"Helmsman..."
Yuanqiao's Helmsman pressed a hand to his forehead, looking conflicted. After a moment, he sighed.
"At this point, we have to stop the conflict between the two sides, or something will surely happen to Yuanqiao!"
No sooner had he spoken than Yuanqiao's alarm system sounded throughout the Sky-Faring Commission.
"Warning! Warning! Unidentified outsiders have forced their way through the Jade Gate! Unidentified outsiders have forced their way through the Jade Gate!"
Yuanqiao's Helmsman sprang from his seat and pulled up the live surveillance footage from the Jade Gate.
Inside the Jade Gate, Starskiff after Starskiff flew out. They were emerald green all over, and their mechanical designs were unlike any he had ever seen. They had not been grown.
"This... who are these people? Why do they possess Starskiff technology?"
As a Helmsman, he could naturally see the difference between these Starskiffs and those of the Xianzhou. Nowadays, Starskiffs were mainly grown from seeds, not mechanically manufactured.
That made the identity of these people who possessed Starskiff technology very intriguing.
Before he could leave the Sky-Faring Commission, the first Starskiff in the group to enter the Xianzhou Yuanqiao had already landed at its entrance.
The guards of Yuanqiao's Sky-Faring Commission quickly surrounded the Starskiff, watching warily. Its workmanship belonged neither to Yuanqiao nor to the other Xianzhou ships.
Yuanqiao's Helmsman walked out of the Sky-Faring Commission and looked at the Starskiff parked in the square before its entrance. Just as he was about to speak, its door opened.
More than a dozen armored soldiers jogged out and lined up neatly on either side of the hatch.
Then Wanmeng stepped out in a long robe, with Qi Tianque following behind her. Her gaze was calm. After all, they were all Xianzhou natives, their bloodlines ultimately originating from the ancient kingdom.
Qi Tianque was different. He was not a Xianzhou native, and although he now belonged to a Xianzhou, it was only the Xianzhou Daiyu. He was unfamiliar with the other Xianzhou ships, knew nothing about them, and had no desire to learn.
For him, keeping Sister Wanmeng safe came first. As for whether other Xianzhou residents might get caught in the crossfire if a fight broke out?
Sorry, that was not something he took into consideration. All he thought about was how to better protect Sister Wanmeng.
As soon as Wanmeng stepped off the Starskiff, she looked up and saw the man in front of the Sky-Faring Commission. A single glance was enough for her to recognize who he was.
"I presume you are the Helmsman of the Xianzhou Yuanqiao?"
Yuanqiao's Helmsman paused, then nodded. "That's right, I am. You forced your way through the Jade Gate without a word and have now appeared before me. What are your intentions?"
By then, the remaining Starskiffs had also arrived. Unlike the first, however, their occupants did not disembark, and the Starskiffs simply hovered in the air.
"I mean no harm. I am Wanmeng, commander of the Xianzhou Daiyu's vanguard, Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Daiyu's Divination Commission, and the Calculation Force of the Four Existences Atop Nihility."
The instant Yuanqiao's Helmsman heard Wanmeng's name, he froze, his mouth falling open involuntarily.
Wanmeng, Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Daiyu's Divination Commission, had been the most brilliant genius among the Divination Commissions of the nine Xianzhou ships a thousand years ago. Among the nine Xianzhou Master Diviners, Daiyu's had stood foremost.
Back then, she had overshadowed the Master Diviners of the other Divination Commissions so thoroughly that they could not hold their heads high, for above them stood a godlike diviner: Wanmeng.
"You! You're Master Diviner Wanmeng of the Xianzhou Daiyu! No, that's impossible. The Xianzhou Daiyu crashed a thousand years ago! Who exactly are you people?!"
The surrounding guards raised their weapons as well, ready to charge without hesitation the moment the Helmsman gave the order.
"It seems you don't trust us, Helmsman. That's understandable. After all, the Xianzhou Daiyu has not appeared in the universe for a thousand years. It's only natural that people would believe it had crashed for good.
"But our Xianzhou Daiyu gained the Arbiter of True Existence, Lady Ayinai. She used her supreme divine power to bring the Xianzhou Daiyu back into existence in the universe."
"Lady Ayinai! The Aeon of Existence!"
Yuanqiao's Helmsman murmured the name. Wanmeng nodded and said, "That's right. Everyone aboard Daiyu now believes in Existence."
"Believe... in Existence?"
Yuanqiao's Helmsman raised his head slightly and looked at the sky. The next moment, he seemed to see a person, an extremely beautiful person whose long green hair shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
"So beautiful... wait! Where did she come from?"
The Helmsman came to his senses and instinctively took two steps back. The woman descended from the sky and landed in front of him. Ayinai looked at him and spoke slowly. "That's right, believe in Existence. Would you like to believe in Existence?"
Ayinai tilted her head as she looked at him. Yuanqiao's Helmsman was taken aback, but as a Helmsman, he quickly recovered. Of course, his many years as Helmsman had not been for nothing. From Wanmeng's reaction, he could tell that the woman was probably the Helmsman of the Xianzhou Daiyu.
"I am the Helmsman of the Xianzhou Yuanqiao. Greetings, Helmsman of the Xianzhou Daiyu."
He spoke confidently, but to his surprise, she shook her head. "I'm not a Xianzhou Helmsman."
"Huh?"
Yuanqiao's Helmsman was bewildered. She wasn't Daiyu's Helmsman? Then who was she, to command such respect even from a genius like Wanmeng?
Wanmeng coughed lightly twice and stepped forward to explain. "This is not Helmsman Qingzhu, but the Aeon worshipped by our Xianzhou Daiyu, the Arbiter of True Existence, Lady Ayinai."
Yuanqiao's Helmsman immediately stumbled back several steps. The one before him was an Aeon!
The next moment, he fell to one knee and cupped his hands, unable to control himself. Everyone around him followed suit and knelt. Although the Aeon had not deliberately released her pressure, an Aeon always had a natural suppressive power over pathstriders and mortals.
Ayinai was a little confused. Why had they knelt? She hadn't done anything.
"So... would you like to believe in Existence?"
Ayinai fixed her eyes on him. Yuanqiao's Helmsman hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes, of course I would."
Ayinai looked at him, then sighed. "Sigh, never mind. If you don't believe, then you don't believe. Your choice naturally has its own reason to exist."
Ayinai could tell he was not sincere. That was understandable. It was hard to make someone abandon an Aeon they had believed in for hundreds of years and turn to another.
Ayinai said, "There's something I don't understand. Why don't you believe in Existence?"
Hearing Ayinai's question, Yuanqiao's Helmsman was torn over whether to tell her the name of the Aeon he believed in. But she had asked, and he couldn't leave her unanswered. What if he angered her? Wouldn't he be finished?
But the problem was, he believed in Nihility. If he said so, wouldn't he die even faster?
"Well... I..."
Seeing how conflicted he looked, Ayinai had already made a fairly accurate guess. He was probably a follower of her mortal enemy.
Ayinai sighed and vanished from where she stood.
Why was it that no one believed in Existence? Did they insist on believing in Nihility rather than Existence?
The Garden of Existence: "Hello."
Ayinai felt helpless. By any measure, she was among the top Aeons, an existence that could go head-to-head with Nihility without the slightest fear. Why did so few people believe in her?
Ayinai: Life was so hard.