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[You did a great deal for the Xianzhou [Luofu]—The remnants of the Plague of Yaoshi on the Luofu were discovered and cleansed by you using the Matrix of Prescience, and all the high-ranking members of the "Disciples of Sanctus Medicus" have been captured and thrown into the Shackling Prison. The chaos on the Luofu has been quelled, and everything seems to be returning to normal.]
[But the Stellaron that flew from the Aurum Alley Stardock, hurtling straight into the Scalegorge Waterscape, triggered the greatest disaster the Xianzhou [Luofu] has ever faced—]
[The [Lord Ravager Phantylia] devoured that Stellaron and ignited the remains of the Plague of Yaoshi…]
[She sacrificed her own body to ignite the half-stump of the Ambrosial Arbor, which had long since become one with the Xianzhou [Luofu]. She then transformed the countless remnants of the Plague of Yaoshi hidden throughout the Luofu into soldiers of the Antimatter Legion, causing them to detonate their own hidden backup energy sources in every one of the Luofu's countless grotto-heavens, using the calamitous fire of [The Destruction] to ignite every corner of the Xianzhou [Luofu].]
[A deep purple, calamitous fire ignited from every part of the Xianzhou [Luofu]. The most intense blaze was at the very center of the Luofu, the husk of the "Ambrosial Arbor"…]
[The entire central trunk of the Xianzhou [Luofu] and its various grotto-heavens were plunged into the deep purple fire. You attempted to handle the emergency immediately, to extinguish the violet flames rampaging across the [Xianzhou] Luofu… but this had clearly become an impossible fantasy.]
[Even the endless seawater of the Scalegorge Waterscape had been completely vaporized the moment the Ambrosial Arbor ignited. The entire Xianzhou [Luofu] no longer possessed the means to deal with this blaze, ignited by the combined power of a Lord Ravager and a Stellaron, a raging inferno fueled by the boon of [The Abundance] Yaoshi…]
[Salvation is always more difficult than destruction. Although this was merely a fire ignited by a single Lord Ravager and a Stellaron giving their all, such a disaster would likely require the intervention of an Aeon to resolve…]
[If you wish for an Emanator to resolve this, perhaps the combined strength of the Seven Arbiter-Generals and the Dragon Sovereigns would have a chance of extinguishing this raging fire of [The Destruction]… but that is only a chance.]
[Currently, on the Xianzhou [Luofu], there is only one Emanator, Jing Yuan. Even the Dragon Sovereign, Imbibitor Lunae, has been exiled from the Luofu. All hope for salvation has been utterly lost.]
[You are powerless to salvage anything from the raging flames. Your companion, Jing Yuan, is also doing everything he can, but the Lightning-Wielding General cannot resolve a furiously burning fire. You, a Master Diviner who has always sought fortune and avoided misfortune, can do nothing when disaster finally befalls you.]
[The inferno devoured the firmament, devoured the earth, devoured the desperate faces of the Xianzhou people, and devoured your final hope.]
[Everything was plunged into a state beyond redemption, turning into white ash amidst the deep purple calamitous fire.]
[The flames of [The Destruction] burned this innocent Xianzhou to the ground.]
[Game Over.]
[Your score for this Life Simulation Game is—60 points.]
[As the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou [Luofu]'s Divination Commission, you are, admittedly, an excellent diviner.]
[You had a clear grasp of all the crises on the Xianzhou: the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, the Lord Ravager, the Ambrosial Arbor crisis… All these dangers were firmly etched in your mind, and you were prepared to face them.]
[But you never imagined that the flutter of a butterfly's wings in the Divination Commission could stir a gentle breeze that would become a world-ending storm in the distant grotto-heaven of the Scalegorge Waterscape.]
[All the crises you anticipated descended like a sudden tempest, leaving you absolutely no chance to react…]
[Although you quickly recovered from the blow and used all your strength to resolve the vast majority of the troubles, you ultimately failed to realize that beneath these crises you had foreseen, a new conspiracy was already taking shape…]
[You are an excellent diviner. You foresaw the future and calculated all these troubles—but you are still not cautious enough.]
[In this sea of stars, crises are everywhere. A single misstep can lead to eternal damnation… Perhaps you should not be so confident again.]
[After all… there are some things that you may not truly be able to divine.]
[To ensure the player's gaming experience, the simulation memory has been loaded.]
The short-term memory of this simulation flowed into Fu Xuan's mind. The calamitous fire of [The Destruction] burning everything, all creation turning to ash under its flames—this memory pierced Fu Xuan's mind like a needle, but her expression remained as gloomy as before, unchanged by the recollection.
The ending of this simulation was certainly not good… For the her of the past, it would have been an absolutely unacceptable disaster. But for the her of now, it no longer had much of an impact.
After all, the impact of the last simulation had been far too profound…
The Holy Light of [Salvation] was so much hotter than this calamitous fire from [The Destruction]. For Fu Xuan, although this simulation left her feeling gloomy, it was powerless to truly affect her state of mind.
What truly made her lose her composure, biting the straw in her mouth in two and sinking into a long, silent contemplation, was actually Ron from this simulation…
She had failed.
This was an obvious fact.
She had wanted to bring Ron to the Luofu, to use the stable life on the Luofu to completely corrupt his somewhat abstract drive, to prevent him from growing into the [Salvation] Aeon again in a harsh environment, to stop him from pulling off a universe-destroying stunt. But now, it seemed she had failed.
Although he did indeed come to the Xianzhou [Luofu] and even became a normal diviner under her command, Ron ultimately still walked the old path of becoming the [Salvation] Aeon.
During the simulation, although she couldn't see the full picture of what Ron encountered through the Matrix of Prescience, those few silhouettes were enough to reveal a great deal of key information—
For instance, the lantern that crashed upon the Tree of Existence, with flames flowing out from within.
And there was [The Destruction] Nanook, as cold and emotionless as a killing machine, confronting Ron.
In the last simulation, although Fu Xuan was caught up in countless troubles on the Luofu, she had managed to learn a lot about [Salvation] just by listening to the Interastral Peace Broadcast…
Like the lantern held in the hands of [Salvation] Ron, and like [The Destruction] Nanook, who was completely at odds with [Salvation] and was hunted by him for a long time…
Although these things had already happened in the last simulation, they appeared again in this one, and so quickly—
Ron had only spent half a month before he was already holding the lantern of [Salvation], standing in opposition to [The Destruction] Nanook.
Although he ultimately failed to win this battle and thus perished, unlike the final victory in the last simulation, this still planted a seed of doubt in Fu Xuan's heart…
Although she knew that Ron, as someone who could become an Aeon, was obviously no ordinary person, in this simulation, Fu Xuan had been watching what Ron was doing with her own eyes—
In that half a month, Ron was just a normal diviner in the Divination Commission. At most, he mediated between the Aurum Alley Merchants' Guild and the Interastral Peace Corporation. You could say he was a genius, yes, a true genius. His diplomatic skills were maxed out, and he perfectly resolved the settlement issues for the Aurum Alley port and its merchants.
…But what did any of that have to do with him becoming the [Salvation] Aeon?
Could resolving outsourcing issues for the IPC really lead to becoming the [Salvation] Aeon? What kind of joke was that!
So… there must be another reason.
The reason Ron is able to pull off such major feats in every simulation… is not just because of his own talents.
Perhaps… he has some kind of special assistance.
Just as Fu Xuan was thinking this, the text on the screen before her faded, and a selection box popped up:
[You have successfully completed a simulation. Please choose—]
[1. Obtain "Xianzhou [Luofu] Ash Souvenir" x1]
[2. Obtain "Disciples of Sanctus Medicus Pathstrider's Confession" x1]
[3. Obtain "[Destruction] Calamitous Fire Sample" x1]
For instance… this kind of assistance.
Looking at the simulation rewards on the screen, Fu Xuan casually tapped the obviously most useful second option. Then, she thoughtfully watched as the text on the screen faded and jumped back to the initial start-up interface.
If Ron also had the Life Simulation Game, perhaps everything could be explained…
Putting aside his other abilities, just take the fact that he inexplicably went to fight [The Destruction] Nanook in this simulation. It was obvious that he possessed the power of [Salvation], which he shouldn't have had.
But if this was a reward he received after his last simulation ended… then everything would become much more reasonable.
However, as she thought this, Fu Xuan's face, which had relaxed as her confusion found an answer, suddenly turned grim again. A very important doubt arose in her heart.
Wait… if Ron is also a player of the Life Simulation Game, then everything that happened in the last simulation—wasn't it all a result of his own choices?
Why… did he want to destroy this sea of stars?
Was this born from his own will, his simple desire to destroy the sea of stars, or was it because of some special progress in that simulation that he needed to, or had to, destroy the sea of stars to reach the ending he desired?
This was a very important question… After coming into contact with Ron in this simulation, Fu Xuan could keenly feel that Ron was not a particularly bloodthirsty person.
The Ron from this simulation's memory and the Ron she saw in the last one—the one who would baptize the Xianzhou [Luofu] with holy light at the slightest disagreement, letting everything be burned away by it—were not the same.
Fu Xuan had to figure out what kind of person Ron really was… Among these different manifestations, was the kind and hardworking diviner the real Ron, or was the high-and-mighty Aeon who destroyed everything with holy light the real Ron?
If Ron was truly a good person, it wasn't out of the question for Fu Xuan to just lay her cards on the table and have a good talk with him. Perhaps that could solve the troublesome matter that had been vexing her for so long…
With this in mind, Fu Xuan, who had always hated procrastination, immediately stood up, deciding to go find Ron right now to get a sense of what kind of person he really was in reality, and consider whether she should be upfront with him.
But as soon as she stood up, she found that the sky was already dark; it was late at night…
The Divination Commission was quiet. The diviners had long since gone off duty. Only a few guarding Cloud Knights were still active in the entire commission. This was not a good time.
After a moment of silence, Fu Xuan could only suppress her thoughts. She took the confession from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, a reward from the game, and headed home, deciding to look over the confession first and understand what kind of schemes Phantylia and the Disciples were plotting…
She glanced at the cup in her hand, which had been squeezed out of shape, its straw bitten off. She tossed the Immortal's Delight into the trash bin with some reluctance.
…She might as well buy a cup of milk tea on the way. She still had a lot of work to do today; sugar was essential.
While Fu Xuan was already making her work plans, on the cold planet beneath the Xianzhou [Luofu], Bronya, wearing a hard hat with the words "Qlipoth Fort" on it, stood at the Belobog reconstruction site. Looking at the light screen in front of her, she clenched her small fists.
The Xianzhou [Luofu] caused Ron to be turned to ash. This can't go on, I must strike hard!