Chapter 424 - 422: No One Faults Excessive Courtesy

It landed right on Faye Yardley’s fingertip, fluttering its wings.

Faye Yardley smiled faintly, stopped in her tracks, and raised her right hand. The small, pink-white butterfly seemed to be looking back at her.

"Little one, why are you following me? You’re not the one I’m looking for."

The little butterfly’s wings flapped even more vigorously.

"You’ve got quite a temper for a little thing. Fine. If you find me a flower that I like, I’ll take you along as well."

The little butterfly flapped its wings twice and paused for a moment. It then circled in front of Faye Yardley twice before flying straight off in one direction. Faye quickly followed.

Ignoring the myriad of flowers around her, she came to a cluster of small, light purple blossoms where the pink-white butterfly had landed.

Seeing that cluster of flowers, Faye Yardley had to admit she was truly captivated.

She reached out to pluck it, but the pink-white butterfly landed on her fingertip.

"Alright, you’re mine now too."

As she spoke, she quickly plucked the light purple flower cluster with her left hand and cupped the pink-white butterfly in her right palm.

"Has the guest made her choice?"

"Yes."

"The guest has excellent taste. You may select two more flowers."

Faye Yardley smiled and thanked the voice that seemed to float in the air. "Thank you, but what I’ve gotten is enough."

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Dreamy Pine Flower. Your Talent Illusion Barrier has been strengthened.]

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Dreamy White-Pink Butterfly. Your Talent Illusion Barrier has been enhanced again.]

[Congratulations! Your Talent Illusion Barrier has been successively enhanced and upgraded to a Dream Barrier.]

’My third Talent leveled up just like that?!’

’Is there a difference between "Illusion" and "Dream"?’

Previously, she could touch the flowers because she had activated her Illusion Barrier. Now that her Talent had upgraded, she tried to feel out the difference. Faye felt that aside from being able to perceive the world more realistically, there was no other change.

Perhaps she just didn’t understand it well. After all, she had never properly used Illusion Magic before. It kept changing until it became a Talent, and using her Superpower Magic now felt as natural as eating or drinking.

’I can’t believe I’m this lucky.’

Yesterday, she had taken the Foundation Establishment Pill, turning her Superpower Magic into a Talent Skill. Today, using that Talent had attracted the pink-white butterfly.

’If this was all the system’s doing, I just want to thank it again for showing me such favoritism.’

’Of course, no matter how much the system favors me, I still have to be the one to make the choices.’

Since the host didn’t seem to mind what she had obtained and even offered her two more flowers, Faye Yardley didn’t stand on ceremony. She began to carefully select more flowers.

It didn’t take her long this time. Faye Yardley reached out and plucked two flowers she found beautiful: one that resembled a white gardenia, and another that was a golden peony.

Magically, both were absorbed by her third Talent, converted into energy to replenish it.

She had finished picking her flowers. Although she could have caught up to three butterflies, it was clear the host felt that her obtaining the single Dreamy White-Pink Butterfly was more than enough.

’Take what you’re due, and don’t be greedy for more.’

Once she deactivated her third Talent, the figures of her companions appeared before her one by one.

She saw them, but Faye Yardley made no move to help.

’To be honest, it wasn’t as if anyone had asked for help.’

’This place seems more like a ground for individual opportunities.’

’Whether you obtain something, and what you obtain, probably comes down to each person’s own destiny.’

Seeing tables and chairs for resting among the flowers, Faye Yardley walked over to the nearest bamboo chair and sat down. She then took two cups of green tea from her backpack. "Host, care for a cup of tea?"

"Thank you, guest."

As the gentle voice faded, the cup in Faye Yardley’s left hand vanished.

She wasn’t too surprised by that, but when her gaze fell upon the watch on her left wrist, she was startled to find they had already been here for over three hours.

’I need to be on guard,’ she thought.

’I’ll take a sip of tea to calm my nerves.’

Cole Kensington was the first to join her, sitting down in a nearby seat. "Faye, did you already find the flower you wanted?"

"Mhm. And you?"

"Me too."

In truth, he had only caught a bird and hadn’t touched a single flower. He felt that was enough, though, and had come straight over when he saw Faye drinking tea.

Soon after, Zephyr Sterling and Ethan Yardley came over as well, each pulling up a chair to sit.

Faye Yardley would occasionally lower her eyes to glance at her watch as she sipped her tea.

"We’re almost out of time. I’ll go get my Master," Zephyr Sterling said, jogging toward Master Veridian in the distance.

Seeing him go, Cole Kensington prepared to call back Lucy White from the other direction.

Although Master Veridian found the Array formation here profound, he understood their priorities. When his eldest disciple called, he casually plucked the nearest flower and walked with him toward Faye’s group.

Once everyone had gathered, Faye Yardley spoke to the air, "It’s getting late. Thank you for your hospitality, host, but we must be going. Also, these are our parting gifts. Please be sure to accept them."

On the square bamboo table sat six different items, the return gifts Faye Yardley had prepared on behalf of all six of them.

’We took their things, after all.’

After a long moment, the gentle voice spoke again. "The guests are far too polite. My Island Master will be back soon. Why don’t you stay and wait for his return?"

Hearing this, Faye Yardley felt a flicker of nervousness, but she replied clearly, "I’m terribly sorry, but we have urgent matters to attend to back home. We’ve troubled you for long enough. Thank you for your generous hospitality."

As she spoke, she pulled out a variety of small steamed buns that Willow had made. "These are some snacks from home. Please, host, try them. We really cannot stay any longer, but we will be sure to visit the Island Master next time we have the chance."

The CREAK of a door opening sounded once more.

"You are welcome to visit again."

They stepped through the gate and found themselves back at the pier. The sky above was now blanketed in stars. When they looked back, all they could see was a dense forest.

Lucy White started to say something, but Cole Kensington quickly covered her mouth.

Faye Yardley just smiled. "Let’s hurry back. We’ve got a pile of things to deal with at home."

With that, she hopped onto her raft.

The others quickly boarded their own rafts, but just moments later, they began to disappear one by one as the time on their Invitation Cards ran out.

Looking back, the island under the night sky resembled the gaping maw of a colossal beast, ready to devour its prey.

Only after her raft re-entered the thick fog did Faye Yardley let out a long sigh of relief.

’I can’t believe I ended up right back where I started from at sea.’

"Faye, how did time pass so quickly? I feel like we were only there for less than half an hour."

"Time flowed abnormally there," Cole said. "It’s a good thing Faye noticed."

Lucy White shot Cole Kensington a glare. "That’s just because Faye is amazing. Faye, why did we have to give gifts? I don’t really get it."