"Hmm, some people on certain Xianzhou know heliobi inside out. It seems to be… Zhuming?"
Leon quickly compiled information about heliobi in his mind and explained briefly:
"Heliobi are a rare type of intangible creature without a fixed form, fond of seizing the flesh of intelligent beings to manipulate."
"In short: possession."
"Besides possession, a few powerful heliobi also have the ability to transform into others."
"If the host body taken over by a heliobus is drained dry, it often results in sudden spontaneous combustion."
"This combustion usually leaves nothing behind, and the process is largely the same."
"The process of Tingyun's disappearance earlier was not combustion."
Hearing this, hope surged in March 7th's eyes.
"Uncle Yang, Leon, you mean…"
Stelle: "Tingyun is still alive?"
Welt: "Sorry, I can't give a definite answer."
"Where the original Tingyun is and when she was replaced—we have no way to investigate."
"What follows is just my personal guess… and hope. If the body that disappeared just now was Tingyun's, why would Phantylia go to the trouble of destroying the evidence?"
"Wouldn't throwing the corpse in front of her old acquaintances better fit her heart-attacking aesthetics of destruction?"
The three girls fell silent.
"Look over there. It seems something was left behind."
Leon's gaze swept the surroundings, stopping at the spot where Tingyun's body vanished. A suction force surged from his palm, retrieving an object.
Seeing the item in Leon's hand, everyone recognized it at a glance.
March 7th: "Miss Tingyun's folding fan!"
The surface of the fan bore burn marks and appeared somewhat damaged.
"This fan itself has some minor fame, but it's not something hard to destroy."
Leon let Stelle take the fan to examine, saying with certainty:
"No doubt about it—the fan was deliberately left by Phantylia."
With a single thought, a Destruction Emanator could ensure not even ashes remained of such a mundane object.
Welt frowned: "Phantylia did this to plunge us into chaos and suspicion, falling completely into her poisonous scheme."
Leon: "A body that didn't combust, a fan deliberately left behind… What a sinister and vicious fellow."
"Of the seven Lord Ravagers, few are easy to deal with."
Seeing his exasperated expression, March 7th asked weakly: "…When you say 'easy to deal with,' what do you mean?"
Leon answered seriously: "The kind that fights without a word."
March 7th's eyes widened in disbelief.
You call that… easy to deal with?
Wouldn't that make them even harder to handle?!
Fu Xuan, however, understood Leon and nodded lightly in agreement.
"Rough words, sound logic. Better an open thief than one who covets in secret. Compared to straightforward types, Phantylia is indeed far more difficult."
"That thing disguised itself as the Sky-Faring Commission's envoy and infiltrated the Six Commissions so seamlessly—it must have been there for quite some time."
"No wonder the Medicine King's Secret Teachings rose in rebellion; they were secretly colluding with a Destruction Emanator."
"Phantylia sent the Stellaron into the Luofu, driving the Medicine King's Secret Teachings to revive the Ambrosial Arbor…"
"Once the Ambrosial Arbor is tainted, the Luofu will inevitably fall into great chaos."
"At that point, destroying the Xianzhou wouldn't be a walk in the park, but at least it would be easy enough."
"Such a massive problem—if the best chance to remedy it is missed, the consequences could be even worse than the Sudden Chaos of old."
"We must stop her!"
"The situation is urgent. Fu Xuan hereby requests everyone's aid to the Luofu."
March 7th waved her hand: "Master Diviner Fu, no need for formalities."
"All of us from the Express are already here—haven't we already extended our hands?"
"Right, everyone?"
She looked at her companions.
Stelle spread her hands: "Himeko said Trailblaze is like this."
"Even if we had a choice, we're far from the point of backing down now."
Welt's gaze toward Stelle held praise and appreciation.
"Well said."
Leon narrowed his eyes, his tone light.
"Wherever everyone is, that's where I am."
"He's still as… heavy as ever…"
Leon's simple eight words struck straight into Ah Xian's heart.
"No flowery language, no pretense or affectation, yet the resolve in those words is practically overflowing."
"Most of what a fun-person says can't be trusted—or rather, you wouldn't dare trust it."
"But conversely, when a fun-person gets serious, they absolutely mean what they say."
"Wherever everyone is, he is there—it's not just following along… cough cough, wrong phrasing."
"Anyway, it's roughly that meaning. You get what I'm trying to say."
"The metaphor it carries, and the determination to stand at the very front when danger comes."
[Feels a bit overinterpreted. Maybe Leon didn't think that deeply?]
[I think so too. Leon was just casually stating his stance. He's already helped this much; a little more doesn't hurt.]
"Eh, just take it as me overreading."
Ah Xian only smiled, making no rebuttal.
He got off the Express injured— wasn't that obvious enough?
He didn't need to say "I'm extremely worried about everyone" out loud in person.
That wasn't Leon's style. He was the silent action type.
Ah Xian's heart was already starting to worry.
True, those eight words weren't a death flag, but they might represent Leon's attitude.
His attitude toward the safety of his companions.
On this point, she absolutely refused to admit overinterpretation.
Before fighting Cocolia on Jarilo-VI, he wordlessly grafted his wings onto the protagonist, taking a fatal blow in their place.
That was an unshakable precedent.
Where there's one, there's two.
Where there's two… there's three.
Jing Yuan, oh Jing Yuan—you're a Hunt Emanator. When the boss fight reaches a critical moment—
You'll protect everyone, right?
It wasn't strange for Ah Xian to think this.
At this stage, the information players could glean from limited text aligned on one law:
Emanators are stronger than Pathstriders.
The Express crew had no Emanator, meaning their normal combat power topped out at Emanator level—nothing more.
Unless there were unknown special settings or someone hiding strength.
Currently, most players believed the strongest on the Express were Leon and Welt.
Leon had a record of fighting a Destruction Emanator.
Though he ended up gravely injured, he still returned safely and took Cocolia's ultimate, so "comparable" wasn't an overstatement.
Even so, few thought a proper Aeon Emanator like Jing Yuan would be weaker than either of them.
Ah Xian's reaction stunned many veteran fans for a moment before they realized something.
Something's off.
Normally, this would be prime time for her to start simping for Leon, spamming wild comments or unhinged mini-essays.
But now—nothing.
Even her expression was unusually calm, so quiet it felt unfamiliar, giving off a refined, intellectual big-sister vibe.
She seemed… serious.
...
...