Xianzhou Luofu, Central Starskiff Haven
"I'll give this blacklist to Feixiao and the others later."
"Hmm... Come to think of it, when will the Astral Express crew arrive on the Luofu?"
Lumina stored the list in her Storage Space, cradling the Phantylia Kitten in her arms. As she gazed at the still-crowded streets before her, she couldn't help but miss March and the others.
"Ugh... if only I'd come to the Luofu with March and the others from the start."
"Then I could have had so much fun playing with them on the Train."
Lumina once again sank into deep regret.
Alas, there was no Aeon of Time in the cosmos, making it impossible for her to travel back to that moment and make a different choice.
There was the Aeon of Finality, but they seemed powerless to alter the course of destiny. One had to follow the preordained path, unable to defy the impending fate.
"Sigh..."
Lumina sighed, desperately wishing someone in the cosmos would ascend in the next instant, becoming an Aeon of Time and then bestowing the position of Emanator of Time upon her.
Lumina wanted to seize control of Time herself, immediately tear through the fabric of spacetime, and return to that moment in the Reverie Hotel suite when she had rested her head in Herta's lap.
If only she possessed the power to freeze Time for a few seconds, it would be even better.
Hehehehe...
[ Wake up! This is the Xianzhou Luofu, not Penacony! ]
The System delivered a crushing blow to Lumina's daydream.
"Who cares if it's Penacony? Do I have to worry about that when I'm having a sweet dream?" Lumina huffed, her previously dejected, frustrated, and yearning-to-return expression vanishing instantly.
In its place came a face full of determination and self-encouragement.
She strode forward, soon arriving at a bustling area in Central Starskiff Haven. Her small head swiveled incessantly, her eyes darting left and right as she tried to find something—or someone—amidst the teeming crowd.
With so many people, surely I'll see at least one beautiful girl, right?
A moment later, Lumina withdrew her slightly weary gaze, abandoning that hope.
Though Central Starskiff Haven teemed with crowds, none of them caught Lumina's eye.
I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
Lumina shook her head, deciding to seek out the people she knew.
With the Wardance Ceremony approaching, all the Xianzhou's institutions were bustling with activity.
Fu Xuan seemed to have gone to the Xianzhou Yuque. As for Qingque... well, she probably couldn't slack off during this time, so she was out of the question.
Looks like Little Gui is my only option...
After a moment's thought, Lumina settled on one person.
Truth be told, she'd rather have sought out the twin sisters from the Ten Lords Commission or Huohuo. But she had absolutely no reason to seek them out. I can't just walk up and say, "I'm here to turn myself in, right?"
Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, Lumina directly scanned the Starskiff Jetty for Little Gui's aura.
Hmm? So close.
She quickly located Little Gui's aura, discovering that she was only about a thousand meters away—easily within reach.
Without hesitation, Lumina strode toward Guinaifen's location, having pinpointed her aura.
-
"Come one, come all! See the amazing chest-crushing stone act!"
The bustling streets of the Central Starskiff Haven on the Xianzhou Luofu were lined with countless stalls offering games like ring toss and archery, drawing crowds of eager tourists.
Among these stalls was one set up by Guinaifen.
Unsurprisingly, given her limited talents, the only performance she could offer was this:
A beautiful girl smashing rocks on her chest!
The sheer contrast of this scene immediately captivated the crowds.
"Hmm? What's Huohuo doing here?" Lumina asked, arriving on the scene. Her eyes fell on Guinaifen lying beneath a massive boulder and Huohuo, standing beside her, holding a hammer that trembled in her grip. Lumina was pleasantly surprised.
A pleasant surprise indeed.
These kinds of surprises Lumina particularly cherished.
Observing their poses, Lumina smiled and didn't rush over. Instead, she pulled out her phone, opened the live streaming platform she had downloaded earlier, and navigated to Guinaifen's live stream.
"Hmm, the viewership is much higher than before," Lumina said, her expression softening with paternal pride as she surveyed the viewer count in Guinaifen's live stream.
Her previous cameo, during their Ghost Hunting Squad's event, had nearly catapulted Guinaifen into the ranks of Xianzhou's top streamers.
After casually sending a few of the highest-tier gifts, Lumina put her phone away and turned her attention back to Guinaifen and Huohuo, patiently waiting for them to complete their "acrobatic performance" of chest-breaking stone slabs.
Why the quotation marks? Lumina simply felt that, judging by their approach, neither Guinaifen nor Huohuo had any real technique. One was hammering with brute force, the other was enduring with sheer stubbornness...
-
After waiting for a while, Huohuo, hammer in hand, still hesitated to strike.
Finally, after Guinaifen whispered something to her—the words lost in the clamor of the crowd—Huohuo's eyes lit up. She raised the hammer high above her head with both hands, then swung it down with what appeared to be tremendous force.
Bang!
A deafening sound echoed down the entire street as the massive rock pinning Guinaifen shattered instantly.
But equally shattered... was Guinaifen herself.
While a Pathstrider's constitution would normally withstand such a blow without injury, Huohuo's technique was clearly... abnormal.
Hmm... perhaps "abnormal" isn't quite the right word. Let's call it... intentional manslaughter?
The sheer force of the blow was evident from the sound alone. Even Sushang, who was far more physically robust than Guinaifen, might have temporarily had her soul leave her body. For Guinaifen, the consequences were even more dire.
"Looks like Mr. Tail wanted to give Huohuo a demonstration, but he accidentally used too much force," Lumina mused, snapping out of her daze. Watching Huohuo slumped over Guinaifen, tears streaming down her face, Lumina felt a pang of sympathy.
Such a waste...No, how pitiful!
Under these circumstances, it was her turn to act.
First, she shielded the onlookers' gazes to prevent them from stealing her chance to act. Then, she strode purposefully toward the stall.