["You're going to order us around again?" Stelle subtly took a step back.]
[March 7th spoke in a tone that was both resentful and helpless, as if the light had faded from her eyes: "I knew it. The moment the General smiles, we're about to be sent on an errand."]
["Have some mercy, please! This special task force is being used way too often. Is there really no one else available on the Luofu?" Even Fu Xuan couldn't stand it anymore.]
New Eridu, Cunning Hares.
"Nicole, boss, I seriously suspect General Jing Yuan only has this one special task force."
"Do you even need to suspect that, Billy? This General is sly as heck, always zeroing in on Stelle and her crew to do his dirty work... It's practically the same style as our Cunning Hares!"
"Uh-huh, er... wait, Nicole, boss, is that a compliment or an insult?"
The pink-haired girl puffed out her chest proudly: "A compliment, obviously! If I were the General, even if I had other people under my command, I'd still use the Astral Express crew to do my work for me."
"Huh? Nicole, boss, what's the logic behind that?" Billy was momentarily stumped.
"Use that rusty brain of yours, Billy."
Nicole reached up and knocked on Billy's hard metal head, producing a crisp clang-clang sound: "Let me ask you this. If we're about to head into a Hollow to fight, and you have two weapons in front of you—one's your own, and the other was provided by our client for us to use freely—which one would you pick to fight with?"
"Hmm..."
Billy thought for about three seconds, then on the fourth second, he sprang up, striking a Starlight Knight pose, proudly clutching his two guns.
"Of course, I'd use my lovely ladies! My maintenance oil is the Starlight Knight limited edition! When it comes to dealing with Ethereals, I trust them completely!"
"—Ugh, you're driving me nuts! You idiot, Billy!"
Nicole slapped a stack of shopping lists onto Billy's face, her expression one of someone ready to devour him: "It's exactly because I have to support abnormal members like you that the Cunning Hares' operating costs are so high! We're always teetering on the edge of a budget deficit!"
"Anyway, only a fool doesn't take advantage of a good deal! I'm sure General Jing Yuan understands this principle perfectly."
[After Fu Xuan finished speaking, Jing Yuan kept staring at her intently.]
["What... are you staring at me for?" Though a bit flustered, Fu Xuan reminded him: "The location of the Ambrosial Arbor is a top secret. Allowing outsiders to come into contact with it—"]
["—would violate regulations," Jing Yuan interrupted her, "but I must remind you, Master Diviner, the Xianzhou came before the regulations. In times of crisis, use the regulations if they're suitable; discard them if they're not."]
["So, I'm about to make a decision that goes against those regulations. Oh, perhaps more than one, haha. Thinking about it, it's quite exhilarating!"]
[With that, Jing Yuan looked down at the girl: "Master Diviner, I'm entrusting the command token to you. You will lead the Cloud Knights and provide support outside the Alchemy Commission's delve, near the Ambrosial Arbor."]
["Me? Lead the troops?" Fu Xuan's face was full of disbelief.]
[Jing Yuan chuckled: "Haven't you always wanted to try what it's like to be a general?"]
[Fu Xuan grumbled with a huff: "You never let me try before, and now all of a sudden... Fine, I'll do as you say."]
"Steady yet unconventional... This Jing Yuan is indeed a remarkable talent."
Serie, watching Jing Yuan on the screen, suddenly understood why Jingliu held him in such high regard and personally taught him swordsmanship.
Since ancient times, she had seen countless humans with extraordinary talent, yet only a handful left their mark on history. It wasn't a lack of strength but rather a lack of courage to break free from rigid conventions.
Jing Yuan's approach reminded her unconsciously of Flamme—a disciple she took on a whim, whose actions, style, and even ideals completely diverged from her own.
When she believed that "magic should be special and not taught to those without talent," her disciple took it upon herself to establish a system for humans to study magic, allowing even the least gifted to learn and master it.
She was blatantly defying her rules... But when Serie heard Jing Yuan's exclamation of "exhilarating," she pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling a momentary daze.
Looking up, she seemed to see a fleeting white figure in the flower fields outside the window. Under the sunlight, a girl with flowing red hair swayed like a vibrant stroke in an oil painting.
"So, this was how you felt back then? ...I'm starting to understand a little."
["As for the Astral Express crew... I'm now openly inviting you all to join the operation to seal the Stellaron." Jing Yuan turned to Stelle and the others: "Master Diviner will deploy the Cloud Knights, but I'd like you to take the lead, using the shortcut through the Artisanship Commission and rendezvousing with her later."]
["The Alchemy Commission and Scalegorge Waterscape—those two delves are adjacent to the Ambrosial Arbor's seal. I'd like you to head there and investigate."]
["Speaking of which, what exactly is the Ambrosial Arbor?" Stelle was still quite curious.]
["It's an ancient relic left on the Xianzhou Luofu by the Aeon of Abundance, Yaoshi. It's a divine artifact capable of shaping life at will and conquering death. The ancestors of the Luofu consumed the divine fruits produced by the Ambrosial Arbor, gaining bodies with endless longevity, transforming into a long-life species."]
[Speaking of the Xianzhou's history, Jing Yuan seemed to sigh: "But the divine gift of immortality is nothing more than a fanciful dream."]
["Take the Luofu, for example. Immortality may seem wonderful, but it brought population explosions and resource scarcity. In their desperate struggle to survive, the eternal Celestials, unable to remain human, fell into bestial madness."]
["After paying a heavy price in blood and tears, the people of the Luofu finally understood that immortality isn't a gift freely given—it's the start of a cruel trial."]
["Because in the years that followed, the Abundance's followers, also blessed by Yaoshi, repeatedly invaded the Xianzhou to seize this divine artifact, causing endless slaughter."]
Marvel Universe, Titan.
A purple-skinned, towering, and robust Eternal was eagerly watching the screen.
After his army conquered a planet, they would randomly kill half its inhabitants. This slaughter had nothing to do with wealth or status—it was purely a matter of fate.
According to him, "Killing half the population ensures the planet's prosperity"—and now General Jing Yuan's words served as the perfect evidence for his actions.