Just as the Galaxy Baseball Bat was about to smash into the back of Fu Xuan's head, Kiana's vision suddenly blurred.
One second, she was looking at the back of the bright yellow dragon robe; the next, a lead-grey sky pregnant with destructive thunder brutally crashed into her field of view.
BOOM—!
As if anticipating the girl's arrival, dozens, perhaps hundreds of purple-white lightning bolts, thick as pythons, coalesced amidst the thunder. They transformed into massive tridents constructed of pure lightning, screeching through the air as they stabbed down at the enemy!
Lightning travels through the atmosphere at approximately 145,000 kilometers per second. And this was a surprise attack. Logically speaking, Kiana should have been pierced by this lightning and turned into charcoal within a thousandth of a second.
The result, however, was that the roaring lightning tridents all hit empty air.
The reason?
"Hmph hmph!"
Appearing like a ghost at the edge of the thunder prison, Treasure Kiana wiped her nose proudly. "How could the mere speed of lightning compare to This Lady's Instant Transmission!"
"Though this move looks a bit like Kaguya Otsutsuki's Amenominaka." She looked around this strange space dominated by thunder and dodged another incoming lightning spear. "I gotta think of a way to get out... Hey? Other me, are you there?"
Shut up!
The Queen's annoyed voice exploded in her mind.
Sirin was surprisingly angry. They are the Herrscher of the Void!
The majestic Herrscher of the Void, actually being toyed with by others using spatial means!
Even if Fu Xuan is an S-Rank, so what? If word gets out, we'll have no face left to see anyone!
Kiana shrank her neck, then hurriedly put on a fawning face. "Then, Other Me, you definitely have a way, right? Help me out here. We can't let A-Li face that crazy woman alone!"
The Queen glared at her (mentally), knowing that priorities mattered.
Hand over control of the body to me!
"Ah, okay!"
And watch carefully how This Queen manipulates the spatial dimensions. If you dare embarrass us like this again next time... Hmph!
Space rippled, and Kiana's body vanished from the spot.
Walking through a strange forest composed of towering ancient trees and jagged rocks, Mei looked calm, as if strolling through her own back garden.
She casually picked an apple (from seemingly nowhere), took a light bite, the crisp sound exceptionally clear in the silent forest.
"So this is the Qimen Dunjia technique passed down from ancient Shenzhou."
The girl muttered to herself. Behind her, the six blazing wings of light quietly shifted forms, closing up and reassembling like petals to form a massive diamond-shaped shield flowing with blue electric arcs—Thunderbolt Realm · Absolute Defense Circle (Aegis).
Countless ferocious treants animated from ancient wood and giant rock fists condensed from the will of the mountains smashed ruthlessly against the shield with mountain-splitting force. The deafening booms were incessant, and violent energy impacts exploded in ripples on the shield's surface, yet they couldn't shake it in the slightest.
"It is somewhat interesting." Mei swallowed the last bite of the apple and tossed the core aside. "However, it's only to this extent."
With massive computational power locking onto the core node of this world, she ignored the violent attacks around her and walked straight to a seemingly ordinary clearing. Her fingertip, surrounded by a jumping purple electric arc, tapped gently on a spot in the void.
Crack!
A crisp sound like shattering glass echoed between heaven and earth. The "Gen" (Mountain) Trigram World, symbolizing mountains in the Eight Trigrams, collapsed with a bang. Amidst the flying fragments, Qingque's face, written with astonishment, was revealed.
"Eh? You?"
As a diviner also familiar with Qimen Dunjia, after successfully escaping the annoying winds of the "Xun" (Wind) Trigram World, she had originally planned to fish these people out one by one.
Before Qingque could finish speaking, space fluctuated again. Kiana's figure appeared out of thin air, followed closely by Bronya in her Silverwing: N-EX state.
The muzzles of the thirty-six particle cannons were slightly red, evidently having just gone through a violent output.
Yes, compared to Kiana's spatial authority and Mei's heaven-defying analytical ability, Bronya's method of breaking the game was much simpler and cruder:
Activate the maximum power of the Realm of Truth, combine it with the always-active critical hit of her Extra Ability Command, and forcefully blast through the small world she was in.
"A very Slavic method of cracking..."
Qingque scratched her cheek.
"Then—"
Returning to the Superstring Space, the group looked up simultaneously, casting their gazes toward the core battlefield where energy was surging in the distance.
Although limited by the treaty, Fu Xuan could currently only exert Limit-Breaker level combat power.
But this "only" was relative to S-Rank. In the short time Mei and the others broke through the Eight-Aspect World, the battlefield between Fuli and Fu Xuan had shifted (destroyed its way) to over ten kilometers away.
Even so, in the girls' eyes, those two colossal gods standing tall between heaven and earth were clearly visible.
Under the pale grey sky, a Lightning Lord standing hundreds of meters tall, its body flowing with pale gold divine light, stood proudly.
It wore illusory armor and held a massive formation glaive condensed from pure energy, appearing capable of splitting mountains.
On the other side was a colossal entity formed like frozen aurora borealis. Its translucent body refracted light into a billion prismatic shards, and the greatsword in its palm seemed like an extension of its will.
Every clash of their blades erupted with thunderous roars. Sparks flew like falling meteors, and the stirred-up gales tore through the clouds, like Titans of myth fighting to the death atop Mount Olympus!
"Fa Xiang Tian Di (Law Phenomenon Heaven Earth / Gigantification)."
Bronya recognized the powerful spell Fu Xuan was using at a glance.
Condensing a "Dharma Aspect" (Avatar) with one's vast Honkai energy. The specific size and actions of the Avatar were decided by the caster's will. The previous General of the Luofu, Jing Yuan, known as the Divine Strategist, was an expert in this path.
It should be noted that there is a fundamental difference between Fa Xiang Tian Di (Energy Avatar) and Fa Tian Xiang Di (Physical Gigantification). The latter is a tangible growth of the self, while the former is an entity constructed of energy.
However, compared to these details, what surprised Qingque more was the crystal-blue giant clashing with the Lightning Lord.
"That thing... are you sure it's the Projection Sword (Yeying Jian)?"
Having read Fuli's relevant data, the girl naturally knew he was quite skilled in this technique of manipulating Honkai energy. But to use this to trade blows with Fa Xiang Tian Di, which specialized in this path—and was cast by General Miao Jian no less?
This precision in energy manipulation... is it already approaching S-Rank?
Kiana didn't think that much. She stood on tiptoes, looking into the distance, shouting, "Woah! Fa Xiang Tian Di vs. Susanoo! To see such an exciting clash, even if I die here, it's worth the ticket price!"
"If you want to die, go ahead."
Bronya rolled her eyes at her. The muzzles of the Realm of Truth lit up with blue light again, preparing to go forward and support.
A slender but powerful arm stopped in front of her.
"..."
The Great Bronya turned her head, her gaze focusing on the owner of the arm—a face of peerless elegance.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"My brother said not to disturb him in this battle."
Kallen responded with a smile.
In the center of the scorching battlefield—
"Divine Nether Phantom Form!"
Fuli shouted low. The crystal-blue giant gripped the greatsword with both hands. The blade, wrapped in violent Ideal Fluid, slashed down with the force to tear space apart!
"Brilliant Majesty, Obey My Command—Slash Without Pardon!"
Responding to Fu Xuan's command, the formation glaive in the Lightning Lord's hand erupted with blinding golden light, meeting the attack head-on with earth-splitting force!
CLANG—!
The two colossal weapons collided. An indescribable shockwave exploded like a tsunami, spreading to the horizon.
Crystal-blue and pale gold lights eroded and annihilated each other. Finally, the two overburdened giants dissipated simultaneously into a rain of light, revealing the two people within, their auras surging.
This was not the curtain call of the battle, nor even the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.
Fu Xuan's jade fingers formed a seal, chanting the Daoist Ten-Character Heavenly Thunder Mantra: "Nine Heavens Resounding Thunder, Universal Transformation Celestial Worthy! Seize!"
Nine bolts of divine lightning containing brilliant heavenly might tore through the sky in an instant. Like roaring thunder dragons, they bit down toward Fuli.
Setsuna Blade · Moon-Viewing Sake!
Fuli advanced instead of retreating. The Plasma Kagehide slashed out crescent-shaped sword energies that easily tore through the lightning, continuing toward Fu Xuan with undiminished momentum.
A sword technique capable of severing the connection between a spell and its caster? Most likely, the closer the spell is to the caster, the worse the effect.
Glancing at the tiny gap torn in her Five-Color Halo by the shockwave of the sword energy, the girl thought.
Five Elements World Transformation: essentially using the principle of the Five Elements generating each other to convert attacks of corresponding attributes into other elements, finally transforming them into free energy in the surrounding environment.
The problem was that a single defensive spell was obviously insufficient. So, with extreme speed, she drew the Nine-Syllable Seal: "Lin! Bing! Dou! Zhe! Jie! Zhen! Lie! Qian! Xing!"
The Nine-Syllable Mantra materialized into golden runes, layering within the Five Elements Halo to form a second layer of defense.
This should be foolproof.
Thinking this, she deliberately revealed an imperceptible flaw in her defense. A point of bone-chilling blue light quietly condensed in her palm.
Thirty-Three Heavens Demon-Sealing God: A sealing-type secret art. The effect is to inject a pre-prepared spell into the opponent's body to detonate or seal them.
Fu Xuan's combat experience was extremely high. After the initial probing, although she didn't know the source of the Gold Cloth and the Stigmata on Fuli, she could judge their corresponding effects.
So, she chose to bypass the armor and inject the spell directly into his body, avoiding the damage reduction interference of the Gold Cloth. Then, she would detonate an Ice-attribute attack (which was not Rock, Space, or Thunder) inside him, subduing him completely with extreme cold erupting from the inside out.
The problem was, she thought it out well, but went wrong at the second step.
Fuli, arriving via Void Instant Transmission, precisely caught the flaw Fu Xuan sold. But before the girl could make her move, her sturdy barrier combining the Five Elements World Transformation and the Nine-Syllable Mantra was like paper before his long saber wrapped in Ideal Fluid!
Divine Departure! (Kamisari): Attacks penetrate shields of any type and rank, striking the main body directly.
The cold blade, carrying the resolve to sever everything, pressed straight toward General Miao Jian's fair neck!
Seeing that she was about to perish, Fu Xuan didn't get angry; instead, she laughed.
"Very good!"
Startling brilliance burst from her eyes. Her thin lips parted lightly, spitting out the name of the spell she had long prepared: "Big Dipper · Star Shifting Position!"
Before her voice faded, Fuli suddenly felt his body moved by an external force. The distance between him and Fu Xuan, originally close at hand, was stretched to over tens of meters in the blink of an eye.
This was terrifying. The Void Stigmata could transfer 80% of spatial effects, and the Sun Armor could weaken 90% of interference below S-Rank. Even so, the residual power of the spell could still forcefully move him, a Limit-Breaker.
But so what?
Endless light and heat gathered and compressed madly on the Plasma Kagehide. The sharp blade turned crimson, like a supernova about to erupt!
Setsuna Blade · Heaven's Ash Abyss!
A flood of destruction roared and spewed forth. The catastrophic flame-light crossed that short distance of tens of meters in an instant, about to completely swallow the enemy!
Regrettably, Fu Xuan used her next action to tell Fuli that those mere dozen meters she fought for were enough to decide the outcome of a battle.
Her hands formed a seal, the starlight in the Eye of the Matrix on her forehead shining brightly: "Channeling God · Three-Layer Jade Gate Encircling the Mortal Dust!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three towering heavenly gates, hundreds of meters high and over ten meters thick, engraved with ancient cloud patterns and reliefs of auspicious beasts, descended with a crash. Emitting an ancient aura that separated heaven and man, they were none other than projections of the legendary South Heaven Gate.
BOOM!
The destructive flame-light of Heaven's Ash Abyss slammed fiercely into the first Heavenly Gate, which rapidly melted into molten iron under the terrifying high temperature.
The second Heavenly Gate was also shaken by the violent shockwave, spiderweb-like cracks appearing as it tottered on the verge of collapse. Finally, the flames of heavenly fire dissipated unwillingly after cracking the third Heavenly Gate.
Fu Xuan took the opportunity to widen the distance again. Her gaze toward Fuli was full of splendor, carrying undisguised appreciation.
As the gateway separating heaven and man in mythology, summoning just one South Heaven Gate was enough to defend against a full-power strike from a regular Limit-Breaker.
To shatter two and a half in one breath—even she couldn't do that when she was at the Limit-Breaker level!
As expected of the man Zhen has set her eyes on!
The young woman was in a pleasant mood.
Opposite her, if one word were to describe Fuli's current mood, it would be satisfying. Ah, so satisfying!
Looking back at the battles since his rebirth:
The Herrscher of Thunder · Godhood Manifestation was defeated with everyone's help.
The battle with the Celestial Neuron Assembly "Ella" relied on the burning many Divine Key.
The fight against the Nazi remnants had the boost of the "Princess Carry Kill."
And Longevity Heaven relied on the Metamor-Seijin Fusion Dance.
It wasn't that he looked down on his good brothers, Rita, Kiana, and the others. But in Fuli's eyes, those battles always lacked a bit of pure flavor.
He didn't have the right to complain back then; after all, as a B-Rank small fry, surviving was already a blessing from God.
Now it was different. After half a year, he, an ordinary person who once had no strength to truss a chicken, finally stepped into the Limit-Breaker realm.
He could fight a strong enemy heartily with just one person and one sword, without relying on anyone else's power!
Fu Xuan in front of him was the perfect whetstone to test his own combat power!
This was the reason Fuli notified Kallen to tell everyone not to interfere.
Anyway, the damage caused by the battle would definitely be compensated by Fu Xuan once she sobered up. wouldn't it be a pity not to fight with all his might?
"It's too dangerous."
Bronya frowned, the muzzles of the Realm of Truth locked onto the figures fighting fiercely in the distance. "Even if restricted, she is a top-tier S-Rank and masters many powerful secret arts of Shenzhou."
"You don't need to worry about this, Little Sister."
Qingque scratched her head, rarely stepping forward voluntarily. "Qimen Dunjia is divided into four plates: Heaven, Earth, God, and Human. Among them, the 'Yeming Time Sutra' of the Heaven Plate uses spells specifically to manipulate the rate of change of things. Although the Tai—ah no, the General's ability is sky-high, if I prepare sufficiently, freezing her for an instant shouldn't be a problem."
This wasn't the time to slack off. Causing such a big incident in someone else's home...
With Fuli, the victim, stepping forward to face the berserk General alone, our Little Sparrow also had to fulfill her responsibility as the Luofu Master Diviner.
"Wait a minute? Manipulating the rate of change of things... isn't that Time Manipulation?!"
Kiana sucked in a breath of cold air, her shock no less than discovering after applying essence for half a year that the "Hua" character on the bottle referred to Fu Hua.
She originally thought this lazy young lady was harmless. She didn't expect her to have the potential to be the male protagonist of a "Time Stop" series!
Terrifying! So terrifying!
So the question arises: since Qingque is the male protagonist of the Time Stop series, who would correspond to the female protagonist?
Anyway, exclude Prisoner Fuli first. After all, he's super capable of fighting now. He won't be like in the "If" route, getting caught by Qingque and Fu Xuan to play 'little games' all day long.
Formations to synchronize physical fitness, or formations to create illusions... Qimen Dunjia has a total of 1,080 bureaus. If you really look, you can find all sorts of 'good stuff'.
It can only be said that the ancestors really played wild.