"Ten thousand swords, come from the sky!"
Entering the second phase, Yanqing raised the corners of his mouth. The wave-shaped groove on the sword's spine sprayed out a pearl barrage.
Each pearl trailed a caramel-colored streak in the air. They didn't fly in straight lines but followed the fluid trajectory of a vortex, making them trickier to deal with than the ice blades just now.
"Wow... this thing is actually a hidden shotgun." Silver Wolf had her horizons broadened. "But why does this power feel so familiar to me?"
"Milk tea, soap... uh, it's [Eternity] again." Silver Wolf quickly hid behind Kafka. If those pearl explosive rounds came for her, she couldn't block them. This [Eternity] was like true damage, capable of piercing through people's defenses directly.
With the Divine Sword of [Eternity] in hand, Yanqing, who was originally at a disadvantage, was actually fighting neck and neck with Blade and Dan Heng.
Dan Heng constantly used Cloud-Piercer to dodge. His and Yanqing's weapons were somewhat tainted with [Eternity], so that Milk Tea Sword specifically targeted him, completely ignoring Blade beside him.
"Great, it's the [Eternity] civil war that players love to see most."
Kafka fanned the drifting scent of milk tea. Just smelling it made her mouth feel sweet; taking a sip would probably be cloyingly sweet.
"This game is wonderful... but it's time to end it." Kafka stepped into the arena.
"Alright, everyone... [Listen to me]: Stop." Just as the three were fighting vigorously, the Spirit Whisper activated again. Dan Heng only felt his mind go into a trance.
"Well, Bladie, are you satisfied?"
"Hmph." Blade put one hand on his hip and didn't answer Kafka directly.
"...What did you just do?" Dan Heng became alert again.
"Just a little preparation to welcome the arrival of a big shot... Can't let the dignified Luofu General watch the joke of my Bladie and you two."
"Hahahaha."
A pleasant laugh came, and Jing Yuan had arrived at some point.
"Jing Yuan..."
"General!" Yanqing withdrew his Divine Sword, and the battle was forced to stop. Although unwilling and not having fought to his heart's content... now that the General was here, the development of things was not something he could control.
After sending Yanqing away, Jing Yuan looked again at these familiar yet unfamiliar faces, a trace of sorrow flashing in his eyes.
"You two return to the Xianzhou after a long absence, yet always in awkward situations. If you miss old friends, you should have notified me earlier."
"What I needed to do is done." Blade answered coldly.
"Mmh, done." Jing Yuan looked at Kafka: "You helped the Xianzhou with a small favor, and I am grateful. Take him and go... This time, I can pretend I didn't see anything."
Kafka put on her coat: "Bladie, Silver Wolf... time to go."
Watching the Stellaron Hunters leave, only Jing Yuan and Dan Heng remained.
"Long time no see... old friend."
"I am not him."
Saying this, Dan Heng also turned to leave, but was called back by Jing Yuan: "Mmh... apologies. But you can't leave yet, because your Express friends are waiting for you in [Scalegorge Waterscape]. Shall we go see them together?"
Since it was on the way and the goal was to meet up with March 7th and the others anyway, Dan Heng simply agreed.
...
"So... Blake's single bar of soap flipped the small boat you were on?"
Listening to March 7th and Stelle's vivid description, Adrian could already imagine the scene.
"Trajectory deviated to the left. Are these the soldiers trained by [Eternity]? Actually injuring friendly forces by mistake, hurting the Galactic Baseballer's young heart~"
"Pontiff Blake didn't lie to us; maybe there was a problem with the interstellar network, and his ping was high." March 7th tried to make up an excuse.
"Cough! In short, this matter can't be settled without a hundred or eighty cups of milk tea." Stelle jokingly demanded compensation.
"Unreasonable demand, Miss Stellaron. Looking across the universe... you are the third person who dares to extort the Aeon of [Eternity]."
"What? There were experts before me?" Stelle was shocked. She thought she was abstract enough, but turns out there were people like her millions of years ago! And more than one!
"Sigh~ The universe is full of wonders. You'll get used to things like extorting milk tea." Just this morning, Aha stole ten cups of his special effects milk tea. Adrian had a premonition that there would be more similar situations in the future.
"Wait, then why doesn't Teacher Adrian create a cup of milk tea that can never be finished?" March 7th discovered a blind spot.
"Ah... there actually was one before." Adrian briefly recounted the story of his first meeting with Tingyun.
"Using [Eternity] to make money is indeed a good business idea. What happened later?"
"Later... she came to me for stock every now and then. It was too troublesome, so I stopped the supply."
Opening the shop was mainly for retirement. If the milk tea shop really became popular, he would have to hire a bunch of employees to help. Adrian would absolutely not do such a thing, mainly because HIS network was a bit shallow...
...
Not long after, Jing Yuan and Dan Heng stepped onto this land.
"[Ancient Sea of Lunarescent Depths, Realm of Exquisite Wondrous Sight]. The scenery of Scalegorge Waterscape is just like when I saw it last time, unchanged. But you and I standing here today are different."
"It shows that even long-life species with imperishable bodies cannot last as long as heaven and earth."
Dan Heng looked at the turbulent tide. "The General should know the Vidyadhara's habit of reincarnation and rebirth. The waters of the ancient sea have washed away Dan Feng's sins. The person who stood here with you back then is no longer here."
He emphasized repeatedly: "I am Dan Heng. Whether that Dan Feng was a hero or a sinner has nothing to do with me."
"I have borne his punishment and accepted permanent exile... I have no complaints about this. But when the General looks at me, please be sure to discard the shadow of the past."
"Sigh~"
Hearing this, the murky air accumulated in Jing Yuan's chest turned into a long sigh:
"Bringing up old matters is like stirring up muddy water, only causing unhappiness in vain. Perhaps it's your appearance... perhaps those dragon horns, the faint temperament of the High Elder, that always make me connect you with an old friend."
"...I have already said—"
"Yes, you said it. So what?" Jing Yuan interrupted: "If a single sentence could change others' attitudes towards oneself, there wouldn't be so many disputes in the world."
"You want me to no longer see you as Dan Feng. Fine, do one thing for me."
"Help me with one last favor in the capacity of Dan Feng. Once this matter is done, I will let him die and revoke the exile order against you. From then on, I can guarantee: at least on the Luofu, you will no longer be anyone's shadow."
Dan Heng considered it seriously: "What Dan Feng could do, I may not necessarily be able to do."
"You must do it, or all promises are void. If you want to blame someone, blame your past life. If he hadn't done that bastard thing back then, if the power of dragon transformation could be inherited completely, I wouldn't need to force you at all."
The task was set. Jing Yuan determined that he couldn't shirk this matter. "Just said: You and I standing here today are different. Dan Feng is no more, only Dan Heng."
Could it be that they can invite an Aeon to part the sea? That kind of thing is more suitable for the Church's higher-ups to do. Of course, for the Luofu's internal affairs, Jing Yuan wouldn't let the Church do it either.
"And I... I am already the General of the Luofu. Some things, even if unwilling, must still be done."
The serious topic ended there. "Let's talk about something happy. The friends you made on the Express are currently here. Don't you want to meet them?"