"Fu Qing, your Third Eye..." Jing Yuan lowered his gaze slightly, focusing on Fu Xuan's forehead.
"It's fine." Fu Xuan shook her head.
"Before expelling me from that space, he returned the power of the Third Eye to me. But this has served as a wake-up call."
"Over the years, I've relied too heavily on the Third Eye's power. When the Emanator of Causality stripped it away, I was utterly defenseless. Looking back now, it's truly ironic." As she spoke, a flicker of fear passed through Fu Xuan's pink eyes. If it hadn't been Yun Fan who took her Third Eye but one of the Abundance's followers instead... the consequences would have been dire.
"I'm relieved to hear such realization from you, Fu Qing." Jing Yuan nodded approvingly.
For years, he had refrained from passing the title of general to Fu Xuan—partly out of personal bias, as he had hoped to eventually hand it to his disciple, Yanqing.
But more importantly, Fu Xuan's rapid ascent—from an ordinary diviner to one of the Six Charioteers in just a few centuries—had come with unforeseen consequences.
Such meteoric rise would be dazzling for anyone. Power and wealth had fallen into her lap effortlessly.
Yet, this very success had subtly warped her mindset—something even she hadn't noticed. Arrogance and overconfidence had slowly eroded her humility. Left unchecked, it would have led to disaster.
Fortunately, Fu Xuan had now awakened to this truth. With that, Jing Yuan had no further concerns.
Once the Stellaron crisis is resolved, I'll pass the generalship to Fu Qing. If Yanqing wishes to become general someday, he'll have to earn it through his own merits.
"By the way, Fu Qing—did the Emanator of the 'Lord of Samsara' leave his name?" Jing Yuan suddenly recalled that while Fu Xuan had spoken at length about the Emanator of Causality, she'd never mentioned his name.
"Ah, my oversight. The Emanator's name is Yun Fan."
"Yun Fan? The same name as the 'Lord of Samsara'... Could it be...?" Jing Yuan's mind raced as he pieced together Fu Xuan's account. Manipulating causality, severing causality... Fu Qing's Third Eye was bestowed by the Aeon of Erudition himself. For an Emanator to so easily meddle with causality tied to an Aeon—is that really within an Emanator's power?
Unless... he is the 'Lord of Samsara'?!
...
The next morning...
Qingque rubbed her bleary eyes as she awoke, then shuffled into the living room in her pajamas. She stood by the window, basking in the warm sunlight streaming through.
"Mmm~ What lovely weather! Perfect for a thrilling round of Divine Jade Tiles!" She stretched lazily, sighing contentedly.
Just then, a male voice reached her ears.
"I couldn't agree more."
"..."
Qingque's smile froze. Several seconds later, she turned her head mechanically, her neck creaking like rusty gears.
"Good morning, Qingque. Care for some coffee? A friend gifted it to me—it's said to have beautifying effects when consumed in the morning." Yun Fan greeted her with a smile, raising the coffee cup in his hand.
Beautifying effects? Qingque's eyes sparkled. What girl didn't want to look pretty? A coffee that could enhance beauty—this had to be a blessing from the Arbiter-General!
"I'll definitely take a cup!" Qingque waved eagerly and was about to dash over when a sudden draft between her legs made her pause.
She looked down—and realized she was only wearing an oversized white shirt with nothing underneath but her underwear.
"WAAAH—!"
Watching Qingque flee in panic, Yun Fan calmly sipped his coffee.
"Tsk, youth these days need more tempering..." A faint smile played on his lips—though the slight tremble in his coffee cup betrayed his inner turmoil.
Some time later...
"I-I'm off to work! Make yourself at home!" Dressed properly now, Qingque cautiously cracked the door open, peeked to confirm Yun Fan wasn't in the living room, then bolted—though not without a hasty farewell.
"Adorable, really." Yun Fan chuckled from the guest room before immersing his consciousness into his authority.
The moment his consciousness connected, two thunderous booms seemed to explode in his ears.
Countless voices—cheers, prayers, pleas—surged toward him like tidal waves, leaving him momentarily dizzy.
"Damn it, didn't see that coming." Shaking his head, Yun Fan wielded his authority to mute all insincere voices.
"Much better." Satisfied, he began listening to the remaining prayers with interest—until one particular voice caught his attention.
"Hmm?" Yun Fan's brows arched in amusement as he focused on the prayer.
It came from Herta Space Station—and the petitioner was none other than Asta, the acting station leader and daughter of the Interastral Peace Corporation, a key figure in the main storyline.
"Unwilling to be entangled in family politics, unwilling to be controlled... Wishing to sever the causality binding her to her family, to be her true self. And thus, she seeks power?" From the girl's prayer, Yun Fan gleaned Asta's current predicament.
"Very well. I shall grant you an audience."
————————
Herta Space Station...
"Lady Herta, these are documents regarding the Aeon of Causality provided by the IPC. Would you like to review them?" In Herta's office, Asta respectfully presented the materials to the doll-like genius.
"Documents on the Aeon of Causality? Pah! Who does the IPC think they're fooling? If there were anything useful, the Genius Society would've forwarded it to me already. Throw them away."
Herta snorted dismissively without even turning around.
"Understood." Asta wasn't offended by Herta's attitude—this was simply her nature. Besides, had Herta not intervened, Asta would have long since become a pawn in corporate power struggles.
Just as Asta turned to dispose of the documents, a sudden dizziness overcame her—
And the next moment, she found herself standing amidst a sea of stars.