Pointed at by the blade's edge, Jué laughed in extreme anger:
"Rude fellow, you've finally revealed your barbaric true face."
Noah paid no heed to Jué's sarcasm:
"Say whatever you want. Today, I must have an outcome that satisfies me!"
Veins bulged one by one on Noah's arms, yet the hand holding the blade was suddenly grasped weakly by Jinhsi:
"Don't be impulsive, Noah."
Jinhsi coughed several times, struggling to hold Noah's hand. Her pair of eyes were now filled with pleading:
"For this moment, I've always been preparing. I want to protect Jinzhou in my own way. Please don't..."
"Jinhsi, why are you so selfish?"
Noah interrupted Jinhsi coldly:
"One by one, you all disregard your own lives and deaths, yet forget how much the people walking beside you hope you can live well."
"Did I work so hard to come to Mt. Firmament to save you, solve puzzles, find the core—just so you could come here to throw your life away?!"
Jinhsi was rendered speechless, feeling immensely wronged. Water mist gathered in her eyes beneath her snow-white lashes.
The Sentinel had roared in anger so many times without changing her expression, but with just one rebuke from Noah, she felt an indescribable ache in her heart.
She clearly longed to live as well, but what other way was there?
She simply wanted to bear the responsibility as Magistrate—was that wrong too?
Seeing Jinhsi still tugging at Noah, Jué let out a heavy cold snort:
"Jinhsi, no need to dissuade him. I have already deduced it—he cannot defeat me."
Noah: ...
Cheat, activate!
Open the panel, open [Summon], open the limited banner "Thaw of Spring Awakens".
He glanced at his 20 Radiant Tides and 28,200 Astrite.
No need for more words.
Ten-pull summon!
On the panel, the tides roared endlessly—
50 pulls, gold—Jinhsi Waveband +1.
Another 40 pulls, gold—Jinhsi Waveband +1.
Another 70 pulls, gold—Verina Waveband +1, Jinhsi Waveband +1.
Another 10 pulls, gold—Jinhsi Waveband +2.
Noah opened the character panel and fully activated the remaining five gray-white Resonance Chains for the character 'Jinhsi'.
[Velvet Snow Holds Breath (Second Chain): When out of combat for more than 4 seconds, recover 50 Dawnlight points, triggering once every 4 seconds.]
[Heaven-Ordained Divine Child Roams (Third Chain): After releasing Intro Skill, gain one layer of Exiled Immortal effect; each layer increases attack by 22%, stackable up to two layers.]
[Self-Willing to Bless Mortals (Fourth Chain): When releasing Resonance Liberation or Resonance Skill, all characters gain 20% all-attribute damage bonus.]
[Flowing Light Turns to Frost and Snow (Fifth Chain): Resonance Liberation damage multiplier increased by 120%.]
[Winter Ends, Spring Returns Again (Sixth Chain): Resonance Skill damage multiplier increased by 45%; the damage multiplier bonus from consuming Dawnlight is additionally increased by 45%.]
The power of S6, carrying the beauty of absolute values—Noah was glad he was playing Wuthering Waves, not the neighboring game where character mechanics desperately counter each other.
A big bold "DANGER" was already engraved on the Sentinel's forehead; an inexplicable sense of unease enveloped Her.
Jué shook Her body, unable to resist deducing once more.
In the next moment, Her enormous dragon body instantly stiffened.
Variables—such huge variables! What exactly had just happened?!
Opposite, Noah had already switched characters to 'Jinhsi', the Emerald of Genesis in his hand replaced by Ages of Harvest, gripped tightly.
He shook off Jinhsi's hand while scattering several points of Dawnlight.
Stepping on the Dawnlight, he hovered in mid-air, approaching Jué's dragon head step by step, his footsteps creating circular ripples in the air:
"In my homeland, there are stories of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven causing havoc in the Palace of the King of Hell, and Lady White Snake intercepting her husband's soul in the underworld—making people yearn for the mighty power of heroes, able to disregard the cycle of life and death."
"But when the cycle of life and death falls into cruel reality, it is often the clear law of heaven, insurmountable. In a world of survival of the fittest, if you want something, you can only fight for it—you must fight for it!"
"I don't want Jinzhou to fall, don't want Jinhsi to die, don't want to leave regrets—even though we clearly have better choices—"
Noah took a deep breath; the icy air of Mt. Firmament stung his lungs coldly, and his voice rose again:
"I ask you one last time for confirmation: Sentinel Jué, do you truly refuse to yield the power of time sequence?"
Jué breathed heavily, slowly shaking Her head, thunder rumbling in Her chest and abdomen:
"For thousands of years, the rules have been thus."
"Rules are dead! And they are meant to be broken!"
The negotiation completely broke down.
Noah could not hide his disappointment; his full passion turned into raging flames of anger.
"Heh—turns out living longer doesn't mean seeing farther than others. In fact, you've always been spinning in place, inflexible."
"Defiant one, since you've made your decision, why say more."
The Sentinel let out a long, resounding dragon roar; Her enormous dragon body surged, shattering all the rocks at the top of the Mianloong Chamber.
She soared upward, radiating great light, flying out beyond the Mianloong Chamber. A voice like low-frequency metallic vibration echoed:
"Come to the peak of Mt. Firmament—I shall grant you this battle!"
Noah dispersed the Dawnlight and landed back on the ground. Beside him, Jinhsi approached with one hand clutching her chest, her face full of panic:
"Noah, the Sentinel is Jinzhou's guardian deity for many years, with immensely powerful strength. Don't go..."
Changli also approached, her eyes mixed with some indescribable complexity:
"Noah, I understand the pain in your heart, but this is heaven's will—human strength cannot defy it. I admire your courage in confronting the Sentinel, but I also hope you can calm down..."
Jinhsi and Changli said many words one after another, but Noah turned a deaf ear. In his hand appeared a bowl of fragrant, steaming cuisine, which he gulped down ton after ton.
[Forest Dweller's Pot (Golden Ingredients): Increases attack power of all Resonators in the team by 40%, lasting 30 minutes, priced at 12,000 Shell Credits.]
Putting the empty bowl back into his inventory, Noah slightly bent his knees, shattered the rock beneath his feet, and shot skyward.
"Don't go, Noah—"
Jinhsi shouted desperately, then fell into heavy coughing.
In the empty Mianloong Chamber, only Jinhsi and her master Changli remained.
"Jinhsi, we must follow too. We absolutely have to find a way to stop Noah and the Sentinel from fighting..."
Changli's words once again stuck in her throat. In her golden phoenix eyes was reflected a beam of white light.
It was the light emanating from Jinhsi's body.
Jinhsi was resonating with the Sentinel!
"How is this possible..."
Changli was stunned.
Clearly, Jinhsi had not fought the Sentinel; her frequency had not collided with the Sentinel's—why was the secondary resonance phenomenon recorded in the Court of Savantae appearing?
A bold guess emerged in Changli's mind—
Resonance!
Two mountain peaks each have a temple. Someone rings the bronze bell in one temple, and discovers that the bronze bell in the other temple, even with no one nearby, also emits the sound of ringing.
The so-called sympathetic resonance is when two objects with the same vibration frequency—one vibrates, causing the other to vibrate synchronously.
At this moment, Noah was using Jinhsi's abilities to battle the Sentinel, while Jinhsi, though outside the battlefield, could perfectly resonate with the frequency produced from the clash!
Noah could not resonate with the Sentinel, but his body was fully capable of bearing the resonance power produced from the collision.
This resonance power spread harmlessly through sympathetic resonance in Jinhsi's body, instead allowing her to perfectly achieve secondary resonance with the Sentinel!
This was actually—a method to break the impasse that even the Court of Savantae had never researched, unprecedented!
Changli had not yet had time to feel joy at such a discovery when the white light on Jinhsi's body suddenly vanished.
Jinhsi heavily spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted, collapsing to the ground.