[Five-star Character: Jing Yuan (LV.1/90)]
On the system panel, that golden light was so brilliant it almost overflowed from the screen.
Special effect halos swirled around the entry, with every pixel exuding an aura of "rare," "expensive," and "I cost a lot of resources to raise, but I'm worth it."
The remaining nine rays of light were much simpler—mostly common upgrade materials, along with one blue light, displaying [Bailu's Eidolon × 1].
"It's a pull! A five-star!"
Stella was so excited she almost jumped up, her fingers trembling slightly.
She quickly operated the interface, first dragging the Eidolon to [Bailu]'s avatar.
A flash of blue light streaked by, and the dragon girl's portrait in the system panel perked up, her level jumping from LV29 to LV39.
In [boulder Town], [Bailu] stretched, her dragon tail swaying happily: "Huh? I suddenly feel much more energetic."
"Now for the main event!"
Stella rubbed her hands together and dumped all the upgrade materials into the newly pulled [Jing Yuan].
The materials turned into streams of light and poured into the portrait of the smiling man with squinted eyes.
The white-haired man in the portrait wore the attire of a General of the [Seat of Divine Foresight]; even as just an image, he exuded an air of "I know everything, but I won't say it."
Then—
[Jing Yuan LV.1 → LV.5]
Stella: "..."
As expected, five-star characters are much harder to raise than three-star characters.
But she quickly pulled herself together, removed [Clara] from the team configuration, and pulled [Jing Yuan] into the team.
Taking a deep breath, she silently recited the summon.
A gentle yet majestic golden light appeared in the open space, slowly condensing into a human form.
White hair, golden eyes, and that signature smile with squinted eyes.
The attire of the General of the [Seat of Divine Foresight] seemed out of place in the dim underground world, yet it possessed a calm demeanor of its own.
"Main body, is this a surprise?"
[Jing Yuan] opened his eyes and smiled gently.
His voice was steady and calm, carrying a certain confidence of someone in control of the whole situation.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!"
Stella nodded repeatedly in excitement.
"Is he strong?"
Seele examined this new member.
His temperament was indeed outstanding, but his sense of oppression was not as strong as [Cocolia]'s.
"Very—"
Stella was just about to brag, but was interrupted by [Jing Yuan] himself.
"I'm very weak, after all, I'm a strategist."
[Jing Yuan] smiled with his eyes squinted, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing the weather.
"When it comes to fighting, it's better to leave it to them."
"Them?"
Stella was stunned.
"Who? You have helpers?"
"Mm."
[Jing Yuan] nodded, smiling without saying a word.
"Who?"
Stella pressed him.
"A secret."
[Jing Yuan] continued to smile.
"Stop keeping me in suspense!"
Stella wailed, clutching her head.
"Give me some face, you five-star big shot!"
Seele sighed: "Stop messing around for now. Let's go talk to [Natasha] about the important matters. This information is very important, and..."
She glanced at [Jing Yuan].
"There's another one that needs explaining."
"I won't go."
[Cocolia] said.
"If I go, it will probably be very troublesome. I will watch over you from the shadows."
"Alright then."
Seele nodded.
Thus, this even more spectacular team walked toward the interior of [Boulder Town].
Two [Bronya]s were already eye-catching enough, and now there was an additional white-haired man with luxurious attire and an extraordinary temperament.
The residents of the [Lower District] along the way looked over one after another, whispering to each other.
"Are we too conspicuous?"
[Bronya] whispered, her [Silvermane Guards] instincts making her uncomfortable with the excessive attention.
"You'll get used to it."
[Bronya] responded calmly.
"Being with this guy, being low-key is the abnormal thing."
[Jing Yuan] smiled without saying a word, his steps calm, as if he were not in the dim underground mining area, but strolling in the garden of the [Seat of Divine Foresight].
Soon, they saw an unexpected scene in a relatively lively area within the town—
A pink-haired girl was squatting among a group of children, saying something with a brilliant smile.
A calm-looking black-haired young man stood beside her, watching her helplessly.
"Your name is [Hook], right?"
[March 7th] asked a little girl.
The little girl named [Hook] blinked: "Huh? How do you know my name? I haven't seen you before."
"Hehe, that's not important."
[March 7th] smiled mysteriously.
"[March], stop messing around, Stella and the others are back."
[Dan Heng] walked to [March 7th]'s side, his gaze already landing on Stella and her party.
"Ah, you're back!"
[March 7th] turned her head, her smile brilliant.
But when her gaze swept across the team, her smile froze on her face.
Her gaze moved back and forth between the two [Bronya]s, lingered on [Jing Yuan] for a long time, and finally looked at Stella, her eyes full of question marks.
"Did I... miss a lot?" [March 7th] asked blankly.
[Dan Heng] sighed: "It seems so."
He looked at [Jing Yuan], who was smiling at him, and hesitated to speak.
[Hook] and the children curiously watched the new adults, especially interested in [Jing Yuan]—his outfit seemed to glow in the [Lower District].
Seeing this scene, Stella already started to get a headache.
She felt as if she could already foresee how chaotic it would be to explain all this to [March 7th] and [Dan Heng].
At this moment, the system panel popped up a notification:
[Received "Extreme Confusion and Curiosity" from [March 7th], value 20 [stellar jade]]
[Received "Helpless Premonition" from [Dan Heng], value 15 [stellar jade]]
[Received "Pure Curiosity and Excitement" from [Hook] and the children, total value 35 [stellar jade]]
The amount of [stellar jade] increased by another chunk.
But Stella couldn't be happy at all.
[Jing Yuan] seemed to see through her thoughts and smiled with his eyes squinted: "Do you need me to help explain? After all, I am a strategist, and I am good at handling complex situations."
Stella's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"Really."
[Jing Yuan] nodded, his smile deepening.
"However, my way of explaining... might be a bit special."
"How special?"
[Jing Yuan] smiled without saying a word, and in those squinted eyes flashed a certain... unsettling light.
Stella suddenly felt that pulling this five-star strategist might not be entirely a good thing.
Not far away, [March 7th] could no longer contain her curiosity and pulled [Dan Heng] over quickly: "So what's the situation now? You can summon [Bronya]? And who is this? Also, aren't you only able to summon three..."
Her questions came like a barrage.
Seele held her forehead, the two [Bronya]s looked at each other, [Cocolia] hiding in the shadows already showed an expression of watching a good show, [Bailu] on the side yawned, and [Jing Yuan]—still smiling with his eyes squinted, as if everything before him was within his expectations.