Everyone else went silent, leaving Yu Yu to wander about. The space wasn't large—more like a small vegetable garden. At its center lay a football-field-sized patch of dark black soil, dotted with deep red saplings, leafless and oddly stark. Yu Yu ignored the garden for now, following the gravel path to its end.
There stood another stone archway, with a distinct ink-blue stone slab on the ground, smooth and striking. Yu Yu stealthily stepped on it.
A deep blue rune glowed on the slab.
She recognized it!
It was a Shiva word from her recent translation, though alone, it seemed meaningless.
Seeing no danger, Yu Yu stood fully on it.
A flash of blue light—and she was still there.
[Insufficient authority. Access denied.]
Yu Yu: "Outrageous!"
She fumed, "I'm Saint Puglis, Her Excellency! Why's my authority insufficient?! What kind of artificial idiot is this?!"
She stomped the slab twice. Same message—
[Insufficient authority. Access denied.]
Feng Ye finally snapped out of it. [What's that on your waist? Why's the Light Cone recognizing you as Her Excellency?]
Jin Che, hesitant, said, [So, the Light Cone's real? You actually found it?]
Yu Yu puffed out her chest. "Honestly, I don't know. I thought I'd just pick up some seniors, maybe snag some Restoration spells. Who knew I'd stumble into this?"
The "picked-up" senior, Jin Che, darkened. [Seniors from Saint Puglis's era weren't as chatty as us.]
Yu Yu: "Why not?"
Jin Che was annoyed. [There were many spellcasters at that time, and there were countless spellcasters who wanted to win the favor of the seniors. You were only at the middle level, and you couldn't even get a number. How could those seniors pay attention to you?]
Yu Yu: "Oh, true. Could I pose as their reincarnated teacher, then?"
Jin Che was exasperated, [Can you think of something normal?]
Yu Yu, strolling back, amused herself. "Yo, I'm the reincarnated Saint Puglis. Venmo me 50 gold, and I'll split the Light Cone with you?"
The livestream bigwigs, recovering, listened to her nonsense with twitching faces.
Feng Ye mocked, [We'd believe Her Excellency's still alive before we'd buy her reincarnating as you.]
Yu Yu puffed up. "Grand Archon, that's personal!"
[Discovered Dragon Blood Tree Zone — Exploration Progress: 19%]
Yu Yu, standing on the central soil, pinched a red sapling. "Wow, this quest feels so easy. Is this the chill of legendary difficulty?"
"It feels… unreal."
The saplings were leafless, short, and tender to the touch.
Yu Yu lifted her fingers, eyeing the crimson liquid. "What's this?"
"No corruption, right?"
Xue, barely containing excitement, [Found it—Dragon Blood Tree!]
[One of the main ingredients for Deep Blue Potion, boosts high-tier spellcasters' mental strength and resilience. Sadly, the Magic Circle lacks its recipe and other required materials.]
[Records say HQ used to award Deep Blue Potion to outstanding high-tier spellcasters…] She paused, then said slowly, [It can help juniors quickly become top-tier spellcasters.]
Yu Yu blinked.
Juniors?
She recalled half the High Stewards weren't top-tier yet!
Single-character codenames were high-tier; two-character ones were top-tier. All Grand Archons were top-tier, but some Stewards weren't.
Yu Yu grinned. "Senior, don't get worked up. This quest rewards 5% Light Cone authority. Think happy—maybe Puglis had OCD and backed up all the Magic Circle's stuff in the Light Cone!"
Xue, calming after a while, [Let's hope.]
Zong: [Key point: no corruption here. We can rest and grow herbs!]
Guang Chen: [But it's small, and full of Dragon Blood Trees. We can't dig them all up, right?]
Yu Yu had circled the area, progress unchanged. The other four zones needed slab activation.
"Grand Archon, bless me with access!" Yu Yu stood before another zone, hands clasped in prayer.
Feng Ye's lip twitched.
Your Grand Archon's not dead—how's she blessing you?
This little rascal.
[Insufficient authority. Access denied… denied… garbled… Saint Puglis, Her Excellency… granted… denied…]
[Saint Puglis, Her Excellency, welcome home.]
The slab flared blue, and stone tiles rapidly paved a path, expanding a new zone where Yu Yu thought was void.
Yu Yu took two cautious steps. No collapse. "Whoa, ancients were cool."
Jin Che urged, "Hurry up."
Her anticipation was bursting, oblivious to the black-robed man now beside her. The fugitive legend stared at the screen, grim.
Yu Yu finally answered Feng Ye. "My waist's glowing? It's a quest reward!"
"The Puglis Satchel!" Yu Yu said. "You said it's in the Magic Circle museum? Well, it might be with me now~"
Feng Ye: […]
Xue: […]
Meng: [I can't seem to get in?]
They'd entered the building, but the vision Yu Yu saw? They saw none of it.
Just a caved-in pit, with faint voices of [I ate without washing dishes] and Shang Wei.
Their quests seemed to be going full swing.
Felix, black hair tied back, said coolly, [Why's only Yu getting in?]
Yu Yu: "And it's not small! 100x100x100—1,000,000 cubic meters! Huge!"
A sudden comment crashed the stream—
: [Traitor!]
Yu Yu: "?"
"Who're you?"
Zong: [Wait, a high-authority user's altering spell circuits. I need to fix… I…]
The fugitive legend updated their ID.
Flame Sovereign: [Fix what? That traitor didn't revoke my Magic Circle access. Good, very good.]
[No need to look—this is the Puglis Satchel.]
[It belongs in the museum!!!]
Yu Yu blinked, noticing the stream's bigwigs had vanished.
Full cast playing dead.jpg
Flame Sovereign: [Anyone can make new satchels, but she loved tweaking ancient relics! Were we short one big satchel?]
[Damn it! Scoundrel! Utter scoundrel! You must punish her!!!]
Yu Yu, after his tirade, got it.
Oh, someone took a museum piece, upgraded it, evolved it.
Problem is, antiques are valued for age, and the traitor wrecked it.
So her teacher was here, cursing her out.
But who could punish the Night Sovereign now?
Yu Yu stayed quiet.
After a while, Flame Sovereign reined in his rage. [Little runt, what're you staring at? Go check what's inside.]
Yu Yu pouted, miffed. "Not a runt—a genius."
Flame Sovereign scoffed, "You? Compared to me? I'm Spirit 9, Will 9. Where're you at?"
Yu Yu, genuinely stung, snapped, "If you're so great, why not come back and beat the traitor? Don't want to?"
Flame Sovereignty: [!!!!]
Feng Ye: [Yu Yu! Don't disrespect Her Excellency!]
Xue: [Outrageous!]
A chorus of scolding followed, but Yu Yu turned, ignoring them all.
Entering the new zone, she sighed, "Another garden? Empty?"
"Why's the soil white?"
[Discovered Moer Mushroom Zone — Progress: 39%]
Yu Yu circled, finding nothing but white soil. "Senior Xue, what's this soil? Valuable? Can I dig it for points?"
Xue: [Still checking. No digging. You'll get points when you're back—don't touch anything.]
Meng: [We really can't get in…]
Felix, slightly glum, [The stele and beam are gone. This is just a Restoration ruin now.]
Meng: [Why'd the Light Cone leave an entrance here, and only for one person?]
Zong: [No clue. Maybe the key's Yu's satchel. Her Excellency's satchel might have special functions.]
Yu Yu stepped out, switching slabs. "Anything else of Puglis's in the museum? Wear it, and maybe you can enter!"
Flame Sovereign spoke again. [No. Most of Puglis's items were taken into the Light Cone. The satchel's the only relic the Magic Circle kept.]
Yu Yu: "But she had 72 traitors! They were legends, Speakers, big names. They didn't leave anything? Maybe the Light Cone recognizes their authority too?"
Her disciples were mostly legendary, with many Speakers or celebrities—they had to leave something.
Feng Ye's face nearly contorted. [Yu Yu!]
Flame Sovereign: [Makes sense. Worth a try.]
[Why're you yelling? What's wrong with what she said?]
Feng Ye went numb.
Yu Yu, head down, stomped the slab, snickering.
Even the Grand Archon had her day, tsk.
Others: […]
Done for.
Even Xue's eyes darkened, dreading how unhinged Yu Yu might get with a legendary Excellency backing her.
After a long pause, Meng broke the silence. [You've been on that slab forever. Still not in?]
Yu Yu snapped back. "Oh, right. This artificial idiot keeps flipping—one second I'm Saint Puglis, Her Excellency, the next I'm 'insufficient authority, denied,' then garbled, back and forth, fighting itself…"
She paused, musing, "Is the Magic Circle brawling with the Light Cone's core?"
"The Magic Circle's trying to trick it that I'm Saint Puglis. The Light Cone's half-fooled, half-not?"
"Can't crack the authority, so it's stuck."
She gasped, "Is the Magic Circle this smart?"
Flame Sovereign, after pondering, opened his permissions.
The traitor hadn't even locked his Magic Circle controls, huh?
Whatever.
Flame Sovereign: [I'll try taking over. Cooperate with me.]
Yu Yu's eyes widened, waiting eagerly.
She couldn't resist muttering, "The Light Cone's clearly corruption-free. If we open it, we're set!"
"What if Puglis is still inside?"
"Could I pick up an Excellency?!?" Yu Yu squealed, gripped by the thrill of an epic achievement.
Flame Sovereign: [Pick up what?]
Yu Yu, remembering a living Excellency was here, meekly backtracked, [I meant legacy, legacy.]
Others: […]
Numb.
They were done with Yu Yu. Unchecked, she went wild.
With an Excellency present, Feng Ye and Xue didn't dare scold, just watching her chaos.
Headache.
Feng Ye, thinking, private-messaged Meng. [If she says anything outrageous later, you and Felix scold her. We'll stay quiet.]
Meng: [!!!]
I'm scared too!!!
What kind of boss are you?
Feng Ye: [It's fine. You're close to the kid. Her Excellency knows and won't mind.]
Meng's face twisted. Seeing Feng Ye's resolve, she turned to Felix.
Felix, engrossed in the stream, only looked up after a few tugs. "What?"
Meng, pained, relayed Feng Ye's orders with a grimace.
Felix: "Oh, sure."
She was chill.
Meng: "?"
Why so calm?
Are Silver Moon Sky Wolves born missing a nerve?
Yu Yu kept muttering happily, "Seventy-two traitors, all experts. If I snag them, I'm rich!"
Meng, pinged privately, spoke with a pained mask, [They're seniors, not traitors. Keep talking nonsense—did Senior Xue write 'traitor' in her book?]
Xue chimed in instantly, [Absolutely not!]
Yu Yu blinked. "Oh, right."
Flame Sovereign, finally getting the hang of it, tricked the Light Cone's tower spirit.
[Welcome home, Saint Puglis, Her Excellency!]
Slabs paved rapidly, opening a second zone.
[Discovered Tool Zone — Progress: 59%]
Yu Yu stared at rows of golems, musing, "Told you golems could farm. The Grand Archon yelled at me."
Feng Ye: […]
Xue: […]
Flame Sovereign faltered, [Oh no, those golems have no authority! Run!]
Yu Yu was muttering, "Senior Chong, you there? You there? Your last offer still good?"
"What?" Yu Yu stepped forward, seeing golems activate one by one. She froze. "How do I outrun that?!"