The roots of the Ambrosial Arbor burrowed deep underground, snaking everywhere... "This little one's going all out—don't tell me you want to uproot the whole damn tree?"
"There should still be plenty of those roots lingering in the Artisanship Commission's territory. I'll clear out the ones here first... and leave the main tree spirit to you all."
"Leave it to me." Stelle dropped to one knee, her hourglass pendant shimmering with a cascade of fine starlight. As she began channeling her inner energy, a voice cut through the air.
"That might be a bit dangerous."
"Ah, Teacher Adrian's here out of nowhere!" March 7th spun around with a grin, ready to wave, but Welt stepped in front of her, hand on his weapon. They couldn't forget—the Luofu was crawling with threats, including a Lord Ravager who could impersonate anyone. Showing up right now... who was to say this wasn't Phantylia in disguise?
"Prove who you are."
"Hmm... will this do?"
When Adrian pulled out a familiar cup of milk tea, Welt finally lowered his guard and holstered his weapon. It was the real deal.
"Uncle Yang, in the future, if you need a quick way to tell if it's the real Teacher Adrian... don't tell me it's just the milk tea giveaway?"
"Fair point." Welt's glasses caught the light, a faint gleam betraying his unease. It had him stumped—beyond the milk tea, Adrian didn't have any other dead giveaways.
"Severing the Ambrosial Arbor, saving the Xianzhou... that's our duty! So why stop me?" Stelle asked, her tone sharpening with formality.
"Sometimes... too much greed can backfire." Adrian had seen it happen before—folks teetering on the edge of the Eternity Path, chasing endless gains without a thought for the fallout. The hourglass was no joke; it housed a miniature black hole, primed to siphon energy and turn it inward. If Stelle pulled it off, she'd wake up as the newest Emanator of Abundance.
Yaoshi might not bat an eye, but that certain centaur boss with her Piercing Cloud Arrows? She wouldn't take kindly to it. One whiff of Abundance aura on the radar, and the Luofu could end up as target practice for a barrage of those things.
For the sake of the entire Xianzhou, his quiet milk tea shop, and the fragile peace he'd carved out—Adrian had to intervene. Hmm... though her idea could come in handy against Phantylia later.
"So, Teacher Adrian, why the late arrival?"
"Ahem... ran into a minor snag."
...
Just a few minutes earlier, at the Divination Commission.
Spotting the Abundant Ebon Deer flash-frozen into a massive ice sculpture, Adrian came to a dead stop. "Whoa... when did the Luofu start hosting an ice-and-snow exhibit? And they didn't even invite me?"
He hadn't fully arrived yet, but a box of Little Twist Bubble Gum had already materialized in his hand.
"The second I see this, I know the script's gone completely off the rails." Silver Wolf stood there, hands jammed in her pockets, looking every bit the picture of casual arrival. She and Kafka had made it to their destination without a hitch, it seemed.
"Want some milk tea?"
Adrian wasn't fazed by her popping up— he'd been keeping tabs on the Artisanship Commission chaos from afar. Sure enough, Aha had pulled a wild card, yeeting the guardian Abundant Ebon Deer straight into the mix and forcing a brutal boss mechanic shift. The Astral Express crew taking it down? Yeah, that'd be a stretch.
"This whole Xianzhou gig is a snoozefest—not even a little fun!" Silver Wolf griped, slapping it with a thumbs-down. It barely scratched her brainpower compared to grinding her merchant mini-games.
"Since you're twiddling your thumbs... how about some expansion DLC?"
"Spill."
"Right here on the Luofu: run a one-of-a-kind milk tea shop."
"You for real?"
Adrian nodded. "Pay attention—this is gold. Your Stellaron Hunter rep means you can't just waltz around the Xianzhou without ending up on every wanted poster from here to the stars."
"No one in their right mind would peg a notorious outlaw like you for hiding out in some hole-in-the-wall milk tea joint."
"On the surface: upstanding Luofu outsider, blending right in. Underneath: pull off whatever shady ops you want, totally off the grid! Scope out Cloud Knight patrols while slinging drinks from an abandoned shop."
"It's this perfect cat-and-mouse vibe—NPCs dropping in daily with fresh twists, random events popping off left and right. Hell, the Luofu general might even swing by for a cup. No simulations, no do-overs—just pure, unscripted improv! A massive open-world game, IRL!"
Adrian was getting fired up now. "And the best part? It's free! Totally free! No credits required. Sign up today, and I'll throw in a starter milk tea pack. What're you waiting for?"
"Damn, that pitch... you'd crush it in Interastral Peace Corporation sales. Top earner, easy."
Hooked by the sales job, Silver Wolf leaned in. "Alright, sold—gimme the deets on the shop's spot. I'm heading there now!"
"Pity... we've already got two interns on shift, and slots are booked out three deep. You'll have to hang tight."
"Maybe when the Luofu kicks off the Celestial Martial Ceremony—that's your launch window." Adrian mapped it out in his head: help wrap up the disaster here, then bounce back to Belobog. Sigh... my calendar's a nightmare.
They shot the breeze for a bit longer, but Kafka must've needed her—Silver Wolf wrapped up the hologram chat in a rush.
Adrian glanced back at the iced-over Abundant Ebon Deer, muttering a curse under his breath at a certain Aeon. As if on cue, that keyword triggered it: a burst of manic laughter rang in his ears.
"Talk smack about Aha like that, and Aha gets all sad~"
"Buddy, it's been days—did ya miss Aha that much?"
A scarlet mask burst from the void, hovering there and needling him relentlessly.
"Pulling this crap—aren't you ashamed to even show your face?" Adrian jabbed a finger at the "masterpiece" in front of him, then toward the Artisanship Commission. Last time, when it'd snared Freesna, he'd let it slide—after all, it'd trapped him too. But this? Way over the line, dragging Blake into the mess.
Two strikes in a row against his Emanators, and Adrian wasn't thrilled. Still, he could always clap back—get Blake to lob a sack of Annihilation Soap Bombs right into the Elation tavern, let 'em taste some real Church hospitality.
"What?!" The mask let out a genuinely wounded yelp, followed by Aha's dramatic huff. "You clobbered Aha half to death back on the Clipper for no reason, and now you're slandering Aha too?!"
"Aha was just trying to chat heart-to-heart, and you hit Aha with mind games! Boo hoo~ Aha's losing so much face here!"
"Aha's mad enough to spit—where's Equilibrium in all this? Aeon colleagues scrapping it out, and THEY don't step in?!"
"Must be Nanook stirring the pot—Destruction's always up to no good!" In the space of his mind, Adrian fanned the flames with relish.
"Oh~ So you do still care about Nanook that much, huh, old pal? And here Aha thought Aha was the one you'd stuck with longest... boo hoo~ Aha's face is really in the dirt now..."
"Good to know."
The mask went silent: ...
After filling in the group on the rundown, Adrian guided them toward the Furnace of Creation. There they found Freesna and Blake, parked on the ground like they'd given up. Blake was hunched over, scribbling furiously from the Book of Eternal Virtues, while Freesna—looking bored out of her skull—doodled lazy circles in the dirt with a stray Ambrosial Arbor branch.
"Huh... so these are Master Gongshu's reinforcements?!" March 7th blurted out. With three Eternity Emanators in the room, the game's basically won—no more messing around with that immortal Abundant Ebon Deer.
"Teacher Adrian, let's head back."
"Take a closer look first?"
Dan Heng and Welt both frowned. Two Emanators already bottled up? That screamed trouble on a whole other level. Had the Lord Ravager called in Nanook for a possession play?
"Sigh... fine, I'll handle it." Adrian kept his cool on the inside—Aha's stunt was ruthless, but nothing he couldn't roll with.
"At this point... I guess I can't keep it from you all anymore..."