The purpose of this trip was different.
Therefore, the guide led them directly along the way and escorted them to the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Few came to the Seat of Divine Foresight. Apart from Acheron and Kiana, only Sirin and the Ark's most quick-witted mind, Bronya, were present.
The main negotiators with the Xianzhou were also Sirin and Bronya.
"Haha, you must be the guests from Izumo."
A white-haired young man seemed to have been waiting for a while, a faint smile curling on his lips. "I am Jing Yuan, the High-Cloud Quintet of the Luofu. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
He was none other than the Divine Foresight, Arbiter-General Jing Yuan.
Kiana wasn't unfamiliar with this general—anyone who had played Honkai: Star Rail couldn't possibly forget the storylines of the Five Heroes of the Clouds and Jing Yuan himself.
And the young boy standing beside him, sword in hand, must be Yanqing—the one known for saying, 'There are five of them, but I will take on three.'
"We're glad to meet you as well, General Jing Yuan."
Sirin, well-versed in such occasions, spoke with practiced ease. Even in the presence of an Emanator, she showed no trace of fear.
"I am Sirin, the current leader of the Ark. This time, the discussions with the Xianzhou will be handled entirely by me and Miss Bronya here."
Jing Yuan nodded with a gentle smile, though his gaze briefly swept over Acheron and the unintroduced Kiana beside her.
"I assume this must be Miss Acheron?"
His eyes finally settled on Acheron, identifying her without hesitation.
The most mysterious, the least probable of the Emanators—
The Emanator of Nihility.
Acheron still used her alias when dealing with outsiders. Though Sirin found it strange, she respected her decision.
People could call her whatever they liked—
She would always remain Raiden Mei's.
Acheron gave a slight nod. She remembered Sirin's words and chose not to speak. Though it was their first meeting, she could tell that this General Jing Yuan was no ordinary man.
Better to speak less than to make a mistake.
She would leave the talking to Sirin and Bronya.
"Yes, this is Acheron," Sirin confirmed. When she said the name, she almost paused slightly. After all, she had always known her as Raiden Mei and didn't even know when she started using an alias.
"I heard Miss Acheron is looking for the whereabouts of a Galaxy Ranger?"
Kiana's ears perked up slightly. Where had Jing Yuan heard that from? Sirin and the others shouldn't know about it.
The Galaxy Ranger...
Acheron met his gaze. "I was entrusted by another to return something to the Galaxy Ranger."
To return something?
A simple statement, but one that carried a wealth of hidden information. Jing Yuan extracted quite a few useful clues from her words.
"So it was by another's request. The Jade Gate Xianzhou has also been searching for the Rangers, but ever since that incident, their traces have become exceedingly difficult to find."
You couldn't read one's Path by sight—
But he could sense it nonetheless: the mystery surrounding the woman before him, and that faint but undeniable air of danger coiling around her.
She was no ordinary being.
Even if she weren't the Emanator of Nihility, she would be close to one.
Many civilizations sought cooperation with the Xianzhou, yet the Xianzhou had no real need to form alliances. The Xianzhou itself was already a hegemon.
Seven Emanators—
That alone made them unparalleled across the cosmos.
But having no need did not mean they should refuse. No matter where one went, Emanators were a force that could never be ignored.
Especially when...
Izumo was the only civilization that had walked out from Nihility—and even possessed an Emanator of Nihility.
That, in itself, was a miracle.
They had no reason to reject cooperation.
Of course, that was assuming the visitors came with genuine goodwill, not ulterior motives.
That was for them to determine.
Acheron nodded slightly. She had searched for a long time yet had not found any trace of the Galaxy Ranger. For now, she could only set the matter aside.
Perhaps her method was wrong.
Maybe instead of seeking them herself, she should change her approach—just as Kiana had once done to find her.
She could create a disturbance, something significant enough to draw the Galaxy Ranger's attention and make them come to her.
But that wouldn't be easy.
First of all, the news had to spread far enough...
"General Jing Yuan, I believe you already understand the purpose of our visit, so… what is the Xianzhou's stance on the matter?"
Sirin, noticing how he had steered the conversation off-topic, quickly spoke up to bring it back on track. This was no time to be discussing the Galaxy Ranger.
Their business wasn't finished yet.
"An alliance, is it?" Jing Yuan replied. "I've already seen Izumo's letter at the Sky-Faring Commission. Your intentions are clear to me. The Xianzhou does not mind gaining another friend."
Not mind? So easily agreed?
Kiana was surprised at first, but then saw Sirin raise an eyebrow and respond, "If General Jing Yuan has any concerns, please speak frankly."
"Haha, Miss Sirin certainly has a straightforward personality."
Jing Yuan smiled, saying, "The Xianzhou has many friends. I wonder—which kind of friend do you wish to be?"
Sirin glanced at Bronya.
Bronya, resting her chin on her hand, caught the cue and took over the conversation. "That depends on what kind of friendship the Xianzhou is willing to offer us."
She tossed the question right back.
For now, this was still a test. Neither side intended to take the initiative first. After all, in negotiations, making the first move wasn't always the best choice.
Jing Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Do you representatives from Izumo wish to cooperate with the Alliance as a whole—or specifically with the Luofu?"
"The Luofu," Bronya answered immediately.
The Xianzhou Alliance was too vast. For a partnership or alliance, it was far better to deal with one ship than the entire Alliance.
"This must be your first visit to the Luofu, I presume?"
Bronya caught his tone and replied smoothly, "The Luofu's reputation precedes it. One reason for our visit is to witness its splendor for ourselves."
"Then why not stay for a few days?" Jing Yuan said with a polite smile. "I must admit, the Luofu is not ruled by my word alone. I will need to consult with the Six Charioteers on this matter."
They hadn't expected to receive a concrete answer immediately anyway. The general's response was entirely within expectations—and perfectly reasonable.
It would just take a few days of waiting.
Whether the alliance succeeded or not was important, but not critical. After all, the Xianzhou wasn't the only civilization with this kind of technology.
They had options.
Their first meeting was simple—so simple it seemed they had said nothing at all, yet somehow everything had been conveyed.
General Jing Yuan then instructed the young boy with the sword beside him to escort them to the guest inn that had been prepared in advance, introducing the Luofu along the way.
"These details, we had already heard before coming," Sirin said casually. "The Xianzhou is known as a gathering place for the long-lived. That's precisely why we chose it as our first destination."
That sounded… a little odd.
Before Yanqing could respond, Kiana asked curiously, "What do you mean by that?"
She hadn't heard Sirin or the others mention anything like that before.
Bronya paused, glancing first at Sirin, then at Acheron, her expression equally puzzled. "You don't know?"
"What? What am I supposed to know?"
Kiana looked genuinely confused. She had no idea what they were talking about.
"The Stigmata."
What were they talking about?
A question mark practically popped above Kiana's head. What were they even discussing? How had the conversation suddenly shifted to Stigmata?
"Um, excuse me, what are you all talking about?"
Yanqing, who had been listening in confusion, finally couldn't help but ask. When he noticed there were others among the group just as bewildered as he was, his curiosity only grew stronger.
Weren't they supposed to be on the same side?
Why did some of them seem to know what was going on, while others clearly didn't? Were they discussing something classified? Should he excuse himself?
Bronya's gaze lingered briefly on Yanqing—the only outsider present. She hesitated for a moment, but considering this was a good opportunity to strengthen mutual trust, she decided to let it be and continued her conversation with Kiana.
"You should know this, right? When a Stigmata is developed to its utmost limit, it undergoes… some unexpected transformations."
"...Transformations?"
Kiana furrowed her brows tightly. She had never equipped a Stigmata herself, so naturally, she had no idea what kind of effects a fully developed one might have.
Mei had never mentioned anything like that either. Thinking of this, she glanced toward Acheron for confirmation—
Hoping to hear her thoughts.
"Other than preserving memory and color, are there any other effects?"
To her surprise, Acheron looked puzzled as well. She even asked a question almost identical to Kiana's.
Kiana felt instantly relieved.
If Mei didn't know either, then it made sense that she herself didn't.
"You don't know either?"
Now it was Bronya's turn to be genuinely shocked.
Acheron definitely bore Stigmata—and not ordinary ones. Like Sirin, hers belonged to a very special category.
Could it be that special Stigmata function differently?
Thinking this, Bronya turned toward Sirin, ready to ask her directly.
But before she could speak, Sirin took the initiative. "Once a Stigmata has been refined to its limit, the user's body undergoes a qualitative transformation. After numerous tests and verifications, it's been confirmed that…"
She paused briefly before continuing, "Beyond the abilities we all know about, the increase in lifespan is also... astonishing."
Beyond the abilities everyone knew about—
Before anyone else could speak, Kiana was already staring blankly, her face filled with disbelief. "Wait, that doesn't sound reasonable at all."
She hadn't known Stigmata could have that effect. Did that mean if someone developed theirs far enough, it could literally reconstruct their body?
"Honkai... that power was never reasonable to begin with," Bronya muttered, unable to hold back a dry remark. Having lived through that era herself, she knew better than anyone—the more you learned about the Honkai, the less sense it made.
Leaving aside its corrosive nature—
She had traveled far and wide and seen her share of wonders, yet she had never encountered a more versatile energy than Honkai energy.
"...You actually make a lot of sense," Kiana admitted awkwardly. She remembered that old saying: Honkai energy can do anything.
"This isn't what surprises me," Bronya continued. "What's strange is that you didn't know."
Honkai energy had originated from Kiana. The Stigmata were created by her. And yet—she was completely in the dark?
"I never equipped a Stigmata myself! How would I know what it feels like?" Kiana protested weakly. "I thought they just boosted Honkai resistance and maybe enhanced physical performance a bit. That's all."
She grumbled under her breath. How was that her fault? The system never mentioned extra abilities—didn't even list Honkai resistance in the description.
If she remembered right, it only said something about enhancing swordsmanship and elemental damage, and that their attributes could grow through combat.
"It's actually more of a transcendental evolution," Bronya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Have you really never thought to study it properly?"
"Uh..."
That was... a good question.
Kiana awkwardly averted her gaze. Her relationship with the Honkai was complicated—something she both wanted to distance herself from and had to rely on.
Now that she had accepted everything, perhaps it was time to sit down and truly sort things out.
"I don't feel anything," Acheron said suddenly, her tone calm but distant. Her eyes carried the same faint confusion that had flickered across Kiana's moments ago.
"...Perhaps it's because your body has absorbed too much Nihility," Bronya murmured, frowning slightly.
Acheron was like them—
The only difference was that Acheron had walked too far down the path of Nihility.
Yanqing couldn't understand a single thing they were talking about.
Since no one had asked him to leave, he awkwardly stayed where he was. But even though he heard every word, none of it made any sense to him.
He scratched his head, thinking to himself that if the General were here, he'd probably understand all this talk.
Something about reason, something about Nihility—he had absolutely no idea what they were saying.
But no one paid any attention to the embarrassed young swordsman. Their focus shifted instead when Sirin shook her head, disagreeing with Bronya's conclusion.
"You haven't passed the trial yet."
"Trial?"
Bronya had assumed Acheron's condition was due to the influence of Nihility. Sirin's words, however, offered a different perspective—one that caught her by surprise.
"The final trial of the Stigmata," Sirin explained briefly, glancing toward the fidgeting Yanqing, who looked like he wanted to join the conversation but didn't know where to start.
Some things could be spoken of.
Others were better left unsaid.
"Yanqing, was it? Don't mind what we were just discussing," Sirin said kindly. "We were simply talking about the same matter from different perspectives."
Then she continued, her tone measured and calm: "If one could live endlessly—what your people might call a long-lived species—then perhaps we would also fall into that category. That is, in fact, one of the reasons we chose the Xianzhou as our prospective partner. You may tell that to your General, Jing Yuan."
"Ah? Ah—yes, yes, of course!"
Yanqing, who had been dazedly following along, almost didn't react in time when his name was suddenly called.
The young man didn't fully grasp the weight of her words, but he made sure to memorize every single one. He would relay them to the General later, word for word.
"Ah—there, up ahead. That's the inn arranged for you. Look, the envoy from the Sky-Faring Commission is waiting there as well."
Bronya nodded and said politely, "Thank you for your help."
"It's no trouble at all!"
Yanqing led them the rest of the way, completing the task assigned to him by the General. In his mind, though, he kept repeating what that purple-haired lady—Sirin—had told him.
After handing them off to the Commission's envoy, Yanqing gave a polite bow before turning back the way he came.
It didn't take him long to return to the Seat of Divine Foresight, though now there were two additional people present.
"Oh? Yanqing, you're back," Jing Yuan said, smiling as he looked up from his conversation. "You seem in quite a hurry. Did something happen?"
"General!"
Yanqing quickly greeted him and the two others present. "Master Fu Xuan, Lady Yukong."
"It's nothing serious," he said breathlessly. "It's just that Miss Sirin asked me to deliver a message, and I didn't want to forget it later."
"Oh?"
Fu Xuan raised an eyebrow. "They sent you with a message? What did she say?"
Yanqing thought carefully, recalling Sirin's exact words. "Miss Sirin said: 'If being able to live endlessly qualifies one as a long-lived species, then we should be counted among them. That is one of the reasons we chose to collaborate with the Luofu.'"
"Absurd," Fu Xuan muttered sharply. "How could Nihility possibly grant longevity?"