Chapter 141: Is Bailu the Vidyadhara High Elder? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
「 "About Scalegorge Waterscape..."
Fu Xuan explained, "It is a delve governed by the Vidyadhara— supposedly an ancient oceanic region transferred from the Vidyadhara home planet. After the Ambrosial Arbor was broken in two during the war, its roots were left gnarled and broken... yet it never died."
"The Alliance resolved to seal the Ambrosial Arbor within the Scalegorge Waterscape and entrust it to the Vidyadhara High Elder to guard for generations, intending to rely on the power of Long's Scions to suppress the Ambrosial Arbor." At this point, Fu Xuan sighed softly, "Too much time has passed. I don't know if the seal from back then still holds… Even if it does, it probably can't stop that spectral Lord Ravager." 」
「 .....」
〜Journey To The West World〜
"Vidyadhara High Elder? That title sounds extraordinary…"
Within the underwater purgatory, Ao Guang repeatedly savored the word "Lord." Even without imagining it, he could feel the power contained within that "Lord."
"The High Elder must have inherited much of the power of the 『 Permanence 』. Not only can they transform into a dragon, but their strength is probably not beneath that of General Jing Yuan. Otherwise, the Alliance wouldn't have entrusted such an important Ambrosial Arbor to them,"
Ao Run said.
"I wonder what the current Vidyadhara High Elder looks like?"
Ao Guang looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the light screen, falling upon that boundless ancient sea, his expression full of longing:
"…They must be someone who can turn their hand to create clouds and turn it back to create rain, right? I really want to see them act once, to show off the power of 『 Permanence 』…"
"Big Brother, are you saying the Vidyadhara High Elder couldn't possibly be that little girl named Bailu?"
Ao Qin suddenly interjected.
"Nonsense! How could the Vidyadhara High Elder be in such a girlish form?!"
Ao Guang couldn't help but get angry, sternly rebuking,
"Do you think the Xianzhou Alliance is as stupid as you are?! Entrusting the seal of the Ambrosial Arbor to a little girl who only knows how to heal people? Do you think she can grasp that kind of power?!"
"Uh…"
It did seem to be the case.
Although Bailu's tail, crackling with lightning, could knock down a Mara-Struck, in terms of sheer expressive power, it was far from deserving the title of "Lord."
"She should be a junior within the Vidyadhara, still young but with great potential, right?"
…Ao Guang thought so.
High Elder?
Heh heh… how could it be?
—
「 A little while ago...
Sushang, after countless perils, finally managed to safely deliver Dan Heng and Luocha to the Alchemy Commission.
"Hmm, where is this…" Sushang looked around, then lowered her head to compare with the map in the jade abacus. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, and her large eyes were filled with confusion.
"The Alchemy Commission," Dan Heng reminded her calmly.
"Huh? You're pretty familiar with this place." Sushang nodded.
"Yep, it's the Alchemy Commission. No wonder we were getting those military broadcasts on the way over— something about the Cloud Knights gathering here, right? They're probably coming to fix the Stellaron problem. Finally! It's been such a long journey, but now we're finally gonna meet some Cloud Knights! I'll be back with my unit!"
"I didn't lie to you, did I? I said I'd take you to a safe place, and I kept my word! Although… it was a bit of a detour…" Sushang scratched her head sheepishly.
Luocha recalled, "Before I arrived in Starskiff Haven, I had a diviner read my fortune for the journey ahead. He said, 'Follow and you shall gain,' telling me not to worry about the destination, but to simply go with the flow, and I would gain something."
Sushang tilted her head, a clear stupidity showing in her eyes: "…Uh, what does that mean?"
"It means, thank you, Miss Sushang," Luocha smiled slightly. 」
「 .....」
〜Honkai: Impact 3rd World〜
"Tsk tsk, tsk tsk tsk…"
Seeing this scene, the usually serious Durandal couldn't help but smile meaningfully, gently nudging the Li Sushang beside her with her elbow.
"Hey hey, don't make those strange onomatopoeias!"
Li Sushang glared at Durandal reproachfully:
"The Sushang in the light screen is my counterpart, but not me! The Luocha in there is also… he's not a Raksha! So don't make sounds that can easily be misunderstood!"
"…But speaking of which, even though they are counterparts, the personality difference between Luocha and the Raksha is too great, isn't it?"
Since Li Sushang woke up, she hadn't heard anyone say good things about the Raksha; almost all of them were derogatory descriptions like "hypocrite" or "villain." But looking at the Luocha in the light screen, as his counterpart… he was practically the opposite of the Raksha!
"It's not impossible for personalities to vary greatly. Do you remember the counterparts of Bronya and Seele?"
Durandal reminded her from behind:
"Their counterparts' personalities were completely reversed. Bronya was gentle, while Seele was fiery. Maybe in another world, Otto really could be a good person?"
—
「 "Oh... okay. Well," Sushang, though still confused, nodded happily. "I'm gonna go report to the nearest captain. You two can wander around nearby? You guys can hang around here, but don't run off too far— there'll be Cloud Knights coming to escort you back soon. See you again if fate wills it!"
With that, Sushang waved to the two, signaling goodbye.
As soon as Sushang left, Dan Heng received a message from Stelle.
/Stelle: Your homeland's got some really big crucibles.
/Stelle: Alchemy Furnace.JPG
/Dan Heng: Why are you near the Aureate Elixir Furnace?
Unfortunately, this message failed to send again.
"Messages that never connect… so troublesome. I wonder what's happening with Stelle, March, and Uncle Yang…" Dan Heng was very anxious. He was not only worried about Stelle and the others' safety but also curious about Kafka's plan and Blade's whereabouts.
"You haven't been back home for a long time, have you, Master Dan Heng?" Luocha saw Dan Heng's furrowed brows and, thinking he was nervous about returning home, proactively struck up a conversation.
"This isn't my home." Dan Heng shook his head. Although they had traveled together, he remained wary of this mysterious merchant and deliberately lied.
"Ah… is that so? My apologies." A fleeting astonishment appeared in Luocha's eyes, but it quickly returned to calm: "But if you want to leave, now's the time? The Cloud Knights will soon check our identities. I also have places to go, and this place is not suitable for staying long."
"You… where are you going?" Dan Heng hesitated for a moment, then asked.
"Heh heh, I'm a merchant, and I have a transaction unfinished," Luocha chuckled several times meaningfully, his face bearing an inscrutable expression.
Although Dan Heng felt this man was hiding something, now was not the best time to press for answers. His top priority was to quickly catch up with Stelle.
Along the way, he heard many Cloud Knights discussing the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and the revival of the Ambrosial Arbor. This gave Dan Heng a sense of déjà vu. When was the last time he heard these names?
Cloud Knights were guarding all important thoroughfares. Dan Heng saw Yanqing talking to a Cloud Knight from afar and quickly detoured to another secluded path. But as he walked, countless voices, as if submerged in water, came from all directions of the sea, noisy and chaotic.
In a hazy state of consciousness, Dan Heng looked up at the aureate cauldron in the distance. A slightly childish voice seemed to echo through time, resounding in his ears.
Past Echo Young voice: "Such a big, tall cauldron."
Past Echo Elderly voice: This aureate cauldron is driven by the cloudhymn magic of our people— the Vidyadhara. It drinks the water of the ancient sea like a whale swallows the tide, and refines it into medicinal pellets… 」
「 .....」