Chapter 659 – Screening Worlds

With the Realm-friend Invitation in hand, all the problems of written language, spoken language, and identity background were perfectly resolved, allowing seamless integration into that world.

It could be called the safest method of world travel.

This kind of invitation could generally only be obtained by Explorers who had made tremendous contributions to that world and whose favorability with the world consciousness was extremely high.

Other types of invitations didn’t come with nearly as many thoughtful added benefits.

And this was a Realm-friend Invitation from a level-ten world at that. Aside from not being permanent and needing to be used within a certain timeframe, it had virtually no drawbacks.

Even on the verge of expiration, it was worth several hundred thousand Origin Mana Crystals—and even then, it wasn’t something you could just buy whenever you wanted.

Explorers who obtained such invitations typically gave them to fellow Explorers they took a liking to or knew well and trusted deeply. They almost never circulated on the open market.

Encountering a Realm-friend Invitation was rare enough; encountering one that was compatible with oneself was rarer still.

And this particular Realm-friend Invitation belonged to none other than Guru Guru World—a prosperous and stable world that hadn’t issued any external tasks in nearly a thousand years.

Mo Lan thought that if she were in Vasida’s shoes, she’d rather take the risk and go a little early than miss the chance to use it.

If she truly encountered danger, the worst that could happen was directly leaving the world. That was still better than not going at all.

“So this trip—it sounds like you’ll need to prepare for a long campaign?” Mo Lan looked up at Vasida, her gaze carrying a touch of concern.

Vasida’s Mana rank was at the Fourth Rank, and her highest Magic level was Peak level. With that kind of strength, she could stand at the very top in the world of Valen, but in Guru Guru World—five levels higher than Valen—even the most ordinary magical beast could probably give her a grueling fight.

Vasida nodded firmly. “I plan to use the identity provided by the invitation to lie low first.”

A light of determination flickered in her eyes as she laid out her plan. “I’ll start by slowly eating all kinds of delicacies to obtain magic seeds and magical energy. Once my Mana rank and Magic level have both risen enough to handle the Giant-Stomached Rainbow Whale, I’ll go after the magic seed for the Rainbow Siphon ability.”

To better maintain her cover, she had even plowed through over a dozen specialized works on acting technique, including 《The Art of Performance》 and 《Master of Disguise》, practicing even the most subtle facial expressions over and over.

Yet as she said this, Vasida’s voice suddenly dropped, and the napkin in her hands crumpled into a ball. “It’s just… the flow of time in Guru Guru World… isn’t quite the same as in Valen, and the journey there will also take quite a bit of time… Once I leave, it’ll be at least a hundred years before I can come back. When I think about not seeing all of you for that long, I can’t help feeling sad…”

“And by the time you come back… the rest of us might be stuck in some otherworld ourselves, unable to return.”

Lilith swirled her Crystal glass, the wine refracting hazy halos of light under the lamplight, her voice carrying an uncharacteristic wistfulness. “Getting everyone together again… won’t be easy.”

Sylph tilted her head back and drained her wine in one gulp, then suddenly set the empty glass down hard on the table. The crisp clinking sound shattered the brief silence.

“Now I finally understand why spellcasters from Valen rarely go back once they reach the Well of the Sky, and why they barely participate in Valen’s conflicts anymore.”

She grabbed the wine pitcher and filled her glass to the brim, the liquid gurgling as it poured in, raising a fine layer of foam. “When you go to an otherworld you can’t leave until you complete the task, and the flow of time is different too. You’re gone for a few years, and when you come back, maybe only a few days have passed in Valen—or maybe several decades, even over a century. Who would still have the heart to get involved!”

She raised her brimming glass, eyes flashing with fierce resolve. “Today, we’re drinking to our hearts’ content!”

Mo Lan sighed as well. “If only the cross-world version of the Communication Card didn’t cost so much to use, and didn’t have so many restrictions!”

The Communication Card worked well enough within a single world, but when used across worlds, it was either perpetually disconnected or required a fortune just to send a single message, its effectiveness drastically diminished.

As for increasing the cross-world signal strength of the Communication Card—for now, she saw no possibility of that whatsoever.

A farewell where you clearly know how hard it will be to meet again is far more sorrowful than one where you simply don’t know how long the separation will last.

But after savoring their final moments together, they still parted ways without hesitation.

Independence and freedom were the eternal pursuits of Witches.

And strength was the foundation for obtaining independence and freedom. They would always walk the path of growing ever stronger. Family, friends, and kindred might make them pause to rest from time to time, but would never become obstacles to their relentless forward march.

After they parted, Vasida began her final preparations for the journey to Guru Guru World. Lilith and Sylph also started moving frequently between their camp at the Well of the Sky and the Otherworld Archives, selecting otherworlds suited to them.

Mo Lan returned to her camp, drank a sobering potion, and once her mind was clear, leaned against the edge of the Well of the Sky, gazing at the starry projection within the well.

For every world that flickered and sent her a task invitation, Mo Lan carefully deliberated and screened it against the information stored in her mind.

The advice that Senior Traci had given her before was truly sound.

For her first otherworld exploration, a world slightly higher in level than Valen and similar in type would suit her best.

She should first raise her Magic level in such a world and get accustomed to the rhythm of completing world tasks, then move on to a world of similar level but with greater type differences to study an entirely different magical system.

By repeating this cycle and improving herself bit by bit—that was the most reliable approach to otherworld exploration.

Mo Lan’s highest Magic level was only First Rank. With that Magic level, she could at most go to a level-six world—one level higher than Valen’s world level.

But her current Mana rank was around Fifth Rank at 80%. With that Mana rank, she could handle even a level-ten world without too much difficulty.

Taking into account her Magic level, her Mana rank, and her Book of Cards, she felt that going to a world between level six and level eight shouldn’t be too risky.

For a level-six world, Mo Lan leaned toward choosing ones with more challenging tasks and richer rewards. With her abilities, something too easy would yield too little from a single trip, and she’d need to switch to the next world before long.

For a level-eight world, Mo Lan leaned toward choosing ones with simpler tasks. After all, her current Magic level was still slightly lacking for a level-eight world. Simpler tasks meant less pressure, giving her more time to properly collect resources beneficial to her and raise her Magic level.

There were plenty of worlds sending her task invitations, but after eliminating those that didn’t match her requirements in world level or world type, removing the level-six worlds with tasks that were too easy and the level-eight worlds with tasks that were too difficult, and then further excluding worlds aligned with evil factions—the remaining choices were not many at all.