Ever since the Lord Ravager Phantylia infiltrated the Xianzhou and used the Stellaron to revive the Ambrosial Arbor and create herself a body, the people of the Luofu came to realize that this ancient tree, was in fact a creation of Abundance.
Ancient records state:
The Reignbow Arbiter's bow severed the Ambrosial Arbor, and the jade heavens were cleansed.
In a certain sense, the Ambrosial Arbor could even be called a part of Xianzhou culture.
Such a magnificent creation of an Aeon was only natural to be revered by all living beings.
More than once, those who worshipped Abundance had come to the Luofu in hopes of approaching the Ambrosial Arbor, only to be turned away every time.
And now, this sky-piercing giant tree, long a background fixture in the memories of countless Xianzhou natives, vanished into thin air without the slightest warning.
For a time, rumors spread throughout the Xianzhou, voices rising and falling in endless discussion.
....
Alchemy Commission.
A Vidyadhara lady with twin horns on her forehead and a slender, tapering tail curiously adjusted her appearance before the landing mirror.
"So this is what I'll look like when I grow up? Hehe, just as expected of me."
Her crystalline, snow-white skin complemented the horns on her brow perfectly, setting each other off. Her long tail swayed nimbly, tracing one beautiful curve after another.
Every detail seemed to proclaim the Vidyadhara lady's charm to the world.
But happy moments are always fleeting.
Before Bailu could admire her peerless beauty more closely, there was a sharp pa, a flash of white light, and the petite Bailu reappeared.
"Eh, I haven't seen enough yet."
"Hehe, alright now. That was grown-up Bailu. As long as you behave and eat more carrots, you'll grow up quickly."
Seeing Bailu puff her cheeks in a sulk, Lingsha couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh softly.
As her gaze flickered, a hint of astonishment showed in her eyes.
The Vidyadhara are a long-lived species, and the Vidyadhara High Elder even more so. By the basic logic, their growth should be relatively slow.
At the very least, Bailu had always been such a case, as long as nothing unexpected happened, it would still be quite some time before the day she could truly shoulder great responsibility.
Yet now, this long time had been shortened. Bailu had been made to display the form she was meant to have only far in the future.
"The mysteries of life are inherently profound. The Vidyadhara's hatching rebirth through molting is likewise an expression of life itself. What might occur in the process, no one knows, and no one can predict," said Mobius, who was sitting sideways on a nearby hospital bed, propping her chin with her hands as she quietly admired Bailu's adult form. She let out a soft chuckle.
Then she turned her head to the side.
"I'm really sorry. I knew there might be a small irregularity during the process, but it still exceeded my expectations. The disappearance of the Ambrosial Arbor, did it have a significant impact on you?"
At the moment the Ambrosial Arbor dispersed, Mobius had been standing right within it, sensing the immense tree that had existed for thousands of years.
Fu Xuan, who had only just snapped out of her amazement at Bailu, replied, "There was naturally some impact. The Ambrosial Arbor existed for far too long, almost everyone on the Luofu has seen it at least once."
"And with the incident of the Lord Ravager causing it to sprout again, all of that adds up to a rather serious issue. It became a topic that people discussed quite a lot afterward."
"Is that so." Mobius nodded slightly, not particularly surprised.
After all, consider this: something that has never shown any abnormalities is placed plainly on the table, and then one day it suddenly disappears. How would people react?
If it were not very valuable, they would simply buy another or act as though it never existed.
The Ambrosial Arbor happened to fall somewhere between those extremes.
This gradually eased Fu Xuan's tightly strung nerves. The populace was fine, and the higher-ups had the Marshal backing things up.
She was the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission, what was there for someone like to do?
"I heard that something major happened during this period?" Mobius suddenly asked.
She remembered the visibly relieved expression on Fu Xuan's face when she and Bailu woke up.
Though this Master Diviner was slightly lacking in composure at times, her abilities were beyond doubt. For something to make her this tense, and not be the fallout from the Arbor's disappearance, it could only be another major matter.
"From a broader perspective, it might not count as 'major.' It's just something related to the Xianzhou," Fu Xuan replied, shaking her head softly and letting out a sigh.
She then began explaining to Mobius the relationship between the Xianzhou and the activated planet Rahu.
"An entire living planet…" Hearing of such a wondrous existence, Mobius's small mouth fell slightly open, interest immediately lighting up her face.
Rahu could be said to be the only known activated planet at present. And the combat record of that thing was nothing short of terrifying.
Mobius was extremely interested in such a dreadful existence.
"Because the resurgence of the awakened planet happened without any warning, we have no choice but to suspect whether the revival of Rahu is connected to the Ambrosial Arbor."
It is connected, without a doubt. Mobius thought so inwardly.
As someone who had personally absorbed that vast surge of life energy, she was intimately familiar with that power.
It could be a treasure that transcended distance itself.
Rahu also originated from Abundance. Though their births were different, they carried the same Path's power.
Based on her deep research into the domain of life, there had to be an inevitable connection between the two.
"At present, the planet Rahu has been lured by the Cloud Knights into a desolate star region. In the short term, it shouldn't cause catastrophic destruction…" Fu Xuan trailed off.
But that would mean they had to endure a monstrosity of Abundance, carrying the countless members of Xianzhou people, wandering freely through the cosmos.
Mobius silently supplied the latter half of Fu Xuan's words in her mind.
And during the process of drawing away the planet Rahu, many Cloud Knights met with misfortune, whether from the attacks of Abundance, or various followers of Abundance who sought immortality.
Abundance had not vanished. As long as there was a pursuit of everlasting life, Abundance would continue to exist.
And the pursuit of infinite life was likewise an instinct shared by all living beings.
In the process, losses among the Cloud Knights were unavoidable.
"That's just awful!" After quietly listening to the recent events, Bailu puffed up her cheeks in anger, her tail standing straight up.
"Those guys are just terrible! They've already harmed so many people, and they still dare to run around doing disgusting things!"
Seeing Bailu's righteous indignation, Fu Xuan let out a helpless sigh.
The Xianzhou had gained the upper hand in its battles against the followers of Abundance, pressing the advantage and wiping out large numbers of Abundance factions that had been causing havoc across the stars.
But even so, it was still unable to stop people from pursuing Abundance.
After steadying her mind, Fu Xuan spoke.
"Now that the Ambrosial Arbor has dissipated, the Alliance has also eliminated a major hidden danger. As for the planet... the Generals are still discussing it. I'm afraid no concrete plan will come out in the short term."
The planet Rahu was difficult to eliminate.
...
A private meeting of the Seven Arbiter-Generals.
The generals who arrived in the form of virtual projections all looked at Jing Yuan with strange expressions.
Those looks carried an indescribable feeling.
"Divine Foresight General, truly impressive methods. Without anyone noticing, you actually uprooted the Ambrosial Arbor from the Luofu. I really can't help but admire you," one general praised sincerely.
"The Divine Foresight General really doesn't treat us as his own. Such a huge matter, and you didn't even give us a heads-up. At least we could've watched from the sidelines and gained some experience," General Yao Guang, spoke with deliberately aggrieved tone.
Feixiao didn't speak. She just stared at Jing Yuan with a look that said everything and yet nothing.
You had something like this and still kept it hidden from us??
"Ha, haha, sheer luck, sheer luck. I really didn't expect things to be resolved in one stroke this time. Purely by chance," Jing Yuan laughed as he responded to the generals' pointed remarks, brushing it off lightly.
Huaiyan stood to the side, smiling as he watched the scene. He stroked his beard, checked the time, and then spoke.
"If you all wish to besiege the Divine Foresight General, please wait until after this meeting ends. There will be plenty of time then. For now, let's discuss the matter of the planet Rahu."
Once business was mentioned, everyone's expressions turned serious.
"I still propose directly shattering the planet Rahu, then supplementing it with the combined attacks of several generals. Even if we can't truly destroy the planet Rahu, we can at least suppress its recovery speed!" Feixiao proposed.
At present, she was undoubtedly at the peak of her condition.
The Scarlet Moon of the Borisin had merged into her body. Freed from the burden of Moon Rage and empowered by explosive growth in strength, she could be certain that she had become exponentially stronger.
The effect of the Scarlet Moon was not merely removing the devastation Moon Rage inflicted upon foxians, it had elevated Feixiao's physical strength by several tiers. The benefits of the Scarlet Moon had not even been fully awakened yet, and she had already evolved.
But this wasn't why she was being aggressive.
War was no child's play. The real reason lay in the danger posed by the planet Rahu.
If some ill-intentioned schemer in the cosmos managed to make contact with it, there was no guarantee that the planet Rahu wouldn't pounce on one of the Xianzhou ships.
Bearing the responsibility of the Seven Arbiter-Generals, she could not allow such a thing to happen, not even the smallest possibility.
"General Feixiao, please calm down. The old man here hasn't spoken yet. As the saying goes, listen more to your elders~~" Yao Guang chuckled.
"General Yao Guang is still as fond of jokes as ever. That said, this old one does indeed somewhat agree with General Feixiao's proposal." Receiving Yao Guang's teasing, Huaiyan laughed warmly, stroked his beard, and slightly widened his eyes.
"However, whether we can truly shatter a planet Rahu remains unconfirmed. Even if it could, given the planet Rahu's recovery speed, it would likely amount to little more than a superficial wound."
"As for gathering the might of the Seven Arbiter-Generals to slow it down... I'm afraid that won't quite work." Huaiyan slowly shook his head.
The Xianzhou's stance toward Abundance aberrations had always been decisive.
Discover Abundance, eliminate immediately!!! But the Xianzhou was not warlike by nature.
Especially after experiencing the impact of it once.
That encounter had ended in a grim outcome.
"Everyone needn't worry too much. If an activated planet were easy to resolve, the IPC would probably be even more proactive than us. After all, this is a rare Abundance construct," Jing Yuan interjected with a jest.
That said, it wasn't wrong. An Abundance construct of this level was already rare in the cosmos.
If not for the special nature of the planet Rahu, the IPC would likely have taken action long ago.
"Perhaps we could consider some external assistance?" Seeing no one reach a decision, Yao Guang raised her brow slightly and spoke.
"External assistance? Who, the IPC? Or the Garden of Recollection?" someone asked.
"Godzilla." Yao Guang stated her choice directly.
Hearing this unexpected name, several generals couldn't help but lower their heads in thought.
Seeing this, Yao Guang lightly fanned her cheek and exhaled. "Let me be blunt. If a real fight broke out, how many of you here could take that beam head-on? None, right?"
"And that was the past Godzilla. You all know how fast he grows stronger. The current him, if we all rushed him together, we still might not be able to do anything. Isn't that exactly the kind of heavy hitter we need?"
Hmm, thinking it over, everyone realized it really did make some sense.
The part about all of them being unable to handle him together was a bit exaggerated, but in a one-on-one situation, not a single general present dared claim they could endure Godzilla head-on.
An Emanator of Destruction had already been taken down, with another of unknown status. Celenova and Irontomb working together still couldn't do a thing to him. He even destroyed the IPC's ultimate weapon and left unscathed. Such achievements couldn't be ignored.
Those at their level all knew that above Emanators, there existed strong and weak emanators.
Rather, once you reached a certain level of strength, your very existence naturally became different.
That was the fundamental difference.
"But how would we get Godzilla to act?" General Youwu hesitated. "Even Emanators would shake their heads at an activated planet. For an existence of that level, getting Godzilla involved would likely cost quite a lot."
Bluntly speaking, shattering an activated planet wasn't difficult for the Xianzhou, they could do it if they were willing to pay a steep price.
What truly gave them headaches was the Abundance aberration's terrifying recovery ability. If there were a way to deal with that, the burden on them wouldn't be so heavy.
Luckily, this time they only had to face a single activated planet, with no Emanator of Abundance interfering.
Considering the power Godzilla had unleashed when fighting Zephyro back then, it did seem feasible.
But getting Godzilla to step in and shatter the planet Rahu, success or not, the price would be immense. Still, the cost itself wasn't the main concern.
The most important thing was...
"How do we persuade Godzilla to act?" was the question.
At that question, everyone's gaze collectively turned toward Jing Yuan, who still hadn't completely snapped back to reality.
....
"Where... is this?" In the sea of stars, a purple figure walked along a great path, her bewildered eyes gazing around in confusion.
The road here didn't seem familiar to her...