[Lingsha happily departed for the Luofu with General Huaiyan to assume her new post.]
[With General Huaiyan's departure, the attention of the Xianzhou Alliance was now entirely focused on the Luofu, leaving the defensive strength of the Zhuming at its weakest.]
[That ancient fossil—the one you feared most in all of Zhuming—had finally left.]
[And you, Solon, seized the perfect opportunity.]
[Thus, you boldly stormed into the Zhuming Alchemy Commission.]
[The place was crowded with patients seeking treatment, yet no one stopped you. Unhindered, you reached the office of Lord Yanting.]
[When you pushed the door open, Lord Yanting, who had been perusing medical texts, looked up at you in surprise.]
[She recognized you immediately—after all, on paper, both of you were Lingsha's teachers, and she knew you well.]
["Are you looking for Lingsha? She just left Zhuming with General Huaiyan."]
[Little did Lord Yanting know, you were far more aware of Lingsha's whereabouts than she was. After all, the two of you had shared a bed just this morning.]
[With a benevolent smile, you shook your head.]
["No. I'm here for you."]
[The moment those words left your lips, Lord Yanting lost consciousness.]
[Neither more nor less—she stood exactly ten paces away from you.]
[Even a Dragon Lord of noble blood and formidable strength was no match for the poison you had specially concocted for the Vidyadhara.]
[You seized Lord Yanting's head and, in an instant, absorbed and refined the Dragon Lord's power within her…]
[Then, you retrieved the prepared remains of the "Swarm Emperor" and refined them as well.]
[Now, the three fragments—Abundance, Propagation, and the incomplete Permanence—were gathered. Three immense, kindred forces merged into one within you.]
[In the Imaginary Space, a crown symbolizing the power of Permanence slowly took shape and descended upon your head.]
[With the Permanence Dragon fallen, you had bypassed the Aeon of Permanence entirely, attaining the power of an Emanator.]
[Unlike ordinary Emanators, who required an Aeon's blessing to access their Path's authority, you had seized a portion of the Path's authority directly—a right that even a living Permanence Aeon could not revoke.]
[Now that "Permanence" was dead, if you could claim all its authority, you might ascend as the new Permanence.]
[Yet this path was fraught with hardship. To reclaim the complete "Permanence," you had to gather the scattered fragments.]
[These fragments lay with Abundance, Propagation, and the descendants of the Permanence Dragon. The Aeon of Propagation was dead, and the Dragon's descendants had weakened—those could still be dealt with.]
[The true challenge was the fragment held by Abundance. After all, the Aeon of Abundance was not only alive but lively, still "flirting" with the Aeon of The Hunt.]
[But your resolve was unshakable. You would never yield to difficulty.]
[Soon, you devised a plan.]
[Perhaps you could collaborate with the Xianzhou Alliance. After all, you shared a common goal: to destroy Abundance.]
[Once achieved, the Alliance would rid itself of a great enemy, you would ascend as the new Permanence, the Alliance would gain the protection of two Aeons, and the Vidyadhara's reproductive crisis would be resolved.]
[A true victory for all.]
[Though you had just siphoned Lord Yanting's power—a crime nearly tantamount to the "Ten Unforgivable Sins"—you were confident that with such immense shared interests and your newfound strength, the Alliance's leadership would accept your proposal.]
[Politics, after all, was the art of compromise.]
[Meanwhile, aboard the Luofu, with three generals, the Sword Champion, the Dragon Lord, and the Nameless present—its combat strength at an all-time peak—Hulei was released, only to cause a minor disturbance before being swiftly executed.]
Hulei's sole contribution this time might have been resolving Feixiao's physical ailment.
Then again, to many, Hulei was merely a pawn meant to muddy the waters. To be a player, he was far too weak.
In the end, weakness was the original sin.
Why did no one dare lay a hand on Shuhu, even when he was reduced to a mere scrap of flesh?
[After quelling Hulei's chaos, Lingsha arrived at the Scalegorge Waterscape with Dan Heng and the evidence they had gathered, confronting the Vidyadhara elder, Taoran.]
[Following a "friendly" exchange, Dan Heng speared Taoran into a stone wall.]
[Then, Jing Yuan suddenly appeared, ready to deliver a crushing blow—both physically and mentally.]
[Just as Jing Yuan revealed to Taoran that the Jingfeng warship carried only Cloud Knights, shattering his schemes…]
[Taoran burst into maniacal laughter.]
["Hahaha! You still don't understand what we've done!"]
[As the crowd stood baffled, Taoran's face twisted into fanatical fervor, his madness resembling that of a cultist.]
["We've succeeded!" He turned eastward, prostrated himself, and shouted:]
["All hail our lord!!"]
[Under the wary and confused gazes of all, a swirling vortex of flames erupted in midair.]
[The flames expanded rapidly, as if tearing open a rift in the sky.]
[Your figure emerged from the fiery maelstrom, stepping forward unhurriedly.]
["You!?" "Teacher!?"]
[Shock, wariness, confusion, disbelief—countless eyes bore into you.]
[But that wasn't all. Vidyadhara elders of the Luofu appeared out of nowhere, along with Alchemy Commission officials, others from various departments—Xianzhou natives, Foxians—likely undercover agents of the Denizens of Abundance.]
[They knelt in unison, kowtowing as they roared:]
["All hail our lord!!"]
[The sound shook the heavens.]
[Jing Yuan's mind worked fastest. Unlike Lingsha, who viewed you through rose-tinted lenses, he quickly pieced together the truth.]
["So… this was your scheme all along? You're the true mastermind?" Jing Yuan stared at you grimly.]
[He never imagined you were the architect behind everything.]
["Correct," you replied coolly.]
["Cloud Knights—form ranks! Eradicate this evil!" Jing Yuan summoned his glaive and swung at you without hesitation.]
[Truly worthy of Jing Yuan—to act so decisively.]
[As he moved, a colossal golden thunder construct manifested, its blade descending upon you like a divine execution!]
[Alas, even the sharpest mind was no match for absolute power.]
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