Lan didn't think there was anything wrong with doing this.
How could they leave a mess for the younger generation to clean up?
After much persuasion, Jing Yuan finally got the Aeon to put down the tea set.
It happened to be close to mealtime, and the attendants brought in the food.
Jing Yuan took the opportunity to invite the Aeon.
Since you're already here, stay for a meal before you go.
As a fellow Xianzhou native, Lan couldn't refuse that reason and sat back down.
After the attendants set out the dishes, Jing Yuan didn't dismiss them.
As he kept the conversation going, he quietly noted which dishes the Aeon picked up with their chopsticks.
Jing Yuan discovered that the god sampled every dish on the table and wasn't picky at all.
The god seemed... to have no particular favorites, nor anything they especially disliked.
The Aeon said that the food made by family had a unique flavor, and They were more used to eating in the Marshal's residence cafeteria.
Jing Yuan understood immediately.
After getting used to bad food, everything else would naturally taste like a delicacy.
After the meal, Jing Yuan didn't dare give the Aeon any chance to help. He quickly made a gesture, and the attendants swarmed forward. In the blink of an eye, the table had been cleared.
Lan stood up, picked up the gift bag, said goodbye to Jing Yuan, and set off for "Xuling."
Jing Yuan took out his jade abacus, ignored the large number of unread messages, and instructed his Chief Strategist to buy a jade abacus with the best recording quality and, within half a system hour, select fifty female profiles.
Once the profiles were ready, he would personally choose ten of them before handing them over to the "Cloud-Wandering Arbiter" for the final selection.
Jing Yuan briefly went through his messages.
With "Thanksgiving" approaching, all the generals were rushed off their feet.
He had only managed to steal a little free time that afternoon to play a game of chess with his master, and before he could return to work, two Aeons had arrived.
Jing Yuan could only use his off-hours to reply to work messages.
Most people were reporting their progress, while a few were waiting for his next instructions.
After issuing his orders, a subordinate delivered the jade abacus and brought over the selected profiles.
Jing Yuan looked through them, picked out ten, then added the profiles of Zero's two classmates before forwarding them all to the Aeon.
After finishing his official work, he turned to dealing with his friends' affairs.
Zero was completely focused on tormenting Dan Heng, and Jing Yuan and Yingxing were both powerless to stop him.
In the group chat, Yingxing had almost let something slip.
Jing Yuan had no choice but to smooth things over for Yingxing while quietly giving Dan Heng a hand.
Even if it was social death... he should at least let Dan Heng suffer it somewhere with fewer people.
So Jing Yuan deliberately brought up the Astral Express's exclusive route.
It was a route Zero had personally approved during his time in office, and no one could find fault with it.
As long as the Express crew went to the VIP Starport, they could avoid the crowds.
As for whether they would take Jing Yuan's advice...
That, he didn't know.
He had already done everything he could.
Using his authority, Jing Yuan accessed the internal records of the Commission of Balance.
The day before, the Commission had approved a gathering of over a hundred people.
The event was to be held at the VIP Starport.
Jing Yuan stared at the words "over a hundred people" on the screen for a long time without speaking.
'Zero, what happened to the sixty-four attendants you promised?'
'You're rounding numbers again? Your teacher would cry!'
Jing Yuan took a screenshot and sent it to Zero.
The other party seemed to be busy and didn't reply.
Jing Yuan exited their chat.
Fu Xuan, the Master Diviner, was discussing future divinations with him.
Jing Yuan had been busy all day and really wasn't in the mood to read carefully, so he only skimmed through it.
The general meaning was that fortune and misfortune were impossible to predict.
Zero couldn't be predicted.
As long as something involved Zero, divinations, calculations, all of it became useless.
Unfortunately, his subordinates didn't know the truth, and Zero was unwilling to reveal his identity.
Jing Yuan let out a deep sigh and typed a reply.
[Thank you for your hard work, Lady Fu.]
He put down the jade abacus and began enjoying the time that belonged only to him.
Only now did he finally have the spare attention to think about the Luofu of that other world.
It was a parallel world without Zero.
Most people couldn't imagine something they had never seen, and the "Divine Foresight" General was no exception.
The "Father of the Xianzhou," Marshal Zero, and his subordinates were deeply loved by the people. Their achievements occupied dozens of courses at the academy, and they were important figures in popular stories and novels.
Jing Yuan truly couldn't imagine what another Xianzhou would be like.
Setting aside his emotions, he carefully recalled the achievements of the previous High Elder.
Dan Feng had been a brave and skilled warrior, a physician with exceptional medical skill, and the leader of the Vidyadhara.
If he really had to find fault...
Then there was only what happened in Scalegorge Waterscape.
During that incident, Yingxing became one of the Vidyadhara.
To protect Yingxing, they could only temporarily announce that he had been transferred to "Xuling."
Only after the Vidyadhara race continued once more did Yingxing reappear before everyone.
Jing Yuan knew very little about that incident.
Even after becoming General and using higher authority to review the records, the files still contained the same explanation.
An abomination had attempted to seize the Ambrosial Arbor, and Dan Feng, Yingxing, and the others had defeated it.
During that incident, the short-life species Yingxing had stood out in particular, and because of that he received the opportunity for an external transfer.
At the time, Jing Yuan hadn't found anything suspicious. He had assumed Zero had ordered the higher-ups to conceal the truth in order to protect Yingxing.
It wasn't until he reviewed more records and discovered that Zero... was a special existence that couldn't be predicted or calculated.
Looking back on the past, Jing Yuan noticed the inconsistencies.
The High Elders inherited memories through dreams. Dan Feng might not have recognized Zero's true identity the first time they met, but they met many times afterward. Surely, at some point, the truth had been revealed.
The continuation of the race had always been the greatest problem facing all Vidyadhara. As the High Elder, Dan Feng bore a heavy burden with no one to confide in. If he found any breakthrough, he would naturally seek out Zero first.
Jing Yuan suspected that Dan Feng and the Marshal had deliberately erased Zero's presence.
On that day, Zero had very likely been in Scalegorge Waterscape as well.
Jing Yuan had no concrete evidence, but comparing it with the parallel world described by the "Cloud-Wandering Arbiter," he became increasingly convinced of his theory.
As he thought about it, he realized he had fallen into an occupational habit.
Why was he analyzing his own friend?
Jing Yuan composed himself.
'What kind of crime...'
'...could make the entire Vidyadhara race abandon their High Elder? What could make the Xianzhou ignore everything the Vidyadhara High Elder had accomplished and exile him outright?'
He quickly reached a conclusion.
The High Elder of the parallel world had failed. He had most likely committed an unforgivable crime in Scalegorge Waterscape, in the Ancient Sea of Luna where the Vidyadhara eggs were kept.
When Zero went to the parallel world, the High Elder had joined the Express.
Jing Yuan took a deep breath and rubbed the space between his brows.
No wonder Master didn't want to talk about it.
If it were Jing Yuan, he wouldn't tell anyone either.
'Is this fate?'
Even though they weren't in the same world, even though they had the variable known as Zero, both High Elders had made the same choice.
Then what about the other Jing Yuan?
What had he faced?
Before Jing Yuan could think any further, the jade abacus beside him vibrated.
It was Fu Xuan urging him to step down.
Jing Yuan: "..."
'Why is he thinking about parallel worlds?'
'The thing he should really be thinking about is his next job.'
'Over a hundred affiliated planets...'
'They shouldn't be that different from over a hundred realms, right?'