"Cheng Lixue..."
Fu Hua repeated the name, an inexplicable surge of sorrow rising from the depths of her heart.
However, no matter how she searched her memories, she could find no trace of this person.
Fu Hua surmised that her memories of Cheng Lixue had likely been partitioned away using Fenghuang Down, or perhaps utterly incinerated by the 1st Rated Power of the Divine Key.
The former could be retrieved, but the latter meant they were gone forever in every sense of the word.
Yet this was merely speculation. She didn't know for certain if she had forgotten anything, so she wouldn't jump to conclusions based solely on a physical reaction.
"I have... no impression of her..."
Fu Hua shook her head, her expression remaining perfectly still.
Even if an old friend appeared here, she likely wouldn't show much of a reaction at all.
"I see."
A sliver of disappointment flashed in Lierre's eyes, and the sachet in her hand suddenly felt worthless.
At this rate, even if she pulled Elysia out right now, Fu Hua probably wouldn't react much.
But that wouldn't do!
How could she miss out on the sweet scene of old friends reuniting, embracing each other with tear-filled eyes!
In an instant, everything in existence came to a halt.
The entire world was frozen in the previous second.
Divine Power, deep as the abyss and heavy as a prison, converged in Lierre's hands. A medicine that did not exist in this world—one not even permitted by the world—was created.
When time ticked forward again, a jar containing numerous red pills appeared in Lierre's hand.
The Panacea: effectively cures all ailments within two hours.
"I can't take your things for nothing. Worldly money might be useless to you, but I happen to have some divine medicine I came across by chance. It's the perfect trade for your sachet. It can cure any illness, so naturally, it can fix your amnesia too."
Lierre opened the jar, took out a small red pill, and pressed it firmly into Fu Hua's hand, instructing her seriously: "You absolutely must eat this!"
With that, she waved toward the surrounding students who were watching the commotion, calling out:
"I guarantee it on Theresa's reputation! This medicine cures everything—it'll even wipe out the side effects of artificial Stigmas. So what are you waiting for? This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal! Hurry up and bring your items to trade with me!"
She had produced quite a lot of them anyway, and she wasn't short on the stuff. To avoid waste, she didn't mind lending a hand to these short-lived children.
As it turned out, Theresa's name carried significant weight at St. Freya.
Upon learning that the side effects of artificial Stigmas could be resolved, the surrounding Valkyries-in-training couldn't sit still for a second.
Since it was a barter system with few restrictions, why not try? What if it was real?
The exhaustion from their training vanished instantly. They crowded around Lierre so tightly that even Fu Hua was pushed out of the circle.
"Don't push, don't push! There's enough for everyone!"
"You want to help me find customers? No way, this is a lounge, not a wet market. Theresa will probably lecture me again."
"Whose hand isn't behaving? Who's patting my head? Be careful, or I'll have Theresa punish you with cleaning duty!"
Fu Hua watched the rowdy crowd from the outside, lifting the red pill to examine it.
To all appearances, it was a perfectly ordinary-looking pill.
"Cures all ailments..."
Fu Hua was reluctant to believe it.
It was fundamentally impossible for a single pill to cure everything. No one in the entire world could manufacture such an absurd drug.
Fu Hua hesitated for a moment, then finally opened her mouth and swallowed the medicine.
As a Fusion Warrior, she wouldn't be easily killed by poison, so there was no need to be overly cautious.
Her photographic memory caused too many memories to constantly press against her brain, eroding her consciousness. If that too was an illness, Fu Hua hoped this pill could cure it.
She didn't want to forget anything else...
"The medicine... is starting to take effect?"
Fu Hua looked at her own body in surprise.
Mere seconds after she took it, her keen senses detected the changes.
Internal injuries were being rapidly healed, and memories—those partitioned away or burned by Fenghuang Down—began to resurface one by one.
A blurry figure gradually became clear in her mind.
"Master, this time, it's my turn to protect you."
A young girl held the longsword, Ruoshui. As an A-rank Valkyrie, she had stood like a mantis trying to stop a carriage, intercepting the fully enraged Second Herrscher in mid-air. She had used her life to buy time for the incapacitated Fu Hua to escape.
Even though Cheng Lixue was the strongest A-rank Valkyrie, she was still no match for the Second Herrscher.
The ending had been preordained.
Cheng Lixue gave her everything, successfully allowing Otto to take Fu Hua away from the battlefield, but the Second Herrscher's Void Lance pierced the girl's heart.
...
"Lixue..."
Fu Hua felt a sharp pang in her heart, and a silent tidal wave of grief washed over her.
She remembered Cheng Lixue again.
The incident of the seven disciples killing their master had made her fear forming deep bonds. After raising Cheng Lixue to adulthood, she had left Mount Taixu without a word.
Fu Hua never expected that her sudden departure would become Cheng Lixue's inner demon, causing her Taixu Sword Heart to remain stuck at the first stage, the Still Water realm.
That sentence—"Master, this time, it's my turn to protect you"—filled her with immense guilt and remorse.
If she had shown Cheng Lixue a little more care back then, perhaps her Sword Heart wouldn't have remained at the first stage, and she wouldn't have insisted on joining Schicksal...
With the effect of the Panacea, more and more unforgettable memories would fully resurface within these two hours.
The restoration of memory and the return of strength seemed like a gift from fate, but a price had long ago been marked in the shadows.
On the broad, clean plaza.
Lierre pushed a small cart piled high with various knick-knacks. A banner hung from the top, bearing the words "A Living Hua Tuo, a Divine Physician Reborn" in gold-embossed letters in both Chinese and English.
She reached a corner and unloaded the sacks from the cart. This spot was already piled with the "Sacred Relics" she had collected recently.
"I've been busy for so long; should I move on to the next step?" Lierre mused, rubbing her smooth chin.
Not far behind her.
Fu Hua, restored to her prime, hid her presence. Her deep eyes remained fixed on the blonde girl's back.
Lierre held too many secrets. Setting aside how she had produced the jar of medicine out of thin air right before her eyes, the mere existence of these pills that could cure any ailment proved that Lierre's origins were anything but simple.
She truly wondered where Theresa had picked her up.
However, since Lierre had done her a great favor, Fu Hua would naturally provide her with necessary protection to prevent any ill-intentioned people, attracted by the Panacea, from harming her.
Fu Hua immediately noticed several people approaching Lierre at a brisk pace. She looked over:
"That's... Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya, the daughter Lierre supposedly adopted."