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Jing Yuan received the news.
His first move was to contact the Luofu's Divination Commission to cast a hex; then, he personally rushed toward the starport.
Was it Miss Baiming, or had the real Jingliu fought her way back?
Arriving at the starport in haste, Jing Yuan lost a bit of his usual leisurely composure. He looked at the woman standing before him—exactly as she had been hundreds of years ago.
He realized in an instant that this was definitely not his true master. But even if it wasn't Jingliu herself, to be able to mimic her so perfectly...
"Are you Miss Baiming?"
"It's me. I'm impressed you recognized me."
"May I verify that?"
Jing Yuan cautiously drew his long blade. The Masked Fools were adept at mimicry, but Jingliu's swordsmanship and raw power were things that could not be faked. This was the greatest distinction of the lady known as Baiming.
If the person before him truly could strike with the sword style unique to his master, then she was undoubtedly the Baiming whom Jingliu had been searching for so bitterly.
"By all means."
"Jingliu" smiled faintly. Ice condensed in her hand, forming a blade that seemed as light as air.
She waited until the surrounding Cloud Knights had retreated to a safe distance. Then, like a ghost, "Jingliu" closed the distance. Her longsword carried a bone-chilling cold, as if it intended to shroud the daylight in eternal night.
"Let this sliver of moonlight—"
A translucent crescent moon transformed into a sharp sword beam, descending from the heavens!
"—Illuminate above all!"
Jing Yuan's expression shifted to one of shock. He hurriedly raised his blade to defend, inwardly lamenting his luck.
I just wanted to test her identity, didn't I? Does she have to be this ruthless right out of the gate?
Was this the "gentleness" that General Teng Xiao used to talk about?? Where exactly was the gentle part??
BOOM—!!!!
The sky filled with sword light, trapping Jing Yuan within a cage of extreme frost. Jing Yuan gripped his blade with both hands, swinging furiously. He didn't dare lose focus for even a second.
Eventually, cold sweat began to pour down his face. Feeling like he couldn't hold out much longer, he decisively summoned the Lightning-Lord to save his life!
The golden Lightning-Lord didn't perform any complex maneuvers. It simply clenched its fist and shattered the most threatening sword shadows with a single punch.
Frost spread outward as the sword beams shattered, coating almost the entire starport in ice and snow.
Jing Yuan raised a hand to wipe away his cold sweat. After dismissing the Lightning-Lord, he said with a wry smile, "Miss Baiming... you really didn't hold back at all, did you?"
"Jingliu" laughed. "You had to summon the Lightning-Lord for that? When the real Jingliu used to spar with me, she'd charge straight through. Jing Yuan, have you been slacking off?"
"...Give me a break, Miss Baiming. I'm already an old man."
Jing Yuan put away his blade and raised his hands in surrender. In the eyes of the Cloud Knights, he might be the Divine Foresight, the General of the Luofu. But facing Baiming—the savior who had descended like a god to rescue the Luofu from fire and ruin—Jing Yuan felt as though he had suddenly returned to his youth hundreds of years ago.
After dismissing the nearby Cloud Knights, Jing Yuan led "Jingliu" back to the Seat of Divine Foresight.
"Miss Baiming has not appeared for many years. Seeing that you are well has put my mind at ease."
"There was a bit of an accident. But the main reason I came today was to ask about Jingliu's situation."
"My Master... honestly, it is difficult for the Xianzhou's informants to keep up with her. After the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, she departed for distant lands, saying she was going to find you. I do not know the full details."
"Then who is the current High Elder of the Luofu Vidyadhara? It couldn't really be..."
Seeing Baiming's expression, Jing Yuan understood immediately. Jingliu or Baiheng had likely already told her the sequence of events. He no longer kept any secrets.
"Yes. It is indeed the reincarnation of Yingxing. He is now known as Yingyue of the Vidyadhara."
"Yingyue? Imbibitor Lunae [Yinyue]... who came up with that name? Was it a deliberate pun on 'Imbibitor Lunae'?"
"He chose it himself." Jing Yuan gave a helpless smile.
Dan Feng's Transmutation Arcanum had been more successful than he himself had imagined. Although the created individual initially suffered from Dragon-Madness upon birth, once the molting rebirth was truly complete, he was undoubtedly a true member of the Vidyadhara.
And Yingyue retained some hazy impressions of his past life. Once he grew up a bit and learned of what had happened in the past, he changed his name to Yingyue—meaning 'Responding to the Moon,' as in responding to the expectations of the Imbibitor Lunae.
"...How heavy. I thought Dan Feng was obsessive enough, but I didn't expect Yingxing to be the same way."
"Jingliu" couldn't hold back her criticism.
Jing Yuan, however, grinned. "Isn't that the truth? But when one lives for so long, there are always one or two things that are hard to let go of. Otherwise... the Mara-struck state would take hold."
"Does he not blame Dan Feng?"
"He does. To this day, he feels that his being alive might not necessarily be a good thing. That is why his name references the Imbibitor Lunae, rather than Dan Feng specifically."
Jing Yuan spread his hands with a smile. "He accepts the responsibilities and anxieties of the Imbibitor Lunae, but he cannot accept that Dan Feng would do such a thing, leading to such a tragic end."
"And what is he doing now?"
"He presides over the forging at the Artisanship Commission. He's just like he was before—though he remembers almost nothing of his past life, his passion for forging is exactly the same."
"...Does that count as fulfilling his long-cherished wish? Being a long-life species so he can spend more time on his craft?"
"I suppose... it does." Jing Yuan shook his head helplessly.
"And what about Baiheng?"
"In the beginning, Dan Feng used the Transmutation Arcanum on two people: Baiheng and Yingxing. But Baiheng was only the experiment, so the transformation wasn't complete. The Preceptors wanted the Arcanum, but they didn't dare lay a finger on Yingyue, so they targeted Baiheng and the reincarnated Dan Heng."
"I blocked the Preceptors from having a chance to act, so they provoked Baiheng, baiting them into a jailbreak so they could 'legally' capture them and bring them back to the Vidyadhara. But that gave me the opportunity instead—to send them out of the Luofu."
Jing Yuan sighed. "As for my Master, I thought her mood might improve after she killed a few of the lead Preceptors, but who knew... Sigh. In the end, a broken mirror can never be truly mended."
"..."
Jing Yuan spoke of these things lightly, but "Jingliu" could feel the sheer complexity beneath the surface.
"Alright, I think I have the gist of it."
"Jingliu" rubbed her temples and sighed. Though her arrival on the Xianzhou back then had been an accident, she had been quite proud of herself for saving Baiheng on a whim.
Who would have thought? The same messy, tragic drama still unfolded. Is this the power of the "Obsession Class"? It's truly heavy.
"Shall I arrange a place for you to rest?"
"No need. I just wanted to get a handle on the situation. Next, I need to go confirm Jingliu's current status."
Jing Yuan nodded. Due to various circumstances, he hadn't seen Jingliu for centuries. If given the chance, he truly wanted to see her one more time.
"Please, Miss Baiming... give her my regards."
"I will."
"Jingliu" couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental. Even the Luofu had changed this much. Yingxing was still the disciple of the General of the Zhuming; she wondered what the Zhuming's stance on all this was. There was probably a lot to talk about there too.
As for Penacony... she had sent Tiernan and another Ranger in there. Who knew what that would look like now?
Perhaps the Herta Space Station was the only thing that had changed the least.
"Jingliu" didn't stay on the Luofu for long. Primarily, being there in Jingliu's identity was somewhat awkward. It was better to return later under a different guise.
She soon left the Luofu and input the coordinates Elio had sent into her database.
Phase shift initiated.
Nothing else is going to go wrong this time, right?
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