Chapter 196 - 158: The Push and Pull of Desire_1

Chapter 196: Chapter 158: The Push and Pull of Desire_1"Please, pretty please?" Nicole pleaded with her father, launching into a barrage of coaxing, "If I go to the Material Plane, I will surely obey Lord Gaven’s orders. I promise not to cause any trouble, and even less to act recklessly. If you don’t permit me, I’ll just sneak there on my own; after all, I know where the curtain lies." "Alright, when the time comes, you can lead the team, but you must obey Lord Gaven’s commands," Atwood answered helplessly. He knew his daughter’s nature very well. She could not only say such things, but also do them. Rather than letting her act recklessly on her own, it was better to entrust her directly to Lord Gaven, after all, he was a quite reliable person. "Thank you, Dad. I will definitely follow Lord Gaven’s orders," the Pikespirit girl promised loudly. "Then, that settles the matter." After finalizing the agreement with Atwood, Gaven once again made his way to Spring Bud Fortress. Lately, he had been visiting Spring Bud Fortress quite frequently. It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to return. S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Being transported to and fro by Lord Virginia’s portals, Gaven now found the journey, even when pulled by a Young Red Copper Dragon, a bit of a waste of time. But his own ability to open a portal was still a long way off. Compared to previous visits, Gaven’s state of mind on his way to Spring Bud Fortress this time was clearly a bit different. Deep inside, there was a little bit of anticipation; after all, his relationship with Lord Virginia was now a tad complicated, already starting to go beyond the scope of allies. By comparison, Lord Virginia’s state of mind was even more complex. She too realized that there was a problem with her memory, a significant problem. After nearly fleeing from the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest to Spring Bud Fortress, she frantically dug out her cherished portraits and Memory Crystals. The outcome made her even more distressed; neither the portraits nor the people in the Memory Crystals were Gaven. But to Virginia, the people in these images had become strangers. Looking at them sparked no feelings at all. Because everything in her memory, she did with Gaven, experienced with Gaven. Every time she recalled, Gaven’s face emerged in her mind. Virginia could be one hundred percent certain that her soul memory had been tampered with, with Gaven replacing her former lover. But the question was, who did this? Gaven Nort, that young Half-Elf Psychic Sorcerer? Virginia didn’t believe he was capable of such a feat; if he were a Legendary Psychic Sorcerer, perhaps it could be possible. After much deliberation, the issue could only stem from several soul contacts. Such soul contact, though not very common in the Material Plane, is not a rarity in the Fairy Wilderness. Especially those Lords attuned to their own territories, they used it most frequently; it was one of their important tactics, and Lord Virginia was no exception. This kind of problem had never happened before. If there were an issue with that... It would either be the work of the Foul Giants. Or it would be due to Gaven’s unique nature, the issue with his Soul Consciousness—apart from the first contact, when he actively showed her the prophetic dream imagery, she had glimpsed a bit of his Soul Consciousness. During the subsequent soul contacts, his Soul Consciousness seemed to be hidden in the depths of the Mist, making it quite difficult to peer into. Could it be that her attempt to peek into destiny, to glimpse the future, backfired? Had she also been caught up in the tumult of destiny? It seemed that ever since that time, her memory had been altered and replaced. However, because the situation wasn’t serious, she hadn’t noticed until she was washed back and forth by the consciousness time surges caused by the dispersal of the Ancient Dragon’s Soul, which solidified the alteration. Even if she had found the root of the problem, it seemed to be of no help. She had never heard of such a thing and couldn’t find a way to deal with it, let alone seek counsel from others. In such a situation, it was difficult for her to face Gaven. A slight misstep could easily lead her astray. Her feelings for Gaven were not that strong; at most, she didn’t dislike him, and she was full of curiosity about this young man burdened with an odd fate. What you fear, comes to pass. The sounds of arguing between Maqi and Gaven came from outside once again. Her unusual behavior after returning from the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest naturally could not be concealed from her personal maid, Maqi, who attributed all the blame to Gaven, naturally feeling averse to him and giving him a hard time at every turn. But Gaven’s visit was not for mere personal matters. It involved a treaty of alliance between two territories, especially concerning the Foul Giants in the Dark Cavern beneath the Dragon Scale Oak. They still needed to rely on him. After all, the Yaling were not adept at cave warfare, and their numbers were relatively few. Just as the argument outside was about to escalate further, Virginia had already composed her appearance and mood, and said, "Come in, both of you." Accompanied by Maqi’s response, the door opened, and the man who both troubled and moved Virginia walked in. No, it wasn’t her heart that was moved, it was just a problem with her memories. Virginia warned herself again in her mind before speaking, "Maqi, come in too." "Lord, what are your orders?" Maqi walked in, bowed, and asked. "From now on, when Lord Gaven visits, don’t deliberately hinder him. He is an ally of our territory; just lead him in directly," Virginia instructed. "But..." Maqi opened her mouth, wanting to say, every time he comes, Lord, your behavior is somewhat abnormal. If not melancholic and sad, then despondent, and this time it’s even worse, showing signs of madness. Of course, she couldn’t say this; Maqi could only swallow her words and grudgingly replied, "As you wish." After finishing, she was ready to leave. "You don’t need to go; just stay aside and listen," Virginia hurriedly stopped Maqi. She didn’t feel comfortable being alone with Gaven. Maqi, without suspicion, agreed and moved to stand behind Virginia. Gaven, who knew Virginia all too well, saw right through her thoughts. At this moment, she simply couldn’t make eye contact with him, probably still entangled in an inner turmoil. Thinking back, he would have been in a dilemma as well, such as if someone replaced Zalanda from his soul memories. Gaven didn’t bring up the matter of recruiting the Fae Race of the Spring Bud Forest to help with his farming. Instead, he shifted the conversation directly to the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, "Lord, I have come up with a method to solve the corruption of the Dragon Scale Oaks," he said. When the conversation turned to serious matters, Virginia had to confront it head-on, "What method?" "The same method we used last time to clean up the corruption, only this time, we can take bigger actions, even leveraging the strength of the Dragon Scale Oaks themselves." "Can you be more specific?" Virginia asked, her curiosity piqued. "Earlier, Lord, you must have felt the immense power of the Dragon Scale Oaks, but hindered by the lack of consciousness, they couldn’t fight back. You could fully utilize this power to build a larger and more stable Consciousness Sea and then draw more soul consciousnesses into it. Using this as a medium, we could launch a counterattack against the Corruption Power," he explained. Gaven had been pondering this issue for a long time and was now ready to borrow the gaming concepts from Zhang You’s world. Using the Dragon Oak Mother Tree to set up a server, turning from single-player to multiplayer, with many people online at the same time. Virginia, having understood the concept, began to weigh its possibilities, unable to help herself. It seemed entirely feasible. The Dragon Scale Oaks were also part of the Spring Bud Forest, and it was possible for her to control them through the Consciousness Sea. Especially since last time, after absorbing part of Frederick’s dragon soul essence, her ability to control had improved even further. If it were the old days, Lord Virginia would have agreed readily, or at the very least, opened a teleportation gate immediately and taken Gaven to the Dragon Scale Oaks to attempt it on site. But now, she hesitated. It wasn’t the fear of failure, but the fear of success. Because once they proceed with this plan, she would inevitably have to make soul contact with Gaven, an extremely intimate one at that. What had happened last time still lingered vividly in her mind. Within the sea of consciousness, where soul consciousness takes the lead, some things become diluted or even forgotten, like the issue with soul memories, for instance. Gaven seemed to see through Virginia’s thoughts and added quietly from the side, "The Foul Giants over there are speeding up the corruption. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us. If we engage in conventional warfare, we do not hold the advantage either. If the method I’ve mentioned works, we could very likely force the Foul Giants to initiate conventional warfare against us first, allowing us to conserve our strength by fighting a defensive battle and depleting their living forces." In the end, rationality triumphed over emotion. The responsibility of a Lord outweighed personal gain or loss. Virginia still decided to join Gaven and head to the Dragon Oak Mother Tree to assess the situation. As before, she brought Aivensa to act as a shield between them. The sight of the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest startled Lord Virginia. It had turned into a massive construction site, bustling with the figures of Gnolls, orderly amid chaos. These seemingly identical Gnolls were actually organized into teams with specific tasks. Each team had its own construction area, and each Gnoll their own responsibilities. They worked like a tremendous machine, each Gnoll a gear in its workings. With the roaring operation of this machine, the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest was undergoing revolutionary changes. Amidst the rumbling of carriage wheels, a tall and sturdy figure was pulling a massive cart, measuring ten meters in length and three to four meters in height, passing not far from Lord Virginia. Lord Virginia’s pupils involuntarily constricted. Despite significant changes in appearance, she recognized it at a glance—the Twilight Guardian from the Ancient Dragon Nest. When had Gaven managed to enlist even it? Logically, considering the commotion they were causing in the Ancient Dragon Nest, it was fortunate enough that it hadn’t caused chaos among them! But something was off. The aura it exuded was different. She sensed an aura of wisdom from it. That was the Enlightenment. Indeed, the Twilight Guardian had been subjected to an Enlightenment spell. It was now an intelligent creature. But who could have cast the Enlightenment spell on it? Virginia’s gaze involuntarily fell on Gaven. It had to be him! Virginia was almost entirely certain that this was Gaven’s doing. There was no way to measure this young man with reason alone. Feeling Virginia’s gaze, Gaven’s eyes suddenly turned towards her, locking eyes for several seconds. Looking at the familiar and cordial face, even though she knew that tampered memories were causing the chaos, suppressed emotions still surged in her heart, causing the Yaling Lord’s heartbeat to miss several beats, as if she had forgotten to breathe. With tremendous willpower, she forced her gaze away. A deep sense of guilt overwhelmed Virginia in an instant, feeling as though she was betraying—betraying her former lover, betraying her own emotions, yet it all seemed beyond her control. Gaven and Virginia didn’t hide their intentions, admitting openly, "The Twilight Guardian has been enlightened by me. It will not only be our greatest protector of the Dragon Oak Dragon Nest in the future but also a builder. As long as it doesn’t leave the scope of the Dragon Oak Mother Tree, it will be our strongest weapon against the Foul Giants." Virginia’s abnormal reaction did not escape his eyes, and a strange sense of wicked accomplishment filled him. This was far more interesting than simply courting a young maiden. The more Virginia acted this way, the more he wanted to provoke her. Men were indeed no good—such saying wasn’t wrong, and it didn’t discriminate by age. "How could you possibly know Enlightenment?" Virginia voiced her greatest doubt. After sending the unstoppable Aivensa away, Gaven finally explained, "In fact, I have always had a question that I wanted to ask you, Lord. How much do you know about Milestones of Destiny?"