"Virtue +70"
"Current Virtue: 854"
After squeezing out the last drop, Vanessa smiled with the purity and delicacy of a white rose.
It had been obvious from the start that the image stone would be the final blow to Jiuli Xue, and as expected, it worked just as she had anticipated.
Now, Jiuli Xue's value had been completely drained. One could say, she had "squeezed out" the most difficult woman in the original plot, Jiuli Xue, completely.
A sense of vengeance achieved suddenly filled her, while at the same time, she felt exhilarated.
Almost all the Virtue that could be obtained from Jiuli Xue had been exhausted.
".....Ah, I really lost thoroughly." After a long silence, Jiuli Xue shook her head, but there was no trace of frustration or resentment. "I was completely played by Vanessa. How unwilling...”
"But the more this is the case, the more I look forward to the next round~?" Jiuli Xue said, her gaze fixated on Vanessa, full of complex emotions—obsession, excitement, aggression, and a thirst for revenge...
"Miss Jiuli Xue, I think we are destined to have no fate." Vanessa said, lifting the hem of her dress, her foot placed behind her as she gave a perfect aristocratic curtsy. "I wish you a safe journey."
"Ha." Jiuli Xue suddenly laughed, realizing how badly she had lost. Without hesitation, she turned to leave.
"No fate~? I don’t think so, Miss Vanessa. You better start praying right now, pray that the day we meet again comes later." Jiuli Xue looked back, a strange charm flashing in her eyes.
"By then, the relationship between the dog and its master might just reverse~?"
"Also, Miss Vanessa, you should eat some nutritious food these days. How many fox hairs did you pluck from me this time? Next time we meet, I’ll pluck ten times as many feathers from your wings~"
"Be careful not to have your wings plucked bald. You might not look like an angel, but more like a common chicken." Jiuli Xue laughed mischievously.
"I don’t have wings."
The next moment, a fragrant breeze swept past, and she disappeared from Vanessa’s sight. Whether she heard Vanessa's explanation or not was unclear, but even if she did, it likely wouldn't make a difference.
Jiuli Xue knew it was pointless to stay any longer. This was Camellia Kingdom, and as a Demon Lord without restored powers, every second she spent here was a risk.
Since revenge was unattainable in the short term, why linger in frustration? Jiuli Xue never did unnecessary things.
Rather than dwell on past mistakes, it was better to look toward the future.
After a while, once she confirmed Jiuli Xue had indeed left, Vanessa let out a sigh of relief.
Tonight's actions had been extremely intense for her. After all, the one she had fought against was one of the female leads in the original story, the unpredictable, violent, sadistic future Demon King.
For a small NPC like her, with no fortune backing her up, to toy with the opponent and walk away unscathed was already quite impressive. This could have easily been a situation where she lost her head.
If Aeciphysis had at least been reasonable, there was no reason to not leave her alone. But Jiuli Xue? Completely unreasonable, doing whatever she pleased without anyone being able to stop her.
Taking a breath, Vanessa glanced at the city walls.
Letting Jiuli Xue take her near the city gate had only been a diversion. She didn’t plan on entering the city tonight.
It was always better to be cautious.
And now, she had plenty of things to do.
Opening the Virtue system, she looked at her current Virtue balance and felt that this life-and-death line of work hadn’t been in vain.
She had acquired two powerful enchanted items and over 800 Virtue, enough to change her current situation.
She had to admit, Jiuli Xue was quite the Virtue generator. She couldn’t even consume it all herself.
Eager to open the Virtue Tree, Vanessa clasped her delicate fingers, her lips curving into a barely suppressed smile.
Normally, her smile was mostly polite, but now, it was clearly filled with joy.
Opening the Virtue Tree, the skill "Holy King Baptism" had already been unlocked. The remaining two were "Minor Strength Blessing" and "Intermediate Healing", each requiring fifty Virtue.
Both of these spells were essential to unlock. Whether or not they were useful was another matter, but only by unlocking them could she extend the numerous branching skills they led to.
Thus, Vanessa spent 100 Virtue to unlock these two spells.
"Virtue deducted 100"
"Minor Strength Blessing learned"
"Intermediate Healing learned"
"Current Virtue: 754"
With the two skills unlocked, Vanessa suddenly felt a warm energy enveloping her skin, and at the same time, unfamiliar knowledge flooded her mind.
She tried using the Intermediate Healing spell. The soft pink glow was far more intense than the Minor Healing, and as she bathed in its radiance, she felt her exhausted body regain some strength.
However, these two spells were under the "Holy Messenger" category, meaning only Vanessa could cast them, not Winnie.
With the two skills unlocked and so much Virtue remaining, Vanessa felt like a rich woman.
She turned her gaze to the dazzling skill tree, now branching out from these three skills.
Vanessa had originally thought of unlocking the Advanced Healing skill first, but when she checked, she found that it wasn’t connected directly to Intermediate Healing. The Advanced Healing skill seemed to be quite far from it.
Oh well, she wasn’t in a rush to be a healer. Improving combat strength was more important.
She browsed for a moment and noticed a branch skill under "Holy King Baptism", the most distant one: "Holy Flame Blessing", which slightly reduced the magic consumption of the "Holy Flame of All Gods" spell, requiring 500 Virtue.
Vanessa’s eyes lit up. Reducing the magic consumption of the "Holy Flame of All Gods"?
After this {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} experience, she had thoroughly understood how powerful this game’s background bug of "Holy Flame of All Gods" was. Without it, she would’ve triggered a defeat CG.
This undoubtedly made Vanessa quite fond of it.
So, without hesitation, Vanessa unlocked this skill.
As for the excessive Virtue cost?
The "Holy Flame of All Gods" was her trump card, and it was definitely worth it, besides, she earned Virtue to spend it, right?
"Virtue deducted 500"
"Current Virtue: 254"
Vanessa looked at the skill tree under "Holy Flame Blessing" and found that all the skills in this branch were focused on reducing the magic consumption of "Holy Flame of All Gods". The second reduction required a terrifying 1500 Virtue.
Wait, if that’s the case, doesn’t this branch seem to be something she should unlock later on? Only unlocking one with a not-so-obvious effect?
Vanessa hesitated for a moment, then shifted her gaze to other skills.
She’d better unlock some skills that consumed little Virtue but had great improvements.
For example, those related to the Holy Blessing.
Her gaze then fell on a skill named "Holy Feather Blessing".
"Holy Feather Blessing": Slightly reduces the magic consumption of the "Flawless Holy Feather" spell and grants various enhancements when the Holy Feather is summoned. The Holy Feather will leave healing light particles along its path, healing allies or burning enemies. Furthermore, releasing the Holy Feather unlocks a series of Holy Blessing skills based on "Flawless Holy Feather".