“In theory, it can be removed, but you mustn’t move. Otherwise, your ligaments and muscles will turn into a tangled mess.”
Wang Yue laid Lilith flat and knelt beside her, her fingers pressing along the midline of the girl’s back to examine how the spine connected to the rest of her body.
“Mm…” Lilith let out an ambiguous hum.
Wang Yue’s eyes flickered. She noticed that when this girl completely relaxed, her muscles became exceptionally soft—much like a professional swimmer whose body was pale, soft, and elegantly curved when at rest, yet displayed a well-proportioned, athletic silhouette during exercise.
“I’m starting now!” Wang Yue warned as she shifted to straddle Lilith’s thighs.
Lilith’s mind blanked for a second. She realized that from the young black-haired girl’s perspective behind her, she was completely exposed. She tried to squirm, but she was pinned down by Wang Yue’s weight. Forced to endure the scrutiny, her face flushed a deep crimson, and a muffled sound escaped her throat. “You… you… ngh…”
“Don’t move.”
Wang Yue pressed both thumbs against the sides of the vertebrae and slowly pushed inward. The spinal nerves connecting the vertebral canal to the outside world began to detach one by one. It wasn’t a forced rupture; instead, the nerves seemed to possess a self-awareness, actively letting go.
Finally, Wang Yue made a small incision at the coccyx. Using Witchcraft to guide it, she carefully withdrew the bone.
Lilith’s face turned pale as a hollow sensation bloomed in her chest. Without her spine, her body became as soft as fresh cheese. Her back slumped into uneven folds, looking like a discarded skin.
To make matters worse, this didn’t change the fact that she was totally exposed to Wang Yue; if anything, it left her even more defenseless. As the seconds ticked by, her shame grew, feeling like a red-hot iron branding her skin. It was humiliating and painful, yet she had to grit her teeth and endure it. She couldn’t find the words to complain, so she could only urge Wang Yue to hurry.
Wang Yue’s attention, however, wasn’t on Lilith. She held a warm spinal column in her hands—a bizarre construct of vertebral rings shimmering with a mysterious, amethyst-like luster.
She glanced down at the flattened Lilith. The girl’s limp state was almost comical. Wang Yue kept a straight face, though; she knew Lilith was incredibly vindictive. If she caught Wang Yue laughing now, who knew what she would do when it was Wang Yue’s turn for the Second Augmentation?
In the quiet room, atop a large bed, a young black-haired girl gripped a strange spine. Beside her lay a blonde girl, stripped bare and deprived of her backbone…
To any outsider, it would look like a bloody, occult scene of a living sacrifice. It was the kind of sight that naturally invited dark imaginations of the black-haired girl violating and murdering the blonde. One might even imagine the echoes of tragic screams in the dark room. But who could guess that the blonde girl—currently limp as a snail on the bed—was actually the more vicious of the two?
Wang Yue’s thoughts wandered for a moment before she refocused on the spine.
There was no doubt that this was a Transcendent Material. She tapped it with her finger, producing a crisp, metallic ring. Based on its hardness and structural integrity, this spine had become the sturdiest component of Lilith’s body.
The greatest benefit of a reinforced spine wasn’t just its durability, but its transcendent properties. For instance, alongside a Transcendent Material skull, it could protect one’s psyche. It turned the entire central axis—from the brain to the spinal nerves—into a vessel capable of housing a Rule Construct.
However, a “Flawed Rule Construct”—one that deviated from the “Truth” and produced Structural Pollution—wouldn’t work. Placing such a thing inside would be a death sentence.
Wang Yue took out her instruments to measure the spine’s data and scanned it to create a digital model. Afterward, she tucked it back into Lilith’s body. The anterior and posterior roots of the spinal nerves reconnected at the intervertebral foramina, and Lilith returned to normal.
“How much has your magic capacity increased?” Wang Yue asked.
“It’s five times what it used to be. I can cast fifteen High-tier Witchcraft spells in a row now,” Lilith said with a smug grin.
“Mm. If your faith hadn’t collapsed, making it impossible to replenish mana through the Stigmata, you’d be even more formidable,” Wang Yue noted, genuinely impressed.
But the day’s training wasn’t over. Wang Yue needed to use Lilith to test a hypothesis.
Since they were using a polytheistic Secondary Authorization mechanism and Lilith’s object of faith was Wang Yue, what would happen if Wang Yue changed her faith? Could Lilith use other divine powers through her?
To verify this, Wang Yue produced a small idol of the cat goddess Bastet and a sacrificial stone tablet. Then, her body shrank, and she transformed into a cat, leaping out from her clothes.
Before she could even make a move, Lilith pounced, scooping her up and hugging her tightly.
“Meow!” Wang Yue cried out in panic.
“Now it’s my turn!” Lilith said fiercely. She buried her face into the fluffy cat fur, nuzzling and rubbing against her.
“Stop it! Meow!” Wang Yue protested.
The protest was ignored. Lilith was “cat-huffing” with wild abandon. When the delicate scent of a young girl combined with the dry, fluffy warmth of a feline, Lilith couldn’t stop. Her mind felt clouded by a thick fog as her reason was eroded by primal urges.
She was delighted, kissing and sniffing the cat incessantly while reaching out to scratch its soft belly. Wang Yue pushed against Lilith with visible disgust, her tail twitching, but she couldn’t escape. She kept her claws retracted in her paw pads, terrified of scratching the girl.
Seeing the cat struggling so much, Lilith pressed down on the base of its tail and massaged it gently. Wang Yue’s whole body shivered.
“Meow~” A contented sound accidentally slipped out.
Lilith’s heart skipped a beat. She exhaled a hot breath, feeling as if she’d been burned. Her eyes grew dazed as she continued to rub, wanting to hear more of those comfortable mews.
Wang Yue twisted her body, escaping the girl’s hands. She said sternly, “Stop playing around. We have serious business.”
“Hmph.” Lilith turned her face away, clearly unsatisfied.
Wang Yue extended her cat tail, letting Lilith hold onto it. Lilith’s brow furrowed as she felt a strange power being transmitted—something light, lively, agile, and full of wonder. Her shoulders suddenly jerked. She let go and reached for the top of her head, her eyes widening.
A pair of cat ears had sprouted from her hair. Realizing what was happening, she looked behind her. A tail was swaying leisurely.
“Oh… I’ve become a cat-girl.”
Wang Yue looked back and saw the transformation. It wasn’t the “moe” type of cat-girl, but rather a cold, predatory demon cat. Lilith’s gaze was sharp, looking as if she might claw someone at any moment.
Wang Yue stared, stunned. Her hypothesis was correct. The power of the cat goddess could indeed be transmitted through her tail.
When divine power was transmitted, authorization was granted. After Wang Yue acquired the powers of the Demon and Bastet, she possessed the right to transmit them to her subordinate believers.
“Try using Witchcraft,” she said.
Lilith picked up her wand and cast a Levitation spell. She leapt up light as a feather and drifted slowly back down.
Wang Yue was elated. This proved that two types of divine power could coexist within a subordinate believer; the believer didn’t need the traits of The Faithless. It was essentially like duplicating a Faithless.
The discovery of this divine authorization model was of immense significance. Theoretically, Lilith could receive authorization for every divine power Wang Yue possessed. No wonder the cults hated The Faithless so much; this method of “stealing” was indeed a grave insult to the gods.
However, Wang Yue believed she had paid with her own power of faith, so it wasn’t theft. Moreover, she felt genuinely grateful to the deities who traded their power to her.
Lilith, oblivious to Wang Yue’s pondering, was busy chasing her own tail, turning the bedsheets into a wrinkled mess.
Wang Yue’s experiments weren’t finished. She took out a piece of bread, a piece of dried fish, and a starfruit from her bag, placing them before the alabaster statue of Bastet and the sacrificial tablet.
Then, she piously anointed the statue with fragrant balm. Bastet was known by the ancient Egyptians as the “Guardian of Fragrance,” an Elder God who delighted in sweet scents.
After offering the sacrifices, Wang Yue bowed her head in sincere prayer. She felt Bastet’s divine power surge into her more abundantly than before. Her body expanded, transforming from a small housecat into a black leopard. Her form was sleek, her muscles rippling, and her fur shone like polished silk.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just the “traffic” of divine power that increased; the quality had leveled up as well.
Wang Yue swung a claw. Five cutting lines appeared in the air, followed by a loud crack! Five deep fissures exploded across the wooden wall several meters away.
Lilith jumped, staring at the gashes. “Is that the power of that cat goddess? That’s amazing! I thought she was just a god for looking cute!”
“Bastet is a bona-fide Goddess of War!”
Wang Yue transmitted the new divine power to Lilith. Lilith immediately gained the “Storm Cut” ability—a high-speed slashing attack launched from the fingertips.
Lilith absolutely loved the ability. She dashed off to the training grounds to test it out, even demanding that Wang Yue build her a Charging Station to store the cat goddess’s power.
