Xianzhou Luofu, Seat of Divine Foresight.
In the bustling grand room, where officials and Cloud Knights came and went, Jing Yuan summoned his lieutenant, Yanqing, to his desk.
"General, you called for me?"
Yanqing asked seriously, hands clasped behind his back, looking proper and disciplined.
He was a teenage boy with medium-length blond hair tied into a ponytail, curtain bangs framing his face, yellow-amber eyes, and a single black stud earring on his left ear. He wore a blue and black hanfu robe accented with gold and pink, cropped white pants, and white boots—looking neat, clean, and fresh.
"Yes, there's something I want you to handle." Jing Yuan said calmly, his eyes still fixed on the documents in his hands. "Bring ten thousand Cloud Knights with you to the Alchemy Commission and arrest the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. I've heard there are quite a lot of them there."
Upon hearing this, Yanqing lifted his eyelids slightly, a hint of surprise flashing through his eyes.
"General, didn't you say the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus are deeply hidden and can only be caught when they expose themselves? We've been chasing them for so long, yet we still haven't found their leader."
Back then, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had plotted to assassinate Jing Yuan, but because he had planted spies beforehand, he managed to foil their plot and capture several of their members in return.
Yet not long after that, many of those spies lost contact.
Needless to say, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus disguised themselves far too well—completely indistinguishable, making it nearly impossible to catch them all.
"Well, that was the case before, but this time, I have a trump card." Jing Yuan smiled with hidden meaning as he looked up at his lieutenant. "I almost pity them—of all people, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus actually dared to provoke General Lucian. Now he's planning to wipe out their entire nest, which is apparently the Alchemy Commission. Go there and assist him in making the arrests."
When Yanqing heard 'Lucian,' his interest was immediately piqued.
"Yes, General!" Yanqing's eyes lit up as he straightened his posture, saluting with vigor. "I'll depart right away!"
It was only natural for him to react this way.
Lucian was, after all, a legendary figure, someone said to be almost mythical in nature.
Especially when the Xianzhou Cangcheng claimed that he was a sword immortal—someone who, with a single swing of his sword, could either split your body in half or force you to kneel before him.
Yanqing, as a sword maniac, felt thrilled just imagining that kind of overwhelming aura and extraordinary skill.
He would probably get to witness that swordsmanship in person today.
===
Meanwhile, after treating Bailu to snacks at home, Lucian finally arrived at the Alchemy Commission with her.
Even though the Alchemy Commission was unpopular compared to the other commissions, it was still bustling with people.
In ancient times, it had been the number-one commission of the Xianzhou Alliance, specializing in research on the Ambrosial Arbor and developing countless advanced technologies—its authority so great that when the Alchemy Commission spoke, everyone else had to weigh their words carefully.
Unfortunately, that was all in the past.
Ever since the Hunt came to dominate the Xianzhou Alliance, the Alchemy Commission had been reduced to a logistics commission focused mainly on medical treatment, and a commission that no one valued had thus become the perfect hiding spot for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Lucian looked around, seeing both Xianzhou natives and foxians passing by, many of them dressed in the uniforms of physicians or alchemists.
"Bailu, do the people in the Alchemy Commission treat you well?" Lucian asked casually.
"Some are nice, some aren't..." Bailu answered while walking behind him. "They don't let me go out and play, always keeping me locked in my room."
"All right, then we'll just replace them with nicer people." Lucian said with a faint sneer, quietly activating the power of Abundance.
In the next second, someone nearby suddenly convulsed—their body ruptured, sprouting golden leaves and branches, transforming into a Mara-Struck Soldier.
Such a sudden scene would, of course, throw the crowd into chaos.
"M-Mara-struck! Run!"
"Quick, notify the Cloud Knights!"
"Help! Another mara-struck person over here!"
Every second, more and more people revealed their true mara-struck forms—one after another, surprisingly dozens of them!
And this was only from Lucian's casual probing.
"Over there!"
Just then, a massive group of Cloud Knights arrived, followed by three flying swords that shot through the air, instantly cutting down one of the Mara-Struck Soldiers.
Following that, all the Cloud Knights surged forward, quickly restraining the other Mara-Struck Soldiers.
Seeing the flying swords, Lucian looked up and saw a familiar boy with medium-length blond hair tied into a ponytail, commanding the Cloud Knights from the air.
He was none other than Jing Yuan's apprentice and lieutenant, Yanqing.
"General Lucian, I, Yanqing, have come under General Jing Yuan's orders to assist you!"
In two steps, Yanqing leapt in front of Lucian and gave a respectful junior's salute.
"Perfect timing." Lucian nodded with a faint smile. "I was getting lazy—wanted someone to do the heavy lifting, and here you are."
"You work tirelessly for the Luofu's safety. I'd be honored to lend my strength." Yanqing replied humbly. "General, what should we do next? How do we find the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus among so many people here?"
He was curious about how extraordinary this man truly was—the one even his own general praised endlessly.
It should be noted that even his general, an Arbiter-General famed for his intellect, had failed to root out the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Could the man before him really succeed?
"Why bother searching? Let them expose themselves." Lucian said nonchalantly as he stared at the Alchemy Commission's entrance gate without blinking. "Jing Yuan couldn't do it, but don't doubt my ability. Just make sure you can handle the aftermath."
"Eh?! There are that many bad guys in the Alchemy Commission?! I've been living surrounded by villains?!"
Bailu, upon hearing their conversation and seeing so many Mara-Struck Soldiers scattered throughout the Alchemy Commission, exclaimed with a stunned expression, a wave of fear creeping over her.
"Pretty much..." Lucian said gently, patting Bailu's head to calm her down. "Around seventy to eighty percent of the Alchemy Commission has been taken over by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. Anyway, it's time for a total purge."
As soon as his words fell, he once again invoked the power of Abundance, silently triggering the mara-struck transformations of every member of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus within the Alchemy Commission, all without anyone noticing.
Soon after, screams echoed through every building of the Alchemy Commission.
"Dammit, Old Gu, why'd you go mara-struck?!"
"My Semblance Reversion Essence failed?! But this was my first dose!"
"You're both mara-struck?!"
"Bro, if you transformed, don't kill me, okay? I swear, yeah, I slept with your wife, but—"
Before long, countless people fled from the buildings, shouting about mara-struck everywhere.
Yanqing, seeing this absurd scene, stood completely dumbfounded.
Lucian had said to just let them expose themselves, and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus actually really did.
"What are you waiting for?" Lucian said calmly, his hands behind his back. "Don't just stand there—catch them."
Snapping out of it, Yanqing quickly led the Cloud Knights to capture the Mara-Struck Soldiers.
It was a good thing he had brought ten thousand men with him—otherwise, with so many Disciples of Sanctus Medicus present, some of them would've slipped through.
Lucian, on the other hand, ignored the small fry, since his main target was their leader, Dan Shu.
"C'mon, I'll take you to catch the big boss."
Lucian, carrying Bailu in his arms, spoke with a smile before vanishing.
===
Several minutes ago, inside the Chief Alchemist's Office, a blind woman with chestnut-brown hair, wearing a long dress of jade green and ivory white, sat quietly before a long wooden desk and wrote out several documents with practiced, precise movements.
Her name was Dan Shu, the Alchemy Commission's Chief Alchemist, and the leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Today should have been another peaceful day to scheme and plan toward her goal, a goal that would soon reach its long-awaited fruition.
As she focused her gaze on the documents while imagining the future that lay ahead, she heard a sudden commotion outside and immediately stopped what she was doing.
Frowning, she stood up and moved toward the window—not to look outside, but to listen more carefully.
In that instant, she heard the curses of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, the screams of civilians, and the unmistakable shouts of the Cloud Knights.
"What's going on? Why would they expose themselves? To reveal themselves now, when we're so close to success—how foolish!"
As Dan Shu cursed under her breath, a calm voice suddenly came from behind her, as if directly responding to her words.
"Because two of your foolish subordinates tried to silence me, I decided to retaliate against all of you. You can blame them."
Hearing this, Dan Shu quickly turned around and stepped back at once, instinctively putting distance between herself and the source of the voice.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that now—you'll find out later. For now, go and stay in a cell."
Lucian, carrying Bailu in his left hand, reached out with his right hand, grabbed Dan Shu by the shoulder, and forcefully pushed her forward.
In that instant, Dan Shu was sent across millions of light-years away, straight into the private prison located in Koolur, where, without his explicit permission, no one would be allowed to enter.
===
Koolur, Private Prison.
Inside one of the prison cells, Dan Shu stood dazed, slowly sensing her surroundings, which now felt subtly different from before.
"Where is this? What just happened? You captured me, but for what purpose?"
Unfortunately, no one answered her questions.
Even when she revealed her mara-struck form and then unleashed her power of Abundance, attacking the walls with all her might, she still couldn't break free.
Such a realization left her utterly stunned.
How had things suddenly ended up like this?
She had already made a deal with a Lord Ravager to destroy the Xianzhou Luofu together, and the plan had been nearing completion, but now, everything had been ruined.
Which two fools had caused such a mess, dooming years of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus's efforts?
"Damn fools!"
===
Xianzhou Luofu, Alchemy Commission, Chief Alchemist's Office.
"Dan Shu's also a villain? But she was nice to me..." Bailu said, her expression turning sad.
"Well, that's because she wanted to study your blood." Lucian explained with a gentle smile. "If she treated you kindly, you'd be less likely to refuse, after all."
"Oh, so that's why..." Bailu nodded, then blinked her eyes several times, slowly coming to a realization. "Then you're nice to me too—does that mean you want my blood too?"
"Haha, don't worry, you're still too young." Lucian said with a chuckle, looking at her big, watery eyes. "I'll wait until you're grown before I eat you."
"Good!" Bailu patted her chest in relief. "As long as you don't eat me now, I'll just run away somewhere you'll never find me when I'm grown up. Let's see you try to eat me then!"
===
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