Staring intently at the carefree General sipping tea, Fu Xuan finally let out a helpless sigh. "Fine, General, enjoy your tea."
"Hm, my thanks, Lady Fu."
Watching Jing Yuan drink his tea, our Master Diviner suddenly curved her lips into a smile, a glint of the power of the Path of Causality flashing through her beautiful eyes.
Cough, cough, cough!!
Jing Yuan, mid-sip, suddenly coughed violently. Tea surged up his nose, spraying out of the Divine General's nostrils in a comical display.
"Pfft—!"
At this sight, even the usually unflappable Miss Fu Xuan couldn't help but burst into laughter, which only grew louder, causing Jing Yuan's forehead to darken with embarrassment.
"Lady Fu, that was you, wasn't it?" Jing Yuan said quietly, his eyes fixed on Fu Xuan's.
"Uh… How could it be? General, don't make baseless accusations. Everything requires evidence. As the ancients said, 'Nothing is more valuable than proof, and no words should be discarded without verification.' Please, General, provide your evidence."
Saying this, Fu Xuan guiltily turned her head away, avoiding Jing Yuan's gaze.
Seeing this, Jing Yuan understood. If he had only suspected her before, now he was certain—Fu Xuan was definitely behind this. How else could he have suddenly choked on his tea?
"It seems I misjudged you, Lady Fu. Let me explain the task at hand."
"Hm? General, aren't you going to finish your tea?" Fu Xuan raised an eyebrow, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
"Ahem, no need, no need." Jing Yuan cleared his throat, answering somewhat awkwardly. In the current situation, if he kept leisurely sipping tea, Fu Xuan might choke him to death and stage a coup.
Looking at Fu Xuan before him, Jing Yuan grew uncharacteristically serious, his expression grave. "Lady Fu, in fact…"
"Report!!!"
Just as Jing Yuan was about to speak, the doors of the Seat of Divine Foresight were suddenly pushed open by a Cloud Knight responsible for relaying messages. The knight hurriedly approached Jing Yuan and reported:
"Master Diviner, General, something's happened!"
"What happened? Speak slowly." Jing Yuan's brow furrowed. This Cloud Knight had served in the Seat of Divine Foresight for one or two hundred years, and for him to show such an expression, it must be an urgent matter.
"General, Lieutenant Yanqing is in trouble!"
"What?!" Hearing that his beloved apprentice was in trouble, the Divine General could no longer sit still. He slammed the table and stood up from his seat.
"Where is Yanqing now?" Jing Yuan's expression darkened, a spark of anger flickering within him. His usual laid-back demeanor vanished, replaced by the aura of an awakened dragon or lion.
"In… in the courtyard…"
Jing Yuan's presence made the Cloud Knight shudder, but having seen his share of the world, he calmly answered the question.
Whoosh—!
With a swift sound, Jing Yuan, who had been seated, vanished in an instant.
"General, wait…"
Fu Xuan wanted to say something, but seeing Jing Yuan already gone, she gave up. Glancing at the Cloud Knight who had delivered the message, our Master Diviner said, "You may go."
"Yes!"
After the Cloud Knight retreated, Fu Xuan rose from her guest seat and headed toward the courtyard of the Seat of Divine Foresight.
On the other side, Jing Yuan, who had arrived first, gaped in surprise, then couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Hahaha… cough, cough, cough!!"
It wasn't that this master had a low sense of humor, but his apprentice's current state was just too comical.
After his battle with his grandmaster, Yanqing had been frozen by Jingliu's Moonlit Chill of the Frosty River.
In terms of strength, Jingliu far surpassed Yanqing. In terms of skill, five hundred years ago, Jingliu had been the Sword Champion of the Luofu. Thus, against his grandmaster's technique, Yanqing had been utterly defenseless. Even now, with Jingliu long gone, he couldn't break free from the mysterious ice on his own.
Notably, even while frozen, Yanqing retained his consciousness. So… he saw every bit of Jing Yuan's expression.
Looking at his master's reaction, Yanqing felt utterly humiliated, wishing he could crawl into a hole.
"Hahaha, pfft— Hold on, dear apprentice, your master will save you right away!" While speaking, Jing Yuan summoned his Lightning-Lord. Thunderous power gathered at the edge of his formation blade, and in the next moment, Jing Yuan swung it, unleashing several bolts of lightning that struck the ice encasing Yanqing.
Boom, boom, boom—!
Lightning clashed with ice, a contest of disciple and master's power.
However, since Jingliu herself wasn't present, and it was merely her lingering power, the ice ultimately succumbed to the lightning. After a brief struggle, the ice encasing Yanqing shattered inch by inch.
"General, I… I lost again."
Yanqing's face was filled with dejection. Seeing this, our General could only scratch his head awkwardly. From the moment he saw Yanqing, he knew this was his master's doing.
Who would've thought that after leaving him, she'd gone to the Alchemy Commission? Was it to meet Yanqing, her grand-disciple, or did she have other plans?
"General, hm? Didn't you say Yanqing was in trouble? He's standing here perfectly fine," Fu Xuan, arriving a step late, said with her hands on her hips, frowning in confusion.
"Uh, well…" Jing Yuan was about to explain when Fu Xuan waved her hand. "Never mind, I'll divine it myself."
With that, the eye on Fu Xuan's forehead glowed, infused with the power of the Path of Causality. In an instant, a miniature Matrix of Prescience Ultima spread outward from her jade-like feet.
"Wait, Lady Fu!"
Fu Xuan's rapid combo left Jing Yuan dumbfounded. When he snapped back to reality, he immediately tried to stop her.
If Jingliu wasn't willing to confess and submit now, it meant she still had something to accomplish. If Fu Xuan divined the truth now, she might report directly to the Marshal, disrupting all their plans.