Chapter 46: The Path to Strength Begins with Meditation!

“Sleep… sleep in the Study? Meow?”

Lilia knelt on the floor, her mind unable to process.

What new trick is this?

“My Bedroom. The sheets need to be changed.”

Lucia put down her teacup.

“Until Lilith finishes cleaning, you sleep in the Study.”

Lilia froze for two seconds.

Her cat ears shot straight up.

Wait!

She didn’t have to sleep in the same bed as this pervert anymore?!

She almost burst out laughing, but forced it back down, desperately squeezing out a pitiful expression.

“Then… then can I go back to my own room? Meow?”

She knew it was impossible, but still had to try.

“Your room?”

Lucia raised an eyebrow.

“When did I ever say you had your own room?”

Lilia choked.

Right.

Her little shabby room had been blown up long ago.

“But there’s no bed in the Study, meow.”

She tried to struggle a little more.

Lucia lifted her chin, pointing to the long sofa in the corner.

“Sleep there.”

The sofa was covered with a Velvet Cushion. It looked fancy, but was narrow and hard.

Lilia was overjoyed inside.

Who cares if it’s hard!

As long as she didn’t have to sleep pressed up against this perverted Demon King, she’d sleep on the floor!

Besides—

Tonight, Lilith was going to teach her Meditation!

Sleeping separately was a godsend!

She forced down the corners of her mouth, her cat ears drooping, tail weakly sweeping the carpet.

“Yes… Mistress, meow.”

She was the very picture of misery.

Lucia stared at her for a few seconds, then turned and walked toward the Rest Room behind the Study.

“Without my permission, don’t leave the Study.”

The door closed with a “click.”

Lilia knelt there for half a minute, ears perked, listening for movement inside.

Only after making sure Lucia really wasn’t coming out did she crawl off the carpet, rubbing her numb knees as she ran to the sofa.

Hard is fine!

She rolled twice on the sofa in excitement.

The feeling of freedom was so damn sweet!

The Magic Hourglass in the Study slowly ticked toward midnight.

Lilia lay on the sofa, staring at the door, her ears standing straight up.

Would Lilith-nee come on time?

She was so nervous her tail was stiff.

“Knock knock.”

Two very light knocks on the door.

Lilia jolted, jumping off the sofa and rushing to the door.

She didn’t open it immediately, lowering her voice:

“Meow?”

This was the secret signal she’d agreed on with Lilith.

“Miss, it’s me.”

Lilith’s voice came from outside the door.

Lilia hurriedly unlocked it and pulled her inside.

Lilith was holding a tray, with hot milk and snacks on top.

“Miss, your late-night snack.”

She set the tray on the table and turned to close the door.

“Lilith-nee, let’s start quickly! Meow!”

Lilia was so anxious her tail was spinning like a propeller.

“Please wait a moment.”

Lilith walked to the center of the Study and raised her hand.

A layer of invisible Barrier spread out with a “buzz,” enveloping the whole room.

The air itself seemed to freeze.

Lilia sucked in a breath.

So strong!

This head maid really wasn’t simple!

“It’s ready now.”

Lilith turned, her violet eyes fixed on her.

“Miss, the first lesson—learning to sense the Magic Power Node within your body.”

She paused.

“Please sit on the carpet, cross-legged, and close your eyes.”

Lilia immediately obeyed, sitting cross-legged on the carpet.

“Relax your body and clear your mind.”

Lilith’s voice was very soft.

“Focus on your breathing. Don’t think about anything.”

Lilia closed her eyes, trying not to think of anything.

The result was an explosion of thoughts in her head.

How could she use magic to get back at Lucia?

What if she got caught?

Should she blow up her Bath again first?

“Miss, your mind is too chaotic.”

Lilith noticed her state.

“In this condition, you can’t enter Meditation.”

“I… I can’t control it, meow.”

Lilia was a bit dejected.

“Let’s try a different method.”

Lilith thought for a moment.

“Please imagine your body as a precise machine, and your Spirit Force as the Engineer operating it.”

Machine?

Engineer?

Lilia instantly perked up.

That she understood!

“Now, this Engineer needs to perform a thorough inspection of the machine.”

Lilith continued.

“Start from your fingertips, use your Spirit Force to scan your body inch by inch.”

“Feel the blood flow, the heartbeat, the muscle contractions… until you’re completely familiar with every part of the machine.”

What a perfect analogy!

Lilia immediately closed her eyes and began to “scan.”

She stopped blindly searching, and instead, following the steps of a scientific experiment, systematically checked her body.

Her Spirit Force became countless micro-probes, moving from fingers to arms, from toes to thighs, then to her torso and internal organs…

It was more exhausting than she’d imagined.

But the more she did it, the more excited she became.

She found that even though her body had been modified into a loli, all its functions were perfectly balanced.

When her Spirit Force “scan” reached the center of her brow—

She saw it.

Deep within her brow, at the center of her spiritual world.

There was a tiny black dot, about the size of a grain of rice, emitting a faint glow.

It floated silently.

Is this the Magic Power Node?

Lilia’s heartbeat quickened as she cautiously extended a Spirit Force tentacle.

The instant she touched the black dot—

A wave of cold, pure, Abyssal energy surged back along her tentacle!

“Meow!”

Lilia shrieked, eyes snapping open.

Her brain froze, cold rushing from the top of her head to her toes.

“Miss, did you feel it?”

Lilith knelt down, steadying her trembling body.

“Y-Yes! Meow!”

Lilia panted, her face filled with shock and excitement.

“So cold! So… powerful! Meow!”

Even that brief contact had let her feel the vastness of that power.

The Node was small, but the energy within was bottomless.

“Excellent.”

There was surprise in Lilith’s voice.

To locate the Node so precisely on the first try, and even activate its power—

This talent could no longer be described as merely “exceptional.”

“What you just touched was the purest Abyssal Mana.”

Lilith stared at her.

“Now, you need to learn to adapt to it and control it.”

“How? Meow?”

“Continue Meditation.”

Lilith’s voice grew even softer.

“Try to wrap your Spirit Force around the Node, then… draw out the thinnest strand of mana.”

She paused.

“Remember, go slowly, gently.”

“If you pull out too much mana, beyond your Spirit Force’s control, it will run wild in your spiritual world.”

“The consequences… are unthinkable.”

Lilia shivered all over and nodded hard.

She closed her eyes again, entering Meditation.

This time, with experience, she wasn’t reckless.

Her Spirit Force turned into a thread thinner than a hair, slowly and cautiously wrapping around the black Node.

Then she began.

Pulling the first thread from a giant ball of yarn.

The process demanded extreme patience and concentration.

Lilia held her breath, pouring all her focus into it.

At last—

A strand of icy energy, thinner than a hair, was drawn out from the Node.

It was so faint it was almost negligible.

But she’d succeeded!

Lilia was ecstatic, ready to guide this strand of mana around her body for a complete circuit—

At that moment

The Rest Room door suddenly opened.

“Click.”

The sound of the door opening exploded in the silent Study.

Lilia’s Spirit Force shuddered violently.

The mana strand she’d just pulled out went wild, rampaging through her spiritual world!

“Ugh!”

She choked, her face turning pale.

Lilith’s expression changed drastically. She raised her hand, trying to stabilize the mana.

But it was too late.

“Who’s there?”

A cold voice, filled with absolute authority, came from the direction of the Rest Room.

It was Lucia.

The sound shattered the soundproof Barrier Lilith had set up, breaking it into countless points of light with a “crackle.”