[Luofu, Divine Foresight Palace]
Originally, only Jing Yuan lived here. But after Bailu went missing once, the list of long-term residents gained one more person.
Because of her presence, many Vidyadhara attendants were added to the general's residence.
Jing Yuan could be said to have benefited a little from Bailu as well, enjoying some of the Vidyadhara people's special treatment along the way.
"Miss Bailu, General Jing Yuan, please enjoy your tea."
The maid gently placed the freshly brewed tea in front of the two of them, then bowed and exited the room.
Bailu glanced at the tea in front of her, then at Jing Yuan, who had already started drinking.
She really couldn't understand what was so good about tea.
'Why did all the grown-ups like drinking tea so much?'
If it were something like Immortal Happy Tea or whatever, she'd gladly give it a try. But this bitter stuff... she'd rather pass.
Taking a light sip, Jing Yuan sighed in admiration. "As expected of the Vidyadhara's treasured collection! The tea aroma is rich and fragrant!"
"Little Bailu coming to see me and even bringing such a precious gift, did something happen?"
Putting down his teacup, Jing Yuan looked at Bailu with curiosity.
'Could it be that she was feeling homesick?'
"I want to go play at Exalting Sanctum."
So she wanted to go out and have fun…
Ever since Bailu had been kidnapped by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, the Dragon Elders had issued a restriction.
Whenever Bailu wanted to go out, there had to be Cloud Knights accompanying her.
And she also had to report to Jing Yuan first, only after his approval could she leave.
Faced with Bailu's request, Jing Yuan naturally had no reason to refuse.
The only issue was deciding which Cloud Knight to assign.
As he was thinking, Jing Yuan caught sight of Yanqing passing by outside the room and immediately had an idea.
———
[A Moment Later]
Jing Yuan patted Yanqing on the shoulder and smiled. "I'll leave Miss Bailu to you. Make sure you keep a good eye on her!"
Yanqing and Bailu stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Yanqing: "I still want to go practice my sword…"
Bailu: "What's fun about hanging out with a block of wood like this sword guy…"
Bailu had originally wanted to name Sushang, the Cloud Knight she'd recently befriended, and go together to the detention center to watch her friend's performance.
But before she could even bring it up, Jing Yuan had already made the decision.
So she couldn't really refuse.
Under Jing Yuan's gaze, the two of them walked out of the Divine Foresight Palace.
Jing Yuan, wearing a gentle smile, walked back into the room and refilled the now-empty teacup in front of him.
Looking at the projected map of the Luofu before him, the room fell silent.
Not long after, hurried footsteps sounded outside.
Bang!
The door was pushed open. Jing Yuan looked at the familiar face and smiled. "What wind blew the Diviner of the Divination Commission all the way to my Divine Foresight Palace today?"
"You know perfectly well!"
Fu Xuan glanced at the still-steaming teacup across from Jing Yuan and sat down without any courtesy.
"Looks like you already expected me to come today."
As Fu Xuan drank all of Bailu's tea, Jing Yuan said nothing.
"Diviner Fu came to see me, no doubt it's about the Luofu's Stellaron."
"I already more or less know who's behind it."
Previously, on the Luofu, anyone capable of doing something like this would either be remnants of Abundance... or remnants of Abundance.
And on the Luofu, there was only one organization of Abundance remnants.
That was the group that had gone to cause trouble for Levi, only to be completely wiped out by a mysterious girl.
Then they went on to kidnap Vidyadhara, intending to refine them into pills, and were once again completely wiped out by another mysterious girl connected to that incident.
The ones who rose from the ashes... the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
But now things were different.
There was now another group on the Luofu, one with the strongest connection to the Stellaron.
The Stellaron Hunters.
Those people who claimed to be able to see destiny, there was no telling what they might do.
Let alone bringing a Stellaron into the Luofu.
Even if news came out the next day that they planned to collectively challenge Lan the Hunt, Jing Yuan wouldn't doubt it.
"Right now, there are two suspects, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and the Stellaron Hunters. Diviner Fu, who do you think brought the Stellaron into the Luofu?"
As a sort of test, Jing Yuan tossed the question to Fu Xuan.
"The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus suffered heavy losses twice, while the Stellaron Hunters are deeply entangled with Stellarons…"
Fu Xuan said confidently, "This must be the work of the Stellaron Hunters!"
Jing Yuan didn't refute her. Instead, he nodded. "In that case, I'll leave the task of capturing the Stellaron Hunters to you, Diviner Fu."
"Leave it to me?" Fu Xuan frowned. "Are you handing over the authority to command the Cloud Knights to me?"
Jing Yuan shook his head. "Diviner Fu has two great generals under her, Qingque and Levi. Capturing the Stellaron Hunters who snuck into the Luofu will be more than easy. There's no need for the Cloud Knights."
"..."
With a pot of brewed tea placed before her, Fu Xuan forcefully suppressed the urge to pour it over Jing Yuan's head and asked, "General, are you joking?"
She admitted that Qingque and Levi were rare talents with great potential, but that potential still needed shaping.
Levi aside, he at least had real ability.
But Qingque? A professional slacker. Shaping her was still a long way off.
And now she was supposed to go catch... Oh right, Levi had no idea where he'd run off to.
So she was supposed to catch the Stellaron Hunters who infiltrated the Luofu… by herself?
If that wasn't a joke, what was?
"Not at all, not at all!" Jing Yuan took a small sip of tea, a mysterious smile on his face. "That new diviner you recruited is no ordinary person."
'Of course he's not ordinary! If he were, would I have opened the back door and let him directly enter the Divination Commission as a diviner?!'
Similarly, she had plenty of complaints about Levi.
"He really isn't ordinary. First day on the job and he already goes missing!"
'When he comes back, I'll send him and Qingque to guard the gates!'
'Let's see how they slack off then!'
'Missing?'
Hearing that, a glint flashed in Jing Yuan's eyes.
"Have there been any strangely dressed women appearing within the Luofu?"
Has Jing Yuan gone senile?
What does Levi going missing have to do with strangely dressed women?
Just as that thought surfaced, Fu Xuan suddenly arrived at a guess.
"You suspect he went out on a date?"
That was indeed possible.
Based on Jing Yuan's description of that night, the mysterious woman had the ability to traverse space.
Combined with the results of her divination, Fu Xuan became even more certain.
If it was her, then taking Levi from the Luofu to the Herta Space Station wouldn't be difficult at all.
So that means my divination wasn't wrong, he really ran off to the Herta Space Station?
'You go to fetch some data, and instead you take the data and run off on a date somewhere else?!'
'And you didn't even tell me, were you afraid I'd refuse?!'
Jing Yuan, sitting across from her, didn't explain his own suspicions when he saw Fu Xuan like this.
Speculation was still just speculation. Until it was confirmed, it was better to keep it hidden.
Suddenly, while Fu Xuan was deep in thought, the Jade Abacus in her pocket received a message.
Reading the message sent by her subordinate, her expression immediately darkened.
Seeing this, Jing Yuan asked, "What happened?"
Fu Xuan looked serious as she turned to him. "The Divination Commission has been infiltrated by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus."
The same thought appeared in both of their minds at the same time.
'Where did they get so many people?'
"..."
"Location locked!"
After successfully finding the location of his Jade Abacus, Levi didn't immediately get up to retrieve it.
Instead, he turned on the camera on his Jade Abacus.
He wanted to confirm whether it had really been swiped by Qingque, that low-quality scoundrel.
If it was Qingque, Levi could recognize her from even a single pixel on her body.
If he couldn't recognize it, then it wasn't her.
The moment the camera connected, Levi only needed one glance to confirm it was Qingque without a doubt.
"With a fish that big, who else could it be if not her?"
"But why does it look like she's being chased by something…"
Watching the violently shaking footage, Levi frowned deeply and glanced at the two Mara-struck corpses on the ground.
He immediately got up and rushed toward Qingque's location.