Arden admitted that the Ionized Doppelganger imitating Hoshimi Miyabi was extremely strong, with almost no obvious weaknesses.
If it were a one-on-one fight, only Master Yixuan might be able to wrestle with it—but that was forgetting one crucial point: they had six people on their side.
Everyone performed their own role—some focused on drawing the Ionized Doppelganger's attention, others concentrated on searching for weaknesses and openings, while the rest provided support to their teammates.
Through everyone's combined efforts, the Ionized Doppelganger finally revealed a flaw.
"Listen to my tiger's roar… RAWR!!"
As a Tiger Thiren, Ju Fufu was the most sensitive to combat. She seized that fleeting opportunity and unleashed the ultimate move [Throughout Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am the Tiger Sovereign Technique: Tiger Roar]!
"….."
Under the combined assault reminiscent of a lion's roar and Mount Tai crashing down, the Ionized Doppelganger was stunned into a daze and entered a Stunned state.
Seizing the moment, the three with the strongest offensive power—Corin, Ellen, and Arden—struck together.
"AAAAAH!!!"
"Sharknami!"
"Pierce through gold—obey!"
CRACK~~!
The Ionized Doppelganger's core shattered on the spot.
…..
"You two truly live up to being elite disciples of Yunkui Summit. Your ability to drive out evil is remarkable… If it were only us at Victoria Housekeeping Co, I'm afraid we wouldn't have escaped unscathed."
Von Lycaon openly praised Arden Xu and Ju Fufu's capabilities.
"Oh my, not at all. Without the assistance of everyone from Victoria Housekeeping Co, Ju Fufu and I wouldn't have been able to deal with that Ionized Doppelganger either," Arden replied modestly.
"Hmph! Go ahead, keep flattering each other."
Ellen pouted and complained, seemingly dissatisfied that no one had specifically praised her.
"Ellen!"
Rina tugged at her sleeve.
"Mind your image!"
"I—"
Ellen had only managed to say a single word before suddenly powering down, her whole body going limp.
Ju Fufu reacted instantly, quickly supporting the collapsing Ellen.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
She carefully checked Ellen from head to toe, even lifting her skirt to look, but found nothing out of place.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Rina gently patted Ellen's head, signaling Ju Fufu and Arden not to worry.
"She's just exhausted and fell asleep."
It was well known that Ellen was extremely strong in combat—ranking first in Victoria Housekeeping Co—but when it came to endurance… she was dead last.
Before the spatial tremors occurred, Ellen had already planned to rest and recover. The fact that she managed to hold out until the Ionized Doppelganger was defeated before shutting down was already the result of her pushing herself to work overtime.
"Phew… that's good."
Hearing this, Ju Fufu finally relaxed.
Although she had always been somewhat wary of Ellen because of Arden, they had fought together for a while now. With her kind heart, Ju Fufu didn't want anything bad to happen to Ellen.
"I'll take a look."
Arden stepped forward, taking over from Ju Fufu to support Ellen and examine her.
Of course, with others watching, he didn't lift her skirt like Ju Fufu had.
"It really is just hypoglycemia."
Arden nodded, then pulled a scroll from the pouch at his lower back.
As the scroll unfurled, various odds and ends floated into view.
It was a storage scroll—crafted personally by Arden using blueprints exchanged from the system shop. It had about one cubic meter of folded space. Not large, but very practical.
Arden planned to simplify it and reduce costs, then sell it at the general store in Suibian Temple. It would surely be popular.
He took out a porcelain bowl, poured in some clear water, then produced a talisman.
"Burn!"
The burning talisman fell into the bowl of water, turning it into a bowl of talisman-infused water.
Finally, he dissolved a Beast Ration Pill into the talisman water and fed it to Ellen.
"Ellen will wake up soon. I imagine everyone's tired as well—let's take this time to rest."
Arden then took out more Beast Ration Pills and meat buns for everyone to share.
…..
"Nom nom~!"
Corin bit into a meat bun with gusto.
"So delicious—way better than what Sister Rina makes—"
"Oh?"
Rina turned to look at Corin, her expression exceedingly gentle.
"Is there something wrong with my cooking?"
"N-no, not at all! Nothing wrong!"
Corin hurriedly shook her head.
"….."
Nearby, Arden glanced at Corin, who seemed afraid of something, then at Rina, who looked perfectly satisfied with the answer.
He remembered that Rina, despite being an all-purpose maid, was also a prodigy of dark cuisine—no matter the ingredients, anything that passed through her hands became something indescribable.
"Daoist Arden, this…"
"Beast Ration Pills."
"These Beast Ration Pills suit the tastes of us Thiren very well."
Von Lycaon spoke highly of the flavor.
"I refined them as convenient rations for Ju Fufu. Not only do they taste good, but they're also very nutritious."
As he spoke, Arden patted Ju Fufu's head.
She was happily alternating between Beast Ration Pills and meat buns, eating with great enthusiasm.
"If you like them, I'll refine some more after we return to Yunkui Summit and send them over to Victoria Housekeeping Co."
Arden knew well how tempting these Beast Ration Pills were to Beast-type Thiren—comparable to catnip for cats. Von Lycaon and Ellen would certainly like them. Since the cost wasn't high, only the time needed to refine them, giving some away was no big deal.
"Thank you. I'll pay the Dennies as usual."
In Von Lycaon's view, pills refined by an elite disciple of Yunkui Summit—even if only meant to stave off hunger—must be valuable. Taking them for free felt inappropriate.
"Brother Wolf! Talking about money is too distant!"
Calling Von Lycaon "Brother Wolf," Arden sought to draw closer to Victoria Housekeeping Co.
Of course, it wasn't because he had designs on their cute loli, JK, or maid onee-san—he simply believed that more friends meant more paths forward.
"Then… I won't refuse."
Von Lycaon had high emotional intelligence and understood social etiquette. Since Arden had put it that way, refusing again would only make things awkward.
Moreover, much like Arden, he was also willing to befriend Arden, Ju Fufu, and Yunkui Summit.
"By the way, Daoist Arden, what are your thoughts on our next course of action?"
Von Lycaon brought up the serious matter.
Logically speaking, missions accepted by Victoria Housekeeping Co. had to be completed, and they were already deep inside the Hollow. Turning back now would be a loss.
However, with the Hollow's tremors rendering the Carrot data useless, continuing the mission would become extremely dangerous, with the risk of getting lost inside the Hollow.
Caught between two difficult choices, Von Lycaon sought the opinion of this elite disciple of Yunkui Summit.
"Hmm… my thoughts…"
Hearing this, Arden stroked his chin, assuming a thoughtful pose.
He understood exactly what Von Lycaon was hesitating over.
"I think continuing the mission is the better choice."
"But—"
"I'll handle the pathfinding."
Before Von Lycaon could finish speaking, Arden proactively took responsibility.
They had already gone this deep; he didn't want to give up halfway. Moreover, he had just performed a divination—if they pressed on, it seemed there would be an unusual gain.
"Then we'll be counting on you, Daoist Arden."
Von Lycaon trusted Arden's reliability a great deal.