Chapter 155: A Bountiful Harvest from the Trial

Slowly opening her eyes, what came into view was the three-leaf clover swaying gently in the wind on the ground. This time, the trial mission was completed unexpectedly fast; a round trip took only a single day, which in reality might not even have amounted to a single second. Savoring the feeling of being filled once more within her heart, Zhuang Xiaoyuan began to take stock of her gains.

Within the completely golden nebula vortex, right beside the white World Card, a new card had appeared, radiating a seven-colored halo. True enough, she had laid eyes upon another World Crystal, and now she possessed yet another World Card within her body.

Colorful Fairy Tale World: A fairytale kingdom composed of countless fairy tales
World Guardian: Omniscient Magic Mirror
Special Abilities:
Cooldowns for all transformation characters are halved.
Ability to temporarily utilize a specific character's power while in a non-transformed state.
Usage Method: Passive effect / Autonomous activation

The moment the information of the Colorful World Card flooded into Zhuang Xiaoyuan's mind, she paused for a fraction of a second, and an immense wave of surprise washed over her. All the gloom that had previously arisen due to Dark Xiaoyuan's words was completely dispelled by this tremendous pleasant surprise. Halving the cooldowns of all characters directly and indirectly enhanced Zhuang Xiaoyuan's endurance and sustained-action capabilities.

More importantly was the second ability of the Fairy Tale Card. A character's Divine Descent transformation continuously consumed one's own divine power, and compared to the transformations of Wenhui and the others, Zhuang Xiaoyuan's transformation chant took slightly longer. Although it had never been interrupted thus far, who could tell if such a blunder might occur in the future?

With this ability, however, Zhuang Xiaoyuan could utilize special powers even without transforming. Although the consumption of divine power would be slightly greater than when used in the transformed state, it also provided Zhuang Xiaoyuan with much greater self-preservation capability, such as when finding herself in restricted zones like the trial space where transformations were prohibited. Of course, there was another advantage: when a certain character card was unusable due to being on cooldown, Zhuang Xiaoyuan could directly ignore the cooldown and borrow one of her abilities. If used well, it was tantamount to having no cooldown time at all.

After relishing the surprise for a while, Zhuang Xiaoyuan's emotions finally calmed down. Her attention shifted away from the second World Card and moved downward. Earlier, when checking the rewards in the preparation space, she had indeed spotted something referred to as a set of three cards.

Beneath the World Cards, the number of character cards was already quite impressive. Now, quietly revolving in the center of the nebula vortex, there were a total of ten character cards. Aside from the six normal character cards and one blackened card she previously possessed, there were now three new, different character cards. These must be the set of three cards acquired this time.

Focussing her spiritual power onto the three newly added cards, Zhuang Xiaoyuan finally understood why they were called a set of three. These three cards originated from different worlds, portraying three individuals whose personalities and appearances were completely distinct, yet they all possessed the same type of ability in a certain aspect. Was it because these three cards could be classified into a single category that they were called a set of three?

Although this Guardian Deity trial was brief in duration, the harvest was considerable. Aside from the astonishing World Card and the unexpected set of three cards, it had once again elevated Zhuang Xiaoyuan's potential for cultivating divine power. Originally raised to fifth-rank potential by the previous trial, the Mingshen Flower obtained earlier had elevated Zhuang Xiaoyuan to the fourth rank. Combined with this latest enhancement, her cultivation potential was gradually restoring to the level proper for a Rule Deity.

Speaking of which, earlier Dark Xiaoyuan seemed to have mentioned something about giving a reward. Since she was herself, she wouldn't just spout nonsense to deceive herself, so what could this so-called reward be? Given Dark Xiaoyuan's urgent desire for her to grow stronger, whatever she bestowed should undoubtedly aid in enhancing her power.

Although she had previously fought a life-or-death battle with Dark Xiaoyuan, Zhuang Xiaoyuan held not the slightest ill feeling toward her; instead, she felt an immense sense of trust, as if they had been acquainted for a very long time. Still, since they were the same person, being familiar with oneself was only natural. Zhuang Xiaoyuan did not delve too deeply into the bizarre notion that had popped into her head. Shaking her head to banish the distracting thoughts, she began searching for the so-called reward.

She searched her entire body, but found nothing special; her physical body had undergone no changes, her strength had not increased, and there were no abnormalities either internally or externally. Thus, the only remaining possibility lay within the nebula vortex. Her spiritual power returned once more to the nebula vortex. Here, everything remained as before—a vast expanse of golden nebula. As her divine power circulated, the nebula began to converge toward the center. This was a change that manifested after advancing to the Divine Descent tier; her divine power would continuously concentrate toward the center, and when it condensed into a single mass, it would be the moment to advance to the Divine Grace tier.

"Could this be... Is this the reward? So it was this." Her spiritual power swept across the nebula vortex, but she found nothing special; it was just as it had been before. Had she been tricked by herself?

Just as a bizarre and absurd feeling welled up in her heart, Zhuang Xiaoyuan made a new discovery. One of the character cards had undergone a new transformation, one she had failed to notice earlier because her focus had been entirely on the World Card and the three newly added cards. The black card that was previously unusable could now be utilized.

As it turned out, that pitch-black King of Knights character card, which originally belonged to Dark Xiaoyuan, had now transformed just like the Miku card, featuring both black and white sides. The black side remained the original blackened King of Knights, while the white side had transformed into a young maiden wearing a ponytail and a white, backless armored dress. Judging by her appearance, she was unmistakably Artoria the King of Knights, except this form was a state that Zhuang Xiaoyuan was permitted to use.

As her spiritual power drew closer, the information on the white side flooded into Zhuang Xiaoyuan's vision.

Artoria Pendragon - White
Striving to become a qualified king, a chivalric maiden filled with hope and dreams. When crowned as king, all abilities are enhanced.

Special Abilities: Instinct / Mana Burst
Special Techniques:
Journey of Flowers: While in motion, recovery rate is vastly increased.
Avatar of the Dragon: Possessing the heart of a red dragon, physical recovery and defense are vastly increased.
Romantic Knight Princess: When fighting in coordination, the effects of Journey of Flowers apply to the entire team.
Equipment:
Golden Sword of Assured Victory (Caliburn): Immunizes against all abnormal status effects, vastly increases stamina and mana recovery speed in combat states.

"This is truly... a flawless meat shield." She had initially expected the white side to be the King of Knights in her normal state, never imagining she would instead be the chivalric maiden prior to becoming the King of Knights, or perhaps an Artoria from another parallel universe? Regardless of which it was, this chivalric maiden's abilities were exceptionally formidable when it came to recovery and endurance. She was an absolute, textbook tank character.

By this point, the character cards in Zhuang Xiaoyuan's possession were also beginning to lean toward versatility. Attack, control, defense—the basic framework had already emerged. She could only wonder what kind of special ability maidens would appear in the future. Would they be area-of-effect attackers or long-range snipers? Healing supports or hidden assassins? Only when that time truly arrived would she ever know.