Chapter 188: March 7th: You Really Do Have Hidden Powers
"What did you just do?" Dan Heng asked, turning to face Kafka. His tone remained wary, though the outright hostility had faded.
Fu Xuan had already made it clear that the Stellaron Hunters' purpose on this visit was, surprisingly, to help.
"Just a little... preparatory work," Kafka replied with a faint, knowing smile, her gaze drifting into the hazy distance. "I couldn't have the esteemed General of the Luofu arrive to find my dear Blade and you two in such a pathetic state, now could I?"
"Hahaha..."
A hearty, resonant laugh echoed from afar, growing steadily closer. Jing Yuan emerged from the mist, his steps unhurried and leisurely. Trailing silently behind him was a figure clad in white—Jingliu. She wore no shackles, her presence as still as a frozen lake, yet she felt like an ancient, peerless sword resting in its sheath, its devastating chill contained just beneath the surface.
"Jing Yuan... Jingliu..." Blade's eyes darkened, a storm of memories brewing within them.
"General!... Grandmaster," Yanqing called out. The first title was a clear, respectful shout; the second was barely an audible whisper.
"It's been so long since you two returned to the Xianzhou, yet you always seem to pick the most awkward occasions," Jing Yuan said, his smile warm and disarming. But deep within his eyes, a sharp, calculating light had settled. "If you still held any regard for our old friendship, you should have sent word ahead of time."
"What I came to do... is already finished," Blade stated, his voice a low, raspy growl.
"Yes, it is," Jing Yuan sighed softly. "You have done the Xianzhou a great service; for that, I should thank you. Take her away—this time, I can pretend I saw nothing at all."
"General... I..." Yanqing began, his face a mask of confusion.
Why? Why would he let the Stellaron Hunters leave just like that?
Only Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan, who had glimpsed the future within the Matrix of Prescience, understood the truth currently hidden within the Luofu's gilded halls. Yanqing didn't know that in this conflict, the Stellaron Hunters were not their enemies.
"Now is not the time to discuss this," Jing Yuan said, shaking his head slightly.
Just then, Jingliu took a slow, deliberate step forward, her movement blocking Blade's path. "Leaving already?"
"Jingliu, this is not the time for reminiscing," Jing Yuan cautioned, his brow furrowing.
He truly hadn't expected the surviving members of the "High-Cloud Quintet" to reunite here after several centuries... but the disaster of Phantylia was imminent. Worse, a far deeper crisis lurked in the heavens above: the gazes of several Aeons were currently fixed upon the Luofu.
Jing Yuan couldn't be certain if Lord Ravager Phantylia's invasion had received the tacit approval of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction. If the Aeon did not personally intervene, Jing Yuan was confident he could drive Phantylia out and settle the conflict. But if Nanook's will truly descended... then the Xianzhou Luofu might become dust among the stars, just like the Cangcheng, the Yuanqiao, and the Daiyu before it.
Yes, there were originally nine Xianzhou ships. Now, only six remained.
The Xianzhou "Cangcheng"—fallen, swallowed whole by the living planet Rahu.
The Xianzhou "Yuanqiao"—fallen, crashed into a red giant in Star Calendar year 3287.
The Xianzhou "Daiyu"—fallen, shattered upon the surface of Isuma.
The current Luofu was hanging by a thread. Mortals had no way to fathom the intentions of the Aeons. Once the divine will was provoked, the annihilation of a Xianzhou ship could happen in the blink of an eye.
Therefore, Jing Yuan could only do his best to protect his home and usher those not central to the storm away from its eye.
"Heh..." Jingliu's lips curved into a cold, humorless smile. "If my memory serves me right, seven hundred years ago, the five of us made an oath in this very place—that no matter how far the mountains and seas separated us, we would one day reunite here to share a drink."
"Unfortunately... the starships pass in vain, and time flows ever onward. Of the five of us, one has been reborn, one cannot die even if he wishes it, one has become a prisoner... and one can never keep her appointment again. Our past friendship has vanished like smoke on the wind."
She smiled faintly, a chilling sight. "I am about to stand trial. This parting may very well be our final farewell."
"So, before I leave, I wish to extend an invitation—here, at the place where we first gathered..."
"I invite you all to say your goodbyes."
"Of five people, three must pay a price..."
With a fluid, deliberate motion, she drew her sword, its blade catching the dim light as her gaze fell upon Dan Heng.
Hearing her words, Dan Heng felt as if an old, phantom wound had been brutally pierced, and his mind seized with tension.
"The culprit, Imbibitor Lunae, acted willfully," Jingliu recited, her voice like the toll of a funeral bell. "He recklessly initiated the Transmutation Arcanum in a delusional attempt to bring the dead back to life, altering physical forms and causing a great catastrophe that brought shame upon all warriors."
"The accomplice, Yingxing, was arrogant and disrespectful. He meddled with the flesh of an Emanator of Abundance and assisted Imbibitor Lunae's reckless actions, falling into the state of an undying abomination."
At this, Blade let out a cold, dismissive snort.
"And the sinner, Jingliu, succumbed to the Mara, slaughtered her comrades, and betrayed her oath..."
The words struck Yanqing like a bolt of lightning. He snapped to full attention, his mind reeling.
So the Dan Heng on the wanted poster, and the Stellaron Hunter Blade... they were actually members of the legendary High-Cloud Quintet?
He suddenly remembered the story Leon had told him. The quiet archivist who boarded the Express was Dan Feng's reincarnation—Dan Heng. And that Yingxing, whose "life never ends and who cannot die," was indeed the Stellaron Hunter, Blade.
So just now... he had faced off against two members of the High-Cloud Quintet at once?
No wonder it was so hard to win.
Yanqing quietly wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. Of the five members of the legendary Quintet, he had now sparred with four.
And the last one... according to Leon, was the long-deceased Bai Heng.
"In this grand reunion of your High-Cloud Quintet, aren't you still missing one person?"
A familiar, teasing voice cut through the tension. Fu Xuan had arrived, leading the Astral Express crew into the Scalegorge Waterscape and approaching the tense standoff.
"Leon... you're here," Dan Heng breathed, a wave of relief washing over him.
Though he desperately wanted to explain that he wasn't the Imbibitor Lunae they knew, he also understood. Even with his past memories gone, in the eyes of his old companions, he was still Dan Feng. That was a debt from a past life, one he had to bear in this one.
"You... you're Dan Heng? No way!" March 7th gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth. "You are Dan Heng, right? What's with those horns on your head?!"
"It's a long story, March... it's me," Dan Heng sighed, a weary note in his voice.
"No, you really do have a hidden form!" March 7th couldn't help but complain, pointing a finger at him.
"Naturally," Leon replied with a light laugh, stepping forward. "In Belobog, Stelle and Caelus each took a spear, received a glance from Qlipoth, and awakened the power of Preservation."
He gestured to Dan Heng. "Here on the Xianzhou Luofu, Dan Heng was pierced through the heart by Blade's sword and regained his true form as the Vidyadhara High Elder."
Leon's mischievous gaze then landed squarely on March 7th. "So, March... at our next stop, you should know what to do, right?"
"What the heck!" March's eyes went wide with horror. "Leon, are you saying it's my turn to get my heart pierced by ten thousand arrows to awaken my hidden power?!"
She threw her hands up in protest. "Setting aside whether I even have hidden powers... does awakening really require getting stabbed?!"
"That's how it worked for all of us," Stelle said, patting her friend's shoulder with a dead-serious expression.
Beside her, Caelus silently pulled out a small notebook and began to write: Condition for Awakening Power: Get stabbed.
"...Are you really taking notes on that?" Serval asked, a bead of sweat trickling down her temple.
"Leon..." Jingliu's gaze shifted to him, her voice softening almost imperceptibly. "You know the past of the High-Cloud Quintet, so you should naturally know... the last one. She can no longer come."
"Bai Heng can't come," Leon said with a nonchalant shrug. "But having Bailu come over would work just as well, wouldn't it?"
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