Chapter 62 (Part 2): How am I supposed to beat a boss without a health bar?

"The gray-haired one? She said they've arrived at Luofu, and now they're... uh... somewhere being chased or something."

That said, Herta was also curious about what that person was doing now.

After all, the Stellaron inside her was still one of the great mysteries of the universe, and something Herta very much wanted to study.

"Hm? No reply? Seems like the signal on her end is poor. Heh, is Luofu's infrastructure really that bad?"

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"This one, the Master Diviner-Fu Xuan of the Divination Commission, presumes you are the famous Astral Express, honored guests."

"Uh, pleased to meet you."

Stelle calmly nodded in response to Fu Xuan, while March 7th narrowed her eyes slightly, tugged gently at Stelle's sleeve, and whispered:

"Hey, do you know what a Divination Commission is?"

"No idea," Stelle replied confidently.

"If you don't know, why are you replying so casually!"

March 7th nearly strangled her—if you don't know what it is, why would you just respond like that?

You don't even know how the Xianzhou system works and you still dare to speak up?

Welt paused a moment, then spoke.

"I presume this is the Lord Diviner Fu Xuan that Miss Yukong often mentions. We are the Astral Express. I am Welt, and these two are Stelle and March 7th."

Fu Xuan nodded slightly: "Just call me Fu Xuan. I've long heard of your express crew. When I heard the General was receiving you, I left the Divination Commission. However, I remember asking Qingque to greet you—why is it just you here?"

Fu Xuan frowned, a bit puzzled.

Where was Qingque?

"Uh, we just arrived on the Xianzhou and didn't encounter the Qingque you mentioned. Maybe we just missed her?"

Fu Xuan's mouth twitched slightly and she muttered instinctively: "That Qing... cough cough—indeed, it was my oversight. It seems Qingque missed you. I'll personally escort you to the General's estate."

The three noticed Fu Xuan's odd tone just now but had no intention of prying into what was clearly personal.

Just as they were about to head for the General's estate—

"Peng!!"

"Chi!"

"Kang!"

"Hu la!"

Loud voices rang out.

The three watched as Fu Xuan's already grim expression grew even darker.

A long moment later, Fu Xuan smiled and said to them, "Please excuse me for a moment—I'll be right back."

Seeing the almost tangible black aura trailing behind Fu Xuan's figure, March 7th nervously swallowed and huddled close to Stelle.

"Hey... is she... is she about to transform or something?"

"I don't know. She's scary. Bro, help me."

"Qingque!"

"Wah! Master Diviner!"

...

Moments later, the three saw Fu Xuan return—followed by someone roughly the same height, shifty-eyed and clearly just scolded.

That look made March 7th feel like the abundance-worshipers were attacking the Luofu.

"Hello there."

When Qingque weakly said that final line, she looked even more miserable.

Fu Xuan glared at her, then turned to the three and said,

"Everyone, please follow me..."

...

"Whoa, the Xianzhou Luofu is pretty lively. By the way, where did Blade go? Any news yet?"

Chewing gum, Silver Wolf looked down at the busy Divination Commission, leaning against the window sill and swinging her legs gently.

"We've already made contact. However, this time, the Xianzhou seems to have undergone some changes."

Kafka, with lifeless eyes, looked at the Cloud Knights below who had fallen into Mara and chuckled softly.

"As for that, I just looked into it — seems a person named Phantylia entered the Xianzhou and even collaborated with the Followers of Abundance hidden in Luofu. Anyway, it's all very complicated."

"Oh? Lord Ravager Phantylia ?"

"Who else would go by that name? I could find her because she wasn't even trying to hide. Not sure how she stayed hidden before Luofu noticed, but now she's on the run."

Kafka slightly nodded and looked up toward the magnificent giant tree in the distance. "The Ambrosial Arbor tree, reaching to the dome of the sky, with stars hanging from its branches. The wording of the Xianzhou is always so elegant."

"Not so elegant anymore, huh?" Silver Wolf curled her lip.

"Phantylia's target is that tree. Our task is to guide those people — though I think we could ignore it, no? Isn't the region developing just fine?"

"Exactly because everything is going smoothly that we have to interfere."

Kafka slightly tilted her head and added, "Right now everything is too smooth, but some things are out of order. For example, Phantylia shouldn't have been exposed so early. So, our duty is to guide the story in a certain direction."

Hearing Kafka's words, Silver Wolf rolled her eyes impatiently.

"Elio can't even see the script himself anymore. What's the point of us guiding it? Sure, I like playing games, but how am I supposed to beat a boss without a health bar?"

Kafka smiled faintly at her words and said nothing.

...

"Welcome, all of you, to the Xianzhou Luofu. On behalf of the Xianzhou, I welcome your arrival."

Seeing that Fu Xuan had brought the guests over, Jing Yuan stood up to greet them.

"Look, the top leader's here. I bet his next line is going to be something like, 'Things are chaotic, everyone's busy, we need your help,' and then we'll be running around everywhere — without any overtime pay."

March 7th whispered into Stelle's ear.

But none of the people present were ordinary — the whispered words were still clearly heard.

Welt hesitated to speak, but since it was his own mischievous child, he could only look at Jing Yuan helplessly. "We didn't mean anything by it. Please don't take offense."

"Haha, not at all, not at all. Youthful energy is a good thing. Just don't end up like my disciple — so young, yet already acting so old-fashioned. Only when it's something he's interested in does he show a bit of childlike enthusiasm."

Jing Yuan laughed heartily and candidly revealed a glimpse of Yanqing's private personality to the group.

But when he thought of the swords Yanqing recently brought back from a shop, Jing Yuan couldn't help but feel a bit of pressure in his chest.

No doubt about it — taught by himself, the kid had an excellent eye. Truly a promising blade.

"Let's get to the point, General. What do you need from us?" Welt asked.

He understood that as the General of Luofu, Jing Yuan wouldn't meet with nameless guests without a reason.

But with the presence of this Fu Xuan beside him, things might be different.

The Divination Commission was one of the Six Charioteers of Luofu. For someone like Fu Xuan to personally handle this sort of matter — clearly, something important was happening on the Xianzhou.

Either Jing Yuan was not in a position to handle it himself, or it was a matter that truly required their involvement.

"Since Mr. Welt is so direct, I won't beat around the bush. To be honest, the Xianzhou recently discovered that the Destruction Lord Phantylia has infiltrated the ship."

"Phantylia!"

The familiar name made March 7th, who had gone quiet, exclaim out loud.

"Yes, Phantylia," Jing Yuan nodded, his expression serious. "Not long ago, the Xianzhou detected the eruption of a Stellaron within Luofu."

"Stellaron..." Upon hearing the familiar term, Stelle instinctively touched her chest.

"If it were just a Stellaron, we wouldn't be in such disarray. But right at that time, the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission discovered traces of Phantylia's infiltration!"

As he spoke, Jing Yuan gestured to Fu Xuan, who was short enough that one had to look down to see her clearly.

"The Stellaron disaster happened to coincide with the Cloud Knights needing to suppress threats across the four separate regions. We must investigate the truth behind this, but at the moment I can't keep my shield up and swing my blade at the same time."

"Uh... If the Stellaron already erupted, why was the system that brought us here still functioning properly?"

March 7th asked, puzzled.

"Hmph, the Xianzhou is not so weak as to be thrown into chaos by a mere Stellaron. All systems, apart from some minor disturbances, are still fully operational."

Hearing her question, Fu Xuan gave a cold snort and put her hand on her hip.

Clearly, March 7th's comment had touched on her area of expertise.

"Since this disaster involves a Stellaron, we naturally won't stand by and do nothing."

"Oh! Mr. Welt, such righteousness earns my deep respect."

Jing Yuan cupped his hands slightly, smiling at the group — pleased to have gained more hands to help.