"Well…" Jing Yuan gave a dry cough.
"Then what sort of compensation does Miss Cecilia want?"
"So long as it is within the Luofu's power, Jing Yuan will do everything he can."
Jing Yuan pulled out his old deadbeat rhetoric once again.
Was there compensation? Yes.
What compensation? Leave it blank for now, but as long as the Luofu could do it, they would certainly try their best.
Though Jing Yuan would indeed keep his word, writing such a blank check was still a little rude.
Cecilia put on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm… let me think."
She started counting on her fingers.
"If you want my help again this time, then the Luofu will owe me at least five favors."
"You already let me use the Luofu's Omniscia, so I'll subtract one for that. That leaves four."
"And I don't really like letting people stay in debt to me forever, so how about this—you give me the Ambrosial Arbor, and I'll cancel out two of those favors. What do you think?"
Jing Yuan was genuinely stunned.
Was that really how numbers worked?!
True, given Cecilia's status, he really had no idea what payment to offer, which was why he had planned to leave it hanging as a favor.
But the Luofu wasn't some shameless debtor. A favor still had to be repaid properly!
Who in their right mind counted one bit of help as two favors?
And on top of that, she actually wanted the Ambrosial Arbor as payment?
The whole world knew how important the Arbor was to the Xianzhou Alliance. Even if he, Jing Yuan, agreed to it, the Marshal never would.
Pressing a hand to his forehead, Jing Yuan said, "Miss Cecilia, do you not think this is extortion?"
"The Ambrosial Arbor is an object the Luofu safeguards. It concerns the safety of the entire Xianzhou. It is absolutely impossible for us to hand it over."
Cecilia looked disappointed. "Well, if that's how it is, then five favors it is. I'll take the loss and collect them slowly."
Just like that, Cecilia casually added another favor to the bill.
Fu Xuan's face darkened too.
She still clearly remembered that, in order to repay Cecilia's very first favor, the Divination Commission's energy reserves had been completely drained, and the entire department had effectively gone on vacation for the next three months.
And now, after just a bit of back-and-forth with the General, this ancestor of a woman wanted the Luofu to owe her five favors?
If that actually happened, wouldn't the Luofu get skinned bald sooner or later?
That said, Cecilia didn't really care much about the Luofu's favors in the first place.
At her current status and value, if she were to reveal herself to the outside world, there would be no shortage of people begging for the chance to owe her one, all in the pursuit of long life.
Not to mention the IPC. With their temperament, so long as she didn't display too many openly hostile tendencies, they would definitely do everything they could to win her over.
After all, with the strength of her current max-level account, if she truly got serious—and assuming Lan stayed off the field—even soloing the entire Luofu wasn't out of the question.
What she lacked was points—opportunities to make lies become reality.
Although she had already squeezed most of the coin out of the people on the Luofu, Hua's alias still hadn't made its appearance yet. If the Luofu collapsed here and now, that would actually make things difficult for her.
After all, Cecilia still had far too many accounts left to raise, and the muddy waters of the Luofu clearly still held plenty of room for maneuvering.
"I'm just kidding." Cecilia waved a hand.
"General Jing Yuan, there's no need to be so nervous. Something like the Ambrosial Arbor is far too hot to handle. I wouldn't want it even if you gave it to me."
Jing Yuan let out a small sigh of relief, though his eyes still held a trace of caution.
This Miss Cecilia always spoke in that half-true, half-false way. He really couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Still, as a healer, she at least seemed to have a kind heart.
Probably.
After all, hadn't she decided to help simply because she saw the Luofu suffering under the Stellaron's influence?
Jing Yuan was about to be driven mad by his own self-comfort.
Sure enough, the Express Crew really were much easier to deal with when they wanted nothing in return.
The entrance to Scalegorge Waterscape lay in a sea basin deep within the Luofu.
When the group arrived, Cecilia finally understood what people meant by "beneath the ancient sea."
Before them lay a vast expanse of ocean sealed beneath a gigantic barrier. The seawater shone with a strange blue-green hue, and its depths were impossible to see.
Across the barrier, countless mysterious sigils flowed in endless circulation—reinforcements added over millennia by the Vidyadhara themselves.
"So this is Scalegorge Waterscape?" March 7th craned her neck to look. "It looks really deep…"
"The waters of the ancient sea descend ten thousand fathoms," Fu Xuan explained seriously for once. "Without the guidance of the Vidyadhara High Elder, an ordinary person would sink the moment they entered. There would be no chance of survival."
As she spoke, her gaze drifted meaningfully toward Dan Heng.
After all, he was the one who would need to part the sea in a moment.
"Mr. Dan Heng, are you ready?"
Dan Heng fell silent for a moment, saying nothing, before finally walking toward the shore.
The moment he stopped at the water's edge, everyone held their breath.
In the next instant, he raised his hand.
A blue-green radiance surged from his palm—the purest possible form of Permanence.
Boom!
A huge fissure split open across the center of the sea and spread outward to both sides.
The waters retreated, revealing a path descending into the deep.
On either side of that road, seawater stood upright like towering walls held back by an invisible force, forming twin curtains that rose almost into the sky.
"Let's go," Dan Heng said.
Perhaps because he had drawn upon the High Elder's power, fragments of Dan Feng's memories were beginning to surface in his mind.
"There's still a long way ahead."
With that, he took the first step onto the road that led beneath the sea.
The others followed close behind.
Cecilia, watching Dan Heng's back, grew thoughtful.
It seemed there were unlikely to be any major surprises in the plot from here onward.
Within this seafaring expedition party, the disguised Tingyun—Phantylia—was naturally present as well.
If nothing went wrong, then the next step would be a nice neat betrayal… followed by a party fight.
Cecilia's gaze drifted casually over the figure of the foxian woman in the group.
At present, Phantylia still maintained that gentle, charming facade, even giving off a few perfectly timed exclamations of wonder at the strange sights around them.
If Cecilia hadn't already known the script, she felt there was a high chance she would have been fooled by this masterful performance too.
"Miss Tingyun, is this your first time in Scalegorge Waterscape?" Cecilia suddenly asked.
Phantylia paused for the briefest moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Yes. Though this humble girl was born and raised on the Luofu, Scalegorge Waterscape has always been forbidden ground to the Vidyadhara. How could ordinary people ever have the chance to come here? I've only been able to broaden my horizons today thanks to all of you honored benefactors."
Cecilia laughed inwardly.
Go on, keep acting.
Ever since they entered Scalegorge Waterscape, this Phantylia had been subtly tailing her. Did she really think Cecilia was blind?
If nothing unexpected happened, then sooner or later Phantylia would probably come over and try to have a little heartfelt talk with her.
Heh. In that case…
She'd just have to play weak and set her up herself.
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 126)
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 (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
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 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
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 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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