Seeing her boss was on the verge of losing it, Qingque immediately changed her tune. "Of course, your methods weren't without effect, Lady Diviner! If it weren't for your... 'proactive' work attitude, this change of mine wouldn't have been so impactful. It's the contrast that makes everyone appreciate how good this new method is, and makes them want to work hard for me!"
Fu Xuan stared at Qingque in utter shock, her finger pointing at the girl. She nearly fainted, struggling to breathe.
This was mockery, wasn't it? It had to be.
What did she mean, 'a matter of course'? What did she mean, 'work hard for Qingque'?
So they were only working this hard and efficiently because they wanted Qingque to stay on as their leader, is that it?
For a mere two hours of free time, had this bunch really abandoned her, their 'former' Master Diviner?
"You, you! I... I..." Fu Xuan took a deep, steadying breath, suppressing her turbulent emotions before biting out, "Qingque, you've done a fine job!"
Seeing Fu Xuan's expression, Qingque felt her scalp go numb, as if the Lady Diviner was about to eat her alive.
Heavens have mercy, she hadn't even done anything wrong.
Fu Xuan's strengths clearly didn't lie in this area; her forte was in upgrading the jade abacus and the Matrix of Prescience. She had made hardly any significant changes to the Divination Commission's work structure.
To Fu Xuan, the work of a diviner was meaningful, a great contribution to the Xianzhou.
But to Qingque, the work of the Divination Commission was just that—work. It was neither noble nor great, just another tool to keep the Xianzhou running. It was a thing created to meet the needs of the Xianzhou people.
"As long as you can handle it, that's good."
Fu Xuan felt like a failure as a leader, even worse than the slacker under her command.
She sighed, then turned and left, a picture of desolation.
Qingque started to reach out, to ask Fu Xuan to stay and get back to work, but then she remembered that Fu Xuan had a special assignment at the moment.
The slacker employee let her boss go.
Qingque turned and looked up at the massive, operating Matrix of Prescience. She wondered if Fu Xuan had ever seen the Matrix's final fate within its own calculations.
She thought about this jade abacus, which hadn't changed in so many years, into which the Master Diviner had poured every ounce of her heart and soul. Yet, in the end, the staff of the Divination Commission didn't care about their leader's grand ambitions.
No matter how grand the ambition, if it couldn't be interwoven with the lives of every staff member, it was nothing more than her own personal affair.
'I wonder how much effort the Lady Diviner put into building this Matrix back then. The jade abacus can calculate the countless things in the world, but even the most ingenious device has its limits. When that time comes, an even higher and larger jade abacus will appear. Will the results calculated by this old Matrix of Prescience still be correct then?'
Qingque wasn't sure. She only knew that all worldly observations were limited by their material basis.
Newer, stronger, and better observation tools would continuously emerge. So why obsess over the good or bad fortune of a single calculation?
If you're obsessed with the fortune of this divination, then must you also be obsessed with winning or losing the game within that fortune?
"Oh, Lady Diviner... I wonder when you'll finally figure it out..."
Qingque was genuinely worried. Fu Xuan's overly obsessive personality was clearly unsuitable for meddling with the operations of the Matrix of Prescience.
Fu Xuan was only capable of creating the thing; the dear Lady Diviner didn't even know the principles of how it worked.
---||---
Dan Shu was also thinking, thinking about the meaning of her life.
In the past, she had often pondered why she existed, whether her actions had any real meaning, and whether she could ever break through the world's true conflicts in the face of constant pressure from the Cloud Knights.
Accidents with test subjects were nothing new, but a situation like Noldrei's was a first.
The suffering Dan Shu had endured in her past life wasn't actually that painful.
She knew very well there were countless people who suffered more than she did, yet all of them had accepted the Xianzhou's ban on researching the 'blessings' of the Sanctus Medicus.
Because long life was a 'curse'?
Of course not. There were far more long-lived beings in this universe than the people of the Xianzhou.
Unlike the Corporation, which was already the Corporation before it encountered the Aeon of Preservation, the Xianzhou only truly gained the confidence to be the Xianzhou after encountering their Aeon.
'What difference is there between me and the other life forms in the universe?'
'If there is a difference, why does it exist?'
'If there is no difference, then why must I be confined to the Xianzhou?'
Dan Shu had already foreseen her own inevitable end.
This wasn't because she had suddenly been granted the divine power of prophecy, but because she had become aware of her own karmic burden.
Karma is the activity of life, the force of life's actions. The opposing force, then, is the karmic burden. The stronger the force you exert, the more the forces opposing you will unite against you.
The moment Noldrei infiltrated the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and threatened to expose them to the Cloud Knights, she understood that her struggle on the Xianzhou had reached its limit.
If the people of the Alchemy Commission had dared to swarm him then, to risk a desperate fight...
Dan Shu might still have believed that the faith of the Sanctus Medicus held some attraction for the people of the Xianzhou.
But after everyone tacitly chose to compromise and remain silent, Dan Shu fundamentally understood that the Alchemy Commission's faith in the Sanctus Medicus was nothing more than 'self-interest.' They had reached this point not because of their devotion, but simply because most of them had no way of turning back.
Dan Shu realized that she herself was the embodiment of that 'superstition.'
Before Noldrei's wake-up call, Dan Shu could still deceive herself into thinking everyone was a true believer. But after his Pure Land theory, this group had immediately switched their faith for their own benefit.
This worthless bunch changed loyalties faster than they could take a piss.
"The Pure Land is a place that is difficult for human power to reach. A place we can only create with the hands of an Aeon."
"Among them, Nihility is untrustworthy, the Hunt cannot do it, Preservation has no interest, and Erudition and Harmony are merely tools to reach the Pure Land. Only the Medicine Master will truly and compassionately help us build that Pure Land."
"He asks for no reward, covets no offerings, and requires no faith."
"He is just there, unmoving, unshakable, impartial."
"We praise the Medicine Master, not for His power, not for His charity."
"But because, to solve the suffering of us Xianzhou people, there is no other way but through the Sanctus Medicus."
"To uproot the Mara-Struck problem from the Xianzhou people, there is no path left but to face the Medicine King directly."
"To hide behind one Aeon from another, thinking that alone can make one forget all past losses—that is the most foolish act in the world."
"Cause and effect follow like a shadow; karmic joy and sorrow cling to the bone."
"Salutations to the World-Honored One, the Medicine Master of Lapis Lazuli Light."
Bailu thought the people of the Alchemy Commission had all gone mad. She watched as Dan Shu openly preached about the Sanctus Medicus in broad daylight.
Dan Shu had even stated plainly that the only way to free the Xianzhou from the suffering of the Mara was to once again face the Medicine King.
In Bailu's eyes, Dan Shu had gone completely insane, no longer caring for even her own life.