---o---
Phantylia's memory?
Looking at the light screen before him, Ron couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.
He hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise...
Although Ron didn't need Phantylia's memory—Phantylia would certainly reveal herself later, only to be hunted down and beaten senseless by the two Emanators, Herta and Jing Yuan—he still had a use for it.
After all, the Ambrosial Arbor had been thoroughly burned dry by Ron. It didn't have a single drop of power left for Phantylia to use. Without the ability to usurp the Arbor as her vessel and wield the authority of [The Abundance], it was absolutely impossible for her to escape the clutches of Herta and Jing Yuan...
But since he had obtained this memory from Phantylia, Ron wasn't about to let it go to waste...
While its usefulness was limited, gaining even a little bit of intelligence on Phantylia was still a good thing—it allowed him to anticipate the enemy's moves.
With this in mind, Ron tapped the light screen before him to continue the simulation. The text on the screen faded, and a new simulated scene appeared:
Within the brilliantly radiant golden lantern, an extremely conspicuous dark purple spot was faintly visible.
Looking closely at this purple spot, it seemed to be a thin, prism-like shard. Though its color was dim, it was still faintly possible to make out the flickering remnants of images reflected upon its surface from within the brilliant golden flames, proving that it held some information.
Ron looked at the purple spot within the lantern pensively. Beside him, Herta had also noticed this speck of color and frowned slightly.
"What is this... Phantylia? How did she get into this lantern?"
Ron pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
"It is Phantylia... but it isn't. This is just a tiny remnant of her."
"Is and isn't? A tiny remnant?" Herta crossed her arms, looking up at Ron with a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone. "Can you stop being a riddler? Do you revere the Path of [Enigmata] that much? What is this, exactly? Can't you just explain it clearly and concisely?"
"Although I do respect the Path of [Enigmata] quite a bit right now... alright, since you asked, let me think..." Ron was a little helpless, but he gave Herta a serious look. "To explain this 'is and isn't,' it's a bit troublesome... Do you know about Heliobi, Herta?"
"Heliobi?" Herta thought for a moment. "Formless Oculus, Anima Vespidae family, Heliobus Subspecies—that's how the Xianzhou Alliance's records classify them."
"In the records of the Genius Society's Astral Ecology faction, these formless beings are also called 'Lumin-sprites,' 'Formless Phantoms,' and 'Spirit-Hosts'—as their biological classification suggests, Heliobi are pure energy lifeforms with no fixed shape."
Herta rummaged through the vast sea of knowledge in her mind and finally found an ecological record she had glanced at at some point, reciting it by rote:
"Heliobi enjoy parasitizing and controlling the fleshly bodies of pan-sentient species, sensing the many changes in the nervous system that arise from emotions. This act of 'devouring the seven passions' brings satisfaction to the formless Heliobi. The parasitized host will be uncontrollably compelled to perform stimulating actions to please the Heliobus within, in exchange for its immense power. The process of a Heliobus taming a host's mind is a process of consumptive use of the host's body..."
As she spoke, she casually mocked the Genius Society member who had archived this file.
"Although I don't like the way the Genius Society does things, they're pretty good at these small tasks of sorting miscellanea."
"And then?" Ron continued to ask. "Have you seen any detailed analysis on Heliobi?"
Herta frowned slightly, then shook her head.
"Heliobi aren't very common... This special existence is considered an Abomination of Abundance by the Xianzhou Alliance, and the vast majority have already been completely imprisoned, locked away on the various flagships of the Xianzhou Alliance."
"Although I am an Emanator of [The Erudition], I don't have the qualifications to request any knowledge related to [The Abundance] from the Xianzhou Alliance—that would be seen as an act of overreach, and I have no interest in making an enemy of the Xianzhou Alliance."
Herta shrugged nonchalantly as she spoke.
"If we're talking about detailed information on Heliobi, I'm probably on the same level as those idiots in the Genius Society... because the only knowledge circulating in the outside world is what I know."
"And that's where the problem lies," Ron said, a bit resigned. "You're not a Xianzhou native, so you don't know the detailed lore about Heliobi. If a Xianzhou native heard what I just said, they would never think I was speaking in riddles..."
He cleared his throat and explained:
"According to the records of the Xianzhou Alliance, these sprites of flame are not all as powerful as Phantylia. The vast majority are as small as sparks from a candle—their actions are like a swarm of bees. They can split and merge, exchanging the information and experience they've gathered to enhance their collective power against enemies."
"However... while a merged Heliobus can be regarded as a single individual, they are still internally divided into primary and secondary parts. They will categorize themselves based on their different strengths to control the actions of the merged entity. The different specializations of the individual Heliobi will govern the different operational aspects of the single entity, much like a giant mecha piloted by several people. It could also be understood as the different components of a person's soul..."
As Ron spoke, he pointed to the purple spot in the lantern.
"But in a Heliobus like Phantylia, all internal divisions have been completely erased... As a Heliobus, Phantylia herself has developed a powerful, all-encompassing self-awareness that has linked all the smaller individual Heliobi together, finally and completely merging them into one, existing as a single, unique entity—this is the source of their power."
Herta listened for a moment and frowned slightly.
"...And what does this have to do with that dark spot in the lantern? Since Phantylia already has a strong self-awareness as a single individual, then this purple spot in the lantern must be Phantylia herself, right?"
Ron shook his head slightly. "Even a Heliobus as powerful as Phantylia has the potential to split—since they are individuals fused together by a strong self-awareness, then when faced with an even stronger emotion or will, they can also be split apart and scattered..."
"This dark spot of light in the lantern is perhaps one such splintered part of 'Phantylia'..."
Ron tapped the wall of the lantern. The brilliant golden Flame of Hope and the purple spot were clearly distinct, and under Ron's control, they did not cross boundaries; not a single spark singed the purple speck.
He mused, "However, that being said, this should only be Phantylia's sigil, not a part of her true self that has been damaged at its source—it's the very same sigil that was left on the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor. When I burned the concept of the Arbor with the Flame of Hope, I accidentally swept it into the lantern."
As Ron spoke, a smile touched the corner of his lips.
"But this is undeniably a good thing—since it is a part of Phantylia's 'self,' then it's possible to read her thoughts and memories."
He snapped his fingers lightly, and the golden flames suddenly surged, completely swallowing the dark spot of light.
"Why don't we take a look... just what strong emotion and will could have made Phantylia split apart in this moment, scaring her out of her wits?"
As his voice fell, the intermingled purple and black colors were devoured by the golden sacred flame and melted directly into it.
The Lantern of [Salvation] represents the Path of [Salvation]. The reason Ron was able to achieve Aeonhood in the previous simulation was that he drew upon the future hopes of all intelligent life in the entire sea of stars as fuel, using their thoughts and memories as a foundation to successfully ascend to the pinnacle of [Salvation].
Although this remnant from Phantylia contained not a single trace of "hope," it still held a segment of thought and memory, which was more than enough for the Flame of Hope to burn and allow Ron to understand everything recorded within...
He gently opened the lid of the Lantern of [Salvation]. The intermingling colors of purple and black spewed out amidst the surging golden sacred flame. Fully incinerated by the stream of golden fire, it relied on this brilliant blaze to sketch out a frame.
The purple and black colors, guided by the gold, traced out lines, weaving a scene within the golden frame before them...
In the scene, a Vidyadhara Pearl-Guardian was humming a tune of unknown origin as she walked through the Vidyadhara dragon palace. She crossed over one ruined structure after another, stepped over fissure after fissure that blocked her path, and nimbly maneuvered her way into the depths of this undersea dragon palace, jogging up to the front of the Ambrosial Arbor's main root—
Looking at the dragon-shaped burl before her, the Pearl-Guardian's eyes curved into a smile, her crisp voice tinged with a strange echo.
"What a pity... a blessing from the Plagues Author of [The Abundance] ended up in a place like this, imprisoned by this ancient sea."
She reached out a hand, gently stroking the main root of the Arbor. The power of [The Abundance] flowed over the dragon-shaped burl, but the moment her finger made contact, it was inexplicably blocked, as if a sliver of it had been burned away by a faint, phantom-like flame...
A satisfied expression appeared on her face. "Truly worthy of a divine miracle of [The Abundance]... Since this Xianzhou [Luofu] doesn't care for you, then you should obediently fall into my hands."
"I wonder... what a beautiful vessel a divine miracle like this would make? It would surely be a perfect match for my perfect self..."
Watching the scene on the screen, the real Herta shivered slightly, a little repulsed.
"Ugh... How is Phantylia so narcissistic? A formless phantom dares to speak of beauty? If the Knights of Beauty heard this, I'm afraid the entire knighthood would declare war on the Antimatter Legion in the next second..."
Beside her, Ron couldn't help but quip, "That's the pot calling the kettle black... Aren't you the same? Always talking about how you're already perfect and all that..."
"Am I wrong?" Herta glanced at Ron, slightly puzzled. "I am indeed already perfect. That is an indisputable fact."
"..."
Ron fell silent, turning his gaze back to the light screen.
The Phantylia on the screen could clearly no longer bear it... How could an ordinary Vidyadhara possibly house an Emanator of [Destruction]? Phantylia had long been extremely dissatisfied with this mortal shell. Now, the main root of the Ambrosial Arbor was right before her eyes. She had to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—
After all, this was a chance for her to be reborn under the destruction bestowed by Nanook of [The Destruction], even after she had followed him in completing the "destruction" of everything...
Although the Lord Ravagers were accepted by Nanook of [The Destruction] and granted boundless power, after the Antimatter Legion had burned the entire sea of stars, they too would have to follow Nanook into the endless calamitous fire and welcome their own destruction.
The shell of the Ambrosial Arbor was the most likely chance Phantylia had found so far to survive at the end of that destruction... Naturally, she was impatient. The sooner she had it in her grasp, the better.
Although the Arbor was currently severed and couldn't be revived, Phantylia would not take it as her main body yet. However, she still had to leave her own power and sigil upon it—
But just as a turquoise flame began to burn on her body, as the Heliobus's true form was being analyzed bit by bit, just as she was about to leave her mark upon the Ambrosial Arbor...
The reality before her, like glass shattered by a fist, broke open with a massive fissure.