The sudden news was too shocking, like a steamroller driving straight over Jing Yuan's mental state, crushing it into fragments. It caused his brain's CPU to strip its threads, crashing for several seconds.
Why did it turn out like this?
The junior he planned to groom as a potential successor had suddenly become his grand-master?
The moment Jingliu spoke up to indirectly confirm it, the smiling expression on Jing Yuan's face cracked along with his composure.
What in the world is this!
Finding a grand-master for himself?
Wait!
His severed train of thought sparked with friction. Jing Yuan suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Moonscar with a gaze that had shifted from disbelief to a touch of horror.
Learning has no hierarchy of age; the one who achieves mastery is the teacher?
Did Jingliu mean that Sushang had defeated her in the Way of the Sword, so she took the young girl as her master?
How is that possible!
Leaving aside that he hadn't seen his master for hundreds of years and ignoring her progress in swordsmanship during that time... even using her strength when she left the Xianzhou as a standard, one couldn't pick out a second swordsman in the entire Luofu who could stand as an equal to Jingliu.
And today, you're telling him that the sword mastery of a Cloud Knight Private Second Class could surpass the creator of the Cloud Knights' undefeated reputation!?
Absolutely impossible!
Then, excluding all impossible scenarios, there was only one answer left.
When browsing Sushang's file earlier, Jing Yuan had felt a sense of incongruity.
It was just that with major events like the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus' Ascension Elixir Powder and Phantylia disguising herself as Tingyun arising one after another, Jing Yuan hadn't had the time to spare mental energy to follow that vine of incongruity to find the anomaly.
Thinking carefully, the temperament of Sushang in the Cloud Knight martial arts demonstration was vastly different from the Sushang he was seeing now. Compared to the possibility that Sushang had always been disguising herself like Qingque, a more likely reason was—she wasn't Sushang at all.
So...
A profound, solemn gloom surfaced in Jing Yuan's bright golden lion-like pupils.
Who exactly is this white-dressed Sushang?
What is her purpose in coming to the Xianzhou?
No, that's not right. Her speech and mannerisms are clearly the habits of a Xianzhou native, unless she was possessed by a Heliobus like Tingyun.
But she isn't a Heliobus; Jing Yuan could rule that out.
Could she really be a local of the Xianzhou?
"General, General, what's wrong? Why aren't you talking? Does this count as completing the mission and establishing a great merit?"
Called back to reality by the small hand waving in front of him, Jing Yuan gazed at the girl with the brilliant smile, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
To be reasonable, even without this mess, it couldn't be considered a perfectly completed mission, right?
"It counts, of course it counts!"
Jing Yuan said with a chuckle, turning the page as if nothing had happened.
At present, the Luofu was in a precarious situation, with powerful enemies popping up one after another.
White-dressed Sushang, a mysterious swordsman of unknown identity, was potentially a Xianzhou native. Jing Yuan sensed no malice from the girl; on the contrary, she had helped the Xianzhou greatly.
Just based on her destroying the Ascension Elixir Powder and saving hundreds of thousands of Cloud Knights, one could judge that White-dressed Sushang was an ally to the Xianzhou.
Since she was an ally, there was no need to worry... It was just that, thinking of suddenly having an extra grand-master, Jing Yuan's mood remained complex. He looked up to meet the gazes of his old friends.
For a moment, the desolate clearing seemed to divide into two worlds.
One was a brightly colored world containing the lively March 7th, Kafka being harassed by Stelle, Caelus, Sushang, and the gray-and-white-drained Yanqing.
The other was a gloomy, heavy world of surging winds and clouds, where the members of the High-Cloud Quintet—the four of them—remained silent.
Seven hundred years ago, the five had made a promise right here: no matter how far apart they were, they would gather here to share a drink. But that agreement had long since become an extravagant hope.
Jingliu had intended to invite her old friends to this place of their first gathering to say goodbye during her trip to the Xianzhou, but she hadn't expected the four to meet ahead of schedule.
Everyone knew that now was not the appropriate time to reminisce.
The atmosphere spreading among the four attracted the attention of the others. Remembering the business at hand, Stelle ran up to Jing Yuan.
"Big Brother, why did you come here?"
Big Brother?
Hearing Stelle's address for Jing Yuan, Kafka blinked and laughed.
Jingliu looked at Caelus, who was grinning, then glanced at Stelle, who had 'Twins' written all over her face, and her brow twitched.
Jing Yuan glanced at the Cold-faced Little Azure Dragon, who had remained silent from start to finish, then composed his expression, sighed, and spoke helplessly:
"Everyone must have heard the news from Master Fu. Phantylia relied on the unique characteristics of the Heliobus to flee into the location of the Ambrosial Arbor's roots in the Scalegorge Ancient Sea."
"However, the waves of the Scalegorge Ancient Sea are turbulent, and it is difficult for ordinary people to approach. Only the High Elder can open the Ancient Sea and undo the seal. I came to seek Imbibitor Lunae."
March 7th blinked her pink-blue eyes. "But, General, if you're looking for the High Elder, why would you come here? Could it be..."
As if realizing something, March 7th looked up in surprise, her gradually sharpening gaze sweeping over everyone present one by one.
"The truth is only one!"
A bolt of lightning flashed through Great Detective March 7th's mind. She looked thoughtful, then revealed an expression of having seen through the truth, her eyes shining as if performing facial recognition.
"The High Elder, Imbibitor Lunae, is right among these people!"
"Correct."
Jing Yuan nodded with a smile, looking toward Dan Heng, who had turned his head slightly to the side.
"What! The High Elder is among us?"
Stelle turned pale with shock upon hearing Jing Yuan's admission, immediately looking left and right.
Seeing the slightly dodging gazes, Dan Heng sighed softly. When he stepped onto the Xianzhou, he had prepared himself to face the grievances and entanglements of his past life.
He didn't want to drag his companions into it, but... this time, he probably couldn't hide from it.
"I..."
Meeting March 7th's stunned gaze, Dan Heng took a step forward. Just as he was about to admit his identity, he noticed that the focal point of March 7th's eyes seemed a bit off-center.
That shock was directed at his side. Dan Heng turned his head to look.
"I get it! I get it!"
Caelus slapped Stelle's thigh with force, then grabbed Stelle and ran in front of March 7th.
The two Gray-hairs, one on the left and one on the right, dropped to one knee. With the momentum of lackey guards building up hype for their young master and miss, they cupped their hands and shouted:
"We pay respects to the Vidyadhara High Elder, Imbibitor Lunae!"
"?" x4
Dan Heng, Jing Yuan, Blade, and Jingliu all popped a question mark simultaneously.
What kind of madness are these two suffering from now?
"Huh?"
At this moment, Little March, the protagonist in the spotlight, let out a dumbfounded sound. She looked left, looked right, pointed a finger at her own little head which was leaning forward, and asked the soul-searching question:
"I am the Vidyadhara High Elder?"
"Yes, yes!"
Caelus nodded earnestly, then provided deductive evidence, laying out facts and reasoning:
"Ah Qi, do you remember when we listened to Mr. Xiyan's storytelling before?"
"The High Elder Imbibitor Lunae has been missing for hundreds of years, and you have also been floating in space for who knows how many years."
"Sister Himeko said that when she first fished you onto the train, your whole body was encased in a giant block of Six-Phased Ice. But have you ever considered that it might not have been Six-Phased Ice, but your dragon egg?"
"And more importantly, the Vidyadhara forget their memories of their past life after breaking out of their shell. You forgot your past memories after coming out of the ice egg—doesn't this match up perfectly?"
"All the clues correspond. Facts prove that you, March 7th, are the High Elder of the thousands of Vidyadhara of your age!"
His volume unconsciously increased, as if peeling back layers of the truth.
"Hiss~!"
March 7th instantly sucked in a breath of cold air, leaning back tactically. The disbelief on her pretty face gradually transformed into excitement and realization.
Hey~ You don't say!
You really don't say!
The timeline matches, the amnesia matches... it's well-founded and convincing, much more reliable than the dozens of origin stories she had made up in the past.
"So that's how it is, so that's it! This young lady is the Vidyadhara High Elder, Imbibitor Lunae!"
March 7th achieved enlightenment at Longchang.
"But, where are my horns? Where is my tail?"
Little March felt around her pink hair but failed to find any protrusions on her head.
"Is there a possibility that the High Elder's tail is actually a plug-in?"
Stelle's expression suddenly became extremely solemn. "Don't worry, we will definitely find your tail for you!"
Saying that, Stelle was about to take out her phone and open an adult novelty store to place an order, but Caelus slapped the back of her head and spoke seriously:
"You don't have dragon horns or a dragon tail right now because your power is obviously in a sealed state. They will only awaken when stimulated by danger."
"...That makes sense!"
March 7th rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and nodded in approval.
TV dramas and anime are all like that!
"But I remember Imbibitor Lunae is a boy, right? That doesn't match this young lady's gender?"
March 7th asked her final question.
"This matter... must be the work of the evil Seat of Divine Foresight!"
Caelus spoke with righteousness, pointing his finger at the sky.
"It must be that later generations, in order to smear Imbibitor Lunae, changed him into a born cold-blooded, emotionless male. Otherwise, how could the dignified Vidyadhara High Elder not be a kind-hearted beautiful girl!?"
Caelus struck out with the Supreme Feminist Fist.
His current gender was extremely flexible.
Physically, the female body crushed the male body, so he counted as female.
Psychologically, he was securely male.
Gender could be adjusted on demand.
"I read history books recording wild history in the Divination Commission library before. Imbibitor Lunae was originally female, and even had a... with General Jing Yuan..."
"I say, that's enough from you two."
Dan Heng, who had been silent all along, finally could not endure his past life suffering such horrible slander. He stepped forward to interrupt Caelus.
Jing Yuan was thinking: Just what kind of books are stored in the Divination Commission library?
Where did a History Fictionologist come from!?
Jingliu watched this scene silently, recalling once again the abstraction she felt when she first met Caelus. Fortunately, her Mara was completely cleared now and her mind was lucid, otherwise... she would definitely crave being Mara-struck.
"[Spirit Whisper], Bladie, wake up."
Words turned into tangible power, jarring Blade awake from his daze caused by the impact of the logic chain and the wild history.
The Mara-struck emotions he had released and suppressed for a long time were not something a single Spirit Whisper from Kafka could easily suppress back. The confused Blade actually felt that what the two Gray-hairs said made a bit of sense and started to believe the wild history.
A female version of Imbibitor Lunae instinctively appeared in his mind, and he even felt the other party was a bit fragrant.
This made Blade, who feared neither heaven nor earth, feel an inexplicable terror!
Yamero!
Don't let such crazy talk enter his ears anymore!
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