The Kingdom of Stars, Jianhua University.
In the rock training ground, Ingulit's figure spun like a gyroscope, and her two swords left clear marks on the stone dolls one after another. The stone dolls were equipped with pulleys on their lower limbs, and would continue to approach Ingulit. However, depending on the part and intensity of Ingulit's damage to them, the stone dolls would produce various reactions such as "displacement", "stagnation" and "slowdown".
As time went by, the stone doll got closer and closer to Ingulit. It was not that Ingulit's combat power decreased, but that the sharpness of her weapon dropped to the level of a close-range blade in the high-intensity battle, which made it impossible for her to cause limb-breaking damage to the stone doll.
The basic strength of the stone puppet is equivalent to that of a grown-up fish-slaying dragon. If the swordsman does not inflict limb damage, it is difficult to stop the stone puppet from approaching by impact damage alone.
Yinggulit suddenly crossed her two swords, and the swords made a clanging sound. In an instant, the sharpness of both swords was raised to the level of purple blades. The two-winged magic spirit "Polishing", the one-winged magic spirit "Fish Scales", and the one-winged magic spirit "Iron Filings", these three unrelated magic spirits formed the sword magic miracle "Purple Blade Polishing", which can polish any two swords to the level of cutting iron. It is also the miracle that Yinggulit relies on the most at present.
In the second she was polishing, the stone puppets all surrounded her. Ingulit took a deep breath, stretched her long legs and jumped up suddenly. She stepped heavily on the head of the stone puppet with her boots and jumped back, leaving the encirclement of the stone puppets. Then, she crossed her swords and killed the stone puppets like a whirlwind!
collapse!
When Ingrid's two swords broke, the stone puppets also broke into pieces. She let go of the hilts, and at this time the second batch of stone puppets began to approach. She pulled out the spare sword stuck in the ground and started the second round of chaotic combat training.
Only when there were no more complete stone dolls in the training room did Ingulite put down her weapon and clicked the miracle bracelet to end the training. At this time, the fallen stones and stone chips immediately melted into soft stone mud and slowly crawled towards the doll's body.
She returned to the lounge, picked up the water bottle, took a few sips, and let out a long breath of hot air. The long-awaited sweat soaked her training suit, her skin turned a soft pink, and her whole body was steaming. Her hanging hair stuck to her cheeks and neck, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.
Ingrid once thought about cutting her hair short, which would be more breathable, easier to manage, and more convenient for battle, but she finally gave up due to Adele's strong opposition. But she didn't really want to cut her hair, after spending so much time with those beauty-conscious roommates, she was more or less influenced by them.
But the bangs and sides should be trimmed shorter...
After taking a quick shower and changing clothes, Ingulit left the new training building and had to walk half of the campus to reach the meditation building. The new training building was a new facility built in the past six months. Many high-end training equipment that only Aletheia University was qualified to configure were stuffed in it like it was free. Now, in terms of equipment configuration alone, Jianhua University can already keep pace with Aletheia University, which shows how much off-campus sponsorship Jianhua University has received this year.
"Good evening, Senior."
"Senior, are you going to the Void Realm tonight too?"
"Are you free tomorrow night, Senior?"
All the students she met along the way took the initiative to greet Ingulit, even the teaching assistants, but no one dared to continue to pester her after she refused. A few days after the start of school, Ingulit gradually got used to her new identity - a third-year senior.
Apart from the fourth-year students who were doing internships or going into the Abyss, she was the most senior student in the university. At the same time, she was also the graduate student of Professor Trozan, the head of the swordsmanship department this year. She had entered the Abyss five times, and her maximum adventure depth was the sixth floor of the Abyss. She won the second place in this year's Meteor Tribulation.
In the past, her juniors had already given her the title of "Sword Flower". She was even one of the best Sword Flowers of all time. However, when the school tried to call her Sword Flower in publicity, Ingulit refused seriously. As a result, no one called her Sword Flower anymore, and it was very likely that there would be no new Sword Flower in Sword Flower University in the future.
On the way, they passed by the dormitory building, but Ingrid had no intention of going in because it was empty. Lois was now running the family chamber of commerce outside the school most of the time, and Adele was also practicing in the virtual realm every day, so the dormitory was empty most of the time.
It felt as if everyone had suddenly entered the third grade and had suddenly grown up. The laughter and joy that once took place in the dormitory had become so distant, even though it hadn’t been that long... but we could never go back to the way it was before.
It was as if when she left, she also took away their childish youth.
They still stay here, but their hearts have grown up with her.
As soon as she entered the meditation room and sat cross-legged, Ingrid's miracle bracelet vibrated. She clicked it and found that it was an emergency message issued by the throne room:
"To all two-wing magicians: A large-scale adventure event has occurred on the Time Continent, go quickly."
Ingulite was not surprised, but was just curious about why the throne room had no identification features. She opened the Gate of Truth of the Sorcerer's Spirit, her consciousness connected to the Void Realm, her soul descended to the Continent of Time, and when she opened her eyes again, she had arrived at the Continent of Time where the Golden Rain was flowing backwards.
When she looked up, she knew why the throne room hadn't elaborated, because it was too obvious.
A huge silver sword that pierced through the sky and earth stood in the golden rain. You could see it as long as you raised your head. I don't know if it was an illusion, but the white bull seemed to be walking particularly slowly today. Ingulit stared for dozens of seconds but didn't see any obvious deviation of the white bull's four legs.
Today’s adventure seems particularly grand, Ingulit thought.
Ever since the birth of the seventh level of the virtual realm, adventures in each level of the virtual realm have emerged in endlessly. Three demigod inheritances have appeared in the Sea of Knowledge, although they are all incomplete. It is said that a god appeared in the Ruby Mountain three days ago, causing a sensation in the five countries, but was eventually snatched away by five female magicians. The adventures in the Time Continent are even more countless, and Ingulite herself has encountered a "fruit adventure."
The adventure is very simple. Fruits will jump up from the pool. The more you cut, the higher your score. Ingulit is the first challenger to reach the required score and obtains the two-winged magic spirit "Fruit Cut". "Fruit Cut" can cut any inanimate object to produce juice. It feels very interesting, but I don't know how to use it. Ingulit plans to consign it to the school platform.
The biggest difference between adventures and virtual facilities is that adventures are one-time, so any past experience is not applicable, so the notice from the throne room did not teach the two-winged magicians how to deal with it. As for the reason for the birth of adventures, everyone speculated that it was the birth of the dream ladder and the seventh floor of the virtual world, but there is still no official conclusion. In the tide of the great era, the only thing everyone can do is to adapt.
But recently a piece of news has been circulating that a treasure called the "Supreme Fragment" may appear in the adventure. Once the Supreme Fragment is obtained, even the weakest magician may be able to achieve a feat as brilliant as the starry sky.
Ingridt approached the silver giant sword and found that there were many magicians gathered around it. This was understandable, after all, it was such an obvious adventure activity.
But what’s interesting is that everyone gathered around the sword throne and didn’t fight each other.
Because there is usually only one reward for an adventure, multiple magicians who encounter the same adventure will often fight to decide the winner. When Ingrid came here, she thought there should be a roar of killing, and she was a little excited to test the results of her training these days. Now she can't help but feel a little regretful. But when she crossed the sword circle drawn by the giant sword, she got the information about the adventure in her mind, and her mood couldn't help but jump up again.
"Death Arena"
"Only open to two-person duels/No surrender allowed, fight to the death/The winner will receive a random two-winged magic spirit/The loser's death penalty is reduced by 90% (the soul can be healed after 48 hours of rest)"
"Balance of the strong and the weak: When there is a difference in strength between the two sides, the arena will send down blessings to increase the strength of the weaker side, keeping both sides at the same level."
"Those who do not fight will die: If there is a passive situation of slacking off in the fight, the slacking off will die, and the death penalty will be doubled."
"Continuous victory: You can participate in the death duel repeatedly, but each victory will increase the participant's strength score by 20%, and once defeated, all spoils will be lost."
"Ring status: In the middle of a duel, no one is allowed to enter"
Ingulite looked up and saw a fierce battle taking place on the ring. On one side was a warrior who looked like a fox dragon skin, and was a parasitic magician from the Earth Abyss Kingdom. On the other side was a young man with bloodshot eyes, who was full of blood and was probably a blood saint magician from the Blood Moon Kingdom.
There is a light curtain above the ring, which shows the victory status of both sides. The Parasitic Mage has 0 wins, while the Blood Saint Mage has actually won 4 wins, which means that this is the fifth game he has participated in!
Yingguli looked closely and knew why the Blood Sage had won consecutive battles: he was very good at turning into a bat and flying, and he could fly a kite with ease even in the ring. In addition, his blood magic could not only cause damage, but also seemed to be able to restore his own magic power. His endurance and mobility were both top-notch in the two-wing stage. In a critical moment, he could even turn into a pool of blood, immune to all physical damage.
寄生术师的力量与速度似乎被强化了许多，随意一击都能撼动擂台，但就是打不中血圣术师，在擂台上不停喊出地渊的国骂，但得到的只是血圣术师不屑的冷笑。最终寄生术师没过几分钟就流干了血，浑身没有一块好肉倒在擂台上，化为光粒消散。
血圣术师优雅地落在擂台上，此时天空降下一道银光，一枚术灵藏在银光之中。
他随手将战利品收入囊中，似乎并不在乎自己得到什么术灵，转头傲慢地俯瞰周围人群，血眸里闪烁着欣喜的邪光，嘶哑的声音响彻四方：“下一位。”
术师们陷入沉默，他们神色不善看着擂台上的血圣术师，但没有人主动走上擂台。
原来如此，也会有这种人呢。
英古莉特只需一眼就看出来，血圣术师并不是冲着奖品来，而是追求虐杀对手的快感，他的奇迹或许还能激活术师的痛感。这种人在术师里并不罕见，毕竟身怀利刃，杀心自起，明明自己掌握着能主宰生死的力量，却受限于国家法规，只能杀些深渊怪物或者虚境生物，简直跟屠夫一样无聊。
手、臂、肩、眼、耳、口、鼻、舌、喉、胸膛、腹部、腰部、心脏、大腿、膝盖、足部……挑衅、叫骂、哀嚎、悲泣……骨头的惨白、血液的暗红、脂肪的淡黄……人的美妙之处，根本不是兽所能媲美，无论杀多少条斩鱼龙，都无法满足他们的饥渴。
只有亲手扼杀同类生命，才能让他们感觉到自己活着的意义。
不知不觉间，英古莉特已经握紧了剑柄，她紧紧盯着台上的血圣术师，心里将他身上所有能斩的地方都斩了几十遍。一种比被虚境生物围攻时、比流星劫遇到强敌时、比命悬一线时更加强烈的感情，如同黑夜里的暴雨，哗啦啦引发了山泥倾泻，泥水不分彼此，粘稠又沉重的泥土覆盖了所有生机，天地间只余下漆黑浑浊的肃杀寒意。
血圣术师似乎也感觉到什么，他转头望着英古莉特，嘴角翘起一个残忍的弧度。
就当英古莉特准备飞上去的时候，忽然一个熟悉的声音在擂台边响起：“我来挑战你！”
围观的术师都愣住了，他们看着一位连虚翼飞行都不会，还得嘿咻嘿咻爬上擂台的少女一蹦一跳走到擂台中间。虽然说人不可貌相，但无论从外观年龄还是实际心态，术师们都能看出少女根本没经历过多少战斗，而且黄金虚翼肯定还没凝聚完毕，放在时间大陆都应该是食物链下层的弱小术师。
不过也没有人阻止她，毕竟血圣术师连胜得越多，他的实力评分就越高，他的对手就能获得更多祝福。不少人都谋划终止血圣术师的连胜，将他的战利品全部赢过来。
只有英古莉特呆住了。
“阿黛尔！？”
听到有人喊自己名字，阿黛尔转头看见英古莉特，兴高采烈地朝她挥手，就像歌姬开演唱会时遇见自己的朋友。英古莉特下意识就想伸手阻止她参加死决，但又立刻按住自己这个念头。
首先，死决非常照顾弱者，弱者的实力会尽可能提升到强者同一水平。就算弱者死了，死亡惩罚也非常低，回去休息两天就能再次进入虚境。
其次，也是最重要的一点——
阿黛尔是绝不会参加自己会输的战斗！
英古莉特太了解阿黛尔了，欺软怕硬、恃强凌弱、狐假虎威简直就是她的代名词，怕痛怕苦怕累又怕死，在学校里就极少不肯参加实战训练，若没有十二分碾压的把握，阿黛尔是绝不可能参加战斗！
事实上阿黛尔能晋升二翼已经令英古莉特十分欣慰了，毕竟阿黛尔总是说‘我已经将这辈子的苦都吃完了’，但在英古莉特和洛依丝大步往前时，她又会及时追上来跟着她们一起进步，仿佛害怕被她们丢下。
就在英古莉特思索间，死决再次举行，擂台四周与中央升起屏障，隔绝周围与对决双方。此时天空出现一个天秤，天秤压倒性地倾向血圣术师，也符合大家的判断——血圣术师的实力碾压这位跟小鹿一样的少女。
就在此时，众人仿佛听到银币落在天秤另外一端的声音，然后一道银光落在阿黛尔身上。
死决擂台为了平衡强弱，开始祝福处于弱势方的阿黛尔。
血圣术师好整以暇，毫不在意擂台对弱者的强化。无论擂台将对手的力量敏捷强化得再多，对他都毫无意义，蝙蝠飞行与血液化身对二翼术师是近乎无解的防御手段，他可以在安全界限内悠哉悠哉凌迟敌人的血肉，流干敌人的血液，将生命玩弄在股掌之中。
「生命虹吸」可以将敌人的血液化为黄金术力，「苦弱之血」可以极大增幅敌人的痛觉，哪怕术师在虚境是没有痛觉的灵魂体，也会像猪羊一样发出凄厉的哀嚎。
可惜刚才的寄生术师有办法大幅削弱自己的痛感，实在是不尽兴，现在这位……血圣术师看着眼前柔弱得跟绵羊一样的少女，脸上不禁露出一个残忍的笑容。
该怎么进行，这令人愉悦的折磨呢？
哒，哒，哒，哒……
银币一枚接着一枚落下，银光一道接着一道祝福阿黛尔。一开始还没什么，但逐渐大家开始发现不对劲。
“已经祝福十几次了，怎么天秤只平衡了一点点？”
“刚才那个寄生术师也只是祝福六次啊！”
“已经二十六次了！”
阿黛尔昂起下巴，骄傲挺起小胸脯，大声说道：“因为我很弱啊！擂台多祝福我不是很正常吗！”
英古莉特眨眨眼睛，忽然感觉这个画面似曾相识。以前阿黛尔考试作弊，也是这么义正严词解释自己考试带一只具有通讯功能的笔很合理。
而且，阿黛尔似乎早有预料自己会获得很多次祝福，她脸上一点惊讶都没有，简直就像是……
她跟死决擂台共同作弊一样。
等银光落下六十六次，实力天秤终于平衡，中央屏障上出现三秒倒计时。早就绷不住的血圣术师深吸一口气，告诉自己这没什么，弱者强化得太多也是弱者，反正她根本打不到自己，自己只需要注意走位，一样可以放风筝将她凌迟死——
就在中央屏障消失的瞬间，血圣术师抬起头就看见一个小巧的拳头砸到自己脸上。
轰——
被压缩到极致的空气如同云浪在擂台上炸开，擂台外的大地都震**不休，大家傻眼地看着烟尘滚滚的擂台，看见三米高的擂台现在居然只剩下不到一米，擂台上除了少女外再无他人，只能依稀在翻涌的泥土里看到一些血泥，赫然是被打到渣到不剩了。
被强化到极致的绵羊，一拳就能将擂台所有空间打爆！
血泥中冒出五道银光，显然是血圣术师的战利品，再加上天空降下的银光，阿黛尔一共获得了六个二翼术灵。她赶紧将术灵收入灵魂，然后朝英古莉特招招手：“来得正好，接下来轮到你啦！”
英古莉特一脸茫然地飞上擂台，“你怎么——”
“别问，好好享受就行。”阿黛尔像老司姬一样拍了拍她的肩膀，在她耳边小声说道：“你应该喜欢势均力敌的胜利吧？没问题，这就给你安排，你也连胜六场吧，反正这些术灵对她来说也不算什么。”
“你到底在说什么——”
咚！
银色巨剑忽然开始剧烈震动，附近的术师赶紧退后以免遭到波及。天空出现一个告示板，写着：「死决擂台暂时终止」。
与此同时，天空降下六道银光到英古莉特手上，英古莉特拿来一看，赫然都是她能用上的剑术术灵。
「有急事，下次再聊，你们是先回去现实，还是继续探索时间大陆？」
听到这个声音，英古莉特立刻明白阿黛尔的底气所在——这哪里是作弊，这简直是监考官拿着参考答案帮忙答题！
急事……看来当了神主之后，也不能无忧无虑呢。
英古莉特听出她声音里的急躁，有点好奇她急着去干什么，但此时自然不会多嘴。
“继续探索！”她立刻回道。
「如你所愿。」
银色巨剑迅速崩解消散，死决擂台也不复存在。英古莉特抱着阿黛尔选择一个方向飞翔，问道：“阿黛尔，你有掌握治疗奇迹吗？”
“有啊，怎么……哇！”
后面有数道奇迹射向英古莉特，但被英古莉特矫健的飞行技术避过去。死决擂台一结束，围观的术师立刻开始混战，像英古莉特和阿黛尔这两个拿着十二份战利品离开的肥羊，自然也吸引了许多目光！
她一直关注后方，直到后面只剩下三个追杀者时说道：“现在我要杀回去了，你抱紧我别放手！”
“不要啊！”阿黛尔紧紧搂住她瑟瑟发抖，一脸惊恐：“为什么不继续逃跑啊！”
"Because..." Ingrid turned and drew his sword, his eyes fanatical: "I can win!"
…
…
In the Heaven at the End, in front of a golden river at the junction of the Sky Garden and the Wishing Well, Sonia, Diya, and Weisser simultaneously completed the super-large-scale miracle "Golden Gate".
Before the Golden Gate was launched, the Golden River in the Kingdom of Heaven was less than three meters long, but now it has expanded to thirty meters in length.
The rituals of the Liujin Sect were extremely complicated, and the most critical part was connecting to the Time Continent. Because the only way to obtain extra Liujin River was to connect it from the Time Continent.
As six-winged gods, Sonia and her companions naturally could not enter the lower four levels of the Void Realm, and they could not even find the way in. However, the Time Continent was the only exception - because of the Flowing Golden River.
All the golden rivers will converge into the Continent of Time. Sonia and the others only need to pass through the tributaries of the Golden River in the Kingdom of the Last Heaven to cross the virtual realm and interfere with the Continent of Time.
But even so, the constraints of the virtual realm on the six-winged gods are very strong. Not only their real bodies, but even miracles and wonders cannot descend on the time continent. Only Weisser can break the rules a little bit, and the power of the silver lamp can penetrate into the time continent.
The only things that can get through are their magic spirits and source crystals!
So the three of them used magic spirits and source crystals to build the miracle "Golden Gate" on the time continent. The death fight arena was just a virtual adventure they disguised to attract magicians. Their real goal was the door of truth in the magician's soul!
To connect the water of the Flowing Golden River to the Kingdom of the Last Days, it is equivalent to building a space gate connecting to the Seven Heavens on the Continent of Time, spanning four levels of the Void Realm. Not to mention them, even the contemporary number one space magician, the Lord of the Infinite Abyss, would probably find it difficult to do it, as the Void Realm's resistance to the Lord of Gods is too great.
However, based on the knowledge left by the Death Maniac, there is a shortcut here.
The door of truth!
You should know that most magicians live at the junction of hell and heaven, but their Gate of Truth can connect to the four lower levels of the virtual realm, which means that the virtual realm does not set up any obstacles to the Gate of Truth.
Sonia and the others set up the death arena according to the knowledge of the death maniac. Once the magician dies on it, his door of truth will remain, and the other end of the door will point to the end of heaven. Although the door of truth is very small, there are enough of them. After setting up the arena in the virtual world for one night, the tributary of the Golden River in the heaven has increased tenfold!
The arena and the rewards are just a trick to make the magician die on it and leave behind the Door of Truth.
But the goal is to kill the magician, is it really necessary to spend so much effort to set up the arena to deceive them? Or after luring them in, wouldn't it be okay to just kill them all directly? Is it necessary to arrange a death duel?
Of course both are necessary.
First, collecting the Gate of Truth requires a large-scale ritual, so you must have a fixed location and cannot hunt down magicians everywhere;
Second, although there were no hints, they all felt that interfering with the Time Continent in this way was already the limit. If they dared to personally slaughter the two-winged magicians, the Void Realm would likely bring disaster to the Kingdom of the End of Heaven. Don't forget that the Void Realm has a temper;
Third, collecting the Flowing Gold River is not a one-time deal. They will have to launch the "Flowing Gold Gate" many times in the future. If they ruin their reputation, no magician will be fooled again in the future.
Fourth, Ash was not very willing.
That is why the three gods have condescended to come to the Continent of Time to organize a give-back event, which is truly bringing warmth to the countryside.
They had always wondered why the gods chose to build the main city of the Heroic Soul on the Time Continent, whether it was to experiment with arms, study spells, or compete for concepts. It was not until they became gods and took charge of the Kingdom of Heaven that they realized that the above reasons were just incidental. The gods interfered with the Time Continent for only one reason - to divert the Flowing Gold River.
For Phase Heaven, the Golden River is the most important resource, no doubt about it.
The witch closed her eyes and used her consciousness to change the underlying parameters of the phase. The Golden River quickly dried up, from thirty meters long to only five meters.
"The time flow rate has become 5:1, which means that one day in reality is five days in heaven, but it can only last one day in reality." Diya's face fell: "It feels like the benefit ratio is very low... We even spent ten source crystals to stop the white bull from moving!"
"After all, this is our first attempt." Weisser said with a smile, "If we fix the Death Battle Arena permanently, we can get a stable income from the Flowing Gold River and speed up the flow of Heaven forever."
This is the meaning of the golden river: to speed up the flow of time in heaven!
Like the stars in their heaven, the time flow rate ratio is at least 3:1, 4:1 or even 5:1. If a thousand years pass in reality, thousands of years will have passed in heaven!
Since the gods and angels are immortal, there is no harm in extending time for them, and they can have more time to study magic. For the Kingdom of Heaven, faster time is equivalent to faster production of resources. Ash and his companions thought they were facing thousands of years of accumulation of the gods, but in fact it might be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years!
If a crisis occurs in reality, speeding up the flow of Heaven is also very helpful. For example, now that we know that Ouroboros will attack in 24 hours, the Lord God can choose to use up the water of the Golden River within one day, and it is not impossible to speed up the flow of Heaven's time to 100:1!
In many ways, the water of the Flowing Gold River is a vital strategic resource, so Sonia and the others went to great lengths to activate the "Flowing Gold Gate". They interrupted the Flowing Gold Gate because something more important had happened.
Sonia didn't even have the mood to discuss with Diya and the others. After finishing the rituals, she immediately flew to the main hall of the Sky Garden. It was strange to say that they had only been apart for one day, but even if they had met again after half a year, they were not as excited as they were at this moment. It was like a wild cat turning into a house cat, becoming more and more clingy.
When she entered the main hall, she saw Ash and Vichy, and her joyful mood suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy. She thought that if Ash didn't fly over to her, she would punish him to sleep alone tonight. However, when she took two steps closer and saw clearly what they were doing, she was stunned.
The witch and Silver Lantern entered the main hall and saw Sword Lady standing in front of them. They also saw Ash and Vichy in the distance. They thought Vichy really didn't want to wait even a second. However, when they looked closely, they were immediately shocked and their scalps went numb. A chill ran through their spines.
"Ash," Diya stammered, "What...what are you doing?"
Ash's hand pierced into Vichy's chest, and Vichy hugged Ash limply. Her virtual wings gradually became illusory, and the whole person seemed to be extinguished in the next second.
In contrast, the virtual wings behind Ash became more and more blazing, and Vichy's virtual wings gradually spread to his virtual wings. It seemed as if he regarded everything from Vichy as nourishment to achieve his own eternal brilliance!
Vichy didn't say anything, just looked at him with tears in her eyes, bit her lower lip tightly, and raised her soft hand to stroke his cheek.
"The spectator."
Ash sighed, but he was talking to a non-existent person: "No wonder everyone hates you so much. Bonds... turned out to be your trap."
He re-tied the broken bond between himself and Vichy, and Vichy's virtual wings immediately returned to her, stretching freely. Not only that, she also shared Ash's supreme tail wing, which was colorful, dazzling, and enchanting.
Ash held Vichy in his arms, like two phoenixes embracing each other. He wiped the maid's tears with his thumb, turned to look at Sonia and the others and said:
"I know you have a lot of questions to ask, but to put it simply, Fili taught me how to create and break bonds."