"Life signs verified. Opening hatch."
An automated sensor door, futuristic in design, slid open.
"This is the place."
A golden plum blossom filigree was pinned at the slit of her cheongsam. As she took light, lotus-like steps, the tassels hanging from the openwork on the southern beauty's shoulders trembled like snow on a plum branch.
Caelus followed Ruan Mei into her private laboratory.
"Looks pretty similar to Herta's lab."
The interior was extremely spacious, several times larger than it appeared from the outside, undoubtedly using space-folding and expansion technology.
For advanced interstellar civilizations, this technology was commonplace, but for the geniuses of the Genius Society, it was the most basic of basic operations.
There wasn't a single researcher in the vast laboratory—a common trait among geniuses.
They didn't need assistants, or rather, few scholars could keep up with a genius's train of thought and discuss the mysteries of the universe and life with them.
This was especially true for Ruan Mei, who disliked interacting with people and was focused, detached, and eccentric.
Most of the complex tasks on the vessel were handled by robots and the species she had created in her experiments.
However, the need for humans couldn't be completely avoided.
The research 'gofers' on this ship were equivalent to senior scholars at the Herta Space Station, and would at least have some small renown in the galaxy.
A massive, hexagonal medical pod, its back half integrated into the wall, looked somewhat like a honeycomb from the outside.
"How is she doing?"
Standing before the sealed chamber, Caelus looked up through the glass window at the figure floating inside.
"Very poor."
Ruan Mei shook her head gently. The pendant on her golden plum hairpin swung past her ear, shattering the blue light of the countless precision instruments in the room, yet it couldn't dispel the coldness lingering on her lips.
She extended a delicate hand wrapped in a silk glove. As her fingertips swiped through the air, a light blue holographic screen materialized.
On the screen, a dense web of data and specialized life-science terminology formed a diagnostic report.
"Gene chain collapse: 81%. Neural axon rupture: 75.8%. T12-L1 segmental neuron apoptosis rate: 67.3%..."
The cold light cast an inorganic, pale sheen on Ruan Mei's profile.
"By all logic, it should be impossible to survive an attack from a Lord Ravager."
"But she was very lucky to have met you, my dear."
Ruan Mei turned slightly to look at Caelus, her fingertip sliding across the holographic panel as if it were a scalpel dissecting the data stream as she adjusted the controls.
Compared to an expert in life sciences like Ruan Mei, any random person would be a paragon of morality. To her, the passing of a life was more commonplace than a daily meal.
Every day, experimental life forms withered away. Ruan Mei wouldn't have bothered to save a little fox she'd picked up along the way.
The ship wouldn't have even stopped if it hadn't detected the residual power of a Lord Ravager.
It was only at Caelus's request that Ruan Mei took action.
A specialized life-support and repair fluid, the color of blue-green chalcedony, flowed in from tubes that opened from within, each drop containing thousands of recombinases.
To Caelus's subtle expression, the pure white hospital gown covering Tingyun's body automatically dissolved into the fluid, revealing her form before him.
As expected of Ruan Mei, I guess?
So direct...
Caelus's eyes widened slightly, not because of the sight before him—after all, he had three beautiful female bodies of his own and would often admire himself while bathing every night.
He could now enter a women's bathhouse without batting an eye. Unless he deliberately stirred his emotions or was teased in a way that targeted his specific tastes, his heart was as still as water.
"This is..."
What made Caelus stare was Tingyun's physical condition.
Although her body looked intact, a closer look revealed that it was collapsing at almost every moment.
"The Lord Ravager, Phantylia, wanted to claim everything of hers for herself. This takes time, which is why she wasn't instantly reduced to ash."
She was like a sandcastle. The moment she left Ruan Mei's specialized treatment fluid, her body would quickly disintegrate and she would die.
"This world allows a consciousness to match with a new vessel, but it does not allow a vessel to collect a scattered consciousness. If she dies completely, even I would be powerless... Hm?"
Noticing his strange gaze, Ruan Mei turned to Caelus: "My dear, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing. It's just that a friend of mine once said the same thing you just did."
Caelus waved his hand dismissively.
"So, you can save her, right?"
"That, I cannot determine," Ruan Mei answered quite decisively.
"No way! Didn't you just say you could save her as long as she wasn't completely dead?"
"The Lord Ravager's power didn't just destroy her physical body; it also shattered her spirit. [Destruction] is seared into her very being, taking root in her body and mind, and it cannot be removed."
Ruan Mei looked up at Tingyun, whose cells were constantly breaking down and regenerating, and continued to explain:
"I can only save her body. As for her spirit, I am helpless."
"Once her teetering spirit falls completely into the abyss of Destruction, then even if I heal her body, it will be useless."
"The body will eventually wither and disintegrate due to the absence of consciousness. As for her consciousness, she can only rely on her own will to survive."
"I see."
Caelus looked at Tingyun's face—pale as paper, utterly bloodless, and wracked with pain—and held out his hands toward Ruan Mei,
"You're right. But rules... are made to be broken!"
A lotus flower formed from red-and-white feathers appeared in Caelus's palm.
"What's this?"
Ruan Mei glanced over, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. She sensed a unique power from this feathered lotus—it seemed like Imaginary energy, yet was distinctly different.
"But another thing you said was right. Tingyun is very lucky."
Not because she met Caelus, but because Caelus had a burst of gacha luck and pulled the ultimate four-star Key of Consciousness, Fenghuang Down.
"I'll give her a hand."
Crimson feathers drifted down from the air. The illusory plumes seemed to exist outside of reality, passing straight through the medical pod's outer wall and landing on Tingyun's floating form.
Caelus slowly closed his eyes.
...
Ghastly cyan flames tore open the ship's cabin, pouring in through the breach and cocooning the entire Flaming Fire Merchant Guild transport. Sparks from bursting energy conduits danced with the fire.
This was the Abundance-Slaying Flame of a Destruction Emanator. If an ordinary merchant crew member was touched by even a single spark, they would be incinerated in an instant, reduced to ash.
"Why me..."
The blazing inferno seemed poised to burn everything to nothing.
The flames roared, corroded, and surged toward the figure lying amidst the fire, her eyes vacant and her body covered in wounds, ready to bestow upon her a pure destruction.
"Could it be... I'm already..."
Tingyun's eyes were completely filled with fire, their jade-green color turning into a burning, dancing crimson. Her life flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
As a child, she dreamed of becoming a starskiff pilot, to see the world unfold before her and protect the peace of the Xianzhou.
But unfortunately, Tingyun had no talent for piloting starskiffs from a young age, nor was she skilled in combat, so she chose to travel with a merchant guild.
It had always been her wish to reach the untouched places among the myriad worlds.
"The guild departs tomorrow. Everyone, please rest well."
"This time, the Flaming Fire Guild has landed a huge deal."
"Even if it means leaving the Xianzhou for a long time, it'll be worth it..."
Scenes from before the guild's departure flashed through her mind, all illuminated by the cyan-gold flames.
Then, a familiar yet strange voice echoed in Tingyun's mind.
"Tingyun? What a lovely name."
Familiar, because it was Tingyun's own voice.
Strange, because the tone was absolutely not hers.
"It belongs to this little lady now~"
A figure identical to herself appeared, leisurely crossing her legs and swaying them. She laughed softly behind a fan, looking down on her from above.
Her upper body was shrouded in a black-gold mist, with only her imposing and noble golden eyes radiating authority.
"And your final destination... should be right here."
The figure closed her bone-ribbed fan and waved it gently.
"A beautiful, brilliant end—"
The cyan-gold flames condensed into threads of fate, enveloping and binding Tingyun, dragging her spirit toward the entropic vortex's end.
"Destruction."
As the condescending voice fell, Tingyun felt as if she had been thrown into molten lava.
Her very soul began to boil, her spirit shattered, and her memories were seized by a terrifying power. In this process, she was as helpless as a little fox in a demon's grasp.
Afterward, Tingyun forgot many things.
She forgot the Dream Tea of Aurum Alley, forgot Granny Yancui of Gold-Threaded Lane, forgot Yanming from the merchant guild was...
Then her own appearance, her own name, her own identity.
"Who... am I?"
Her consciousness gradually grew muddled. Whenever she tried to remember, an intense pain would strike, shattering her train of thought.
"Holy shit, why is this mindscape a furnace! It's so hot! Put it out!"
An abrupt young man's voice sounded out, accompanied by a sky full of falling crimson feathers.
As the feathers drifted down and touched her, Tingyun felt the searing heat enveloping her soul gradually recede, and a bit of clarity returned to her muddled consciousness.
The flames in her jade-green eyes slowly faded, replaced by the image of a handsome, dashing, gray-haired young man.
Covered in wounds, her clothes burned to tatters, Tingyun struggled to push herself up from the floor.
"Who... are you?"
Tingyun stared blankly at the gray-haired young man.
"And... who am I?"
"You've already forgotten who you are?"
Caelus looked at the utterly vulnerable vixen, his brow twitching as his expression began to change.
"Tingyun, Tingyun, have you forgotten me? It's me, your husband, Caelus!"
With an anxious expression, Caelus ran to Tingyun's side, placing his hands on her shoulders, his tone filled with concern.
The Foxian girl's brow twitched.
Tingyun... such a familiar name. Is it someone I know?
And, husband?
My... husband?
Tingyun stared intently at Caelus.
If you're going to play, you have to go all in. Caelus maintained his earnest expression as he met Tingyun's gaze.
World-Modulating Mode, activate!
Saving people is one thing, but he was a Masked Fool, a Pathstrider of Elation!
If he didn't take this opportunity to have some fun, would he be worthy of the mask?
Would he be worthy of the defeated Sparkle?
Caelus used Fenghuang Down to slightly boost Tingyun's affinity for him—not too high, just a little bit higher than the sense of familiarity the Phantylia-version of Tingyun had shown toward him.
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