"Indeed... As for the third..." Kafka narrowed her eyes. Having slain countless rift creations on Jarilo-VI, Stelle's combat awareness had reached new heights.
Seeing Kafka's reaction, Stelle knew there was definitely a trick!
"...Wait, time should be about up." Kafka mentally counted down.
"Oh, it's starting..."
Boom!
The ground shook violently. Stelle barely reacted in time, nearly falling, but thanks to her long pillow wars with March 7th, her core strength was extraordinarily stable. March 7th didn't lie—pillow fights really do build the body.
Behind, Dan Heng timely caught March 7th, who almost tumbled.
"Hmm... After falling in the carriage so many times, you still haven't learned?"
"What! This girl calls it bravely challenging!"
"The Ambrosial Arbor has revived." Adrian and Welt didn't budge, calmly watching the withering tree gradually revive.
"Such abnormal energy... Stellaron."
"Uncle Yang means... the Stellaron caused the Ambrosial Arbor's growth?"
"Yes, the Xianzhou Cloud Knights searching for that Stellaron—it's eighty percent the culprit behind this anomaly!"
On Stelle's side, seeing Kafka easily break free from the imaginary shackles, she grabbed her bat and charged.
Bang!
A digital portal suddenly appeared behind Kafka, and an entire legion of rift creations blocked Stelle's path.
"Calling reinforcements? Can't play fair!"
The numerous rift creations hindered Stelle's steps. She suddenly remembered the necklace around her neck—it seemed to seal a Stellaron, too... All told, the Luofu now had three Stellarons in total.
"Tsk, you two chatted forever."
Silver Wolf's figure appeared beside Kafka at some point, still chewing and blowing bubble gum.
"Where's Blade?"
"Already rescued; heading to rendezvous now." Silver Wolf stretched, casually greeting Stelle. "Speaking of, some blockheaded Cloud Knight kid kept looking for me—detection skills suck. Almost caught me several times, tsk tsk~"
Hearing Silver Wolf's mocking tone, Stelle—surrounded by rift creations—felt annoyed, though Silver Wolf wasn't talking about her.
Facing the surrounding rift creations, Stelle feared nothing and yanked off the necklace. She was practically a mini arsenal now: Eternity's mimic weapon, the hourglass necklace symbolizing Eternity (sealing a Stellaron), the mask related to Elation, the great guardian's lance...
Tossing aside the ineffective Mask of Fools, now was Eternity's time to shine!
As the hourglass necklace opened, brilliant golden light shot to the skies. The rift creations were uncontrollably sucked into the necklace, fusing with the Stellaron.
Seeing this, Silver Wolf—preparing to leave—blinked.
"Wait... why do you have another Eternity weapon!"
Such a peculiar design—an hourglass... necklace. Silver Wolf's eyes were opened. Besides Blake, this was the first person she'd seen so favored by Eternity! If Blake were here, Silver Wolf would have to roast: Step down as Pontiff already. In Silver Wolf's view, the next Church Pontiff might as well be Stelle—overthrow old Blake's rule, welcome the new pope!
...
Meanwhile, at the Sleepless Earl tea house.
"Achoo!"
Blake, still playing storyteller, sneezed. "The Church's folk miss me... Gotta speed things up."
Silver Wolf shivered too. Blake couldn't be on the Luofu, right? All her effort hacking with aether editing to create Eternity wonders—still couldn't beat the child of destiny!
"Stop overthinking; let's go."
Kafka patted Silver Wolf's head, and they jumped down from the Matrix of Prescience, vanishing without a trace.
"Wow... Solved the rift creations in an instant. As expected of you!"
"March, you just watched the whole time? Didn't help at all?"
"Hey," suddenly called out, March 7th flailed to explain: "The Ambrosial Arbor shot up all of a sudden; our attention got diverted! Plus, Teacher Adrian and them..."
"Miss March, still shifting blame." Adrian wore a heartbroken expression.
...
Different location, familiar figures. Jing Yuan was discussing something with Fu Xuan.
After interrogating Kafka, Fu Xuan couldn't shake the feeling something was off—the Stellaron Hunters' goal seemed too straightforward! And just now, the Ambrosial Arbor had relapsed.
"Unless Kafka deceived the Matrix of Prescience..."
"Don't panic, Fu Qing. Trust the Matrix of Prescience doesn't lie. The logic you described from Kafka is very reliable—it adds a piece to my puzzle."
"I know the Luofu must have external enemies, as the Stellaron couldn't appear from nothing; someone used means to smuggle it in. Internal trouble must be the hidden evil group posing as Abundance folk: Yaoshi's Secret Transmission."
"Kafka's facts: Perfectly corroborate my suspicions."
Fu Xuan puzzled: "You... General, when did you figure this?"
"When the Stellaron first appeared. The Xianzhou has the Reignbow Arbiter's protection; without another Aeon's Emanator acting, how could it enter the Luofu unbeknownst to me? That Lord Ravager passed Church inspection—the Stellaron isn't theirs."
"Stellaron erodes places but bypasses the Seat of Divine Foresight and Imprisoned Prison—clearly ulterior motives, yet fitting that Phantylia's internal sabotage Destruction aesthetic."
Jing Yuan shared gossip with Fu Xuan: "A friend told me that Phantylia shouldn't act soon."
"Because of that one..."
"No, one Lord Ravager isn't enough for a divine hand. Fu Qing may not know—only two can move HIM: the Ember Ancestor and the Everjoy Lord."
Fu Xuan felt a bad premonition. From Jing Yuan's words, couldn't these two be lurking on the Luofu, too?
"Enemies plotting so must grasp Luofu internal intel, so internal trouble will emerge. Understanding these two points isn't hard..." Jing Yuan returned to topic: "Stellaron Hunters aren't the masterminds—I knew when I saw that guy. But why are they here, and why lure the Astral Express?"
"Against a Lord Ravager and Stellaron catastrophe—specialization in arts. The Church handles these effortlessly, let alone the Xianzhou?"
"So this puzzle piece, I couldn't find."
Recalling Fu Xuan's message, Jing Yuan's lips curved: "The news Fu Qing brought fits the puzzle... Haha, Stellaron Hunters indeed took such a detour—their goal to connect Xianzhou and the Express. Who'd think of that?"