Hate Me, Miss Witch!

After a brief period of trial and error, Xaya roughly grasped the current state of Shiny's abilities.

Not only had the maximum distance of its teleportation skill increased, but its cooldown time had also decreased. Moreover, its mastery level had nearly reached the pinnacle of "Expert," with "Perfect" not too far away. The skill's casting time was now so short it could almost be considered instantaneous.

Moreover, the targets of Blink's teleportation were no longer limited to itself.

For living beings, the skill was restricted to Shiny itself and Xaya as its Soul Pact master. However, for inanimate objects, the teleportation limitations were significantly reduced.

In other words, "ramming people with objects" was now on the table.

In summary, although improving proficiency in this high-level time-space skill consumed more experience points than Xaya had expected, the rewards did not disappoint.

"Kiki, kiki!"

"Kiki, kiki!"

Back on Xaya's shoulder, the little golden silk monkey excitedly flaunted its newly acquired ability to Silver.

This was a genuine time-space skill—spatial leap! Compared to its evolutionary kin who could only spit fire, spray water, punch, or throw stones, it was undoubtedly far more impressive.

However, as it continued to flaunt, Shiny noticed something amiss.

On the other side, Silver was gently nuzzling Xaya's arm, gazing up at him with large, watery eyes.

"Ying ying (Master, since my Tsukuyomi was perfected, you haven't upgraded me at all.)"

"Ying ying ying (Tsukuyomi is mainly for control. I feel like I need a damage-dealing skill.)"

"Kiki! (Big Sis, you can't do this!)"

"Kiki Kiki! (I'm the newbie here; newbies need more care!)"

Shiny panicked.

It couldn't believe that Big Sis Silver was playing dirty like this!

The order of skill upgrades was a matter of great importance, directly tied to the internal hierarchy of the team. Even though Silver was the elder, this was a line that couldn't be crossed easily.

Besides, Shiny lacked damage skills too! Blink only worked effectively with combos!

Then, Shiny suddenly realized something else.

Silver's eyes had a faint layer of mist over them.

"Ying (Master, I'm sorry for being so selfish.)"

"Ying ying ying (I understand. As new pets join the team, they'll only get stronger and more gifted. It's natural for Master to favor them.)"

"Ying ying (I'll just continue to assist them with my illusions.)"

"Ying (Master, don't worry about me. Go ahead and upgrade Shiny.)"

"Kiki!"

Shiny was stunned. So you could play it like this?

Compared to Big Sis Yin, its newbie-level cunning was far inferior—not even on the same dimension.

Even Xaya couldn't help but take a deep breath. He noticed that Silver had somehow activated her near-perfect proficiency Charm.

Although Charm naturally had no effect on Xaya, her Soul Pact master, her snow-white ferret species was innately adept at being adorable.

If it were a maternal Beastmaster instead, they'd probably be cradling Silver like a treasure, afraid even to breathe on her.

What do you do when your main pet is a manipulative little green tea? Help, this is urgent.

"Alright, I'm really out of resources for now. I can't upgrade anyone yet," Xaya said with a smile, stopping his two pets from bickering.

"But the future is bright. Shiny, remember: wonderful things are bound to happen. And Silver, avoid saying things that might disrupt team harmony in the future."

As their master, Xaya had the responsibility to mediate disputes between his pets and provide a hopeful outlook.

Actually, the grand promises Xaya made weren't entirely out of reach.

If his assumptions about the Historical Echo were correct, then future novice tasks might align perfectly with his goals. Skill upgrades, and even the creation of new damage-dealing abilities, could become feasible.

Silver had already mastered Tsukuyomi. Learning Amaterasu next didn't seem far-fetched, did it?

With that thought, Xaya refocused on the distorted gateway ahead.

"Silver, return to my Soul Pact space. Shiny, you'll come with me."

Silver flicked her fluffy tail and began to fade. Before vanishing completely, she glanced smugly at Shiny, as if to say, Now you know who the real favorite is.

Shiny nodded in resigned agreement. Big Sis Silver's level was truly unfathomable, far beyond the grasp of a mere newbie.

The little golden monkey leapt onto Xaya's hand and closed its eyes, fully activating its spatial attributes.

Invisible spatial ripples emanated from Shiny's body, enveloping Xaya as well.

Once everything was ready, Xaya turned his attention to the warped door of light ahead.

The Historical Echo were rare phenomena, with very little information even in the imperial archives. Entering one entailed immense risk.

Yet, Xaya had no path of retreat.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the luminous gateway.

The moment he vanished, the distorted light faded into nothingness, leaving the ancient ruins silent once more, as if the preceding commotion had never happened.

Meanwhile, in the imperial supervisory bureau at Reza, a middle-aged officer stood respectfully by his desk.

A slender figure in a black uniform and metallic mask now occupied his seat.

"Three hours ago, my Void Eye detected a spatial disturbance southeast of Reza," the masked woman said coldly. "Such a level of spatial fluctuation isn't typical of low-tier beasts, nor have the local King-level space beasts been active recently.

"In all likelihood, an Historical Echo event occurred near Reza."

As the officer relayed his findings, the woman's demeanor shifted subtly at the mention of the Cangting Duchy, hinting at deeper connections that could drastically alter Xaya's trajectory.