"Wait."
Adrian stopped Qingque, who had one leg already out the shop door.
"You've been through a lot. How much do I owe you for wages?" Straight to business—Qingque had watched the shop for so long, even delaying her work at the Divination Commission.
This meant… he'd need to offer Fu Xuan some compensation too.
"Hey~ Talking money hurts feelings. Just learn [Empyreal Jade] like me and play a few rounds when you've got time."
Qingque wasn't short on credit points. From start to finish, her goal had always been clear: get Adrian to learn [Empyreal Jade]!
In Qingque's eyes, Adrian had already mastered the art of [slacking off] to its peak—he was too lazy even to play cards, spending his days in the milk tea shop, occasionally crossing to the [Sleepless Earl] Teahouse for a chat.
Seeing Adrian's carefree life, Qingque shed envious tears.
One more mahjong buddy couldn't hurt. Most importantly, Adrian could supply her and her friends with milk tea.
Before, Adrian had watched her play a few rounds, and the magic was right there! Those days, Qingque's luck was off the charts—winning every hand.
"Or… maybe renovate the milk tea shop and add a mahjong table or something?" Qingque suggested, though it felt a bit off, clashing with Adrian's original intent for the milk tea shop.
Adding other setups would make it less of a milk tea shop—might as well rename it a leisure hall.
"Time's running out, so I'll head off first, Mr. Adrian!"
…
Starskiff Haven, Stelle and the group quickly spotted Tingyun, besieged by Mara-Struck soldiers.
Seeing the foxian girl in peril, before Tingyun could even cry for help, Stelle charged ahead with her bat.
"Thanks for the heroic rescue~"
March 7th felt a shiver. "Next time, let us say that! It's weird when you do it!"
"But… it's perfect for testing my new weapon's power on you!" March 7th pulled out the ice gun Adrian had upgraded her. Upon seeing the wide-area damage weapon, Phantylia backed away several steps in fright.
As a rare eyeless being without a Path, it could keenly sense the threat of death.
Such a cute face, yet wielding such a dangerous weapon—this girl was no simpleton!
March 7th's danger level skyrocketed in Phantylia's mind!
Then she glanced at the gray-haired girl beside her—her weapon was unusual too…
Wait… this power is…
[Eternity]?
A shadow flickered across its face, and in that instant, Phantylia felt a spark of murderous intent.
Ah, might as well just wipe them all out…
No, that went against its [Destruction] aesthetic. It had come to collapse the Xianzhou from within—couldn't let a mere Pathstrider of [Eternity] throw it off.
As for the Church's knights? Not a single true Pathstrider among them—just stay out of the way.
"Stay calm, March." Dan Heng stepped in front of March 7th. Ranged mages shouldn't play close-quarters.
Phantylia looked up and immediately saw the face that would haunt it forever, its expression tensing.
This… this wasn't right. Why was there another Emanator of [Eternity]?!
[[Hahahahaha… [Destruction] spawn, prepare to receive [Eternity]'s grace!]]
The familiar words echoed in its ears, stirring unpleasant memories.
Damn it, it had thought the Eternal Church only sent knights to aid the Xianzhou, not expecting their Pontiff to come personally.
Phantylia gritted its teeth—if it had known, it would've sent [Blazing Wind] or [Star Howl] instead.
But [Blazing Wind] seemed to have suffered a grave injury—who could leave such a wound on him, and one that was permanent and incurable?
Without a suitable vessel, how could Phantylia, it, possibly take on Blake? No chance at all!
Wait… Logically, as an Emanator of [Eternity], Blake should see through its disguise. Unless…
After careful observation, Phantylia realized Dan Heng differed greatly from the Blake in its memories, and his voice didn't match at all. Only then did it relax.
Though it didn't like judging by appearances, this face… really needed watching. Felt like staying longer spelled danger—better to withdraw first.
Just as Phantylia planned a silent escape, Stelle and March 7th had already dispatched the Mara-Struck soldiers.
"My deepest thanks for saving my life. This humble girl is Tingyun, docking envoy for Luofu's Sky-Faring Commission trade guild. Might I know the honored names of my benefactors?" Seeing escape fail, Phantylia cleared its throat and freshly introduced itself.
"Honored names… hehe, too polite! I'm March 7th, he's Dan Heng, this is Uncle Yang—no, Mr. Welt Yang. And these two…"
March 7th faltered, but Stelle jumped in:
"I'm the Galactic Baseballer. As for the blonde lady next to me, sorry, her name's a secret—can't disclose."
"Oh… is that so…" Seeing Tingyun's hesitant look, March 7th quickly explained:
"She's Stelle. Don't mind her—this guy always adds flair to her intros."
At that, Stelle wasn't pleased, whispering a retort: "What if we get wanted again? Better to use a fake name for safety…"
March 7th caught on. "Oh, you should've said so earlier—I already blurted out the name."
"I see. Thank you all for your chivalrous aid. But this humble girl has one question: the starskiff sea is fully sealed. Honored sirs aren't Xianzhou folk—whatever brings you here?"
"We hailed the port docking, got no response at first, then suddenly someone opened the Jade Gate for us. Once inside the Xianzhou, we saw no one, so we searched along the way."
Phantylia put on a show. "Impossible? My skiff was the last to dock—the Jade Gate closed right after, and the Sky-Faring Commission sealed the starskiff sea completely…"
"Miss Tingyun, I'm not lying. Check the Jade Gate's opening logs, and the truth will show. The one who opened it said nothing—I suspect foul play myself."
Hearing Welt's reply, Phantylia deftly shifted topics. "From your skills, could you be the rumored… Astral Express?"
"Advanced interstellar civilization, huh? Looks like we're still pretty famous." March 7th relaxed—this meant no wanted posters, right…
"I've heard the tales, but honored sirs, you've come at a bad time. The Xianzhou's had an incident—not fit for guests. Whether sightseeing, seeking medicine, or trade, I'm afraid nothing can be done."
At that moment, Tingyun sensed a peculiar gaze.
"Hm? This honored sir?"
Stelle eyed the bag of specialties in her hand curiously. "Am I seeing this right? Inside that's… soap?"
…
After Qingque left, Adrian had nothing better to do. Fresh back, he couldn't just slack at the milk tea shop, so he grabbed the local specialties from Jarilo-VI and headed to the [Sleepless Earl] Teahouse.
"Welcome to [Sleepless Earl]! What tea would the guest like… eh?" Mengming froze at the familiar face.
"Then… one special-edition [Immortal's Delight Tea]? Thanks for the trouble."