Jing Yuan nodded lightly.
After learning that Leon was a healer, he sought him out to see if he could uncover the issue with Bailu.
Leon needed to know everything that had happened in the past, so Jing Yuan told him the truth.
The truth about the High Cloud Quintet's past was an absolute secret that must never be revealed to outsiders.
Yet Jing Yuan didn't care.
So what if he told Leon? Others might not know Leon's hidden strength, but he knew a portion of it.
The Luofu's current situation was truly not good.
How much longer could he remain in the General's seat?
Ten years? Fifty? A hundred?
Once he stepped down, the new General would need time to mature. There had to be a pillar of strength to support and assist them.
Problems came one after another—
He had no doubts about Yanqing's talent and future achievements.
But Yanqing alone was not enough.
At the very least, the Vidyadhara High Elder needed to regain their power.
With a High Elder's aid, the new General could withstand the pressure and stand firm in the Alliance's internal struggles.
That was also why Jing Yuan sought out Leon.
For the future of the Luofu Xianzhou, he had truly worried himself to pieces.
To solve Bailu's problem, one must inevitably touch upon the Dragon Transformation Wonder and the damaged dragon heart.
Leon revealed a meaningful look. With just one sentence, Jing Yuan's right hand froze above the chessboard.
"Has the General ever considered that the dragon heart might not be on Lady Bailu at all?"
Jing Yuan couldn't help frowning.
"Without the dragon heart, Bailu could not manifest her draconic form. Her dragon horns and tail are not fake."
"No, no, no—"
Leon wagged his index finger left and right.
"Ever since the Vidyadhara formed an alliance with the Xianzhou, the Luofu's High Elders have always undergone same-egg reincarnation—until the exception of Bailu appeared."
"In other words, none of you—not even the dragon masters—truly understand what exactly happens when the dragon heart is lost."
"Am I right?"
Leon still retained memories from a lifetime spent on the Fanghu Xianzhou.
In that life, the Vidyadhara High Elder had suffered a fatal injury and it was not suitable to hatch and reincarnate at that time.
So he had personally treated the wound, forging a life-and-death friendship.
Leon knew many Vidyadhara secrets—more than most Vidyadhara themselves.
Jing Yuan pondered. "That makes sense. My knowledge of the dragon heart and High Elder succession also comes solely from Dan Feng and the dragon masters."
Leon: "Simply put, manifesting a draconic form can be achieved with an incomplete Dragon Transformation Wonder alone."
"Then you mean the dragon heart was completely destroyed?"
"Has the General ever wondered why Blade became immortal?"
"…We can only confirm it has something to do with the borisin."
Leon's thoughts and topic jumps were vast, but Jing Yuan could keep up.
However, Leon's next words completely shattered his composure.
"What if I said Blade is the borisin, and the borisin is Blade?"
"That's impossible—"
Even with Jing Yuan's temperament, he couldn't help showing shock.
"The borisin's flesh has always been suppressed deep within The Shackling Prison. I personally escorted it there."
Leon chuckled lightly. "General, please hear me out. My guess is not without basis."
"Yingxing once studied sword-forging on Zhuming; forging swords inevitably involved touching the Suixiang sealing methods."
"He did know them. In fact… the Ten-Lords Commission's current method of sealing Suixiang originated from Zhuming," Jing Yuan confirmed.
Leon: "Suixiang has no physical body, yet the way Suixiang is sealed is equally effective on a few special existences."
"Rather, it is a binding method—and it can work on the borisin's flesh, even its soul."
Hearing such a bold hypothesis, countless possibilities flashed through Jing Yuan's mind like lightning.
Still, he wanted to hear Leon's analysis to see how much he had guessed correctly.
"It seems the General has thought of many things. Then I'll be direct."
Seeing the thoughts in his eyes, Leon skipped explaining the principles and cut straight to the point.
"The borisin flesh sealed in The Shackling Prison is only a part."
"The greater portion—perhaps even the borisin's consciousness—is currently inside Blade. Or to put it another way, it has fused completely with him."
"Think about it: if theBorisin wanted to possess someone and return, why would it choose a short-life species as weak as Yingxing in its eyes?"
"Most likely, something went wrong during the attempt to revive Baiheng, forcing Yingxing to use himself as the vessel to seal the borisin's consciousness and flesh."
At this, a spark of inspiration flashed in Jing Yuan's mind.
"That's it… that's it…"
"When we captured Shenlou years ago, the restraint garment that bound and sealed him was designed by Yingxing himself."
Shenlou—a special Bavarian transformed by the Pl Abundance people, skilled at using pheromones to induce heart demons, causing large numbers of Xianzhou natives to fall to mara.
An undisputed top criminal on the Ten-Lords Commission's list.
"But the borisin is no Shenlou. How could a mere Yingxing seal a full Emanator of Abundance?"
Jing Yuan temporarily couldn't figure out this layer of doubt.
The corners of Leon's mouth curved into a mysterious, unfathomable arc.
"…And so the topic returns to the original point: the missing dragon heart. General, who do you think it is on right now?"
"…"
Jing Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.
Leon timely added more points of suspicion.
"Yingxing was originally a short-life species. It's one thing that he somehow gained immortality."
"But falling to mara so quickly—in my view, it's more like the borisin constantly fighting Yingxing's chaotic consciousness for control of the body."
"The dragon heart, as an immortal creation, naturally possesses the ability to suppress Abundance power."
"This is my guess. General, do you think this reasoning holds water?"
Leon asked with a smile.
Jing Yuan was stunned for a long while before taking a deep breath, exhaling with complicated eyes.
"If that's the case, all the unsolved mysteries from back then now have reasonable explanations."
"I must say, Brother Leon's guess is extremely bold, yet it has given me—someone too close to see clearly—many new perspectives."
He shook his head and sighed.
"Back then, the dragon masters pulled strings to make Dan Feng's molting punishment incomplete, trying to preserve his memories as Dan Feng."
"But they shot themselves in the foot: the memories were not preserved, half the dragon transformation succession was lost, and no one knew the state of the dragon heart."
"Looking back now, when the Dragon Transformation Wonder was passed to Bailu, the dragon heart was already no longer on Dan Feng."
"At that time, Dan Feng had all the dragon master elders completely under his thumb; the entire Luofu Vidyadhara was his one-man show."
"Whatever he did, no dragon master dared question him."
"Perhaps it was during that period—after deeply researching the dragon heart and Dragon Transformation Wonder—that Dan Feng found a way to solve the Vidyadhara's inability to reproduce."
"The deceased Baiheng was his first test subject…"
"Now that Dan Heng has returned, the dragon transformation succession may have a chance to become whole again. But the dragon heart…"
If it was truly as Leon guessed—on Blade, used to suppress the borisin's consciousness—
Then no matter what, he absolutely could not remove it lightly. Who knew if the borisin would make a comeback because of it?
Permanence plus Abundance—the supreme powers of two Paths combined.
With something so terrifying sealed inside, no wonder Blade revived no matter how many times he was killed, yet his own strength was far below an Emanator's.
"Sigh… this exhausting duty of a General—when will it ever end…"
To this, Leon could only express helplessness.
…