send a Third Rank High Priest over to make a token effort.
Now it seemed obvious what the Countermeasure Bureau in Tianhai City had been trying to accomplish with that meeting: test their opponent's abilities.
They had used the lives of countless ordinary Transcendents to test the opponent's strength.
"Am I assuming the worst of them?" Chen Xi murmured, shaking her head.
Maybe they really were just that stupid.
But when she thought of the probing at the conference, Chen Xi dismissed that idea.
Still, without the Bureau Chief's approval, Lu Shaojun probably wouldn't have dared to do something like that.
And how could Zhu Li not know about it?
Unless she never browsed the forums. But that was simply impossible...
Well... maybe it wasn't impossible?
Chen Xi remembered that Zhu Li had still been communicating with the two of them using stickers before they met. Not browsing the forums might not be such a big deal after all.
The girl let out a long sigh.
This world was practically crawling with danger. The only person she could truly rely on without worry was Lin Yue.
Chen Xi opened her status panel and checked what she had gained after dying.
[CG generation failed. Converted to Wish Power charge: 128%] [CG generation failed. Converted to Wish Power charge: 42%] [Current Wish Power: 252%]
How much?
Chen Xi stared at the 128% Wish Power charge, overjoyed.
But as soon as she thought it over, her expression darkened.
That meant an Epic-grade CG had been wasted. Worse, it had failed four times in a row.
"Just my luck."
Still, it seemed her death had affected Lin Yue deeply. Otherwise, it wouldn't have produced such a high Wish Power charge.
The second Wish Power charge had probably come from Qianqi Weiming.
Chen Xi forced herself to calm down and kept scrolling.
[Wish Power has exceeded 100% at its peak. You may choose whether to enhance your next CG. (Once this function is activated, it will be permanently retained and will not be affected by your current Wish Power.)]
It was just what she needed.
Chen Xi had been wondering what she would do if her Wish Power charge went to waste on a crappy CG.
Now all she had to do was wait for an Epic-grade CG to be generated, and she could use Wish Power to raise it to Mythic quality.
Then, after a little development, advancing to Second Rank and taking down Qianqi Weiming wouldn't be an empty promise.
Lin Yue should be awake by now. She'd go comfort her.
With that thought, Chen Xi got up and opened the door, only to find Lin Yue quietly pushing it open at the same time.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed. Chen Xi was the first to break the strange silence.
"What a coincidence. Did you just wake up too?"
"Mm..."
Seeing the black-haired girl again, Lin Yue was overcome with emotion.
She had said it countless times already, but she was still glad that she had awakened the ability to regress through time and met Chen Xi in this world.
After adjusting her loose collar, Chen Xi said gently, "I'll make some noodles for you. Want an egg and sausage?"
"Both." Lin Yue went to the bathroom to wash up.
Ten minutes later, they sat across from each other at the dining table, each holding a steaming bowl filled with noodles.
Chen Xi slurped some noodles and looked at Lin Yue, who hadn't touched her chopsticks. "What's wrong? I cooked them, and you're not eating."
Lin Yue clasped her hands together and rested them in front of her cheeks. Her gaze lingered on Chen Xi's face before meeting her eyes. "Chen Xi, my prophecy ability has taken effect."
"Three days from now, we'll die at the hands of Qianqi Weiming, the High Priest of the Evil Flower organization."
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