Hmm… there are indeed traces of pollution.
Muxuan looked at Qiansitelin, her golden pupils flickering twice, the somewhat dazzling light also swaying.
In Muxuan’s eyes, a layer of eerie black power was wrapped around Qiansitelin’s body, with the deepest part at her arm.
Although on the surface she seemed no different from those who were Strange or heavily polluted, the inside was still that radiant Light.
The two forces were separated by a thin film, not interfering with each other.
Qiansitelin carefully felt the disgusting power on her skin.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but a trace of novelty flashed through them.
‘I didn’t expect I could freely control this power…’
It was as if she had truly been polluted.
Or rather, as if she now possessed a Strange Core.
Qiansitelin tried flicking her fingers in slight surprise.
Dense Black Mist immediately emerged from her fingertips, faintly accompanied by an itching sensation, as if a tentacle was about to burrow out.
That strange feeling immediately gave Qiansitelin goosebumps, and she quickly extinguished the Black Mist in her hand.
Just as she was about to say something, Lutherch’s voice came through the Communication Stone.
“The High Priest said Your Highness has decided to go to the Elven Forest?”
Qiansitelin was stunned, then couldn’t help letting out a “tsk.”
“Yes.”
On the other end, Lutherch was silent for a moment, then his voice turned somewhat low.
“Qiansitelin, you haven’t forgotten about the Heart’s Blood, have you?”
“One thing must be guaranteed: those elves cannot know your identity.”
“No, not just elves—no other race can know it either!”
Hearing Lutherch’s words, Qiansitelin’s expression became serious.
“I understand… Don’t worry.”
After receiving Qiansitelin’s assurance, Lutherch cut off the communication, and the entire room fell back into silence.
Muxuan roughly understood what Lutherch was worried about.
‘Why is my Heart’s Blood coveted by so many races…’
‘Forget it, why think so much now.’
Muxuan looked at Qiansitelin, and seeing the hint of worry in her eyes, she understood Qiansitelin’s thoughts.
‘Sigh, I’m not afraid of the Elven Forest myself…’
‘But I can’t just go in like this.’
‘Guess I’ll have to disguise myself.’
‘Then, I’ll have to…’
Thinking, Muxuan picked up the Pure Black Sword again.
Without hesitation, the cold sword tip precisely touched the forearm of her other hand.
Pfft.
A barely audible sound, as if piercing some invisible barrier.
The deep power immediately surged into Muxuan’s arm through the sword tip, but was quickly isolated by the Lightforce.
It couldn’t break through the Lightforce, but it wasn’t immediately dispelled or absorbed either.
Instead, it was firmly “stuck” to the outer layer, forming a paper-thin, pitch-black film that tightly adhered beneath the sacred radiance on Muxuan’s body surface.
The feeling was extremely strange, as if the inside and outside of her body were separated into two worlds.
Inside was the warm and radiant Divine Light Core; outside was the cold, lifeless, polluted disguise filled with Whispers.
After a few breaths, the violent tremors subsided.
The Pure Black Sword returned to its deathly calm, as if the disturbance had never happened.
Muxuan slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her arm.
There was a dark red mark similar to Qiansitelin’s, but the Black Mark around it was deeper and exuded a dangerous aura.
At the same time, the eerie black mist surrounding her body was much denser and more “real” than Qiansitelin’s, almost completely covering her own Light aura.
She let out a long breath, met Qiansitelin’s slightly worried gaze, and immediately smiled.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Although this thing was indeed harmless, the stereotype couldn’t be changed.
The disgusting nature of this pollution and its terrifying ability to infect were not something that could be changed in a short time.
Muxuan could understand Qiansitelin’s concern.
After all, she had been a bit panicked herself at the time.
“By the way, Qiansitelin, do you have a mirror?”
Qiansitelin was startled, then smiled slightly.
She quickly felt around her ring, and a small Bronze Mirror was produced.
“Does Your Highness want to put on some makeup~”
Hearing Qiansitelin’s teasing, Muxuan immediately rolled her eyes at her.
“Do I have that much free time? And I don’t know how!”
“You can learn~ Your Highness, how about I touch up your makeup for you?”
Hearing Muxuan’s slightly exasperated tone, Qiansitelin became even more enthusiastic.
As she spoke, she moved a little closer to Muxuan, an Eyebrow Pencil appearing in her hand.
Seeing Qiansitelin’s movement, Muxuan instinctively stepped back.
“No way! I look pretty good even without makeup, okay!”
She pouted, immediately picked up the Pure Black Sword, trotted over to the Stone Tablet, and gently stabbed the Pure Black Sword back into the ground.
With a smile on her face, Qiansitelin looked at Muxuan’s back and said affectionately:
“My Your Highness is the cutest in the world!”
“Of course! Wait, that’s not what you’re supposed to say!!!”
Muxuan, initially smug at Qiansitelin’s words, quickly realized something was off and turned around, a little frustrated.
“Stop messing around, give me the mirror. I need to get ready to go to the Elven Forest.”
She walked back to Qiansitelin, took the mirror from her hand, and carefully examined her face.
‘Better get those materials as soon as possible.’
‘If I put it off, especially after the Elven Forest covers the Kostershka Mountains, I feel like something bad will happen.’
‘But…’
‘I really am cute…’
In the mirror reflected an extremely delicate face.
Under long brows and lashes were a pair of sacred golden pupils, and the facial features were as beautiful as a porcelain doll’s.
Even though the Bronze Mirror gave everything a yellow tint, her skin’s fairness and fineness were still obvious.
Realizing she was getting distracted again, Muxuan immediately shook her little head, throwing out the messy thoughts.
‘This face is on me—I can see it anytime. No need to rush!’
Thinking that, Muxuan nodded thoughtfully.
Then, a little bit of Lightforce extended from within her body and attached to her face.
With a mixture of Black Mist and Lightforce, a face that was still decent but far inferior to before reappeared in the mirror.
Feeling it still wasn’t enough, Muxuan thought for a moment, then gently raised her hand.
After shaking off the pollution aura clinging to her hand, she covered her ears with it.
Then, her ears rapidly lengthened at a visible rate.
Looking at one ear that had become an elf ear, Muxuan nodded in satisfaction, then reached for the other ear.
After a moment, looking at herself in the mirror, now completely transformed into an elf, Muxuan stopped, a satisfied expression on her face.