Bai Shuran waved off the praise modestly: "You flatter me. It's just a unique ability."
Hearing Aha call him a "natural-born prankster" and recalling the earlier match, Bai Shuran immediately grasped Aha's intent.
Was this an invitation to tread the Path of Elation?
"Correct! Want to become Aha's Emanator?" Aha's voice chirped.
Bai Shuran's eye twitched. "Miss Ah Huan, could you stop reading my mind? It's making me feel a bit... exposed."
Aha burst into laughter, dodging the question. "Ahahaha What ever do you mean? Aha knows nothing"
Fine.
Can't win.
Might as well roll with it.
Bai Shuran surrendered. "Alright, I accept, Miss Ah Huan. But one question—can Path energy be used outside the Tree-Sea cosmology?"
The moment he asked, he realized how redundant it sounded.
Of course it can. Otherwise, where would I even be right now?
Aha feigned mystery instead of answering. "Why not... try it and see?"
Bai Shuran deadpanned. "Miss Ah Huan, you're not Fuli. Quit the cryptic act."
"Cryptic? Ahahaha! Perfect! That's what we'll call that guy from now on—'Cryptic Man'!" Aha cackled.
Before Bai Shuran could retort, Aha seized his momentary distraction. A surge of Elation energy flooded his body, intertwined with torrents of Imaginary Energy from the Path's Interstice.
And just like that, a new Emanator was born:
Bai Shuran, Emanator of Elation.
...
???
Back already?
Blinking at the familiar arena, Bai Shuran took a second to reorient. The cosmic power thrumming in his veins—enough to shatter planets or annihilate star systems—and the faint connection to a distant, colossal presence left him equal parts awed and relieved.
Despite his casual banter with Aha, tension had coiled in his gut the entire time. After all, Aha was an Aeon: an entity that could erase galaxies on a whim. Few could face such a being without trepidation—unless they were peers or powerhouses in their own right.
Bai Shuran had potential, but potential wasn't the present.
Still...
You couldn't even let me say one word before yeeting me out?
The abrupt ejection left him exasperated. Yet, on reflection, it was so quintessentially Aha. The Aeon probably found his speechless reaction hilarious.
In the Star Rail universe, one rule was absolute: nothing Aha did should ever be surprising. Chaos was its nature.
Shaking his head, Bai Shuran steadied himself and turned his gaze behind him. A formidable opponent still awaited.
Audience Stands
"Ahahaha—!"
Aha shuddered with glee, savoring the changes within. Contrary to Bai Shuran's assumptions, the ejection had nothing to do with amusement.
Something far more intriguing had occurred.
"Ahaha~ How delightful! Aha's Trailblaze power... it's growing!"
The Aeon reveled as its long-stagnant Trailblaze energy surged violently—a tenth of its total volume materializing in an instant.
In the Star Rail cosmos, the strongest Emanators weren't the Lord Ravagers or the Emanators of Nihility. No, that title belonged to Aha and Akivili, the dynamic duo who'd once pulled a legendary stunt:
At some point, Akivili had become an Emanator of Elation.
And Aha? A Trailblaze Emanator.
This explained their supremacy—what Emanator could rival an Aeon wearing their mantle?
As a Trailblaze Emanator, Aha's exploits, though driven by mischief, inadvertently embodied the Path's tenets: Explore. Understand. Connect.
To create joy, one must first explore the unknown, immerse in cultures, and forge bonds—all core to the Trailblaze ideology. Thus, Aha's Trailblaze energy had swelled over eons, second only to Akivili itself.
Yet now, merely recruiting Bai Shuran had boosted Aha's Trailblaze reserves by ten percent—enough to potentially surpass Akivili's progress on the Path.
"Aha feels... ahead of dear Akivili on the Trailblaze Path now?"
(End of Chapter)