Not long after the Yaoqing Xianzhou delegation departed, the guests from the Zhuming Xianzhou arrived at the port.
"Hmm?" Yunli, Huaiyan, and Feixiao's expressions were nearly identical. They stared at the seven people before them, their faces first showing a flicker of surprise before they walked over.
Yunli's expression remained unchanged, but Huaiyan wore a benevolent smile. "Young Brother Yanqing," he chuckled warmly, "and the guests from the Astral Express, as well as Miss Lumina and... Lady Ruan Mei."
"Apologies for keeping you all waiting."
The group had been waiting here, and their smiles upon seeing him and Yunli confirmed Huaiyan's suspicion: they had been waiting specifically for them.
At least, that seemed to be the case for Young Brother Yanqing and the Astral Express crew.
As for Lumina and Ruan Mei...
Huaiyan maintained a composed exterior, but his mind raced.
He didn't dwell much on Lumina.
However, he couldn't help but overthink Ruan Mei's presence. She was a guest who had arrived on the Luofu Xianzhou without an invitation.
"Greetings, General Huaiyan."
"Greetings, General Huaiyan."
"It's a shame we couldn't face you in battle, General."
As Huaiyan and Yunli approached, March 7th, Little Swarm, Yanqing, and Dan Heng immediately bowed respectfully.
Stelle, as the "Boss," naturally had to stand out.
Instead of bowing like the others, she lamented that she hadn't had the chance to fight General Huaiyan in the Xianzhou Wardance Ceremony arena.
She seemed genuinely disappointed.
Well... at least that's what her expression suggested.
"General Huaiyan, we meet again." Lumina, unfazed by Stelle's usual antics, greeted Huaiyan and Yunli with a faint smile.
"Hmm..." With everyone else offering greetings, Ruan Mei couldn't remain silent. She gave Huaiyan a slight nod before quietly moving to Lumina's side. While subtly absorbing the aura emanating from Lumina, she watched the starskiffs continuously streak across the sky above the Starskiff Jetty.
"Heh heh heh, to have Miss Lumina see us off... this is truly our honor," Huaiyan remarked with a hearty laugh, stroking his beard.
With that said, his gaze fell upon Stelle, responding to her earlier lament about not being able to fight him. "It's rare to see a young person so utterly fearless..."
"Just a few words, and you've transported this old man back to the fiery days of his youth. How nostalgic."
Huaiyan sized Stelle up as she stood there, seemingly deep in thought. He appeared to be genuinely considering whether to grant her wish and have a proper, no-holds-barred fight before leaving the Luofu.
Faced with such scrutiny, a normal person would likely retract their earlier statement, insisting it was just a joke and they had no intention of fighting a General.
But Stelle was anything but normal. As Huaiyan examined her, she puffed out her chest, placed her hands on her hips, and let him look his fill.
After he finished, she pressed on, "I'm extremely curious about your strength, General."
"..."
Hearing this, Huaiyan fell silent for a moment. His eyes, usually closed, suddenly snapped open, fixing their gaze on Stelle. He seemed to be hoping this slight pressure would make her back down.
Stelle: smiles~
But even under Huaiyan's intense stare, Stelle's expression and posture remained unchanged. It was as if she genuinely intended to fight the General.
"Hey, you! Since when did you become a masochist?" March 7th nudged Stelle with her elbow, trying to signal that she should stop joking around. If General Huaiyan actually agrees, she thought, how are you going to get out of this?
"Hmm?" Stelle paid March 7th's well-intentioned warning no mind.
She remained with her hands on her hips, waiting for Huaiyan to speak.
"It seems Stelle is quite disappointed she couldn't show off her skills at the Wardance Ceremony," Lumina said with a smile.
There was no doubt about it—Stelle truly wanted to have a proper, all-out fight with General Huaiyan.
After all, this was the same person who had charged forward to block the Doomsday Beast's ultimate attack, who had tanked Cocolia's War-Flaming Lance head-on after her transformation, and who had raised her baseball bat to beat the crap out of the Simulated Swarm King... and so on.
Given Stelle's track record of such incidents, recklessly challenging a Xianzhou General alone wasn't entirely out of character.
Just look at her—not a hint of a joke on her face, only a fiery "hot-blooded" determination that seemed to spring from nowhere.
"Sigh... Please don't misunderstand me based on General Feixiao's personal actions," Huaiyan said, closing his eyes again after staring at Stelle for a moment. He let out another sigh.
"At my age, all I have left is the art of craftsmanship. I have absolutely no interest in so-called battles anymore."
Huaiyan shook his head, and his already ancient face seemed to grow even older in that instant.
"Sigh..." He sighed once more, then turned his gaze to Yunli. "The young should talk with the young."
"Yunli, you young people should chat for a bit. Didn't you have a lot you wanted to say before this?"
"Ahem... March is my apprentice, so as her Master, I still need to give her a few words of advice before she leaves." Hearing her grandfather's permission, Yunli first nodded to Lumina, then turned her gaze to March 7th. She crossed her arms, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Speaking of which, March, you didn't participate in the Wardance Ceremony, did you?"
Even though March 7th's skills weren't particularly impressive, if she had participated in the Wardance Ceremony, it would have been impossible for there to be no news about it.
Just her identity as a "beautiful girl swordswoman" would have caused quite a stir in the arena.
But the reality was, let alone a stir, Yunli hadn't seen even a shadow of her there.
"Hehehe." Hearing her Master Yunli's words, March 7th scratched her head awkwardly, not saying anything more.
After all, she couldn't just say, Even though I didn't step into the Wardance Ceremony's arena, at least I made it to the spectator stands, right?
"..." Yunli stared at March 7th's awkward face for a while. Only when March started to squirm uncomfortably did Yunli slowly speak again. "Our initial goal was for you to win at least one match in the Wardance Ceremony's arena."
"But from the looks of it, you failed to achieve even that basic training objective."
"So..." Yunli paused, making March 7th's heart instantly tighten.
"So...?" March 7th's attention was completely captivated by Yunli's voice, a wave of nervousness rising with each drawn-out syllable.
"So, you haven't graduated yet! Even after I return to the Zhuming Xianzhou, March 7th, you absolutely must not neglect your practice!"
"Understand?"
The next second, Yunli's words made March 7th's tense heart instantly relax.
"Even if she had graduated, March 7th would still need to practice diligently," Stelle chimed in, crossing her arms. She had been disappointed about not getting to fight General Huaiyan, but this conversation caught her interest.
Apparently, Stelle was still annoyed about March 7th's arrows occasionally finding their way to her rear.
"Don't worry, Master Yunli! I'll practice hard and absolutely won't disappoint the teachings of my two masters!" March 7th promised with a serious expression.
"Mm-hmm. Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease." Yunli smiled, closing her eyes and nodding in satisfaction.
With Yunli and March 7th's conversation finished, it was now Yunli and Yanqing's turn.
Unsurprisingly, the two rivals nearly started arguing again.
"My, my. It seems arriving early isn't as good as arriving at just the right moment."
"I've only just arrived, and I've already caught a good show."
As Yunli and Yanqing clashed, Lingsha slowly approached.
"Miss Lingsha, we meet again." As Lingsha drew near, Lumina caught a faint, elusive fragrance.
Hmm... Right now, there are six beautiful girls gathered here. Including me, that makes seven...
Seven beautiful girls all in one place... Is this some kind of paradise?
"Do you like it?"
Just as Lumina was savoring the paradise-like scene, Ruan Mei, who had been gazing up at the Starskiff Jetty's sky, leaned in close and whispered.
"If you like it..."
"Hmm... When we have time later, I can take you somewhere."
"That place... You... will definitely like it."
Completely ignoring the others chatting with Lingsha, Ruan Mei leaned close to Lumina's ear, speaking word by word, her warm breath brushing against Lumina's fair earlobe.
Ruan Mei knew her limits. Understanding that Lumina was all talk and no action—someone who would only boast but never follow through—she refrained from any bolder actions that might overwhelm Lumina.
Instead, she settled for something less intense: actions that were still intimate but not overly so, staying within the bounds of close friendship...
For instance, here on the Xianzhou, Ruan Mei didn't press her lips to Lumina's ear but merely leaned close to its side.
The warm breath from her words didn't flow into Lumina's ear canal, only gently brushing against her earlobe.
Even so, a small... hmm, unease still stirred in Lumina's heart.
"Is... is that so?" Startled by Ruan Mei's sudden closeness, Lumina froze for a moment before quickly recovering. She let out a light laugh, pretending to be unaffected.
But that wasn't the case.
If there weren't so many people around, if she and Ruan Mei were alone right now, Lumina would have already done what she did before—thrown her arms open and hugged her tightly.
Of course, that was just a thought. In front of so many people, Lumina still felt a little too shy.
Hmm... If everyone here were a beautiful girl, that "little too shy" feeling would vanish completely.
After all, she could just declare, "You are all my wings!" and give each of them a hug.
"Of course..." Ruan Mei clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly with her head still close to Lumina's ear. If one ignored her placid, almost emotionless expression, they might mistake her for some adorable little sunbeam.
"I have some matters to attend to right now, so I can't go immediately."
"One year from now, as long as you're free, I can take you to that place anytime."
Although Ruan Mei's voice remained as placid as ever, completely devoid of emotion, Lumina thought she detected a hint of... anticipation?
So Ruan Mei is capable of feeling 'anticipation' after all?
Lumina was somewhat surprised by this but didn't dwell on it. She shook her head inwardly, then nodded outwardly and smiled at Ruan Mei.
"Of course. I'll make sure to clear my schedule."
"I just hope that a year from now, the esteemed Ms. Ruan Mei of the Genius Society won't stand me up," Lumina teased softly.
"In that case..." Ruan Mei's eyes shifted, a glint of light appearing in them. Her cherry-red lips parted as she continued, "Then, please punish me."
"?" Lumina froze, momentarily confused by what Ruan Mei meant.
"If, one year from now, I forget our promise today..."
"Then, please..."
"Just as you did with Feixiao, bestow your... punishment upon me."
Ruan Mei's voice remained as soft and slow as ever, still completely devoid of emotion.
But... hearing those words, Lumina couldn't help but feel that something was... off.
Hmm... It couldn't be what I'm thinking, right?
"It is exactly what you're thinking," Ruan Mei answered, as if she had read Lumina's mind, even though Lumina hadn't spoken a word.
"..."
Understanding what Ruan Mei meant, Lumina fell silent, completely at a loss for words.
Recalling Ruan Mei's actions that night, Lumina suspected she might have misunderstood something.
Setting aside whether Feixiao would ever forget to "check in," the punishment itself wasn't anything particularly severe.
Lumina wouldn't use it for anything serious—at most, she'd make Feixiao act shy, embarrassed, or like a demure maiden, or maybe wear cat ears or a maid outfit. She had never considered taking it any further...
"Pfft..."
Seeing Lumina speechless and at a loss for words, Ruan Mei couldn't help but let out another laugh.
"..." Hearing that laugh, Lumina realized Ruan Mei was teasing her again. She shot her a completely exasperated look.
"My apologies..." Ruan Mei immediately suppressed her smile under Lumina's glare.
But in the next second, she added, "I wasn't joking just now. The part about punishment for breaking our agreement is real. But it applies to you as well, not just me."
"No problem," Lumina agreed this time without hesitation.
If only Ruan Mei had to face punishment, Lumina couldn't help but wonder if she had some ulterior motive.
A faint smile touched Ruan Mei's lips. She leaned forward, placing a hand on Lumina's shoulder and bringing her head close.
This time, Ruan Mei's lips aimed for Lumina's ear.
She whispered softly, "And... the words spoken that night will be preserved unconditionally, forever."
"As long as you wish..."