Lin Ling took a deep breath.
Then, she slowly walked up to the patch of black soil.
She crouched down.
Seeing it up close, the state of the land was even worse than she had imagined.
A faint, dark blue light shimmered within the cracks of the soil.
It wasn't the light of vitality.
Instead, it was the color of excess magic that had accumulated and settled like sludge.
The roots of the few seedlings were almost black, and their leaves hung limp and soft.
Lin Ling reached out her hand.
As she neared the soil, a strange tingling sensation prickled her fingertips.
It wasn't exactly painful.
It felt more like static electricity.
Dense magic particles gathered around her fingertips, seemingly trying to burrow into her body by instinct.
Lin Ling blinked.
“It seems...”
“I really can pull some out?”
Baroque frowned.
“What?”
Lin Ling didn't answer.
She closed her eyes.
The sensation of releasing the flame yesterday surfaced in her mind.
Back then, she hadn't recited an incantation.
Nor had she used a skill.
She had simply imagined it.
Imagined the color, temperature, shape, and the way the fire flowed.
So, now—
If magic was like water.
Then the land was a sponge soaked in it.
What she needed to do was squeeze the water out of the sponge.
Lin Ling breathed slowly.
Her fingertips lightly touched the surface of the soil.
“Come out,”
she whispered.
The next moment.
Pale blue light particles floated up from the black soil.
At first, there were only a few.
Like fireflies rising in the night.
Then, more and more appeared.
The fine specks of magic followed Lin Ling’s fingers, slowly converging above her palm.
The surroundings instantly fell silent.
The smile on Cecil’s face faded slightly.
Aliviel narrowed her eyes.
Phelan looked up slightly.
Baroque’s expression changed as well.
“She actually pulled it out?”
Niya’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands.
Lin Ling opened one eye.
Seeing the pale blue orb of light floating above her palm, she was stunned for a moment too.
“Wow.”
“That actually went pretty smoothly?”
She couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
“Do you see that?!”
“This is the true worth of an otherworldly Saintess!”
Baroque was just about to speak.
The next second—
“Hum.”
The surrounding air vibrated slightly.
The color of the soil where the magic had been extracted did briefly turn a bit lighter.
One of the seedling’s leaves even twitched slightly.
But very quickly, the dense magic from the surrounding area rushed back in like a tide.
Blackness covered the soil once again.
The leaf that had just lifted slightly slumped back down, powerless.
The orb of light in Lin Ling’s palm also dissipated with a “poof.”
“...”
The air went quiet.
Baroque said coldly:
“That’s as far as it goes.”
Lin Ling crouched on the ground, her expression stiff.
Cecil shrugged.
“Didn't even last ten breaths.”
Phelan said calmly:
“The result is consistent with the past.”
The light in Niya’s eyes dimmed a little.
Aliviel didn't say anything, she just watched Lin Ling.
Lin Ling looked down at the soil that had turned black again.
She didn't stand up immediately.
Nor did she immediately start complaining as she usually did.
She just stared at that patch of soil for a long time.
“...That’s not right.”
She suddenly spoke.
Baroque frowned.
“What’s not right?”
Lin Ling slowly raised her hand and pinched her fingertips.
“It’s not that it can’t be pulled out.”
“I definitely pulled it out just now.”
Phelan nodded.
“But it’s meaningless.”
“The surrounding magic will replenish it immediately.”
“Exactly.”
Lin Ling looked up at her surroundings.
She looked at the dense, pale blue light particles in the air, at the vast stretches of blackened land in the distance, and then back at the small experimental plot in front of her.
“If this place is a pit.”
“And the surroundings are full of water.”
“Then simply scooping the water out of the pit is obviously useless.”
Cecil raised an eyebrow slightly.
“So?”
Lin Ling stood up.
She brushed the dirt off her skirt, her expression uncharacteristically serious.
“So the problem isn't just taking it away.”
“It’s making sure it stays away.”
“Or rather—”
She reached out her hand and pointed at the ground beneath her feet.
“There needs to be a place that attracts magic even more easily than this soil.”
Phelan’s eyes flickered slightly.
“A container?”
Lin Ling nodded.
“Pretty much.”
“Magic wants to flow to lower places, so we just need to make a lower place.”
Baroque snorted coldly.
“Easier said than done.”
“The demons have already tried using magic ore for absorption.”
“The ore can’t handle it and shatters.”
“Sealing barriers can’t stop the surrounding magic from flowing back in either.”
Lin Ling listened intently.
Then, she rubbed her chin.
“Then the container was just too small.”
Baroque sneered.
“And where do you plan to find a large enough container?”
Lin Ling fell silent for a moment.
She looked down at her hands.
To be precise.
She looked at that ridiculously massive mana bar that only she knew about.
999,999.
Although she didn't dare open her stats in front of everyone.
She knew that her body held an absurdly irrational magic capacity limit, and it hadn't even fully recovered yet.
And in the eyes of the demons, she was just a weakling with 21 MP.
Lin Ling’s eye twitched slightly.
“Well...”
“I have a somewhat half-baked idea.”
Aliviel suddenly had a bad feeling.
“What idea?”
Lin Ling slowly raised her hand.
“Since there isn't a container for now.”
“I’ll try being the container myself.”
The air fell silent for a moment.
Then—
“Are you insane?”
Baroque was the first to speak.
His voice was deeper than before.
“With a body that only has 1 HP, you want to absorb magic from the land?”
Phelan also frowned.
“According to your stats, your magic capacity is only 21.”
“Directly inhaling high concentrations of magic will likely result in instant death.”
Cecil’s smile also vanished.
“Miss Pet, this isn't something to joke about.”
Niya’s face turned pale.
“Saintess, please don’t push yourself...”
Lin Ling blinked.
She had originally wanted to say, “It’s fine, my mana bar is really long.”
But the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back down.
No.
She couldn't say that.
It would be trouble if she did.
So she puffed out her chest and said with feigned depth:
“Don’t worry.”
“I am the otherworldly Saintess, after all.”
Aliviel narrowed her eyes.
“That sentence you just said is what worries me the most.”
Lin Ling pretended not to hear her.
She crouched back down.
This time, she didn't just extract the magic from the land.
Instead, she tried to let that magic flow through her fingers and into her body.
Like breathing.
Like drinking water.
She closed her eyes.
The image surfaced in her mind again.
The black land was a sponge soaked in water.
The surrounding air was a constantly flowing stream.
And she herself—
Was a very, very large bucket.
Even though the metaphor didn't sound very Saintess-like.
It was easy to understand.
Lin Ling took a deep breath.
“Come,”
she whispered.
The next moment.
Magic surged over.
It wasn't like the slow light particles from before.
It was like water that had found an outlet.
A massive amount of pale blue magic rose from the soil, flowing into her body through Lin Ling’s fingertips.
Her platinum-blonde hair was gently lifted by an invisible current.
The hem of her wide Saintess robes swayed slightly.
The surrounding magic particles were drawn toward her like they were being pulled by a magnet.
Niya’s eyes widened.
Aliviel’s expression changed slightly.
Baroque took a sudden step forward.
“Stop!”
Phelan’s tone also became noticeably urgent for the first time.
“The absorption amount has exceeded the limit of an Apprentice Mage.”
Cecil muttered under his breath:
“Hey now, that doesn't look like an amount you can joke about.”
Lin Ling heard their voices.
But she didn't stop immediately.
Because she discovered—
She actually seemed perfectly fine.
After the magic entered her body, it didn't cause her pain as she had imagined.
Instead, it felt like it was being poured into a bottomless lake.
It felt a bit bloated at first.
But that feeling quickly vanished.
She even had enough mental capacity to think:
This feels a bit like taking a big gulp of ice-cold soda.
Just with a bit too much carbonation.
The magic continued to flow in.
The color of the soil began to change.
The small patch of blackness closest to Lin Ling’s palm slowly faded.
The dark blue light was pulled out from the cracks in the soil.
The originally heavy and viscous magic concentration began to drop.
The few seedlings that were on the verge of death swayed gently.
Lin Ling opened her eyes.
She saw that the smallest of the seedlings, whose leaves were originally curled up, was actually unfurling bit by bit.
Although it was just a tiny bit.
Very slow.
Very faint.
But it definitely moved.
Niya covered her mouth, her eyes instantly turning red.
“The leaf...”
she whispered.
“The leaf is lifting...”
Baroque stood where he was, unable to say a single word.
Phelan looked at the patch of soil, a look of clear shock appearing in his eyes for the first time.
Cecil opened his mouth.
This time, he didn't smile.
Aliviel looked at Lin Ling’s back, her gaze becoming complicated.
Ivelia hadn't spoken the entire time.
She just watched silently.
Deep within her dark red eyes, it seemed as if something had stirred slightly.
Lin Ling stared at that leaf.
She was stunned too.
Then, the corners of her mouth slowly curled up.
“See,”
she whispered.
“I told you...”
Before she could finish her sentence.
Her body suddenly swayed.
Aliviel’s expression changed, and she immediately reached out to support her.
“Lin Ling?”
Lin Ling leaned against Aliviel’s arm, her face somewhat pale.
Everyone’s expressions tensed up at the same time.
Baroque frowned.
“Magic backlash?”
Phelan immediately stepped forward.
“Check her status.”
Aliviel raised her hand, a magic circle just beginning to glow.
But Lin Ling weakly raised a hand.
“No...”
Aliviel looked down.
“Then what is it?”
Lin Ling’s voice was faint.
“Hungry...”
Everyone: “...”
Lin Ling clutched her stomach, the light fading from her eyes.
“I was too serious just now.”
“And that black bread was so hard I couldn't even eat it.”
“My body and spirit have suffered severe damage.”
“I need meat as compensation.”
Aliviel was silent.
A vein throbbed at Baroque’s temple.
Cecil was stunned for two seconds before he finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha!”
“I thought you were about to say your last words!”
Lin Ling glared at him angrily.
“Don’t underestimate hunger!”
“Hunger can destroy a Saintess’s dignity!”
Phelan slowly withdrew his hand.
“Her status is stable.”
“No signs of magic rampaging.”
After he spoke, he paused for a moment himself.
Because that sentence itself was highly abnormal.
With that amount of absorption just now, let alone an Apprentice Mage with 21 MP.
Even an ordinary demon couldn't have come away unscathed.
Yet Lin Ling had no abnormalities other than being hungry.
Phelan looked at Aliviel.
Aliviel also looked at him.
Neither of them spoke.
Because they both knew.
There was something wrong with the appraisal results.
Or rather—
There was something wrong with this Hero they had judged to be an “ornamental pet.”
Lin Ling was still leaning on Aliviel, saying listlessly:
“So...”
“Does the experiment count as a success?”
No one answered immediately.
Everyone’s gaze fell on that small patch of land.
The blackness hadn't completely faded.
The magic hadn't completely vanished either.
One could even see the surrounding magic slowly flowing back toward that patch of land.
What Lin Ling had achieved just now was only a brief restoration of a small patch of soil in the very center.
But the leaf of that seedling had indeed lifted.
It was still very fragile.
It still looked like it could die at any moment.
But it had come back to life.
At least for this moment.
It had come back to life.
Ivelia finally spoke.
“How long did it last?”
Phelan answered in a low voice:
“It has already exceeded the fastest record for magic backflow.”
Baroque remained silent.
The smile on Cecil’s face had also faded significantly.
Aliviel supported Lin Ling and looked down at her.
“How much magic did you absorb just now?”
Lin Ling blinked.
“I don’t know.”
This was the truth.
She only knew her mana bar was ridiculously large.
As for exactly how much she had absorbed, she hadn't counted.
Aliviel stared at her.
“How do you feel?”
Lin Ling thought about it seriously.
“A bit stuffed.”
Aliviel: “...”
Baroque: “...”
Phelan: “...”
Cecil: “Pfft.”
Ivelia watched Lin Ling for a long time.
Then, she slowly turned around.
“Starting today.”
“Increase her food rations.”
Lin Ling’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Is there meat?”
Ivelia paused for a moment.
“That will be decided based on experimental results.”
Lin Ling: “...”
She clutched her chest in tragic sorrow.
“Lord Demon King.”
“Do you know what it means to dangle a carrot?”
Cecil’s shoulders shook with laughter.
Aliviel also couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
Ivelia ignored her protest and simply continued:
“Keep this plot of land.”
“Record the changes daily from now on.”
“Aliviel will be responsible for overseeing it.”
Aliviel lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Ivelia’s gaze fell on Lin Ling again.
“Lin Ling.”
This was the first time the Demon King had officially called her by her name outside of a meeting.
Lin Ling subconsciously stood a bit straighter.
Though because of the hunger, she didn't stand very steadily.
“Present.”
Ivelia looked at her.
“You haven't proven yet that you can solve the demons' food crisis.”
Lin Ling nodded.
“Yeah.”
“But you have proven one thing.”
Ivelia’s dark red eyes lowered slightly, looking at the seedling that had lifted its leaf again.
“This land is not entirely beyond change.”
The wind blew from afar.
In the black fields, the dense magic still flowed slowly.
Everything looked the same as it had for the past few hundred years.
The so-called curse still existed.
Food was still scarce.
The demons still lived amidst both the blessing and the torment of magic.
But, in that tiny experimental plot.
A seedling that was originally about to die had gently lifted a single leaf.
Niya stared at that leaf, the rims of her eyes turning slightly red.
Lin Ling also looked at it.
After a while, she said softly:
“Um...”
Ivelia looked at her.
Lin Ling raised her hand, her expression serious.
“Since it worked so hard to survive.”
“Can I work hard to eat some meat today?”
Ivelia: “...”
Aliviel: “...”
Baroque: “...”
Phelan: “...”
Cecil finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Niya also broke into a smile through her tears.
Ivelia was silent for a long time.
Finally, she turned and left, leaving behind only a calm sentence.
“Give her a piece of soft bread first.”
Lin Ling froze on the spot.
“WHY IS IT STILL BREAD?!!!”
Her tragic cry echoed behind the Demon King’s Castle.
And the seedling swayed gently in the wind.
As if responding to her.
And as if telling all demons—
The miracle had not yet arrived.
But it had already shown its first leaf.
Rate on N.U.
