"A Throne..."
Hua stared blankly at the figure, murmuring in a daze.
Anyone who understood the path of a Pathstrider would realize what had just happened.
In that single instant, the Throne of the Hunt was born.
Indeed, while this power couldn't compare to an Aeon's, and wasn't even entirely transcendent when facing certain special Emanators, one had to understand... unlike an Emanator, who merely needed to attract an Aeon's gaze and be granted power—though becoming an Emanator was difficult enough—the forging of a Throne was far beyond that.
Just like the definition of a Perfect Scholar: infinite thought, infinite life, infinite vision... a concept that existed even before the birth of Nous, the Aeon of Erudition. Only those capable of creating and containing a singularity of knowledge could complete the coronation of a Perfect Scholar.
The King of Wealth from the Corporation had even caused the Equilibrium to tilt.
A Throne is a miracle of the mortal world, an ultimate state achieved by a mortal being on the path of exploring a Path.
"It's coming."
Herta, already sensing it, spoke first.
The next moment—
With a twang that shook the universe, something incomprehensible seemed to descend upon this star system.
"It's Lan!"
Following Herta's excited voice, an indescribable feeling enveloped their minds. The past replayed in this moment, turning into a flowing memory.
A transparent, colossal figure appeared.
Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance.
Its appearance wasn't surprising. After all, Fuli always appeared at the scene of events that could influence the course of the universe, silently recording everything.
An Emanator wasn't enough to attract an Aeon's attention.
But a Throne was different.
Just as when Fleming completed his self-coronation, Fuli had come to meet him.
A Throne was a miracle capable of influencing the universe and the future, enough to draw Fuli's gaze.
As for Lan, it went without saying. As the Aeon of the Hunt, when a Throne of the Hunt emerged in their domain, they would naturally come to take a look.
"Two Aeons..."
Ruan Mei bit her lip. Though her expression remained cool, the excitement in her eyes was hard to hide.
Herta was the same.
Although for geniuses, the so-called Aeons were just another research topic—Herta, who had consulted Nous multiple times, would even disrespectfully call the Aeon of Erudition a "Droid-head"—for most people in this universe, even geniuses, it was impossible to remain calm in the face of such immense power.
Not to mention there were two of them.
Most people would never encounter an Aeon in their entire lives. For Herta, one of her most well-known and flaunted achievements, besides her title from the Genius Society, was having consulted an Aeon multiple times, which showed the status of Aeons in people's hearts.
"I... I... what should I say?"
As the person in question, Miss Qingque was now facing the gazes of two Aeons, and she was sweating profusely.
In the past, Jiang Qiao had always used her body. She had never experienced this feeling before. Even though she knew about it, the surprise was never this direct. But now, facing two... she just felt her whole body go numb.
"Just ignore them. They're just here to take a look."
Jiang Qiao sat in his chair, calmly sipping his tea, his nonchalant voice echoing in Qingque's mind.
"..."
She was clearly on the verge of snapping, but she tried her best to remain calm, forcing a smile.
"Hi?"
Fuli didn't respond, but after a moment's gaze, a Light Cone descended into Qingque's hand.
Lan did the same, disappearing after a long silence.
"Phew..."
"You don't have to be so formal with them. At the end of the day, Aeons are just that. As someone who has ascended to a Throne, you are fully qualified to face them directly."
"Easy for you to say..." Qingque retorted, then caught herself. "Wait..."
"Me, a Throne?"
"Yes, what you just did was a Throne."
"The Throne of the Hunt, born from the principle of justice."
"The Celestial Arbiter of Equilibrium."
"...'Using stars as arrows, the firmament as a court, to judge injustice?' From the 'Annals of the Divine Foresight'?"
"You can consider it a quote. You don't have to worry about what it's called. This kind of thing is ultimately just a human-defined status. It might have other names in other people's mouths, but for you, this is your Throne."
"Although I took some shortcuts, this power is genuine and flawless, and it's the most suitable for you."
The power of an Emanator was just a convenient tool. For Jiang Qiao, he had never valued such things.
And the "Constellation Mode" he displayed using Qingque's body was just a fleeting, temporary need.
In essence, it was something that relied entirely on his personal skill to manifest.
For Qingque herself, it was almost impossible to replicate. Even with the many Paths granted to her by the Aeons, Qingque couldn't fully unleash their true power, only able to use a fraction of it.
But the Celestial Arbiter of Equilibrium was different.
This was Jiang Qiao helping Qingque reach her future form in a short amount of time.
It was everything Qingque herself could master.
"I have shown you the future you can reach, and what you need to do is to walk the rest of the path."
"Consider this my gift for your inauguration ceremony as Marshal."
Hearing this, Miss Qingque, who had been feeling a little happy and touched, instantly went from sunny to cloudy.
It would have been better if you hadn't mentioned it. Now that you have, my anger is flaring up!
Don't think that giving me this kind of thing will make me forgive you!
I will never forgive you for what you did to me!
"Then, I'll leave the rest to you, Marshal."
Before Miss Qingque could express her anger, Mr. Jiang Qiao very tactfully disconnected, leaving her to fume in helpless rage.
"What did you just do?"
Herta looked at the calm Jiang Qiao. Everything seemed normal, but her intuition told her that what had just happened was closely related to this man.
"Nothing, just gave her a little guidance."
"Everything seems to have returned to normal."
"What do you think justice is?"
In response to Ruan Mei's words, Jiang Qiao simply replied with a question.
The conviction that people hold in their hearts, the yearning for righteousness—their manifestation is justice.
But in this world, justice often arrives a step behind injustice. Justice delayed cannot be called justice.
That is why the Hunt craves speed, craves transcendence.
Lan's arrow can even overcome the constraints of causality and time.
All for the sake of this unwavering belief.
As a Perfect Scholar, Polka Kakamond possessed the Omniscience Domain.
In this domain, she could manipulate all probabilities, locking the future in the direction she had set through molecular manipulation at the microscopic level.
In doing so, she became a Maxwell's Demon — the Omniscient One, the Architect of Futures.
And the Celestial Arbiter of Equilibrium, having also reached a Throne, naturally possessed an equally incredible and unreasonable power.
To restore the judged matter to its original state, to prune the erroneous events—this is what the Celestial Arbiter of Equilibrium's power could do.
Starting with the judgment of good and evil, and ending with the reaping of karmic retribution, the final result was to prune the chaos stirred up by Polka Kakamond from its very source. The pruned events would then act as a backlash, a karmic punishment on Polka and Dr. Primitive.
If the Omniscience Domain was the ability to shape the future into one's desired form, then the Celestial Arbiter of Equilibrium was the ability to eliminate what one deemed to be an erroneous present and inflict that error upon the unjust.
It surpassed the influence of most Emanators, which was limited to the material plane, and reached a level close to that of an Aeon's influence on concepts.
This was a Throne.
With Dr. Primitive and Polka Kakamond both brought to justice, there were no more obstacles to the Luminary Wardance Ceremony.
"This Lantern Rite is completely different from ours in Liyue."
On the viewing platform, Hu Tao, who had been invited, looked at the scene below with amazement.
After all, it was a rare gathering of the Xianzhou, a martial arts ceremony featuring powerhouses from all over the universe. Coincidentally, the Xianzhou Alliance had deliberately set the time on a new page of the Xianzhou calendar, the so-called New Year.
Such a grand event naturally wouldn't be missed by the members of the chat group, so almost all of them were present.
"Although it's the same culture, the difference in scope will have an influence."
"Hmm... I've been to other worlds, but I didn't expect so many people here... Hmm, it looks like there's great potential to expand the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business."
"Other planets might be fine... but opening a Wangsheng Funeral Parlor on the Xianzhou would probably go bankrupt, right?" Firefly's expression was a little strange. "After all, most of the people here are long-life species."
Excluding those who died in war or accidents, in terms of normal lifespan, if you opened a Wangsheng Funeral Parlor on the Xianzhou, it would probably take several generations of directors to get a single customer. Oh... considering Glamoth's support plan for solving the Xianzhou's Mara-struck problem, the once-troubling Mara-struck issue was not so fatal anymore.
"That seems to be the case..." Hu Tao sighed, realizing the problem, but she quickly regained her spirits. "As long as you have enough ideas, there are always more solutions than problems!"
"As the director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, it is my duty to make it bigger and stronger, and to expand our business!"
Without a doubt, turning the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, which was originally only in Liyue... well, now it had expanded to Fontaine and Sumeru... into a chain that spanned the universe was very tempting for Hu Tao, who was always dedicated to expanding her business.
"...You could try contacting the Interastral Peace Corporation." Although she wasn't optimistic about it, Firefly still offered a well-intentioned suggestion.
"Mmm~ So delicious~"
Miss Furina, who had no opinion on the matter, was busy indulging in desserts with Kiana and the others, forming a foodie alliance.
Because of the special significance of this martial arts ceremony, and Glamoth's pursuit in certain areas, people could taste food from all over the universe at this event, including things that could originally only be eaten in worlds full of memories, like Penacony.
Although Firefly had sent them a lot during their chats in the group, because it involved so many worlds and she was also very busy, even Firefly herself wasn't very clear on the matter.
—The Empress said nothing, just silently ate her oak roll cakes.
"Kiana, eat slowly..."
The barely-there Miss Mei looked helplessly at the white-haired ball of fluff who was eating like a starving ghost. Then, sensing another gaze, she said with a slightly strange tone:
"Miss Acheron, is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing."
A certain lost Pathstrider of Nihility shook her head calmly.
Her appearance here was obviously not strange.
Although she wasn't interested in the so-called martial arts ceremony, with the idea that Galaxy Rangers might appear at such a big event, it was necessary to come to return Tielnan's belongings to a Galaxy Ranger.
Especially since Glamoth had connections with the Galaxy Rangers.
As a result, she hadn't run into any Galaxy Rangers yet, but she had found an unexpected surprise.
Looking at the strange yet familiar faces, although Acheron knew that these people were not the companions who had fought alongside her in the past, the nostalgic feeling still compelled her to shamelessly approach them.
And with the advantage of her face, even though she was uninvited, Kiana and the others welcomed this alternate version of Mei.
Especially since Miss Alternate Mei was very sensible and gave Kiana a white peach as a meeting gift.
Of course, the members of the Astral Express also had strong feelings about this.
For example, Welt was caught red-handed by Tesla, who had come to slack off on vacation.
"It's so lively."
Elysia, sitting next to Jiang Qiao, sighed with emotion at the scene.
But, the next moment, her tone changed.
"By the way... I just went to participate in the martial arts ceremony for a bit, and you've already attracted two more beautiful girls~ Naughty Jiang Qiao~"
"I can't help it. After all, a certain someone wasn't around~ If I don't guard my food well, it's easy for other women to sneak a bite~"
Miss Serpent shamelessly started to taunt.
But unfortunately, against Elysia, even with her newfound poise, she still seemed to be completely suppressed.
Her anger was easily provoked by the other.
But... it didn't matter.
At this moment, Miss Serpent fully utilized her physical advantage.
So what if you can suppress me? You suppress my head, I'll go suppress your little head!