[Jade: Perhaps that Emanator said it deliberately.
][Topaz: Huh?] Topaz froze for a moment, then hurriedly told Jade what Lingchen had said afterward about the Imaginary Wall.
Jade pondered briefly before sending over a transcribed voice message.
[Jade: We can't rule out the possibility that it's true, but it's most likely false. Emanators are currently the strongest beings below the Aeons. Perhaps he simply wanted to mislead you. In any case, investigate further.
]A Throne merely bypassed an Aeon's blessing to obtain powerful abilities of their own. They could probably use certain tools to expand their influence or create some sort of domain, but their actual combat strength would not surpass an Emanator's by much.
Jade knew some of the inside story behind what Diamond and the others were competing over.
According to Lingchen, his combat strength might already have completely surpassed the level of a Throne.
That was simply impossible.
[Topaz: Understood.
By the way, Lingchen also mentioned you and Miss Pearl.] Hmm? A glimmer of interest appeared in Jade's eyes.
It seemed this Emanator of [Elation] had quite an appetite, along with a wide range of tastes.
No wonder Topaz hadn't mentioned it.
Still, judging by the way Topaz addressed him, something might well happen between her and Lingchen in the future.
[Jade: I see. Keep investigating. I'll tell Miss Pearl that Mr. Lingchen is interested in her.
As for cooperation or our next move, we'll discuss that once the investigation produces results.
]Their conversation ended there. Topaz put away her phone, looking at the new name in her private contacts.
"Lingchen..." "Seriously-
is that true? Qingque hasn't been possessed by some ghost born to work lately, has she?" At the Seat of Divine Foresight, Lingchen stared at Jing Yuan in astonishment.
Given Qingque's personality, if she worked for two hours straight, it could only be because her divination had told her today was a good day for overtime.
But five hours straight was absurd.
Had she caught some sort of memetic virus?
"You'll have to ask your beloved Lord Diviner about that.
"Jing Yuan gestured toward Fu Xuan.
To be honest, when Lingchen told him that two Emanators of [Destruction] might launch a surprise attack on the Luofu in a few days, he had nearly become mara-struck on the spot.
Fortunately, Lingchen said they were coming for him. Only then did Jing Yuan pat his chest and recover.
Because of that incident, however, Lingchen had reluctantly used [Purification] on him once, postponing his mara by at least several hundred years.
In return, Jing Yuan had agreed to a promise that Lingchen would call in sometime in the future.
But this also drove Fu Xuan to intensify her training with the Divine Eye. Once she learned that a device was preventing her from divining their location for the time being, she became determined to locate them before the Emanators arrived.
The scholars of [Erudition] certainly knew their stuff.
As a result, Qingque's workload had instantly increased considerably.
Lingchen looked at Fu Xuan, who immediately raised her head proudly.
"I told Qingque that if she worked for a full week, she could take the entire following week off. I wouldn't even stop her from playing Imperial Jade.
""She actually fell for that empty promise? Looks like that talk really worked.
"It was obviously an empty promise. Lingchen had met Qingque's mother, so he was absolutely certain that if Fu Xuan mentioned a few things about Qingque's performance to her, Qingque would probably be working the entire following week too.
Fu Xuan sighed as well.
"I did tell Qingque the truth. Though she wasn't particularly willing, she took on all that work. She understands what takes priority, after all.
""Still, I do intend to give Qingque some training. Once I resign, she'll be able to settle into the Diviner's position more quickly without getting flustered.
"That truly was what Fu Xuan had in mind. Having served as general for several hundred years, Jing Yuan could see that much.
"I thought you were going to say something like, 'When will you step down, General?' or, 'Once I become general.'
""Hmph. I'm not stupid." Fu Xuan rolled her eyes at Lingchen. "Thanks to this scoundrel, your mara has been postponed for several hundred years, and you're positively brimming with vigor now. Who knows how long it'll be before I can become general?
This is fine too. Once I resign, I'll be able to enjoy a few carefree days.
""Speaking of which, what should we do about the Company's two representatives?" Though Fu Xuan was stating facts, her tone was dripping with sarcasm, so Jing Yuan changed the subject.
P.S. There are so many questions on the national civil service exam. I've done so many practice questions that I dreamed I was doing them until I threw up.
Chapter 87: Do You Believe Him?
"Aren't you the Xianzhou general? Why are you asking me?" Fu Xuan pointed at herself in confusion.
Although she had recently assigned most of her work to Qingque, she had spent almost all her remaining time training the Divine Eye's abilities.
It was a Curio bestowed on her by Nous personally. In the past, her physical condition had limited her to what her body could withstand. That, too, was an effect of [Equilibrium].
Now that she had overcome her body's suffering, she ought to be able to develop stronger abilities through the Divine Eye. Even under [Equilibrium], its capabilities would improve.
So although Qingque really was useful, Fu Xuan genuinely had no time. After divining why the Company's two representatives had come, she had stopped paying attention to them.
Fu Xuan knew Jing Yuan was changing the subject. She snorted and looked at Lingchen. Those two had primarily come for him, after all.
Especially Topaz. Thinking of that scene from the future soured Fu Xuan's mood again.
"Lingchen, what do you think? Should we notify them?" After all, Lingchen had brought them the news. Although they believed him, the fact remained that Fu Xuan's earlier examination using the Divine Eye and the Matrix of Prescience had found nothing unusual.
Had Lingchen not been the one to tell them, they probably would have dismissed it as a rumor.
"Notify them. You can tell them where the information came from too.
"Topaz and Aventurine represented the Company, an organization. They weren't visiting as private tourists. Certain information still needed to be conveyed officially, lest it give them leverage later and let them use it to squeeze more profit out of investment projects they had their eyes on.
That was how major organizations operated. They had more factors to consider.
"After all, the Luofu authorities haven't actually obtained this information themselves. The source is Aha. That way, whether the Emanators show up or not, there's an explanation.
""I didn't expect you to think that far ahead.
"Fu Xuan looked at Lingchen in surprise. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't he have gone to tell them himself, taking the opportunity to grow closer to Topaz?
"What can I say? My dear Xuanbao is always on my mind. Knowing she's still working on the Luofu, I can't let her record be stained by 'incompetence.'
""Hmph. ╭(╯^╰)╮" Fu Xuan rolled her eyes at Lingchen. She knew he hadn't been up to anything good.
"Save that line for your darling Little Elena.
"That scoundrel. He already had Tingyun and me, General Feixiao was a slight possibility, and he'd played games with Sparkle ages ago. Now he was at it again.
Over the past two days, apart from carrying out her own assignments, Topaz had spent most of her time with Lingchen. For one thing, she might still have been trying to secure something; for another, she wanted to build a good relationship with him.
Naturally, Lingchen was happy to oblige.
But when she thought about Lingchen's origins, the power he had gained and how quickly he had gained it, and his possible future ascension to godhood, Fu Xuan sighed.
She felt she had guessed his reason for doing this.
Even if it was only one of his reasons, Fu Xuan would rather regard it as the main one.
It was all to keep himself anchored! "Well... Aventurine, do you think we can trust what the Aeon of [Elation] said?" Thinking over the information Fu Xuan had given them, Topaz wasn't quite sure what to do.
The Matrix of Prescience had found no trace of the Emanators of [Destruction], but Aha had, and had even said they possessed a special device.
"Whether it's credible or not, we know who the information really came from. I have to say, he really does treat that Diviner well.
"Without an official notification, even if Fu Xuan later said she hadn't detected them because of the device, an incident would still be an incident. There would undoubtedly be plenty of trouble afterward.
But now, the device no longer mattered. Anything that didn't make sense could be blamed on Aha.
And Lingchen was an Emanator of [Elation]. As someone closest to Aha, his words carried unquestionable authority, whether true or false.
"That's true.
"A flicker of envy crossed Topaz's face.
She really was a workaholic. She had never considered romance before, and had even thought the word would have nothing to do with her for her entire life.
Reality, however, had pulled her in another direction.
Over the past two days, whenever she wasn't working, she was spending time with Lingchen.
Qingque and the others were busy preparing for the Emanators' arrival, so she had indeed spent a great deal of time with him.
And Lingchen really hadn't shown any arrogance toward her. Refined and courteous described him perfectly-excluding the times he teased her, of course.
Ultimately, though, Topaz felt his antics were more like jokes between close friends.
Add to that the scene Fu Xuan had described frequently surfacing in her mind, and Topaz had already developed some affection for Lingchen, even if it wasn't much yet.
Aventurine shook his head inwardly. There was a very good chance this colleague of his would end up living off Lingchen in the future.
"So the question now isn't whether we believe the Luofu authorities, but whether we believe Mr. Lingchen.
"The authorities hadn't made a public announcement, but the atmosphere among the Cloud Knights had indeed grown a little tense lately.
After all, Lingchen had told Jing Yuan that those two bastards were coming for the Imaginary Wall-in other words, for him.
Jing Yuan had watched the entire process when Lingchen took away the Imaginary Wall.
That had put him completely at ease.
After all, Lingchen himself had said that even five or six Emanators would only be waiting to die. He had also recently begun learning Taixu Swordsmanship. Although Jing Yuan didn't know how his studies were progressing, Lingchen genuinely made him feel safe.
So Jing Yuan had merely informed Marshal Hua of the matter. As for everything else... since Lingchen had said they needn't worry about it, they would leave it to him.
They had placed their full trust in him.
Thus, the Luofu was tense, but not entirely on edge.
Aventurine's question made Topaz knit her brows.
Then she took a deep breath.
"I believe him.
"P.S. It's the start of the month! Please send flowers and votes.
Chapter 88: His Strength Is Unknown-I Oppose Taking Action!
"Well, that's rare. Looks like these last two days haven't been a complete waste for you.
"Aventurine teased her.
"What do you know? It's called the art and charm of communication.
"Topaz shot Aventurine an irritated glare.
"In any case, although Lingchen is an Emanator of [Elation], he definitely wouldn't lie about something like this. I believe him.
""Tsk. Should we notify the Company, then?" "You're asking me? Why not consult your luck? Flip a coin, for example.
"It seemed the luck of the entire Avegian people had probably been piled onto Aventurine. "Well, you're the closest to Mr. Lingchen, aren't you? Besides, I just heard on the Interastral Peace Broadcast yesterday that women's intuition is very accurate.
""You actually believe the Interastral Peace Broadcast?" Topaz rubbed her forehead and sighed.
"Notify Lady Jade and have her tell Diamond. Say that Lingchen obtained the information from the Aeon of [Elation]. Make the Luofu authorities' position clear as well, and don't conceal anything. They'll know what to do.
"Topaz checked her phone, which contained some information they had uncovered recently.
Although the Company had people on the Luofu, the Luofu had still imposed an information blackout on the Imaginary Wall's whereabouts.
As a result, they had obtained very little useful information.
Even so, they had reached a conclusion: Lingchen's claim that he had taken the Imaginary Wall away was the most likely explanation.
As for why he had been able to take it away, Topaz and Aventurine guessed that either it was an ordinary Imaginary Wall and Lingchen's authority happened to possess a corresponding ability, or the Aeon of [Elation] had helped him.
Just as with the two approaching Emanators, after pondering the information Fu Xuan had given them for quite some time, Topaz and Aventurine also believed it had come from Aha.
"As for whether Lingchen took away the Imaginary Wall on his own and so on, we only need to report our conjectures. We can't leave the Luofu, either. This is a chance to determine his strength and whether his claims are true, as well as what sort of relationship the Company should maintain with him in the future.
"Topaz delivered her conclusion.
Personally, she felt Lingchen was absolutely someone they could cooperate with extensively. But that was only her own opinion. After all, the scene from the future had influenced her to some extent. Actual cooperation, or any other decision, would have to come from the Company as a whole.
"Let's do that, then. You have the most say in this matter, after all. Mr. Lingchen's feelings toward you are clearly different.
"Aventurine pushed up his sunglasses and took a sip of milk tea. Sure enough, nothing on the entire Luofu tasted like what he'd had that day.
Topaz ignored him.
He was just jealous of her. Given the chance-if, say, Lingchen didn't mind someone who had transitioned and could help him get revenge-he'd probably have rushed off for gender reassignment surgery ages ago.