"As long as these bonds still exist, she is not completely uncontrollable," Lu Jingming concluded.
"The fighting power of a Level 1 God, especially when we face more unknown threats in the future, is extremely valuable and cannot be easily discarded. And you, too, wouldn't be able to bring yourself to do it. Therefore, what we need to do is not destruction, but... control."
"Control?"
Qian Renxue frowned slightly. "She is so proud and paranoid, how would she willingly submit to control?"
"It's simple."
The corner of Lu Jingming's mouth curled into a knowing arc.
"Overwhelm her head-on. Use absolute power to make her clearly realize that her power is not invincible, and her madness and paranoia are meaningless in the face of true strength."
He had a deep understanding of Bibi Dong's personality.
Bibi Dong's greatest strength was her ability to endure.
The humiliation of being taken by Qian Xunji, such an immense disgrace, she could suppress it, even bearing Qian Renxue, waiting until the perfect moment when Qian Xunji was gravely injured before baring her fangs and unleashing a fatal revenge.
What did this indicate? It showed that evaluating the situation, preserving her strength, and waiting for the right moment were instincts etched into her soul.
Lu Jingming's tone carried the composure of someone who was completely in control of the situation.
"The reason she is currently mad is that she believes her power is enough to crush everything and that she can do as she pleases. When we display power far exceeding hers, making her understand that resistance will only lead to worse outcomes, potentially even endangering the few people she cares about, she will be forced to 'calm down' and revert to the Bibi Dong who understood patience. She will temporarily sheath her sharpness, obey commands, and accumulate strength in the dark, waiting for the next 'opportunity'."
"And what we need to do,"
Lu Jingming looked at Qian Renxue, his eyes sharp and confident.
"Is to ensure that she gets used to obedience under the premise that that 'opportunity' will never appear. I will let her see with her own eyes what kind of power she cannot fight against. When she tries again and again, only to be ruthlessly suppressed time and time again, she will naturally learn to... assess the situation."
Listening to Lu Jingming's calm, even somewhat cold analysis, Qian Renxue felt a mix of emotions.
She had to admit that Lu Jingming's judgment of Bibi Dong was startlingly accurate.
This was indeed the most realistic approach, and the one that best preserved Bibi Dong's life.
To forcibly correct the behavior of a mad god with absolute power sounded arrogant, but coming from Lu Jingming, it carried an undeniable conviction.
She took a deep breath, the confusion in her eyes gradually replaced by determination: "I understand. We will proceed as you say."
For true unification, for a longer future, and also so that she could "survive" in a different way, this was a necessary step.
Lu Jingming nodded, his gaze turning towards the distant sky where the divine battle was still raging, and he said softly:
"Then prepare yourself. I will let her know that the era of her reckless abandon must end. And you, Sister Xue, will truly be crowned and become the sole ruler of this continent."
The battlefield at the edge of the mountain range had turned into a dead zone of clashing gods.
The sky was ripped open with spiderweb-like cracks, revealing the chaotic void turbulence behind. The earth looked like it had been chewed by an invisible behemoth, with deep abysses and scorched earth intertwined. The air was filled with the pungent smell of ozone from energy annihilation and the cold, evil aura of the Rakshasa God's power.
At the center of the fray, Bibi Dong, clad in the Rakshasa God Attire, was practically merged with the Rakshasa avatar. Every swing of the demonic scythe in her hand carried a shriek that tore at the soul.
The purplish-black divine power surged like a boiling tide, constantly impacting her three opponents.
Jing Yuan, commanding the Divine Sovereign, unleashed golden divine lightning that transformed into countless chains and lightning spears, repeatedly clashing with the Rakshasa's purple blades. Each collision erupted in a sky full of thunder and fire, making the heavens flicker between bright and dark.
Xiao Wu moved like electricity, her blue divine power condensed into tangible fist prints and leg shadows, striking Bibi Dong's flanks like a storm. Her attacks were agile and deadly, specifically looking for gaps in the Rakshasa's divine power.
The most troublesome for Bibi Dong was Elékthos, controlling Huo Yuhao's body. He did not engage in close-quarters combat but stood at a distance, constantly chanting ancient incantations.
Pure and profound necromantic magic sometimes formed gigantic white bone barriers to block the bloody magic patterns of the Disaster Curse Annihilation, and sometimes summoned countless pale bone spears wrapped in holy light, stabbing out from unbelievable angles. That power was balanced and peaceful, yet carried the finality of death, strongly counteracting the Rakshasa's evil divine power.
"Boundless Barrier."
Bibi Dong roared, the invisible barrier once again sealing space, attempting to limit Xiao Wu's speed.
But Jing Yuan's Divine Sovereign roared and drew upon the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. A lightning pillar as thick as a mountain crashed down, forcefully blasting a ripple-like gap in the invisible barrier.
Xiao Wu instantly cut into the gap, a strike infused with all her divine power—the Waist Bow—smashed heavily onto the shoulder blade of the Rakshasa avatar, causing the gigantic avatar to stagger.
"Get lost!"
Bibi Dong countered with a Hell Ghost Hand, the purplish-black ghost claw tearing through space to grab at Xiao Wu.
In the nick of time, Elékthos slammed his staff onto the ground, and a Wall of Sighs, inscribed with countless runes and constructed from countless wailing soul phantoms, rose from the earth. The ghost claw struck the wall, creating a grating sound before both dissipated.
The four clashed fiercely, the roar of divine power collisions incessant.
Purplish-black, golden lightning, blue radiance, and grayish-white—four colors of divine light flashed wildly, intertwining and annihilating, churning the heavens and earth into chaos.
The shockwaves from the battle spread outwards in layers, leveling distant mountains, and carving deep, bottomless ravines into the ground.
The two sides had temporarily reached a stalemate, unable to decisively defeat the other, locked in a brutal war of attrition.
Though Bibi Dong was strong, facing three divine-level powerhouses, each with unique characteristics and increasingly coordinated teamwork, her furious onslaughts were constantly neutralized, and her own divine power was rapidly depleting.
Just as the battle reached its most intense point, a sudden change occurred.
In the sky, a sharp boom came without warning, as if a billion birds were screeching at the same instant.
A bolt of lightning, stark white mixed with the color of ghostly-blue mercury fluid, shot out with a speed that defied thought. Like a divine spear piercing the heavens and earth, it completely ignored the confused battle and struck with perfect precision at the core of the fight—Bibi Dong's back.
This lightning bolt was too fast, too vicious.
Where it passed, space was not merely torn; it showed a bizarre electrolytic phenomenon, as if the very rules constituting space were being forcibly broken down by this power.
Before the lightning even arrived, the contained, rampant electromagnetic force made the Rakshasa God Attire on Bibi Dong's back emit a heavy sizzling sound. Fine, burnt circuit board-like traces even appeared on the surface of the purplish-black armor.
"What?!"
Bibi Dong's entire focus was concentrated on the three powerful enemies in front of her. This sneak attack from her blind spot was timed to the extreme.
She only had time to hastily swing her Rakshasa Demonic Scythe backward while fully mobilizing her Rakshasa God Attire's defense.
"Boom—Crack!!!"
The pure white lightning bolt slammed hard into the handle of the Rakshasa Demonic Scythe.
There was no fierce explosion, but rather a more terrifying, high-frequency oscillating, destructive energy burst forth.
The Demonic Scythe vibrated violently. Bibi Dong felt an indescribable force, carrying intense decomposition and magnetic storm properties, like countless red-hot steel needles, instantly penetrating her God Attire along the scythe and fiercely stabbing into her body.
"Pfft—!"
She violently spat out a mouthful of purple divine blood, her body flying forward like a broken kite. The Rakshasa divine power around her instantly stalled, and even the massive Rakshasa avatar behind her instantly dimmed and blurred somewhat.
The silhouette of the attacker appeared in the lightning—it was the Demon Empress.
Beneath her shattered whale bone mask, her pure white eyes held no emotion, only pure greed.
She didn't even look at Jing Yuan and the others. Having succeeded with the first strike, the second was already brewing. Claws entwined with mercury fluid and lightning headed straight for Bibi Dong's undefended back of the neck.
She aimed to kill her while she was wounded.
Just in this flash of lightning and flint—
"Presumptuous!"
A cold, authoritative roar, seemingly from the Nine Heavens, was heard.
A pillar of pure, warm, and glorious golden light, like the Sword of Judgment, descended from the sky, accurately striking between the Demon Empress and Bibi Dong.
The instant the light pillar landed, sacred flames ignited out of thin air, purifying all evil and impure energy.
A low, holy hymn faintly echoed, soothing the rampant energy turbulence.
The Demon Empress's always-victorious electromagnetic lightning, upon striking the golden light pillar, hissed as if ice had met the scorching sun, rapidly melting and disintegrating.
The Demon Empress grunted, forced back several steps by the massive divine power contained in the light pillar. For the first time, her pure white eyes showed a hint of alarm and uncertainty.
The golden light dispersed, and Qian Renxue's figure appeared.
She held the Angelic Sacred Sword, with six gigantic golden wings spread out behind her. The majestic Angelic Divine Might unfolded like a tsunami, standing firm against the electromagnetic field raging around the Demon Empress, forcefully partitioning this chaotic battlefield.
She stood in front of Bibi Dong, whose aura was weak and whose mouth was stained with blood, her eyes coldly fixed on the attacker, the Demon Empress.
"Despicable and shameless!"
Qian Renxue coldly looked at the Demon Empress. Even though she planned to seize Bibi Dong's authority, she would never stand idly by and watch Bibi Dong be killed by a sneak attack.
Bibi Dong, who was protected by Qian Renxue, was currently submerged in an unprecedentedly complex emotional state.
She half-knelt on the ground, wiping the divine blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Her purple eyes were filled with disbelief, humiliation, and a single, wild surge of emotion, like an untamed weed, that she herself could not comprehend.
She... was saved?
And the person who saved her... was Qian Renxue?
Her daughter, whom she had always ignored, loathed, and viewed as a stain on her life?
Looking at the tall, straight figure in front of her, radiating pure light and warmth, a power utterly opposed to her own Rakshasa evil force, yet one that now formed her most robust barrier.
An extremely unfamiliar emotion, mixed with long-standing hatred, the shame of shattered pride, and that deeply buried, almost self-denied bloodline connection, wrapped around her heart like a poisonous vine, stopping her breath.
She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something—was it a reprimand for interfering?
Or... in the end, she just bit her lower lip hard, forcefully suppressing all the churning emotions, leaving only a denser madness and confusion in her eyes.
This act of "being saved" impacted her more than any attack.
The Demon Empress's sudden sneak attack and Qian Renxue's intervention made the intensely fierce battle seem as if a pause button had been pressed.
Jing Yuan's Divine Sovereign retracted the lightning over the sky. Xiao Wu gracefully retreated several steps, landing beside Elékthos, who also stopped his incantations. His grayish-white necromantic magic slowly receded. All three looked at the uninvited guest and the newly joined Angel God with scrutiny and vigilance.
The scene descended into an eerie silence, broken only by the faint crackling from energy residue and the tearing sound of space fissures healing.
In this silence, a calm voice suddenly rang out, sounding as if it were whispering right next to everyone's ear.
"Conquest King."
The simple two words made the Demon Empress, who had just been forced back by Qian Renxue and was secretly assessing the situation, tremble violently.
Her blazing white, pupil-less eyes snapped toward the source of the voice. Her shattered whale bone mask seemed unable to conceal her present astonishment.
Not far away in mid-air, Lu Jingming, accompanied by Jingliu, Gu Yuena, Castorice, and Firefly, had appeared at some unknown moment.
They appeared without warning, as if they were meant to be there all along.
Lu Jingming's gaze rested calmly on the Demon Empress, his eyes deep, carrying an indifferent knowingness.
"Leave here."
He spoke again, his tone not a command, yet brooking no argument.
"Leave this world and return to where you belong. Your enemy is there, not here, wasting your strength."
The Demon Empress frowned.
Conquest King.
This was her title as the Third Throne of World Serpent.
This identity was an absolute secret, known only to the core members of World Serpent.
'How does he know?!'
A thought arose uncontrollably—Could he also be a member of World Serpent? Perhaps even a... Throne?
Her gaze rapidly swept over the two figures beside Lu Jingming.
Jingliu, merely by standing there, made her skin prickle faintly. That extreme sharpness and pure killing intent instinctively alerted her.
Gu Yuena gave her a bloodline-level suppression, an pressure that even surpassed Jingliu's.
Both of them, regardless of who it was, had a presence that transcended the true Gods present—the Angel God Qian Renxue and the Rakshasa God Bibi Dong.
The threat they posed to her was substantial, far more fatal than the other divine-level powerhouses on the field.
Her deliberation lasted only a moment.
The Demon Empress was mad, willing to go to any lengths for revenge, but she was not without sense.
In the current situation, she clearly had no chance. Continuing to tangle was definitely not wise.
She did not respond to Lu Jingming's words, nor did she look at anyone else. She merely fixated her pure white eyes on Lu Jingming for an instant, as if to engrave his image onto her soul.
Immediately, the lightning around her reignited, her mercury-like hair danced wildly, and she transformed into a blazing white bolt of lightning that tore through the void. Without the slightest hesitation, she instantly vanished from the spot, leaving only a faint smell of electrical char, proof that she had been there.