Xingtie: Starting with an in-depth analysis of the Yellow Springs

Xing carefully put the book away and decided to go find Bai E and the others to let them know that he was safe.

Aglaia: "...They've arrived."

"Partner! Feng Jin said you would wake up. Are you... feeling alright?" Bai E was extremely anxious and asked about the situation as soon as they met.

Xing put her hands on her hips, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Being an undead feels pretty cool."

Bai E laughed, "The medical skills of the Dim Light Courtyard are quite amazing, aren't they?"

“You have completed the trials of time.” Aglaia nodded slightly. “I must admit, the process was far smoother than expected. Even at the very end, the Titan still held a tender spot for the human in his heart.”

"But I didn't expect... that two people would appear in Ohmma at the same time to deceive the dead."

“We were just talking about this.” Bai E frowned, a hint of malice flashing in his eyes, and couldn’t help but curse.

"Damn it, Wan Di has been in Ohmmar for so long, how come no one has studied his immortality? If they had left any results, we wouldn't be completely clueless now..."

Aglaia shook her head. "Someone has tried your idea before. If it had worked, Senatos wouldn't have disappeared without a trace."

"But it's not time to give up yet. At least for now, I can still think of a glimmer of hope."

Chapter 372 Where Did Death Go?

“Sai Fei’er… if there is anyone in this world who can control the direction of death, it is her.” Her eyes held a faint longing.

“I will try to get her back to Ohma, but please be prepared for disappointment. Please understand that in the history of Onphalus, no one has escaped the clutches of death. At the end of time, Senatos awaits everyone.”

Xing paused for a moment, "Is this... a form of comfort?"

"Don't worry about it, partner," Bai Er encouraged. "You've already created countless miracles along the way, haven't you?"

Aglaia nodded. "Until then, please take good care of yourself..."

"What's wrong, Aglaia?" Bai'er asked instinctively when she didn't continue.

She rested her chin on her hand, as if she had learned important information: "Ominous signs always come in pairs. Tiny gusts of air will eventually weave into a storm that tears the sky apart."

"Anaxxramas, he has begun to make contact with the Senate."

Bai E clenched his fist, his knuckles turning slightly white. "It really turned out like this..."

Aglaia sighed softly, "I sincerely hope that your judgment of him is correct, Bai'er."

"Otherwise, my teacher and I's efforts over the past thousand years... might have been reduced to ashes by that great performer."

[Saifeier: Sister Yayi, I want the treasure chest, and your treasured clothes, can I wear them?]

[*Padofelis: Mei-nee?]

[Aglaia: Oh, it's a cat from another world. Meow, do you want some Ohmama's special dried fish? My cat's been too restless, so I'm going to take away her dried fish rations for life.]

[Saifei: Huh? Seamstress, you must be trying to scare me. I'm going to tell Sister Tibo on me.]

[Bai Er: How could it have turned out like this? Our teacher knew perfectly well that we were at odds with the Senate. However, I'm willing to believe in our teacher… there must still be a chance.]

Charlotte: Beyer is caught in the middle between Naksha and Aglaia, and it's indeed a difficult decision for him. Any decision Naksha makes will put pressure on Beyer: either the thousand-year journey to fire continues, or it will be completely rejected by the Citizens' Assembly.

[Star: I'll just flip the table! What's the point of a citizens' assembly? Dictatorship must be dictatorship.]

[Little Candle: Not bad, savior from beyond the heavens, you've finally come to your senses. The great Caesar supports you; go and realize your ambitions! I will bestow a knighthood upon you in my time.]

[Star: A title of nobility, that's good. What should my name be?]

[Little Candle: Grey-Clad Duke... that doesn't sound good, Savior Duke... never mind, then let's follow Sword-Banner Duke's suggestion and call you... Lord Duke.]

[Shut up: The protagonist and the lord are homophones, which is quite amusing.]

[Tina: By the Little Lucky Grass King, why is it that even though I physically blocked Seno, he still has a counterpart robot from another world?!]

[Nasita: Hmm...maybe I should go to the toilet; maybe I'll figure it out then.]

[Ying: As expected of you.]

[Star: Uh, Lord Caesar, let's not go with that. Please call me... Lord Galactic Baseball!]

[Ring: Your color scheme is similar to a raccoon's, how about we call you... Raccoon Duke?]

[Fireworks: Haha, raccoons, fireflies, purple fluttering moths, robins...]

On the boundless, desolate plain, Xia hurriedly walked under the cover of night. Beside her, wandering souls draped in black robes formed from death also moved slowly forward, their directions remarkably consistent, following the river.

"Ha... back here again."

“I remember this dream. The place was shrouded in a cold, silky mist, and the land was wild and harsh. Tourists thronged the land, their footprints covering the fields.”

He called out to passing tourists, "Hey! Excuse me—what is this place, and where in Onphalus is it located?"

He couldn't hear anything clearly; all he heard in response was a hoarse murmur.

At that moment, Xia lowered his head in thought, muttering in a language I couldn't understand. Or perhaps, he was simply absent-minded, ignoring my question.

He raised his head and said in a teacher's tone, "Tell me, which Titan rules this place? How can I find it?"

"The Hand of Gray..." the traveler in black robes murmured, accompanied by a chilling aura.

“The Hand of Ash, Cenatos?” Nakasha guessed. “Hmph, could it be… the Underworld?”

"It's not...the underworld..."

"Where is this? The outer edge of the underworld, the River Styx? Are you going downstream to the underworld?"

“The underworld… a mere figment of imagination… Titan… refuse… you… I…” The black-robed man’s voice was as if he had a stone stuck in his throat, each word spoken with great effort.

"Listen..."

"What?" Xia frowned at that moment. He wouldn't bother waiting for such a long-winded explanation if they were outside.

The traveler lifted the withered hand, then fell silent. He followed the fingertips, listening intently. A huge shadow carried the scent of dampness from that direction.

"The sound of the tide...?"

I heard it, deep within the tides, beyond the gates of the realm of nothingness… a voice was about to speak to me—

Serhis's voice reached my ears.

"Son of man...are you so eager to join the ranks of the dead?"

“…!” Xia suddenly woke up with a start, her body covered in a cold sweat.

"Oh, you're awake. Welcome back to the mortal realm. Your consciousness dissipated much faster than I expected... It seems the Titan's flame ultimately cannot be compatible with a mortal body."

At that moment, Xia turned around and looked directly at her, "How much longer can my consciousness remain in the human world?"

"In my opinion, we'll see the fifteenth door at most, starting today?"

"Ha, fifteen days and nights..." He chuckled softly, his furrowed brows relaxing. That was more than enough.

"What, now that things have come to this, you finally feel reluctant to leave this mortal world?"

Xia was not worried at all, her confidence evident in her words, "On the contrary. Fifteen days and nights is a bit too long to solve a problem."

[Star: Teacher Xia and I are really destined to meet; we both only have fifteen doors left. Does that count as being paired up for death?]

[Bai Er: Don't joke around, partner. You have no idea how terrified I was when I heard the news of your death. It felt like my idol had never appeared.]

Billy: That's terrifying. I can't imagine how I'd get through life without Star Knight.

[Ambi: Isn't there still Monica?]

[Xia Die: That's the outer edge of the underworld. So many departed souls wander there. Cenatos has never fulfilled its duties as the god of death. Teacher Xia must have had some suspicions then. I need to go back to the Tree Garden; perhaps I can find some clues.]

[Fou: Is Ceres trying to make me laugh to death so he can inherit my Mora? A familiar voice suddenly speaks in your dream, and he seems quite expectant.]

[Aglaia: His soul is like a candle flickering in the wind, which is why he teeters on the edge of death. It's not a bad thing for him; it also confirms his hypothesis.]

[Dan Heng: Xing still has a chance to be resurrected, but Xia will undoubtedly die fifteen days from now.]

[Kaze Sumire: The teacher will probably just laugh it off; for him, the answer to the problem is more important than death.]

[Doctor Truth: Every scholar who pursues truth deserves respect. If given the opportunity, I would warmly welcome Nakasha to join the Society of Learned Scholars to cure the intractable disease known as dullness throughout the world.]

[Magic trick: Thank you. If I'm still alive in the future, I'll definitely keep my promise.]

Chapter 373 Lugurgos

“Hehe…” Cesis couldn’t help but laugh.

Xia said coldly, "Stop grinning like an idiot, let's go. The Senate's envoy should be arriving soon."

"May I ask one more question: Do you truly intend to betray Aglaia's will?"

"I was never loyal to her, so how could I betray her?"

"And what about your white-haired disciple? Acting so recklessly...aren't you afraid of implicating him in injustice?"

Xia sighed softly, "Blind faith always comes at a price, and this is a lesson for Bai E."

"...You really are a strict teacher."

"Of course, I've always been like this."

[Star: Partner, it seems your teacher is really going to cooperate with the Senate; he betrayed you.]

[Aglaia: I told you long ago that Naksha was willing to pay any price to complete the final experiment. And you, as the leader of the Golden Blood, are you really going to gamble the fate of everyone in Ohma with his unknown answer?]

[Bai E: I...]

[Aglaia: I'm not asking you to abandon your feelings, it's just that Onpharos's future rests on the shoulders of the Golden Clan, and we can't gamble with it.]

[Kainese: That's a smart person. The Senate will give you everything you want.]

[Robin: At that moment, Teacher Xia should have known that Aglaia's golden thread was monitoring him, but he still revealed his plan without any hesitation. With his intelligence, I feel he did it on purpose for you to see.]

[Feng Jin: Right, perhaps we haven't yet grasped the message the teacher was hiding.]

[Walter: The final lesson... I guess I'm still living in a dream. I hope Hoshino doesn't awaken a second personality or some unknown power in the future.]

Himeko Murata: Were you that scared? I was just fulfilling my duty as a teacher.

Kiana: Himeko, please don't get hurt. Stay safe on the Star Train. Once we've dealt with the Honkai, we'll definitely find a way to bring you back.

[Himeko: Don't worry, I see she's quite interested in train repair and scientific research, and I've been mentoring her recently.]

"Lord Anaxxagoras, I've kept you waiting." A figure whose body was almost entirely symmetrical, with golden arm patterns crisscrossing on his chest, the center of which was hollow, allowing one's gaze to pass directly through the hole in his chest.

The omnic named Lygus was dignified and elegant. “It’s been a long time, Lord Anaxagoras.”

"On behalf of all the citizens of Ohm, I extend my greetings to you and express my deepest regret for the fate of the Divine Tree.

"It's you? I didn't expect you to personally come to meet me." Xia appeared calm on the surface, but her heart was in turmoil. This person was unfathomable.

Lycus spread his hands naturally, speaking with elegance and refinement, “Besides Cephalo and Tarranton, I have come to uphold the justice of the Senate.”

Serhis was somewhat surprised, "There are Antikythera people here? It's been a rare sight since the Golden War."

"And I extend my sincerest greetings to you, esteemed Titan." He shifted his gaze, making no attempt to conceal his ability to see Titans. "My name is Lycurgus, you may call me Lycurgus."

"Now an honorary elder of the Ohmah Senate, I defend the right of every honest citizen to self-expression in the name of the audience of the divine."

[Paimon: The mastermind behind Onpharos has finally revealed himself! He's the one who caused all the misfortunes of the Golden Clan and the Black Tide. How despicable! He even pretended to be unaware of the truth.]

[Wendy: Omnic lifeforms, according to the rules and logic of your world, Screwgooum belongs to the Omnic King, and even he cannot break the Legus security protocol.]

[Bai E: I never realized it before; who would have thought he was the mastermind behind the scheme?]

[Little Candle: Beneath the mask lies his true face, hideous and repulsive… It's all a facade.]

[Danheng: From this perspective, the timeline of our decision to leave Onfaros coincides with the timeline of him repairing the carriages and sending us off.]

[Aglaia: How could the sealed-off sky receive information from the outside world? We should have been suspicious long ago.]

[Kainese: Heh heh, citizens of Ohm, would you rather believe in the Golden Blood, whose strength is even inferior to that of a Titan, or in the genius who controls the fate of Onpharos, His Holiness the Priest of the Senate?]

[What she said seems to make sense. Isn't our bright future just a matter of choosing Lord Gushi? Rather than gambling with a sliver of hope, why not choose the Lord!]

[I support abandoning the journey to seek fire and offering the fire and the Golden Blood to the priest!]

[Clatrus: I now understand what Your Highness once felt. Are there any rebels among the Suspended Clan? We will banish your glory and swear never to acknowledge the Suspended Clan's identity again.]

[This is truly laughable. Even someone like me, who's just coasting along, understands that our existence is only valuable because of the Golden Descendants. Once all the sparks are returned to their rightful place, we'll be the first data points to be erased.]

[Ling: At least you're somewhat smart. You don't even trust your own people, yet you trust outsiders.]

[Gui Naifen: That's right. Instead of believing that Lai Gushi will help you, you might as well trust me to become the messenger.]