"???"
"Who are you?!"
The seven disciples of Taixuan stared blankly at the dragon maiden who had barged in.
She had crimson eyes, golden hair, and two dragon horns sprouting from her head. Her beauty was beyond human, though her demeanor was somewhat carefree and rough.
"Are you human or beast? Where did you come from?"
Lin Zhaoyu stepped in front of her junior sisters, glaring at Tohru with vigilance.
"Come on, don't be so tense. I'm here to pick you up, not to fight."
"The Commander and Jingwei want to see you. Weren't you curious where your Master went? I'll take you to her."
The dragon maiden casually stretched out a finger, pushing Lin Zhaoyu's sword aside.
"Master?!"
Everyone froze in shock, exchanging confused glances.
"Where is Master?"
"In the sky."
Tohru pointed upward.
"Oh, I mean in the space station. Don't overthink it."
"???"
The disciples couldn't make sense of her words.
"Who exactly are you?"
"The Starsea Empire!!! Ugh, hurry it up already. Are you coming or not? I'm not gonna eat you."
Tohru knocked on the wall impatiently.
"…"
The disciples looked at one another again.
Outside the room, several Angeloids stood waiting.
They could still remember vividly how those Angeloids had annihilated the Schicksal troops with terrifying efficiency.
If Tohru bore them any malice, she wouldn't be so calm and polite now.
At this point, they had no real reason—or choice—to refuse.
"What about me?"
Ma Feima pointed at himself, puzzled as to why Tohru excluded him.
"You? Just stay here and rebuild the School of Taixuan. Or go be a wanderer, open a martial hall, sell barbecue skewers for all I care."
The dragon maiden patted his shoulder, clearly indifferent toward these mortals.
"The rest of you, come with me."
"Don't keep the Commander waiting. If you drag your feet, I'll just tie you up with magic and haul you off!…"
...
Twenty minutes later.
A small shuttle broke through the atmosphere, descending slowly onto the station dock.
Lin Zhaoyu, Qin Suyi, and the other five disciples followed Tohru in a daze, boarding the space station.
At first, when they saw the ship flying upward, they thought they had truly encountered an immortal, taking them to the Heavenly Palace.
But after piercing through the atmosphere, gazing at the darkness of space, the distant starlight, and the blazing orange sun, they realized the heavenly realm looked nothing like their imagination.
At the very least, it wasn't the cloud-wrapped palaces filled with celestial maidens and heavenly soldiers of myths and literature.
"Senior Sister, is this really the heavens? Where's the Southern Heavenly Gate?"
Qin Suyi tugged lightly on Lin Zhaoyu's sleeve, whispering.
"…Doesn't seem like it."
Lin Zhaoyu had no answer.
Having trained under Fu Hua for many years, she had learned mostly sword techniques like Edge of Taixuan, but little about natural sciences.
The immortal knew such things, but had never passed them on to her disciples.
"What nonsense… This is Honkai Station 1!"
"We're currently orbiting Earth. Tch, I forgot—you're all natives. You'll need to attend remedial classes with Jilin, Yae Sakura, and Yae Rin later."
Tohru half-explained as she led the way.
But with every question answered, more followed.
"So this is the Starsea Empire? You all live in the heavens?"
"This is just our station. Our main base is in another universe, much larger than this."
"Space station? Why does it float here constantly? Is it sorcery?"
"Because of anti-gravity."
"What's anti-gravity?"
"…"
Eventually, Tohru gave up trying to explain, simply leading them straight to Setsuna's office.
"Commander, I brought them!~"
"!"
The six disciples froze, their breathing faltering for a beat.
There sat Setsuna in his chair, the endless starlight behind him, and in his arms Fu Hua, her face tinged with blush.
The two looked intimate, entwined together.
"Keep your hands in check!"
Though the immortal scolded him lightly, she made no move to stop Setsuna.
Seeing her disciples arrive, she hurriedly pulled herself free, stood up, adjusted her robes, and restored her usual frosty, untouchable immortal demeanor.
"?"
Lin Zhaoyu thought she was seeing things, silently reciting her sword-heart mantra.
But no—she was truly in the heavens.
And just now, Master Jingwei had been sitting in the arms of a strange man.
Unbelievable.
Were immortals capable of loving as well?
In all her years studying under Fu Hua, she had thought Master had completely cast aside human emotions, becoming a true immortal in every sense.
"Master."
Once they regained their senses, the disciples all bowed their heads together, not daring to say more.
"Mm…"
"So you've all come?"
Fu Hua stepped forward, sweeping her gaze across the trembling disciples. Suddenly her eyes settled on Jiang Wanru.
"During your recent training in Edge of Taixuan… did you fall into deviation?"
"!!!"
All six disciples shuddered, breaking into a cold sweat.
As expected, the immortal's senses were extraordinary—no trace of corruption could escape her notice.
"Master!"
Jiang Wanxi was the first to kneel, lowering her head to beg on her sister's behalf.
"Fourth Sister… it was only an accident!"
"She and I were taken in by you since childhood, raised personally under you and Senior Sister on Mount Taixuan. She has always been upright, slaying countless evils. This deviation was never her intention…"
"We've been searching the martial world for ways to suppress her corruption, so… so please show mercy!"
By the end, her voice trembled.
The others also dropped to their knees in turn.
Facing an immortal, the pressure was unbearable.
With Fu Hua's strength, she could end lives with a single thought. But to let their sister—who was like family—be executed was something they could not bear.
Jiang Wanru and little Qin Suyi trembled uncontrollably, unable to pay attention to anything else.
"See, you've scared them."
Setsuna chuckled softly.
"…"
Fu Hua's expression turned odd as she looked down at her kneeling, terrified disciples.
"Stand up. I won't do anything to you."
"A minor issue. Treat it and it will be fine. What's the point of begging me?"
She frowned slightly, her voice carrying puzzlement.
"You've come here, and instead of greeting the master of this place, you kneel before me? Get up, all of you."
"???"
Lin Zhaoyu and Jiang Wanxi slowly raised their heads.
Dazed, they looked from Fu Hua to Setsuna, wondering if they had misheard.
The Master who once decreed 'deviation must be slain'… actually said Fourth Sister's corruption was nothing serious?!
Just treat it and it's done?
After confirming multiple times that they hadn't misheard, their minds spun.
The sun must have risen from the west!!!
...
"Zombie transformation… hm, not too severe."
"Unfasten your sleeve, let me take a look."
Fu Hua pulled Jiang Wanru up, examining her condition.
The other disciples had, until now, been left stunned in the aftermath of shock.
If not for Fu Hua's robes, aura, face, and voice being exactly as they remembered, they might have thought the one standing before them was someone else.
Jiang Wanru herself was nervous and uneasy, practically trembling as she revealed the small patch of Honkai corruption on her body.
Terrified that the immortal might suddenly change her face and cut her down with a single sword.
Cold sweat streamed down Lin Zhaoyu's back.
Impossible to understand, impossible to imagine—heaven only knew what Fu Hua was thinking.
In her memory, the immortal was utterly detached, seeing nothing but the destruction of evil.
Disciples were, to her, but fleeting companions in a span of centuries.
When had the immortal ever cared this much for a disciple—let alone one tainted by corruption, the thing she hated most?!
Fu Hua examined carefully, then tapped lightly on Jiang Wanru's forehead.
"Mm…"
"Her mind remains clear, her meridians unaffected. Just a minor trace of corruption, not full zombie transformation. It's fine."
She turned to Setsuna and Mio.
"Can you help me?"
"Sure, I'll do it."
Setsuna stepped forward, invoking Herrscher authority.
With control over the power of Corruption, if he could transform animals into beasts and humans into zombies, then he could also reverse the process, drawing out small traces of Honkai corruption.
He pressed a finger gently against Jiang Wanru.
The girl felt something within her body drawn out with the energy.
Her legs went weak, and she instinctively collapsed against Fu Hua.
"I drew out the unstable Honkai energy corrupting you. Rest for a few days and you'll be fine."
Setsuna waved his hand casually.
"…"
Even now, the six disciples of Taixuan were still dazed.
It was surreal.
Not only had the immortal not condemned them, she had found someone to cure their fourth sister.
And the method used by that man—Lin Zhaoyu's eyelids twitched.
By the sect's own standards, it was hardly different from demonic corruption.
Yet the immortal spoke to him casually, even entrusted herself to him.
They would never have believed such a thing possible.
The six of them stared blankly at Setsuna and Fu Hua, until Lin Zhaoyu was the first to bow her head in thanks.
Even without knowing his name, she offered a deep salute:
"Thank you, Master!"
"—And… thank you, sir!!!"
"A small matter, don't get so worked up."
Setsuna waved his hand, motioning for them to rise.
Fu Hua's disciples were as close as siblings, bound tightly together. When it came to them, the immortal showed a very different side.
Their intense reactions were only natural.
Once their panic settled, they gradually calmed down.
At the Angeloids' prompting, they sat across from Setsuna.
Their eyes carried a mix of respect and curiosity as they looked at him, at Fu Hua, and at the shipgirls idly watching from the side.
"Master… may we ask, where is this place?…"
Lin Zhaoyu cautiously broke the silence.
She couldn't help but feel her Master now carried far more warmth than before.
"Mm. Simply put, this is the Starsea Empire."
"We've been here for some time now. It was I who took Fu Hua away that day, and I who destroyed the Schicksal army."
Setsuna coughed lightly.
Patting the immortal and Cangxuan beside him.
"Go on, explain it to them."
...
"Ababa…"
As locals with almost no scientific knowledge, explaining the truth to the six disciples took far more time and effort.
Thankfully, the immortal was there.
Whatever she said, her disciples accepted.
Even when they didn't fully understand, she patiently explained in simple terms.
Cangxuan and Dan Zhu also had plenty of experience teaching natives.
Two hours later—
The six disciples of Taixuan finally managed to grasp the situation.
The Starsea Empire was a powerful civilization from another world, observing and guiding this one, helping humanity defeat the Honkai.
Fifty thousand years ago, a glorious civilization had existed here, only to be destroyed by the strike of the Final Herrscher.
Of course, nothing was mentioned about Fu Hua and the Blade Mantra.
"This…"
Lin Zhaoyu took a long while before she could process it.
Taking in so much information at once left the senior disciple of Mount Taixuan with a headache.
Then, confusion set in again.
"Master, will you be going to the Starsea Empire from now on?"
"Yes. We will completely defeat the Honkai in both past and future. Beyond that, I also wish to see other worlds."
Fu Hua nodded.
"Then… what about us?"
Lin Zhaoyu felt a pang of abandonment.
She knew she was ultimately a fleeting mortal in the eyes of an immortal, but being left behind like this felt bitter.
—Especially since Fu Hua had changed. She was no longer the cold figure of old, but more like the ideal mentor Lin had always wished for.
"…"
Fu Hua looked toward Setsuna.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm…"
Setsuna considered.
The time was still early. With the Blade Mantra resolved and Fourth Sister's issue cured, Fu Hua no longer had any real conflict with her disciples.
The tragedies of the past would no longer happen. In a sense, it was already a happy ending.
The immortal was destined to follow him across countless worlds.
As for the disciples of Taixuan… he didn't particularly like or dislike them.
Like cabbages in a field—they could be kept around for now.
"For now, you'll live on the station and get used to things here."
"As for your future… we'll discuss it later."
"We're conducting research on the Honkai world. There may come a time when we'll need your help."
He summoned several Angeloids to arrange accommodations for them.
"Y-yes, thank you!"
The disciples retreated nervously.
...
Life in the interstellar age was a strange novelty to the disciples of Mount Taixuan.
The station was the size of a great city—far larger than the Ming Empire's capital.
And with its multi-layered structure, it was like a small spacefaring kingdom.
The research lolis' work was far beyond them, incomprehensible in scope.
Occasionally, they would pull the disciples into worldline observation and simulation experiments.
The researchers often mentioned a strange name—Li Sushang—speaking of studying how to ensure her appearance in shifting worldlines.
The disciples had no idea what it meant.
At first, they struggled to adapt.
But soon they realized—they were not the only natives here.
Kallen, Jilin, Yae Sakura, Yae Rin—all were receiving the same education.
Aside from Cangxuan and Dan Zhu, who were from the Previous Era, everyone—whether from a fishing village in an island nation or a primitive tribe—was treated the same.
Every day they were dragged to learn natural sciences, while sword training continued without pause.
"Physics, astronomy, and mathematics are so hard!!!"
Qin Suyi clutched her head as if two were not enough.
"Hey, have you noticed? Doesn't Master seem… different here?"
During a break from training, Jiang Wanru, Jiang Wanxi, and Lin Zhaoyu whispered among themselves.
"Mm. She… smiles more, and isn't so cold."
"She seems gentler, doesn't she?"
Qin Suyi said uncertainly.
"…It must be the power of love, right?"
Lin Zhaoyu sighed.
"I… have never seen Master like this. Especially when she's standing beside Setsuna. She feels… like sunlight."
"Could immortals really fall in love?"
The girls chattered softly.
Suddenly, the air around them dropped several degrees.
Fu Hua had appeared behind them without warning, expressionless.
"If you have the time to gossip about me, you'd better spend it practicing swordsmanship."
"Are your studies and training too light? Should I have the Commander add more?"
"???"
"Please—don't!"
The girls panicked instantly.
Their Master had indeed become gentler.
But it seemed that gentleness was reserved for only one person.
—
—
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