Every time she recalled the day she took over as the Master Diviner of the Luofu, Qingque felt her vision go dark, as if the entire world had lost its color.
Even her bright and cunning eyes lost their luster, looking utterly broken, like she had been toyed with by a certain Fuli in some non-Spinosaurus play.
"Wait, General Fu Xuan, are you really making me the Master Diviner?"
She had almost cried out loud back then, asking with a sliver of desperate hope.
The new General, clad in magnificent military attire, looked at her calmly, her attitude leaving no room for argument: "I have been granted the title of 'Master Diviner' and assumed the position of General of the Luofu, commanding the Cloud Knights and overseeing the overall situation. How can I still hold the position of the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission concurrently? Qingque, I trust your ability and potential. With you serving as the Master Diviner, you will surely lead the Divination Commission to new heights."
"If I become the Master Diviner, doesn't that mean I can no longer leisurely play cards, drink milk tea, bask in the sun, and take naps? No! I don't want that!"
Now, thinking of that generous version of herself in the "IF" possibility who was willing to share her dear husband with the General, the Little Sparrow touched her short light brown hair, slumped on the table, and sighed heavily. She felt her life was bleak, her future dim, and it was totally not worth it.
However, thinking from another angle, wasn't she also indirectly screwing over the Fu Xuan of the intrinsic world by doing this?
If not for that adorable daughter who appeared out of thin air serving as an emotional anchor, how could the General, who was watching the whole process, lose her mental balance and unconsciously immerse herself in it?
This is what Buddhists call the cycle of cause and effect; everything is destined. You reap what you sow, and each has its own retribution.
Meanwhile, inside the secret chamber of the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Seeing that representatives from all participating parties had basically arrived, Fu Xuan took a deep breath, her fingertips flipping through the thick stack of documents.
Finding that apart from the "Slacker's Diary" written by a certain extremely unreliable subordinate mixed in at the beginning, the rest were normal and rigorous intelligence summaries.
So she decided to deal with business first and settle accounts later.
Her gaze swept across the various private rooms separated by formations below, and she quickly noticed a vacancy.
Through a special sound transmission device, Fu Xuan sent her doubt into the private room where the Schicksal representative was: "Ms. Incresion, why has Duke Ironmaiden missed the appointment?"
Recalling her colleague's outrageous behavior that could be recorded in Schicksal's dark history, the nun sitting on the sofa remained expressionless: "As everyone knows, there are only three Horsemen of Apocalypse, just like the Four Heavenly Kings usually have five members."
"?"
"Her aunt came (She's on her period), and she is being rescued in the hospital."
"I see." Fu Xuan returned an impeccable official smile: "Please convey my greetings to Her Excellency the Duke on my behalf, and wish her a speedy recovery."
In her heart, she was already counting on her fingers to calculate.
Unfortunately, Honkai energy had strong interference with divination techniques. Coupled with the fact that the target Death Knight was an S-rank, the hexagram presented in the end was blurred, only vaguely capturing some text with unclear meaning:
Crouching beside the Azure Dragon, wrapped in invisible shackles, its state silent, neither speaking nor uttering a word.
Azure Dragon? Referring to the East, the Wood Virtue, vitality, or some powerful existence? Shackles? Silence?
What unspeakable conspiracies are these guys plotting in secret?
The girl General secretly raised her vigilance.
Schicksal coming to participate in the festival definitely didn't mean that both sides were harmonious and friendly allies.
Even with the World Serpent as a common goal, it wouldn't be surprising if these guys made some big news privately.
Fu Xuan even suspected that with the World Serpent's pervasive and bizarre espionage capabilities, there might be a mole planted by the opponent hiding in this secret chamber right now.
But it didn't matter.
Since you want to make a fuss, then let's make it bigger!
Recalling the wicked plan Qingque tremblingly offered, Fu Xuan thought playfully.
While the General was planning the layout, the representatives in the private rooms below were not idle.
"Hey, hey, hey! Did you guys read yesterday's 'Luofu Anecdotes'?"
A slightly jumpy magnetic male voice spread from the corner: "The Yaoqing's Heaven-Smiting General and our Luofu's Master Diviner General actually fought in public for a handsome fresh meat! I always thought only priests and fathers from the Crusade liked little boys. I didn't expect the Generals of Shenzhou to have this taste too!"
One sentence offending both the Taixu Front and the Vatican? Bro, you are very brave!
Everyone at the meeting secretly marveled. They looked towards the voice and found it was the representative of the Galaxy Rangers, then tacitly withdrew their gazes.
These nutjobs... it's normal.
A famous proverb in the Honkai side: When you encounter trouble, you can seek help from any passing Galaxy Ranger, and most of them will flock to you; but when you encounter no trouble, the Galaxy Ranger themselves are the biggest trouble.
Just get used to it. Ignore them, ignore them.
But there are always people who find them displeasing.
"No way, no way? Does anyone really believe that two prestigious Xianzhou Generals would lose their composure in public and fight for a brat?" The Anti-Entropy representative responded sarcastically: "Easily believing rumors fabricated by unscrupulous media for attention, this IQ is truly hopeless no matter who you hire."
Damn it, who dares to spread rumors?
The fragrant and soft Li-bao is mine!
That's right, representing Anti-Entropy at this meeting was none other than Mobius.
The beauty was dressed in a fitting dark green research suit, her slender legs wrapped in black silk crossed and lifted, impatience flickering in her snake-like vertical pupils.
She had long noticed that the mysterious organization World Serpent paid far more attention to her than usual.
It was better before; catching the trackers and dealing with them would bring peace for a while.
Who would have thought, probably realizing they were about to be completely exposed to the sun, the World Serpent's tracking and prying on Mobius had recently become more and more unscrupulous, annoying her to no end.
—If you have the intention to cooperate, come and talk openly. It's not impossible if the price is right. But this stalker-like tracking and candid photography without saying a word, isn't that pure mental illness?
"Everyone, I think this kind of irrelevant gossip topic can perhaps be put aside for the time being."
The speaker's words revealed kindness, closeness, and the high prestige of an educator.
He tried to steer the topic back on track, but ridicule followed closely: "Drop it, Hades. I don't know who was yelling excitedly just now, 'If you are interested, why not try a sheep? Remember to interact with it on the edge of a cliff. You move forward, and the sheep will desperately retreat because of fear of falling. That feeling is superb.'"
"That was then, this is now."
Pluto, known as Hades, smiled and said: "Since we have embarked on the track of discussing business, you and I should not embarrass the lady hosting the meeting on stage. It is better to focus on the topic itself."
The old man's short silver-white hair was meticulously combed. Years had carved deep marks on his face, but his facial lines were still as clear and tough as if carved by a knife and axe.
This 130-year-old guy in a black custom suit was the leader of the medium-sized organization Ouroboros (God of Snake-Eating).
For thousands of years, the World Serpent had been conducting Stigmata awakening experiments all over the world.
Successes were few, and failures were almost all disposed of.
The main members of Ouroboros were the awakening failures who sporadically escaped from the purge.
These lucky ones struggling out of nightmares gathered together to form a stubborn force centered on revenge, swearing to eliminate those villains who treated them as experimental subjects (Volume 2, Chapter 11).
In the past, the whole world thought the World Serpent was just an illusory legend or conspiracy theory.
Only Ouroboros always firmly believed in its existence and had been silently tracking it in the dark.
According to the original route, they, completely swallowed by hatred, should have been thoroughly purged by the returned Sovereign of World Serpent.
Who would have thought that under Fuli's interference, the expansion of the Third Eruption was suppressed in the suburbs and failed to completely swallow Nagazora City like in the previous loop.
The traces left by those World Serpent members who cooperated with Cocolia were not completely erased by the Great Eruption and were noticed by Theresa who later took over the area.
The Principal followed the vine to the melon, and after going through various things, finally confirmed this huge organization hidden behind history, sounding the alarm for major forces.
Pluto was naturally ecstatic about this, even willing to personally attend this meeting.
Also because of Ouroboros's stance of never resting until death against the World Serpent, and his nature as a whistleblower—making it impossible for him to be a mole—once he spoke, the representatives of all parties present also restrained their casual attitudes and refocused their attention on the Master Diviner General in the center of the conference room.
Fu Xuan was calm and composed. Having experienced wind and rain for many years, she was long accustomed to being the focus of attention.
Her cold eyes swept across the venue, and her pleasant voice clearly passed into every private room: "I know that compared to hollow and boring discussions or mutual shirking and wrangling, everyone prefers to see some practical and effective action plans."
She got straight to the point: "There is no need for me to repeat the scarcity and importance of natural Stigmata. And an organization suspected of mastering the technology of artificially creating Stigmata awakeners five thousand years ago... It is difficult for me not to associate it with the rumored Fire Moth precursors."
"But this is not the focus of today's meeting." The girl knocked on the table, changing the subject: "That's right. No matter what the true origin of the World Serpent is, and what its core purpose of hiding until now is, for you and me here, these are not important at the moment."
"What is important is that its existence, its pervasive infiltration, has already posed a tangible threat to us."
"It has been half a year since the Third Eruption. During this period, I believe everyone, like the Taixu Front, has tried to do something."
"However, the fact is that despite our multiple attempts to signal them in various ways and try to establish communication channels, they still stubbornly refuse to establish the most basic exchange mechanism with us."
Fu Xuan sneered: "In that case, naturally, there is nothing to say to these guys who think highly of themselves."
The conference room was silent for a while. A representative cautiously raised his hand: "Does General Master Diviner mean that the Taixu Front is ready to formally declare war on the World Serpent and launch an all-out war?"
"You can put away the boring language tricks, Mr. Representative of the Wrongful Death Octahedron."
Fu Xuan's attitude was flat, carrying unquestionable majesty: "Fighting against the World Serpent has never been, and will never be, a matter for the Taixu Front alone."
"Ouroboros can serve as the vanguard in this war. We do not mind shedding the last drop of blood in the war to slay the dragon."
Pluto sighed: "It's just a pity that the elite troops and unruly powerhouses dispatched by everyone will probably not be willing to obey the unified command and dispatch of a mere medium-sized organization."
"Moreover, not everyone is inclined to launch a war immediately."
Incresion brushed her fingertips lightly over the cross on her chest and added calmly: "The risk is too great, the potential benefits are unclear, and most importantly, the threat of the next large-scale Honkai eruption is approaching day by day."
Seeking wealth in danger, but also losing it in danger. Seeking one-tenth, losing nine-tenths.
In coalition operations, even if the World Serpent is eventually defeated and its legacy divided, the vast majority of profits will inevitably be taken by the few giants. It would be lucky for small and medium-sized organizations to get some scraps.
Maybe their own vitality would be greatly damaged. A downgrade in rating would be considered good; the most terrifying thing would be enemies taking advantage of the void to come to the door and physically remove them from the list.
"Precisely because of this, I did not intend to directly advocate launching an all-out war this time."
Having experienced so much, Fu Xuan had long deeply recognized the limitations of this kind of multi-party meeting.
Wanting this group of guys with their own agendas to show their hands was less likely than finding someone random to say "I am Qin Shihuang, V me 50."
"Everyone, the grand event we are in right now is called the Starward Wardance." She clapped her hands: "According to the tradition of previous sessions, a Wardance naturally involves contestants signing up, competing on stage, and deciding the winner under the gaze of everyone."
The girl General looked around. Although separated by one-way barriers, she could feel the gazes cast upon her: "But everyone, repeating the same mode so many times, don't you find it a bit boring?"
"Oho! A new trick?"
The representative of the Galaxy Rangers put down his long legs resting on the coffee table, straightened his back, and whistled: "What brilliant idea does the General have?"
"As a colossal force comparable in size to Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, no matter how deeply the World Serpent hides, there must be a large number of secret partisans and peripheral organizations in this world providing support and transporting funds for its various projects."
Fu Xuan's eyes were sharp: "I have already input the intelligence clues provided by all parties into the Matrix of Prescience, using its precise huge chaos system for calculation, deducing numerous highly suspicious locations, organizations, and personnel lists."
—Matrix of Prescience, the large-scale deduction formation relied upon by the Luofu.
The principle is similar to using a chaos system for prediction. Through limited observation and multi-variable information collection, combined with complex algorithms to optimize result accuracy, it deduces the development trend of things and generates decipherable hexagrams to predict fortune and misfortune.
Vill-V, guessing Fu Xuan's thoughts in a second, said playfully: "Automatically collect information, generate and publish cleaning tasks by the Matrix of Prescience, and then use the numerous contestants of this Wardance as a spear to precisely eliminate these snake partisans entrenched all over the world."
Mobius took over the conversation: "Then we will pay corresponding rewards based on the completion of the tasks, thereby forcing the World Serpent out of the water. At the very least, we can greatly weaken its power."
"Interesting."
The representative of Britannia applauded lightly: "No need to mobilize the core elites under our command, and we can control the scale and intensity within a certain range."
The registration threshold for contestants in the Wardance is low, and the number is huge. There is no shortage of stragglers fighting for generous rewards.
Major organizations can also use this opportunity to train newcomers and obtain rewards. No matter how you look at it, it is quite ingenious.
"Not only that, everyone."
Recalling Qingque's bad-guy look of "not afraid of making things bigger" when offering the plan, Fu Xuan laughed dumbly:
"Every time a contestant successfully clears a partisan stronghold, the Matrix of Prescience will evaluate corresponding points for this action based on task difficulty, completion degree, and other factors."
"These points will be displayed in real-time on advertising screens all over the Xianzhou. When a major event is completed, there will be corresponding large-scale announcements to build fame."
"Points can not only be used to exchange for various cultivation methods and items, but by the end of the entire festival, the top hundred, top ten, and top three in total points can receive extra generous rewards."
"And the one with the highest points—"
She raised her hand high and finalized the decision: "Will be the undisputed Grand Champion of this Starward Wardance!"
"There are tangible benefits, and also opportunities to make a name for oneself." Pluto praised: "It's really tempting. If I were a hundred years younger, maybe I would sign up enthusiastically to participate."
"Old man, you can do it now if you want!" A teasing voice came from somewhere: "The Wardance has no upper age limit. It just so happens to let us juniors look up to the illustrious name of the 'Harvard Jackknife' back then!"
"Hehe..."
A burst of relaxed laughter rang out in the venue.
This was partly out of respect for the elder, and partly out of relief that there was no need for large-scale troop deployment.
"But as a public competition, we need to ensure its basic fairness and justice."
The representative of the Vatican—Robin—spoke calmly, her voice ethereal and serious.
Seemingly worried that the Luofu officials controlling the Matrix of Prescience would fix the ranking and engage in shady dealings, in reality, it was purely out of adherence to the principle of fair competition.
"On this point, you need not worry." Fu Xuan nodded in the direction of the singer: "First, I swear in the name of the Luofu's Master Diviner General and the host of this conference that I will ensure the fairness and justice of this event and will never be biased."
"Secondly, under normal circumstances, the initial points of all contestants are zero, but there is one exception." She chuckled lightly: "Calculated by the Matrix of Prescience, the closer the relationship between the contestant and the high-level officials of the Taixu Front, the lower their initial points will be."
"Huh? Then wouldn't I start with negative ten thousand points?"
A crisp voice of surprise echoed, surprisingly from Yunli beside Huaiyan.
"The worse the situation at the beginning, the higher the gold content of catching up later, right?"
The old General patted his precious granddaughter's little head and comforted her cheerfully: "Be brave in facing challenges, Yunli."
Incresion suggested again: "Since it is a competition, out of fairness considerations, different initial negative points should also be set for powerhouses of different combat power levels."
"Yeah, yeah!" The Galaxy Ranger representative echoed loudly: "Segments of the weak defeating the strong and the lower overcoming the higher are interesting! A bunch of Critical-ranks dominating the list from beginning to end, isn't that just purely bullying the small? What's there to watch?"
"Right, right!"
Soon, representatives from all parties, with a wicked smile fearing the world would not be chaotic, enthusiastically offered suggestions one after another.
"Task difficulty should also match the contestant's own strength level."
"Force everyone to be randomly assigned a few teammates. Bind the strong with weak teammates, but don't tell them at the beginning. Let them find each other by completing tasks!"
"Give each participating team a smart live broadcast drone, edit the highlights and post them online, let the global audience score from multiple angles, and award prizes like Best Popularity Award, Best Hot-blooded Moment, Most Touching Team, etc.!"
"Exactly! The livelier the better!"
Don't look at these people usually being stingy; when doing bad things, they spend money like water.
This is the microcosm of the current era: poetry is everywhere, but there is not a single poet.
As a victim of this collision of collective wisdom—
Two days later, early morning, the Haunted Mansion.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Looking at the blatantly dazzling initial points on the light screen: -80,000, Fuli, who had just gotten up after a night of lingering death struggle with Jingliu's remnant (?), felt his eyes go dark, feeling like the sky was falling.