Sylvia followed Bailu up to the villa's second floor. Inside the room, the old man had lit some incense and was sitting alone with a cup of tea and a book. He looked every bit like a retired official enjoying a quiet afternoon.
"Old man, I brought Sylvia up for you!"
Bailu's noisy entrance shattered the room's calm at once.
"Hehe. Thank you for the trouble, my young friend Bailu."
"Oh, it wasn't any trouble. I'll be taking the snacks you promised me!"
Bailu scampered into the room, picked up an entire plate of tea cakes, and shot Sylvia a meaningful look. Then she scampered right back out, even hooking the door handle with her backside to pull it shut behind her.
So that was what this had all been about. A plate of snacks.
Sylvia smiled helplessly and sat in the chair across from Huaiyan.
"Try this tea. I wonder how it compares to the tea at the Seat of Divine Foresight?"
Huaiyan gave a gentle push with his palm. A steaming cup of tea slid across the table and stopped before Sylvia without spilling a single drop. The pale golden liquid spun in the cup for a moment before settling.
"I don't know much about tea."
Sylvia gave a modest smile, lifted the cup, and took a small sip. It was fragrant, with a stronger taste than the tea served at the Seat of Divine Foresight.
"It's very fragrant. The flavor's stronger than the tea at the Seat of Divine Foresight."
"Haha. I'm glad you like it."
Huaiyan didn't mind her simple review. Tea was just something people drank to quench their thirst in the end. There was no need to make it so complicated.
He studied Sylvia with a cheerful smile but didn't say anything. She'd planned to wait for him to speak first, but it seemed she'd have to take the lead.
"General Huaiyan, may I ask why the Xianzhou sent you to Penacony? Is there some problem you need to deal with?"
"Hehe. I'm no general here. Just think of me as an old man accompanying his granddaughter on a trip."
Huaiyan waved a hand, then continued, "I heard some of the commotion downstairs. My granddaughter didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"
"Not at all. She's a very cute girl. I'm just not sure why she likes running around barefoot."
"Hehe! She's been mischievous since she was little. She's sturdy enough, so I've always let her do as she pleases."
Huaiyan happily chatted about his young granddaughter, though he kept himself in check. After only a few remarks, he steered the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"The truth is, I came to Penacony because of you."
"Me?"
Sylvia looked puzzled, but she soon realized what he meant.
"This is about Phantylia and the Ambrosial Arbor, isn't it?"
"Indeed. You're quick, my young friend. You may not realize it, but the Ambrosial Arbor is very important to the Xianzhou Alliance."
At the mention of the Ambrosial Arbor, Huaiyan's smiling eyes turned grave.
"Jing Yuan's report to the Alliance gave a detailed account of what happened. However, he claimed Phantylia had been defeated, yet she remained in your possession. The Ambrosial Arbor revived and was then severed, but it also ended up in your hands. This situation…"
Huaiyan left the rest unsaid.
Sylvia could guess it wasn't anything flattering.
Still, she could understand their concern. Something this serious had happened, yet Phantylia wasn't in Jing Yuan's custody, and the Ambrosial Arbor had vanished as well. Dan Shu of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had also gone missing.
There were no witnesses and no physical evidence. With the Luofu so far from the rest of the Alliance, it was only natural for someone to wonder whether Jing Yuan was nearing mara-struck and planning to keep the Ambrosial Arbor for himself.
"Whoa. So they sent another general to Jing Yuan as well?"
Sylvia silently offered him a prayer.
He'd better hold up under the pressure. At the very least, she hoped he wouldn't get suspended.
Huaiyan nodded with a smile.
"Naturally. I was assigned to meet with you here in Penacony, while the renowned Merlin's Claw was sent to Jing Yuan."
"That great general, huh…"
Sylvia nodded in thought, then let out a relieved breath.
"Thank goodness. I was worried you were going to tell me an Emanator of Abundance was heading for Penacony."
"If we truly had news of an Emanator of Abundance, the Xianzhou wouldn't have sent so few people."
"That's true. Guess I scared myself for nothing."
Sylvia laughed, then took the Fullbottle containing Phantylia from her pocket and handed it to Huaiyan.
"What's this?"
"A device containing Phantylia. Twist the cap, then shake the bottle. You'll be able to sense her."
Following Sylvia's instructions, Huaiyan shook the Fullbottle. A yellow-green flame soon emerged and spread gently over his arm.
"Hmm… What a remarkable sealing method. I can indeed feel the power of Destruction. I can even faintly sense Phantylia's suppressed consciousness. Could this bottle perhaps be used against an Emanator of Abundance—"
"I've only got one, and it only works on energy-based life-forms like Heliobi."
Sylvia's reply stopped Huaiyan's next words in his throat.
"I see. That's unfortunate."
Once he heard it only worked on energy beings, Huaiyan gave up on the idea. The bottle's true value lay in its ability to contain even an Emanator. If it could work against Emanators of Abundance, its use would've been immense. The Cloud Knights could've avoided countless deaths.
Unfortunately, it couldn't be used against beings of flesh and blood.
Huaiyan didn't press the matter and returned the Fullbottle to Sylvia. Confirming that she'd truly sealed a Lord Ravager was enough. At least it proved Phantylia's invasion had happened and that Jing Yuan hadn't fabricated his report.
The Xianzhou had no desire to take such a dangerous burden off her hands.
Phantylia was one thing, but the Ambrosial Arbor mattered far more to the Xianzhou. Huaiyan's expression grew cautious again.
"And the Ambrosial Arbor? Has it been handled as securely as Phantylia?"
"Of course. I know how troublesome it is. The severed Ambrosial Arbor is stored inside this card."
Sylvia put away the Fullbottle and placed a Storage Card on the table.
The moment Huaiyan saw it, his eyes went wide.
Hadn't she just said she could only seal energy-based life-forms?
She was carrying the Ambrosial Arbor around in a card too?
"May this old man examine it more closely?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
They were inside a dream, so Sylvia didn't mind. The real object was still tucked away in her pocket, after all. Letting him look at a dream copy wouldn't hurt anything.
This shared dream truly was remarkable. It could even recreate the aura of an Emanator. No wonder so many people became lost in Penacony and never wished to leave.
Huaiyan carefully ran his fingers across the surface of the card. A faint trace of Abundance lingered around it, yet not the slightest bit escaped.
At that moment, however, Huaiyan became more interested in confirming something else.
"My young friend, could this card also be used against—"
Sylvia's lips twitched. She'd known it. This general's first thought would always be whether something could defeat an Emanator of Abundance.
"I've only got one of these too, and it can only hold inanimate objects. That said, its definition of 'inanimate' seems a little vague. The Ambrosial Arbor was only severed, yet the card still accepted it. I suppose an Emanator might fit as well."
Huaiyan drew in a sharp breath.
For the first time, he truly lost his calm.
It might actually work?
"I'm not certain. The Ambrosial Arbor probably doesn't compare to a true Emanator. Probably."
This time, Sylvia wasn't sure herself. If the card could accept the severed Ambrosial Arbor as an inanimate object, it wasn't hard to imagine that it might also accept the torn remains of an Emanator of Abundance.
The Ambrosial Arbor's roots had been severed for so long and were still tainted by the power of Nihility, yet its aura hadn't weakened in the slightest. Sylvia even suspected that if she planted it again, it would simply regrow its roots.
Given that display, it was hard for her to call the thing dead.
The same logic should apply to an Emanator of Abundance. Their lives were tenacious, but someone like Shuhu had died and returned more than once. Before he revived, stuffing him into the card would've made perfect sense.
Assuming the card could truly contain an Emanator, of course.
It probably could.
It was an item on the same level as the Fullbottle.
Sylvia's thoughts began to race. Ever since she'd become an Emanator within a matter of days, stuffing a Stellaron into her body to strengthen herself had started to seem almost trivial.
She still had empty cores, though. She might as well put something in them and fill every equipment slot.
She hadn't considered it before, but now that she thought about it, transplanting the Ambrosial Arbor into a Herrscher Core and using the empty Storage Card to hold a half-dead Emanator seemed quite practical.
"Miss Sylvia, should you encounter another Emanator of Abundance one day, I hope you'll lend the Xianzhou your aid."
Huaiyan's tone changed. It became solemn and carried the authority of a true powerhouse. Put more simply, he was speaking not as an old man, but as General Huaiyan.
"Hehe. You're making too much of me, General."
Sylvia swept her hand across her spatial device, and the Jade Abacus of Allying Oath appeared in her palm.
"Look. Jing Yuan gave me this Jade Abacus of Allying Oath. Should the Xianzhou truly face a crisis, I'll naturally do all I can to help."
Huaiyan smiled and nodded. He then returned the Storage Card to Sylvia without hesitation, catching her off guard.
"I thought you'd want to take the Ambrosial Arbor back."
"What would we take it back for? The Xianzhou guards the Ambrosial Arbor to stop the Denizens of Abundance from misusing it. If you can seal it more safely, I'd rather you produce a few more cards and take away every other remnant left by the Plagues Author."
Sylvia broke into a broad grin. She took back the card, raised her tea, and took a sip.
"If I collected that many relics of Abundance by myself, people might mistake me for an Emanator of Abundance."
"Hehehe!"
General Huaiyan laughed as well. It was only a joke.
The Xianzhou would never truly allow Sylvia to take away the remnants kept aboard its other ships. The people of the Xianzhou might shun those relics, but they were still witnesses to the history of Xianzhou civilization. In that sense, they carried a certain symbolic weight.
That was why the Xianzhou could be so conflicted. They could treat those relics as historical symbols, but to the people of the Xianzhou, they were also a curse.
Properly disposing of them was difficult because they were nearly impossible to destroy, and the conflict between history and identity made it just as difficult to take action.
Though it had happened by chance, seeing Sylvia's sealing card helped Huaiyan understand Jing Yuan's decision. Had he been in Jing Yuan's place, he would've let Sylvia take the Ambrosial Arbor too.
After all, it would sound absurd for a Xianzhou general to replant the Ambrosial Arbor after it had finally been severed.
Huaiyan had once worried that if the secret leaked, Sylvia might draw unwanted trouble. Now he wasn't concerned in the slightest.
In fact, he almost hoped an Emanator of Abundance would come looking for her. Then they could use the chance to kill one.
Sylvia and General Huaiyan didn't continue discussing the Xianzhou in depth. It wasn't a pleasant subject, so they turned instead to Zephyro.
Sylvia told him much the same thing she'd told The Family. Since The Family was already taking responsibility for the battle, there was no need to drag the Xianzhou into it. They were already locked in endless war with the Denizens of Abundance, so giving the Lord Ravagers another reason to target them would serve no purpose.
Besides, Mei would be there as their final safeguard. There truly wasn't any need for an old man like Huaiyan to fight.
Sylvia wasn't sure whether Mei or Huaiyan was older, but Huaiyan's body was at least showing signs of age. It was better not to send an elderly man into a battle between Emanators.
--+--
At the same time, in Dreamflux Reef, Firefly stood at the edge of a spiraling staircase and peered down into its unfathomable depths.
The stairway grew warped as it descended, twisting into something strange and absurd before vanishing into the bottomless abyss. It led toward the deeper layers of the dream.
Dreamflux Reef lived up to its name. Put simply, it was a settlement built atop a reef within the Memory Zone. Countless towers rose from the depths, while the habitable district occupied only the uppermost layer.
To reach the deeper dreamscape, one could first descend through Dreamflux Reef. After reaching the reef's lowest level, it would be safer to leave the structure entirely. There was also a chance that the source of the problem could be sensed from the bottom.
Firefly took a deep breath. She raised her left hand and gently stroked the soft bracelet around her wrist.
She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and pressed a soft kiss to it.
The device in her palm unfolded four cicada-like wings. Flames sprang to life and wrapped around her body, and the towering form of SAM appeared within Dreamflux Reef.
"It's time to head down. Let's get this done and return as soon as possible."
Firefly hadn't forgotten that beyond Penacony, another threat was already making its way toward Sylvia.
Some distance away, Topaz had been exploring Dreamflux Reef alone when she noticed the burst of flame from SAM's transformation. She hurried toward the light, only to catch sight of SAM's back as the Stellaron Hunter descended into the abyss.
"SAM of the Stellaron Hunters… So they're here too? But why are they going down there?"
Topaz didn't follow.
Dreamflux Reef already lay deeper than the sweet dream, and its atmosphere couldn't compare to Penacony's pleasant dreamscape. Descending even farther without the right means would be little different from entering a true abyssal hell. The chaotic, lawless depths were enough to kill anyone.
Still, Topaz couldn't help wondering what lay in those deeper layers.
Was the Stellaron down there?
Discovering the Stellaron Hunters was an unexpected gain, but their actions only tended to lead to a Stellaron in the end. It didn't mean every single move they made pointed directly toward one.
Topaz wouldn't act recklessly.
She was also waiting for the right moment: the moment when The Family confronted the Lord Ravager and left itself at its weakest.
She'd almost exhausted her options in Dreamflux Reef. Topaz had considered threatening the settlement's safety to force cooperation, but she'd abandoned the idea after learning its history.
This was a land of freedom founded by a former Nameless. It was clearly tied closely to the Astral Express.
Unless it became absolutely necessary, Topaz had no intention of making an enemy of Sylvia. She'd rather seize the coming opportunity and search within The Family for the evidence she needed.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL