Noldrei was a man from the future.
All the celebrated heroes of the past were but dust and smoke, and those of equal stature were likewise dust in the annals of history.
In Noldrei's eyes, the past history of the Xianzhou was no different from a group of natives who had established a feudal society in space.
These people desperately tried to prove a certain Aeon's blessings wrong, desperately tried to prove that their chosen way of life was correct, even to the point of mutual slaughter.
All of this, in Noldrei's view, was unnecessary.
What could he do with the Xianzhou people?
Support them in fighting each other over these issues? Mutually agree on their paths to self-destruction?
Where did their energy come from? Where did their tools come from? Where were their products made? Weren't these interests all clear at a glance?
What was the point of draping these things in the cloak of faith and right and wrong?
The reason Noldrei was so magnanimous about what Dan Shu had done was precisely because she had, after hearing the dialectic of life, begun to think about why she had done all those things.
Even if the direction she ultimately chose was wrong...
Fu Xuan looked at the half-collapsed Scalegorge Waterscape and said with a sense of understanding, "So, solving the pain of long life isn't about whether people live long or not, and solving the problem of believers who pursue long life because of their pain isn't about rules and slaughter."
"Instead, it's about the Xianzhou taking matters into its own hands and solving the pain created between people..."
"But if the Xianzhou were to really try and solve this problem, there would only be two choices. One is to extend people's lifespans, which would increase their opportunities for trial and error. The other is to enhance people's individual abilities, which would reduce the possibility of their mistakes."
"But in that case, wouldn't our Xianzhou be walking the path of the Abundance again?"
Only at this moment did Fu Xuan truly feel what Noldrei meant by 'fate.'
That fate was not simple fate, but the limitations of human thought, which unconsciously led humanity down the same inevitable path.
Fu Xuan sighed and said helplessly, "I think I understand Dan Shu's thoughts now."
She looked up at Noldrei, thinking that Dan Shu at that time must have gone through the same thought process.
Dan Shu might have wanted to change the status quo of the Xianzhou, only to realize she was just repeating the old path of history.
But if she didn't walk this path, she couldn't find any other route to liberation.
As someone with a congenital defect, Dan Shu had no choice but to walk the same path as her ancestors, the path of pursuing the Ambrosial Arbor.
The dialectic of life Noldrei taught Dan Shu had made her see herself clearly.
At the same time, it had also bestowed upon her infinite despair.
Fu Xuan's hands clenched into fists unconsciously. She asked nervously, "Do you think... I will walk the same path as Dan Shu in the future?"
Noldrei said awkwardly, "Well... it probably won't come to that..."
He was about to comfort the Master Diviner when he saw General Jing Yuan emerging from behind her.
He must have just come out from inside, holding a small plant in his hands.
The Divine Foresight General looked at Fu Xuan in shock, as if he had been struck by lightning.
What did this mean?
Dan Shu had walked this path? And you, as the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission, are going to walk this path too?
Damn it! Why?!
Is the Xianzhou only left with rebels?!
Noldrei's awkward expression was too obvious. Fu Xuan saw at a glance that his gaze was not on her, but had passed over her head to land behind her.
Fu Xuan turned her head and saw Jing Yuan, only then realizing what she had just said.
She quickly explained, "General! Don't misunderstand, I really don't mean to be like Dan Shu!"
"Alright, Fu Xuan! You don't need to explain..." Jing Yuan's face changed several times before he finally gritted his teeth. "I acknowledge you as the Master of the Alchemy Commission. I just beg you not to become like Dan Shu."
'Huh?! What does that mean?!'
Fu Xuan was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected Dan Shu to have created such legendary united front value for her.
Now, the Master Diviner's heart could not be cleansed, not even with all the water in the Fyxestroll Garden.
She really wasn't the kind of person who would do anything to climb the ladder.
The first thing Noldrei saw was the tiny plant in Jing Yuan's hand. He asked, "Jing Yuan, have you found 'Dan Shu' already?"
Jing Yuan nodded, holding up the tiny plant and bringing it closer to the two of them. "This is the 'Ambrosial Arbor' Dan Shu left behind. I don't know how she did it, but the Stellaron was also merged into this plant during the transformation, even turning it into a special existence that stitches together the powers of both Abundance and Destruction."
Noldrei looked at the plant thoughtfully. "It looks a bit like a bodhi leaf, but not quite. Dan Shu should indeed be 'dead.' Her consciousness, along with all her past karma, has been severed."
"No one will ever again act so crazily for the sake of that alchemist named Yufei. Jing Yuan, what do you plan to do with this plant?"
Jing Yuan was helpless. He couldn't trust anyone else to look after this thing except for himself, watching it every moment.
It seemed much more fragile than the Ambrosial Arbor, yet it contained so much incredible power.
If this thing were to be made public, it would definitely cause an even greater crisis.
Good news: The Xianzhou's Ambrosial Arbor is gone, so there will be no more Abominations of Abundance coveting it.
Bad news: Something even more tempting than the Ambrosial Arbor has been born, and you don't even dare to just throw it away. Even more powerful figures will be coveting the Luofu.
Jing Yuan felt like he was sitting on a volcano.
His butt was too small and lacked the mass to suppress the eruption that could happen at any moment.
Jing Yuan thought about what he had heard from the Master Diviner just as he came out.
[Will I walk the same path as Dan Shu in the future?]
Jing Yuan really didn't want to experience such a dangerous thing again. All he wanted was to resolve the aftershocks of this crisis as soon as possible.
Luckily, the Pure Land theory Noldrei had created was really useful.
It was enough for Jing Yuan to let the Six Charioteers extend their reach into the Alchemy Commission. It just required borrowing Fu Xuan's identity for a bit, but it was a happy ending for everyone, more or less.
It was just that Fu Xuan herself hadn't been able to walk out of this crisis.
The blow from this crisis was too great for Fu Xuan. It had almost torn apart her innate connection with divination.
For example, to Qingque, divination was like a spoon or chopsticks, something to be used when needed.
But to Fu Xuan, who had grown up on the Yuque, divination was her third hand. She needed this hand to pick up a spoon to eat.
In this struggle, Fu Xuan had been acting with a severed hand, and had personally felt the power of fate outside of divination.
Just at that moment, Noldrei saw another unexpected person.
And this newcomer made him freeze on the spot.
"Senti! What are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you to watch over the repairs of the Cosmic Juggernaut Train?!"
Noldrei immediately shouted at Mobius, the Herrscher of Sentience, who had just arrived.
Senti hadn't expected Noldrei to be so stern. She explained, "I've already finished! So I came to find you all and tell you that we should be able to leave."
A buzzing sound went off in Noldrei's head. He almost had the urge to whip Senti a couple of times on the spot.
"Idiot! If you're not there, who's going to watch our things?!"
As they say, walk the night road long enough and you're bound to meet a ghost.
Noldrei was well aware of what he had done, so he had always insisted that Senti watch over the Cosmic Juggernaut Train and hurry up with the repairs.
But now that Senti was here, it meant that the Cosmic Juggernaut Train was unguarded.
Jing Yuan was also stunned. He stared at Noldrei and asked, "Brother, what do you mean by that?"
Noldrei had long known that the Aeons had the ability to spy on the entire universe. He explained, "You should know how thoroughly your Luofu has been infiltrated. I'm completely exposed now. Do you think those Aeons will just let me leave freely?"
"That's the only thing we have that can travel through the Sea of Quanta!"
Jing Yuan immediately cursed, "Holy crap! You just left something that important in a small courtyard? How am I supposed to send you off now?!"