Very soon, everyone present gathered in the inner hall of the Divination Commission.
At the very center of the hall stood the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light.
It was a massive ring-shaped apparatus, encircled by twelve crystalline jade walls. Each wall was densely engraved with star charts and arcane sigils.
A strange pressure filled the air, as if something invisible were slowly coursing through it.
Standing before the device, Mebius tilted her head back to take in its full size.
To be honest, it was even bigger than she had imagined.
Unlike last time, when they had only used the Matrix of Prescience, this Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light looked obviously more advanced at a glance.
Fu Xuan began to explain, "The Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light can illuminate ten directions and perceive both past and future."
"But it requires sufficient anchors—that is, people or objects with strong karmic ties to the subject of the divination—to serve as points of reference."
Turning around, she looked at Mebius.
"Little Dragon Sovereign, please step into the center of the formation."
Mebius did not hesitate. She walked straight to the heart of the Dharma Realm.
At the center of the bronze disk was a recessed platform just large enough for one person to stand upon.
The moment she stepped onto it, she felt a gentle warmth beneath her feet, as though something were slowly seeping upward through the soles of her shoes.
"And then?" she asked, looking up at Fu Xuan.
"And then…" Fu Xuan took a deep breath. "The four generals must also step forward and stand around the Little Dragon Sovereign."
At those words, Jing Yuan moved first, taking his place at Mebius's right.
Feixiao followed closely and stood at her left.
Then Huaiyan stroked his beard and slowly stepped forward, taking a position slightly behind Jing Yuan. He said nothing, merely inclined his head as if quietly sensing something.
Yaoguang was the last to approach. She took her place beside Feixiao, smiling faintly as she looked at Mebius, then at the other three generals. But in the depths of her smiling eyes was a trace of gravity that was hard to miss.
Jing Yuan raised a brow. "Taibu, even we are to be included in the divination?"
"Precisely." Fu Xuan nodded firmly.
"According to the intelligence we already possess, the Crimson Kite General of Yuanqiao must have made plans of her own regarding Enigmata. In other words, the causal threads of Enigmata have already become entangled with the Path of The Hunt."
She paused, her gaze sweeping across the four generals.
"If four Emanators of The Hunt serve together as the core materials for the divination, it may greatly improve the efficiency of the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light. It may even allow us to pierce through the obscuration of Enigmata and see something deeper."
"That," she concluded, "is why I have arranged it this way. Generals, do any of you object?"
"I see." Jing Yuan nodded thoughtfully.
"Since it is your arrangement, Taibu, I naturally have no objection."
Feixiao folded her arms and lifted her chin. "We're already here. What is there left to say? Begin."
Huaiyan stroked his beard and smiled. "If these old bones of mine can still be of some use, then it is my honor."
Yaoguang still wore that ever-smiling expression, though she turned her head slightly to glance at Fu Xuan.
"My junior sister is rarely this serious. As her senior, how could I possibly drag her down?"
Fu Xuan took another breath and said no more.
She turned and walked toward a bronze platform at the edge of the inner hall, ascended its steps, and sat cross-legged upon the cushion at its summit.
"Senior Sister." From atop the platform, Fu Xuan looked toward Yaoguang.
"The Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light is Yuque's most precious treasure, and no one is more familiar with controlling it than you. I shall preside over the divination, while you guide the power of the Dharma Realm. How does that sound?"
Yaoguang nodded, and for once the smile faded from her face.
"That suits me perfectly."
From within her sleeve, she withdrew a palm-sized jade tablet. It was a flawless white, with faint golden patterns flowing over its surface.
Pressing the tablet lightly to her forehead, she closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Then she opened them, and with a flick of her wrist, tossed the tablet into the air.
At once, the twelve jade walls surrounding the Dharma Realm began to glow in unison.
Then Fu Xuan spoke again. "The Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light requires Path power as its catalyst. Generals, please manifest your bow-wrought divine authorities."
None of the generals objected.
Four powers from four different Xianzhou ships erupted into being above the Luofu's Divination Commission.
In that instant, the entire Luofu felt the disturbance from the Taibu Office—four sudden Emanator-level auras descending at once.
As Mebius watched everything unfold before her, she could not help but fall into thought.
At this rate, Fu Xuan looked as though she was nearly ready to begin.
But strangely enough, the scene Mebius had expected still had not appeared.
She thought back to the last divination.
When they had tried to use Cecilia to divine the information tied to Theresa and Enigmata, even after draining the entire reserve of the Luofu Divination Commission, the calculation still could not be sustained.
In the end, it had taken Nous suddenly stepping in with support for the divination to complete.
Don't tell me…
Was this one running into the same problem? Not enough reserves again?
Granted, the level of this divination certainly would not be lower than the last one. If anything, it might be even higher.
But still—still!
After one experience already, shouldn't the Luofu have prepared enough reserves in advance this time?
Was all of this really going to end in vain?
…And, as it turned out, Mebius's foreboding was quickly proven right.
At the center of the Dharma Realm, the twelve jade walls had been flashing in a mysterious alternating rhythm.
But now, their light began to flicker unstably.
Fu Xuan sat atop the high platform, fingers flying in a blur as she formed seal after seal.
Her face changed almost instantly.
"How is this possible?!"
What she was seeing was utterly unacceptable to her—but numbers did not lie.
All the resources the Divination Commission had painstakingly stockpiled over this period were being devoured at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Everything she had hoarded through thrift, caution, and endless calculation was vanishing into something that resembled a bottomless abyss.
Before this divination began, she had even brought some extra supplies from her own family, planning to submit them later for reimbursement by the Alliance!
"Fu Xuan?" Jing Yuan sensed the change immediately and frowned. "What's wrong?"
Fu Xuan did not answer.
Her fingers continued carving through the air at lightning speed, streams of golden runes flowing from her fingertips as she attempted to stabilize the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light.
But the moment those runes touched the outer edge of the Dharma Realm, they dissolved as if melted away by some invisible force.
"That's impossible…" Fu Xuan repeated, her voice trembling slightly now.
She had calculated this.
Before the ritual began, she had checked and rechecked countless times, confirming that the Divination Commission's remaining resources were enough to support the Dharma Realm through the entire operation.
But reality had viciously slapped her in the face.
The rate of energy consumption was more than ten times faster than she had predicted.
In that moment, Fu Xuan felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
She remembered the last time, the divination for Cecilia. That too had drained the Divination Commission dry, and in the end it had only been completed because Nous personally intervened.
But what about this time?
Nous had not come.
There would be no one to fill the gap for her now.
"Senior Sister!" Fu Xuan suddenly lifted her head, locking eyes with Yaoguang. Her voice had become hoarse with urgency.
"Proceed according to plan!"
Yaoguang reacted immediately.
"Don't worry, Junior Sister. Your big sister won't let you go bankrupt."
The moment those words left her lips, she moved.
A vast and overwhelming aura burst from her body.
Then, behind her, her divine authority unfolded in full.
It was a colossal golden bird, its wings large enough to blot out the sky, its eyes blazing like suns.
The Brilliant Solar Luminary King.
This was the Yuque's ship-guardian authority, the Path embodiment of Yaoguang as an Arbiter-General.
Countless streams of golden light poured down from the great bird and flowed into the heart of the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light.
The jade walls that had begun to dim suddenly flared bright once more—
Brighter than before.
So bright they were blinding.
So bright it seemed they might ignite.
"It's working!" Fu Xuan's voice rang from atop the platform, unable to suppress the excitement within it.
"The Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light has successfully activated! Generals, hold your divine authorities steady and do not resist the Dharma Realm's force!"
Inside the hall, the brilliance grew ever more intense.
Standing at the center of the formation, Mebius could feel the overwhelming pressure of Path energy surging around her.
So this time it should really work, right?
And then, at that very moment, Mebius sharply sensed two new Path signatures slowly taking shape from somewhere beyond the Luofu.
One belonged to The Hunt.
The other to Erudition.
Fu Hua and Theresa.
With those two now in play, the setup was complete.
This divination should not run into any more trouble now.
Mebius quietly let out a breath of relief.
Now all that remained was to wait for the result.
However—
Just as Mebius was beginning to think everything was proceeding according to plan, an indescribable pressure suddenly descended from above.
She recognized that feeling all too well.
The last time she had felt it in the Divination Commission was when Nous had descended.
Could it be…
Had it come again to watch the fun?
"What now—again?!" Fu Xuan's voice rang out sharply from above.
She had not even finished speaking when the twelve jade walls at the heart of the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light began to tremble violently.
Yaoguang's expression changed at once.
She thrust both hands forward, trying to force the formation back into stability—but the incoming force was too overbearing, too unreasonable. It gave her no time to react.
"Someone is forcibly seizing control of the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light!" Yaoguang shouted, and for once her voice had lost every trace of its usual playfulness.
"Who?!" Feixiao barked, her Flying Aureus authority surging outward with terrifying force, its murderous pressure cutting through the hall like blades.
Jing Yuan said nothing, but the expression of his divine authority deepened into something vast and dark, moving to shield Mebius behind him.
And then—
The power of Elation swept across the entire Luofu in an instant.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
A wild burst of laughter descended from the heavens.
It was so loud, so unrestrained, so wildly unhinged that it felt as though everyone's ears would burst from the sound.
And within that laughter, a toy-like figure wearing a clown mask slowly emerged.
Its appearance was absurd and ridiculous—
But everyone recognized it immediately.
Aha, the Aeon of Elation.
Aha's voice echoed into every ear:
"Oh my, so many people turning out to welcome me? I'm almost embarrassed."
"I was just passing by and saw how lively things were. So naturally, I came over to join the fun. And then I saw you were performing a divination! A divination! I absolutely love divinations!"
As it spoke, Aha pulled out a crystal ball from nowhere, tossed it lightly in one hand, then produced a deck of tarot cards from even less discernible origins and fanned them dramatically.
"Want your fortunes read? Free of charge!"
The hall fell utterly silent.
The divine authorities of the four Arbiter-Generals still blazed around them, but now even their sharp, battle-hardened killing intent carried a hint of bewilderment.
Why had Aha come to meddle too?
They were doing something serious here!
As if sensing everyone's thoughts, Aha cheerfully explained:
"I told you already, I came to watch the fun! Aren't you Xianzhou people holding a Wardance? What a wonderfully lively occasion! How could Aha possibly stay away?"
Its gaze dropped toward the Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light.
"And besides, you're doing a divination! But divinations are so dull—what's the point of peeking at the future if you can't make it more exciting?"
"Come, come, come! Let Aha spice things up a little and make this divination truly interesting!"
At that, Fu Xuan panicked immediately.
"Wait—Exalted Joylord, what are you doing?!"
"Doing?" Aha tilted its head. The clown mask on its face shifted and became that of an innocent child.
"Helping you, of course! Aren't you short on energy? Aha will top you up! Isn't the calculation difficult? Aha will turn it into a full-universe live broadcast!"
"What?!" Fu Xuan's voice nearly cracked.
But Aha no longer seemed interested in explaining.
It lifted a finger and lightly tapped the shimmering rainbow glow surrounding it.
The Dharma Realm of Tenfold Reflected Light immediately lost control.
The brilliance of the twelve jade walls exploded outward, expanding at an impossible speed.
The light pierced through the walls of the Divination Commission, through the Luofu's dome, through the ship's shielding, and surged outward into the endless sea of stars.
At the same time, a gigantic light-screen unfurled across the sky above the Luofu.
It was so vast it nearly covered the entire ship.
And displayed upon it—
Was the scene at the center of the Dharma Realm.
Mebius standing at the heart of the formation.
The four Arbiter-Generals surrounding her.
Fu Xuan seated cross-legged atop the platform.
And, of course—
That terrifyingly powerful Aha, floating there in plain sight.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Citizens of the galaxy!" Aha's voice boomed through the screen to the entire universe, filled with a manic excitement that made one's scalp crawl.
"Welcome to Aha's special program—Xianzhou Luofu: Wardance Ceremony, Special Edition: 'The Great Divination of the Yuanqiao Dragon Sovereign'!"
"This broadcast is exclusively sponsored by Aha, Aeon of Elation! There are absolutely no advertisements, because Aha doesn't need ad revenue!"
At that instant, the entire Luofu fell silent.
No—not just the Luofu.
The entire galaxy did.
The IPC, the Genius Society, the Family, the other Xianzhou ships—every one of them saw that descending light-screen.
They saw the little girl standing at the center of the formation.
They saw the four Arbiter-Generals.
And they saw the Aeon floating there, laughing like a mad clown.
Whispers and murmurs rose simultaneously on countless worlds.
But on the Luofu itself, everything continued.
"Heh. Might the Exalted Joylord have descended upon the Luofu this time because of that Enigmata that deceived the entire galaxy?"
At that moment, Jing Yuan, as General of the Luofu, stepped forward.
And through the giant light-screen, his voice and figure were transmitted across the whole galaxy.
That single statement instantly seized everyone's attention.
Exalted Joylord? Wasn't that what the Xianzhou called Aha?
Aha had come to the Luofu?
And what was this Enigmata that had deceived the entire galaxy?
Countless questions surged into the minds of the watchers.
And then Aha cheerfully took up the role of commentator.
Shh~ General of The Hunt, the program is just about to begin. Please bear with it and refrain from making noise for now!
Aha's voice rang throughout the cosmos.
In the next instant, Jing Yuan felt himself wrapped in a force of Elation.
He seemed to have temporarily lost the ability to speak.
Meanwhile, Aha went right on talking.
With a grand sweep of its hand, the galaxy-wide screen shifted.
At last, new images began to appear.
It was a land ablaze with Nihility.
The scene turned.
At the edge of that burning wasteland stood the back of a woman.
She was tall and slender, with long violet hair drifting faintly in the searing wind. An indescribable aura surrounded her.
She seemed at once an observer and a recorder.
In her hand, she held a notebook glowing faintly with light, her head bent as she calmly wrote within it, as though the nihilistic flames all around her—flames capable of devouring everything—had nothing to do with her at all.
"Who is that?"
Countless eyes fixed on the figure.
The view slowly pushed forward, circling her shoulder, brushing past the notebook in her hand.
Then her profile came fully into view—
And the entire galaxy recognized that face.
Herta.
Then the notebook in Herta's hand was shown in close-up.
On its cover was written:
Records of the Discovery of the Fourth Apocalypse.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
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I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
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Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
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Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
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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
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My Harem Is Indescribable 100
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Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
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The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
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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
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Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
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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
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I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
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No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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