Beleria's Slumber, Welcome to Xianzhou.

In a corner of the vast universe, a colossal mechanical sphere hovered in the boundless starry sky.

"Calculations indicate this action will not accelerate your revival progress. Instead, it will forge a new Aeon."

The giant mechanical sphere emitted a cold voice, devoid of emotion.

"It's fine. You know, the consequences of a shattered Path, even the 'Propagation' that came closest to [Immortality] back then couldn't achieve it. I won't be able to either. However, I'm luckier than It. This wisp of remnant soul split in two. Half is on that scythe, and the other half, I don't know what it was thinking at the time, ended up on you, a cold, unfeeling chunk of iron."

A feminine voice emanated from somewhere within the mechanical sphere.

"I can let him join the Genius Society. Their resources should be enough to help you construct a body."

A blinding red light pulsed from a device in the center of the sphere. If one didn't know better, it looked like a single, unblinking eye.

The female voice was clearly laced with anger:

"Are you tired of him living too long? Let him join the club, and then have your blade silently eliminate him, is that it?"

"Calculations show this is your highest probability of revival. That male Eternal is a variable."

After this statement, the other voice offered no rebuttal, clearly agreeing with the assessment.

But then, it spoke again:

"Let's observe the situation. These two wisps of remnant soul share memories. That child shouldn't die because of me."

"But he caused an Aeon to be reborn, didn't he?"

"Heh, you don't sound like yourself when you say that. Such words shouldn't come from your cold, programmed logic."

The sphere remained silent, and so did the voice. After a long pause, the giant mechanical sphere began to move again, departing from its position...

"Bai Sheng, Bai Sheng?"

Jing Yuan shook Bai Sheng's shoulder. The kid had been asleep the entire journey. If he didn't wake up soon, Jing Yuan was about to resort to more… physical methods.

Bai Sheng slowly opened his eyes, his head feeling groggy, as if he'd been hit with a club.

Seeing that he was awake, Jing Yuan said no more. He knew the kid needed some quiet time. He left the room and headed for the cockpit.

You're asking how it's being piloted with no one in the cockpit?

Xianzhou technology, kid!

Suddenly, he remembered Beleria and quickly fumbled around beside him. Thankfully, he managed to grab Pandora, which put his mind at ease.

"Sister Pandora, how is Beleria?"

Pandora replied:

"She's fine. One of the Seven Sins, [Gluttony], has chosen her. That girl has incredible luck. Now her combat power can rival most Pathwalkers below the Envoy level."

"Beleria, Beleria?"

Bai Sheng called out towards the scythe blade, but he couldn't hear Beleria's voice.

"Stop calling out, it's useless. That little girl is still asleep. She needs rest to receive [Gluttony]'s power. It won't be long now, but you, kid, will have to behave yourself for a while."

Bai Sheng was confused, but the next second, he felt most of the Path energy within his body being drained. This sudden assault almost made him collapse back into bed.

"That harsh?"

If the previous Bai Sheng could take on three hundred Stingbugs alone, he was now so weak he could only manage fifty.

"So, you're saying I need to use my Path energy to help Beleria awaken faster."

Bai Sheng asked, looking at the seven gray crystals at the hilt of Pandora's blade. One of them, a pale green one, was already lit.

"Sister Pandora, what do these seven crystals represent?"

Bai Sheng tapped the pale green one. It didn't feel particularly special, but he could sense his Path energy within it.

"They are the materialization of the Seven Sins. You are Kasantiya, so you can construct puppets imbued with the power of the Seven Sins, up to seven of them. But currently, you only have two souls. Aatrox is still slowly recovering energy and probably won't be out anytime soon. You can use [Gluttony]'s power to construct a puppet for now. Of course, once Beleria awakens, you can directly control her. For now, it's equivalent to [Gluttony] itself."

(PS: It's similar to Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain, except the Six Paths had their own consciousness and weren't mere puppets.)

After Pandora finished explaining to Bai Sheng, she added:

"Bai Sheng, for the next while, you'll likely have to be on your own."

"Sister Pandora, what's wrong?"

In all these years, Pandora had never spoken to him like this before.

"Constructing the Seven Sins consumes a lot of energy. You need to provide energy for Beleria once a week now. My awakening will be around the same time as Beleria's. Make good use of [Gluttony]'s power. I need to… sleep for a while..."

Bai Sheng waited for a long time, but he still couldn't hear Pandora's voice.

A sense of sadness suddenly welled up within him. Now, he was truly alone.

No! That's not right!

He still had his master!

Pushing open the door, Bai Sheng saw Jing Yuan dozing off in the cockpit. The emotions he had just been brewing vanished instantly when he saw Jing Yuan's head slumped over the steering wheel...

"Master! What are you doing!"

Bai Sheng rushed over to shake Jing Yuan awake, then made a sharp turn, bringing the steering wheel back to its original position.

"Yo, you back with us?"

Blinking his hazy golden eyes open, Jing Yuan saw Bai Sheng frantically fumbling with the controls.

Bai Sheng turned his head and said, "How do you control this thing? I'm afraid the ship's gonna crash and everyone's gonna die!"

Seeing Bai Sheng's serious expression, Jing Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?"

Bai Sheng was speechless. How could he still be in the mood to laugh? What if he fell off later? His Sam Alpha Armor wasn't fully repaired yet, but at least it could still fly.

"Hey, I'm not laughing. Look at this. Don't rush things. You can never drink hot soda-bean-juice if you're impatient."

Jing Yuan pointed to the large "Auto-Pilot" displayed on the virtual screen beside them. The moment he pointed it out, Bai Sheng, still gripping the steering wheel with both hands, felt incredibly awkward.

His face immediately flushed red, and he froze completely.

"Alright, we're almost there. Shall we head back, or do you want to play a game of chess with me?"

As if by magic, Jing Yuan produced a chess piece engraved with the character "General".

Bai Sheng's lagging processor finally caught up, and he stiffly withdrew his hands before nodding.

When he looked up, he saw Jing Yuan still smirking.

"Master, you're still laughing at me!"

Jing Yuan waved his hand, putting on an extremely innocent expression.

"I'm not. I never laugh at my disciples. Come, come, let's play chess."

Bai Sheng's competitive spirit was ignited. He had never won against Jing Yuan in their online electronic chess matches, and this time, he was determined to win.

"Oh, right, Bai Sheng, welcome to the Luofu."