An Emanator's Authority

As soon as he spoke, Jingxing saw the forced smile on Yaoguang's face fade.

"What's with that expression?" Yaoguang asked.

"Should the two of us go and wipe out a sizable group of Borisin?" Jingxing pointed to the motionless startup screen on the navigation console. "And one of them is a painter who hasn't been on his Path for long. It doesn't seem like a safe plan at all."

Yaoguang blinked, as if he had heard something unexpected. "You think you can't do it?"

"Is it even possible?" Jingxing keenly noticed Yaoguang's choice of words. "And do you mean only I will go?!"

Jingxing spoke sincerely. He wasn't belittling himself; he was simply stating his understanding—there were at least several thousand Borisin in the camp, including Nestfather, craftsmen, sentries, and those bio-weapons submerged in green liquid.

Even without complete intelligence, he could imagine what would happen if he charged in head-on. In any case, Jingxing didn't want to be dismantled and stuffed into that jar.

Yaoguang stared at him for a while, then suddenly asked, "You don't seem to realize where you are in your Path yet, do you?"

Jingxing was taken aback, then pointed to himself. "I've only been on this Path for less than half a year. Even if I move quickly, how far can I go?"

"..." Yaoguang sighed, "You don't actually believe that any Pathstrider of Beauty could achieve something like destroying the Abominations of Abundance's biotechnology from a distance silently and without warning, do you?"

She pressed her temples, a strange expression appearing on her face for the first time, as if she were facing someone holding a nuclear button but not even knowing how to press it. "Has no one ever told you?"

"Indeed, someone taught me how to use the Path Energy." Jingxing hesitated for a moment, not Xuzhao, "But that's all."

"Did she tell you that you actually possess abilities at the Emanator?"

There was a moment of silence in the cockpit. Jingxing thought he had misheard, "What level?"

"Emanator," Yaoguang stated clearly, even repeating it, "If Idrila glanced at you, then you are the Emanator of Path of Beauty."

At this point, she suddenly recalled the news about Vesna IV: "Yes, there are no ifs, without a doubt, you are the Beauty Emanator."

Jingxing's fingers loosened, and the terminal in his hand almost fell to the ground. He looked down at his hand, then at Yaoguang, and for a moment, only those two words remained in his mind.

Emanator me?

Looking at his constantly changing expressions, Yaoguang finally realized where the problem lay. "You really don't know?"

"I always thought that the Emanator was someone whose authority was personally bestowed by the Aeon." Jingxing's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. "I only embarked on the Path after Idrila lowered her gaze; by all accounts, I should just be an ordinary Pathstrider."

"Blessed by the Aeon himself and granted the authority to mobilize the power of Path of Beauty, and radiating energy at the level of Emanator," Yaoguang said, crossing his arms. "Where else can you find such a Pathstrider?"

She paused, then added, "Strictly speaking, there's no universally accepted standard for the title 'Emanator.' But within the Xianzhou's observation system, the energy reaction emanating from you is undoubtedly at the Emanator level."

Jingxing opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. Although he had experienced superhuman power under Xuzhao's guidance, Xuzhao had never claimed to be the Beauty Emanator.

Furthermore, Jingxing had stated before Xuzhao asked him for help that he was not the Emanator, and Xuzhao did not deny it at the time—wait a minute?

"If my perception is flawed, wouldn't she find it amusing?" Jingxing realized this and his lips twitched.

Yaoguang followed his gaze and looked over. "It seems I'm the first person to tell you about this."

"Yes," Jingxing sighed, "The one who taught me how to use power seemed quite pleased with my distorted understanding."

"Hmm," Yaoguang stared at him, "Then to ensure the plan goes smoothly, I'll have to temporarily act as your teacher."

"Huh?" Jingxing blinked. "As the general of the Xianzhou and the Hunt Emanator, shouldn't you just go up and sweep through the enemy ranks?"

Yaoguang rolled his eyes at him. "If I were Feixiao, I would definitely have done that, but unfortunately, my Wei Ling isn't good at fighting, so you'll have to rely on yourself to successfully wipe out these Borisin."

"A civilian general?" A reference from a comic book he had read inexplicably popped into Jingxing Xing's mind.

"I feel like you're thinking something really rude." Yaoguang pulled Jingxing's hand and led him to the cabin section of Chasing the Moon. "Let's get back to business. You treat Path as a tool, so every time you use it, you're thinking about how to do it and to what extent. But for the Emanator, Path is not a tool."

Jingxing looked up at the Hunt Emanator claimed to have little fighting ability and asked, "What is that?"

"It's the power to control the world."

"If Imaginary Energy is the ocean, then those Pathstrider can create a wave with their thoughts and ideas. But the Emanator is different— the Emanator receives a key from the Aeon that can unleash a tsunami. Whatever you want to happen, Path will respond according to your understanding."

"That sounds dangerous."

"Of course it's dangerous," Yaoguang answered without hesitation. "That's why the entire world regards the Emanator as a strategic entity."

Jingxing's breath hitched. "Including the Destruction of a planet?"

"Right."

"Can all the Emanator do this?"

"That depends on Path," Yaoguang said. "For the Lord Ravager, destroying a planet is not difficult, but those in the Genius Society will have to rely on the power of technology."

Jingxing looked down at his palms. These hands had held paintbrushes, pinched paint, and pressed into the muddy ground.

Could those hands Destruction a planet?

"So, if we want to stop these Borisin from causing trouble, is my power the only option now?"

"To be clear," Yaoguang pulled a talisman from his sleeve and waved it outwards, "Not now."

"What do you mean?" Jingxing looked up.

The cyan-gold patterns instantly spread out from the talisman that resembled a peacock feather, and the next second, the distant forest, mountains, and the Borisin quickly appeared in the picture. Even the flickering green light in the pit could be seen clearly.

"Holding this divination slip, observe the heavens." Yaoguang revealed a smug smile. "This is the current state of that camp."

"So you've been using talismans to set this up all this time." Jingxing immediately understood why Yaoguang had been throwing talismans during his previous trips.

But the next second, the screen suddenly went dark.

A ring of energy tides appeared above the entire Borisin Liren camp. The ripples pressed down in all directions from the camp as the center—the trees, rocks and soil in the forest seemed to be pressed down by an invisible hand, and even space itself showed a slight distortion.

Jingxing saw that within those ripples, there were a few strands of pure white light. Without a doubt, that was his own power.

Unbeknownst to them, they had spread from the vicinity of the workshop to the entire camp, and were still expanding outwards, but the Borisin seemed completely unaware of this.

"This is..." Jingxing suddenly had an intuition—as long as he made up his mind, he could instantly Destruction the scenes observed by the Yaoguang.

But wouldn't doing this go against the direction of Path?