Is this...?
What does this sentence mean?
Vanessa was completely confused.
She recognized every word, but when they were combined, she had no idea what they were trying to express.
Ah, this is really strange.
"Are you joking?" Vanessa could hardly imagine this being written in her personal panel.
"System, could you please explain what’s going on here?" In her female form, without her trusty double-barrel shotgun, Vanessa spoke in a soft and polite tone, like a well-mannered lady, instinctively resisting any rude behavior—this seemed almost like muscle memory embedded in her new body.
She felt very uncomfortable, as if the wild 'Zhuan' power inside her had been sealed to the point of almost being nonexistent.
After a long while, no response came.
Of course, whether this Virtue system had self-awareness was still up for debate, and even if it did, it wasn’t speaking, so there was no reply.
"Even if it's a joke, that’s a bit too much, don't you think?" Vanessa felt deeply troubled.
And just as the words left her mouth, a small line of text suddenly appeared on the panel.
‘Literal meaning, feel free to try if you don't believe it.’
"Try, try what?" Vanessa lowered her head, her face turning red, stammering for a while.
"Please don't say such irresponsible things!"
Ah, why have I become so girly??
This must be Aeciphysis’ doing!
Recalling everything that happened in the church earlier, Vanessa thought.
‘Not quite. The Aeciphysis family has been perfect ladies throughout history, this is simply a habit engraved in the [Blessed Angel] bloodline, awakened with the bloodline.’ As if understanding what she was thinking, a new line of text appeared on the panel.
This system truly has self-awareness.
"So, if I change back, will I still be affected by the bloodline?" Vanessa asked.
‘No.’
With this reply, Vanessa let out a sigh of relief.
"After I change back, will I still have to wait 24 hours to switch to the [Blessed Angel] form again?"
‘No, there is no cooldown when changing from male to female. You can change at will, but changing from female to male requires a 24-hour wait.’
So that’s how it works?
"May I ask, Mr. System, is there no time limit for the transformations?" In case the system ignored her again, Vanessa wanted to ask everything at once.
‘Essentially, it is the opening and closing of the Blessed Bloodline. There is no time limit. If you want to remain female, you may do so without ever changing back.’
"Thank you for your guidance." Vanessa absorbed and understood the rules laid out by the system, choosing to ignore the additional part of the explanation.
Now that she knew her 'little brother' and the 'Zhuan' power could return, Vanessa felt much more at ease and began studying the updates to the Virtue system after her awakening.
She discovered that besides adapting to changes in her body, [Gauntlet] also had a progress bar.
This progress bar had one completed section, with the label ‘Armor slightly increased and Impact Resistance unlocked’ lit up.
Vanessa counted the small circles on the progress bar—there were seven in total, but only the first one was lit.
She quickly associated it with realm levels. Excluding the basic entry-level, there were seven levels: Apprentice, Sorcerer, Magic Spirit, Master, Grandmaster, Inferno, and Immortal.
These should correspond to the seven levels.
In other words, every time she increased her realm, [Gauntlet] would undergo an evolution, and the first boost she received at the Apprentice level was the addition of Impact Resistance and a slight increase in Armor.
Vanessa began to understand why [Gauntlet] had a 100% compatibility with her. She was also quite grateful that she hadn’t ignored the unassuming "Best Soul Art Guide" from earlier.
This enhancement would also apply to her female form, but since [Gauntlet] was almost at zero armor rate in this form, its effect was far less potent compared to her male form’s full armor state. Also, all of the armor would be converted into magical resistance at a certain ratio.
Returning to the Virtue Tree interface, Vanessa looked at the dazzling array of skills and shifted her gaze to the few skills she could unlock.
[Intermediate Healing Spell]
[Holy King’s Baptism]
[Minor Blessing of Strength]
These three skills all required 50 Virtue points, and she had only 54, so she could only unlock one for now.
Vanessa thought for a moment, then temporarily closed the panel. She shut her eyes, and a moment later, a soft pink light gathered in her hand.
It worked.
This was the Basic Healing Spell, which didn’t need to be learned—it came with the bloodline awakening.
And as a [Saint Messenger] root, all [Saint Messenger] spells would receive a massive enhancement when she cast them.
Looking at the glow in her hand, Vanessa felt immense joy in her heart.
[Saint Messenger], a Soul Art that could only be unlocked with a four-star magic aptitude, had now blossomed in her hands, making her feel like she had finally made it.
Since she could already perform healing spells, the need for the Intermediate Healing Spell wasn’t great, so she didn’t consider it.
The Minor Blessing of Strength wasn’t useful for her right now, so the only one that could provide her with a substantial short-term boost was the [Holy King’s Baptism].
Why focus on healing when she could fight?
So, with her remaining Virtue points down to 4, Vanessa unlocked [Holy King’s Baptism].
At the same time, the knowledge of [Holy King’s Baptism] flooded into her mind.
As a sacred spell exclusive to the Blessed, it naturally had Aeciphysis’ [Divine Blessing] supporting it.
Speaking of Divine Blessing...
Vanessa took a deep breath.
It was like flying was a bird’s natural ability. After her bloodline awakening, the method to use [Divine Blessing] also appeared in her mind, as if it had always been there, a skill she was born with.
She opened her hand and began to channel the magic essence in her blood.
Suddenly, the surroundings dimmed slightly, as though the color had been drained from the scene.
A flame with a white cherry blossom core and an outer blaze shimmering with colorful luster appeared in her hand.
As the flame rose, the surrounding furniture and walls began to show signs of melting.
Vanessa didn’t notice this, as her eyes were focused only on the beautiful, enchanting flame in her hand.
This was the legendary Fanghui Church's Holy Fire, [Holy Flame of All Gods].
Even though she had never seen its true form, its power to purify all things in the world was unmistakable.
The Holy Flame of All Gods—she had really summoned it!
However, before she could even feel excited, the small flame in her hand extinguished.
Huh?
Vanessa froze for a moment, intending to summon it again, but found that this time, not even a spark would appear. At the same time, an intense feeling of exhaustion washed over her.
What’s happening? Could it be...?
Vanessa seemed to understand what was happening.
Her magic power had depleted.
No way... She’d only summoned a tiny flame, and it didn’t last long, but her magic was already gone??
How much magic power does the Holy Flame of All Gods consume?!