In short, after Asta secured Bai Ming's promise, she happily began her tenure at the Land of Light Research Institute.
The scale of this institute was massive; calling it a mere laboratory was an understatement—it was practically a sprawling metropolis of science.
It had been built by Divine Herta, who had treated the Land of Light's treasury like her own personal piggy bank, spending money like water.
It was expensive, certainly, but it was also one of the absolute top-tier holy sites for research in the entire universe.
Essentially, the most cutting-edge talent and equipment in the Land of Light were concentrated right here.
Given Divine Herta's personality, Bai Ming guessed she'd treat Asta just like she did at the Herta Space Station: she would be appointed as a proxy, the acting Director of this giant city.
One couldn't help but wonder if a girl only in her teens could handle that kind of pressure.
Fortunately, the local customs in the Land of Light were genuinely wholesome.
Whether their research prowess was number one in the universe was up for debate, but the academic atmosphere was definitely the best in the galaxy.
For Asta, the biggest hurdle would likely be grasping the specific inner workings of such a gargantuan research conglomerate. But that was an academic issue; Bai Ming figured she'd let Divine Herta handle that and didn't plan to meddle further.
So, after bidding farewell to Asta and Divine Herta, Bai Ming headed straight for Ruan Mei's laboratory.
She still had to follow through on what she'd promised Ruan Mei earlier.
Upon arriving, she didn't see Ruan Mei immediately.
Instead, a waft of pastry fragrance drifted in from the entrance.
Following the scent, she found Ruan Mei enjoying a plate of snacks. Seeing Bai Ming appear, Ruan Mei offered a small smile and pushed the plate toward her.
Bai Ming didn't stand on ceremony. She sat down beside Ruan Mei, popped a pastry into her mouth, and said, "In a bit, I'll extract the portion of the equations you need and leave them for you."
"Thank you."
"Oh, it's a small thing. I should really thank Screwllum for developing that new storage device, otherwise, I would've had a hard time managing it."
Ruan Mei smiled and took a sip of tea.
Previously, she had actually wanted to suggest studying the Scions of Permanence together with Bai Ming. But now that Bai Ming had reached such heights, Ruan Mei found herself hesitating.
She didn't mind asking for advice, but if she had to drag Bai Ming into the entire experimental process, she felt it would be a bit... awkward.
"Do you have time later? I'd like to consult you on some matters regarding Permanence and Propagation."
"Sure, but just 'consulting'? Didn't we say we'd run an experiment together earlier?" Bai Ming ate another pastry, her cheeks puffing out as she looked over curiously.
Ruan Mei just shook her head with a smile.
"This subject likely holds no more difficulty for you, does it? If I insisted on doing it with you, it would be a waste of your time."
Though she rarely showed it, Ruan Mei had her own competitive streak.
"Fair enough. But if you run into trouble, hit me up anytime."
"Of course I will."
Herta was stubborn and hated asking Bai Ming for help, but Ruan Mei wasn't quite so rigid. When it came to pivotal questions, Ruan Mei was perfectly capable of speaking up.
Bai Ming nodded with a grin. Then, she asked about Rappa's whereabouts.
However, Ruan Mei didn't seem to know where Rappa had run off to either. She could only confirm that her vitals were fine, but as for where she was or what she was doing, that was a mystery.
Bai Ming didn't stay with Ruan Mei for long. Having gained new knowledge, Ruan Mei looked like she was itching to get to work and start something big. Bai Ming didn't want to disturb her further.
As for where to go next, Bai Ming's plan was to head to the Xianzhou Luofu.
But before that, she decided to pull some cards and see what she got.
After traveling with Divine Herta, Bai Ming had started to realize there might be a bit of an issue with her reputation out there.
While things on the Luofu would probably be fine, she had to consider the possibility of news spreading from there. Since she was going to change her face and identity anyway, she figured she might as well see what the gacha had in store.
Bai Ming glanced at her status panel:
--+--
[Roleplay System]
[Name: Bai Ming]
[Lifespan: ∞]
[Transformable Characters: Big Herta, Acheron, Celenova, Jingliu, Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Hertatomb, Lord Ravager - Jingliu, Young Herta, Robin, Artoria, Cipher, Georios, Cyrene - Fuli (Charge: 23.2%)]
[Available Pulls: 9 (65.1%)]
--+--
After so much time, her collection of Emotion Points had grown significantly.
Two months had passed, and the Earth Titan character card was fully charged. Even her pull count had reached nine and a half.
Most of the points came from her clash with the Aeon of Equilibrium, followed by the business with the Vidyadhara.
As for the earlier Originium modification project, while it had sparked some discussion, it hadn't generated much heat since there was nothing to see but a display panel.
She was one pull away from a guaranteed targeted drop, but Bai Ming wasn't in a hurry.
For one thing, she already had the Paths of Permanence and Propagation as a safety net.
Furthermore, she hadn't yet fully mastered the portion of the Abundance within the Permanence equations.
Although she had agreed with Equilibrium not to touch the Paths of living Aeons, that didn't stop her from studying them. She just wouldn't use the knowledge once she learned it.
And of course, there was another factor: her gacha addiction was acting up.
She just wanted to pull some cards and expand her warehouse.
All things considered, Bai Ming wasn't hurting for a pull or two. If she could snag an interesting character card, she could go out and have some fun with it.
With that thought, Bai Ming chose a single pull!
The familiar train sped past her eyes, and then a golden light spilled out from the cabin door.
But this time, when the door opened, the first thing to pop out was a Celestial Jade tile. Immediately following it, Qingque's figure appeared before her.
"?"
Bai Ming's first reaction was confusion.
This was just Qingque—the problem was, isn't Qingque a four-star? Why was she glowing gold?
But soon, once Bai Ming saw the name on the character card, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"General of the Yuque, Qingque... Good grief, which timeline's Qingque is this? She actually became the General of the Yuque?"
Bai Ming was truly laughing now.
Especially when she thought about how Qingque found even being a Diviner a fate worse than death. The idea of her sitting in a high-ranking position like General of the Yuque in the future was hilarious.
"I wonder... in this kind of world-line, did Fu Xuan ever become the General of the Luofu? If her successor at the Divination Commission, Qingque, got snatched away by the Yuque, Fu Xuan would be livid."
Though she'd never said it, based on Fu Xuan's mindset, she likely planned to become General herself and then leave the Divination Commission to Qingque.
But in this timeline, Qingque had been abducted to the Yuque instead.
Wouldn't that be a massive loss for the Luofu Divination Commission? Fu Xuan would have lost her successor.
"...Wait, in this world-line, could it be that Qingque became a General while Fu Xuan is still a Diviner? That would be such a snub to Fu Xuan." Bai Ming twitched her lips, feeling like it wasn't entirely impossible.
After all, Fu Xuan's personality was a bit... lacking in certain areas.
Not that she was bad, but as a General, she lacked a bit of tact and was a bit too strict.
The pressure on a General is immense; if you don't know how to slack off or be flexible, someone as hardworking and self-critical as Fu Xuan would probably work herself into mara-struck status within a few centuries.
Of course, that was the Fu Xuan of the original timeline.
In this current timeline, her teacher Jingtian hadn't died, and her fate had been shattered by Bai Ming. Fu Xuan's psychological burden shouldn't be that heavy.
But Fu Xuan's business could wait. Bai Ming had already slated Fu Xuan to be her Emanator; the whole "General" thing could take a backseat.
Bai Ming looked at this General of the Yuque Qingque card. If she used this card to go to the Xianzhou, would the real Qingque be scared to death?
Heh heh heh.
A wicked smile played on Bai Ming's face.
She really wanted to see the expression on the face of that Qingque—who planned to slack off for a lifetime—when she found out there was a chance she'd become a Xianzhou General in the future.
If Bai Ming went to the Luofu as Qingque and started some grand career, acting like a "Big Boss Qing," the real Qingque would probably let out a shrill scream.
But then again, had Qingque even graduated yet?
She knew Qingque wasn't that old, but exactly how many years she'd been in the Divination Commission was unclear. She'd have to ask Fu Xuan later.
For now... Bai Ming looked at the newly pulled character card and chose to use it.
Quickly, Qingque's appearance replaced her current form, and even her height dropped significantly.
She wore a green dress, her hair tied in twin tails—utterly adorable. She looked just like her appearance in the game.
Except...
The Spiritus of the Yuque General, representing the Eye of the Hunt, the "Kālacakra Skyplume," remained dormant but ready in Bai Ming's hand.
The Eye of Īśvara, capable of detecting fortune and calamity.
Of course, given Bai Ming's understanding of the Hunt, this detection was essentially the same logic as Nous: collecting information to perform deductions.
However, compared to Nous, this Eye of the Hunt was clearly far inferior.
But if 'Qingque' wanted to... if she applied the power of Elation to this "Eye of Īśvara," she could probably manage about fifty percent of Nous's level.
Well, assuming this body could withstand that level of information flow.
Right at that moment.
Far beyond the world, the Hunt also noticed that THEY had somehow gained an extra "eye."
?
A question mark slowly formed in Lan's consciousness.
THEY didn't recall approving a new General lately, and the current General of the Yuque hadn't abdicated.
The Spiritus on her was still there.
Lan glanced at the General of the Yuque, Yao Guang, and watched her startled expression for a moment.
After confirming the Kālacakra Skyplume was indeed still in Yao Guang's possession, Lan did nothing and said nothing, withdrawing THEIR gaze.
This sudden glance truly left Yao Guang feeling baffled.
Hadn't she just been calculating her recent luck with the tiles?
Why did the Reignbow Arbiter cast THEIR gaze upon her? Yao Guang looked at the tiles in her hand, feeling that the whims of the Aeons were truly beyond her.
But Lan didn't care about Yao Guang's confusion.
Since nothing was wrong with THEIR own people, that damning sense of déjà vu made Lan think of another possibility.
THEIR gaze pierced through endless space and distance, casting itself toward Bai Ming, who had just transformed into Qingque.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL