Chapter 85

Chapter Eighty-Five: Facing the Arrival Sect’s “Radiant Bishop”

Xia’er slowly shifted her gaze away from the system interface, her mind beginning to recall memories from the last simulation.

After every simulation ended, she always instinctively reviewed what she had done during the simulation, making sure to remember every detail.

This review instilled a sense of unease in Xia’er.

“Tempter” potion… It was far more malevolent than she had imagined.

The side effects of the potions she had previously consumed were all within Xia’er’s tolerance limits.

“Avenger” and “Judge” potions subtly influenced her personality, making Xia’er more aggressive and prone to extreme actions. However, these extreme actions mostly aligned with Xia’er’s interests, and even in reality, she wouldn’t feel much psychological discomfort.

They merely transformed Xia’er’s desires into more obsessive obsessions without touching her core interests—family and friends.

As for the “Gambler” potion, aside from the influence of the Satarna Mark, it only made Xia’er more willing to bet on low-probability events, reducing her cautiousness.

Currently, the “Gambler” potion had the least impact on Xia’er among all the potions.

But the “Tempter” potion…

It actually made Xia’er actively tempt Nia to kill Adelle, even exploiting her soft spot—Aivana—to coerce her into working for herself.

Without any psychological pressure, Xia’er killed everyone at Derton Manor, regardless of their innocence or guilt.

In the end, to experiment with the summoned Spiritual Being, the Tempter Xia’er directly attacked Nia, who was at the third stage, without hesitation.

The Tempter Xia’er appeared cheerful and easy to talk to, but in reality, influenced by the Tempter potion, her moral baseline was extremely low. For the sake of her plans, she could even tempt others to kill their own friends…

Xia’er had no doubt that if Nia had been successfully tempted at the time, the Tempter herself would have been laughing while commenting on Adelle’s corpse…

Yet, she hadn’t sensed the whispers of the potion, which had an almost negligible effect compared to other potions.

But her thoughts had completely transformed into those of a Tempter… Her thinking synchronized almost perfectly with the potion’s.

Did the potion fuse perfectly with her the moment she drank it?

Was this good or bad?

Xia’er sighed softly and stopped thinking about the Tempter potion.

Besides these memories, there was one thing that caught her attention.

That was the Spiritual Being she summoned at the end.

No matter how hard Xia’er tried to recall, she couldn’t remember its appearance or what it had said to her.

In her memory, the Spiritual Being seemed like an unobservable mosaic, impossible to retrieve any details no matter how hard she tried.

The entity she summoned… was definitely not ordinary.

Xia’er’s confidence in dealing with the Arrival Sect’s Radiant Bishop increased slightly.

She slowly stood up, a slight dizziness causing her body to wobble slightly, but she quickly steadied herself.

“Huff…”

She exhaled slowly and sat back down.

Now wasn’t the time to rest.

Time was still ticking away second by second. The sooner she found a way to stop the Radiant Bishop’s investigation, the safer she would be, and the more time she would have in reality to adjust her plans.

Firstly, sacrificing everyone at Derton Manor as in the simulation was absolutely out of the question.

Currently, besides the cultists, some normal members of Derton Manor were still unaware of what had happened. They were just servants who didn’t know anything.

Aside from the manor’s members, there were also small nobles, merchants, and Extraordinary Persons who came to gamble, buy things, or accept commissions.

Although the Avenger Xia’er had blown up the church square, it was only to lure out Xie Lun, and in reality, Xia’er wouldn’t really blow up the square.

However, the ultimate goal of this simulation was to deal with the visiting Radiant Bishop, and Xia’er certainly wouldn’t sacrifice everyone in Derton Manor in reality…

Such actions would make her seem even more cult-like than the actual cultists and would eventually attract investigations from various forces, going against Xia’er’s wish to restore peace to her life.

But if she only sacrificed the cultists in Derton Manor… Would that be enough?

Maybe not…

Xia’er leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought.

Arrival Sect… Investigation…

Xia’er remembered that Jiti had revealed something to her in the last simulation.

Aivana remained undetected because the cultists originally assigned to her hadn’t returned to Aivana’s manor yet, thus gathering no intelligence.

Other than Derton Manor, there were quite a few cultists in Borough City…

How about holding a meeting?

Find a reason to have Jiti gather all the cultists of the Arrival Sect in Borough City and sacrifice them all at once…

This way, it could ensure that all the cultists had the Satarna Mark in their bodies, allowing clearer direction toward the previous Spiritual Being and preventing the sacrifices from being intercepted by other Spiritual Beings.

The more Xia’er thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

However, there was one prerequisite: she must use the save file of the Tempter to make Jiti fully obey her commands.

Although the Gambler had the Satarna Mark, it might not always intimidate Jiti without help.

If possible, Xia’er wanted to resolve this issue alone, keeping the number of people involved to a minimum.

Not exposing herself to more organizations or churches was what Xia’er desired.

Next, it depended on whether the simulation timing could align properly.

Xia’er directly opened the simulation interface, and the date for the next simulation appeared before her, making her slightly startled.

[Next Day: 3 Days (Sheng Year 741, June 23rd, 13:00) (Consumption: 10 Mortal Points)]

Three days later? 23rd at 1 PM?

Just one minute before the Radiant Bishop arrives?

Isn’t this timing too suspiciously precise?

Xia’er even suspected that the system’s timing was pseudo-random or just the system’s whimsical nature.

There’s no way everything can be prepared in just a minute… right?

Xia’er suddenly stood up, grabbed her canvas bag from the bedside cabinet, and took out a familiar notebook and a pencil.

She indeed didn’t have enough time to prepare all this… but the version of herself within the simulation could do it for her.

Xia’er walked back to the sofa, sat down, opened the notebook, and started writing on one of the blank pages in Chinese.

[I need you to find an opportunity to obtain and drink the “Tempter” potion.]

[Remember! Do not try to tempt Nia!]

[This time, there’s no need for someone to keep watch outside the manor. You can complete this task alone.]

Xia’er paused briefly with her pen, then continued:

[Find a chance to persuade Aivana to stay at her manor with Adelle, without taking any other actions. Aivana’s place is temporarily safe.]

[Next, after drinking the “Tempter” potion, find Jiti and use the same method to tempt her again. No matter what, find a way to make Jiti gather all the cultists from Borough City and its surroundings.]

[At the same time, clear out everyone who isn’t a cultist from Derton Manor. Remember, clear them out—do not kill them.]

[Give the members of Derton Manor a paid vacation, and for others, use the excuse of temporary closure to prevent them from going to Derton Manor.]

[You can use all my abilities, including spiritual summoning… but you don’t need to perform the summoning yourself. Wait for me to arrive so I can handle the sacrifice.]

[One more thing: when you redeem items from the subsystem, are they actually effective? Find an opportunity to test them and let me know the results.]

Xia’er stopped writing, hesitated for a moment, and added another sentence:

[Remember, do not use the “Tempter” ability on anyone outside the Arrival Sect. Remember this.]

[Also, you’re forbidden to contact my sister. Don’t involve her. After drinking the “Tempter” potion, copy these instructions ten times.]

Xia’er reviewed the text she had written, confirming that there were no mistakes before putting down her pencil.

It wasn’t that she was overly cautious; rather, the nature of the “Tempter” forced her to be careful. She used the word “remember” several times throughout the text because she truly feared that the simulated version of herself, after drinking the “Tempter” potion, might seek some form of entertainment or deviate from the plan.

This would not only affect Xia’er’s judgment of the outcome but could also lead to unforeseen consequences.

The upcoming simulation would begin just one minute before the arrival of the Radiant Bishop. Once Xia’er entered the simulation, she would have to immediately initiate a spiritual summoning, leaving no time for anything else.

This meant Xia’er wouldn’t have the chance to review the notebook to understand exactly what the simulated version of herself did.

Therefore, she had to ensure that the simulated version of herself followed the instructions in the notebook precisely, avoiding any interference that might cause her to misjudge reality.

After all, Xia’er couldn’t guarantee that each simulation would always align perfectly with the 23rd day. If she ever failed to simulate events before the 23rd or couldn’t reach the exact time of 13:00 on the 23rd within 24 hours, relying solely on written records would leave her feeling uneasy.

Xia’er placed the notebook in a prominent position in front of her, sat there gazing at it, and activated the simulation interface.

After selecting the simulation option, the character selection screen appeared before Xia’er’s eyes.

She scanned through the saved profiles and, after a brief hesitation, focused on the one labeled “Tempter” at No. 1.

This simulation would likely involve no combat… or rather, if combat occurred, it would mean Xia’er’s plan had failed.

Fighting, whether using the “Judicator” save or the “Tempter” save, would result in death. It was better to directly use the “Tempter” save and avoid combat as much as possible by utilizing its abilities.

As soon as Xia’er clicked on the “Tempter” save, a silver flash erupted in front of her, gradually covering her entire field of vision…

…

[Simulation]

[Sheng Year 741, June 20th, 13:00]

[Countdown -23:59:59]

“Lady Xia’er… Lady Xia’er?”

“Lady Xia’er… Is something wrong?”

An urgent voice called out beside her as Xia’er slowly opened her eyes. She saw a peeled grape being offered to her mouth by a servant kneeling beside her.

She was slouching on a holy throne, leaning awkwardly while two female servants wearing red-chip masks knelt on either side of her. One of them humbly offered the grape to Xia’er’s lips.

Her feet, which normally wouldn’t touch the ground while sitting on the throne, were now resting on the back of another servant lying prostrate on the floor, allowing her to sit more comfortably.

Xia’er: “…”

This was the backyard of the Arrival Sect in Borough City, not your home. Why are you enjoying such luxury?

Looking ahead, she saw countless followers of the Arrival Sect dressed uniformly in black robes, their heads bowed in reverence. Leading them was Jiti, who stared intently at the servant Xia’er was stepping on, muttering, “Lady Xia’er, why aren’t you speaking? Shouldn’t the holy scripture reading begin already?”

Jiti seemed eager to kick the servant aside and take her place under Xia’er’s foot.

Xia’er waved her hand, signaling the three servants to retreat. They gathered at the bottom, kneeling behind Jiti.

As she waved, Xia’er noticed a white handkerchief in her hand with some words written on it in Chinese.

She unfolded it slightly and read:

[The items redeemed from the subsystem are usable.]

[Unfortunately, I couldn’t play longer.]

[(^^_)]

Besides the short message, there was a crudely drawn smiley face resembling the system’s style.

A faint smirk crossed Xia’er’s lips as she crumpled the handkerchief into a ball and tossed it aside.

Now it’s my turn to play.

PS:

I’m sorry! There’s only four thousand words today!

I feel a bit exhausted after typing too much. I fell into a state of not wanting to write all day today.

I’ll rest after writing four thousand words today and make sure to write over eight thousand tomorrow to catch up!

Cheers! Tomorrow’s me!

Good night!