Lucian had just stepped off the starskiff when he saw a massive crowd quickly gathering before him.
Most of them were passersby going about their business, but the people around this particular port passage were clearly gathered just to watch the arrival of the Xianzhou Cangcheng delegation.
Soon, right in front of him, a tall and a short figure appeared to greet him.
Having a striking, handsome appearance—with his white hair hanging over one eye and dressed in a half-armor official outfit—the tall man was none other than Jing Yuan, who had quite a few admirers in the Xianzhou Luofu.
Beside him stood the shorter one, a beautiful girl with an equally striking appearance.
Pink twin-ponytails, pinkish-gold eyes, and a delicate, beautiful face—especially with those white thigh-high stockings that looked both charming and cute, refined and radiant—they stirred one's urge to torment her under the guise of pity.
Fu Xuan was her name, the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu's Divination Commission.
"Morning. Sorry if we're late."
Lucian already knew these two well from Jingliu's script, so out of habit, he waved his hand and casually greeted them.
"It's alright, we also just got here." Jing Yuan responded just as casually.
In others' eyes, the two men looked like old friends reuniting, not at all matching the grand occasion.
Meanwhile, like the other women among the crowd, Fu Xuan had also been stunned by Lucian's handsome looks, but knowing that she represented the face of the Xianzhou Luofu, she forced herself to maintain the bearing of a solemn Master Diviner.
However, seeing Lucian's relaxed and casual manner, without the usual fake courtesies, so much like Jing Yuan's, she found the two of a kind.
'Hmm, the Yuque's Deca-Light Reflection Barrier Matrix can't account for anything about him... I really wonder if he's actually that outrageous...'
Fu Xuan thought to herself, considering using her third eye to observe Lucian, wanting to test the waters herself.
Curiosity often worked like this.
Just as Fu Xuan was preparing to quietly activate her third eye, Jing Yuan suddenly interrupted.
"Diviner Fu, what're you zoning out for? Say hi already."
Interrupted mid-casting, Fu Xuan couldn't help but glare at Jing Yuan, which left him puzzled.
'What did I do to annoy her?' Jing Yuan thought speechlessly.
Fu Xuan took a deep breath to calm herself, then looked up at Lucian and spoke up.
"Greetings, I am Fu Xuan, Master Diviner of the Luofu's Divination Commission. A pleasure to meet you."
Like a little girl, Fu Xuan's voice was light and delicate as she introduced herself, yet her tone carried the weight of an elder.
"A pleasure to meet you, too." Lucian smiled and gave another casual wave.
For him, this truly was like meeting old friends again.
It was just that Fu Xuan, unfortunately, did not remember what had happened in Jingliu's script.
"Well, this isn't the place for chatting." Jing Yuan said while glancing at the gradually growing crowd. "Let's continue at the Seat of Divine Foresight."
With that, he led Lucian and the Xianzhou Cangcheng delegation to his main residence and office—the Seat of Divine Foresight.
'With such a perfect chance, how come the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus didn't show up?' Lucian thought to himself while glancing at the bustling crowd around him.
He knew that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had always wanted to assassinate Jing Yuan, but since he rarely left the Seat of Divine Foresight, they never had the chance.
Today, he had come in person and had even prepared countermeasures in case those zealots started their terrorist act, but now it seemed those preparations weren't needed.
===
At the same time, amid the bustling crowd, two people were bickering with each other as they watched Jing Yuan and the Xianzhou Cangcheng delegation walk away.
Yellow Peony: "Damn you! That was such a golden opportunity just now! Why didn't you act?"
Indigo Begonia: "With all those Cloud Knights surrounding him, how the hell was I supposed to? You think I'd get away alive?"
Yellow Peony: "As a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus, you're so afraid of death! Shame on you!"
Indigo Begonia: "Oh, shut up. If you're so brave, then go do it yourself. Easy to talk big when you're not the one risking your neck."
Yellow Peony: "Don't you run! We're gonna have this out! I might not be able to take down Jing Yuan, but I sure as hell can take you down!"
===
With the escort of the Cloud Knights, the Xianzhou Cangcheng delegation smoothly reached the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Inside a meeting room, Jing Yuan dismissed everyone else, leaving only Fu Xuan, as he wanted a private talk with Lucian.
"What I really want to know is the secret behind the revivals of General Teng Xiao and General Yueyu, as well as the Cangcheng's return. Can you share it with me?"
Jing Yuan asked directly, straight to the point, because from his dream, he vaguely remembered Lucian as someone who disliked beating around the bush.
"No problem. It's no secret at all." Lucian said calmly, then lifted his teacup and took a sip. "Everything is the Joyseeker's game. THEY stole the power of Remembrance, and then stole the power of Harmony, which led to today's outcome."
Even though the explanation sounded absurd, it carried a strange sense of logic—especially when it involved the Aeon of Elation, Aha—it almost made sense.
"Ah, if that's the case, then it's understandable." Jing Yuan smiled faintly. "Anyway, this is a good thing for the Xianzhou Alliance, so we've really no complaints."
Of course, as an Arbiter-General who excelled in intellect, he could tell that Lucian was deflecting and passing the blame, not wanting to reveal the truth.
Regardless, with his high emotional intelligence, he wisely suppressed his curiosity and asked no further, mainly because it wasn't something harmful to the Xianzhou Alliance, so there was no need to treat it like a crime case to investigate.
Fu Xuan also understood that the handsome man before her wanted to keep his secret, but since the general didn't press, she didn't press either.
Of course, what she really wanted was to use her third eye to see what Lucian truly was—even if she couldn't see it, since even the Xianzhou Yuque's Deca-Light Reflection Barrier Matrix couldn't account for anything about him, she still had to know what it meant to see nothing.
In the end, after some idle chat, Jing Yuan moved on to deal with the main affair—he would personally inspect the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
"Diviner Fu, why don't you take him on a tour of the Luofu?" Jing Yuan asked with a smile. "I want to properly tour the Cangcheng myself—the most prosperous Xianzhou I've only ever read about in history books."
Before he was even born, the Xianzhou Cangcheng had already been destroyed, and he had only seen fragments of it in that mysterious dream, so he wanted to confirm it with his own eyes.
Just like that, Lucian followed Fu Xuan to wander the Xianzhou Luofu, while Jing Yuan led the Luofu delegation to the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
===
Xianzhou Cangcheng, Central Starskiff Haven.
At this moment, the Central Starskiff Haven of the Xianzhou Cangcheng was more bustling than usual, thanks to the presence of the Cloud Knights and the higher-ups who stood neatly along one of the port passages.
A few minutes ago, the Xianzhou Cangcheng had been informed that the Xianzhou Luofu delegation, led by the Luofu's Arbiter-General, was coming, so they had prepared the highest ceremonial welcome.
As the Xianzhou Cangcheng's higher-ups waited for the Xianzhou Luofu delegation to arrive, five of the Six Charioteers whispered among themselves.
"I can barely tell reality and dream apart anymore. I dreamed of the Cangcheng's destruction, and now they tell me it wasn't a dream, but history."
"Why overthink it? All we need to know is that without General Lucian, there'd be no Cangcheng today."
"He's right. Every time I compare history with the dream, I admire General Lucian even more."
"Now that I think about it, the Alliance's Marshal controls all the military, but the Cangcheng was already declared destroyed in history, right? In that case, shouldn't we no longer fall under the Alliance's jurisdiction? We ought to just declare General Lucian as the Marshal of the Cangcheng and stand independent."
"Hey, careful now. Not all of the Alliance higher-ups are as easygoing as the Arbiter-Generals. Some of those old farts would lose their minds if they heard you. Best just follow General Lucian's lead."
"Yeah, let's leave it at that."
Even if they knew the truth, the Six Charioteers of the Xianzhou Cangcheng still stood united—no matter what the Xianzhou Alliance said, they only recognized Lucian as their true leader.
It was only natural, for the entire Xianzhou Cangcheng had been saved by him, making two hundred billion lives who lived in it owe him their survival.
A while later, as Jing Yuan and the Xianzhou Luofu delegation finally arrived, everyone rushed to greet him.
"It's really true..." Jing Yuan muttered with awe as he gazed at the various exotic buildings filling the Xianzhou Cangcheng. "Seriously, so my dream wasn't a mere dream or fabrication..."
Before his very eyes, the Xianzhou Cangcheng exactly matched the one from his dream, confirming that the dream was definitely not ordinary and not just a mere illusion.
Such a miraculous phenomenon—an Aeon was surely involved.
Could it really have been the Aeon of Elation?
Bringing back the dead and tossing them among the living—that was indeed quite elating.
===
Xianzhou Luofu, Exalting Sanctum.
At the same time, as Jing Yuan was still in awe of the Xianzhou Cangcheng, Lucian was walking the streets of the Exalting Sanctum with Fu Xuan leading the way.
"C'mon, let's grab a pancake—the pancakes here are the most authentic."
As Fu Xuan guided him, Lucian suddenly spotted a pancake shop and bought one, then moved on to get grilled fish, and finally a boba drink—all from the most renowned shops.
"How do I feel like you know this place better than I do?" Fu Xuan couldn't help but ask with a speechless expression. "Isn't this your first time here?"
*Slurp~*
"Been here in a dream." Lucian took a sip of his drink and then replied with a smile.
He wasn't lying.
In reality, this was indeed his first time in the Xianzhou Luofu, but in Jingliu's script, he had come here countless times already.
"Right, right, everything is because of the Joyseeker." Fu Xuan said while rolling her eyes.
Every time Fu Xuan asked Lucian where his knowledge about the Xianzhou Luofu came from, that was the answer she always got.
However, the more it went like this, the more curious she became about his secret, making her heart itch with restlessness.
If she didn't use her third eye tonight, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep, so she decided she had to bring him to her domain and read him properly.
"You definitely haven't seen my divination chamber before, right?" Fu Xuan asked with a faint smile. "There's something worth seeing there. Want to come take a look?"
===
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