"Unbelievable…"
Feixiao finally snapped out of her daze. Her deep blue eyes fixed intently on the slim test tube before her, body unconsciously leaning forward as though to see its secret more clearly.
She was still immersed in the dazzling promise of what such an invention could bring. Across from her, however, Jing Yuan's mind was already clattering like an abacus in full swing.
Outwardly calm, the General of the Cloud Knights sat unmoving, eyes closed in thought. His arms were crossed, and a few fingers tapped rhythmically against his sleeve—tap, tap, tap.
A hundred thousand credits per dose—no complaints there. Worth every bit. The Cloud Knights must each be issued one.
The problem was the budget. This year's allocations had already been finalized, and he couldn't draw too heavily on the reserve funds—not with the Digital World project's costs still an unknown variable.
Still, Aurum Alley's recent economic resurgence promised a handsome boost in tax revenue. And training new alchemists under Jiaoqiu would take time. If he started a gradual rollout now…
By late next summer, every knight could have one dose. And by the following year, it could be standardized—one per soldier, issued annually.
Jing Yuan opened his eyes. The tapping stopped.
At this pace—it was feasible. More than that, it would be revolutionary.
By the year after next, he mused, the Abundance's wretches will finally see what it means to face an army that simply will not die.
For a man as calculating as Jing Yuan, even he couldn't suppress the faint smile curling at his lips.
Across the table, Fu Xuan's mind worked with similar intensity.
How could she not? The idea that every citizen could carry a blue-grade Curio on their person—it was too enticing, too potent a vision. Her mind raced through budget projections before she even realized she was doing it.
Her gaze flicked from the vial in Jiaoqiu's hand to the two remaining on the table.
Curiosity bloomed.
Because surely—no one starts with the strongest one first, right?
If the first could heal from the brink of death, then just how powerful were the remaining two?
Could they possibly reach purple-grade Curio levels? That would defy belief.
Her hand brushed the cold metal of the antique pistol holstered at her waist—the [Zafkiel's Sixth Bullet – Vav]—its chamber containing a single time-bending round.
If something of that caliber could be mass-produced…
Fu Xuan's throat tightened. The thought alone was enough to terrify her.
A universe where anyone could carry a gun that rewound time? Where every soldier could undo every mistake, where timelines tangled from countless crossed influences?
The very Aeon of Balance itself might have to intervene to stop such chaos.
She swallowed hard, her elegant voice breaking the charged silence. "Mr. Jiaoqiu, that first elixir's effects are already astonishing. Surely the second and third must be even more extraordinary?"
Her cool yet youthful tone pulled everyone's focus back to the two remaining test tubes on the table.
Indeed—if the first had such sweeping significance, what heights could the next two reach?
Feixiao, ever the straightforward one, spoke up immediately. "Jiaoqiu, stop keeping us in suspense. Tell everyone already."
Jing Yuan and Gongshu shared a look, both leaning forward slightly, their expressions calm but their anticipation barely veiled.
Jiaoqiu frowned theatrically, waving his feather fan. "As for this second reagent's effects… I'm afraid I cannot say with certainty."
Feixiao's brows knit sharply. "Why not?"
Wasn't this his own creation? Made from a clear formula, no less—how could he not know what it did?
Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan both thought the same: this fox was being deliberately cryptic.
Gongshu, less patient, grumbled, "Young man, I've spent a lifetime building machines, not solving riddles. Just speak plainly."
Jiaoqiu sighed, gently fanning himself. "It's not that I wish to be vague, but the original formula's description was… abstruse. The purple-grade Memory Bubble I derived it from came from a world steeped in mysticism. Their words—though similar to ours—followed a wholly different logic."
He furrowed his brow, searching his memory before reciting:
"To draw in the essence of sun and moon, to seize the creation of heaven and earth, to enter the grand way of humanity. One pill to ascend to the pinnacle of the mortal path."
A beat of silence followed.
For the first time in their lives, everyone present felt their own education was woefully inadequate.
Even Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan couldn't help thinking that their native language was, in truth, the hardest one in the universe.
Heaven, creation, humanity—all lofty words favored by the ancient texts of the Xianzhou—but so maddeningly ambiguous that no two scholars agreed on their meaning.
In their own records, such phrases could at least be cross-referenced and contextualized. But with this cryptic foreign formula? They had nothing. No cultural lexicon, no reference frame—just words that sounded divine.
Silence lingered until Fu Xuan's eyes suddenly brightened in recognition.
Wait. This pattern… sounded familiar.
It was exactly how Sylvester described Curios when introducing them.
Her gaze sharpened on the smiling fox.
Yes. The same tone. The same half-mystical flourish. The same infuriating air of knowing something others did not.
It was so familiar it bordered on déjà vu.
"Mr. Jiaoqiu," she said, her tone turning clear and crisp, "even if the formula's words are opaque, surely you had some reason to select this one for refinement?"
Everyone's eyes turned to him again, all thinking the same:
Even if the formula sounded like nonsense, the cost of brewing it must've been immense. Words like "heaven and earth" and "the pinnacle of humanity" didn't just appear in bargain-basement recipes.
For a mere aide-de-camp to invest in such a concoction—it couldn't be a whim.
If it had been useless, why waste the resources?
Surely, he wasn't doing this just to experience the joy of begging the general for money like Yanqing did?
Or maybe… was he planning to abandon medicine altogether, kneel, and become Feixiao's disciple?
At his age? Unlikely.
Jiaoqiu, of course, had no such plan.
He chuckled softly, folding his fan and raising his thumb in admiration. "As expected of Luofu's Master Diviner—your insight is remarkable. However…"
He spread both hands. "I truly speak no falsehood. The formula alone reveals little. But, as Sylvester once said, among these prescriptions lies one supreme elixir—one that grants unparalleled strength to its user."
He picked up the second test tube, holding it aloft.
"I compared each formula carefully, and I am certain—this is the one."
Then, eyes glinting amber beneath the hall's light, he declared with deliberate weight,
"This elixir can grant a mortal the power equivalent to an Emanator."
The room exploded.
"Impossible!" Feixiao shot to her feet, slamming her palms against the table.
Jing Yuan didn't speak, but his hand braced on the tabletop as he too rose sharply.
Their eyes met, and for a heartbeat, the shared shock between two Emanators was absolute.
Because no one understood better than they did what that claim meant.
The power of an Aeon's blessing—instant, absolute, transcendent. A force that could raise a mere mortal to the level of the divine, demanding no price in return.
The Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou were born of such grace. THEIR power, handed down generation after generation, never diminished—each successor inheriting it seamlessly, often without even realizing it until they wielded it consciously.
Such authority—could be replicated by medicine?
That was blasphemy.
It spat in the face of the Aeon of the Hunt.
If mere mortals could sip at the same wellspring of power, then what meaning remained in the sacred inheritance of the Seven Generals?
The very idea was unthinkable.
As Feixiao and Jing Yuan both froze in incredulous defiance, Jiaoqiu simply laughed softly and waved his fan.
Ah, yes. Predictable.
The moment faith in the Aeon was challenged, even these brilliant commanders' minds locked like rusted gears.
But that was precisely why they had to hear him out.
He folded his fan, bowed formally, and said evenly,
"Generals—please, stay your outrage. Since we are already gathered at this table… why not allow me to finish?"