"Dad, don't you think you should explain the pink sun in the sky to me?" The moment Jing Yuan's video call with Chen Li connected, his first sentence cut straight to the point.
"Ah, what are you talking about?"
"Playing dumb won't work. The Divination Commission isn't just for show. A sun that big appeared in the sky, and they still can't figure out what it is." Jing Yuan's tone was remarkably calm, showing no signs of impatience.
"Are you sure the Divination Commission can see it clearly?"
"Alright, they can't. But they can vaguely make out that the person inside is that honored guest of the Xianzhou." Jing Yuan admitted it quite frankly.
"I knew it. If the Divination Commission could casually monitor an Emanator, they'd be invincible. Though the Matrix of Prescience is certainly useful…" Hearing this, Chen Li nodded in relief.
"Emanator? What Emanator? Isn't that a Curio you forged?"
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Elysia reached this point entirely through her own efforts. She managed to win over the Aeon of Pure Beauty with her own skills!" Chen Li shook his head repeatedly.
"Wait a minute, my head's a bit of a mess. Give me a second to process this." Jing Yuan's brain began to work at high speed, trying to untangle the complex linguistic logic.
"Simply put, on her first day in this world, Elysia was strolling through Central Starskiff Haven and managed to catch the eye of the Aeon of Pure Beauty, which initiated the Trial of Pure Beauty. Today, she passed the trial and was officially recognized by the Path of Pure Beauty. She's now a special individual who isn't quite an Emanator, but can draw upon a small amount of the Path of Pure Beauty's power," Chen Li explained, pointing at the pink sun in the sky.
The Aeon was dead, so they naturally couldn't appoint an Emanator. However, the Path remained. Therefore, as long as one could resonate with the Path, draw power from it, and reach the level of an Emanator, they could be called one.
From a certain perspective, a dead Aeon was a good Aeon.
"…"
"Why so quiet? You told me not long ago not to worry about them causing trouble. I still have the chat logs right here," Chen Li said quickly when he saw Jing Yuan fall silent.
"…In my imagination, this friend of yours who just likes looking at pretty girls would, at worst, harass the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission or the Amicassador of the Sky-Faring Commission. Who would have thought she'd turn into the Xianzhou's sun?" Jing Yuan sighed.
Jing Yuan had originally thought this honored guest who just liked looking at beautiful girls would be the least likely to cause trouble. He never expected her to be the very first one to do so.
"I have a great idea. Just say the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus did it!"
"The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus aren't capable of something like this. This doesn't fit their style at all. I've already locked down the information; only myself and the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission know about this. So, before this blows up, I need to come up with a perfect explanation." Jing Yuan said.
"I have another great idea."
"What is it?"
"Can't we just create another, more eye-catching phenomenon? Let me tell you…"
"It must be the Masked Fools!" Jing Yuan suddenly interrupted Chen Li.
"Huh?"
"I said, the pink sun in the sky must be the work of the Masked Fools. Excellent. The problem is perfectly solved." To prevent Chen Li from doing something completely insane, Jing Yuan naturally passed the buck to the Masked Fools.
"…Jing Yuan, you're a genius." Chen Li couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up.
"In any case, you Flame-Chasers are all talented individuals. This Elysia gained the recognition of the Path of Pure Beauty in just two days. And your other friend, Sakura, is even more skilled than Yanqing, which is quite impressive for her age. If this is the extent of the trouble they cause, then I can rest easy." Having decided who to blame, Jing Yuan instantly relaxed.
The Xianzhou will soon issue a strong condemnation against the Masked Fools!
Why not just explain Elysia's situation?
Heh, with a suspected Emanator of Pure Beauty appearing on the Xianzhou, would Phantylia still dare to come?
Besides, the Masked Fools already had a terrible reputation. A little more wouldn't hurt.
No matter what, as a vanguard of Destruction, if they dared to touch a single hair on the Xianzhou, the Xianzhou would certainly offer the appropriate vengeance to show its respect.
They haven't touched the Xianzhou yet, just thinking about it?
Even thinking about it is forbidden! Thinking is a crime!
Today they think, tomorrow they act, and the day after they might just set their sights on the Aeon of the Hunt.
Phantylia is a dead woman! Jing Yuan said so!
Though, if she could be captured, that would be even better.
"You might be relaxing a little too soon." Seeing that Jing Yuan seemed to have thought of something pleasant, his joy overflowing, Chen Li couldn't resist bursting his bubble.
"What do you mean?" Jing Yuan paused.
"Nothing, just kidding."
Leaving aside the well-behaved Sakura, Elysia, who seemed to be the biggest troublemaker on the surface, actually had the smallest impact.
First, there was Vill-V, who quietly became an Emanator of Elation. Then there was Mobius, who had attracted the attention of three Paths and might even become a minor Aeon of Abundance…
Jing Yuan, I've wronged you!
Oh well, if those two cause any trouble, I'll just say the Masked Fools did it.
---o---
"Yes, yes, yes, alright, alright, no problem. Don't worry, I won't say a word." After dealing with Jing Yuan and hanging up, Chen Li immediately received a call from Fu Xuan.
Fu Xuan was, one, asking how Elysia got into the sky, and two, telling Chen Li not to spread rumors that the pink sun was Elysia.
Only Jing Yuan and the Master Diviner knew about Elysia's situation, and Fu Xuan, being that Master Diviner, was the one who had personally handed her over to Chen Li, so this call was unavoidable.
"I was originally going to use the Praise of High Morals to solve this, but since all the blame is being shifted to the Masked Fools, I'll just forget it." Chen Li casually tossed the Merit Gold Coin in his hand into his mouth.
Elysia turning into a pink sun and making the entire Xianzhou look abnormal was, in a way, a morally questionable act. In theory, he could have used the Praise of High Morals to make everyone subconsciously ignore it for a while…
But now there was something more convenient—the Masked Fools.
No matter how ridiculous something was, blaming it on the Masked Fools was never the wrong choice.
And a pink sun really did fit the Masked Fools' style.
At the same time, Chen Li had also used the "Praise of High Morals" to make the people at the teahouse forget that he was the one who kicked Elysia into the sky.
"So when can I come down?" Elysia's voice was filled with boredom when she reconnected her communication with Chen Li.
"You can come down when you stop glowing."
"…In that case, you'd better extend my subscription. Glowing up here is better than having the projection end, returning to my main body, and having my main body start glowing too." Elysia sighed through the screen.
"Just hang tight up there. I'll think about the Civilization Shrine. I actually think the Civilization Shrine and the Elysian Realm could be combined, but I have another idea…" Chen Li scratched his head in frustration.
For a Curio Forger, sometimes having too many ideas wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Chen Li felt that while the idea for the Civilization Shrine was excellent, the definition of "civilization" was still a bit too narrow…
"Then I'll leave everything to you. If there's anything you need me to do, just say the word. If there's anything you need to collect, just let me know. Once I've digested this power, I'll have some protection while moving around in this world, and I should be able to help you with many things," Elysia said.
"'Help with many things' is an understatement. If all Thirteen Flame-Chasers came to the Star Rail world for a study session, they could go back and form a team to drag the Herrscher of Finality out of the Cocoon of Finality and hang her up for a three-day-and-night beating," Chen Li retorted.
Could someone who persisted in something for 50,000 years not have a firm will? And as it happened, resonating with a Path required someone with a firm will.
Speaking of which, an age of 50,000 years was probably older than when some Paths first appeared.
The Honkai world's main disadvantage was its cosmology…
And if the Thirteen Flame-Chasers all came to the Star Rail world, the Path of Preservation would definitely be a universal choice for them. Every single Flame-Chaser had made huge sacrifices to protect their civilization.
Even Pardo, who lived only for survival, was willing to gamble her life and use her luck to open a gate to the Cocoon of Finality right next to the Herrscher of Finality.
But to be more specific, Kevin was a bit like The Hunt, because—Kevin once stood on the scorched earth and made a promise: Humanity will defeat the Honkai!
This fit the concept of vengeance very well.
Su was like Abundance, as he was originally a doctor who saved people.
Eden was like Harmony.
Aponia was like Order, but her act of merging her will with the Elysian Realm was also somewhat akin to Remembrance.
Kalpas looked like Destruction on the surface, but he wasn't.
As for Sakura, he could just ask her in a bit. It was probably The Hunt, since its tenets were "ruthlessness," "decisiveness," and "vengeance."
Kosma's behavior was like Voracity, as he could evolve by devouring Honkai Beasts. His ideals, however, were closer to the Galaxy Rangers, since he started out as a "vigilante."
Hua… she was definitely Preservation!
Griseo and Pardo were still to be determined.
"Jing Yuan was right, the Flame-Chasers are full of talented people!" Chen Li exclaimed with emotion.
"Where to next?" Jingliu's voice interrupted Chen Li's thoughts.
"How about we revisit an old place? I happen to have a pass from the Master Diviner. I was originally supposed to take Elysia sightseeing…" Chen Li suggested.
"Alright."
"Then let's go to the Artisanship Commission first. I have a companion there learning forging techniques. It's also a good opportunity for me to go to a workshop and forge the Heroic Spirit Curio for you," Chen Li said.
Forging Curios produced a very distinct sound, and Chen Li didn't want to spend Crystals to summon a Miracle Barrier. Therefore, the best place for him was the Artisanship Commission, where the sounds of smithing were constant.
"The Artisanship Commission… speaking of which, how is the Curio to suppress the Mara-Struck coming along?" The thought of revisiting an old place made Jingliu think of the Mara-Struck.
The Xianzhou had clearly left a rather large psychological scar on her.
"I plan to forge the Mara-Struck suppression Curio into a group-type Curio," Chen Li said.
"A group-type Curio? Then don't be polite with the Xianzhou; they have plenty of good things. What price did you ask for?"
As the former Sword Champion of the Luofu, Jingliu naturally knew how important a widely applicable Curio for suppressing the Mara-Struck would be to the Xianzhou.
"Me? I didn't name a price. I told them to give me whatever they see fit."
"That's a very clever negotiation tactic. It's the principle of hoarding a rare commodity… What's offered for free is often the most expensive." Jingliu nodded lightly.
No negotiation was the most difficult negotiation of all.