Order was the driving force behind The Hunt, and the reason he was distinct from Destruction.
Yet Yaoshi's thoughts had allowed her to wrest away a strand of Order, an act that undoubtedly weakened The Hunt's Path Power.
This was a transgression grave enough to ignite a war between gods! The moment Yaoshi's golden arm grew out, every Xianzhou received Lan's decree for the first time in many years!
Aboard the Xianzhou Luofu, within the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Jing Yuan gazed at the illusory blue arrow before his desk, his heart heavy. His formerly languid expression had vanished.
The Aeon of the Hunt never contacted the Xianzhou of his own accord. The last time he issued a decree had been five thousand years ago, over a matter as momentous as directly ordering the Xianzhou to join him in hunting down the Abominations of Abundance.
Thoughts churned through his mind as he reached out and took down the Arrow Edict.
The information it contained made this Xianzhou general, renowned for his wisdom and strategy, widen his eyes:
"Yaoshi is not my enemy, but the Abominations of Abundance remain so."
Faced with the loss of his authority, Lan had not intensified his frenzied hunt. Instead, with a single Arrow Edict, he had rescinded the warrant for the Xianzhou's great enemy, Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance.
Why? In truth, Lan actually hoped Yaoshi would become touched by Order and thus place limits on her own blessings.
After all, everything was for justice.
This is impossible...
Jing Yuan instinctively refused to believe it, yet his keen mind had already begun extrapolating from this clue.
Has the Path of Abundance changed? Have Yaoshi's thoughts changed? Is she still alive?
Three questions in succession filled Jing Yuan's mind, giving him a splitting headache.
At this moment, the Luofu's current Stellaron crisis had instead become the least of his concerns. After all, if Jing Yuan wished, he could destroy the Stellaron with a flick of his fingers. The key lay in finding the mastermind behind it.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiu, who had been watching from afar and still did not know Yaoshi was no longer on the wanted list, brought the now-calm Yaoshi with him and used Path Power to flash over to Cloudford.
There were currently three plotlines aboard the Xianzhou:
The overt plotline of Stelle, Welt, and March 7th; the hidden plotline of Luocha, Dan Heng, and Li Sushang; and the hidden plotline of Jingliu and Yanqing.
If he wanted to avoid affecting the course of the story, choosing a hidden plotline was undoubtedly best, but Zhang Xiu had no intention of following the script step by step.
Their arrival made the corner of March 7th's eye twitch as she frantically signaled for them to come over to the group.
Welt frowned at the sight as well. He trusted Yaoshi's disguise-she was the Aeon of Abundance, after all-but having her aboard the Xianzhou inevitably made him somewhat uneasy.
"Hey, everyone. Looks like the crisis is over?" Zhang Xiu waved, his gaze lingering imperceptibly on Phantylia for a moment.
"Hey, weren't you taking your wife shopping? Why did you suddenly come here?" March 7th glanced around like a thief with a guilty conscience, only sighing in relief after discovering that no one had seen through Yaoshi's identity.
His wife?!
Phantylia was shocked once again. Her eyes swept repeatedly between Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi, only for the petite woman to cast an indifferent glance her way.
What on earth is going on? Yaoshi became someone's wife?
That bunch of monsters joining the Xianzhou a few days ago was already troublesome enough, and now this happens... damn it.
While Phantylia was lost in thought, Zhang Xiu explained things to Stelle and the others, then turned to her:
"Miss, could you stop staring at my wife? She gets embarrassed easily. And just to be clear, my wife is an adult."
"Ah, ah... sorry. It's just that your wife makes me rather curious, sir."
She quickly composed herself, thinking, It's fine. Yaoshi won't hurt anyone. I can even pray for her blessing. It's fine...
"Ahem, benefactors, this is the vessel I mentioned." Phantylia, disguised as Tingyun, extended her right hand and directed everyone's attention toward the Starskiff beside them.
"This ship... does it have an automatic mode?" Stelle looked at the spacecraft, then at Phantylia, her expression somewhat worried.
The main issue was that the Starskiff's design was far too daring. It looked exactly like a boat used to cross a river, and seeing it float through the air felt terribly dangerous.
"No need to worry, benefactor. As a Whistling Flames envoy, piloting a Starskiff is an essential skill in my line of work."
March 7th, who had relaxed after Zhang Xiu's explanation, said softly, "I wasn't worried at first, but seeing how she acts like she has every move planned out makes me nervous..."
Phantylia pretended not to hear. Her attention remained on Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi, and a smile never left her face. "Please take your seats aboard the vessel. We'll be setting off now."
After boarding the Starskiff, Yaoshi likewise kept her gaze fixed on Phantylia. Had Zhang Xiu not said it was not yet time to act, she would have shown Phantylia exactly what it meant to be the Aeon of Abundance.
Once the Starskiff reached Starskiff Haven and everyone stepped onto solid ground again, they heard Phantylia introduce the place:
"Then please allow me, on behalf of the Sky-Faring Commission, to welcome all our benefactors to Starskiff Haven."
"Aboard the Xianzhou Luofu, all matters concerning airspace, navigation, and trade fall under the Sky-Faring Commission, one of the six commissions. As the largest port, Starskiff Haven is also under our jurisdiction."
March 7th nodded repeatedly at these words. "Just what you'd expect from a... uh, whatever kind of envoy. You sound so commanding."
"Hehe, you flatter me. I'm responsible for receiving visiting merchants, so I have to recite these flowery formalities every few days." Phantylia wore a businesslike smile, her eyes taking in Zhang Xiu's and Yaoshi's reactions all the while.
"In any case, we're safe now that we're here. I ought to show everyone around and do my duty as your host, but these are extraordinary times. Let's first visit the Palace of Astrum and report your intentions to Madam Yukong."
"The Palace of Astrum?" March 7th raised a hand to her chin.
Seeing her confusion, Phantylia guided everyone's gaze toward a building behind her. "See it? The tallest building in the city-that's the Sky-Faring Commission's headquarters. There's no time to lose. Let's hurry over."
"Why are you in such a rush?" Stelle had noticed that she seemed somewhat agitated.
Phantylia replied in a coquettish tone, "Oh, it's not that I'm in a rush. I'm afraid Madam Yukong might blame me. I couldn't shoulder that responsibility..."
"You needn't worry about that. I doubt Madam Yukong would blame Miss Tingyun. After all, I hear the two of you are quite close." Zhang Xiu's eyes held a smile, leaving his thoughts unreadable.
Welt, the mature man among them, spoke up then. "An audience with one of the six commissions requires some preparation. Rest assured, Miss Tingyun, we won't go anywhere else. Sorry for the trouble, but please notify them first. We'll wait outside the Palace of Astrum shortly."
At his words, Phantylia lowered her eyes and considered for a moment. "...All right."
Before leaving, she took in everyone's faces and carefully confirmed the power of Abundance on Yaoshi's body, then nodded and departed.
Once she had left, March 7th checked that no one was nearby and shot Zhang Xiu a reproachful look. "Hey, didn't you say you and Yaoshi were just going to wander around...?"
"Yeah, we were wandering around, and then we wandered into Cloudford. Perfectly reasonable, right?" Zhang Xiu blinked innocently.
"Hey! Zhang Xiu, you're such a sneak." March 7th puffed out her cheeks and planted her hands on her hips, her eyes full of reproach.
"Do not worry, Miss March 7th. None but those with exceptional gifts can see through my true form," Yaoshi said, shaking her head.
Still, she also knew that the Lord Ravager impersonating Tingyun had already discovered her true identity.
But that did not matter. Phantylia's gaze had already built a bridge for Yaoshi to locate her true body.
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