Tianqiong Peak, the disheveled open space before Fuyun Temple.
From eldest disciple to sixth disciple, they knelt in order on the ground. Their faces all showed bruises and swelling, but not one complained. They just knelt there quietly, watching the figure pacing back and forth before them.
'Fu Hua' paced huffily before them, raising her hand again and again only to lower it, ultimately not striking the killing blow to clean house.
She just glared at them furiously, especially at Qin Suyi lying on the ground with swirling eyes.
"Traitorous disciples! A bunch of traitorous disciples!"
"Just with what you've done, killing you a hundred times wouldn't be enough!"
Hearing her words, the seven disciples knelt more properly and, as if rehearsed, shouted in unison: "All is for Master to decide. Disciples have absolutely no complaints."
Hearing this, 'Fu Hua' felt the fire in her heart burn even fiercer. She raised her hand to accuse them one by one, but ultimately forcefully lowered it, letting out a cold snort.
"Forget it. Having the fortune to return fifty thousand years ago, I still have many tragedies to prevent. No time to waste on you lot."
"I'm ultimately limited alone. Although your martial arts aren't much to look at, clearing some Honkai Beasts and zombies should be no problem."
After 'Fu Hua' spoke these words, the six kneeling disciples exchanged glances, ultimately still shouting in unison: "Thank you for Master's mercy."
Fu Hua snorted coldly, turning her head: "One person's strength is ultimately too meager. Still need to pass down martial arts first."
Her gaze swept around Fuyun Temple, only seeing devastation. The land painstakingly organized previously was now shattered again.
"However, before that, need to restore the mountain gate first..."
Lin Chaoyu raised her hand: "Master, leave restoring the mountain gate to us."
'Fu Hua's' expression improved somewhat. She nodded: "Very well."
Seeing her mood seemed better, Su Mei also kneeling on the ground first glanced at the clay jars shattered all over the ground nearby, then asked: "Master, do these spring greens still need re-pickling?"
Hearing the words "spring greens," 'Fu Hua' was like seeing something to avoid at all costs, hurriedly saying: "Don't mention those spring greens!"
Su Mei nodded, just preparing to comply.
But at this moment, she saw Master's body tremble, then say in a completely different tone: "Of course. After all, what kind of Crimson Immortal has no spring greens? You go down the mountain to purchase a batch of new clay jars and vegetables. From now on, spring greens will be Fuyun Temple's signature revenue product."
Including Su Mei, the other disciples didn't find this strange. After accepting the task, they hurried down the mountain.
However, although the disciples showed no abnormality, 'Fu Hua' was quite concerned about the voice suddenly appearing in her mind.
Just as she was about to question, the voice in her mind questioned first: "Who are you? Why do you appear in Hua's consciousness?"
This voice was naturally Lucius.
This question was naturally to strike first, disrupting 'Fu Hua's' rhythm.
Previously, when 'Fu Hua' was delivering heavy blows to these traitorous disciples, Lucius in the consciousness ocean looked at the system interface, which clearly displayed:
[Plot Character: Herrscher of Sentience???]
Then he looked at the crimson feather before him. The originally empty Fenghuang Down now had a consciousness condensing from nothing.
[Plot Character: Fu Hua???]
After Fenghuang Down isolated Qin Suyi's Sword God filled with filial piety, he still used the aftershock to make Hua's consciousness die once without awareness. Because he'd injected Revival Needle beforehand, she was resurrecting.
Although Lucius felt that with Hua's current Garuda body, even without injection she could return from death, ultimately being safe was better.
Shifting attention from Hua's consciousness to the system interface, Lucius pondered.
System interface errors meant the system reacted to these two characters, also meaning they passed system judgment, just not yet meeting background settings so errors displayed.
Like the authority deciding Herrscher of Sentience's identity, or the Seven Disciples' Patricide plot node deciding Fu Hua's identity.
Now the Seven Disciples' Patricide plot was also completed.
Although an accident occurred, from the current situation this accident clearly developed in a good direction, directly solving the Herrscher of Sentience character problem.
But Lucius knew well whether he could pull her into the script still depended on subsequent operations.
The first step was to first deceive... stabilize her.
This Herrscher of Sentience currently didn't possess consciousness authority. Even her own consciousness was quite unstable. As a newly born consciousness, she could only be considered a seedling.
The anchor maintaining her existence was cognition based on the 'Fu Hua' identity.
If she learned she wasn't Fu Hua, she might directly explode—literally explode.
To solve this problem required gradually guiding her to produce more connections with this world.
At that time, even knowing she wasn't Fu Hua, she could still live as a person with independent self.
However, before that... Lucius needed to seize the initiative to guide her.
If it were original Fu Hua, very difficult. But if Herrscher of Sentience, through evaluating her current intelligence, Lucius felt he could still argue with her.
The first step to achieving the goal was striking first.
Rather than letting fire burn to himself, better to first make the other party fall into self-证明.
Thus, before Herrscher of Sentience could question, Lucius preemptively questioned her: "Who are you? Why do you appear in Hua's consciousness?"
After Lucius's first move, Herrscher of Sentience indeed froze, subconsciously answering: "What being here? I'm Fu Hua, of course I..."
Speaking on, Herrscher of Sentience suddenly felt groundless guilt. Her tone also weakened.
However, after realizing her guilt, she suddenly became unreasonably confident again.
"I'm Fu Hua. Of course I'm here! Just that I come from fifty thousand years in the future!"
Hearing Herrscher of Sentience covering her guilt with high tone, Lucius used a tone of sudden realization: "...So that's it. Like me, you come from another era. Not strange then."
"What other era?"
Hearing her so smoothly ask the question he preset, Lucius couldn't help secretly smiling.
Hehe... kids are easy to deal with. Too easy to guess what they'll say.
"Like you, I'm also not a person of this era. Strictly speaking, I'm Hua's past life."
"...Hah? You think I'm a child?" Herrscher of Sentience clearly didn't believe Lucius's words.
"You're her future life fifty thousand years later. Why can't I be her past life?"
Herrscher of Sentience's next question was blocked. "True... No wait, what evidence do you have?"
Lucius countered: "Then what evidence do you have?"
Hearing this, Herrscher of Sentience's tone proudly seemed to puff out her chest.
"I can use Taixu Sword God. I have Fu Hua's fifty thousand years of memories."
"Then my answer is the same. I also can use Taixu Sword God. I have Fu Hua's memories."
This wasn't Lucius making things up but stating fact.
This Herrscher of Sentience's composition materials included part of him. Using this connection, he could also borrow the other's power.
Thus, Lucius very straightforwardly displayed Herrscher of Sentience's Taixu Sword God to herself.
"This, actually is Sword God, and so similar to mine..."
Then, for questions Herrscher of Sentience asked about Fu Hua, Lucius also answered fluently.
Thus, Herrscher of Sentience gained some trust in the identity Lucius presented.
Detecting her mood change, Lucius continued adding stakes, delivering the killing blow to her.
That was—Fenghuang Down.
After seeing the red feather floating before her, Herrscher of Sentience truly stupefied.
"Fenghuang Down?!"
Lucius's voice also timely appeared in her mind.
"You see, I still control Fenghuang Down. Compared to me, your identity should be questioned more, right?"
"This... this..."
After seeing Fenghuang Down, Herrscher of Sentience's doubts mostly disappeared. Simultaneously she also doubted her own identity.
Both can use Taixu Sword God, both have Fu Hua's memories. Could it be... I'm the fake one?
However, this doubt just appeared and was instantly erased by her.
Impossible! Of course I'm Fu Hua! True, unmistakably Fu Hua!
Since I'm real, could this really be from my more distant past?
"Wrong, wrong!" Herrscher of Sentience's voice grew agitated: "Almost got led astray by you. Since you claim to come from my past life, how do you explain the Taixu Seven Disciples?"
"Them? They also come from the past like me, of course."
"Hah?"
Lucius scoffed: "I think you should know the world is in cycles. I come from the previous cycle two hundred thousand years ago. Our experiences seem similar yet false, but extremely alike."
"We're just... lonely ghosts from two hundred thousand years ago."
Although these words were made up, they weren't entirely groundless.
Just as the current era was 'Previous Civilization' to civilization fifty thousand years later, extending two hundred thousand years forward from the current time point was also a 'Previous Previous Civilization.' Pushing further forward, maybe even a 'Previous Previous Previous Civilization.'
Cocoon of Finality's hand on Earth could trace earliest to the dinosaur extinction sixty-five million years ago. Who knew how many cycles Earth experienced in such long time.
After Lucius answered, Herrscher of Sentience fell into stupor.
"Is, is that so?"
"Yes, should be so. After all, this past life also knows Taixu Sword God, also knows my Fu Hua's experiences."
Of course there was another more important reason Herrscher of Sentience subconsciously ignored.
That was if doubting the other was fake, before that... the one who should most be doubted as fake was herself.
Thinking of this problem, she subconsciously skipped it.
"Alright, I believe you're Fu Hua from two hundred thousand years ago. In that case, let's get acquainted. I'm the Crimson Immortal from fifty thousand years later. You can also call me Fu Hua."
Seeing Herrscher of Sentience finally deceived, Lucius's first-layer plan succeeded. If currently controlling the body, corners of his mouth probably couldn't help pulling into a smile.
"I'm the Crimson Immortal from two hundred thousand years ago. You can also call me Fu Hua. Mm... this gets confusing."
"How about this—I'm called 'Past Life,' Hua is called 'Present Life,' you're called 'Future Life.' We are the Crimson Immortal who was, is, and forever will be."
Hearing Lucius's proposal, Herrscher of Sentience felt it was awesome: "Excellent, excellent."
Since she agreed, Lucius continued: "Since we've determined our titles, shouldn't we determine order? After all, we're all Fu Hua. Should have a backbone, make our strength work in one direction."
"True..." Herrscher of Sentience didn't object because she felt her advantage was great. "I have fifty thousand years of age. Being eldest should be fine, right?"
"I think not." Lucius rejected this and said: "If looking at your birth time point, my age is two hundred fifty thousand years, Hua's fifty thousand years. Calculating, actually your age is youngest."
"So I think I should be eldest, Hua second, you third."
Hearing this, Herrscher of Sentience couldn't help getting angry.
"Third? No way, I absolutely can't be third..."
"Order can be tentatively set this way. If there are problems, discuss later. Now we have a more important problem."
Herrscher of Sentience's attention was indeed attracted. She couldn't help asking: "What problem?"
"Our goal is consistent—all to save this world. You should have no objection to this point."
"Of course!" Herrscher of Sentience answered decisively. After all, she was an immortal. Was guarding the world something to consider?
"Besides this, I hope you know we ultimately aren't people of this era. Hua is this body's master."
"I know of course. Won't fight her for the body. She's just a little antique now. With my teaching, can definitely prevent many tragedies."
"Very good. This way we've reached consensus."
Soon, Hua's consciousness revived in Fenghuang Down.
After Lucius's explanation, she knew another 'ring grandpa' appeared in her mind. However, after this period's bizarre experiences, she didn't find it too rare.
After Hua's consciousness returned, the only one of seven disciples still lying on the ground, Qin Suyi, also slowly woke up.
After physical correction, her spirit normalized considerably.
Seeing Hua, she knelt on the ground with a thud, face showing grief.
"Master, this disciple wronged you! Please punish me as you wish. This disciple has absolutely no complaints!"
Lucius and Herrscher of Sentience transmitted quite a few 'Fu Hua' memories to her. She knew this girl almost her age was actually her disciple.
However, to prevent Hua, this innocent child, from being contaminated, when describing Qin Suyi's behavior, Lucius made it harmless.
Therefore Hua knew the person before her was a mental patient who fell into obsession due to extreme guilt.
Thinking of this, Hua's eyes couldn't help showing pity. So young yet became mentally ill. Sigh...
As a good child, Hua still wanted to help her.
Seeing Qin Suyi's face full of grief and regret, Hua thought and said: "In that case, extend your hands."
Hearing Hua's words, Qin Suyi extended both hands without any hesitation.
Hua turned to enter the temple, took the horsetail whisk from the offering table, and lightly struck Qin Suyi's extended hands three times.
"You made mistakes. I punished you. Now we're even."
"But Master, I killed you back then..."
"Father once said people have scales in their hearts. Whether they're equal should be judged by myself."
"Father also said people must look forward, can't always live in the past."
Looking at Hua's face showing shy yet relaxed smile, Qin Suyi only felt ashamed. She felt like a bug living in darkness seeing sunlight—wanting to avoid yet yearning for it.
Facing such a master, her heart was completely peaceful, unable to generate even a bit of filial piety.
"So what's with this little antique whose motherly aura is maxed out?"
Seeing this scene, Herrscher of Sentience gasped. She vaguely felt this little antique had potential to become her mother.
Watching Qin Suyi completely devoid of madwoman appearance, Lucius also expressed surprise.
However, having one less madwoman in the world was quite good. He never wanted to deal with such people again in this lifetime.
However, since the Seven Disciples' Patricide plot already completed, next was the second half of Chronicles of Broken Swords in Shenzhou.
However, in this second half, Fu Hua had little screen time—just one move with Li Sushang.
Afterward, Li Sushang lay on a board and was taken back to Schicksal by Otto. Revived five hundred years later, Fu Hua's plot from five hundred years ago thus ended.
So next he needed to figure out how to bring out Li Sushang...
Besides this was Schicksal's Eastern Expedition. The Schicksal Eastern Expedition Tour Group hadn't departed yet.
According to timeline, Schicksal's Eastern Expedition should be before Seven Disciples' Patricide. However, time dislocation wasn't a problem. After all, even the Second Great Honkai wasn't replicated yet, yet he'd assembled the starter trio.
This dumb system was rigid everywhere except incredibly loose on time judgment.
Plot nodes were puzzle pieces. Which one to assemble first didn't matter, as long as the puzzle could be completed at the end.
Lucius hoped it would respect time judgment. That way he should be fifty thousand years later, not here...
Thus, several days passed.
Some changes occurred on the Europa side.
A plague outbreak there. Infected initially showed cold symptoms. After several listless days, they'd fall into coma.
The culprit causing all this was precisely that bacterium capable of triggering Honkai energy fluctuations that Mobius noticed not long ago.
After discovering this bacterium's abnormality, Lucius interfered with Fire Moth through Nicholas. They quickly blockaded and cleaned areas where plague outbreak.
Although Fire Moth was mostly unreliable, in death-fighting Honkai they could still be counted on somewhat.
Plus with anti-Honkai energy vaccine Mobius provided earlier, Blue Dream Group held optimistic attitude about suppressing this plague.
Then Fire Moth's side had problems.
Somehow, vaccine originally projected as sufficient showed huge shortfall, causing quite many infected to accumulate.
As these infected increased, Mobius discovered that although these viruses' genetic information showed no obvious change, lethality significantly increased.
Even those falling into coma began showing signs of Honkai energy erosion.
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