Neither Liu Qing nor Cynthia had anticipated the hassle of socializing with officials. A single meal took up almost the entire afternoon, and only as the sky darkened did they finally escape and return to the Eight-Leaf Lotus Hotel on Manro Island. Back in their room, Cynthia first complained about the troublesome meal, then eagerly asked, "Liu Qing, how did you do all that in the illusion? You actually created light and separated it from darkness!"
"Did you forget the Arceus Power Dust I collected?" Liu Qing had known Cynthia would ask. If not for that afternoon-long meal, she would never have waited this long, so he had already prepared his answer. "That illusion was sustained by Arceus's power in the first place. I could even use it to create the three legendary birds, so creating a little light and darkness was nothing. The only limit was my imagination! Still, luckily I managed to intimidate Lugia. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had any options left. I didn't have much Arceus Power Dust to begin with!"
"Whatever you say, I still find it unbelievable. Just imagining something doesn't mean you can actually do it. And those things you said to Lugia at the end... I keep feeling you're hiding something from me!" Cynthia said, staring into Liu Qing's eyes.
"I really didn't lie to you. If there's anything else to explain, it's that while I was collecting Arceus's power and extending my mind into the illusion, I gained some preliminary understanding of what those Demons had experienced, and of Arceus. It gave me a lot of inspiration and help, and some rather unusual ideas came out of it!" Liu Qing said after a moment's thought.
"Seeing through illusions to reach the source! Liu Qing, I feel you've gone even farther down that