"Star searched several cargo shelves and successfully obtained that letter. It was filled with internal orders from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. No wonder Lü Furong was so anxious."

"After copying a duplicate, Star reported the results. Lü Furong was overjoyed upon hearing this and told Star to return to the place where she had copied the scriptures, promising to take her to meet the overall supervisor."

"Arriving at that secluded courtyard, she saw a man and a woman standing beside Lü Furong from afar."

"'Lord Purple Rose, this is the Grey Peony I mentioned to you. She is a very reliable Transplanter,' Lü Furong introduced to the man in purple beside her."

"The man in purple looked Star up and down, nodding with great satisfaction: 'I can tell you are indeed skilled.'"

"'You look quite weak,' Star said, placing one hand on her hip, a hint of disdainful smile appearing at the corner of her mouth."

"'How dare you!' Lü Furong immediately became furious and quickly reprimanded her."

"Purple Rose, however, had an indifferent expression and raised his hand to interrupt: 'It's fine... I like your personality. However, why would a strong person like you want to join the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus?'"

"'I want to become stronger!' Star's eyes were firm."

"'Very good, so do I. I once thought that as long as I trained hard, I could become a strong person... but that wasn't the case."

"'In my long career as a Cloud Knight, I realized one thing - human strength has limits. The more one pursues strength, the more likely they are to fail due to unexpected circumstances.'"

"'Therefore, I abandoned my mortal body and became a devotee of Compassionate Medicine King.'"

JOJO parallel world, 1888.

"...He's not human anymore?!"

Jonathan Joestar gasped, a chill running down his spine.

—What is this sense of déjà vu?!

If this Purple Rose suddenly pulled out a Stone Mask from his Arms and put it on his face, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

"JOJO, what's wrong?" William A. Zeppeli asked suddenly from the side, "Did this Purple Rose remind you of something?"

Joestar lowered his head with a serious expression and said, "Yes, he reminds me of Dio. He said the same thing as Dio... I'm afraid he might do something to harm Star in the next second."

Recalling that rainy night, Dio had stabbed him after pulling out the Stone Mask. If his father hadn't blocked that blow for him, perhaps he would have...

As soon as he closed his eyes, he remembered his father's dying instructions, the tragic deaths of everyone, the cries of despair, and... Dio's nightmarish whispers, clinging to him like vines. They echoed in his mind, lingering for a long time.

"JO~JO~ Let me enjoy this powerful strength a little longer, shall we?"

"JOJO, I told you, the more a person plays with schemes, the more they will find that humans have limits."

"Boxers boxers--!!"

"WRYYY..."

"..."

"--JOJO!!"

Zeppeli's low shout was like a clap of thunder, jolting Joestar awake from his memories. He suddenly raised his head, his chest heaving rapidly, and it took a while for his tense muscles to gradually relax.

"JOJO, Hamon energy is very sensitive to mental fluctuations. In the ten seconds you were just lost in thought, if Dio had attacked you, you would have been helpless," Zeppeli looked at him seriously.

"Yes! I understand!" Joestar wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began to re-engage in Hamon training.

"After speaking, Purple Rose took out from his Arms... not a Stone Mask, but a note, and handed it to Star: 'As long as you take this medicine, you can, like me, break the shackles placed on your soul by the Demon Bow Calamity Ancestor and gain ultimate power and freedom.'"

"'These medicinal materials can be bought in a medical hall, while some require you to find a way yourself... but with your ability, this should be a small matter.'"

"Star took the prescription and asked curiously, 'You're a Cloud Knight, why did you join the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus?'"

"Speaking of the past, Purple Rose sighed deeply: 'It's shameful to say, I was once one of those Cloud Knight hounds, practicing spear techniques for nearly a hundred years. I almost became a Cloud Knight instructor. But confined by the fragile shell of a mortal, I could never break through that last barrier between myself and those 【Martial Arts Geniuses】.'"

"A trace of unwillingness flickered in Purple Rose's eyes, replaced by a look of pride and madness."

"'Fortunately, this medicine in your hand saved me. I finally became a strong person unreachable by mortals. The pathetic 'Divine Spear Zhixin' of the past no longer exists, only the loyal Transplanter of Compassionate Medicine King remains.'"

"Lord Serie, the martial arts genius he mentioned... couldn't be Yanqing, right?"

Jian Ze looked at Purple Rose with a hint of pity.

Yanqing seems to be only in his teens. Even if he's been practicing swordsmanship since childhood, it's only been about ten years. But judging by Purple Rose's words, he can already completely defeat Zhixin, who has nearly a hundred years of spear technique experience.

Even the firmest belief can sometimes collapse when facing a monster-level genius.

"That's how the gap between mortals and geniuses is," Serie said, rolling her eyes in boredom as she looked at the smug Purple Rose.

...She never paid attention to the petty thoughts of ordinary people, because it was a complete waste of time.

In front of true geniuses like Yanqing, the light of mortals is like fireflies. Occasionally, there are occasions that attract attention - but when fireflies try to compete with the bright moon, the collapse of belief is inevitable.

It's not the genius who is wrong, but these fireflies. They didn't adjust their mindset correctly, nor did they see their own talents in time, and they just broke down on their own.

None of her disciples are not one-in-a-million geniuses among humans. In the thousand years that humans have mastered magic, starting from Frieren, who knows how many beliefs of people like "Purple Rose" have been destroyed.

"...Do you think you can break the gap between mortals and geniuses with just a dose of medicine? It seems he doesn't understand at all where the difference between him and a genius lies."

"Easily doing things that mortals cannot do, that's just the threshold for a genius."

"To do things that mortals can't even imagine... that is a true genius." Serie's eyes lowered slightly. She recalled the disciple named Feilun beside Frieren and smiled meaningfully.

"'Zhixin?' Star initially thought the name sounded familiar, but immediately realized - wasn't this the missing Cloud Knight Qingzu had specifically instructed her to pay attention to?"

"This isn't missing, this is clearly defection!"

"'Wait... you recognize me?!' Star's attitude caused Purple Rose's expression to change. 'Why did your expression become strange when you heard that name?'"

"At this moment, Lü Furong also came to her senses: 'Lord Purple Rose, there's a problem... This guy is probably an undercover agent who came to find you...'"

"'Bastard! You tested her for so long, what did you test for? You let such an obvious undercover agent in!' Purple Rose was furious."