Looking at her growing stash of pulls, Bai Ming didn't plan on hoarding them like she had before.
Research on the Permanence Equation still required time.
There was no rush for the next Path Equation choice either.
If she got bored during this period, she could afford to throw a couple of pulls out just for fun.
One or two wouldn't hurt.
However, before pulling...Bai Ming decided to pay a visit to Fanghu first.
Dragging out a promise indefinitely was annoying, and that old fellow Xuanquan would likely keep nagging her about it.
So, the moment she left the borders of IX the Nihility, Bai Ming sent a message to Xuanquan.
[Nameless: Xuanquan, is the Fanghu still in its original position?]
[Xuanquan: You're coming? Yes, it's still here.]
[Nameless: To fulfill our agreement.]
[Xuanquan: !]
[Xuanquan: I'll go get ready right now!]
With that, Xuanquan's account went offline.
Bai Ming scratched her head.
Was nothing prepared yet? Had she arrived a bit too early?
Still, thinking she was already in the neighborhood, Bai Ming ignited the Phase Flame and headed toward the Fanghu's coordinates.
However, things weren't quite as Bai Ming had expected.
When she appeared at the Fanghu's starport, she was greeted by the warships of the Pearlkeepers and the various heads of the Fanghu's Six Charioteers.
The sheer scale of the reception gave Bai Ming a bit of a start.
Only a few minutes had passed between her message to Xuanquan and her arrival.
They had managed to organize such a massive display in that time??
Xuanquan flew toward her, announcing loudly:
"The Xianzhou Fanghu welcomes the Arbiter of Myriad Distinctions!"
"..."
Bai Ming's toes curled in embarrassment.
She liked causing trouble, but she never said she liked pomp and circumstance. Why make such a scene...
"What are you all doing?"
Xuanquan landed in front of Bai Ming, offering an apologetic smile.
"Actually, we happened to be rehearsing. After all, an Aeon is personally taking action; the proper etiquette must be observed. I didn't expect you to message so suddenly. Time was short, so it's not quite perfect."
"..."
So she had just happened to time it perfectly, huh?
Bai Ming shook her head, not dwelling on the minor episode.
"Let's put that aside. Tell me, what's the plan? This time, it's not just about gestating new life. I'm going to try and directly grant a group of people the ability to conceive offspring. It's up to you if you're brave enough to take the gamble."
After all, this was untested territory.
Bai Ming could guarantee they would regain their reproductive abilities, but she couldn't guarantee whether they might develop certain traits—perhaps from Abundance or Propagation.
Of course, if their bodies really became strange, Bai Ming could just use the power of Elation to hit the 'reset' button on them.
That was why she dared to jump straight into it.
"...?!"
Xuanquan, along with the high-ranking officials of the Six Charioteers and many Preceptors behind her, all wore expressions of pure shock.
"Truly?"
"Truly. I've made some progress lately."
It was mainly thanks to the system's rewards.
If Bai Ming had researched it herself, she would still be stuck analyzing the fragmented parts of Permanence.
But the system rewards didn't care about limitations; they just shoved the complete version straight into her head.
Xuanquan pondered for a moment before bowing to Bai Ming.
"We will proceed with the original plan. The Fanghu has gathered all those who volunteered for this experiment into a single delve. Most of them are couples who long for children, many of whom have come from other Xianzhou ships."
"Good."
Bai Ming nodded. Logically speaking, for a race like the Vidyadhara who couldn't reproduce, it was theoretically difficult to maintain fixed partner relationships.
The dragon-kin of other races usually couldn't even wait for a reincarnation cycle before getting bored and switching partners.
The Vidyadhara seemed to have adopted these concepts because they lived alongside the Xianzhou natives and Foxians.
Because of this, many Vidyadhara had been influenced and now desired their own biological descendants.
Xuanquan dismissed the others, personally leading Bai Ming toward that specific delve.
Volunteers from the various other Xianzhou ships had all been gathered here.
Upon reaching their destination, Bai Ming looked down at the hundreds of millions of men and women below and asked curiously:
"It looks like everyone down there is ready. When were you originally planning to contact me?"
"Ready? Not yet. People have arrived, but the renovation of the entire delve isn't finished. For the current Vidyadhara, the subject of raising offspring is a distant concept. My plan was to raise the children here until they reached a certain age before everyone returned to their respective ships."
"And such long-term work naturally requires supporting infrastructure. We estimated the renovations would take two months. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."
Xuanquan briefly explained her plan.
For the Vidyadhara, raising children within a family unit was something that had been forgotten for untold years.
Modern Vidyadhara were raised collectively by society; since there were no parents or kinship ties, the concept of a 'family' meant little to them.
To adapt to such a thing, it was clearly better to handle it collectively. It would create a more suitable atmosphere.
"Do you want to wait a bit longer then?"
Bai Ming felt she was quite easy to talk to. If Xuanquan felt the preparations were insufficient, waiting was fine.
"No need. I couldn't possibly trouble you to rush to the Fanghu every other day. Now is fine."
"Alright then, I'll get started."
Bai Ming nodded.
Immediately, she vanished from Xuanquan's sight, transforming into a streak of white light.
The divine body she had left in Herta City was summoned by Bai Ming. It vanished right in front of Ruan Mei, crossing space to appear outside the Xianzhou Fanghu in an instant.
Donning her divine form, accompanied by a laugh that pierced through the galaxy, a massive—chibi figure appeared in the sky.
"...?"
The people of the Fanghu, who had fully prepared themselves to witness the descent of an Aeon, fell silent in unison.
Why did this look more like the Arbiter of Myriad Distinctions was playing a prank on them?
According to the records, wasn't the appearance of the Arbiter of Myriad Distinctions that of a perfectly proportioned, white-haired masked woman?
Why was the one appearing this time a chibi version that looked like it came straight out of a manga?
It looked like she had wandered in from some gag comic.
Everyone felt as though, at any second, this sky-dwelling chibi was going to start a ridiculous performance and leave them all frozen in secondhand embarrassment.
Of course...
That was just what they thought.
Bai Ming mainly wanted to keep Herta happy.
Otherwise, if she went back to her normal form immediately, Herta would probably just grumble in Herta City and silently nurse a grudge.
She knew that woman far too well.
In short, borrowing the power of Elation, Bai Ming made a high-profile entrance.
She went all-in on the spectacle.
Then, the chibi Arbiter of Myriad Distinctions raised a plump, short little hand. Faintly, a phantom-like Ouroboros emerged from behind her.
That was the power of Permanence being mobilized, a few shifting shadows manifested under Bai Ming's deliberate control.
To put it simply: special effects.
While maintaining the effects, Bai Ming began to pour the power of the three Paths she commanded into the target delve.
The powers of Permanence, Propagation, and Abundance flowed into the phantom Ouroboros, causing its translucent form to gradually solidify.
It transitioned from almost completely transparent to a level visible to the naked eye.
Of course, it could only go that far.
After all, the power Bai Ming mastered was limited; she couldn't yet artificially construct a true physical manifestation of the Ouroboros.
As the gasps from within the Fanghu grew louder...
Seeing that the people below could see clearly enough, Bai Ming's short little hand pointed sharply downward!
The Ouroboros suddenly released its tail, letting out a resonant dragon roar as it dove toward the target delve!
A mass of pure power crashed into the delve, instantly saturating every Vidyadhara within—regardless of gender.
Bai Ming, driven by the complete Permanence Equation, the three Paths naturally followed the records of the equation, operating in the most optimal ratio and manner.
With the release of that power, it successfully permeated every Vidyadhara present, granting them the ability to conceive new life.
It should have been so...
However...
While Bai Ming was in control, the powers of the three Paths could follow the equation, behaving themselves to achieve the best possible combination.
But as Bai Ming gradually loosened her grip...
The three Paths, which should have worked in harmony, began to experience a degree of turbulence.
Of course, this level of disorder was still within the margin of error.
How could Bai Ming not have considered such an issue? She had specifically added sufficient fail-safes.
It was precisely to avoid this situation.
But just when Bai Ming thought things would go smoothly...
Suddenly, another force appeared out of thin air, plunging headlong into the three intertwined powers, causing the turbulence to intensify further!
Bai Ming reacted quickly, striking out to stop it and dispersing the meddling force.
But that single interference had pushed the level of disorder right to the edge of Bai Ming's maximum tolerance.
Bai Ming's brow furrowed.
She carried an Equilibrium Level board on her person; though she didn't use it often, she occasionally took it out to play with.
Thus, she was very familiar with the aura of Equilibrium.
That strike just now had been extremely subtle, but it couldn't escape Bai Ming's constant scrutiny of the area.
That was definitely HooH the Equilibrium taking action.
Right then, another force was born out of thin air. This time, a prepared Bai Ming didn't wait for Equilibrium to move.
She struck out directly, severing the force that attempted to cause chaos.
She seemed dead-set on letting this group of Vidyadhara break the shackles of Permanence and become a group capable of normal reproduction.
"Sigh..."
A sigh suddenly echoed from the distant void.
It even reached the ears of everyone on the Fanghu.
Then...
HooH, the Aeon of Equilibrium whose will was supposed to be merged with the universe, cast their gaze down upon the Xianzhou Fanghu.
After a fleeting glance at the ship, they shifted their gaze to Bai Ming, who was still maintaining her chibi form.
Bai Ming also frowned, looking warily at HooH.
Combined with what had just happened, she had every reason to suspect that HooH intended to stop her.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL