"Uh..." Lucian blinked, then raised his hand in greeting, forcing an awkward smile. "Hi... what a coincidence, Magistrate Jinhsi. You're here too?"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Jinhsi's eyes as she helped Lucian up. "Lucian, how did you end up here?"

[Option 1: Say to Jinhsi with deep emotion: "Every encounter is a destined reunion." Reward: Talent 'Healing Art']

[Option 2: Grab Jinhsi's face and plant a flurry of kisses! Reward: Skill 'Minor Cosmic Shift']

[Option 3: Heal Jinhsi's wounds. Reward: Talent 'Gambling Prodigy']

Lucian suddenly dropped to one knee, took Jinhsi's delicate hand, and pressed a light kiss to the back of it.

"Magistrate Jinhsi, every encounter is a destined reunion."

"This is the supreme fate between us."

"So I've decided to give you a gift."

Jinhsi: "?"

Lucian then pulled out a red flower bud from his pocket—

But he quickly put it back.

"Ahem... my mistake."

From his pocket, he produced a white rose instead. Standing up, he tucked it into Jinhsi's hair.

The elegant, flawless white rose complemented Jinhsi's image perfectly, adding a touch of grace to her.

[Option 1 completed. Talent acquired: Healing Art.]

[Healing Art: Can heal all injuries and illnesses in the world. The more severe the injury, the greater the toll on the user.]

Jinhsi touched the white rose in her hair, her cheeks faintly pink. "Thank you..."

Noticing the wound on Jinhsi's arm, Lucian spoke softly, "Let me heal that for you."

Jinhsi looked puzzled. "You know healing too?"

She had never heard of Lucian having any healing abilities before.

Lucian nodded slightly, placing his palm just above Jinhsi's wound.

A faint green glow emanated from his hand. The next moment, when he moved his hand away, the wound on Jinhsi's arm had completely vanished.

[Option 3 completed. Talent acquired: Gambling Prodigy.]

[Gambling Prodigy: You can initiate one bet per day with another person, and they cannot refuse. If you win the bet, the wager will double!]

Lucian's heart swelled with joy. Once they returned to Jinzhou, he'd challenge Aalto to a bet!

Back in the day, legendary gamblers turned pennies into fortunes. I, Lucian, can turn 200,000 into 5 million—no problem!

"This..."

Jinhsi stared at her flawless arm, visibly astonished.

"I had no idea you had such an ability."

It seemed Lucian kept surprising her more and more. At first, he had only shown some combat prowess, but over time, he grew stronger—and now, he even knew healing arts? Is Lucian actually a genius?

Jinhsi felt like she had stumbled upon a treasure.

Honestly, making him her exclusive intelligence officer had been a brilliant decision.

Lucian puffed up proudly, waving a hand dismissively. "This is just the tip of the iceberg for me."

Jinhsi watched his self-satisfied expression with amusement.

Under her gaze, Lucian coughed awkwardly.

"By the way, where is this place? Why are you here?"

Jinhsi explained, "This is Truthseeker's Pass, the only way to awaken the Hibernation Pod."

"And why did you fall through that rift earlier?"

Lucian recounted what had happened before entering Mt. Firmament.

Jinhsi frowned. "Fractsidus... and that person named Phrolova..."

"Sorry, she's very mysterious. We don't have much intel on her. I've only heard bits and pieces."

Lucian waved it off. "No matter. Justice will prevail! Sooner or later, we'll wipe out Fractsidus for good."

Jinhsi smiled and nodded. "In that case, come with me."

"On the way, I'll tell you more about the Sentinel."

Lucian: "Duty calls."

A Shelter.

Xinyi, the administrator of Hongzhen in Mt. Firmament, watched as Rover and Changli approached. "You two are here for the Magistrate, I assume?"

"Unfortunately, she left Hongzhen not long ago. She should be at Truthseeker's Pass now."

Rover frowned. "Truthseeker's Pass?"

"That's what we in Hongzhen call it. You might know it better as the Mianloong Chamber."

"So, what you're saying is, we need to find the core within Truthseeker's Pass to open the Hibernation Pod?"

Jinhsi nodded slightly. "That's correct."

She sighed. "Actually, I can tell you now what Scar said to me after his capture."

"He told me, 'You and the Sentinel are destined to clash.'"

Lucian frowned. "'You and the Sentinel are destined to clash'?"

"Do you think Fractsidus can be trusted?"

Jinhsi shook her head lightly. "Though I don't want to blindly believe Fractsidus' words, I'm not entirely surprised."

"The Sentinel once said that one day, I would grow into an existence even stronger than It."

"Only then would Jinzhou's future truly be in our own hands."

Lucian frowned. "But as the Magistrate, how could you end up fighting the Sentinel?"

"Is Fractsidus manipulating things behind the scenes?"

"And how did Fractsidus even manage to trap the Sentinel?"

Jinhsi shook her head again. "We don't know yet, but I've already asked Xinyi of Hongzhen to investigate."

"Regardless, only the Sentinel can truly stabilize the chaotic temporal currents."

"After the Sentinel returned to its slumber in the Hibernation Pod, the Court's defense mechanisms activated automatically, locking Fractsidus out."

"That's why we must retrieve the core and reopen the Hibernation Pod."

As they spoke, the two noticed a scroll on a nearby mechanism.

"This is..."

Jinhsi picked it up and examined it, her brow furrowing.

"'One of the Laws of Time has been lost'... So the Sentinel's condition is this dire... It was already severely wounded when It descended upon Mt. Firmament."

Lucian recalled, "You mentioned before that you'd sensed something was off with the Sentinel."

Jinhsi nodded slightly. "Yes. My power resonates with the Sentinel's, but recently, my resonance has been weakening—meaning the Sentinel's state is deteriorating as well."

She looked back at the scroll. "This injury has also stripped the Sentinel of its ability to restore temporal currents, leaving only the power to stagnate or reverse time."

Lucian frowned. "But isn't the recovery pod in the Hibernation Pod supposed to heal the Sentinel?"

Jinhsi sighed and shook her head. "According to the scroll, only the Hibernation Pod can provide any relief—and even then, it's merely delaying the inevitable."

"Moreover, the Sentinel's wounds will worsen over time. If It dies from its injuries... the temporal currents of Mt. Firmament will spiral out of control until they consume all of Jinzhou."

Lucian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The system said the Healing Art can 'heal all injuries and illnesses in the world,' right?

I wonder if it can heal the Sentinel... But if even the Hibernation Pod can only barely help, then even if Healing Art works, it'd probably drain an insane amount of energy.

He glanced at Jinhsi's worried expression and hesitated. "Maybe... I can heal It."

Jinhsi: "...?"