Worship Hall, a square table was placed in the center of the hall. Qingque was sitting in the main seat with great interest, with a row of Celestial Jade neatly arranged in front of her. In stark contrast to her were the other three people. Lin Yuan and March 7th both had worried expressions, and Xing was slumped on the table with her head resting on her arm, looking as if she had lost all hope in life.
"Pong! Wait, I'll take this one." Qingque swiftly grabbed the card that March 7th had just played, skillfully adjusted the cards in front of her, and her smile grew brighter and brighter. "I knew it! You'll quickly get the hang of this kind of thing after playing a few rounds. You guys are just getting started, but after playing another ten or twenty rounds with me, you definitely won't want to stop."
Looking at the row of cards in front of him that he couldn't make heads or tails of, March 7th couldn't help but sigh, "How many rounds is this already? You first said you'd only play two rounds, then three, and then the last round. How many rounds is this 'last round' anyway?"
Qingque showed absolutely no guilt, stating matter-of-factly, "How can you set a time limit for playing cards? If we lost the last round, we need to give you a chance to turn things around; if we won, it'll allow me to maintain my form. Besides, you've improved so quickly; I'm helping you grasp the essence of the Imperial Jade as soon as possible."
Lin Yuan looked at his disastrous hand and his brow twitched slightly. He knew Qingque Celestial Jade, but he only realized how persistent the guy could be after actually sitting at the card table. Ever since the Astral Express group arrived in Spirit City, Qingque had finally found a few new card-playing friends who looked to be around the same age, and he would try to drag them over whenever he had free time.
As for Xing, she initially thought this unfamiliar game was worth the challenge, even confidently stating that she would eventually defeat Qingque. However, after experiencing several crushing defeats, Galactic Baseballer finally realized that this guy who seemed to only think about slacking off all day was a completely different creature at the Celestial Jade table.
Xing lay listlessly on the table and said, "I want to go rummage through the trash can."
March 7th immediately turned to look at her. "I used to think that you rummaging through the trash was outrageous enough, but now I'm actually starting to think that at least rummaging through the trash means you don't have to play cards with Qingque all the time."
Hearing their complaints, Qingque showed no sign of stopping. Instead, she tapped the table and said, "Don't try to slack off. The cards have already been dealt, and this round has to be finished. I'll teach you a few new strategies later, which I guarantee will be even more interesting than before."
Just as the light in the star's eye was about to completely disappear, footsteps suddenly came from the Worship Hall. A Spirit Hall guard strode into the hall, and was taken aback when he saw the group of people at the table. He was obviously surprised that Lin Yuan and the others were playing cards there, but he quickly regained his composure and bowed to everyone.
"Miss Qingque, Miss March 7th, Miss Xing, Your Holiness, the Great Enshrined has ordered that you proceed to the Pope Hall immediately; there are important matters to discuss."
The moment those words were spoken, Xing, who had been slumped over the table, half-dead, instantly raised her head.
Her eyes regained their light, and she sat bolt upright almost instantly. Without hesitation, she stood up and grabbed Qingque's wrist. "This important meeting can't be delayed. Let's go now."
Before Qingque could even react, Xing pulled her up from her chair. She quickly turned to look at the half-finished game of Celestial Jade on the table and said reluctantly, "Wait, at least finish this game! We've already played halfway through, it's such a waste to leave now. It shouldn't be a problem to go to the Great Enshrined a little later, right?"
Xing didn't give her a chance to struggle and pulled her towards the door. Seeing that this long ordeal was finally over, March 7th immediately packed her things and followed. Lin Yuan didn't even bother to look at the cards in front of him again.
"Let's go. Since the Great Enshrined said he has something important to do, let's not delay." Lin Yuan followed behind, giving Qingque was trying to turn back to draw more cards, a push. "Besides, I think you've played enough today. If you keep going, Xing might really have to take a baseball bat to finish the game."
Qingque was half-pulled and half-pushed out of the Worship Hall by several people, still muttering about the unfinished game of cards, clearly unable to understand why the other three were in such a hurry to finish it.
The atmosphere Pope Hall was much more solemn than that Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong sat on opposite sides of the long table. Himeko and Welt had also arrived. The purple-haired girl sitting on the other side was Fu Xuan, who had just arrived in the Douluo Continent through a spatial rift. Several Xianzhou native had accompanied her stood behind her, and the basic information that both sides had just compiled was placed on the table.
Fu Xuan's personal trip to the Douluo Continent was not only to search for the missing Qingque, but also to confirm the situation of the spatial rifts. Now that the Xianzhou has confirmed that these suddenly appearing rifts are not isolated phenomena, and since one of them is stably connected to the Douluo Continent, it is no longer appropriate to continue to regard this place as a simply unknown area.
After listening to Fu Xuan's introduction of the Xianzhou Alliance, Qian Daoliu slowly said, " The Spirit Hall is willing to establish contact with forces that come with goodwill. The Star Sea is still a completely unfamiliar territory for us. If the Xianzhou Alliance is willing to engage in normal exchanges, the Spirit Hall has no reason to refuse."
Fu Xuan nodded. " The Xianzhou also has no intention of clashing with this place. The spatial rift appeared too suddenly, and no one can be sure whether other forces will come here through it. Establishing a stable channel for information exchange is beneficial to both sides."
Himeko sat quietly to the side, listening. The Astral Express wouldn't decide the content of the cooperation for either the Xianzhou or the Spirit Hall, but as the party currently in contact with both, the train was naturally willing to help reduce any misunderstandings that might arise during the initial contact.
After some discussion, both sides tentatively agreed on several basic areas of cooperation. The Spirit Hall would provide the Xianzhou with records of the geography, power dynamics, and locations of spatial rifts in the Douluo Continent, while the Xianzhou would share some intelligence on the Star Sea's power dynamics and spatial anomalies. If any new rifts were discovered in the future, both sides would notify each other immediately.
Fu Xuan closed the last document in front of him and looked at Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong: "This is all the information we can confirm today. The specific cooperation involves the subsequent arrangements of the Xianzhou Alliance. This matter is of great importance and I cannot make a decision on my own. I need to report to the General after returning to Luofu, and then the Seat of Divine Foresight and relevant departments will discuss it further."
Qian Daoliu nodded and said, "That's only right. The Spirit Hall also needs time to prepare. We'll continue our discussions once the Xianzhou has given us a formal response."
Just as the two sides finished their conversation, footsteps could be heard Pope Hall.
Fu Xuan was about to get up, but suddenly stopped.
Because a very familiar voice had already come in from outside the door.
"Hey, Xing, slow down! I can walk by myself! It's just a meeting, why are you in such a hurry?" Qingque was being pulled along by Xing, completely unaware of who was sitting in the Pope Hall. She was still thinking about the unfinished game of the Celestial Jade Tablets. "I'm telling you now, you guys have to keep playing with me after the meeting. I've finally escaped the clutches of the Lord Diviner, and no one's watching me work every day. This time, I'm going to make up for all the games I didn't get to play before..."
The doors of the Pope Hall were pushed open.
Qingque's words came to an abrupt halt.
She first saw Qian Daoliu Ryu and Bibi Dong sitting in front of her, then saw Himeko and Welt, and finally her gaze moved little by little until it landed on the very familiar purple figure on the other side of the long table.
Fu Xuan stared at her expressionlessly.
Qingque's smile froze completely. Her struggling body stopped moving instantly, and an incredulous terror appeared in her eyes. She opened her mouth, and after a long while, she managed to squeeze out a few words: "Grand... Lord Diviner?"
The gazes of those around them almost simultaneously became subtle.
Lin Yuan glanced at Fu Xuan, then at Qingque, whose face was growing paler. He immediately understood what was about to happen. He walked to Qingque's side, patted her shoulder, and said earnestly, "Good luck. This is all I can do for you."
After saying that, he walked away from Qingque without hesitation, afraid that he would be dragged into it later.
Xing paused as she passed Qingque, raising her fist in an encouraging gesture. "Keep it up!"
March 7th gave an awkward laugh, wanting to say something to comfort her, but then felt that saying anything now would be useless, and could only silently follow Lin Yuan and Xing to the side.
Qingque stood alone in the center of the Pope Hall, watching Fu Xuan rise step by step from his seat, her body instinctively starting to move backward.
Fu Xuan's temple throbbed slightly.