Grotto-Dust Inn.
Just as he was staying in the living room, diligently helping Stelle grind her twenty-fifth mobile game daily mission, Dan Heng suddenly felt the earth tremble, and a strange humming sound came from the sky.
Dan Heng raised his eyebrows, turned off the phone screen, walked quickly to the window to gaze outside, his expression turning solemn.
"What happened?"
"The Ambrosial Arbor actually revived!"
His expressionless face became exceptionally serious. Dan Heng picked up his phone and opened the "Family Loving Each Other" group chat, @mentioning everyone to inquire.
The next second, replies from March 7th and Stelle popped up. The two of them, speaking one after another, roughly explained the situation.
"Disciples of Sanctus Medicus?"
Dan Heng's brows furrowed in gravity. After pondering for a long time, he sighed slightly: "I cannot leave this unattended."
Having made a decision, Dan Heng turned around crisply and left the room.
At the entrance of the inn, Dan Heng scanned the surrounding firmament, his gaze pausing in the direction where the energy source originated: "With them there, that side should be fine."
Dan Heng strode toward the direction of the Scalegorge Waterscape.
The Xianzhou Luofu's Six Commissions are all independent Grotto-Heavens, each having exclusive navigation routes for use in emergencies. In front of the shortcut from the Divination Commission to the Artisanship Commission:
"Que'er, aren't you going with us? There's fun stuff there, you know."
Caelus patted Qingque's smooth, bare shoulder. The soft, slippery, and elastic sensation was like that of a baby, making him marvel involuntarily; the skin of the Xianzhou people was truly good.
The System shop rotation refresh had entered its countdown.
For this trip to the Artisanship Commission, Caelus prepared to buy a few mechs to play with; this was something he had promised Old Yang back in Jarilo-VI.
If Qingque went, he planned to buy one for Little Sparrow to play with as well.
"Eeeek! Not going, not going!"
Feeling the warmth of the palm on her shoulder, and recalling the sensation of being sent to Wushan [bliss] by this hand during that night of strip mahjong, Qingque's small face was dyed with a few shades of rosiness. The faint shyness was instantly suppressed by her heart of a salted fish.
"I was scared to death just now! Suddenly a huge tree branch cut through the sky; the statements in the books really weren't fake."
Qingque patted her chest, speaking with apparent seriousness.
"Then how come I don't see you being nervous at all?"
Qingque tilted her head innocently.
"Sigh, it's fine. Even if the sky falls, there's the Master Diviner, and Lord General is up front holding it up."
"Why should a small fry like me panic? Let the bigshots worry about the big matters."
Qingque glanced at the General and Fu Xuan who were discussing matters, then tugged at Caelus's cuff:
"Old Caelus, don't try to be a hero. If you encounter danger, call for help."
"Here, this is for you."
Qingque untied a jade token from the green ribbons of her skirt and placed it in Caelus's palm.
"This is?"
Caelus held the tassel of the Celestial Jade tile. The face of the tile wasn't a normal pattern; it had a red character for 'Fortune' [Fu] written on it.
"This is my life-bound lucky tile, you know. Wearing it will make your tile luck prosperous. I'm lending you my fortune temporarily."
She and Old Caelus's great Celestial Jade enterprise had only just begun; Qingque didn't want Old Caelus's business to collapse midway before it even started.
"I've worn it for decades, so don't break it, okay? You have to return it to me with your own hands."
"Why does this sound a bit like a flag?"
"It is not~!"
"Wait! Wait!"
The Stellaron spirit, unable to watch any longer, jumped between the two, placing one palm horizontally over the other vertical hand in a 'time-out' gesture.
"What about mine? Is there any for me?"
Stelle looked at Qingque with puppy eyes. They were the same person; she couldn't be treated differently like this, right?
"Ahaha, this is for you."
Thinking of Team Star Rail's relationship, Qingque pulled a delicately packaged snack from her skirt pocket.
"A bowl of water held very level [perfectly fair]."
March 7th crossed her arms and nodded wobblingly.
"Is this level?" Stelle glared with eyes of different sizes.
(#°△)凸
"This tile is very expensive. I usually can't bear to buy it myself; I won it from a friend playing Celestial Jade."
Qingque scratched her head, her smile charming and naive.
The key point was that she didn't have a second lucky tile.
"Qingque, why are you still staying here? Go quickly to the library to search for records related to the Ambrosial Arbor. Once you're done, go lend a hand in other places that need help."
After assigning the tasks, Jing Yuan's virtual projection disappeared. Fu Xuan walked over wearing her black short boots. Seeing Qingque grinning, her brows immediately furrowed.
Although she had an idea about the Ambrosial Arbor records preserved in the library, for Qingque to be smiling cheekily at a time like this—what kind of decorum was that?
She still wanted to groom Qingque!
"Yes, yes, yes! I'm going right now."
Qingque nodded hurriedly.
Master Diviner was a qualified leader. Mm, a leader definitely couldn't stand seeing employees idle.
However, since the matter was grave and concerned the safety of every person on the Xianzhou, Qingque didn't have any particular psychological resistance to putting in some effort.
"The Starskiff is ready. Everyone, prepare to depart."
Behind Fu Xuan followed a neat and orderly column of Cloud Knights, banners fluttering.
She held a tiger-shaped military seal.
It looked like a mere jade token of authority, but it was actually a special Jade Abacus, possessing the clearance to directly contact, remotely command, and deploy various units of the Cloud Knights.
"Mm, we should not delay. We will go one step ahead; perhaps we can save a few more artisans of the Artisanship Commission."
Welt said to the Express squad.
The Cloud Knights led by Fu Xuan needed to head separately to the Artisanship Commission and the Alchemy Commission to surround these two important institutions.
The Express crew needed to open up the express passage from the Artisanship Commission to the Alchemy Commission.
"Let's go!"
March 7th waved her small hand. The streamlined fuselage of the Starskiff cut through the long sky, leaving a string of sonic boom clouds behind it.
Sailing at maximum speed, the Starskiff took less than half an hour to reach the Artisanship Commission Grotto-Heaven.
Before even disembarking from the Starskiff, they could see a charming and exquisite silhouette waiting below, fox tails swaying behind her.
Caelus, who was just discussing with Stelle which mech to buy and play with, lit up his eyes and waved a greeting:
"Yo, Tingyun, eaten yet?"
Coming up with the classic greeting of an old Xianzhou local.
"If you haven't eaten, I have the Steamed Cake you like here!"
With a smiling and graceful demeanor, Phantylia, who was just about to open her mouth to greet them, froze in expression. These words reminded her again of the memory of eating sh... Energy Residue earlier.
She, a dignified Lord Ravager, was actually stuffed with food mixed with Energy Residue while seizing someone else's body. If this became known to others, who knows how many years she would be mocked by the other Lord Ravagers!
The group in front of her had been marked for death by Phantylia. Once her plan succeeded, everyone who saw her eat Energy Steamed Cake would have to die!
Kill them to silence the witnesses!
"No need, many thanks for Benefactor's kindness. To guide everyone, this little woman naturally needs to be in perfect condition."
Suppressing the killing intent in her heart, Phantylia adjusted her emotions and stepped forward with an attitude perfectly befitting Tingyun's persona.
"This little woman hopes the journey ahead will be smooth. Benefactors must protect me properly."
Phantylia looked at Caelus and Stelle delicately.
"No problem, leave it all to us."
Stelle, still unaware of Tingyun's identity, banged on her chest to farm favorability, her little eyes involuntarily glancing toward the Foxian girl's shimmering golden triangular zone.
When everyone arrived at the Artisanship Commission, the entrance was surging with people.
"The Grotto-Heaven of this Artisanship Commission ceased operations as early as when the Stellaron erosion began," Tingyun introduced the situation.
"Why didn't these people take a Starskiff to the safety zone?" 'White' Seele asked softly.
"Before the Ambrosial Arbor revived, although the Grotto-Heaven was dangerous, under the escort of the Cloud Knights, one could still go in to retrieve some important materials. But now..."
Aside from the two Gray-hairs, Phantylia was most interested in Seele and Bronya. The Imaginary energy within these two was very peculiar.
As a Lord Ravager, she had actually never seen it before. Sensing it carefully, it had some compatibility with the abilities of the Destruction Path.
Honkai energy... This was intelligence Tingyun had obtained through side-stepping inquiries. [Honkai], interesting.
Phantylia was considering finding an opportunity to seize their bodies when the plan reached its later stages, to try combining the Power of Destruction and Honkai energy.
Perhaps it could bring her an unexpected surprise.
"Then these artisans are really dedicated to their posts."
March 7th sighed with emotion and commented.
Thinking of Qingque... well, although her relationship with Qingque was very good, it didn't stop her from roasting the other party's level of slacking off.
"Where are the two Benefactors?"
Tingyun was just preparing to lead everyone into the Artisanship Commission when she realized the two Gray-hairs had vanished without a trace.
March 7th looked around and discovered the two gray-haired raccoons scurrying back and forth in the Artisanship Commission's artisan encampment. She stood on tiptoe and shouted loudly:
"Hey! You two!"
"Coming, coming."
Hearing Little March's call, Stelle dragged Caelus by the arm and ran back in a flash.
"Benefactors, what did you go over there for?"
Tingyun handled matters with exquisite tact, attending to every detail. When she received the General's order, she had immediately rushed to the Artisanship Commission.
She learned the detailed situation inside the Artisanship Commission from the resident artisans so she could better guide the Express crew and avoid wasting time.
"Walked a lap, checking if we could pick up a side quest."
Stelle's answer left Phantylia a bit confused; these two Gray-hairs really had brain problems.
"So, what was the result?"
March 7th tilted her head and asked. Although she didn't know the details, she could roughly guess it was related to Crystals.
"Heh heh~!"
Stelle put her hands on her hips, looking like a brave hero commissioned by the whole village to crusade against the evil dragon and save the princess:
"Right now, my shoulders are shouldering the hope of Ah Wei's graduation!"
"Huh? Graduation?" March 7th didn't understand.
The Ambrosial Arbor's revival, the Stellaron disaster—what did that have to do with graduation?
"Oh, it's like this. Ah Wei's master is trapped inside. If something happens, their whole group won't be able to graduate this year and won't be able to complete their apprenticeship," Caelus explained.
"..."
Welt fell silent upon hearing this.
What a good disciple!
"Uh..."
March 7th opened her mouth blankly. She suddenly felt that Qingque slacking off wasn't anything bad.
"Let's go."
She had nothing left to say.
Following Tingyun into the Artisanship Commission, huge roots penetrated everywhere within the commission like horned dragons as the Ambrosial Arbor revived, spreading outwards.
"Everyone, this place is full of workshops for researching and manufacturing ingenious mechanisms, and artisans who rack their brains to invent and innovate. Their tradition is to poke a few holes [cause trouble] every now and then—either making a Grotto-Heaven pavilion vanish into thin air or having mechanical puppets riot or something."
"Usually it is fine, but right now, if the innovative special mechanisms are eroded by the Stellaron, they will become..."
Tingyun's voice had not yet fallen when a deafening explosion came from the distance, accompanied by a roar resembling a wild beast.
"What is that thing!?"
The figure piercing through the smoke and fire made Little March widen her eyes.
It was a monster about twenty-five meters tall and forty meters long, over fifty meters if including the tail.
A jackal body with a dragon head. Saw-toothed alloy bone spurs extended from the back of the dragon head. Its sharp claws were rotating blade wheels flashing with cold light, and the evil aura of weapons burned eternally in its eyes.
In its mouth, it held a greatsword assembled from dozens of blades—a living slaughter weapon.
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