Witch Special

When Teacher Patchouli said, "The Courtyard of the Dead is more dangerous than the Chaos Demon," Lin Zhenxi felt that it was really domineering.

Yeah, what's a demon? Patchouli just captured it and used it as a research specimen for Lin Zhenxi. It would be easy to destroy that pile of hairy rotten meat. Lin Zhenxi has such a strong backing, what does she have to be afraid of?

Perhaps in her world, the Chaos Devil was a monstrous beast, wiping out all civilization and order with a single charge. But here in the Courtyard of Departure, even the source of Chaos was nothing more than a fleeing rat, a stinkbug so easily plucked out of its eyeballs that it wouldn't even dare to fart.

Such an enemy is really not something to be afraid of.

After figuring this out, Lin Zhenxi felt relieved. There's nothing to be afraid of, because I have someone above me!

So Lin Zhenxi shifted the focus and began to ask Teacher Patchouli why the celebration game was suddenly closed.

In this matter, Teacher Patchouli rarely showed a distressed expression on her face. Even Lin Zhenxi felt that she seemed a little wronged, and even her lips were pouted.

Teacher Patchouli looks so aggrieved, so cute!

Teacher Patchouli didn't notice that her silly apprentice was now obsessed with getting close to her. She said gloomily, "I don't know who leaked the reward points I prepared to Princess Zimeng. As a result, she was anxious to get the bracelet that belonged to her, so she directly killed the demon god I placed in the celebration world."

"The Eye of Deep Chaos is the cornerstone of the Celebration World. After it was killed by Princess Zimeng, the Celebration World naturally collapsed."

"I don't know why Princess Zimeng is so anxious. That bracelet is destined to be hers, and she can't run away."

"Because of Princess Zimeng's unexpected actions, all my plans have been disrupted. But this celebration has been going on for quite some time, so no one will say anything even if it ends. It's just that you, Maki, didn't get the chance to see the fully liberated Demon God. Don't you feel like you've been let down?"

Lin Zhenxi thought back to the pair of lifeless eyes he saw in the string world, and felt that there seemed to be nothing much to see in that thing. At most, there would be some mental pollution or something. Could it be possible to create something as cruel as the parasitic planet?

So Lin Zhenxi shook his head and said, "If you didn't see it, then you didn't see it. Teacher, didn't you also say that if I really faced the devil, the devil might leave a mental suggestion, and then I would have to work hard to wash it off. It's better to do it this way now and save trouble."

"If that's what you think, that's fine," Patchouli said, raising her hand towards the bookshelf behind her. A scroll flew out of the bookshelf and landed in Patchouli's open hand.

Patchouli handed the scroll to Lin Zhenxi and said, "Because the celebration world collapsed so completely, the original points lottery has also been invalidated. Remember when I said that as long as you cleared the 'Moon Watching' difficulty, you would get a reward? Although it didn't meet my expectations, you did clear the 'Moon Watching' difficulty once. So, as agreed, this is my graduation gift to you."

Lin Zhenxi took the scroll, unfolded it in his hand, and found that it was actually a panoramic view of the courtyard of the dead.

But at the very top of the picture, where the sun should have been, there's now a dark hole. Perhaps it's precisely because of the absence of the sun that the entire scene appears so bleak, completely unlike the actual courtyard of the dead. Whether it's day or night, on the mountaintop or by the lake, everywhere exudes a dreamlike beauty.

Of course, what is more important is that on every hill in this painting, there is a pure red torii gate. Against the overall dim color tone, those brightly colored torii gates appear extremely conspicuous.

Lin Zhenxi immediately realized that this scroll painting was actually the essence of the celebration world.

After all, when Lin Zhenxi had previously passed through the torii gate, she had seen a flat surface unfolding at the end of the gate. From that moment on, she knew that the Celebration World itself was actually a two-dimensional world. Now, seeing this painting again, especially when thinking about what Patchouli had just said, she immediately connected it with the Celebration World.

"Teacher, is this the main body of the celebration world?" Let's confirm it.

"I'm really glad you recognized it. Yes, this is the gift I want to give you, a two-dimensional world that exists in the painting."

Patchouli pulled the painting from Lin Zhenxi's hand and threw it forward. The scroll hung in mid-air by itself, then gradually sagged inward, transforming into a curtain of shimmering white light.

When the light dimmed, the painting turned into a portal suspended in mid-air. Behind the portal was the courtyard of death in the painting, which had become extremely dim due to the loss of the sun.

However, Lin Zhenxi stretched out his hand and wiped away the courtyard of death in the picture, and the entire picture became blank.

To be precise, it was not completely blank, but was covered with a thick layer of white fog, which obscured all the original scenery.

It's not about erasing, but covering...

Teacher Patchouli put away the scroll that she had painted white, rolled it into a scroll shape, and handed it back to Lin Zhenxi.

"Here, it will come in handy if you come across something dirty that needs to be sealed."

"Dimensionality reduction is a very effective method for limiting the spread of pollution. Even filth at the level of a demon god cannot break through the boundaries of dimension and spread its pollution from the two-dimensional world to the higher-dimensional three-dimensional world."

"So, in the future, if you encounter something that can't be eliminated but must be sealed, simply place it in this painting. But please note that the carrier of this painting's world is not solid. You must ensure that the sealed object is in a state of being unable to resist. Otherwise, if the sealed object touches the boundary between the two-dimensional world and the three-dimensional world in the painting while struggling, the world in the painting will be destroyed."

"Once you become the master of this world within the painting, you can freely design its contents. Simply by infusing your magic, you can make it undergo the changes you desire. I know you've been struggling with how to design your own exclusive world, but you can use this world as a practice. Creating in a two-dimensional world is far simpler than in a three-dimensional one."

"How do you feel about this gift I prepared for you?"

"I love you so much, teacher!" Lin Zhenxi happily rushed over with the scroll in her hand, but Teacher Patchouli picked up a book and slapped it in her face, preventing her from getting any closer.

"Forget about the hug. Before I clarify your sexual orientation, I dare not have any intimate contact with you." Teacher Patchouli said helplessly, holding Patchouli's face with a book.

She is really not good at handling this kind of relationship. If Lin Zhenxi is really a lesbian, then in order to avoid trouble, Teacher Patchouli is most likely to close the door of the library to Lin Zhenxi and never meet her again.

After all, to her, love is a completely unnecessary emotion that will only waste her time and bring her no positive benefits.

Being guarded by Patchouli-sensei like this, Lin Zhenxi felt a little hurt. It's not like she's really lesbian and would be attracted to the same sex. Who doesn't love to cuddle with beautiful girls? She can't be blamed for this at all.

But since Patchouli explicitly refused, Lin Zhenxi had no choice but to give up this golden opportunity to connect with her teacher. She opened the Space Cube and inserted the newly acquired god-level magic item, "The World in the Painting," into it. Immediately, she felt a significant decrease in her magic power, as if she had been punched in the chest. It was incredibly painful.

The energy level of this "world in the painting" was so high that the magic power consumed by putting it into the spatial cube or taking it out was very uncomfortable for Lin Zhenxi. But this also indirectly demonstrated the high value of the gift given to her by Teacher Patchouli. You have to know that until now, she has never had anything with the energy level of "the world in the painting".

Although Lin Zhenxi feels uncomfortable every time she uses it, considering the powerful functions of the "world in the painting", such a small drawback can be completely ignored and can even be classified as a happy trouble.

Moreover, Teacher Patchouli even considered the issue of how to build Hayashi Maki's exclusive world. Hayashi Maki had only mentioned this issue to Teacher Patchouli once a long time ago, and she herself had almost forgotten about it, but Teacher Patchouli still remembered it. She was really... too considerate.

Cry.

After putting the "world in the painting" away, Lin Zhenxi thought about what else she wanted to say.

She reached into the space cube again and took out the doll of the Lady of Light.

Logically speaking, the Maiden of Light's automaton was created by a Creator God-level source spirit, and since it involved high-level concepts like karma and fate, her energy level should be quite high. Lin Zhenxi had previously thought so, as extracting her from the spatial cube would have consumed a considerable amount of mana. However, compared to the "world in the painting," the Maiden of Light seemed to be only a fraction of the latter.

That shouldn't be the case. Although Teacher Patchouli is also very strong, we can tell from her descriptions that she respects and admires the Source Spirit, so the Source Spirit should be stronger than Teacher Patchouli. However, the Source Spirit's creations are not as high in energy level as Teacher Patchouli's "World in the Painting". How is this possible?

This leaves only one possibility: the Lady of Light is better optimized and adapted than the "World in the Picture," automatically unlocking its mystery based on the owner's skill level, never placing too much of a burden on the user. On the other hand, the "World in the Picture" has a fixed mystery level. Even if Hayashi Maki directly obtained ownership of it from Patchouli-sensei, using it would still place a heavy burden on her.