Goddess Development Plan

Spirit Cat Cub: As a battle species among the catfolk capable of growth and evolution, it is incredibly powerful. Even in its juvenile stage, it can intimidate ordinary animals. It can appear in a spiritual form visible only to the host and follow alongside at all times.

It can also take the form of a regular cat, casting proud and cold stares at anyone the host dislikes. It can warm your chest (assuming you have one), act cute when needed, and enjoy the protagonist's explosive growth privileges in critical moments, entering a combat state.

Spiritual Form: Functions like a soul-type creature. The host can share the Spirit Cat's vision to see shadow planes and purgatory planes normally invisible. It can also briefly phase the host into the shadow plane to escape to a distance within 100 meters. Cooldown time: 15 minutes.

Spiritual Form Attributes: Strength 1 (G-), Agility 25 (E), Stamina 3 (G-), Inspiration 20 (E-)

Skills: Gaze into Shadow, Gaze into Purgatory, Phase Shift, Shadow Escape

Normal Form: Increases alertness by 100%. Any target within 100 meters harboring hostile intent triggers a warning. Once a hostile is detected, it can be marked. Both host and Spirit Cat deal 15% more damage to marked targets. No limit on the number of marks. Note: The more terrifying the mark symbol, the more dangerous the enemy is. If you see a skull symbol, escape immediately.

Normal Form Attributes: Strength 3 (G-), Agility 10 (F-), Stamina 5 (G), Inspiration 22 (E-)

Skills: Avenger, Predatory Stare, Perception

Combat Form: When a marked target comes within 10 meters of the host, the Spirit Cat instantly enters combat-ready mode, awaiting the host's attack command. If the host encounters a life-threatening situation, the Spirit Cat will automatically enter combat to protect them.

Combat Form Attributes: Strength 14 (F), Agility 18 (F+), Stamina 12 (F-), Inspiration 12 (F-)

Skills: Guardian, Intimidate, Beast King

Evaluation: This Spirit Cat holds limitless potential. As its master, please treat it well.

Note: Normal form has no cost. Spiritual form consumes 3 Dream Points per minute. Combat form consumes 10 Dream Points per minute. Spiritual form can seal all abilities except Phase Shift to maintain form at 2 Dream Points per day. Sealing can be lifted instantly but costs 100 Dream Points. Switching between Normal and Spiritual form consumes 10 Dream Points. Entering Combat form consumes 100 Dream Points.

After reading the Spirit Cat's introduction, Chu Lian paused, then broke into a silly grin. The abilities and stats of this pet were far more comprehensive than she had expected.

Forget the combat form—just the "Shadow Escape" skill from the spiritual form was already a lifesaving trump card, with a 100-meter radius centered on herself.

In this steel jungle of a city, a 100-meter range was more than enough to let her escape countless lines of sight and enter any of the complex buildings around. That alone would flip the situation, turning her from hunted into hunter.

The normal form's detection was also excellent. Any person harboring ill intent who came within 100 meters would be sensed and marked by the Spirit Cat with a symbol only she could see.

Right now, this ability only worked as a warning, but once her strength increased in the future, the stacking effect alone would boost her total damage by 15%. Not to mention, the Spirit Cat was a growth-type pet—its damage could also scale. She was certain that this stacking bonus could be upgraded further.

Looking at the fluffy white kitten burrowing repeatedly into her arms, she gave a helpless smile. She had tried to ignore the system's cheeky remark about "warming your chest (assuming you have one)," but it seemed the cat really was a bit of a perv.

When Chu Lian clicked to claim the Spirit Cat Cub reward, a white kitten slowly materialized under the sunlight, forming from nothing, and finally sat licking its paw as it stared at her obediently.

She was initially surprised. The Spirit Cat Cub was less than 15 centimeters long, and her girlish instincts immediately kicked in. Enchanted by its cuteness, she scooped it up into her arms.

It acted as if it had finally found its destination, wriggling continuously in her embrace. Chu Lian was certain its target was her chest—but all she had were modest slopes, barely enough to satisfy its intentions.

Left with no other choice, she leaned back against the bedhead and gently pressed the cat into her chest, holding it in place so it couldn't squirm anymore before turning to check its attributes.

This kind of ultra-rare divine pet usually only appeared in late stages of MMORPGs. Why had it been given as a reward in a single Goddess Quest? She examined the task description and slowly reached a conclusion: the system likely wanted the Spirit Cat to reach her side quickly and assist her, thus lowering the difficulty of obtaining it.

If that were true, it meant danger would soon follow. Judging from the last special mission, the system likely had some predictive abilities. Maybe not too many, and only related to her, but it was still a formidable trait.

This prophetic capability—the system definitely had it! It was an intuition, and also one of her greatest lingering doubts. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding the system.

Was the system something from the future? Or did it exist in her present?

"Oh my, oh my~ I disappear for just a little while, and you start constructing all sorts of wild theories in your head. I get the feeling you see the system as some greedy, pit-digging, black-hearted and sharp-tongued existence, huh? If you want to know the truth, go find the answer yourself. As for me—I'm just someone who lives in the system."

Seemingly rested, Ayase's charming voice rang out from within. Chu Lian, though she had concealed it well, couldn't hide her feelings from Ayase's perception.

But Chu Lian didn't mind. She hadn't meant to truly hide anything from Ayase. She just felt that these were things she needed to contemplate for herself, not ask outright.

Still, upon hearing Ayase speak, Chu Lian suddenly noticed the fatigue in her voice that she hadn't caught earlier, and it shocked her.

Since meeting Ayase, Chu Lian had never seen her exhausted. Sleeping in, dozing off, or being lazy were merely hobbies to pass time—not signs of real fatigue. But this time, she could feel Ayase's genuine weariness and spiritual depletion.

"Could it be that Ayase encountered a powerful enemy while she was away last night and got hurt badly?" Chu Lian felt anxious, but she still calmly analyzed the situation. The only clue she could think of was Ayase's mysterious disappearance the previous night.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but ask, "Ayase, what happened to you? I can feel how weak and tired you are. It's worse than when I used infinite stamina boosters. Did you run into a powerful enemy last night and get hurt?"

"No one can hurt me. You're overthinking. I was just away from your body for too long and lacked the system's energy to maintain my form. I had to sustain myself with my own energy, and that consumed quite a lot. That's all. No need to worry. If I had encountered an actual threat, I wouldn't hide it from you. Rest assured..." Ayase could sense the concern in Chu Lian's voice but offered a bitter smile and gave a rehearsed response.

Chu Lian, you're wonderful in every way—except your intuition is far too sharp. It's going to get you into trouble someday.

After hearing Ayase's explanation, Chu Lian wasn't sure how to respond. It was the first time Ayase had been gone for such an extended period. Before this, even if she left, she would always be nearby, so Chu Lian never had to think about energy depletion.

But since Ayase had explained it, Chu Lian chose not to press further.

Ayase had never lied to her—except when it came to those untouchable taboos and secrets. This time, it seemed she really was just being overly anxious.

Well, the most important reason was that Ayase was the most important person to her. It was only natural to lose composure upon realizing that person might be hurt.

Pushing down the Spirit Cat's nosy little head, Chu Lian picked up the glass of milk by her bed and took a sip. Glancing at the clock, it was already 10 o'clock. Time to get up...