Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3219: Chapter 3220: Question Rules

Upon hearing Angel’s words, Little Xiaotao’s peculiar dotted eyebrows suddenly shot up, seemingly surprised by Angel’s audacity.

”You want to perform in front of me?”

Angel nodded; there are many ways to perform, and as long as it’s not an artistic type of performance, he’s willing to give it a try.

After all, there’s no harm in trying.

Seeing Angel nod, Little Xiaotao’s pitch-black eyes showed a hint of mockery: ”You’re just a flicker of consciousness now; even your appearance is just an illusionary shell. What sort of performance can you deliver?”

Angel: ”I can bring my body over.”

Little Xiaotao turned her head sideways: ”I cannot wait that long. I’m so busy, making a moment to roam with fate.”

”My time is running out, and I still need to go back and conduct auditions for those prospective actors.”

Angel: ”Auditions for actors? Do you work at a theater?”

Little Xiaotao scoffed: ”If you want to know, then let her fulfill my request.”

After saying this, that peculiar peach-like face no longer faced Angel but turned towards Laplace.

Obviously, the question has returned to the Origin Point.

Little Xiaotao wasn’t interested in watching Angel’s performance, and besides, Angel currently only has a fake body, which cannot deliver anything earth-shattering.

Thus, the performance she wants to see and anticipates remains Laplace’s ”whale memory absorption.”

Lapsing into silence for a moment, Laplace glanced at Little Xiaotao and said: ”Whale swallowing memory, perhaps doesn’t quite count as a performance, does it?”

Previously, when Little Xiaotao requested this, Laplace was too lazy to respond. Even though Little Xiaotao exuded a mysterious aura, likely a Mysterious Spirit, it held little allure for Laplace, because the other party was merely a ”passerby.”

However, if Little Xiaotao could assist Angel, Laplace was willing to consider Little Xiaotao’s request.

It’s just that she was a bit puzzled as to why Little Xiaotao was so insistent on seeing her perform the whale memory absorption.

Absorbing memories of the Sea of Void Mirror is actually not difficult for her. Every time she creates a Temporal Body, she absorbs the external memories of the Sea of Void Mirror into inspiration material. Therefore, she finds performing whale memory absorption relatively effortless. Still, she did not quite understand Little Xiaotao’s thinking.

Upon hearing Laplace’s question, Little Xiaotao’s long eyes shimmered with light as she earnestly explained: ”To you, this is routine life. But to me, it’s an intriguing performance.”

My routine becoming your performance? Laplace frowned deeply; she was still a bit unsure of the meaning, perhaps this is just the peculiar thought process of a Mysterious Spirit?

”Observing life’s interesting matters is the beautiful scenery I pursue.” Little Xiaotao: ”Compared to those flashy performances, I prefer the beautiful scenery I discover. Similarly, this is also my philosophy as an audition judge.”

Little Xiaotao uttered another set of peculiar words; Laplace didn’t comprehend, but Angel did.

In summary, one sentence: You stand on the bridge watching the scenery, while the scenery-watcher gazes at you from the building.

You’ve become someone else’s scenery, yet you are unaware.

”If you pursue this kind of performance as an audition judge, is there anyone who can pass the audition?” Angel muttered softly.

Not only does the person have to be an actor, they also must be unaware of being an actor, and you must personally uncover the beauty in them—according to this standard, won’t all actors be eliminated?

Perhaps having heard Angel’s muttering, Little Xiaotao meaningfully remarked: ”Indeed, very few can pass my audition. However, if they can’t pass even my audition, then there’s no need for them to step onto the theater’s stage.”

Laplace: ”So, are you auditioning me?”

Little Xiaotao shook her head: ”No, I’m currently off-duty. I’m merely watching a performance I want to see during my leisure time.”

”Moreover, if it were truly an audition, you couldn’t pass even the first round, let alone mine.”

”Thus, meeting me and having me actively make a request is your luck.”

Others seeking Little Xiaotao’s response at least need to pass the first two rounds of auditions, but not everyone can pass the theater’s auditions.

The theater has more than one audition judge, each with different preferences and favorite styles of performance.

Laplace might pique Little Xiaotao’s interest, but might not necessarily captivate the first audition judge.

Therefore, Laplace not needing to pass the first audition judge and instead being able to directly use the whale memory absorption performance to gain an opportunity to question her was regarded as Laplace’s luck by Little Xiaotao.

Laplace didn’t like Little Xiaotao’s proud demeanor, but considering the other’s mysterious identity, Laplace quietly pondered for a moment before saying: ”I can perform the whale memory absorption once, but how will you watch? Where will you watch from?”

Seeing Laplace relent, Little Xiaotao’s eyes brightened, and she immediately said: ”You just go ahead with the performance, I will watch from here and can see all the scenery around.”

Laplace nodded, no longer paying attention to Little Xiaotao, but instead looking towards Angel.

Angel: ”Will you really perform?”

Laplace: ”For me, absorbing the surrounding memories is not troublesome. As she said, it’s part of my daily routine.”

Displaying the daily routine is of no consequence to Laplace. Previously, she did not agree simply because she found no reason to bother with a sudden intruder. Now that Little Xiaotao offered a ”price,” providing some minor motivation, displaying it is no problem.

Laplace paused: ”However, while I absorb memories, the surrounding energy might erupt. So perhaps you cannot stay with me for the time being. Should I send you to the Consciousness Void above?”

Angel didn’t think long before nodding in agreement. He is now nothing more than a point of Consciousness Spark, lacking Little Xiaotao’s sky-gazing, earth-observing ability—leaving him on Laplace’s back would render him incapable of seeing anything.

Thus, temporarily leaving is acceptable.

Soon, Laplace sent Angel back to the Consciousness Void.

Floating amidst stars in the Consciousness Void, Angel fell into deep contemplation.

During his return to the Consciousness Void, he slowly ascended, glimpsing a portion of Laplace’s True Body.

He saw the familiar round moon, along with the enormous head partially emerging from the water.

Previously, he assumed Laplace’s True Body was a massive beast spanning thousands of meters, but upon a partial glance, he realized his perspective was too limited.

A small part of Laplace’s head alone reached thousands of meters—previously, their location at the ”Needle Forest Mountain,” judging by position, was at most Laplace’s ”brow peak.”

This clearly illustrates Laplace’s monumental size.

No smaller than those Void Magical Creatures.

Additionally, Laplace, being favored by the World Will of the Daylight Mirror Domain, is estimated to be stronger than similar-level Void Magical Creatures.

Notably, similar-level Human Wizards typically cannot defeat Magical Creatures, and Void Magical Creatures are stronger than ordinary Magical Creatures.

Realistically considering this, with Laplace’s current peak Third Level strength, she might even rival Wizards of the Legendary Level?

Of course, this is merely Angel’s ignorant calculation—the truth of it remains uncertain.

The one certainty Angel holds is that if Laplace’s True Body were to descend upon the Southern Domain, it would be akin to a Demon God’s descent, with few able to resist.

Even though it was just a glimpse, what Angel thought was much more.

He was both shocked by Laplace’s vastness and strength, and also glad to have found a good partner. With such a powerful backing, the promotion of the Crystal Origin of Dreams in the Mirror Domain was unlikely to encounter much trouble.

”Laplace’s size is so huge, if she truly opens her mouth and devours memory like a whale, the scene would probably be quite breathtaking.” At this moment, Angel somewhat understood why Little Xiaotao was so eager to witness Laplace whale-devouring memories.

Just imagining it, Angel felt the scene would be so grand.

While envisioning the majestic scene of ”whale-devouring water,” Angel was also pondering Little Xiaotao’s identity.

Laplace didn’t pay much attention to Little Xiaotao, but Angel felt her appearance might be some kind of omen... Consider that the Daylight Mirror Domain corresponds to a real world area that includes the Southern Domain.

Might Little Xiaotao’s true form also be near the Southern Domain?

And as for the identity of the theater interviewer... it made Angel think of a certain possibility.

...

Time within the Consciousness Void is hard to calculate; Angel only felt a moment pass before the familiar mirror rose again before him.

Laplace’s voice emerged from the rotating stars around: ”My performance has ended. Little Xiaotao has agreed to answer questions, you may come out now.”

Without hesitation, Angel reached out and extended his hand into the mirror.

Accompanied by a sensation of falling, Angel returned from the Consciousness Void to reality.

This time during the fall, Angel did not see the round moon that represented Laplace’s eyes, but he did see the nearby turbulent Sea of Void Mirror.

Evidently, the ever-undulating ”sea surface” was caused by the aftereffects of Laplace’s whale-devouring water.

The mere aftereffects could shatter tens of thousands of memory scenes, underscoring how much more awe-inspiring the scene of whale-devouring water must be.

Such a scene truly deserved Little Xiaotao’s description of a ”performance.”

If Angel were to perform, he honestly didn’t have the confidence to earn Little Xiaotao’s esteem.

Several seconds later, Angel landed safely in the area at the boundary of the wilderness and Needle Forest.

He chose not to land near the crystal cabin because every strand of hair within Needle Forest was entwined with the power of memory. If Angel were to descend into Needle Forest, his consciousness might intertwine with these memory-laden hairs, producing some unnecessary consequences.

The best approach was to land in the wilderness area, and then let Laplace’s Temporal Body lead him inside.

Once again, it was the black-haired Laplace who came this time.

She quickly led Angel toward the crystal cabin while discussing Little Xiaotao’s situation: ”I just talked with her; she’ll stay in the oil painting for about ten more minutes. Any questions you have, feel free to ask her.”

”However, there are rules for asking questions.”

”She can answer ordinary questions at will without a limit; but if the questions involve fate and secret knowledge, according to her rules, she can only answer three.”

”You need to be cautious with these three questions because if she can’t answer, it still counts as a question.”

”We can discuss first what questions to ask, especially the secret ones... I might know the answers to some questions.”

Questions directed at Laplace can be answered without any limitations for Angel. However, asking Little Xiaotao would consume one of the chances for questioning.

Therefore, for some secret questions, you can first consult with Laplace. This way, you avoid wasting opportunities.

Angel nodded while secretly discussing with Laplace how to frame the questions.

Ultimately, they identified three questions.

Two were concerned with Angel, and the other question would be posed by Laplace.

Initially, Angel was hesitant about taking the questioning opportunities, feeling he hadn’t contributed much, so he’d suffice with ordinary questions.

However, Laplace straightforwardly remarked: ”I have no confusion; the path I pursue, she might not even know.”

Laplace wasn’t lying, if it weren’t for thinking that the Mysterious Spirit might enhance Angel’s alchemy technique, she wouldn’t have bothered with Little Xiaotao.

The three questioning opportunities given by Little Xiaotao were equally unimportant to Laplace.

If Angel hadn’t insisted, she wouldn’t have wanted to ask a single question.

In sum, that’s the distribution of the final questions: ordinary questions later, prioritizing the three involving secrets within ten minutes.

Soon, they reached the crystal cabin.

In the oil painting, Little Xiaotao was already impatiently waiting: ”Hurry up, hurry up, another interviewee is almost at the second stage, I must hurry back. What questions do you have, quickly ask.”

Angel and Laplace exchanged looks, and Angel stepped back, letting Laplace step forward to pose the first question.

Arranging for Laplace to ask first was part of Angel’s plan.

After all, obtaining the opportunity to question was something Laplace fought for, as a mark of respect, she held the first position.

However, Angel didn’t know what exactly Laplace would ask.

Not only was Angel curious, but Little Xiaotao also watched Laplace with interest: ”Your previous performance was brilliant, if you were at the theater, I’d pass you through the second interview stage... Do you have something you wish to ask?”

Laplace wanted to say she didn’t have anything to ask... but considering the agreement with Angel, she refrained from voicing that thought.

Instead, she calmly said: ”I’m consuming one opportunity for a secret question. As for the specific question, I won’t ask; just briefly mention a secret message concerning either Mirror Domain or the Wizards’ Realm that both he and I don’t know. Remember, keep it brief.”

Laplace still wanted to leave more time for Angel, hence proposing such a question.

”Is it that casual?” Little Xiaotao muttered. ”With your question framed like that, I really don’t know what to say.”

This question from Laplace seemed casual but actually wasn’t.

Not only did it test Little Xiaotao’s information range, but it also assessed Little Xiaotao’s ability.

Be aware; her question had two ”premises”: First, a secret message unknown to both her and Angel. Second, the range of the secret information was restricted to the Mirror Domain and the Wizards’ Realm.

Angel was too young, knowing possibly not much secret information; but Laplace was different. She possessed the Sea of Void Mirror, a network connecting myriad worlds, and the intelligence she acquired spanned countless Pan-Dimensional Planes.

Her understanding of information relating to the Mirror Domain was profound.

She was also well-acquainted with Wizards’ Realm intelligence due to frequent discussions by the Wise Sovereign.

Therefore, if Little Xiaotao disclosed known intelligence, it would indicate her discernment ability was weak.

Then Angel might need to adjust the questioning strategy accordingly.

In essence, Laplace’s seemingly casual question was both a test of Little Xiaotao’s competence and a benchmark for Angel’s subsequent inquiries.