But clearly, Lingchen was not among them.
He would rather go find Sparkle. At least she was the real deal.
"Sure enough, you're an interesting one."
Just as Lingchen had said about "enjoying fate," although that might not accurately sum up Aha, Aha was indeed enjoying the future fate of the universe now that Lingchen existed, wondering whether this wild card would bring new possibilities.
That was THEIR [Elation], and the main reason THEY had sought Lingchen out.
Lingchen's very existence was entertainment to Aha.
Perhaps this visitor from another world could stop Nihility from swallowing existence, and instead let existence sever Nihility.
Wouldn't that be the greatest joke of all?
"Shouldn't you be embarrassed? I did turn you down, after all."
Lingchen raised an eyebrow, straightened his left index finger, formed a circle with his right thumb and index finger, then poked through it twice.
"Hahaha! This time, Aha has plenty to be proud of!"
Looking like a mature beauty, Aha clutched THEIR stomach and roared with laughter, stamping THEIR black-stockinged feet as THEIR body bobbed up and down.
That contrast was way too much.
Before Lingchen could comment, an inexplicable power enveloped him.
Lingchen followed the power back to the woman Aha had become. Now her eyes held nothing but anticipation and joy, and her entire bearing had become perfectly dignified. There was no trace of the lunatic she had been a second ago.
THEY extended a hand. Besides the smiling mask of joy inside Lingchen, masks bearing six other expressions-anger, sorrow, pleasure, grief, fear, and surprise-appeared in THEIR palm.
The power of [Elation] rampaged through the Mansion, sending floor tiles flying and splitting pillars, yet not a trace escaped its boundaries.
Clearly, Aha had uncharacteristically controlled its range and intensity.
With a gentle wave of THEIR hand, the six masks swiftly merged into the mask inside Lingchen.
[Ding! Authority over the Path of [Elation] has increased.] [Speaking falsehood as truth, speaking truth as falsehood; the radiance of the mind, the colors of emotion, the richness of wisdom. They embody superiority, incongruity, dissolution, and release. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the complete authority: Humor.] [This authority will grow with the host's strength and degree of adherence to [Elation].]
Like Fuli, Aha had made a copy of this portion of the Path and given it entirely to Lingchen. THEY could not reclaim the copy.
At first, Lingchen had thought the Aeons were generously cutting off pieces of their Paths for him, but the system later explained that they had merely copied their Paths. As Aeons, they were perfectly capable of that.
Cutting apart a Path would probably require a fight to the death.
Perhaps Aha had deliberately encouraged that impression because THEY wanted to laugh at him.
"Your physical constitution really is unusual. Such powerful adaptability-you can even withstand power at this level.
"Hahaha! Aha has such a good eye! Aha has so much to be proud of!"
Hands on THEIR hips, Aha looked Lingchen up and down in satisfaction, as though inspecting an exhibit THEY had personally crafted.
"If you're so proud, find me a wife to celebrate."
Lingchen sneered. If Aha was happy, he was annoyed.
"Hmm? Is that how it works? Would Aha do?"
Aha blinked and gave him a wink.
"No!"
Lingchen rejected the offer outright.
"Then Xipe?"
"Ahem. We'll talk about that later. I'm not strong enough yet. Give me a Masked Fool to practice with first. Someone like, uh, Sparkle would do."
Lingchen answered with a perfectly straight face.
"Interesting. Your courage is just as unusual as your body."
The corners of Aha's mouth curled at an impossible angle, like a smug Dragon King's crooked grin.
"Aha will bring her right over."
Then, without waiting for Lingchen's reply, THEY stepped back and dissolved into fluttering butterflies.
"Aha will always be watching you."
Only those words remained, circling before Lingchen, complete with lighting effects.
"Typical of you. You even had to pull something like that before leaving.
"But please don't watch when I'm getting down to business, or I'll expel the power of [Elation]."
Lingchen could sense that the presence of [Elation] was still there.
As long as someone appeared, he sensed them, and they stayed in contact with him for a short while, his body would remember their presence.
Still, if an Aeon truly concealed themselves completely, he would not be able to detect them.
There was no helping it. He had not reached that level of existence.
System, can you block it?
The system's mechanical voice sounded.
[Ding! Yes.]
Good.
"Boohoo. Aha has really lost face."
The voice from the void left Lingchen rather speechless.
Thankfully, the system could block it too. Otherwise, could anyone have a decent love life in this world?
Still, Aha really was interesting. After all, his threat barely counted as a threat.
Aha's amusement could bring disaster, since THEY did not care about the consequences when seeking entertainment. But clearly, with someone as special as Lingchen, even Aha knew where to draw the line.
That was quite a lot of favoritism.
Then, marveling that his authority had already been upgraded before he had even figured out how to fully play with the previous version, Lingchen began examining his new authority over [Elation].
It was still at the Emanator level, and what it could do remained within that level. After all, his Path energy was only at that level. But its breadth and ceiling had long since surpassed his original authority, and it was now on par with the authority of [Immaculate] that Fuli of [Remembrance] had bestowed upon him.
Now that was genuine "favoritism" from an Aeon.
As his strength increased and he followed the corresponding Paths, his authorities would become increasingly powerful in practice.
Lingchen could accept that, and he understood it.
After all, these authorities belonged entirely to him, so he did not have to worry about losing them.
Making a pony pull a huge cart-or a single-cylinder gasoline engine haul a heavy truck-was completely impractical. The engine could easily blow.
Not bad. Even at the Emanator level, I'm at the very top. No, I should say I've surpassed even the strongest of them, though I still count as Emanator-level.
With just his authorities over [Elation] and [Remembrance], he should now be able to handle four or five Emanators at once with ease.
System, my strength has already reached this point. Logically, unless six or seven Emanators gang up on me, Emanator-level opponents no longer pose much of a threat, let alone ordinary Pathstriders.
Then if someone becomes hostile toward me, will it still reach that level?
P.S. Please support this story.
Also, the typos are because the original words are flagged as sensitive.
Chapter 41: You Really Went and Did It...
Lingchen was quite satisfied with his "invincibility." After all, it was a safeguard, and the system's ability to scale with his enemies' strength was another safeguard.
Just as when he had teased the Aeon of [Destruction] earlier, one reason was that THEY would not possibly turn THEIR gaze on him over something so trivial, and the other was the system's protection.
If THEY really came, his combat power would immediately rise to match.
And now, he finally asked a question.
When his own strength could already resolve the vast majority of problems, would the character card still reach the corresponding level?
[Ding! Confirmed. The character card's rules will not change.]
Good.
Lingchen breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could rest easy.
"Lingchen, are you all right?"
Just as Lingchen was considering where to test his new Path of [Elation], Fu Xuan's voice approached from the distance.
He looked toward the Mansion's entrance and saw Fu Xuan hurrying inside, anxiety written all over her face. Warmth stirred in his heart.
"I'm fine. Aren't you working overtime? You're going to the Jade Abacus Xianzhou tomorrow, after all."
Fu Xuan rushed over to Lingchen and reached out with her small hands to squeeze his arm.
Only after squeezing it did she remember that General Jing Yuan was watching from behind her, so she quickly pulled her hands back.
"Ahem. I heard what sounded like the laughter of the [Lord of Eternal Joy] coming from here, so I came to take a look."
Only heaven knew how badly she had trembled in fright when she heard that laughter.
"Really? The Lord Diviner certainly has sharp ears."
Lingchen reached out and pinched Fu Xuan's ear. It was slightly cool, and her earlobe was soft.
Fu Xuan blushed and hastily stepped back.
What was this scoundrel doing?
"Ahem. Mr. Lingchen seems to be perfectly fine."
Jing Yuan felt compelled to speak. If he stayed silent any longer, he would start feeling that he should never have come.
Besides, he was used to Fu Xuan's usual decisive, no-nonsense manner. This was his first time seeing her so bashful, and it really did feel strange.
It was like a normally vicious Borisin suddenly acting coy.
Jing Yuan thought this without letting it show.
"Just call me Lingchen. Or Grandmaster. Keeping the respect in your heart is enough."
Lingchen reminded him.
Fu Xuan: "..."
"Haha. Seeing you act the same as ever puts me at ease. By the way, that was the Lord of Eternal Joy's voice just now, wasn't it? It sounded like it came from here."
Jing Yuan did not mind. After all this time, he had long since grown used to the way Lingchen spoke. As for calling him Grandmaster...
Jing Yuan knew Jingliu was not dead, so if Jingliu agreed, he would naturally agree too.
Fu Xuan also looked over. Although the voice had sounded right, she still needed confirmation.
"That's right. It was Aha. THEY turned into a woman to seduce me, but what kind of man do you take me for? Naturally, I stood firm. After all, it wasn't the real deal. So THEY felt embarrassed and left, saying THEY'd find me someone genuine."
Lingchen explained as though every word were true.
Fu Xuan, Jing Yuan: "..."
Do you think we're idiots?
Although this was indeed something that particular Lord might do, finding someone else for him was far too ridiculous.
"Could you really resist that kind of charm?"
Clearly, Fu Xuan's thoughts had taken a different direction from Jing Yuan's.
"What are you talking about? Who would like a ball spirit or a mask spirit? Oh, now THEY're a cat spirit and a myna spirit too."
Using Imaginary Energy, Lingchen created a cat with an owl's head and a myna with a dog's head.
"Jing Yuan, could you bring yourself to kiss one? If it transformed from one of these things?
"Come to think of it, you still don't have a girlfriend. Want me to put up a notice seeking a wife for you?
"You're nearly mara-struck already, and you still haven't experienced that side of life. Isn't that a bit pitiful?"