"The Hunt Aeon—Lan, the Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Alliance, whom you all revere, we have no past grievances nor recent conflicts. Yet, today, you suddenly attacked me. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?" Yun Fan gently tapped the armrest of his throne with a finger, his eyes filled with an indescribable meaning.
To be honest, although he had just ascended to the position of Aeon, if it really came down to a confrontation with Lan, he was 90% confident he could devour him. The remaining 10% would likely end in a draw.
The Path of the Hunt paled in comparison to the Path of Causality.
One of the reasons Aeons are so powerful is that they can draw nearly infinite imaginary energy from the Paths they have established. The conceptual breadth of a Path directly affects the speed and upper limit of the imaginary energy they can obtain. After all, even infinity has its limits.
"Our Paths overlap, making us enemies, not allies." Lan's icy voice transmitted through imaginary energy reached Yun Fan's ears, prompting the latter to chuckle lightly.
"Is that your view? I, however, don't think so."
With that, Yun Fan stood up from his throne, spreading his arms as if embracing the vast heavens and the endless starry sky.
"I am different from conventional Aeons. The driving force that troubles you all holds no restrictions over me. In other words, I am not hindered by the amplified will of the universe. The reason I became an Aeon was merely by borrowing some of the laws of this realm. The true source lies within myself. Therefore, the so-called merging of Paths holds no meaning for me."
Hearing this, Lan's centaur-like form trembled slightly. After a long silence, he retracted the Hunt's longbow in his hand. If the person before him spoke the truth, then there was indeed no need for him to be an enemy. After all, the true target of the Hunt was the Abundance Emanator.
"Then, farewell." Lan turned around, ready to leave. As an Aeon, his driving force to survive required him to continue fulfilling the mission of the Hunt.
But just as Lan tore through space, preparing to depart, Yun Fan suddenly spoke up from behind him. "Wait."
"What is it?" Lan turned back, somewhat puzzled.
"What is it? You ambushed me without warning. Although I wasn't injured, my heart was certainly frightened. You can't just leave like that, can you?" Yun Fan crossed his arms, tilting his head slightly, as if saying, "Shouldn't you compensate me for emotional distress?"
Faced with Yun Fan's behavior, Lan knew he was in the wrong. After a moment of thought, he used the imaginary energy of the Hunt's Path to materialize a bow and arrow, handing it over to Yun Fan as an "apology gift."
Taking the "apology gift," Yun Fan examined it carefully and noticed that the bow in his hand was at least 90% similar to the one Lan commonly used. It was likely a replica based on Lan's own bow.
"Hmm, I'll accept this apology gift. I might visit the Xianzhou Alliance for a tour soon. Is that alright?"
"Feel free." With that, Lan tore through space and left, as if afraid that if he stayed any longer, Yun Fan might make further demands.
"Tsk, he left so quickly." Yun Fan shook his head regretfully. He had wanted to squeeze more out of Lan, but the man had left in a hurry. Such a lack of vision... Sigh.
Yun Fan hefted the Hunt's bow and arrow, storing it in his personal space. For him, this item was useless at best, nothing more than a big toy. But for ordinary Pathstriders, it would undoubtedly be a weapon capable of slaying Emanator-level combatants!
"Let me see what the story of the Star Rail is all about." After some rummaging, Yun Fan pulled out the phone gifted to him by the Void Archives and started playing Honkai: Star Rail.
Some time later...
"So that's how it is. My previous understanding of the rules and concepts of the Star Rail was too shallow. And the main cast... Himeko's parallel counterpart, Silver Wolf, Bronya with her triple-turbine augmentation, Welt Yang who crossed over from the Honkai Impact 3rd world, the reemployed Otto Apocalypse, and March 7th, who's stacked with debuffs like pink hair, archery, amnesia, and a bubbly personality." Yun Fan narrowed his eyes as he looked at the information flashing on the phone screen.
"How fascinating..."
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Three days later...
On the Xuling Xianzhou...
"Are the members still not all here?" Hua, the Marshal of the Xianzhou Alliance, frowned slightly as she looked at the three empty seats at the conference table, her tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.
"I can understand Jing Yuan's absence. After all, the place where the new Aeon was born is within the star domain where the Luofu is currently located. He needs to stay there to handle any emergencies. But why are Feixiao and Huaiyan also absent?"
"That, I can answer." General Xuan Quan of the Fubo stood up from his seat to respond to Hua's question.
"Feixiao discovered a base of the Abundance followers and has already taken the Yaoqing Xianzhou to attack it. Huaiyan, worried about Feixiao, also followed with his troops."
"Exterminating the Abundance followers? Feixiao has acted on her own again. I'll have to teach her a lesson when she returns." Hua massaged her forehead, her voice filled with helplessness.
"Let's set that aside for now. Marshal, you've gathered the Seven Arbiter-Generals this time, presumably to discuss the matter of the Aeon of Causality, right?" General Yao Guang of the Rerongtao stroked his chin, speaking with a meaningful tone.
"Indeed. I have summoned you all here to discuss the matter of the Aeon of Causality and to convey the decree of the Arbiter-General." Hua first affirmed Yao Guang's statement, then her expression turned serious.
"What is the decree of the Arbiter-General?" General Xuan Quan pressed, eager to know what the Arbiter-General had ordered. Surely, it couldn't be to confront the Aeon of Causality, right? That would be no different from sentencing them to death.
"The Arbiter-General has informed us that he has no direct conflict with the 'Lord of Samsara.' We need not be overly concerned. Additionally, in the coming period, the 'Lord of Samsara' may appear within the Xianzhou Alliance. You must ensure that no one neglects their duties."