Diluc looked at the messages in the group chat and didn't feel like talking. He simply muted the chat.
For the next few days, he had to lay low in the group, or else he'd definitely be dragged out and teased.
Once the heat died down, he'd reappear.
After a bout of messing around, everyone piled into the Genshin dungeon.
Currently, the Genshin dungeon had very generous rewards.
Not only could you earn Star Coins, but you could also obtain other things like weapons and gear.
Ye Yun was helping Klee and the others tidy their clothes and check their backpacks.
He planned to take them on a picnic to Rimuru's place.
There was no SpiritTournament today. Aglaea was overseeing things in Ochema, and Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon had tagged along as well.
As for babysitting duty—it was Rios, Jingliu, Ye Yun, and… Rita.
Yes, that Rita!The lolicon Rita!
Rita was now either at the New Fontaine Pavilion or hanging out at Ye Yun's shop every day.
Honkai Impact 3rd? Sorry, Rita claimed she wasn't from that world.
She was born a Honkai: Star Rail character and would die one too. On this side, there was the ever-young Meroxin. And over here—the Ten Little Angels!
Ye Yun crouched down to help Klee straighten her outfit, fix her hat, and dab on some BB cream.
"Alright, let's head out!"
The Ten Little Angels cheered.
"Yay! We're going on a picnic!"
Just as Ye Yun was about to step into the teleportation gate, a voice rang in his head.
[Host, I have something to discuss with you.]
Ye Yun turned to Rita and said,
"Rita, take Klee and the others through first. Something came up—I'll join you in a bit. Just hang around the town and don't wander off."
Rita gave a slight bow.
"Please rest assured. I'll take good care of them."
Ye Yun nodded, then sat down nearby to speak with the system.
"What's up?"
**[Notification: Congratulations to the host for successfully promoting the special product line—Seer Spirits.
Now, the host has been granted a one-time opportunity to challenge and become the trainer of the pinnacle Seer Spirit—Holy Spirit Arceus. Would you like to accept the challenge?]**
Ye Yun was shocked.
"Arceus? As in that Arceus I remember?"
[Correct, Host.]
Ye Yun gasped.
"Whoa—how could I possibly say no? What's the challenge?"
**[Notification: The system will transport you directly to Arceus. Safety is guaranteed.
Arceus has already been informed of your intention to become its trainer.
Everything depends on your performance. As long as Arceus accepts you, the challenge is considered a success.]**
Ye Yun nodded.
"If there's no safety issue, then let's do it."
[Notification! Initiating teleportation! Due to the long distance, some dizziness may occur—this is normal.]
As the system's voice fell silent, Ye Yun felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness, like he was falling at high speed.
Once the feeling faded, he found himself in a mysterious space.
Floating at the center was Arceus.
Ye Yun looked at it. Hmm… something was off.
This Arceus was only child-sized, with several white-glowing tentacles floating around it.
[Notification: This is a juvenile Arceus.]
Ye Yun understood.
Ah, that made sense now—it's just the juvenile form.
Arceus noticed Ye Yun and floated over.
"Human! You want to be my trainer?"
Ye Yun looked straight at it.
"That's right—become my spirit! I'll take you to face countless strong opponents! I'll help you grow stronger!"
Ye Yun played his trump card. Arceus was born a battle maniac, always either fighting or searching for strong foes.
As soon as Ye Yun finished speaking, Arceus agreed without hesitation.
"If what you say is true, then I'm willing to become your spirit.
If it's a lie, that voice said I can return anytime!"
Ye Yun figured the "voice" must be the system.
"No problem—100% guaranteed."
Arceus nodded and floated to his side.
Ye Yun took out a Spirit Capsule and let Arceus leave its mark.
As for whether Arceus wanted to go inside? Ye Yun didn't force it.
[Congratulations, Host, for successfully recruiting Arceus! Returning to the Honkai: Star Rail world. Due to distance, expect slight dizziness.]
As the system finished speaking, Ye Yun and Arceus vanished.
Ten minutes later.
Ye Yun returned to the shop with Arceus. Arceus looked out the window at the starry sky, clearly excited.
"I can sense it! So many powerful beings here! Are they the Aeons? No rush—I'll find you!"
Ye Yun placed the Spirit Capsule in his room and said to Arceus,
"The capsule is in my room. If you ever want to rest, feel free to go in."
Arceus nodded.
Ye Yun continued.
"Come on, I'll take you to another world. There are some monsters over there you can spar with."
Arceus nodded slightly and followed him through the teleportation gate.
On the other side, they saw Klee, Bailu, and the Ten Little Angels playing near the gate.
Tian was riding a toy car being pulled by a Tempest Wolf, racing around.
"Wahoo~ This is fun! Faster!"
Klee saw Ye Yun and ran over, leaping into his arms.
She hugged his neck and nuzzled his face.
"Big bro Ye Yun! Are you done with your work?" Klee sat on his arm, blinking her big, adorable eyes.
Ye Yun smiled dotingly and pinched her cheek.
"All done. Come, let me introduce a new friend.
Arceus!"
In the distance, Arceus had just KO'd Tempest Wolf with a move. Upon hearing his name, he teleported next to Ye Yun.
"What is it?"
Ye Yun said,
"This is Klee. Get to know each other."
Klee stared at Arceus curiously.
"Hi there~ Arceus~ I'm Klee, the Spark Knight of Mondstadt!"
Arceus nodded.
"Hello, Klee. If you need help, just call me."
Then, he teleported off again—this time to spar with Jingliu.
Arceus had a sense of restraint, knowing everyone here was Ye Yun's friend, so he didn't go all out—just sparring.
Ye Yun let him be and then took Klee and the others outside the town.
Meanwhile, at Herta Space Station, something very strange had just occurred.
All the Spirits in the station had suddenly looked toward the sky in the same direction.
This lasted several minutes before they returned to normal.
Herta quickly caught wind of it. She called over some spirits to ask what happened—and received the same answer from all of them:
"He has arrived!"
Herta had developed a Spirit Communicator to translate spirit thoughts into universal language.
She stared at the word "He" on the screen, instantly intrigued.
Herta burst out of her lab, dragged a few random people and their spirits inside.
This scene was witnessed by Ruan Mei and Screwllum.
They quickly followed her into the lab.
There, they saw Herta laughing maniacally.
"Hahaha! What a surprise!"
Screwllum approached her.
"Ms. Herta, what exactly are you doing?"
Herta turned around and, seeing them, said:
"Come on! We're going to find Ye Yun—he has a god!"
"A god at Ye Yun's place?" they repeated.
Herta nodded.
"Yes! You both saw how the spirits acted, right?
I just asked a few—same answer.
They said a god of spirits has descended. They could sense His presence.
Then I asked them where they felt it. There's only one possible place—
Exactly! The Astral Express! Akivili is gone, Aha's busy writing plays...
So that leaves only one possibility!"
Ruan Mei said,
"Ye Yun's shop."
Herta snapped her fingers.
"Correct~ Let's go!"
Ruan Mei and Screwllum followed her into the portal.
Rimuru's world.
After landing, the trio went directly to Rimuru.
He was healing his subordinates—yes, because Arceus had sparred with every noteworthy monster in the entire federation.
Rimuru had fought Arceus too… and lost! Though it was a close match.
If it had been even a teenage version of Arceus, it would've been an instant loss.
"Ruan Mei! Herta! Screwllum! What brings you here?"
Ruan Mei greeted him warmly—he'd provided her with many useful samples.
"Long time no see, Rimuru. We're here looking for Ye Yun. Do you know where he is?"
Rimuru replied,
"Sure, he's by the lake to the south. What do you need him for?" He couldn't help but be curious.
Herta said bluntly,
"We're here to find a god. There's a god at Ye Yun's shop, and we want to ask him about it."
Rimuru raised a question mark over his head.
"A god? Really? Want me to send someone to guide you?"
Herta shook her head and summoned a magic carpet.
"No need. After all these years, I can go myself."
The three rode off to the south.
Soon, they found Ye Yun and the Ten Little Angels playing by the lakeside...
***
Ye Yun understood after hearing that.
"You saying that makes it clear. Yes, there is. Why? You want to study Him?"
Herta nodded.
"Exactly! Where is He?"
Ye Yun smiled and called out into the air.
"Arceus."
The next second, a phantom appeared not far away and slowly took solid form—Arceus appeared in place.
"Boss, you called me?"
Arceus had already acknowledged Ye Yun as his boss. This boss could take him to seek out strong opponents, helping him grow stronger.
Ye Yun pointed at Herta beside him.
"This is my friend. She wants to study you a bit."
Arceus glanced at Herta.
"Even though you're my boss's friend, I can't agree to that. Sorry."
Arceus rejected Herta, then flickered and vanished again.
Ye Yun looked at Herta.
"Arceus was once imprisoned and studied, so he's very against this kind of thing."
Herta, after seeing Arceus, became fascinated—itching to study him.
Spirit were already magical beings, and the strongest among them must be even more mysterious.
Herta moved closer to Ye Yun and played her trump card.
"Ye Yun~ I heard Arceus call you boss, right? Help me out, pretty please? I'll give you 100,000 credits.
Just talk to Arceus for me, tell him we're not bad people—just want him to come play in my simulated universe from time to time, how's that?"
Ye Yun shook his head.
"Even though I'm his boss, I won't force him to do anything. He'll be on the train, so you can ask him yourself then."
Herta stroked her chin.
"I see. Fine~ I'll go find Stelle then."
She turned and left without hesitation.
Screwllum and Ruan Mei said goodbye to Ye Yun and got on Herta's magic carpet.
Nightfall.
Everyone gathered in Ye Yun's shop for dinner.
Arceus had also returned after sparring with Rios, Axia, and Younas near the train in space.
Arceus was feeling very annoyed—Herta was clinging to him like a sticky plaster. Every time he showed up in the shop, she would rush over and start pitching her glorious simulated universe plan.
"Arceus~ I'm telling you, my simulated universe is super fun~
I heard from Ye Yun that you love fighting strong foes, right? I can simulate a Stellaron Hunter for you—how about it?
Wanna come try it out?"
Arceus shook his head.
"Not interested. Too fake, not fun."
Herta kept trying to lure the underageSpirit.
"Aww, but my simulated universe is a perfect replica of reality.
Guaranteed to give you a thrilling fight. It's not even far—just a few steps away through the portal."
Arceus still shook his head.
"No."
Asta and Clara were unfazed watching this.
"Sigh~ Ms. Herta is at it again. She did the same thing when trying to convince Stelle."
Clara smiled and said,
"That's just how Professor Herta is.
Oh right, Sister Asta, Professor Herta said she wants to stay in my lab for a while."
Both Clara and Asta were considered Herta's students, so Clara calling Asta "senior" made sense.
Asta replied,
"I know. Sorry to trouble you, Clara.
Professor Herta said she won't leave until she convinces Arceus."
After returning from Rimuru's world, Herta had gone straight to the second floor of the train to Clara's lab, telling her she'd be staying there for a few days.
Clara was confused—there was a teleport portal just a few steps away. Why come live in her lab?
At worst, Herta could have stayed at the treehouse.
But Herta insisted that wouldn't show enough sincerity.
She was convinced: to get Puni to agree, she had to show maximum sincerity.
Arceus was incredibly annoyed. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt a tug on one of his tentacles.
Arceus looked over to see Klee holding one of his tentacles.
"Arceus~ Arceus~ Klee has teddy bear cookies for you~" Klee said cheerfully, holding a cookie.
Arceus had been about to reject her and leave, but the innocent and pure smile on Klee's face left him speechless. He let Klee pull him over to the tea break sofa area.
The ten little ones all gathered around Arceus, playing beside him and occasionally feeding him snacks, all of which he accepted and ate.
Herta saw this and called Asta.
"Asta! Place an order! Buy every snack available on the company's app!"
Herta, seeing Puni eating the kids' snacks, assumed he loved food and decided to try the "gourmet tactic."
What she didn't know was that Arceus simply couldn't bring himself to refuse the kids.
He figured if he made them cry, it would be a nightmare—he wouldn't know how to comfort them.
Stelle, Firefly, and Hutao also noticed Arceus and asked Ye Yun curiously:
"Ye Yun, who's that big glowing orb?"
Ye Yun answered:
"He's called Arceus. He's a spirit—standing at the peak of all spirits."
Stelle and Hutao both gasped.
"What? The top of all spirits? That powerful? What about my Miris then? Isn't she the spirit Queen?"
Ye Yun nodded.
"She is. But your Miris is the Light-type Spirit Queen. Each type has its own strongest—called Spirit King.
Arceus is the Holy-type Spirit King, and the strongest among all Spirit Kings.
Got it?"
The group nodded in awe, looking at Arceus with reverence.
They knew how powerful Miris was—she could take down an entire antimatter fleet by herself.
They couldn't even imagine how powerful Arceus must be. After all, the strongest people they'd met so far were Ye Yun and Acheron.
Ye Yun looked at Arceus and said:
"If you're ever in danger, you can call him. Just shout his name—he'll appear.
But only if you're in the same world, and only if it's a truly unbeatable enemy. Otherwise, Arceus probably won't bother."
Stelle said excitedly:
"Whoa! Seriously?"
Ye Yun nodded.
"Seriously."
Hutao, hearing this, picked up a glass of juice and walked toward Arceus.
"Let's go say hi to the boss-level guy and get familiar first."
Stelle, Firefly, and the others followed, each with a glass of juice in hand.
Ye Yun kept cooking.
"Jashin-chan, did you finish marinating the meat like I asked?"
The Little Evil God brought over a big pot of beef.
"It's ready!"
He placed the pot next to Ye Yun and stood there staring at him.
Ye Yun asked,
"What's up? Why are you staring at me?"
Little Evil God replied,
"I've been thinking… I cook for all these people every day—shouldn't I be getting paid?"
Ye Yun smiled and replied with a question:
"Didn't Yurine beat you up today?"
Little Evil God nodded.
"Nope. I've been here all day. Why?"
Ye Yun said:
"Then that explains it.
Want a salary? Sure. But first, how about you pay me for all the ingredients you've taken so far?"
Little Evil God refused instantly.
"I took them with my own skills—why should I pay?"
Ye Yun smiled again.
"Then I don't have to pay you either. Now get to work, chop-chop."
Unable to get a salary, Little Evil God slinked off to help.
After he left, Aglaea walked over.
"Ye Yun, I want to buy something—something that can make me stronger. The Black Tide is getting closer, and I need to power up quickly."
Ye Yun said:
"Isn't Trianne there to handle the Black Tide?"
Aglaea replied:
"Yes, but we can't just rely on Teacher Trianne. Every extra fighter helps. If I get stronger, it'll ease her burden.
Did you know? Teacher Trianne has already surrounded all of Okhema with multiverse gates—only one entry point remains."
Ye Yun looked at Trianne, who was playing nearby, and smiled.
Trianne, huh? Ever since gaining infinite vitality, she's been going wild?
Encircling all of Okhema with multiverse gates—that's exhausting work!
"Alright, got it. Go find Noelle. She'll take you shopping. I'll keep cooking."
Aglaea said:
"No rush. You go ahead."
Half an hour later, Ye Yun, Xiangling, Little Evil God, and Mei finished preparing the food.
Everyone gathered around the table to eat. While eating, Topaz asked Stelle:
"Stelle, tomorrow's the final day of the Spirit Tournament. Are you ready? The champion will challenge you."
Stelle waved her hand.
"No problem. I'll handle it in minutes."
Firefly thought aloud:
"The top 8 are all our people. Most likely, Lisa-Bubu will be the one to fight you."
Hearing that, Stelle realized something was off.
"Wait a sec—Grass beats Light, right?"
Hutao nodded, gloating:
"Yep~ yep~ Hehe, with Lisa-Bubu's broken skills… Stelle, don't tell me you're going to lose? Really? Are you?"
Stelle frowned.
Uh-oh! This could be bad! Lisa-Bubu's broken skills mean if she doesn't get one-shotted, she'll slowly wear Stelle down—just like against Axia.
And Grass beats Light. Miris's damage will be reduced.
Yikes! This is bad!
Stelle quickly checked tomorrow's match schedule.
Top 8—Lisa-Bubu vs. Fu Xuan's Psychic-type Spirit, Dawn Bunny.
Neither side has type advantage, but Dawn Bunny clearly isn't Lisa-Bubu's match.
It's at final evolution, but no mega evolution available.
Barring surprises, Lisa-Bubu is making it to the top 4.
This isn't like eSports with unpredictable outcomes.
This is real combat—strong means strong. You just can't beat them.
Lisa-Bubu will likely face Firefly next. Firefly's Spirit is the Fighting-type, Incaros.
Incaros is super strong, but its level is too low. Firefly made it to the top 8 mostly by fighting above her level—Incaros has incredible battle talent.
In the original story, Incaros could even fight Ray, Gaia, and the other Battle God Alliance members.
It's one of the top-tier elves aboard the Seer.
But Incaros is only level 40. Lisa-Bubu is level 69—almost 70.
Unless there's an upset, Lisa-Bubu will face Eula in the final.
Eula's elf is the water-type Brookkook, level 50. If not for bracket separation, she couldn't even beat Incaros.
After reading the bracket, Stelle instantly...