Chapter 1660: Bramble Spirit

The white fog scattered.

Gu Qing Shan once again appeared in front of Laura.

Although Gu Qing Shan’s expression seemed normal, Laura suddenly felt a sense of heaviness appear in her mind.

—–what happened?

Or rather, what kind of problem did Gu Qing Shan run into?

After thinking for a bit, Laura felt a bit dejected.

What good would it do even if I asked?

He had already awoken a Realm Force, while I still haven’t been able to help at all.

“Is everything done?” Laura asked only that.

“Hm, don’t worry” Gu Qing Shan nodded and smiled.

The heroic spirit girl said: 『 Indeed, I can no longer sense that evil Holy relic 』

Gu Qing Shan turned to her and asked: “Something so serious had happened in your city, how come none of the other locations in the Dusty World reacted towards this at all?”

『 Interference with other world systems is absolutely forbidden—– this is the rule that the entire Dusty World adheres to 』the girl explained.

Laura and Gu Qing Shan exchanged glances.

“That can’t be right. With all the people of your world dead, the world would fall into the complete control of evil, someone should have come to help you” Laura couldn’t help but say.

The girl smiled.

『 Considering that you are newcomers, you’ve most likely misunderstood something 』

“What do you mean?”

『 The Dusty World is the fusion of numerous world systems, all of which fought against the Apocalypse and failed, having left with no choice but to flee from their own Realities and gather here. This created the Dusty World 』

“WHAT!?”

『 Even the city under your feet once belonged to an independent world system, regretfully, it was attacked and destroyed until there was only a single city left when it managed to flee from the Reality it existed in and entered the Dusty World 』the girl explained.

Gu Qing Shan calmly said: “If you’ve already joined the Dusty World, why was it that no one came to your aid?”

『 It is only fair, after all, no one came to help the old man from earlier either 』the girl replied.

Gu Qing Shan was surprised.

The girl continued: 『 To let each world system naturally develop by themselves, this is a strict rule that all world systems must adhere to—- in other words, if Evil had been able to triumph, it would only prove that it was the suitable choice for the world system as a whole, allowing the Dusty World to become stronger 』

Gu Qing Shan sighed and said: “So that’s what it meant”

There was no distinction between good and evil.

It all boiled down to natural selection.

Only those who survive and become stronger would be recognized, as they were the kind of power that the Dusty World currently needed.

Sure enough, the girl continued: 『 Even without considering that, there are many world systems that simply can’t come to mutual understanding, and no one had the capability to arbitrarily interfere with someone else’s world—– 』

『 Because of this, the most crucial rule within the Dusty World was absolute non-interference between world systems, but when it is the time to fight against the Apocalypse, all world systems must not hold anything back 』

Glancing at the two of them, she added: 『 Of course, the situation would be very different for newcomers like yourself—– I’m guessing that Laura’s ancestral spirit will arrive very soon 』

A small blue bird flew down from the sky and landed on Laura’s shoulder.

It intimately rubbed its head against Laura, then spoke in human language: “[Returned Bramble Blood], the Gloomy City world system had been changed by you and your warrior’s actions. You have now obtained the qualifications of the past and can continue to wield the Realm Force of the Bramble Bird race”

A glowing covenant suddenly appeared.

Laura nervously asked: “This is…”

The bird turned to the girl and spoke: “Saint heroic spirit of Gloomy City, are you willing–”

『 I’m willing 』the girl cut its question off and replied.

The small bird then said: “Very well, then the covenant had been formed”

Instantly, the glowing covenant flew in front of Laura and unraveled itself.

Several lines of text were inscribed on it quite neatly.

[The two sides of the covenant:]

[Bramble bloodline: Laura]

[Saint heroic spirit girl: Tear]

[Agreement:]

[The wealth of the Bramble Birds will provide the means of revitalizating the Gloomy City, while the saint spirit will be ready to answer the empress’ summon at any time and fight along her side]

[Witness:]

[Pure Man: Gu Qing Shan]

The covenant hovered in front of Laura, Gu Qing Shan, and the young girl, Tear, respectively.

The small blue bird explained: “Our Bramble Bird race had already disappeared from the Dusty World a long time ago, but the Dusty World as a whole continues to remember us without fail—-”

“Laura, you have obtained the first Bramble Realm Force, and the further you venture towards the center of the Dusty World, the stronger your powers will grow!”

The small blue bird turned into a streak and light and flew into the sky, quickly disappearing without a trace.

Laura looked at the girl with a strange expression.

She hesitantly asked: “That is to say…”

The girl smiled and walked forward, curtsying to greet Laura: 『 I am Tear. From now on, you can summon me to fight any time you wish. Of course, you do not need to pay anything else other than a bit of wealth to help our world 』

Gu Qing Shan commented: “In other words—- Laura’s Bramble Realm Force is her paying money for you to help her fight, is that correct?”

『 Indeed. According to the legends, whenever the Bramble Bird King wanted to fight someone, countless spirits from many Realities would have to compete with one another to answer their summon, so it is my honor that I can become her very first summoned spirit 』the girl smiled and nodded.

Laura hurriedly asked: “Can I ask how much wealth I would have to give up every time I summon you?”

The girl pointed at the tattered dark city behind her and replied: 『 Currently, I will require a few rare plants and dirt in order to help the city regain its initial vitality 』

Laura sighed in relief: “That isn’t much at all”

The girl continued: 『 As the city gradually regains its vitality, I will also grow stronger, so I will most likely require more wealth and treasure 』

“For example?” Laura asked.

The girl waved her hand.

One of the gems from the mountain of gems just next to them flew into her hand.

『 You will probably need to provide a few gems every time you want to summon me 』the girl said with an embarra.s.sed tone.

“Just that?” Laura relaxed her hands and asked.

『 Just that 』the girl nodded.

Laura sighed in relief and muttered: “Then I can keep summoning you until the end of time…”

Gu Qing Shan slowly became speechless as he listened to their conversation.

Realm Force——

In order for me to obtain Realm Force, I had to venture into the past and fight a horde of monsters, then even needed the help of the Master of the Blood Sea Valhalla in order to awaken [Realm Spirit Descent]

It was said that Realm Force represented a limit of power, the symbol of the ‘strong’.

——but this limit doesn’t seem to affect Laura at all.

All she had to do was sign a contract…

At this point, Laura pulled a large bag out from her backpack and handed it to Tear.

“This is Wood Spirits dirt that I’ve collected, there should be around 300,000 hectares here, quite enough for you to use”

She then took out a small box and explained: “There are seeds of powerful war plants in here that can turn the entire city into a war fortress—- they can usually grow anywhere, but they particularly like Wood Spirits dirt”

“And also——-”

Laura then took out another large trunk and placed it on the ground with a thud, then explained like she was used to it: “I can see that you’re a spirit who trends towards the good and holy attributes, so this entire trunk is full of Eternal Holy Light Originites, it’s very precious, but I’ll give it all to you”

Bam!

The trunk was opened.

The night was illuminated by the gems so brightly that it practically became daytime.

Staring at the trunk full of gems, Tear muttered while fl.u.s.tered: 『 There’s no need, that is too much 』

Laura clenched her small hand and said: “What do you mean there’s too much, you can seize this chance to get stronger even faster. I don’t want to just sit back and watch in a battle—- I want to fight alongside Gu Qing Shan!”

『 Even so, there’s no need for so much 』

“Take it”

『 It’s really too much 』

“Take it”

『 I can’t take all of this 』

“Take it”

『 ——-thank you, empress 』

Tear accepted Laura’s present and solemnly bowed: 『 Don’t worry, I will grow stronger very rapidly, you can summon me in battle at any time you wish 』

“Hm, that’s much better”

Laura waved her hand and finally felt a.s.sured.

Gu Qing Shan said: “This place is the border of the Dusty World, so the time difference between it and the outside world isn’t very p.r.o.nounced, we need to quickly move further inside”

The girl understood and pointed her hand into the void of s.p.a.ce, mumbling some incantations under her breath.

Holy runes of light suddenly manifested out of nowhere and formed into a temporary teleportation circle.

『 I’ve visited a nearby world system in the past and had kept the teleportation circle they provided at the time; I’ll send the two of you there now 』Tear said.

“Thank you”

She and Gu Qing Shan both stood onto the teleportation circle.

Before the circle was activated, Gu Qing Shan suddenly asked:

“Tear, do you have a teleportation circle into the inner regions of the Dusty World? Can you send us there directly?”

The girl giggled and answered him: 『 A nearly-destroyed world like the Gloomy City can only fuse with the border of the Dusty World. We don’t even have the courage to approach the center, let alone obtain a teleportation circle from them 』

“Why not?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

『 Because the power fluctuations there are so powerful that they could destroy the entire Gloomy City 』the girl answered.

She then recited another incantation.

The teleportation circle gave off a blinding flash of light, taking both Gu Qing Shan and Laura away.

Only the girl remained here.

Looking at the items on the ground, she sighed in satisfaction.

This world will be rejuvenated.

Since I stand by the side of the Bramble Bird Sovereign, I would naturally grow stronger as time goes by.

Not to mention that [Pure Man].

I’ve seen that battle earlier with my own eyes.

It was originally supposed to be a desperate battle of the weak against the strong, but it ended so swiftly and one-sidedly.

He isn’t a normal person either.

——throughout my entire life’s memory, I’ve never seen such a shamelessly despicable person before.

Of course, calling him shameless and despicable is a bit too much, perhaps it’s better to call it…

Tactical?

The girl couldn’t help but giggle.

『 I hope that you will truly be able to reach the center of the world… I will also seize my time to grow stronger as well… 』

She told herself.