Chapter 70: A Brand New Idea
Night Star vaguely remembered when she first retrieved the Source of Kuro from the Ballad Conductor. It was at that moment that the Wish Princess mentioned something rather unsettling.
The Source of Kuro had some terrifying enhancement abilities.
After all, it was because the Ballad Conductor received a boost from Kuro that Night Star Lan nearly lost their face-off—she had to outsmart him by exploiting his obsession with Obsession itself. If not for that, who knows how Night Star Lan would have handled the situation?
Night Star did some quick mental calculations. The Ballad Conductor, enhanced by the Source of Kuro, was definitely beyond the realm of an ordinary Extraordinary Star. He was way stronger than the original First Generation. Maybe he was like a watered-down version of the Source of White.
If their powers were equal, would that mean Night Star could break through the Source of White’s barriers? She felt it was highly likely. But then again, she realized she wasn’t strong enough right now—her mental power was only B-grade! That was a huge gap from A-grade. She could barely traverse time and space, let alone break through the Source of White’s locks.
But what if she could boost her power to the level of the Source of White? Or even surpass it? Then that so-called barrier would just be flimsy paper to tear through!
Now, Night Star had two options to get stronger. One was to have the Wish Princess unlock her level restrictions, letting her gobble up a massive mental reserves boost to hit A-grade and unleash even more powerful wishing abilities. The other was to get a power-up from the Source of Kuro.
The Wish Princess plus Kuro would definitely be greater than White. But both of these methods had one fatal flaw: If Night Star nudged her mental power to A-grade, she could spiral out of control! A mere flicker of emotion could lead to her losing control over her own strength. The last thing she needed was to turn into an irreversible Star Eclipse!
And the Source of Kuro was specifically a power-enhancing item for Star Eclipses. Only Star Eclipses could wield Kuro’s enhancements! Trying to use Kuro’s power while becoming a Star Eclipse was completely counterproductive! Might as well just let the Wish Princess lift her restrictions for faster growth.
An A-grade mental power would easily suppress a weakened Source of White. But then again, that came with a risk of losing control. What a conundrum!
Furthermore, Night Star could technically not use the enhancements from the Source of Kuro to slink into the time and space where Luo Xi was located. The Source of White had mentioned that she couldn’t coexist with Kuro in the same world. Her gut feeling agreed—this wasn’t just a fib.
If she tried to drag Kuro into the realm of White, it could lead to absolutely terrifying consequences. Night Star was feeling a tad cowardly about it. Who knows if the Wish Princess could handle a disaster of that level? If she couldn’t, oh boy, they’d be in serious trouble!
Night Star didn’t want to gamble and had no intention of using Kuro’s power in that way. So what to do?
Giving up was absolutely out of the question. Saying she’d simply bring Luo Xi back, no matter her identity as the Source of White or whatever, was a revolution in determination! Since they had toyed with her feelings and stolen her first kiss, she couldn’t possibly let it slide.
She had to bring Luo Xi back and give her a talking-to about why deceit was bad!
But how to break through that barrier remained an unsolved riddle. Tough stuff…
Mo Rabbit noticed Night Star staring at the ceiling like it held all the answers and could guess a bit about what was on her mind.
“You’re thinking about leveraging the Source of Kuro’s powers, aren’t you? That’s pretty risky. Might not be suitable for you at all.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m brainstorming alternatives. Let’s put the Source of Kuro on the back burner for now,” Night Star replied.
Mo Rabbit gave a gentle nod, quickly guessing her next thought. “You want to break through your own limitations to get stronger, right? Not that I’m saying you should, but remember what happened in Free Country—your strength caused you to lose control and turn into a Star Eclipse. If that situation hadn’t been special, you might never have turned back. You need to think about the consequences.”
Night Star racked her brain. “If I recall correctly, I lost control because of the pressure from the Uncrowned Wanderer and their crew. If I could just keep my emotions steady, then maybe I’d be able to break through the locks of the Source of White with my A-grade mental power.”
This idea seemed plausible. First, she could wish for absolute calmness. No emotional rollercoaster nonsense! In this state, boosting her mental power to A, and then wishing to travel to the future time frame, should be totally feasible!
Once in the future, she could ask the Wish Princess to reapply the restrictions and go back to her usual self. Want to be powerful? Boom! Want to be weak? No problem! The best situation would be one where she could adjust as she pleased.
Upon hearing Night Star’s musings, Kong Yu Bai hesitated before speaking up. “Is that really a good idea?”
“Uh… I’m not sure. Should be fine, I think?”
“If it’s uncertain, better not to try.”
“But how can you know if you don’t try?”
As they say, fortune favors the bold! Successful ventures often stem from attempts. If she didn’t take that leap, she would never find the answer.
This was a leap only Night Star could make. No one else could blaze that trail for her.
But Kong Yu Bai still didn’t want her to take that risk. “Do you recall my own struggle during those times? My mental power spiked rapidly, and one night I broke through to A-grade. In that instant, I lost control over the Stars and became a full-blown Star Eclipse. I’m worried you’ll go through the same. If you become a Star Eclipse, we might not be able to save you.”
The theater troupe fell silent. Even though they were all tremendously powerful beings—some of the best fighters in the realm—they had to admit that if an Audience Performer lost control, they were utterly powerless.
Extraordinary Stars were just plain unreasonable!
Especially the sorts like the Wish Machine, who were way beyond the norms.
In the event of an unavoidable rampage, their combined efforts would be like a fly blocking a tank.
Compared to the Wish Princess, they were way too weak.
Seeing the look on her troupe members’ faces, Night Star set aside this dangerous idea for now.
“So what should we do then? Since boosting my mental power doesn’t seem feasible, we have to rely on the Source of Kuro—only that can match the equivalently powerful Source of White.”
Just then, Mo Rabbit chimed in with a new idea.
“I remember you mentioned that only Star Eclipses can use the Source of Kuro, right?”
“Yep.”
Night Star nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking for grain, her eyes now glued to Mo Rabbit, brimming with anticipation.
“What do you think, Announcer? It’s up to you now!”
“I reckon you don’t need to personally wield the Source of Kuro. Just let another Star Eclipse use it temporarily!”
“There are so many Star Eclipses in this world, and quite a few have room to play around with the concepts of space or time. They do have some limitations, sure, but if they could get their hands on the enhancements from the Source of Kuro, their abilities related to time or space would skyrocket! They’d be able to zip through time and space no problem!”
“And under Kuro’s enhancement, they’d likely break through the barriers of the Source of White, possibly helping you travel to the future time frame!”
Mo Rabbit had proposed a fresh, clever idea.
Night Star pondered for a moment and thought this plan was indeed worth a shot.
