Chapter 257

Chapter 257

A black-and-white vortex swirled open mid-air. Eve, maintaining her crouched landing posture, alighted gracefully on the roadside outside the princess’s residence.

This area, an oasis of quiet in the city's heart, was home to nobility and royalty. It was already late at night, with few passersby, so no one witnessed the astonishing sight of a person appearing out of nowhere.

Under the bright yet gentle glow of the streetlights, Eve straightened her robe and sleeves. The Death Butterfly’s uniquely shrill, reedy voice then broke the silence: "That young girl you just visited—is she a descendant of the Queen Bee?"

"We humans don’t typically refer to our kind as ‘descendants of such-and-such Spiritual State,’ but it’s true that one of her ancestors also summoned the Queen Bee," Eve replied, a hint of curiosity in her tone. "Didn’t you already meet her during the league matches? Why does it seem like you’re meeting her for the first time now?"

"Everything was complete chaos back then—I didn’t get a good look," the Death Butterfly said, clinging eagerly to Eve’s shoulder, its wings fluttering. "I never thought the Queen Bee would have a successor. I thought it had died out—truly extraordinary."

Such phrasing wasn't really how one described humans, but given the intriguing implications, Eve decided not to nitpick. "I don’t understand. Explain in more detail."

"Hmph! Do you think high-level Spiritual States can be awakened just like that? They are beings of significant status even in the divine realm. Only special bloodlines can host their manifestation. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve thought that bloodline had died out long ago."

Eve nodded in agreement. The Chaos Star Sector had been embroiled in centuries of war, its constant splitting and reforming long straying from the original rebel leader’s vision of independence from the empire. Although the empire treated Alice harshly, truth be told, the Chaos Star Sector was equally ruthless in eliminating bloodlines related to the Queen Bee.

Alice had survived by sheer luck—her branch of the family had fallen into such obscurity that they went unnoticed. But now that her identity was exposed in the empire, her remaining family in the Chaos Star Sector would likely face dire consequences—not that it was anything to lament over, really.

Eve thought idly, rubbing her fingers together. The mention of Alice’s origins inevitably brought to mind her own troubled family background. Some memories had faded with time, but recalling them still brought a lingering unease.

Fortunately, the Death Butterfly’s liveliness quickly diverted her attention. "Bloodline is just a basic requirement. The manifestation of a Spiritual State also depends on specific conditions. For instance, Spiritual States like the Luna Butterfly and the Queen Bee, which are oriented toward mental abilities, require exceptional mental fortitude from the awakener. Other Spiritual States have different triggers—personality traits, external stimuli, and so on. In short, Spiritual States aren’t the static entities you might think they are. They are highly selective when choosing a vessel. If the requirements aren’t met, only a lower-tier substitute can be awakened."

Eve had some understanding of this as well. As expected, the lower-tier Spiritual State of the Luna Butterfly was likely the StormEye Butterfly—the very Spiritual State she had awakened in the past.

So, did it have to do with crossing between two worlds? Had traversing worlds strengthened her spiritual power, leading naturally to the awakening of the Luna Butterfly?

It probably wasn’t that simple. The previous awakener of the Luna Butterfly, Maria Medici, couldn’t have experienced such crossing—and even if she had, Alice was undoubtedly a native of the star sector. There must be something else they shared beyond that.

Eve thought as much and decided to ask—why not, when there was a seemingly simple-minded Death Butterfly right beside her? Might as well ask.

Unexpectedly, the Death Butterfly merely fluttered its wings in embarrassment and stammered, "You’re asking about the conditions? Well, I’m not really sure—Mental-oriented Spiritual States fall under the Luna Butterfly’s jurisdiction. I don’t know the specific awakening conditions. Why not ask it directly?"

The Luna Butterfly remained silent, pretending not to understand human speech, making its position clear by staying silent.

Eve retorted, "Then what exactly are you good for?"

"Aren’t you being a bit too casual with me? I am, after all, one of the Divine Seat Butterflies!" Never having been treated so dismissively, the Death Butterfly snapped angrily. "I told you, we each have our own responsibilities. For high-level Spiritual States in the space-time category, the awakening condition is having experienced journeys through the divine realm—which is why only GoldSilverCup and Gu Zhaoxi have awakened them so far. Causality-related ones are handled by the Star God Butterfly, while general directions fall under the Sun God Butterfly’s purview. We each have our roles—how dare you look down on me!"

"…"

It seemed to have completely forgotten what it said last time when refusing to disclose its abilities to Eve—insisting that understanding it was meaningless to humans. Now, in its eagerness to defend itself, it had blurted out even Gu Zhaoxi’s Spiritual State ability.

Eve twitched her lips, refraining from commenting that her impression of the Death Butterfly had thoroughly shattered. "Next time you run into Gu Zhaoxi, try to keep your mouth shut."

Unless you want to get squashed.

As they conversed, the pair entered the princess’s residence. The guards at the gate recognized this mysterious, veiled consultant and respectfully opened the door without requiring facial recognition. The entrance led to a winding path, where a man in his thirties, dressed in a light gray tunic, was bent over trimming plants with golden scissors. Seeing him, Eve paused and greeted, "Mr. Lin."

The calm-faced man before her was the husband of the First Princess. As a nominal consultant of the princess’s residence, it wouldn’t do to ignore the master of the house—especially since he was also the principal of the First Empire Academy.

"Xiao Lu, just returning now?"

"Yes."

Lin Zhengfeng smiled as he straightened up. He didn’t know the true identity of this newly arrived consultant, only that she was nominally his daughter’s tutor but actually worked for his wife. She went by the single name Lu.

Times had changed, and he could sense his wife growing more tense by the day. Since this consultant wasn’t one of his people, Lin Zhengfeng’s question was merely polite small talk. Without waiting for Eve’s response, he raised his scissors again, snipping away excess branches from the flowers, and said casually, "Unica has already retired for the night. If there’s anything, discuss it tomorrow. Ling Ling is probably still awake, playing in the annex."

Eve placed her right hand over her chest. "Thank you."

Her primary role was, after all, teaching Lin Ling alchemy, so the First Princess had arranged her room in her only daughter’s annex. Pushing the door open, a wave of warm air greeted her. It was winter, and although the capital planet’s seasonal temperature difference was mild, children were more vulnerable to cold, so the climate control system ran all day. Lin Ling, wearing only a lace-edged dress, sat on a colorful shag carpet, looking up as her lady's maid cut paper dolls holding hands. Seeing Eve enter, she immediately abandoned the paper cuttings and rushed over, calling out “Sister!”

The maid tactfully set down the paper, tucked the scissors into her waistband, bowed to Eve, and silently withdrew.

The moment she saw Lin Ling, Eve couldn’t help but recall what the First Princess had told her at the research institute that afternoon. Lin Ling always addressed her as “sister.” Initially, Eve thought it was out of politeness, but now it felt somewhat off—the address was generic, but the affection in her tone was genuine.

She suspected that Lin Ling had always been able to see through her different disguises. After a moment’s thought, Eve half-bent down and spoke to Lin Ling in a conversational tone, "Ling Ling, I need your help with a test. In a moment, I’ll write two alchemical formulas for you. Do your best to describe the parts you understand, okay?"

Lin Ling looked hesitant. Although this elder sister was very kind, the mountain of homework she’d been assigned over the past two days had deeply overwhelmed her young heart. She sneaked a glance at the clock on the wall—it was this late, and there was more work?

After a long, melancholy pause, Lin Ling finally nodded reluctantly, reluctantly agreeing, "Okay."

Her adorably conflicted expression, eyes darting about, was too endearing. Eve gave her a loud kiss on the cheek. The girl blushed, her gaze drifting as Eve tapped her wrist terminal, causing a holographic screen to appear and quickly fill with alchemical formulas that occupied about two-thirds of the display.

Lin Ling stared, wide-eyed, and stammered, "Th-this much?"

It looked even more intimidating than her homework!

"Of course not," Eve replied, smiling down at Lin Ling. Before the little girl could sigh in relief, she added leisurely, "This is just the first question. There’s another one."

Lin Ling: "…"

Eve wasn’t the type to bully a child for a sense of superiority. Though the two alchemical formulas appeared lengthy, their functions were quite common—defense and speed enhancement—and the cipher used didn’t exceed what Lin Ling had learned recently.

The reason they looked so exaggerated was that Eve had translated originally intermediate-to-advanced cipher formulas into combinations of low-level formulas that novice alchemists could understand, which significantly lengthened them.

The real challenge in deciphering these two alchemy formulas wasn’t their length but their structure—multiple formulas linked and nested together. Just as understanding solid geometry requires visualizing three-dimensional shapes, comprehending this long string of nested low-level formulas demanded an understanding of alchemical concepts at least at the Two-Star level, approaching Three-Star.

Eve lowered her hand and lifted Lin Ling onto her arm. "Come on, give it a try."

Lin Ling’s level was certainly not Two-Star; she hadn’t even mastered basic cipher and low-level formulas, barely qualifying as a One-Star beginner. Yet the red-haired girl stared intently at the floating screen for a long time, then moved her finger and actually began tracing on the display.

Even the Death Butterfly and the Luna Butterfly couldn’t resist emerging from Eve’s Spiritual World, each perching on one of her shoulders, commenting on Lin Ling’s focused efforts to decode the formulas.

"She can actually write it out? This talent is astounding!"

"Buzz."

"A natural prodigy—even Louis back in the day couldn’t compare. She’s almost on par with Gu Zhaoxi, isn’t she?" The Death Butterfly, still annoyed by Eve’s earlier remarks, fluttered around her head twice and added sarcastically, "Not to mention those who forcibly enhanced their talents through the Space-Time Gate. Tsk tsk, some people just have all the luck."

"Buzz buzz buzz!" Eve’s principle was never to argue with fools, especially not the biggest fool of all like the Death Butterfly. So, even hearing its subtle dig, she pretended not to notice, quietly watching Lin Ling solve the problem.

Meanwhile, the Death Butterfly and the Luna Butterfly’s quarrel grew increasingly heated. Lin Ling, who had been half-leaning against Eve, suddenly sat up and turned toward the source of the noise. The Death Butterfly, oblivious to its disruptive behavior, continued berating the Luna Butterfly, tugging at its antennae, until it felt its wing being touched.

"What?" it snapped, turning its slender limbs. "I said don’t interrupt when I’m dealing with private matters with the Luna Butterfl—"

It broke off mid-sentence as its tiny black eyes met a pair of clear green ones—calm as a mountain lake, reflecting the butterfly’s bizarre form with startling clarity.

"…"

"…………"

"Help! Help!" The Death Butterfly darted back into Eve’s mind in a panic, its sharp voice filled with sheer terror. "Sh-she, she can see me!? Why can she see me!?"

The Death Butterfly’s concealment differed from the Luna Butterfly’s. The latter relied on one-way mind control to create misperceptions, achieving the illusion of complete invisibility. The Death Butterfly, however, utilized rifts in time—appearing to be in one place while actually residing in a different time rift, making it unobservable without permission. Coincidentally, Lin Ling’s abnormal perception of time and space rendered the Death Butterfly’s disguise completely useless.

Eve had nearly forgotten—when she went to the laboratory with the First Princess that afternoon, the Death Butterfly had been off playing elsewhere and wasn’t aware of the matter concerning Lin Ling’s eyes.

Eve's mouth twitched slightly, ignoring the Death Butterfly's shrieks. Instead, she placed Lin Ling back on the floor covered with a thick blanket, patted her head gently, and said, "No problem. Alright, go play. Starting tomorrow, you don’t have to attend the structural mechanics class in the morning anymore."

Why bother?

With such innate talent, who knows who might end up teaching whom in the future.

The little girl’s eyes immediately lit up. She hadn’t expected that extra assignments would bring such an unexpected delight—no morning classes? Did that mean she could sleep in from now on?

This was truly wonderful! She tugged at Eve’s sleeve. When Eve leaned down curiously, Lin Ling planted a kiss on her cheek and said sweetly, "Thank you, big sister!" Then, grabbing her paper cut-out doll from the table, she bolted upstairs, seemingly off to play with her Lady's Maid.