Chapter 10: Another Flash?

In the continent of Zervia, strength is precisely divided from low to high into First through Tenth Tiers—from the unranked farmer swinging a hoe to the legendary Tenth Tier immortals who ascend to godhood. This is not just a ladder of power, but the whip marks of privilege and the iron law of the world.

However, bloodline is an even crueler rule. Just like a dragon, upon cracking its shell, already stands at the Fifth Tier—a starting point that many mortals cannot even hope to reach in their lifetime.

When the Creator casts the dice, it is never fair.

Xing Yue wasn't sure what race she was, but as a seed nurtured by the Demon King, perhaps her starting point was higher than ordinary people?

Unfortunately, she currently knew nothing. She hadn't found a way to gauge strength from books, and had no idea what tier she was at. All she knew was that when she gave names to other monsters, it elevated their abilities.

At the top of a tall bookshelf, Xing Yue's slender pale legs stopped swinging freely in the air. With a smack, she closed the heavy ancient tome and hugged it against her chest.

Then, leaning forward slightly, she poked her head out from the edge of the high shelf where she sat, looking down.

Down there, two goat-headed demons sat cross-legged, looking remarkably... well-behaved.

"Yang Dazhuang, what tier are you and Yang Ersha?"

"I'm Fifth Tier, Princess."

"I'm Sixth Tier now, boss."

The two goat-headed demons answered honestly upon hearing her.

Xing Yue then looked up at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, which had opened its eyes: "And you, Xiao Du?"

"I'm only Third Tier, Princess."

None of them feel that strong...

Right now, Xing Yue didn't have much of a sense of what tiers really meant. She kind of wanted to have the two goat-headed demons fight each other to see what a Fifth versus Sixth Tier fight looked like.

After thinking it over, Xing Yue asked again, "And what about our Demon King? What tier is she now?"

"Her Majesty the Demon King's might has already reached the pinnacle of the Ninth Tier! The threshold of the divine throne is right before her eyes! With just half a step more, Her Majesty will push open that door and ascend to the eternal, immortal Tenth Tier throne!"

It was Xiao Du who replied, his tone becoming incredibly passionate once more, making no effort to hide his reverence for the Demon King.

But to Xing Yue's ears, it still felt lacking.

Ninth Tier is Ninth Tier. Even if it's the peak of Ninth Tier, if she hasn't reached Tenth Tier, she's still Ninth Tier. Since she's just a little short of Tenth Tier, why doesn't she just grind a bit more and break into Tenth Tier?

After mentally berating her incompetent Demon King mother for a while, Xing Yue finally shelved the thought of wishing her mom would become a god.

Picking up the ancient book she had been reading earlier, Xing Yue climbed down from the top of the bookshelf using the ladder, stuffed it back into its place, and moved to the magic section on the other side.

Wandering around, she found an ancient tome called The Origin of Magic on the shelf, found a spot to sit down, hugged the book, and continued reading.

Unsurprisingly, magic was also divided into First through Tenth Tiers. The higher the tier, the more powerful the spell.

Casting magic required a basic magical circuit—something innate, almost as essential as blood. Creatures completely devoid of magical circuits were extremely rare in this world.

Talent in the field of magic depended on elemental affinity—the ability to establish communication with the elemental spirits in the air.

It was said that people with low elemental affinity couldn't even sense the elemental spirits at all.

Following the method in the book, Xing Yue casually sensed her surroundings and sure enough, she saw the elemental spirits in the air.

Only...

What Xing Yue saw was a lot of elemental spirits—like, to the point where someone with trypophobia would die on the spot.

She tried reaching out to touch these elemental spirits. But the moment she raised her hand, it suddenly stirred up the entire sea of elemental spirits. They rejoiced, flowed like a stream, and gathered entirely into her fingertips.

Xing Yue was startled. Subconsciously, she withdrew from her sensing state and looked at her hand in reality.

Then she was nearly blinded by an intense flash.

"Hiss..."

"Why is it another flash?!"

Xing Yue covered her eyes, shaking her hand repeatedly, trying to shake off all the elemental spirits gathered on it.

Thanks to that, she wasn't the only one covering her eyes now. The two goat-headed demons, who had looked over at the commotion, were also forced to cover their eyes and start missing their mommies.

"Boss, I can't see anything..."

"Princess, I'm going blind, I'm going blind! Please, spare us!"

The two goat-headed demons howled in unison. But unfortunately, Xing Yue herself had no idea how to turn off this light show. She sighed helplessly, "I don't know how to stop it either..."

But Xing Yue didn't just sit idly by. She re-entered her sensing state and looked at the colorful elemental spirits crowding around her hand more and more densely. Growing a bit annoyed, she snapped at them, "Go away! Stop gathering around me!"

To Xing Yue's surprise, the elemental spirits really did calm down the next moment. After a few seconds, they scattered all at once.

Not only that, but she could feel a sense of grievance and sadness from them.

"Ah, this..."

"Maybe... that was a bit too harsh?"

Just as a sliver of guilt arose in Xing Yue's heart, she raised her hand again, trying to call them back. The scattered elemental spirits instantly cheered and leaped with even more enthusiasm than before, rushing toward her in unison.

"?!"

"Wait! Don't come over!"

Xing Yue was startled. She hastily withdrew her hand and exited her sensing state.

In reality, the blinding intense light had completely dissipated, revealing that fair, jade-like little hand.

After this trial, Xing Yue realized that her elemental affinity was maxed out.

These elemental spirits were extremely sensitive to her intentions. The moment she showed even a hint of closeness, they would cheerfully rush to stick to her. Even when she just chased them away, as soon as they sensed her reaching out, they would swarm back without hesitation.

But...

"Is this considered magic? Or is it my own ability?"

Xing Yue fell into deep thought.

After all, Xiao Du had gained the ability to emit light from her. Now, by coincidence, the strong light she released by gathering elemental spirits was pretty much the same—hard not to connect the two.

Also, after Xing Yue named the two goat-headed demons, they gained different abilities from her. One was an invisibility cloak that made them nearly transparent. The other was turning white.

"Turning white" was literally turning white. As the saying goes, "White covers a hundred ugliness." After using the whitening ability, Yang Ersha's charm would increase!

Not that it was particularly useful...

First light emission, then whitening. If Yang Dazhuang hadn't gained the transparent ability, Xing Yue would have started to suspect that her ability pool was purely cosmetic—only useful for polluting other people's skill sets.

Even so, Xing Yue still felt that she wasn't much different from a Magikarp that could only flop around—a small fry with zero threat.

Of course, she wasn't going to stop developing her abilities just because of a little setback. Since she could already release a flash through elemental spirits, maybe she could cast other spells too?