"Wow~! It's really fixed!" Baiheng exclaimed, rushing over, hugging her starskiff, and rubbing her delighted face against its hull. "It's exactly the same as before! No, it's even shinier!"
Right after saying this, she suddenly ran to Lucian, grabbed his hands, and swung them up and down.
"Brother Lucian, you're incredible! You really can do anything! Men who can do everything are the coolest!"
Baiheng's enthusiastic and pure praise made even the thick-skinned Lucian feel a little embarrassed—it was no wonder she was the darling of the High-Cloud Quintet.
Honestly, with so much positive emotional value given, who could dislike her?
He himself had to admit, given a little more time, he might have been moved too and become vulnerable to her praises.
"Just a little trick, nothing worth mentioning." Lucian said with a smile, waving his hand nonchalantly.
Over the years, he had heard plenty of words of praise and admiration, but praise as genuine and adorably naive as Baiheng's was truly one of a kind—a completely new experience.
"We're still in the middle of a fight—hurry up." Jingliu suddenly urged from the side.
Her face remained calm and coldly beautiful as ever, betraying no emotion, but Lucian could sense it—there was a trace of displeasure in her tone.
'Is she jealous?'
As this thought crossed his mind, Lucian cast Jingliu a faint, knowing look, which made her shift her gaze toward him, meeting his eyes directly.
"What with that look? Sorry, but I'm not the type to say that kind of thing."
As soon as these words left her mouth, Jingliu turned her head away, not bothering with her master anymore.
Lucian smiled, knowing that it was truly jealousy.
"Heehee, now that my starskiff is fixed, I'll just follow you two from the sky."
Baiheng giggled as she stepped into her starskiff, then lifted off and hovered in the air, tailing the two sword immortals from above.
On the battlefield, Jingliu descended from the sky exactly as planned, her boots stepping down on ice steps before unleashing one of the moves from the game—Moon On Glacial River.
Lucian, on the other hand, simply waited for the stragglers, and with a single swing of his sword, all the abominations fell to their knees like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Seeing the scene, the Cloud Knights were instantly invigorated, cutting through enemies like wheat with their high morale.
Needless to say, the Heavenly Ascendant's two sword immortals had become the protagonists of this war.
From her starskiff, Baiheng watched their heroic figures with open admiration and, as she provided support from the sky, she also did not forget to snap photos to commemorate the moment.
"Oh, this one's perfect! I'm making it my wallpaper!" Baiheng, capturing a stunning side profile of Lucian, exclaimed with glittering eyes.
Several hours later, the war finally ended with an overwhelming victory and zero losses.
Lucian and Jingliu took thirty percent of the spoils as agreed and directly returned to the Xianzhou Cangcheng with Absolute Hit.
Meanwhile, Baiheng stood among the lineup of the Xianzhou Yaoqing's starskiff pilots, her heart racing as she gazed at the empty spot where Lucian and Jingliu once were.
'Right, they saved me... I need to find a time to bring a gift and thank them.'
Ever since childhood, her parents had, after all, always taught her that gratitude was something one must never forget.
Baiheng was determined to return the favor.
===
Xianzhou Cangcheng, Jingliu's Residence.
Lucian and Jingliu had just returned when they saw someone waiting at their doorstep.
It was none other than Xuanlian, the Chief Counselor of the Xianzhou Cangcheng's Cloud Knights.
"General, you've finally returned!"
As soon as Xuanlian saw Lucian, he hurried forward to greet him, his face full of smiles.
"It's Acting General."
Lucian, feeling helpless, flatly corrected him.
It had been a thousand years since he had served as the Acting Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
Even though the agreement had been that he would step down once a suitable successor was found, the Six Charioteers had failed to find one for a thousand years.
Several Sky-Faring Commission Helm Masters had come and gone, but the Arbiter-General was still him.
Lucian, of course, understood well that they were doing it on purpose, dead set on forcing him to take the position.
"General, why are you so unwilling?" Xuanlian asked in confusion. "With your prestige, everyone in the Cangcheng would gladly support you."
He truly could not understand why Lucian, who had both ability and reputation, refused to become an official Arbiter-General.
Someone like Lucian was, without question, the most fitting to take the position—especially since he also possessed unfathomable abilities that no one could replicate.
One that he still remembered clearly to this day was when Lucian had saved him from the brink of death after he had succumbed to mara, allowing him to keep on living.
"Simple, I just don't want to—there's no deeper reason." Lucian shrugged calmly, his tone indifferent. "I know you all support me, but don't put me in a difficult position."
He wasn't foolish—his current situation was undoubtedly the ideal one, since he could enjoy the privileges of an Arbiter-General without having to face the trials from Lan or perform the proper duties of an Arbiter-General.
Once the script was completed, he would leave anyway, so there was no need to bother with empty statuses.
"Alright, I won't bring it up again, but the Alliance has sent many reminders—what excuse should I use this time?" Xuanlian asked helplessly.
Lucian thought for a moment before answering.
"Tell them the new general candidate sacrificed himself while saving others, so a new election is needed."
"Fine..." Xuanlian sighed helplessly, then left with listless shoulders.
"Master, you can't keep stalling like this forever..." Jingliu said from the side, her tone slightly worried.
"You're right, but I won't need to stall forever." Lucian nodded calmly, his face serene and indifferent. "Well, maybe not much longer..."
"Master, that's what you said five hundred years ago..." Jingliu quipped while shaking her head, then gracefully headed inside the house.
Near the sofa, she slowly removed her boots, blindfold, then her gloves, revealing her fair, slender legs and arms, as well as her beautiful, red, ruby-like eyes for everyone to see.
No matter how many times he saw this scene, Lucian never grew tired of it.
"I'm going to bathe." Jingliu said casually before stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.
Oddly enough, whenever she went to the bathroom, she never locked the door.
Lucian, on the other hand, took off his outer robe, then went to the courtyard as usual, stretched out, sat on his rocking chair, crossed one leg over the other, and then hummed a tune, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
===
A few days later, Baiheng actually came to visit Lucian and Jingliu, holding a gift bag in each hand.
As soon as they met, she was smiling brightly as always, radiating positive energy.
"I didn't know what you two liked, so I picked something myself."
Inside the living room, Baiheng spoke while stuffing a gift bag into each of Lucian's and Jingliu's arms.
Lucian and Jingliu glanced at each other, then opened the bags, only to find a bottle of wine inside each one.
For Lucian, it was an expensive bottle of Starwhirl Amber—worth several million strale.
For Jingliu, it was a bottle of Black Abyss Rainbow—equally valuable.
Such expensive gifts honestly weren't strange.
Lucian knew that Baiheng's family was a family of travelers, so her family should be wealthy.
"Just so you know, I bought these with my own money—they're from me, not my family, okay!"
As if she could read Lucian's mind, Baiheng quickly explained, waving her hands animatedly.
"Heh, then I'll have to try this wine you emptied your wallet for." Lucian said casually with a chuckle.
Not bothering with formalities, he immediately brought out glasses and invited Baiheng to drink together.
Jingliu, as someone who enjoyed fine wine but wasn't obsessed with it, had tasted both wines Baiheng brought in the past, but like Lucian, she pretended she hadn't to respect Baiheng's feelings.
In the end, the three of them sat in a small pavilion within the courtyard, drinking and chatting happily.
"Brother Lucian, what's your favorite wine?" Baiheng asked casually, her cheeks flushed, clearly tipsy.
Lucian thought back over the wines he had tasted throughout the years for a moment, then answered, "If I had to pick, it'd be Starfish Vintage from the Abyssal Star. Yes, the name sounds funny, but the flavor is unique. It's just that there's been a civil war there lately, so production's scarce."
"Oh..." Baiheng blinked her large eyes before turning to Jingliu. "What about you, Sister Jingliu? What's your favorite?"
"Stardust Tears." Jingliu replied briefly.
"Ah, that's rare too..." Baiheng sighed, propping her chin on her hands. "I mean, the planet where the ingredients come from is occupied by the borisin, so there hasn't been much lately."
"If it's unavailable, I just won't drink it. No big deal." Jingliu remarked casually as she set down her glass.
If she truly wanted it, she could always ask Lucian to bring her there, then tear through the borisin and take the ingredients back.
"Ahh, it's already late. I should get going..." Baiheng said while gazing at the orange sky, then clapped her cheeks to stay alert. "Well, can I come drink with you two again next time?"
"Of course. Anytime you're free." Lucian nodded with a smile. "By the way, where are you headed? Give me the coordinates."
Upon hearing this, Baiheng told him the coordinates of her family's residence in the Xianzhou Yaoqing, and the next instant, he gently pushed her and activated Absolute Hit.
In the blink of an eye, she was already standing at her home doorstep.
"Wow... Brother Lucian, you're amazing..."
===
In the end, after that visit, Baiheng did not appear again for a long time.
It was not until two years later, on an otherwise ordinary afternoon, that the doorbell of Jingliu's residence rang again.
However, the doorbell was short this time—just two chimes before stopping.
Upon hearing the doorbell, Lucian walked over and opened the door, but the moment it swung open, he froze.
It was Baiheng, but she didn't look... well.
At this moment, her forehead was wrapped in a thick bandage, and her face was sickly pale.
"Hey, Brother Lucian!" Baiheng immediately flashed a dazzling smile that was almost blinding. "I brought you Starfish Vintage—have your tastes changed?"
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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