Miss Louisa was displeased with Xia De's question and retorted, "Xia De, why should children be afraid? This fairy tale extols friendship, teaching children that even when faced with difficulties and setbacks, friendship will endure. The subtle sense of sadness it contains is even more exquisite; this is my favorite fairy tale. Although it has a tragic ending like the match girl, the match girl's story evokes pity, while the Kiss of the Tree story, while sad, makes one feel that such an ending is perfect."
A long string of words tumbled out, her face slightly flushed, indicating her excitement.
Xia De, holding the cat, pondered and tried to express his opinion: "Miss Louisa, look, if we interpret this story in a different way, that ancient tree is actually a relic or some evil entity, capable of attracting pretty girls, nurturing them, then eating them, digesting their bodies to nourish itself..."
"Enough, Xia De, don't ruin my childhood memories."
Miss Louisa somewhat displeasedly stopped Xia De's "reading comprehension." Xia De could only stop, but still asked, "Thinking about it this way, isn't this a horror story?"
The golden-haired Writer looked at him with even greater displeasure.
"Xia De, it seems absolutely necessary for me to be your teacher and guide you in understanding the inspiration of literature. Believe me, you still have a long way to go."
Thus, the conversation finally returned to the main topic: the use of the two leaves in Xia De's hand.
"What I just said was merely the general outline of the story; the details show that the princess, by placing the fallen leaf from the giant tree before her eyes, could see the stories the giant tree wished her to know. This fairy tale is widely spread, its origins even tracing back to the fourth epoch or even further. Therefore, in our culture, the act of placing a leaf before one's eyes usually symbolizes understanding the Knowledge given by the tree.
This also has a corresponding meaning in mysticism. I think besides you, all Ring術士 should know as soon as they get a leaf."
Miss Louisa said, and Xia De suddenly understood why his actions of sticking the leaf on his forehead yesterday and pressing it under his pillow before sleeping had no effect.
"Then I'll try to look now."
"You can do it right here. I'm actually very curious what kind of gift the ancient god will give you. Before this, I hadn't even heard of such a term as ancient god."
Miss Louisa picked up her teacup, while Xia De first summoned his Destiny Ring, then randomly selected one of the two leaves, as the leaves didn't indicate what kind of Knowledge they corresponded to.
He closed his left eye and placed the leaf before his right eye. A cool stream of air immediately drilled into his brain from his eye. But this feeling was quite pleasant, even somewhat enjoyable.
Afterward, the cold sensation lasted for dozens of seconds before disappearing, and Knowledge representing a Miracle automatically appeared in Xia De's mind.
He removed the leaf from before his eyes, breathing deeply, savoring the extra Knowledge. Miss Louisa then took the used leaf from Xia De's hand, tried it before her own eyes, found it useless, and then sniffed it before her nose.
"Interesting. I thought this leaf would be destroyed after use. How interesting, this leaf can still be used. I sense a powerful life force. This is... interesting. This leaf comes from an ancient god, drifting out of the Time Corridor you mentioned. Therefore, theoretically, this leaf does not belong to this epoch, but comes from the fifth epoch."
The golden-haired Writer lowered her head to observe the leaf's veins; she seemed to have made a significant discovery.
"Yes."
Xia De agreed with this view.
"So, it's a relic now. When I realized what it was, the whisper element's reminder naturally appeared in my ear."
She handed the leaf to Xia De, and the voice in Xia De's ear also timely reminded him that he had come into contact with a whisper. As for why there was no prompt before she handed it over, it was probably because the ancient god's power remaining in the leaf at that time suppressed the leaf's own element.
"The Poet Grade relic 【youth everlasting leaf】, if carried for a long time, can drastically slow down the aging process of the holder's body. If obtained in one's twenties, then at fifty, one's appearance will not change much. But this is only the external appearance; age is still increasing.
If held in the mouth, even a severely injured person can survive for a long time, though it's not as good as your 【False Immortality】.
And if chewed and eaten, as long as there's still a breath left, one can fully recover. Of course, using it this way is very wasteful."
"This is a relic? The Father of Infinite Trees is too generous, isn't he?"
Xia De held the leaf in astonishment, while the cat beside him watched intently.
"The 【youth everlasting leaf】 is a quite famous relic, with obvious effects and extremely low side effects. The only negative characteristic is that if held in the mouth for a long time, there's a chance the user will take root and sprout, literally. The containment method is also very simple: just let it come into contact with water at least once a month to maintain the leaf's vitality."
Miss Louisa explained. Although Xia De was still surprised, upon careful thought, it wasn't extremely surprising. Professor Garcia had said that the ancient god 【Father of Infinite Trees】 was the World Tree, and a leaf given by the World Tree, even if not a leaf from the World Tree itself, would definitely not be an ordinary item.
"The 【youth everlasting leaf】, like the time key, is a relic of which there is more than one. Although it has no combat power and its danger level is low with not very significant effects, the price of such a relic can even rival a sage-level relic. I remember hearing Professor say that the Thirteen Ring Sorcerer of Saint Byron's, the Library manager 'Red Moon Witch,' has one. I had never heard of the origin of this leaf, and I never imagined it would be related to that ancient god."
Miss Louisa said, glancing at the leaf in Xia De's hand.
Xia De nodded and also introduced his newly acquired Miracle to Miss Louisa. He didn't need to learn it; the Miracle was already mastered.
Miracle - 【Chaotic Time Blade】, corresponding to the 【Time-Space】 Ling Rune. The naming of the Miracle alone suggests its extraordinary effect, and indeed, that is the case.
Using the Miracle requires a casting medium, which is any sharp blade with extraordinary properties, including alchemical items, relics, or even swords created by Miracles or spells. Its effect only works on intelligent beings capable of perceiving time. When attacking with it, at any moment within three seconds after the attack, Xia De can make the same attack as three seconds prior repeat, from the same relative position of the attacked person, and in the same manner.
Chaotic Time, what is chaotic is the time of the weapon itself.
That is to say, if Xia De holds a ceremonial dinner knife and stabs an apple fiercely, then at the time Xia De selects within three seconds, the same dinner knife will stab fiercely again in the same position.
Even better, this Miracle does not require actual damage to be caused to take effect. That is to say, even if Xia De's attack is blocked, this Miracle can still be triggered. The casting requirement for the Miracle is merely to perform an attacking motion.
