At the same time, just like the IPC, the Xianzhou Alliance convened an emergency meeting over the incident involving Kallen.
On the Xianzhou Luofu, inside the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Jing Yuan stood in the great hall, his expression grave as he stared at the remote conference projection before him.
At its core, this incident had dealt a devastating blow to the IPC's pride.
But when it came to someone like Kallen, the Xianzhou Alliance could not simply pretend she did not exist, even if the matter did not directly concern them for the moment.
"Marshal," Jing Yuan said at last, asking the question that was on every general's mind, "your seniority far exceeds ours. Have you ever heard of this Kallen's deeds before?"
The Marshal's figure in the projection looked distant and indistinct, but Jing Yuan could feel that gaze settle upon him.
"No."
The Marshal's voice was calm, entirely devoid of emotion.
"A being born from the Amber Lord's cast-off shell, bearing both Preservation and Nihility, capable of retreating unscathed before a star god—if such a person had appeared before, I would know."
Jing Yuan gave a slight nod and did not press further.
He believed the Marshal.
That did not mean the doubts in his heart had been dispelled.
Then, from another projection, Yaoguang spoke up.
"General Jing Yuan, I trust you noticed her surname as well, didn't you?"
Jing Yuan's expression grew more serious.
Of course he had noticed.
The so-called Witch of Nihility, Kallen—according to the company's earlier announcements, her full name was Kallen Kaslana.
The same surname as the daughter of Lady Cecilia.
The moment he thought of that cheerful, restless Emanator of Destruction, a headache started coming on again.
But he forced himself to focus.
Kiana Kaslana. Kallen Kaslana.
Not only did they share a surname—their looks were strikingly similar as well.
If he saw them side by side on the street, he would absolutely assume they were sisters.
And that was exactly what made the whole thing so strange.
How could people of those two identities possibly be related?
After all, Kallen was said to be a shell that Qlipoth had cast off because of Nihility. She had no biological parents to speak of. What possible connection could she have to anyone else?
And more importantly, there was one key piece of information Jing Yuan knew very well.
Nearly ten Amber Eras ago, Miss Kiana had supposedly been beaten to the brink of death by a self-proclaimed Saintess of Preservation, and had only then fallen into slumber until the present age.
Saintess. An Emanator of Preservation.
Wasn't that answer already staring them in the face?
Other than Kallen Kaslana, who else could possibly be called the Saintess of Preservation?
But if that were true, then the relationship between them only became even stranger.
For a moment, Jing Yuan felt as though his head might split open.
So he gave up thinking it through and turned his gaze toward Yaoguang's projection instead.
"General Yaoguang, you are the foremost among us in divination. Have you cast a hexagram for this Witch of Nihility?"
The hall of the Seat of Divine Foresight fell quiet.
The other generals' projections all turned to look at Yaoguang. Clearly, the same question had been lingering in all of their minds.
Yaoguang was silent.
Her projection trembled slightly, as though she were hesitating.
Then, after a moment, she lifted her head. A bitter smile, rare and unexpected, appeared on her usually composed face.
"I have."
"And the result?" Jing Yuan asked.
Yaoguang took a slow breath.
"The first time I cast the hexagram, the result was… great calamity."
Jing Yuan frowned.
That was not surprising. A Witch of Nihility who could emerge unharmed from before a star god was hardly an auspicious sign for the Alliance.
"But the second time," Yaoguang continued, "the hexagram changed."
"And what did it become?"
Yaoguang looked directly at Jing Yuan and said, word by word,
"Kallen Kaslana is fated to bring me a fortunate bond."
Jing Yuan: ???
What was that supposed to mean?
He remembered very clearly that when Yaoguang had once cast a hexagram for Miss Kiana, she had come to an equally bizarre conclusion.
"Kiana is fated to bring me a killing calamity."
That was what Yaoguang had said back then.
But how was that right?
For an Emanator of Destruction who had shown friendliness toward the Xianzhou Alliance, Yaoguang had drawn a killing hexagram.
And now, for a traitorous Witch of Nihility who openly claimed she would defile Preservation, she had drawn a lucky sign.
"General Yaoguang, are you sure you didn't make an error?" someone finally asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of their voice.
Yaoguang did not take offense. She merely shook her head.
"Please have some faith in my divination."
Once she had said that much, none of the others pressed the matter.
In the end, whatever hexagram Yaoguang drew was still a private matter. Interfering too much would have been genuinely impolite.
Then Marshal Hua spoke again.
"In that case, Generals—once the IPC's matter is concluded, what attitude should the Alliance adopt toward this Witch of Nihility?"
"Though the company's troubles are none of our concern, you should all remember this, should you not?"
"According to Lady Cecilia, in the original future, the Xianzhou Alliance was swallowed by a mysterious Nihility."
And there it was—the true reason this meeting had been called.
What happened to the company, the Alliance had no interest in.
But if Nihility was involved, then a little caution was only natural.
Originally, the Alliance had been puzzling over what other form of Nihility, besides IX itself, could threaten them.
Now an answer had appeared.
A Witch of Nihility who could defeat a half-ascended Sunday and withstand multiple attacks from Qlipoth.
Such a being really might be capable of it.
And so, even the Xianzhou Alliance found itself conflicted.
In the end, the only one who could make a decision and set the tone for the whole Alliance was Hua, their Marshal.
And so every general turned their eyes toward her.
Hua spoke calmly.
"For what has not yet occurred, we will treat it as though nothing has happened for now. There is no need to involve ourselves with the company's affairs. This incident has nothing to do with the Alliance. We will keep our distance."
It seemed Hua had decided to shelve the issue for the time being.
As for what she truly thought, only she herself knew.
It was a reasonable answer.
Even with seven Emanators in the Alliance, they were hardly going to take the initiative to provoke a being like Kallen.
After all, it was the company that had enmity with her. As long as Kallen did not come looking for trouble with the Alliance, there was no reason for them to foolishly side with the IPC.
Before long, the meeting ended.
One by one, the projections went dark, and the Seat of Divine Foresight fell silent again.
Jing Yuan remained standing in the middle of the hall for a long moment without moving.
Then the doors opened, and someone entered.
"General."
Qingzu's voice rang out, carrying a note of concern.
"You're still thinking about that Witch of Nihility?"
Jing Yuan did not turn around. He only sighed softly.
"Yes. Since Nihility is involved—and since she may one day threaten the Alliance—being cautious is only right."
"Enough of that. You've been waiting outside since the meeting began, Qingzu. Is something urgent?"
At that, Qingzu quickly remembered why she had come.
"Ah, it's about Lieutenant Yanqing!"
"Yanqing? What has that child done now?"
At the mention of his disciple, Jing Yuan's brow furrowed again.
Knowing Yanqing as he did, could it be that after hearing about Kallen, the boy had decided to run off and personally capture the Witch of Nihility in the name of justice?
Absolutely not. A new account should not be thrown away so recklessly.
The thought made Jing Yuan sigh again.
His disciple was excellent in every regard, except that he was far too prone to getting carried away. One day, he really would have to cure him of that flaw.
As it turned out, however, Jing Yuan had wronged him this time.
Qingzu hurried on.
"It seems that while on patrol, Lieutenant Yanqing discovered a crashed vessel near Stargazer Navalia!"
"A vessel?" Jing Yuan's brows rose slightly, and his attention sharpened at once.
"What kind of vessel? Was there anyone inside?"
Qingzu immediately added more detail.
"It's a very small craft—only large enough for a single occupant—but its reserve power is astonishing."
"According to the preliminary calculations, the energy still stored within it would have been enough to sustain flight for thousands of years."
Thousands of years.
That alone was enough to seize Jing Yuan's full attention.
But Qingzu wasn't done.
"And not only that," she said, dropping the final revelation like a thunderbolt, "the person inside the craft… is a Vidyadhara."
A Vidyadhara?
Had one of the Alliance's own, traveling elsewhere, somehow stumbled into the Luofu by accident?
Then Qingzu spoke again.
"A Vidyadhara with dragon horns."
In that instant, Jing Yuan froze where he stood.
A Vidyadhara with dragon horns.
Wouldn't that mean a Dragon Sovereign?
…
Three system hours earlier.
The Xianzhou Luofu, Stargazer Navalia.
As the Luofu's most important port hub, Stargazer Navalia was usually crowded with ships and bustling with people.
But today was different.
Because news of the Witch of Nihility, Kallen Kaslana, had spread through the stars, even the Cloud Knights of the Luofu had heightened their alert. Inspections entering and leaving the port were far stricter than usual.
Yanqing stood at his patrol post, the sword at his waist gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
By Xianzhou standards he was barely more than a child, yet he was already the Luofu's youngest lieutenant.
His blond hair stirred lightly in the wind, and his youthful face wore a steadiness far beyond his years.
"Lieutenant Yanqing! We've discovered unidentified wreckage on the eastern shipping lane!"
The urgent report came through the jade communication talisman.
Yanqing's brows tightened.
At last, some real work today.
Without another word, he blurred into motion and rushed eastward.
When he arrived, he found a peculiar craft embedded at an angle into one of the port's buffer walls.
It was small, just large enough for one or perhaps two people, and its hull gleamed with a strange silver-gray metallic sheen unlike anything he had seen before.
It was not Xianzhou workmanship.
Nor was it any standard company vessel.
"Clear the surrounding area. Set up a perimeter," Yanqing ordered in a low voice as he approached the ship.
The hull bore obvious burn marks, as if it had suffered an intense energy impact.
And yet strangely, the overall structure remained completely intact. Even those burn marks looked less like damage and more like some layer had been forcibly peeled away by an outside power.
Yanqing crouched and studied the hatch.
There were no symbols on it. No faction insignia. No serial number.
But what caught his attention most was the faint trace of life he could feel seeping through the seam of the hatch.
"There's someone still inside."
He rose immediately and placed a palm on the hatch.
He first tried brute force, only to discover the material was extraordinarily tough. Even with his strength, it did not move an inch.
"Lieutenant, should we summon the Artisanship Commission?" one of the nearby Cloud Knights asked.
Yanqing shook his head.
"There's no time. The life signs inside are weakening."
He took a breath and gathered a thread of sword energy into his palm.
As one of the Luofu's most gifted swordsmen, Yanqing's control over sword energy had already reached an astonishing degree of precision.
Rather than forcing the hatch open, he split the sword energy into countless fine strands, thinner than hair, and threaded them through the cracks.
Then, gently—
he pulled.
With a click, the locking mechanism gave way.
The hatch slowly lifted, and a faint white mist spilled out from within.
It was the vapor of some sort of hibernation chamber, carrying a faint, almost sweet scent.
Holding his breath, Yanqing leaned in to look.
And froze.
Inside the chamber lay a person.
More precisely, a girl who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen.
She wore an antique white dress, and her pale green hair spilled across her shoulders. Her skin was so fair it was almost translucent.
Her features were exquisite to an unreal degree, and her long lashes trembled faintly as though she might wake at any moment.
But what truly stunned Yanqing were the two crystal-clear dragon horns above her brow, glowing faintly with a pale blue light.
Those were the horns of the Vidyadhara.
Ordinary Vidyadhara were called dragonborn, yes.
But a complete pair of true dragon horns… belonged only to—
"...A Vidyadhara Dragon Sovereign?"
Yanqing murmured under his breath, his pupils contracting.
And at that point, her identity was all but obvious.
Mobius: Immortality
Description: In the original timeline, the Vidyadhara did not consist of five lineages, but six. Mobius was the newly born Dragon Sovereign of Yuanqiao's Alchemical lineage.
When the Xianzhou Yuanqiao fell into despair, the entire ship united under the name of the "Ark Plan" and sent her out into the universe in search of a final sliver of hope.
Perhaps by fate, when this young Dragon Sovereign awoke, she found herself in a world altered by "Mystery."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin