Chapter 166: Jing Yuan: Lady Fu, I was actually testing you all along.
"Then, Lady Fu, this last one… which Celestial Lord is this?"
Jing Yuan's gaze fell upon the final figure—a cold-faced young man whose very presence seemed to radiate a piercing, chilling aura.
A small measure of relief settled in his heart. At the very least, all the descending Aeons were presenting themselves as "Celestial Lords," and none were… well, something far worse. From this perspective, this might not be an unmitigated disaster for the Luofu.
As long as the Xianzhou could safely weather this storm, then after the Aeons departed, the Luofu could even announce to the wider galaxy that five Celestial Lords had once stayed here for a leisurely vacation. This would undoubtedly be excellent publicity—more than enough to attract a new wave of interstellar travelers.
Of course, the absolute prerequisite was that this calamity had to be resolved perfectly.
Jing Yuan tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, his thoughts racing. Perhaps his methods needed to be more decisive. Compared to the personal arrival of multiple Aeons, trivial matters like the collusion of the Vidyadhara Elders or the uprising of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus suddenly seemed… insignificant.
In the past, without solid evidence, he couldn't easily make a move against those elders. But now… 'When a general is in the field, he may ignore the sovereign's orders.' Even if the Xianzhou Fanghu held him accountable later, once they understood the internal details of this crisis, they would likely be unable to find fault with his actions.
He took another sip of tea, his mind steadying slightly.
"As for this one…" Fu Xuan's voice pulled him from his reverie. "He is the final Aeon."
She paused for a fraction of a second, forcing the title that almost escaped her lips to take a sharp, unnatural turn.
"He is the Celestial Lord of… Cinders."
That was close. The words 'Lord of Destruction' had almost slipped out. Fu Xuan secretly broke into a cold sweat—that was Nanook, the very incarnation of Ruin.
"The Celestial Lord of Cinders?!" Jing Yuan was startled at first, then a frigid sweat suddenly slicked his skin.
The first four were somewhat understandable, but this last one… was actually the Progenitor of Destruction, Nanook. The god who symbolized the end and devastation of the cosmos, whose very name was a shadow that made all worlds tremble.
"Lady Fu, are you certain… you aren't joking?" Jing Yuan's voice tightened, and the knuckles of his clasped hands turned white.
The Aeon of Destruction, personally visiting the Xianzhou… if not to practice "Destruction," could he truly be here for sightseeing? If anyone else said it, no one in the universe would believe them.
"Naturally not." Fu Xuan's expression was unnervingly calm as she enunciated each word. "He goes by the alias 'Fu Huimian'."
She paused, then added, "A short while ago, he was also playing Celestial Jade with Qingque."
Jing Yuan: "..."
He was silent for two full seconds, his face a perfect portrait of disbelief, clearly screaming, 'You must be kidding me.'
Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction… had descended upon the Luofu, and instead of committing acts of cosmic annihilation, he sat at a table playing a board game with Qingque?
"You mean to say…" Jing Yuan repeated, his voice strained and incredulous, "The Celestial Lord of Cinders, the Celestial Lord of Elation, and a Stellaron Hunter—three beings of that caliber—gathered at a table with Qingque to play Celestial Jade?"
Even hearing himself say it, the statement felt utterly absurd.
Celestial Jade… what kind of arcane magic did it possess to attract three Aeon-level beings to condescend to play? And why, of all people, specifically with Qingque? Could that girl possess some special quality that even he, her General, had never noticed?
Countless wild guesses whirled through Jing Yuan's mind.
Observing his rare, almost dazed expression, the corners of Fu Xuan's lips curled up ever so slightly.
This feels good, she thought. I shouldn't be the only one living in constant fear.
Jing Yuan only felt a faint, throbbing ache in his head. He had originally deduced the general outline of the Luofu's chaos: a Stellaron couldn't appear out of thin air; it must have been brought in secretly by an external enemy. As for the internal threat, it was those Disciples of Sanctus Medicus who deluded themselves into being "Denizens of Abundance."
He had come to find Fu Xuan to verify these clues and discuss countermeasures. Who could have possibly predicted she would drop this kind of bombshell on him?
He had initially theorized that since the Xianzhou is under the protection of the Reignbow Arbiter of The Hunt, a Stellaron could not have been smuggled onto the Luofu undetected unless an Emanator of another Aeon had made a move. Therefore, the external enemy had to be at the Emanator level. The fact that the Stellaron's corruption had conveniently bypassed key locations like the Seat of Divine Foresight and the Shackling Prison clearly indicated an inside job… internal chaos was inevitable.
He had planned to use this crisis to both break the political deadlock and temper Fu Xuan's ability to handle emergencies.
But now… the news of five Aeons descending had completely shattered all his plans.
"Why would Qingque be playing games with three Aeons…" Fu Xuan mused aloud, feigning contemplation. "Perhaps… it was just a chance encounter?"
She then explained, "At the time, I had just cut off communications with the Seat of Divine Foresight and was about to bury myself in paperwork when I noticed an unfamiliar remote viewing device on the corner of my desk. I pressed the switch out of curiosity—and saw Qingque slacking off."
"I rushed over there immediately. By then, the three of them were already sitting at the table with Qingque, playing Celestial Jade."
"It's just that at the time, my attention… was entirely focused on the Storyteller and Qingque."
Recalling the situation, a trace of lingering fear flickered in Fu Xuan's heart. She hadn't unintentionally offended those other few, had she?
"Can we call Qingque here for questioning?" Jing Yuan's projection looked toward the space beside Fu Xuan.
"There's no need to call… she's right here." Fu Xuan stepped aside, revealing Qingque, who had been trying her absolute best to shrink into nothingness behind her.
"General…" Qingque offered a sheepish smile and bowed respectfully.
She then recounted her entire encounter in careful detail, not daring to add or subtract a single embellishment.
After listening to Qingque's account, Jing Yuan pondered in silence for a long moment, then suddenly looked up. "Qingque, you just said… there was another person traveling with the five of them?"
"Exactly," Fu Xuan took over, her tone firm and certain. "A Trailblazer named Leon."
She paused for a moment, her voice lowering with the conviction of a diviner who has glimpsed a deep truth. "General, think about it… how could someone who travels so calmly with five Aeons be an ordinary person? Only an Aeon can stand side-by-side with an Aeon."
"Therefore, I speculate… Leon is the reincarnation of Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze."
Fu Xuan laid out the evidence and logic she had deduced earlier, piece by piece. After finishing, she unconsciously straightened her back, her expression radiating the certainty of a Grand Diviner who had unraveled a cosmic mystery.
After listening to Fu Xuan's reasoning, Jing Yuan fell into a brief, heavy silence.
What she said made a certain amount of sense. It also happened to explain why five disparate Aeons would gather on the Luofu… if it was a reunion of old friends, everything would be logical.
But if that speculation were true… then wouldn't there be not five, but six Aeons on the Luofu right now? This seemed to differ from the "five" mentioned by Elio and Kafka.
Jing Yuan did not immediately deny Fu Xuan's deduction, keeping this doubt locked away in his heart while maintaining a calm facade.
In any case… whether the number of Aeons was six or five made very little difference to the current predicament of the Xianzhou Luofu.
"Ahem… Lady Fu."
Jing Yuan cleared his throat, a kind, familiar smile appearing on his face, though his tone carried a hint of forced seriousness.
"Actually, my previous actions… were all to 'test' you."
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