"Master Diviner, Master Diviner, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
On the Xianzhou Luofu, the highest seat of power that governed this vessel—the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Qingzu rushed inside in a panic. Normally composed and wise, the foxian strategist now appeared uncharacteristically flustered and alarmed.
"What are you panicking for? Even though General Jing Yuan is visiting the Xianzhou Zhuming, leaving the Luofu without an Emanator, this seat is still the acting Arbiter-General. How could the Luofu possibly fall from the stars?"
Fu Xuan set down her half-finished cup of Immortal's Delight, casting a sigh in her heart at Qingzu's frantic state. With Jing Yuan away, she was finally able to take charge of the Seat of Divine Foresight's affairs. Even if only in an acting capacity, it still let her fulfill a small personal dream.
And at a time like this, someone dares bring her trouble?
"Calm yourself. Speak clearly, and this seat will understand."
Fu Xuan was certain this incident would prove harmless. After all, neither the Divination Commission's Matrix of Prescience Ultima nor the Third Eye upon her brow had given the slightest warning. Surely this wasn't anything threatening the Luofu's survival.
"Huuuh~ Master Diviner, it's bad."
Qingzu drew a deep breath, forcing herself to steady, before blurting out, "Master Diviner, in the Exalting Sanctum, someone has opened… a trashcan specialty shop!"
"Trashcans…"
The pink-haired girl pressed her palm to her forehead, speechless. Aside from that Trailblazer aboard the Astral Express, who else would fixate on trashcans? And this was a senior strategist of the Seat of Divine Foresight? Just what kind of discipline had Jing Yuan instilled in his subordinates?!
"To peddle such filth is rare indeed, but how does that qualify as a disaster?"
"It is a disaster—someone, someone opened a trashcan and turned into an Emanator!" Qingzu exclaimed in haste. "Those trashcans were being sold for a hefty price. Customers paid to receive the trash inside. But one of them opened it and was immediately chosen by an Aeon—becoming an Emanator on the spot!"
"Everyone present felt the aura of an Aeon's gaze, as if a masked shadow had manifested within the cosmos itself."
"Impossible!" Fu Xuan slapped the table and rose to her feet, realizing at once the gravity of this claim.
It was already extraordinary enough to become a Pathstrider and gain power far beyond mortals.
But to be an Emanator—one chosen far above the rest on their Path—was to wield strength beyond reckoning.
Even a great interstellar conglomerate like the Interastral Peace Corporation had but two Emanators: Diamond and Taravan Keane.
Aventurine, Topaz, Jade and the others merely wielded fragments of Diamond's bestowed power, and yet they already dominated countless star systems.
And though the Xianzhou, once the birthplace of the Aeon of The Hunt, had devotees with unmatched faith and conviction on their Path, at best they could usually only ensure one Emanator per vessel.
Even the Stellaron Hunters, Elio the Destiny's Slave could glimpse pieces of the future and whose members could destroy entire worlds—none among them had become an Emanator.
The Annihilation Gang left ruin in their wake, endlessly yearning for a mere glimpse from the Aeon of Destruction, but it never came.
To gain an Emanator was to elevate one's faction to the cosmos' highest tier.
Yet an Aeon's gaze was near impossible to obtain.
And today, someone had become one simply by opening a trashcan?
This wasn't "opening a trashcan"—this was a mockery!
What kind of Path could emerge from a trashcan?
Would it lead, at its deepest end, to some radiant trashcan colossus, blazing in golden light?
Perhaps only the Aeon of Elation might conjure such absurdity.
But surely, Aha had seen trashcans before!
Fu Xuan forced herself calm, understanding she must treat this with utmost seriousness. She fixed Qingzu with a solemn gaze. "You saw this with your own eyes? Not idle hearsay?"
"Not hearsay, Master Diviner."
"Then tell me everything, in exact detail. Leave out nothing." The destruction an Emanator could wreak was vast. Mishandled, it could rival or even surpass a Stellaron disaster.
Had not Phantylia, the orchestrator behind the Ambrosial Arbor's revival, been an Emanator as well? And now, the Luofu had no Emanator in residence—nor the Astral Express to lend aid.
Fu Xuan steadied herself, though she could not suppress the rising hope for Jing Yuan's swift return. This was a rare moment of wishing for him close at hand…
"Master Diviner, just moments ago, that trashcan shop in the Exalting Sanctum publicly declared: [Do you desire the universe's most precious treasures? If you want them, they're yours. Seek them out—I've hidden them all in trashcans.]"
Qingzu imitated the shopkeeper's flamboyant tone with lifelike accuracy, not daring to omit a single word.
"This…"
Fu Xuan twitched at the corner of her eye. That anyone could say such a boastful advertisement aloud…
But in the next instant, revelation struck her, and her heart nearly skipped a beat: that shopkeeper was an insider. The "random" Aeon's gaze wasn't chance—it was deliberate.
She activated the Third Eye, thoughts surging endlessly as she sought a flaw in this picture.
After all, the only being who could create an Emanator… was an Aeon.
Unthinkable.
"And then someone actually received the Aeon's gaze?"
"Yes. Though most laughed at the shopkeeper's claim, one soul at last stepped forward, purchased a trashcan, and opened it on the spot."
Qingzu recounted: "The Aeon's gaze descended with a peculiar, immense power, as if truly summoned forth by the trashcan itself."
As expected!
Fu Xuan shot to her feet and strode straight out of the Seat of Divine Foresight without another word.
Indeed, the Aeon's gaze had been manipulated.
"Master Diviner!" Qingzu rushed after her. "You're going to confront that new Emanator? Shouldn't you call upon the Ten-Lords Commission as well? If their emotions run wild, it could endanger you…"
Fu Xuan waved her off. "This must be handled personally. Too many forces will only worsen it. The Emanator is not even the main concern—the true focus is…"
That enigmatic shopkeeper. To treat them as a mere threat would risk inviting disaster greater still.
No—she herself must probe their depths.
"Still, you are right about one thing. Inform the Cloud Knights, Ten-Lords Commission, Sky-Faring Commission, and Divination Commission."
"Oh!" Qingzu straightened, realizing the magnitude. So, the Master Diviner intended to mobilize the entire Luofu? Was she preparing to capture the Emanator in one fell swoop?
She looked upon Fu Xuan with solemn respect, ready to marshal the Luofu's might at her word.
But Fu Xuan's mind worked further still: "No force is to move. Not the slightest disturbance to the people. If anyone asks the Luofu's officials about this matter… the answer is that the situation is unclear. Spread no rumors, believe no rumors."
"Eh?"
As Fu Xuan departed the Seat of Divine Foresight in haste, heading for the site herself—
In the Bagua Plaza of the Exalting Sanctum, a shop with a sign reading [Curio Trashcans] was already drawing an immense crowd.
A dense throng surrounded the storefront shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Hey, is it real? You can open a trashcan and gain an Aeon's gaze? Aren't you supposed to walk far along your Path first? You got here early—tell us the truth."
"No way. If that were true, then why can't I just flush a toilet and become an Emanator? We'd have Emanators everywhere by now!"
"Exactly! An Emanator is no joke—our Luofu only has General Jing Yuan."
"Heh, you're too late. I saw it with my own eyes. The instant that trashcan was opened, it was glorious: resplendent rays, dazzling brilliance, as if the Luofu vanished and we stood in the starry sea itself. The Aeon's form was vast, towering beyond even the General's Lightning-Lord!"
"The gray-haired girl who opened it was so stunned she couldn't even speak. But of course, she was the Emanator. While the rest of us were shaken to our core, unable to stand steady, she bore it with nothing more than shock."
At the rear of the crowd, a red-haired girl held up her phone with one hand, gesturing toward the lens with the other.
"Did you see that, everyone? That new Emanator is none other than Little Gui's close friend!"
"And also, a Nameless aboard the Astral Express, honored guest who once saved the Luofu alongside the General!"
"Smash that like button, fam! Little Gui has the entire recording, and I'll show you live—Little Gui streaming Little Gui's footage of the newest Emanator!"