Regarding Krisha's behavior, Xu Xi was puzzled.
He couldn't quite understand why Krisha, who was usually emotionally detached, had deliberately adjusted the positions of the sugar jar and the wand. Was it simply because she found them displeasing to the eye?
Xu Xi didn't dwell on it too much. After all, it was just a matter of rearranging things—the sugar jar was still there.
He believed that even if Mo Li were here, she wouldn't have anything to say about it.
"Let's go, Krisha. It's time to prepare dinner."
"Yes, Mentor."
The autumn sun was setting noticeably faster.
Outside, the sky was heavy with darkness, dotted sparingly with the orange hues of the setting sun—the last remnants of daylight, gently and slowly brushing over the ground like a painter's stroke.
It was just right.
Through the tall vertical window in the kitchen, the fading golden rays illuminated the indifferent face of the witch.
The lingering sunlight didn't diminish the snow-white clarity of her skin; instead, it accentuated its details, making every fine hair visible.
"Mentor, please let me handle it."
"No, Krisha, I'll take care of it."
Xu Xi felt that reuniting with Krisha in the real world was something worth celebrating, and he intended to cook the meal himself.
But it seemed the witch shared the same sentiment.
In the end, the dinner was a collaborative effort between the two.
Charcoal-grilled spirit chicken, stewed dragon beast meat, ginseng and vermilion fruit soup, and stir-fried necromancer mushrooms.
The wide, flat dining table was laden with steaming dishes of extraordinary cuisine, their warmth driving away much of the autumn chill.
*Click—*
Xu Xi turned on the bright ceiling light.
After the cooking was done, the sunlight had grown even dimmer, and the moon had begun to rise high in the sky. Only by turning on the lights could the room remain brightly lit.
"I never thought I'd be able to reunite with Krisha in the real world. This feeling seems..."
Xu Xi pulled out a chair and sat down.
Facing the witch with her hollow eyes across the table, he couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly.
"...quite nice."
The return of the silver-haired witch had brought a sense of liveliness and warmth to the otherwise empty new courtyard—a feeling of home, even if the witch herself wasn't the cheerful, lively type.
"Let's eat, Krisha."
"Yes, Mentor."
Xu Xi started eating first, and only then did Krisha pick up her own chopsticks and begin to take food as well.
When had the witch learned to use chopsticks?
Xu Xi remembered that, before the end of the second simulation, chopsticks had still been the bane of Krisha's existence.
Which meant...
Had she learned it on her own during the time after his death?
The relentless passage of time inevitably forces people to grow, to learn things they once couldn't.
"Krisha," Xu Xi suddenly spoke up, picking up a tender piece of stewed meat and placing it in the witch's bowl.
"What is it, Mentor?" Krisha asked, somewhat confused.
"Nothing. I just want you to eat more," Xu Xi said gently, watching as the immortal witch opened her small mouth and slowly took a bite of the stewed meat, chewing it carefully.
The dinner was uneventful, with no particular surprises.
But in the soft clinking of bowls and chopsticks, there was an indescribable clarity resonating.
It was the one thing the witch had longed for, worked for, and shed tears for.
"This is wonderful..."
Halfway through the meal, Krisha suddenly spoke these words, her voice soft but clear enough for Xu Xi, with his heightened hearing, to catch.
"What's wonderful?"
"Being able to see you again... it's truly wonderful..."
Hearing Krisha's response, Xu Xi smiled.
"By the way, Krisha, have you thought about what you want to do after coming to this world?"
"Stay with you."
A familiar answer.
Once again, it was passed from the witch's lips to Xu Xi.
"I'll stay with you tomorrow, the day after, next year, and even ten years from now."
A few strands of silvery-gray hair fell across Krisha's forehead.
Wispy and delicate.
Just enough to obscure the subtle fluctuations in her radiant eyes, making it impossible for Xu Xi to discern what lay deep within them.
All he could vaguely make out was his own reflection.
"Is that so..." Listening to Krisha's calm voice and feeling the simplicity and clumsiness of her words, Xu Xi was momentarily stunned, his expression softening with a touch of helplessness.
"That's definitely something you would say, Krisha."
"I understand. Since it's your choice, I won't stop you."
The witch had already ascended to godhood.
Xu Xi himself was a Sanctuary Magus.
As long as Krisha wished, she could stay in the courtyard for as long as she wanted. Matters like finances or living arrangements were no concern for the two of them.
Dinner came to an end.
Just as she had in the world of magic, Krisha dutifully began clearing the table. Even though, for someone of her current power, it was something she could accomplish with a mere thought, she chose to use magic to clean everything bit by bit.
As she put it, it was a sense of ritual—a way of serving her master.
Watching Krisha like this—busy, as if she had rediscovered a purpose in life, glowing with her own unique light—Xu Xi felt that life in the real world had become a bit more interesting, no longer dull.
"Though it's a pity..."
Xu Xi murmured, "What's here isn't Krisha's true body, but a projection, a fragment of her will."
For a supreme witch like her, even a wisp of her will could manifest as a living being indistinguishable from the real thing.
But humans are like that.
Once they know something isn't real, they can't help but yearn to touch the genuine article.
"You needn't worry," Krisha said, having overheard Xu Xi's words. She approached, carrying a cup of hot tea, and placed it gently on the table before continuing.
"I will accelerate the ascension of this world until it can withstand the arrival of my true form."
Xu Xi instinctively responded with an "Oh," followed by, "You're quite capable, Krisha."
He took a sip of the hot tea.
But then, almost immediately, he began coughing violently.
*Cough! Cough! Cough!*
Xu Xi pounded his chest with his fist, looking up at the 17-year-old witch standing obediently before him with an expression of disbelief.
"Krisha, what did you just say?"
Xu Xi felt as though he had heard something earth-shattering.
Krisha repeated, "Accelerate the ascension of this world."
So he hadn't misheard.
Xu Xi's expression turned to one of astonishment and doubt.
He had thought that the girl's feat of overthrowing the Chaos Gods was already a shocking revelation, but now it seemed that Earth's spiritual resurgence might also be tied to Krisha?
Krisha had come to Earth because he was on Earth.
Krisha was accelerating Earth's ascension so that her true form could come to see him.
By that logic...
Xu Xi's eyes widened as he realized that the cause of Earth's spiritual resurgence—and the event that had cost him his legs—was, in a roundabout way, himself.
"I crippled myself?"
"How does that even work?"
Faced with Xu Xi's shocked reaction, Krisha shook her head slightly.
The witch clarified that before she had begun accelerating Earth's ascension, signs of supernatural resurgence had already appeared on the planet. She had no intention of bearing the blame for crippling her mentor.