Dan Shu: "The furnace… has been extinguished."
Stelle tightly gripped her bat, walking at the front, grinning.
"As you can see, it was all us. Surprised?"
Dan Shu turned around, gently shaking her head.
"Surprised? Not really. I just didn't expect you to choose to reject the merciful gift of the Plagues Auteur."
"And you still have the nerve to bring up the ledger? After taking those weird pills you gave me, everyone looked like they were in a Mara-Struck state to me."
Stelle's tone grew increasingly hostile.
"Last time you slipped away, but this time, new debts and old ones get settled together."
The scene froze on Stelle's furrowed brows and stern expression, and Ah Xian immediately recalled a side quest from a previous version.
"If that side quest wasn't done, would the protagonist's dialogue here be different?"
[Yes.]
[Before the main story reaches this point, if the Dan Shu side quest hasn't been completed, the protagonist meets her for the first time here.]
[If the side quest was done, the dialogue about whether the protagonist took the pills or not also differs.]
[Moreover, if the Dan Shu side quest wasn't done, the task disappears after completing this main story segment.]
"Huh? Doesn't that mean the Stellar Jade reward from the quest is gone?"
[The quest rewards will be directly sent to the mailbox. It's quite user-friendly.]
"Oh, that's actually pretty considerate. Side quests affecting the main story—Card Mom's words are gaining more weight."
Dan Shu remained silent, turning her gaze to the figures behind Stelle.
A pink silhouette was leading a large contingent of Cloud Knights, surrounding the entire True Alchemy Chamber.
She showed no panic, instead giving a faint smile.
Fu Xuan ascended the steps. Seeing Dan Shu's drastically changed appearance, she showed no surprise.
"Why do this, Dan Shu…"
"Alchemy Elder has met the Master Diviner… You don't seem surprised at all."
Fu Xuan: "Hmm. The General and I have long suspected someone, but we lacked evidence and couldn't charge the Six Commissions with a crime."
"We could only wait for you to expose yourself, but now there's no need."
"Even if you hadn't jumped out, the evidence is ironclad enough to convict you."
"Introducing the Stellaron abomination to the Xianzhou, reviving the Ambrosial Arbor, luring people into Mara-Struck states—these grave sins will be accounted for one by one by the Ten-Lords Commission."
"Sins?"
Dan Shu let out a wry laugh.
"If my actions are sinful, then the Xianzhou's ancestors are all guilty of the same crime as me."
"It was they who accepted the gift of Abundance, transforming their descendants into the long-life species."
"The Medicine King's Secret Teachings merely follow the path they once trod, pursuing transcendence. What sin is there in that?"
"Back then, the Ambrosial Arbor's mysterious roots enveloped the Luofu Xianzhou, like a living being."
"Our people dominated the stars, unmatched, everyone able to ascend and become immortals, freely transforming!"
"The era when the Abundance's miracles descended upon the nine Xianzhou ships was so glorious, so radiant—but what about now?"
"Now, what has the Xianzhou fallen to?! Willingly driven by the demonic Reignbow, repeatedly ravaged by the Denizens of Abundance!"
"The Ten-Lords Commission even forces us to abandon longevity. Pitiful, Master Diviner, I don't blame your ignorance."
"Because we weren't born in the era when the Ambrosial Arbor first descended, unable to witness those miracles. But now, we still have a chance to restore the ancient system."
Stelle couldn't help but want to laugh: "Hey, Dan Shu, still thinking 'this moment is just like that moment'? You're done for, you know that?"
Hearing the mockery in Stelle's tone, Dan Shu remained calm, responding earnestly and seriously.
"Young lady, I'm not finished. This moment will surely be just like that moment, because—"
"I've already succeeded. Look… the Ambrosial Arbor recreates the miracles of old. How magnificent, how sacred!"
To this, Stelle remained noncommittal.
"Revive it all you want. It withered back then because it was chopped down—so just chop it again, right?"
"Heh heh heh… Miss Stelle, you're an outsider. You wouldn't understand."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground trembled. Dozens of bizarre beasts crawled out from the space below the Cloudxia Purple Mansion Alchemy Furnace.
Stelle glanced at the somewhat familiar beasts, then looked behind Dan Shu, roughly estimating the numbers.
About a hundred or so people.
"With just you, a hundred-plus behind you, and a few dozen little animals, how do you plan to turn this around?"
Dan Shu: "My spirit beasts are attack and defense in one, commanded like my own limbs, each worth a hundred."
Stelle: "Then how do you know there isn't someone among us who can take down over a hundred beasts alone?"
March 7th glanced at Stelle and subtly shook her head.
She definitely didn't have that level of power—unless she recklessly unsealed the Stellaron.
Looking toward Welt, she felt reassured.
Though she'd never seen Uncle Yang go all out, taking down those spirit beasts would surely be no problem.
And if Leon were here… it'd be even simpler.
A single gust of wind to spread deadly poison—he wouldn't fear enemy numbers at all.
As for herself—
…The Six-Phased Ice has a bright future.
Dan Shu responded to Stelle's words with a smile, not bothering to argue for a conclusion.
How could an outsider understand just how terrifying these spirit beasts were after being remade by the Abundance's baptism?
Moreover…
She had even stronger trump cards, and more than one.
The dozens of Abundance spirit beasts and over a hundred Cultivators were merely the most superficial chips.
With that thought, Dan Shu's gaze returned to Fu Xuan.
"Master Diviner, you cannot stop me."
Fu Xuan subtly shook her head.
"I thought you had some profound argument, but in the end, it's just the same old clichéd talk of chasing power and abandoning humanity."
"The Xianzhou ancestors fought alongside the Reignbow, destroyed the Ambrosial Arbor, and established the Ten-Lords Commission to demarcate life and death—all to live once more as humans."
"Immortals? There are no immortals aboard the Xianzhou. No Abundance miracles, no manipulation of life and death."
"Your actions are nothing but monstrous deeds steeped in selfish desire."
Dan Shu extended her arm, a staff appearing in her palm.
"When talks fall apart, even half a sentence is too much. Master Diviner, choosing to abandon power… that was your most foolish decision."
"Then allow me to show you what the immortals once achieved."
The screen cracked, triggering combat.
"Immortals, huh? Beating up immortals it is."
Ah Xian rolled up her sleeves with flair, as if she herself were the game's protagonist, ready to fight.
For the plot experience, her team wasn't the money-transport squad.
Aside from the fixed Leon, the others were chosen based on current plot characters.
For example, right now, the other three were the protagonist, Welt, and March 7th.
"This Celestial Reveler actually applies Weathered? Aren't you just walking into the line of fire?"
During the battle, Ah Xian saw her entire team afflicted with Weathered status and immediately burst into delight.
[Retaliation] x4
Opening the enemy combat info panel, seeing four independent Weathered DoTs on the Celestial Reveler, she couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Leon and March 7th don't have much attack power, so low DoT damage is fine, but Uncle Yang and the protagonist are pure attack carries."
"If that's not walking into the line of fire, what is? The reflected DoT damage will be enough for you to choke on."
As for the Weathered on her own characters, it was no big deal.
Uncle Yang's E could stack three passives for Leon each time, and his ultimate granted passive layers based on the number of enemies on the field.
Plus Leon's own E self-applying anomalies, March 7th's freezes, and the protagonist occasionally breaking physical weakness for Bleed.
Under multiple factors, Leon's energy recharge and action speed were insanely fast.
The most terrifying part—
Retaliation's DoTs also helped Leon stack follow-up attack passives; however many allied targets reflected, that's how many layers stacked.
If it was a control-type anomaly, it triggered an immediate follow-up, like Welt's ultimate imprisonment.
By game version 1.2, the Simulated Universe's Forgotten Hall Chaos Memories had updated several times.
In some mini-program usage rate stats, dominating the top of the usage charts were two male characters.
One was the current only limited support, Luocha.
The other was naturally Leon.
Luocha's highest usage rate: 99%. Leon's highest usage rate: 96%.
The reason it was a few percentage points lower was due to 100% ownership rate.
Owning the character but not fielding him pulled the usage rate down.
As a limited survival unit, Luocha's protection was still slightly better than Leon's; very few people owned a limited 5-star and didn't use him.
But the permanent 5-stars Gepard and Bailu couldn't beat Leon's usage rate, which showed just how strong Leon was.