Chapter 128: Gacha Time

Time lost all meaning.

Then, her vision abruptly cleared. She stood in a void that perfectly resembled the Lunar Sanctum of her past life. But the woman seated on the frost-jade throne was not her.

It was the Primeval Aurora.

Her face was indistinct, obscured by divine light, but her aura was undeniable.

"Do you intend to replace me?" Liana asked, reaching for her sword, though her hands were empty.

"The present me does not. But the future me... perhaps." The gentle woman’s voice flowed like a murmuring stream.

Liana’s voice turned icy. "Who are you?"

"My name..." The gentle woman paused, as if sifting through millennia of memories.

The void around them trembled forcefully, mirroring the turbulence of her thoughts.

"I am Aurelia."

"This is merely a fragment of my consciousness, left behind in the Genesis Sphere while I divined the future of the First Empire."

Aurelia’s gaze softened.

*Using a supreme artifact to divine the future of the world?* Liana was stunned.

In her past life, she had controlled half of this very Sphere, yet she had only scratched the surface of its origins.

What unfathomable power had Aurelia achieved to attempt such a feat?

Aurelia brewed a cup of ethereal tea and pushed it across the void.

"Do you know of the Celestial Strategy Board at the Ashfall Peaks?"

"Yes," Liana nodded.

Aurelia sighed. "If you can see me, you possess the qualifications to break the game. I ask you to retrieve the other half of the Genesis Sphere."

Liana pondered, standing like a jade sculpture amidst frost and snow.

In her past life, wielding only half the Sphere had made her an Empress. A complete Genesis Sphere would grant unparalleled supremacy...

But she did not know what this ancient savior truly intended. Friend? Foe? Or a parasite?

"Why me?" Liana asked. "Just because I possess the Aurora bloodline?"

"You and I... are the same," Aurelia said softly.

"How?"

Aurelia lowered her eyes. "My heart says so, but I no longer know the reason."

After a moment of heavy silence, Liana spoke firmly. "I will retrieve the other half of the Genesis Sphere. But I refuse to become you... or anyone else. I will only be myself."

"If the price of power is my ego, I would rather perish." Her tone was like breaking ice. She was deadly serious.

"Then you must surpass the future me. You must surpass yourself," Aurelia smiled softly.

"Those who learn from me, live. Those who imitate me... die."

The instant those words were spoken, all color faded from the void. Everything receded, and reality crashed down.

Liana slowly opened her eyes.

Everything remained unchanged. Were it not for the incomplete Genesis Sphere now resting wholly within her brow, the encounter might have been dismissed as a hallucination.

She walked to the bronze mirror. Her reflection was coldly beautiful, like an exiled immortal, yet tinged with a sickly pallor.

The divine exchange had drained her spirit.

"Surpass her. Surpass myself..." Liana whispered, rubbing the head of a small, plush Theo-doll she kept on her nightstand.

As if sensing her resolve, her interface materialized.

[Host, initiate a new ranking?]

Liana’s answer was immediate. *Yes.*

[If only the host were always this eager...]

[Initiating new ranking of peerless talents.]

[Scope: The Eternal City (Imperial Capital).]

[Penalty for defeat: Plant forty-nine hickeys on the victor’s neck.]

"The Capital..." Liana murmured, ignoring the system’s shameless penalty.

By the timeline, the upcoming Imperial Tournament in the Capital would gather every hidden dragon in the Empire.

To claim the top spot, she would have to crush the greatest geniuses of her generation.

She could not afford any distractions.

"Perhaps there are other methods to prevent a Primeval awakening without relying entirely on Theo..." Liana thought. "I will interrogate the Pontifex tomorrow."

...

Meanwhile, in the east wing of the Manor.

After dinner, Theo returned to his room and locked the door.

Now was not the time for dual cultivation, nor was it time for romantic stargazing.

It was time for the Gacha!

Theo rubbed his hands together, barely containing a greedy grin.

Upon leaving the Ashfall Peaks, a literal flood of investment feedback notifications had chimed... from the escaping Academy disciples, the fleeing mercenaries, and, of course, the colossal premium payout from investing in the Reborn Empress!

"As usual, we start with the ordinary fates to build up the pity timer..." Theo muttered to himself.

With ceremonial flair, the Abyssal Sword Sovereign opened his system interface and began to claim his loot.

[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully invested in Titus, preventing his demise in the Sanctum of Somnus.]

[Reward: Three hundred pounds of cold-iron ore.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully invested in Valeria...]

In his room, Theo crossed his arms, swiping through the endless stream of minor investment returns and dumping them into his spatial inventory.

Truth be told, his spatial inventory was a catastrophic mess.

He had a peculiar talent for throwing divine artifacts into the void and entirely losing them.

In his past life, his mother used to yell at him for losing things, only to inexplicably find them five seconds later.

Sadly, his mother was not here to organize his system space...

At this point, calling himself "wealthier than an Empire" was barely an exaggeration.

He had a literal mountain of gold bullion, more liquid assets than the Imperial Central Bank, and enough Archon-grade elixirs to fully stock the Imperial Alchemy Guild for a decade.

If he gathered every Patriarch in the Capital into a single room, he could slap his wallet on the table and declare, "All of you combined are still broke," without batting an eye.

"My net worth just keeps inflating..." Theo sighed, burdened by the tedious headache of distributing this wealth to the impoverished outer provinces.

Being a philanthropist was exhausting...

Half an hour later, Theo stretched lazily and claimed his higher-tier rewards.

[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully invested in Instructor Cassian, preventing the loss of his cultivation.]

[Investment Reward: Wyrm-Slayer Blade Arts.]

[Description: A high-tier sword manual created by an ancient Exarch after observing the tides of the Leviathan Sea.]

"I literally have an Abyssal Drake bloodline," Theo muttered. "A dragon-slaying art feels like a colossal conflict of interest..."

He had no intention of learning it. But he knew someone who would love it: Seraphina.