The perspective shifts to Phantylia, Stelle, and the others. Phantylia was messaging Yukong, informing her that the Astral Express crew had arrived on the Luofu.
Inside the Palace of Astrum, Yukong looked at the report from the fake Tingyun on her phone. She had to admire the exquisiteness of the disguise; the manner of speech was exactly the same as Tingyun's.
"Committing fully to the act... We have not yet confirmed which Lord Ravager is impersonating her." Beside Yukong, Jing Yuan saw the chat history clearly through a holographic projection.
As early as a few days ago, Yukong had received contact from Tingyun. Her identity was verified through some past experiences—it was undoubtedly Tingyun herself.
Running eighteen red lights in a row was a well-known incident from the past. Aside from Tingyun, her family, and the General... no one knew that twelve of those were driven by Adrian. Even Master Diviner Fu couldn't calculate that.
Seeing that Tingyun was in the lounge of the Church of Eternity, Yukong understood everything immediately. Looking across the entire Luofu, the only person related to [Eternity] and the Church was Adrian.
Presumably, Tingyun's safety was all thanks to his efforts.
Upon learning that a Lord Ravager had disguised themself as her and infiltrated the Luofu, Yukong immediately informed Jing Yuan.
The result... The General was not surprised at all after hearing it, as if he had known this news long ago.
General Jing Yuan, was this also within your expectations?!
There was a reason he was called the Divine Foresight General. Jing Yuan came up with a plan to play along with the opponent. Since that Lord Ravager was unaware that their identity had been exposed, they would wait and see how far the act would go.
As for Tingyun herself, she had temporarily changed her face and returned with the Church's Knights a few days ago. Yukong wasn't in a rush to meet her; there would be plenty of time to talk once the crisis on the Luofu subsided.
Knowing that Tingyun was safe and sound, Yukong made a special trip to Adrian's milk tea shop with a thank-you gift. She didn't see Adrian, but she saw the acting manager, Qingque.
From Qingque, she learned that Adrian had already left the Luofu on a starskiff many days ago, saying he was going to tour other planets.
After thinking about it, she decided to wait for his return to thank him personally. However... since she was already there, Yukong helped boost the shop's sales a bit.
Before leaving, she bought over ten cups of Immortal's Delight Tea and distributed them to the people in the Palace of Astrum and Caiyi. She drank one herself, and the taste was actually quite good.
Sure enough, the rumors about peerless delicacies hidden in a small shop were not lies. Who would have thought that a shabby milk tea shop would have such delicious drinks?
Returning to the present, Yukong sent a simple reply and began discussing the next countermeasures with Jing Yuan.
"Regarding the Stellaron Hunters..."
"No need to worry. Someone will naturally assist us in capturing the Stellaron Hunters." Jing Yuan was thinking about another matter: should he tell Yukong about Adrian's true identity?
From her previous communication with Tingyun, knowing that she was at the Church, Jing Yuan estimated that Tingyun likely knew Adrian's identity.
Based on his understanding of Blake... in principle, Blake wouldn't let it slip, but with that Elven Priestess of the Church who travels everywhere... it was hard to say.
Jing Yuan still hadn't forgotten the scene when he first met those two. Their back-and-forth banter made it seem like they were performing a comedy act if one didn't know better.
Saying they wanted to form an alliance, two Emanators of [Eternity] came to the Luofu at the risk of their home base being stolen by other factions. Jing Yuan was initially very moved; it seemed the other party sincerely wanted to ally.
The Church only has two Emanators in total, and they deployed all of them. Were they really not afraid of the IPC stealing their base?
Ah, the Aeon of [Eternity] THEMSELVES seems to be on the Luofu. Never mind then.
...
Outside the Palace of Astrum, Welt analyzed the situations they might encounter next for everyone.
"The Xianzhou Alliance wouldn't be so rude. But when this Madam Yukong receives us, she will certainly ask a series of questions—"
"Why did we choose this time to come to the Xianzhou? How did we learn that this catastrophe is related to a Stellaron Core? Who revealed the news about the Xianzhou to us?"
"It is even more likely that she knows of Adrian's identity as an Emanator and will further press us about our relationship with Adrian. If our answers are careless, it could easily result in guardedness and hostility, making our actions much more difficult."
Welt organized the currently known intelligence: "I heard the Church of Eternity has sent forces to support the Xianzhou. I wonder if we will see Pontiff Blake here... or Priestess Freesna."
For this trip to the Luofu, Welt also had March 7th bring a bag of Himeko's special coffee beans, which would be very suitable as a gift.
"We're done for. Stelle and I are both the clumsy type who slip up and say the wrong thing, and Dan Heng is a quiet gourd."
"Then..."
Three gazes simultaneously focused on Kafka.
"Hehe~ Don't you still have the mature and reliable Mr. Welt?"
"Hey, by the way, can you tell us the contents of the [Script]?" March 7th really wanted to know what would happen next.
"If I told you that the content on the [Script] is all garbled text, how would you feel?"
"Huh? How is that possible... You must be lying to us, trying to muddle through, right?"
March 7th's anti-fraud awareness was maxed out; she wouldn't believe a word the bad woman said!
Kafka spread her hands helplessly. These days, no one believed the truth.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Don't be troubled; I will handle the responses when the time comes." As the elder of the Express crew, Welt certainly couldn't let March 7th and the others do the answering.
After a brief rest, the group followed Phantylia into the Palace of Astrum, preparing to meet Yukong.
Before officially stepping through the gates of the Palace of Astrum, Stelle suddenly stopped, her gaze freezing.
"Eh... why did you stop suddenly? You're not scared, are you? Oh, don't worry, we have Mr. Yang!" March 7th comforted her; she wasn't afraid at all.
Stelle rubbed her eyes. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she seemed to have seen Tingyun's figure down below just now.
Wait... then who is the Tingyun... right here?
At the same time, at the milk tea shop located beneath the Palace of Astrum, a blonde girl in priestess attire was pacing back and forth in front of the shop.
Who would have thought that the method Pontiff Blake used to send her back to the Luofu was so simple? She wondered if he had come personally as well.
Having another Emanator-level combatant would be excellent for the Luofu. If General Jing Yuan and Pontiff Blake joined forces, that Lord Ravager would find it hard to escape even with wings.
Tingyun actually quite wanted to see Blake in action. Beating a Lord Ravager with soap—wouldn't that scene be too [Elation]?
"Excuse me for interrupting, Miss, but the milk tea shop is closed. If you wish to buy milk tea, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning."
A large hand rested on her right shoulder. Tingyun turned around in surprise, only to see Mr. Xiyan's face.
"Eh?" Tingyun was a bit confused for a moment. This isn't what I expected!
"Mr. Xiyan...?"
"Not Xiyan, Adrian."
A face she couldn't be more familiar with appeared before Tingyun's eyes. She blinked, and Mr. Xiyan beside her transformed back into the Church Pontiff with flowing blonde hair.
"Seeing that this young lady wants to drink milk tea so much, this small shop will make an exception and open for you this once. Whatever you have to say, let's talk inside?"