When Julian and Fu Xuan arrived at the docks of the Scalegorge Waterscape, Jing Yuan and Dan Heng were already standing by the edge of the ancient platform. Dan Heng, however, looked visibly restless, his eyes scanning the horizon.
"Dan Heng, what troubles you?" Julian asked, stepping up beside him.
Jing Yuan offered a warm, subtle smile. "Haha, he is simply anxious for the safety of his companions on the Astral Express. He wishes to wrap up matters here as quickly as possible so he can lend them his spear."
The General felt a deep, unspoken sense of satisfaction seeing his reincarnated friend care so fiercely for his crewmates.
Though Dan Heng and Dan Feng were technically distinct individuals through the cycle of Vidyadhara rebirth, that distinction existed largely in the dry doctrines of the High Commission. To Jing Yuan, the spirit standing before him remained his old friend—an undeniable truth.
Even if their memories no longer aligned and the easy intimacy of their youth was gone, for a long-life species, simply knowing a friend was alive and walking the cosmos was the greatest comfort imaginable. What more could he possibly ask for?
"Then let's pick up the pace," Julian said, nodding toward the stormy waters below. "We shouldn't keep our allies waiting."
"Indeed," Jing Yuan agreed. He turned to Dan Heng, giving the signal. "Begin."
Dan Heng didn't hesitate. Soaring into the air above the ancient platform, he raised the Heavy Jade Pearl in his palm, letting its azure radiance burst outward. The quiet sea instantly churned, roaring as if responding to a sovereign's call.
"Tear apart the heart of the sea..."
As the waters parted, Julian felt a faint, nostalgic echo of an ancient draconic chant resonating through the air. Behind them, muffled gasps broke out among the Cloud Knights as a massive chasm opened across the ocean floor, revealing the ancient ruins hidden beneath the waves.
Julian wasn't particularly surprised by the soldiers' awe. Seeing this exact spectacle rendered on a screen in his previous life had been striking enough; witnessing it live in three dimensions, with the raw scent of sea foam and the thunderous crash of parted tides, was visually staggering.
Yet he was no longer a mere spectator. With his current strength, shaping space and bending massive natural forces was trivial, so the breathtaking display stirred only a mild appreciation in his chest.
As he and Jing Yuan stood upon the precipice looking down into the newly exposed Scalegorge Waterscape, he simply murmured, "A fine view."
"To save us time, I'll teleport us down directly," Julian suggested.
Dan Heng's eyes brightened slightly. "Before we reach the core, we must unlock the warding seals connecting the Waterscape to the Ambrosial Arbor's root realm."
Knowing Julian could bypass the physical trek across the seabed brought a visible wave of relief to Dan Heng's brow. It would cut their travel time down to seconds.
Jing Yuan turned back to the Master Diviner. "Fu Xuan, stay here with the main guard. If any unforeseen anomaly occurs below, seal the Scalegorge Waterscape immediately."
"Understood, General. Please be careful," Fu Xuan replied, bowing her head.
Her presence at the surface was necessary both to maintain command and to ensure no stray Abominations escaped into the wider sector. Her warning to Jing Yuan was an instinctive reflex—though the moment the words left her mouth, she recalled Julian was walking beside him. With a force like that present, what could possibly threaten the General's life? Even in a worst-case scenario, Julian could tear open space and pull him out instantly.
Little did she know that Jing Yuan's greatest threat wasn't Phantylia herself, but the Mara lurking in his own veins.
The single bough of the Ambrosial Arbor at the Artisanship Commission, amplified by a Stellaron, had already radiated enough corrupted vitality to induce Mara in nearby soldiers. The deep root chamber where the Arbor's core resided would be infinitely more dense.
Jing Yuan could only hope that Phantylia's avatar hadn't completely merged with the tree's power. If he was forced to draw upon his absolute maximum strength to break her, he might not survive the day with his sanity intact.
Without further delay, Julian wrapped spatial force around Jing Yuan and Dan Heng, teleporting them directly between the seal nodes.
The journey was effortless. Within moments, the outer barriers were neutralized, leaving only the final seal standing between them and the root realm.
Looking at the ancient, dragon-shaped mechanism locking the spatial rift, Julian admired the intricate craftsmanship of the Xianzhou's seals. It looked far sharper than his raw Psychic barriers. Maybe I should experiment with altering the visual effects of my spatial fields, he mused idly.
While Julian's thoughts drifted, Dan Heng raised a finger. A delicate ring of draconic runes formed in the air, glowing with soft jade light. The dragon-shaped seal responded instantly, its stone eyes igniting with energy as the spatial barrier dissolved, pulling back to reveal a dark, pulsing rift.
"The barrier is cleared," Dan Heng said, turning to Julian with a respectful bow. "Mr. Julian, I must ask you to return me to the upper decks."
"Think nothing of it. You've done plenty for the Xianzhou today," Julian replied with a easy smile. "Since you're in a hurry, I'll drop you off right at the Artisanship Commission."
"Thank you!"
Julian placed a hand on Dan Heng's shoulder, shifting space to send the dragon warrior directly across the world-ship to join the Express crew.
"How are you holding up?" Jing Yuan asked, watching the spatial ripples settle. "Continuous long-range teleportation usually strains one's energy reserves."
"It's a drop in the bucket," Julian said smoothly, stepping toward the rift. "Let's move."
Seeing that Julian wasn't feigning strength, Jing Yuan nodded in relief. But as he stepped up to the edge of the spatial tear, feeling the suffocating, dense vitality pouring from the dark chamber within, his relaxed smile faded completely. His expression turned deadly serious.
Julian, always sharp to emotional shifts, caught the subtle tension in the General's posture immediately.
Recognizing the issue, Julian reached out and rested a hand on Jing Yuan's shoulder. A gentle, invisible current surged between them, systematically siphoning the chaotic, overflowing vitality out of the General's body before it could trigger his latent Mara.
Jing Yuan's tight chest relaxed instantly. A look of genuine surprise flashed across his face. "I didn't know you possessed such a technique... Does taking this in not harm you?"
"It's fine, but I can only drain it in controlled bursts," Julian explained, his free hand holding a floating sphere of condensed, glowing green liquid wrapped tightly in a Psychic shell. "Inside that chamber, the ambient pressure will be far worse. I'll maintain a steady extraction while we fight."
Jing Yuan recalled the report Yanqing had brought back regarding the black entity capable of preying on Abundance energy. Nodding quietly, he stepped through the spatial rift into the root realm.
The moment they crossed the threshold, Julian released Yveltal into the cavernous space. Throwing the floating sphere of extracted vitality into the air, he watched the legendary creature catch it in mid-flight.
Entering the root realm was like stepping into an ocean of pure life energy for Yveltal.
"Caw!"
The dark entity let out a triumphant cry, its wings expanding as it began drinking in the ambient energy of the chamber. Guided by Julian's mental commands, it also drew a steady stream of chaotic vitality away from Jing Yuan, keeping the General's internal balance perfectly stable.
"Can the drain speed be increased if necessary?" Jing Yuan asked, feeling lighter than he had in decades. Even within this corrupted sanctuary, the rate of energy absorption outpaced the environment's attempt to infect him.
"I can turn it up," Julian warned, "but if I drain it too fast, it will start pulling on your natural biological lifespan."
Jing Yuan considered the offer carefully. If Phantylia's true body were here, he wouldn't hesitate to trade a portion of his remaining years to fight at absolute peak performance without worrying about the Mara. But since this was merely an constructed avatar, he chose to hold back.
It wasn't that he clung to life out of fear, but the Luofu was currently in a delicate period of transition. Until the next generation of leaders fully matured, he needed to remain at the helm.
"If the battle turns sour, I'll give you the signal to increase the rate," Jing Yuan said firmly.
Julian nodded in understanding.
The two pushed deeper into the cavern, Yveltal hovering above them like a dark storm cloud, its physical scale expanding noticeably as it devoured the ambient Abundance energy.
Ahead, a massive lotus flower bloomed in the center of a subterranean lake. Resting atop its petals was a colossal Suiyang spirit-flame, drawing countless streams of liquid vitality from the roots below.
"The General of the Luofu... and Julian?"
A booming, reverberating voice echoed through the cavern as the flame flickered wildly.
"You truly are the most irritating obstacle in my path. It is a pity I failed to erase you back at the Space Station... but today, the outcome will be very different!"
The spirit-flame surged upward, expanding violently into the towering, golden form of a gigantic woman.
Beside her mountain-like presence, Yveltal—despite having grown significantly larger from its feast—looked like little more than a hunting falcon hovering before a giant.
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